THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN
The present crisis is the most awful since the days of Vandalism.
(Robert Troup.)
Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute. (Toast at
banquet to Marshall.)
We shall remain free if we do not deserve to be slaves. (Marshall
to citizens of Richmond.)
What a wicked use has been made of the X. Y. Z. dish cooked up by
Marshall. (Jefferson.)
While Talleyrand's drama of shame was enacting in Paris, things were
going badly for the American Government at home. The French party in
America, with whose wrath Talleyrand's male and female agents had
threatened our envoys, was quite as powerful and aggressive against
President Adams as the French Foreign Office had been told that it
was.[741]
Notwithstanding the hazard and delay of ocean travel,[742] Talleyrand
managed to communicate at least once with his sympathizers in America,
whom he told that the envoys' "pretensions are high, that possibly no
arrangement may take place, but that there will be no declaration of war
by France."[743]
Jefferson was alert for news from Paris. "We have still not a word from
our Envoys. This long silence (if they have been silent) proves things
are not going on very roughly. If they have not been silent, it proves
their information, if made public, would check the disposition to
arm."[744] He had not yet received the letter written him March 17, by
his agent, Skipwith. This letter is abusive of the Administration of
Washington as well as of that of Adams. Marshall was "one of the
declaiming apostles of Jay's Treaty"; he and Pinckney courted the
enemies of the Revolutionary Government; and Gerry's "paralytic mind"
was "too weak" to accomplish anything.[745]
The envoys' first dispatches, sent from Paris October 22, 1797, reached
Philadelphia on the night of March 4, 1798.[746] These documents told of
the corrupt French demands and machinations. The next morning President
Adams informed Congress of their arrival.[747] Two weeks later came the
President's startling message to Congress declaring that the envoys
could not succeed "on terms compatible with the safety, the honor, or
the essential interests of the nation" and "exhorting" Congress to
prepare for war.[748]
The Republicans were dazed. White hot with anger, Jefferson writes
Madison that the President's "insane message ... has had great effect.
Exultation on the one side & a certainty of victory; while the other
[Republican] is petrified with astonishment."[749] The same day he tells
Monroe that the President's "almost insane message" had alarmed the
merchants and strengthened the Administration; but he did not despair,
for the first move of the Republicans "will be a call for papers [the
envoys' dispatches].[750] In Congress the battle raged furiously; "the
question of war & peace depends now on a toss of cross & pile,"[751] was
Jefferson's nervous opinion.
But the country itself still continued French in feeling; the
Republicans were gaining headway even in Massachusetts and Connecticut;
Jefferson expected the fall elections to increase the Republican
strength in the House; petitions against war measures were pouring into
Congress from every section; the Republican strategy was to gain time.
Jefferson thought that "the present period, ... of two or three weeks,
is the most eventful ever known since that of 1775."[752]
The Republicans, who controlled the House of Representatives, demanded
that the dispatches be made public: they were sure that these papers
would not justify Adams's grave message. If the President should refuse
to send Congress the papers it would demonstrate, said the "Aurora,"
that he "suspects the popularity of his conduct if exposed to public
view.... If he thinks he has done right, why should he be afraid of
letting his measures be known?" Let the representatives of the people
see "_the whole_ of the papers ... a _partial_ communication would be
worse than none."[753]
Adams hesitated to reveal the contents of the dispatches because of "a
regard for the _personal safety_ of the Commissioners and an
apprehension of the effect of a disclosure upon our future diplomatic
intercourse."[754] High Federalist business men, to whom an intimation
of the contents of the dispatches had been given, urged their
publication. "We wish much for the papers if they can with propriety be
made public" was Mason's reply to Otis. "The Jacobins want them. And in
the name of God let them be gratified; it is not the first time they
have wished for the means of their destruction."[755]
Both Federalists who were advised and Republicans who were still in the
dark now were gratified in their wish to see the incessantly discussed
and mysterious message from the envoys. The effect on the partisan
maneuvering was as radical and amusing as it is illuminative of partisan
sincerity. When, on April 3, the President transmitted to Congress the
dispatches thus far received, the Republicans instantly altered their
tactics. The dispatches did not show that the negotiations were at an
end, said the "Aurora"; it was wrong, therefore, to publish them--such a
course might mean war. Their publication was a Federalist trick to
discredit the Republican Party; and anyway Talleyrand was a monarchist,
the friend of Hamilton and King. So raged and protested the Republican
organ.[756]
Troup thus reports the change: The Republicans, he says, "were very
clamorous for the publication [of the dispatches] until they became
acquainted with the intelligence communicated. From that moment they
opposed publication, and finally they carried a majority against the
measure. The Senate finding this to be the case instantly directed
publication."[757] The President then transmitted to Congress the second
dispatch which had been sent from Paris two weeks after the first. This
contained Marshall's superb memorial to Talleyrand. It was another blow
to Republican hopes.
The dispatches told the whole story, simply yet with dramatic art. The
names of Hottenguer, Bellamy, and Hauteval were represented by the
letters X, Y, and Z,[758] which at once gave to this picturesque episode
the popular name that history has adopted. The effect upon public
opinion was instantaneous and terrific.[759] The first result, of
course, was felt in Congress. Vice-President Jefferson now thought it
his "duty to be silent."[760] In the House the Republicans were
"thunderstruck."[761] Many of their boldest leaders left for home;
others went over openly to the Federalists.[762] Marshall's disclosures
"produced such a shock on the republican mind, as has never been seen
since our independence," declared Jefferson.[763] He implored Madison to
write for the public an analysis of the dispatches from the Republican
point of view.[764]
After recovering from his "shock" Jefferson tried to make light of the
revelations; the envoys had "been assailed by swindlers," he said, "but
that the Directory knew anything of it is neither proved nor probable."
Adams was to blame for the unhappy outcome of the mission, declared
Jefferson; his "speech is in truth the only obstacle to
negotiation."[765] Promptly taking his cue from his master, Madison
asserted that the publication of the dispatches served "more to inflame
than to inform the country." He did not think Talleyrand guilty--his
"conduct is scarcely credible. I do not allude to its depravity, which,
however heinous, is not without example. Its unparalleled stupidity is
what fills me with astonishment."[766]
The hot-blooded Washington exploded with anger. He thought "the measure
of infamy was filled" by the "profligacy ... and corruption" of the
French Directory; the dispatches ought "to open the eyes of the
blindest," but would not "change ... the _leaders_ of the opposition
unless there shou'd appear a manifest desertion of the followers."[767]
Washington believed the French Government "capable [of] any thing bad"
and denounced its "outrageous conduct ... toward the United States"; but
he was even more wrathful at the "inimitable conduct of its partisans
[in America] who aid and abet their measures." He concluded that the
Directory would modify their defiant attitude when they found "the
spirit and policy of this country rising with resistance and that they
have falsely calculated upon support from a large part of the people
thereof."[768]
Then was heard the voice of the country. "The effects of the publication
[of the dispatches] ... on the people ... has been prodigious.... The
leaders of the opposition ... were astonished & confounded at the
profligacy of their beloved friends the French."[769] In New England,
relates Ames, "the Jacobins [Republicans] were confounded, and the
trimmers dropt off from the party, like windfalls from an apple tree in
September."[770] Among all classes were observed "the most magical
effects"; so "irresistible has been the current of public opinion ...
that ... it has broken down the opposition in Congress."[771] Jefferson
mournfully informed Madison that "the spirit kindled up in the towns is
wonderful.... Addresses ... are pouring in offering life &
fortune."[772] Long afterwards he records that the French disclosures
"carried over from us a great body of the people, real republicans &
honest men, under virtuous motives."[773] In New England, especially,
the cry was for "open and deadly war with France."[774] From Boston
Jonathan Mason wrote Otis that "war for a time we must have and our
fears ... are that ... you [Congress] will rise without a proper
_climax_.... We pray that decisive orders may be given and that accursed
Treaty [with France] may be annulled.... The time is now passed, when we
should fear giving offense.... The yeomanry are not only united but
spirited."[775]
Public meetings were held everywhere and "addresses from all bodies and
descriptions of men" poured "like a torrent on the President and both
Houses of Congress."[776] The blood of Federalism was boiling. "We
consider the present crisis as the most awful since the days of
Vandalism," declared the ardent Troup.[777] "Yankee Doodle," "Stony
Point," "The President's March," supplanted in popular favor "Ça ira"
and the "Marseillaise," which had been the songs Americans best loved to
sing.
The black cockade, worn by patriots during the Revolutionary War,
suddenly took the place of the French cockade which until the X. Y. Z.
disclosures had decorated the hats of the majority in American cities.
The outburst of patriotism produced many songs, among others Joseph
Hopkinson's "Hail Columbia!" ("The President's March"), which, from its
first presentation in Philadelphia, caught the popular ear. This song is
of historic importance, in that it expresses lyrically the first
distinctively National consciousness that had appeared among Americans.
Everywhere its stirring words were sung. In cities and towns the young
men formed American clubs after the fashion of the democratic societies
of the French party.
"Hail, Columbia! happy land!
Hail, ye heroes! heaven-born band!
Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause,"--
sang these young patriots, and "Hail, Columbia!" chanted the young women
of the land.[778] On every hilltop the fires of patriotism were
signaling devotion and loyalty to the American Government.
Then came Marshall. Unannounced and unlooked for, his ship, the
Alexander Hamilton, had sailed into New York Harbor after a voyage of
fifty-three days from Bordeaux.[779] No one knew of his coming. "General
Marshall arrived here on Sunday last. His arrival was unexpected and his
stay with us was very short. I have no other apology to make," writes
Troup, "for our not giving him a public demonstration of our love and
esteem."[780] Marshall hurried on to Philadelphia. Already the great
memorial to Talleyrand and the brilliantly written dispatches were
ascribed to his pen, and the belief had become universal that the
Virginian had proved to be the strong and resourceful man of the
mission.
On June 18, 1798, he entered the Capital, through which, twenty years
before, almost to a day, he had marched as a patriot soldier on the way
to Monmouth from Valley Forge. Never before had any American, excepting
only Washington, been received with such demonstration.[781] Fleets of
carriages filled with members of Congress and prominent citizens, and
crowds of people on horseback and on foot, went forth to meet him.
"The concourse of citizens ... was immense." Three corps of cavalry "in
full uniform" gave a warlike color to the procession which formed behind
Marshall's carriage six miles out from Philadelphia. "The occasion
cannot be mentioned on which so prompt and general a muster of the
cavalry ever before took place." When the city was reached, the church
bells rang, cannon thundered, and amid "the shouts of the exulting
multitudes" Marshall was "escorted through the principal streets to the
city Tavern." The leading Federalist newspaper, the "Gazette of the
United States," records that, "even in the Northern Liberties,[782]
where the demons of anarchy and confusion are attempting to organize
treason and death, repeated shouts of applause were given as the
cavalcade approached and passed along."[783] The next morning O'Ellers
Tavern was thronged with Senators and Representatives and "a numerous
concourse of respectable citizens" who came to congratulate
Marshall.[784]
The "Aurora" confirms this description of its Federalist rival; but adds
bitterly: "What an occasion for rejoicing! Mr. Marshall was sent to
France for the _ostensible_ purpose, at least, of effecting an amicable
accommodation of differences. He returns without having accomplished
that object, and on his return the Tories rejoice. This certainly looks
as if they did not wish him to succeed.... Many pensive and melancholy
countenances gave the glare of parade a gloom much more suited to the
occasion, and more in unison with the feelings of Americans. Well may
they despond: For tho' the patriotic Gerry may succeed in settling the
differences between the two countries--it is too certain that his
efforts can be of no avail when the late conduct of our administration,
and the unprecedented intemperance of our chief executive magistrate is
known in Europe."[785]
Jefferson watched Marshall's home-coming with keen anxiety. "We heard of
the arrival of Marshall at New York," he writes, "and I concluded to
stay & see whether that circumstance would produce any new projects. No
doubt he there received more than hints from Hamilton as to the tone
required to be assumed.... Yet I apprehend he is not hot enough for his
friends."
With much chagrin he then describes what happened when Marshall reached
Philadelphia: "M. was received here with the utmost éclat. The Secretary
of State & many carriages, with all the city cavalry, went to Frankfort
to meet him, and on his arrival here in the evening, the bells rung till
late in the night, & immense crowds were collected to see & make part of
the shew, which was circuitously paraded through the streets before he
was set down at the city tavern." But, says Jefferson, "all this was to
secure him [Marshall] to their [the Administration's] views, that he
might say nothing which would expose the game they have been
playing.[786] Since his arrival I can hear nothing directly from him."
Swallowing his dislike for the moment, Jefferson called on Marshall
while the latter was absent from the tavern. "Thomas Jefferson presents
his compliments to General Marshall" ran the card he left. "He had the
honor of calling at his lodgings twice this morning, but was so unlucky
as to find that he was out on both occasions. He wished to have
expressed in person his regret that a pre-engagement for to-day which
could not be dispensed with, would prevent him the satisfaction of
dining in company with General Marshall, and therefore begs leave to
place here the expressions of that respect which in company with his
fellow citizens he bears him."[787]
Many years afterwards Marshall referred to the adding of the syllable
"un" to the word "lucky" as one time, at least, when Jefferson came near
telling the truth.[788] To this note Marshall returned a reply as
frigidly polite as Jefferson's:--
"J. Marshall begs leave to accompany his respectful compliments to Mr.
Jefferson with assurances of the regret he feels at being absent when
Mr. Jefferson did him the honor to call on him.
"J. Marshall is extremely sensible to the obliging expressions contained
in Mr. Jefferson's polite billet of yesterday. He sets out to-morrow for
Winchester & would with pleasure charge himself with any commands of Mr.
Jefferson to that part of Virginia."[789]
Having made his report to the President and Secretary of State, Marshall
prepared to start for Virginia. But he was not to leave without the
highest compliment that the Administration could, at that time, pay him.
So gratified were the President, Cabinet, and Federalist leaders in
Congress with Marshall's conduct in the X. Y. Z. mission, and so high
their opinion of his ability, that Adams tendered him the appointment to
the place on the Supreme Bench,[790] made vacant by the death of Justice
Wilson. Marshall promptly declined. After applying to the Fairfax
indebtedness all the money which he might receive as compensation for
his services in the French mission, there would still remain a heavy
balance of obligation; and Marshall must devote all his time and
strength to business.
On the night before his departure, the members of Congress gave the hero
of the hour the historic dinner at the city's principal tavern, "as an
evidence of their affection for his person and their gratified
approbation of the patriotic firmness with which he sustained the
dignity of his country during his important mission." One hundred and
twenty enthusiastic men sat at the banquet table.
The Speaker of the National House, the members of the Cabinet, the
Justices of the Supreme Court, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania State
Senate, the field officers of the army, the Right Reverend Bishops
Carroll and White, "and other distinguished public characters attended."
Toasts "were drank with unbounded plaudits" and "many of them were
encored with enthusiasm." High rose the spirit of Federalism at
O'Eller's Tavern in Philadelphia that night; loud rang Federalist
cheers; copiously flowed Federalist wine.
"Millions for Defense but not a cent for Tribute!" was the crowning
toast of that jubilant evening. It expressed the spirit of the
gathering; out over the streets of Philadelphia rolled the huzzas that
greeted it. But its unknown author[791] "builded better than he knew."
He did more than flatter Marshall and bring the enthusiastic banqueters,
wildly shouting, to their feet: he uttered the sentiment of the Nation.
"Millions for Defense but not a cent for Tribute" is one of the few
historic expressions in which Federalism spoke in the voice of America.
Thus the Marshall banquet in Philadelphia, June 18, 1798, produced that
slogan of defiant patriotism which is one of the slowly accumulating
American maxims that have lived.
After Marshall retired from the banquet hall, the assemblage drank a
final toast to "The man whom his country delights to Honor."[792]
Marshall was smothered with addresses, congratulations, and every
variety of attention from public bodies and civic and military
organizations. A committee from the Grand Jury of Gloucester County, New
Jersey, presented the returned envoy a laudatory address. His answer,
while dignified, was somewhat stilted, perhaps a trifle pompous. The
Grand Jury compliment was, said Marshall, "a sweet reward" for his
"exertions." The envoys wished, above all things, for peace, but felt
"that not even peace was to be purchased at the price of national
independence."[793]
The officers of a militia brigade delivered to Marshall a eulogy in
which the war note was clear and dominant. Marshall answered that,
desirable as peace is, it "ought not to have been bought by dishonor and
national degradation"; and that the resort to the sword, for which the
militia officers declared themselves ready, made Marshall "feel with an
elevated pride the dignity and grandeur of the American
character."[794]
The day before Marshall's departure from Philadelphia the President,
addressing Congress, said: "I congratulate you on the arrival of General
Marshall ... at a place of safety where he is justly held in honor....
The negotiation may be considered at an end. _I will never send another
Minister to France without assurances that he will be received,
respected, and honored as the representative of a great, free, powerful,
and independent nation._"[795] Bold and defiant words expressive of the
popular sentiment of the hour; but words which were to be recalled later
by the enemies of Adams, to his embarrassment and to the injury of his
party.[796]
"Having heard that Mrs. Marshall is in Winchester I shall immediately
set out for that place,"[797] Marshall writes Washington. His departure
from the Capital was as spectacular as his arrival. He "was escorted by
detachments of cavalry," says the "Aurora." "Certainly nothing less was
due considering the distinguished services which he has rendered by his
mission--he has acquired some knowledge of the French language,"[798]
sneers that partisan newspaper in good Republican fashion. When Marshall
approached Lancaster he was met by companies of "cavalry and uniformed
militia" which escorted him into the town, where he was "welcomed by the
discharges of artillery and the ringing of bells."[799]
His journey throughout Pennsylvania and Virginia, repeating scenes of
his welcome at Philadelphia and Lancaster, ended at Richmond. There,
among his old neighbors and friends, the demonstrations reached their
climax. A long procession of citizens went out to meet him. Again rang
the cheers, again the bells pealed, again the cannon thundered. And
here, to his townsmen and friends, Marshall, for the first time,
publicly opened his heart and told, with emotion, what had befallen in
France. In this brief speech the Nationalist and fighting spirit, which
appears in all his utterances throughout his entire life, flashes like a
sword in battle.
Marshall cannot express his "emotions of joy" which his return to
Richmond has aroused; nor "paint the sentiments of affection and
gratitude towards" his old neighbors. Nobody, he assures his hearers,
could appreciate his feelings who had not undergone similar experiences.
The envoys, far from their country with no news from their Government,
were in constant anxiety, says Marshall. He tells of their trials, of
how they had discharged their duty, of his exultation over the spirit
America was now displaying. "I rejoice that I was not mistaken in the
opinion I had formed of my countrymen. I rejoice to find, though they
know how to estimate, and therefore seek to avoid the horrors and
dangers of war, yet they know also how to value the blessings of liberty
and national independence. Peace would be purchased at too high a price
by bending beneath a foreign yoke" and such a peace would be but brief;
for "the nation thus submitting would be soon involved in the quarrels
of its master.... We shall remain free if we do not deserve to be
slaves."
Marshall compares the governments of France and America. To one who,
like himself, is so accustomed to real liberty that he "almost considers
it as the indispensable companion of man, a view of [French] despotism,"
though "borrowing the garb usurping the name of freedom," teaches "the
solid safety and real security" existing in America. The loss of these
"would poison ... every other joy." Without them "freemen would turn
with loathing and disgust from every other comfort of life." To preserve
them, "all ... difficulties ought to be encountered."
Stand by "the government of your choice," urges Marshall; its officials
are from the people, "subject in common with others to the laws they
make," and must soon return to the popular body "whose destiny involves
their own and in whose ruin they must participate." This is always a
good rule, but "it is peculiarly so in a moment of peril like the
present" when "want of confidence in our government ... furnishes ... a
foreign real enemy [France] those weapons which have so often been so
successfully used."[800]
The Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Common Council of Richmond presented
Marshall with an address of extravagant praise. "If reason and
argument ... if integrity, candor, and the pure spirit of conciliation"
had met like qualities in France, "smiling peace would have returned
along with you." But if Marshall had not brought peace, he had warned
America against a government "whose touch is death." Perhaps he had even
preserved "our excellent constitution and ... our well earned
liberties." In answer Marshall said that he reciprocated the "joy" of
his "fellow citizens, neighbors, and ancient friends" upon his return;
that they were right in thinking honorable peace with France was
impossible; and warned them against "the countless dangers which lurk
beneath foreign attachments."[801]
Marshall had become a national hero. Known before this time, outside of
his own State, chiefly to the eminent lawyers of America, his name now
became a household word in the remotest log cabins of Kentucky and
Tennessee, as well as in the residences of Boston and New York. "Saving
General Washington, I believe the President, Pinckney, and Marshall are
the most popular characters now in our country," Troup reported to King
in London.[802]
For the moment, only one small cloud appeared upon the horizon of
Marshall's popularity; but a vicious flash blazed from it. Marshall went
to Fredericksburg on business and attended the little theater at that
place. The band of the local artillery company furnished the music. A
Philadelphia Federalist, who happened to be present, ordered them to
play "The President's March" ("Hail, Columbia!"). Instantly the audience
was in an uproar. So violent did they become that "a considerable riot
took place." Marshall was openly insulted. Nor did their hostility
subside with Marshall's departure. "The inhabitants of Fredericksburg
waited," in anxious expectation, for an especially hated Federalist
Congressman, Harper of South Carolina, to pass through the town on his
way home, with the intention of treating him even more roughly.[803]
With this ominous exception, the public demonstrations for Marshall were
warmly favorable. His strength with the people was greater than ever. By
the members of the Federal Party he was fairly idolized. This, the first
formal party organization in our history, was, as we have seen, in sorry
case even under Washington. The assaults of the Republicans, directed by
Jefferson's genius for party management, had all but wrecked the
Federalists. That great party general had out-maneuvered his adversaries
at every point and the President's party was already nearing the
breakers.
The conduct of the French mission and the publication of Marshall's
dispatches and letters to Talleyrand saved the situation for the moment.
Those whom Jefferson's consummate skill had won over to the Republican
Party returned by thousands to their former party allegiance.[804]
Congress acted with belated decision. Our treaty with France was
abrogated; non-intercourse laws passed; a provisional army created; the
Navy Department established; arsenals provided; the building of warships
directed. For a season our National machinery was permitted to work with
vigor and effectiveness.
The voices that were wont to declaim the glories of French democracy
were temporarily silent. The people, who but yesterday frantically
cheered the "liberté, égalité, fraternité" of Robespierre and Danton,
now howled with wrath at mention of republican France. The pulpit became
a tribune of military appeal and ministers of the gospel preached
sermons against American "Jacobins."[805] Federalist orators had their
turn at assailing "despotism" with rhetoric and defending "liberty" with
eloquence; but the French Government was now the international villain
whom they attacked.
"The struggle between Liberty and Despotism, Government and Anarchy,
Religion and Atheism, has been gloriously decided.... France has been
foiled, and America is free. The elastick veil of Gallick perfidy has
been rent, ... the severing blow has been struck." Our abrogation of the
treaty with France was "the completion of our Liberties, the acme of our
Independence ... and ... emancipated us from the oppressive friendship
of an ambitious, malignant, treacherous ally." That act evidenced "our
nation's manhood"; our Government was now "an Hercules, who, no longer
amused with the coral and bells of 'liberty and equality' ... no longer
willing to trifle at the _distaff_ of a 'Lady Negociator,' boldly
invested himself in the _toga virilis_."[806] Such was the language of
the public platform; and private expressions of most men were even less
restrained.
Denouncing "the Domineering Spirit and boundless ambition of a nation
whose Turpitude has set _all objections_, divine & human, at
naught,"[807] Washington accepted the appointment as Commander-in-Chief
of the newly raised army. "Huzza! Huzza! Huzza! How transporting the
fact! The great, the good, the aged WASHINGTON has said 'I am ready
again to go with my fellow citizens to the field of battle in defense of
the Liberty & Independence of my Country,'" ran a newspaper
announcement, typically voicing the popular heart.[808]
To Marshall's brother James, who had offered his services as an
aide-de-camp, Washington wrote that the French "(although _I_ conceive
them capable of _anything_ that is unjust or dishonorable)" will not
"attempt a serious invasion of this country" when they learn of "the
preparation which [we] are making to receive them." They have "made
calculations on false ground" in supposing that Americans would not
"support Independence and the Government of their country _at every
hazard_." Nevertheless, "the highest possible obligation rests upon the
country to be prepared for the event as the most effective means to
avert the evil."[809] Military preparations were active and conspicuous:
On July 4, New York City "resembles a camp rather than a commercial
port," testifies Troup.[810]
The people for the moment believed, with Marshall and Washington, that
we were on the brink of war; had they known what Jefferson knew, their
apprehension would have been still keener. Reporting from Paris, the
French partisan Skipwith tells Jefferson that, from motives of
"commercial advantage and aggrandisement" as well as of "vengeance,"
France will probably fall upon America. "Yes sir, the moment is come
that I see the fortunes, nay, independence, of my country at hazard, and
in the hands of the most gigantic nation on earth.... Already, the
language of planting new colonies upon the ... Mississippi is the
language of Frenchmen here."[811] Skipwith blames this predicament upon
Adams's character, speech, and action and upon Marshall's and Pinckney's
conduct in Paris;[812] and advises Jefferson that "war may be prevented,
and our country saved" by "modifying or breaking" the Jay Treaty and
lending money to France.[813]
Jefferson was frantic with disappointment and anger. Not only did he see
the Republican Party, which he had built up with such patience and
skill, going to pieces before his very eyes; but the prospect of his
election to the Presidency as the successor of Adams, which until then
appeared to be inviting, now jeopardized if not made hopeless. With his
almost uncanny understanding of men, Jefferson laid all this to
Marshall; and, from the moment of his fellow Virginian's arrival from
France, this captain of the popular cause began that open and malignant
warfare upon Marshall which ended only with Jefferson's last breath.
At once he set out to repair the havoc which Marshall's work had wrought
in his party. This task was made the harder because of the very tactics
which Jefferson had employed to increase the Republican strength. For,
until now, he had utilized so thoroughly the deep and widespread French
sentiment in America as his immediate party weapon, and made so emphatic
the French issue as a policy of party tactics, that, in comparison, all
other issues, except the central one of States' Rights, were secondary
in the public mind at this particular time.
The French propaganda had gone farther than Jefferson, perhaps, intended
it to go. "They [the French] have been led to believe by their agents
and Partisans amongst _us_," testifies Washington, "that we are a
divided people, that the latter are opposed to their own
Government."[814] At any rate, it is certain that a direct connection,
between members of what the French politicians felt themselves justified
in calling "the French party" in America and the manipulators of French
public opinion, existed and was made use of. This is shown by the effect
in France of Jefferson's famous letter to Mazzei of April 24, 1796.[815]
It is proved by the amazing fact that Talleyrand's answer to the
memorial of the envoys was published in the Jeffersonian organ, the
"Aurora," before Adams had transmitted that document to Congress, if not
indeed before the President himself had received from our envoys
Talleyrand's reply to Marshall's statement of the American case.[816]
Jefferson took the only step possible to a party leader. He sought to
minimize the effect of the disclosures revealed in Marshall's
dispatches. Writing to Peter Carr, April 12, 1798, Jefferson said: "You
will perceive that they [the envoys] have been assailed by swindlers,
whether with or without the participation of Talleyrand is not very
apparent.... That the Directory knew anything of it is neither proved
nor probable."[817] On June 8, 1798, Jefferson wrote to Archibald
Stuart: "It seems fairly presumable that the douceur of 50,000 Guineas
mentioned in the former dispatches was merely from X. and Y. as not a
word is ever said by Talleyrand to our envoys nor by them to him on the
subject."[818] Thus Jefferson's political desperation caused him to deny
facts which were of record, for the dispatches show, not only that
Talleyrand had full knowledge of the disgraceful transaction, but also
that he originated and directed it.
The efforts of the Republicans to sneer away the envoys' disclosures
awakened Washington's bitter sarcasm. The Republicans were
"thunder-stricken ... on the publication of the dispatches from our
envoys," writes he, "but the contents of these dispatches are now
resolved by them into harmless chitchat--mere trifles--less than was or
ought to have been expected from the misconduct of the Administration
of this country, and that it is better to submit to such chastisement
than to hazard greater evils by shewing futile resentment."[819]
Jefferson made no headway, however, in his attempts to discredit the X.
Y. Z. revelations. Had the Federalists stopped with establishing the
Navy Department and providing for an army, with Washington at its head;
had they been content to build ships and to take other proper measures
for the National defense, Adams's Administration would have been saved,
the Federalist Party kept alive for at least four years more, the
Republican Party delayed in its recovery and Jefferson's election to the
Presidency made impossible. Here again Fate worked, through the
blindness of those whose day had passed, the doom of Federalism. The
Federalists enacted the Alien and Sedition Laws and thus hastened their
own downfall.
Even after this legislation had given him a new, real, and irresistible
"issue," Jefferson still assailed the conduct of Marshall and Pinckney;
he was resolved that not a single Republican vote should be lost. Months
later he reviews the effect of the X. Y. Z. disclosures. When the envoys
were appointed, he asserts, many "suspected ... from what was understood
of their [Marshall's and Pinckney's] dispositions," that the mission
would not only fail, but "widen the breach and provoke our citizens to
consent to a war with" France "& union with England." While the envoys
were in Paris the Administration's hostile attitude toward France
alarmed the people; "meetings were held ... in opposition to war"; and
the "example was spreading like a wildfire."
Then "most critically for the government [Administration]," says
Jefferson, "the dispatches ... prepared by ... Marshall, with a view to
their being made public, dropped into their laps. It was truly a
God-send to them & they made the most of it. Many thousands of copies
were printed & dispersed gratis, at the public expense; & the zealots
for war co-operated so heartily, that there were instances of single
individuals who printed & dispersed 10. or 12,000 copies at their own
expense. The odiousness of the corruption supposed in those papers
excited a general & high indignation among the people."
Thus, declares Jefferson, the people, "unexperienced in such maneuvers,"
did not see that the whole affair was the work of "private swindlers"
unauthorized by "the French government of whose participation there was
neither proof nor probability." So "the people ... gave a loose [tongue]
to" their anger and declared "their honest preference of war to
dishonor. The fever was long & successfully kept up and ... war measures
as ardently crowded."[820]
Jefferson's deep political sagacity did not underestimate the revolution
in the thought and feelings of the masses produced by the outcome of the
French mission; and he understood, to a nicety, the gigantic task which
must be performed to reassemble and solidify the shattered Republican
ranks. For public sentiment was, for the time being, decidedly warlike.
"We will pay tribute to no nation; ... We shall water our soil with our
blood ... before we yield,"[821] was Troup's accurate if bombastic
statement of the popular feeling.
When the first ship with American newspapers containing the X. Y. Z.
dispatches reached London, they were at once "circulated throughout
Europe,"[822] and "produced everywhere much sensation favorable to the
United States and hostile to France."[823] The intimates of Talleyrand
and the Directory were "disappointed and chagrined.... Nothing can
exceed the rage of the apostate Americans, who have so long
misrepresented and disgraced their country at Paris."[824] From the
first these self-expatriated Americans had flattered Gerry and sent
swarms of letters to America about the good intentions of the
Directory.[825]
American diplomatic representatives abroad were concerned over
Gerry's whimsical character and conduct. "Gerry is yet in Paris!...
I ... fear ... that man's more than infantine weakness. Of it you
cannot have an idea, unless you had seen him here [The Hague] and at
Paris. Erase all the two lines above; it is true, but it is cruel. If
they get hold of him they will convert him into an innocent baby-engine
against the government."[826]
And now Gerry, with whom Talleyrand had been amusing himself and whose
conceit had been fed by American partisans of France in Paris, found
himself in sorry case. Talleyrand, with cynical audacity, in which one
finds much grim humor, peremptorily demands that Gerry tell him the
names of the mysterious "X., Y., and Z." With comic self-abasement, the
New Englander actually writes Talleyrand the names of the latter's own
agents whom Gerry had met in Talleyrand's presence and who the French
Minister personally had informed Gerry were dependable men.
The Federalists made the most of Gerry's remaining in Paris. Marshall
told them that Gerry had "suffered himself to be wheedled in
Paris."[827] "I ... rejoice that I voted against his appointment,"[828]
declared Sedgwick. Cabot denounced Gerry's "course" as "the most
dangerous that cou'd have been taken."[829] Higginson asserted that
"those of us who knew him [Gerry] regretted his appointment and expected
mischief from it; but he has conducted himself worse than we had
anticipated."[830] The American Minister to Great Britain, bitterly
humiliated, wrote to Hamilton that Gerry's "answer to Talleyrand's
demands of the names of X, Y, and Z, place him in a more degraded light
than I ever believed it possible that he or any other American citizen
could be exhibited."[831] And Thomas Pinckney feared "that to want of
[Gerry's] judgment ... may be added qualities of a more criminal
nature."[832]
Such sentiments, testifies Pickering, were common to all "the public men
whom I had heard speak of Mr. G."; Pinckney, Gerry's colleague, tells
his brother that he "never met with a man _so destitute of candour and
so full of deceit as Mr. Gerry_," and that this opinion was shared by
Marshall.[833] Troup wrote: "We have seen and read with the greatest
contempt the correspondence between Talleyrand and Mr. Gerry relative to
Messrs. X. Y. and Z.... I can say nothing honorable to [of] him [Gerry].
De mortuis nil nisi bonum is a maxim as applicable to him as if he was
in his grave."[834] Washington gave his opinion with unwonted mildness:
"Nothing can excuse his [Gerry's] _secret_ negotiations.... I fear ...
that _vanity_ which may have led him into the mistake--& consciousness
of being _duped_ by the _Diplomatic skill_ of our good and magnanimous
Allies are too powerful for a weak mind to overcome."[835]
Marshall was on tenter-hooks for fear that Gerry would not leave France
before the Directory got wind "of the present temper" of the American
people, and would hint to Gerry "insidious propositions ... not with
real pacific views but for the purpose of dividing the people of this
country and separating them from their government."[836] The peppery
Secretary of State grew more and more intolerant of Gerry. He tells
Marshall that "Gerry's correspondence with Talleyrand about W.[837] X.
Y. and Z: ... is the finishing stroke to his conduct in France, by which
he has dishonoured and injured his country and sealed his own indelible
disgrace."[838]
Marshall was disgusted with the Gerry-Talleyrand correspondence about
the names of "X. Y. Z.," and wrote Pickering of Gerry's dinner to
Talleyrand at which Hottenguer, Bellamy, and Hauteval were present and
of their corrupt proposition to Gerry in Talleyrand's presence.[839]
Pickering urged Marshall to write "a short history of the mission of the
envoys extraordinary," and asked permission to show Marshall's journal
to President Adams.[840]
Marshall is "unwilling," he says, "that my hasty journal, which I had
never even read over until I received it from you, should be shown to
him. This unwillingness proceeds from a repugnance to give him the
vexation which I am persuaded it would give him." Nevertheless, Adams
did read Marshall's Journal, it appears; for Cabot believed that "the
reading of Marshall's journal has compelled the P[resident] to ...
acquiesce in the unqualified condemnation of Gerry."[841]
On his return to America, Gerry writes a turgid letter defending himself
and exculpating Talleyrand and the Directory. The Secretary of State
sends Gerry's letter to Marshall, declaring that Gerry "ought to be
impeached."[842] It "astonishes me," replies Marshall; and while he
wishes to avoid altercation, he thinks "it is proper for me to notice
this letter," and encloses a communication to Gerry, together with a
"certificate," stating the facts of Gerry's now notorious dinner to
Talleyrand.[843]
Marshall is especially anxious to avoid any personal controversy at the
particular moment; for, as will presently appear, he is again running
for office. He tells Pickering that the Virginia Republicans are
"perfectly prepared" to use Gerry in any way "which can be applied to
their purposes"; and are ready "to receive him into their bosoms or to
drop him entirely as he may be French or American." He is so
exasperated, however, that he contemplates publishing the whole truth
about Gerry, but adds: "I have been restrained from doing so by my
having as a punishment for some unknown sins, consented to be nam'd a
candidate for the ensuing election to Congress."[844]
Finding himself so violently attacked in the press, Marshall says: "To
protect myself from the vexation of these newspaper altercations ... I
wish if it be possible to avoid appearing in print myself." Also he
makes the excuse that the courts are in session, and that "my absence
has plac'd my business in such a situation as scarcely to leave a moment
which I can command for other purposes."[845]
A week later Marshall is very anxious as to what course Gerry intends to
take, for, writes Marshall, publications to mollify public opinion
toward France and to irritate it against England "and to diminish the
repugnance to pay money to the French republic are appearing every
day."[846]
The indefatigable Republican chieftain had been busily inspiring attacks
upon the conduct of the mission and particularly upon Marshall. "You
know what a wicked use has been made of the ... X. Y. Z. dish cooked up
by Marshall, where the swindlers are made to appear as the French
government," wrote Jefferson to Pendleton. "Art and industry combined
have certainly wrought out of this business a wonderful effect on the
people." But "now that Gerry comes out clearing the French government of
that turpitude, ... the people will be disposed to suspect they have
been duped."
Because Marshall's dispatches "are too voluminous for them [the people]
and beyond their reach" Jefferson begs Pendleton to write a pamphlet
"recapitulating the whole story ... short, simple & levelled to every
capacity." It must be "so concise as omitting nothing material, yet may
be printed in handbills." Jefferson proposes to "print & disperse 10.
or 20,000 copies"[847] free of postage under the franks of Republican
Congressmen.
Pickering having referred scathingly to the Gerry-Talleyrand dinner,
Gerry writes the President, to deny Marshall's account of that function.
Marshall replies in a personal letter to Gerry, which, considering
Marshall's placid and unresentful nature, is a very whiplash of rebuke;
it closes, however, with the hope that Gerry "will think justly of this
subject and will thereby save us both the pain of an altercation I do so
wish to avoid."[848]
A few months later Marshall, while even more fixed than ever in his
contempt for Gerry, is mellower in expressing it. "I am grieved rather
than surprised at Mr. Gerry's letter," he writes.[849] So ended the only
incident in Marshall's life where he ever wrote severely of any man.
Although the unfriendliness between Jefferson and himself grew through
the years into unrelenting hatred on both sides, Marshall did not
express the intensity of his feeling. While his courage, physical and
moral, was perfect, he had no stomach for verbal encounters. He could
fight to the death with arms or arguments; but personal warfare by
tongue or pen was beyond or beneath him. Marshall simply could not scold
or browbeat. He was incapable of participating in a brawl.
Soon after reaching Richmond, the domestic Marshall again shines out
sunnily in a letter to his wife at Winchester, over the Blue Ridge. He
tells his "dearest Polly" that although a week has passed he has
"scarcely had time to look into any business yet, there are so many
persons calling every hour to see me.... The hot and disagreeable ride"
to Richmond had been too much for him, but "if I could only learn that
you were entirely restored I should be happy. Your Mama & friends are in
good health & your Mama is as cheerful as usual except when some
particular conversation discomposes her.
"Your sweet little Mary is one of the most fascinating little creatures
I ever beheld. She has improved very much since I saw her & I cannot
help agreeing that she is a substitute for her lovely sister. She talks
in a way not easily to be understood tho she comprehends very well
everything that is said to her & is the most coquettish little prude &
the most prudish little coquet I ever saw. I wish she was with you as I
think she would entertain you more than all the rest of your children
put together.
"Poor little John[850] is cutting teeth & of course is sick. He appeared
to know me as soon as he saw me. He would not come to me, but he kept
his eyes fixed on me as on a person he had some imperfect recollection
of. I expect he has been taught to look at the picture & had some
confused idea of a likeness. He is small & weakly but by no means an
ugly child. If as I hope we have the happiness to raise him I trust he
will do as well as the rest. Poor little fellow, the present hot weather
is hard on him cutting teeth, but great care is taken of him & I hope he
will do well.
"I hear nothing from you my dearest Polly but I will cherish the hope
that you are getting better & will indulge myself with expecting the
happiness of seeing you in October quite yourself. Remember my love to
give me this pleasure you have only to take the cold bath, to use a
great deal of exercise, to sleep tranquilly & to stay in cheerful
company. I am sure you will do everything which can contribute to give
you back to yourself & me. This hot weather must be very distressing to
you--it is to everybody--but it will soon be colder. Let me know in time
everything relative to your coming down. Farewell my dearest Polly. I am
your ever affectionate
"J. MARSHALL."[851]
On taking up his private business, Marshall found himself hard-pressed
for money. Payments for the Fairfax estate were overdue and he had no
other resources with which to meet them but the money due him upon his
French mission. "The disarrangement," he writes to the Secretary of
State, "produc'd by my absence and the dispersion of my family oblige me
to make either sales which I do not wish or to delay payments of money
which I ought not to delay, unless I can receive from the treasury. This
state of things obliges me to apply to you and to ask whether you can
furnish me either with an order from the Secretary of the Treasury on
Colo. Carrington or with your request to him to advance money to me. The
one or the other will be sufficient."[852]
Pickering writes Marshall that Carrington can safely advance him the
needed cash. "I will lose no time to place the balance in your
hands,"[853] says Pickering, upon the receipt of Marshall's statement of
his account with the Government.
The total amount paid Marshall for his eleven months' absence upon the
French mission was $19,963.97,[854] which, allowing five thousand
dollars for his expenses--a generous estimate--was considerably more
than three times as much as Marshall's annual income from his law
practice. It was an immense sum, considering the compensation of public
officials at that period--not much less than the annual salaries of the
President and his entire Cabinet; more than the total amount annually
paid to the justices of the Supreme Court. Thus, for the time being, the
Fairfax estate was saved.
It was still necessary, however, if he, his brother, and brother-in-law,
were to discharge the remaining payments, that Marshall should give
himself to the business of making money--to work much harder than ever
he had done before and than his natural inclinations prompted.
Therefore, no more of unremunerative public life for him--no more waste
of time in the Legislature. There never could, of course, come another
such "God-send," to use Marshall's phrase as reported by Jefferson,[855]
as the French mission; and few public offices, National or State,
yielded so much as he could make in the practice of his profession. Thus
financial necessity and his own desire settled Marshall in the resolve,
which he believed nothing ever could shake, to give the remainder of his
days to his personal and private business. But Fate had her own plans
for John Marshall and again overruled what he believed to be his fixed
and unalterable purpose.
FOOTNOTES:
[741] See summary in McMaster, ii, 374.
[742] Six copies of the dispatches of the American envoys to the
Secretary of State were sent by as many ships, so that at least one of
them might reach its destination.
[743] Jefferson to Madison, Jan. 25, 1798; _Works_: Ford, viii, 259.
[744] Jefferson to Madison, Feb. 15, 1798; _Works_: Ford, viii, 368.
[745] Skipwith to Jefferson, Paris, March 17, 1798; Gibbs, ii, 160.
[746] _Am. St. Prs., For. Rel._, ii, 152, 157, 159, 161, 166.
[747] _Ib._ The President at this time communicated only the first
dispatch, which was not in cipher. It merely stated that there was no
hope that the envoys would be received and that a new decree directed
the capture of all neutral ships carrying any British goods whatever.
(_Ib._, 157.)
[748] _Ib._, 152; Richardson, i, 264; and _Works_: Adams, ix, 156.
[749] Jefferson to Madison, March 21, 1798; _Works_: Ford, viii, 386.
[750] Jefferson to Monroe, March 21, 1798; _ib._, 388-89.
[751] Jefferson to Madison, March 29, 1798; _ib._, 392.
[752] Jefferson to Pendleton, April 2, 1798; _ib._, 394-97.
[753] _Aurora_, April 3, 1798.
[754] Otis to Mason, March 22, 1798; Morison, i, 90.
[755] Jonathan Mason to Otis, March 30, 1798; _ib._, 93. And see the
valuable New England Federalist correspondence of the time in _ib._
[756] _Aurora_, April 7, 1798. A week later, under the caption, "The
Catastrophe," the _Aurora_ began the publication of a series of ably
written articles excusing the conduct of the French officials and
condemning that of Marshall and Pinckney.
[757] Troup to King, June 3, 1798; King, ii, 329. Ten thousand copies of
the dispatches were ordered printed and distributed at public expense.
Eighteen hundred were sent to Virginia alone. (Pickering to Marshall,
July 24, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc.) This was the beginning
of the printing and distributing of public documents by the National
Government. (Hildreth, ii, 217.)
[758] Pickering's statement, April 3, 1798; _Am. St. Prs._, ii, 157.
[759] Jefferson to Madison, April 5, 1798; _Works_: Ford, viii, 398.
[760] _Ib._
[761] Pickering to Jay, April 9, 1798; _Jay_: Johnston, iv, 236.
[762] Jefferson to Madison, April 26, 1798; _Works_: Ford, viii, 411.
Among the Republicans who deserted their posts Jefferson names Giles,
Nicholas, and Clopton.
[763] Jefferson to Madison, April 6, 1798; _ib._, 403.
[764] _Ib._, April 12, 1798; _ib._, 404.
[765] Jefferson to Carr, April 12, 1798; _Works_: Ford, viii, 405-06.
[766] Madison to Jefferson, April 15, 1798; _Writings_: Hunt, vi, 315.
[767] Washington to Pickering, April 16, 1798; _Writings_: Ford, xiii,
495.
[768] Washington to Hamilton, May 27, 1798; _ib._, xiv, 6-7.
[769] Sedgwick to King, May 1, 1798; King, ii, 319.
[770] Ames to Gore, Dec. 18, 1798; _Works_: Ames, i, 245-46.
[771] Troup to King, June 3, 1798; King, ii, 329.
[772] Jefferson to Madison, May 3, 1797, _Works_: Ford, viii, 413.
[773] Jefferson to Monroe, March 7, 1801; _ib._, ix, 203.
[774] Higginson to Pickering, June 26, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist.
Soc.
[775] Jonathan Mason to Otis, May 28, 1798; Morison, i, 95-96.
[776] Troup to King, June 3, 1798; King, ii, 329.
[777] _Ib._, 330; and see letters of Bingham, Lawrence, and Cabot to
King, _ib._, 331-34. From the newspapers of the time, McMaster has drawn
a brilliant picture of the thrilling and dramatic scenes which all over
the United States marked the change in the temper of the people.
(McMaster, ii, 376 _et seq._)
[778] "Hail Columbia exacts not less reverence in America than the
Marseillaise Hymn in France and Rule Britannia in England." (Davis,
128.)
[779] Norfolk (Va.) _Herald_, June 25, 1798.
[780] Troup to King, June 23, 1798; King, ii, 349.
[781] Even Franklin's welcome on his first return from diplomatic
service in England did not equal the Marshall demonstration.
[782] A strenuously Republican environ of Philadelphia.
[783] _Gazette of the United States_, June 20, 1798; see also
Claypoole's _American Daily Advertiser_, Wednesday, June 20, 1798.
[784] _Gazette of the United States_, June 21, 1798.
[785] _Aurora_, June 21, 1798; and see _ib._, June 20.
[786] Jefferson to Madison, June 21, 1798; _Works_: Ford, viii, 439-40.
[787] General Marshall at O'Eller's Hotel, June 23, 1798; Jefferson
MSS., Lib. Cong.
[788] _Green Bag_, viii, 482-83.
[789] Marshall to Jefferson; Jefferson MSS., Lib. Cong.
[790] Pickering to Marshall, Sept. 20, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist.
Soc.
[791] This sentiment has been ascribed to General C. C. Pinckney,
Marshall's colleague on the X. Y. Z. mission. But it was first used at
the Philadelphia banquet to Marshall. Pinckney's nearest approach to it
was his loud, and wrathful, "No! not a sixpence!" when Hottenguer made
one of his incessant demands for money. (See _supra_, 273.)
[792] Claypoole's _American Daily Advertiser_, Wednesday, June 20, 1798;
Pa. Hist. Soc. The toasts drank at this dinner to Marshall illustrate
the popular spirit at that particular moment. They also furnish good
examples of the vocabulary of Federalism at the period of its revival
and only two years before its annihilation by Jefferson's new party:--
"1. The United States--'free, sovereign & independent.'
"2. The people and the Government--'one and indivisible.'
"3. The President--'some other hand must be found to sign the
ignominious deed' that would surrender the sovereignty of his
Country.
"4. General Washington--'His name a rampart & the Knowledge that
he lives a bulwark against mean and secret enemies of his
Country's Peace.'
"5. General Pinckney. ''Tis not in mortals to command success: He
has done more--deserved it.'
"6. The Officers & Soldiers of the American Army. 'May glory be
their Theme, Victory their Companion, & Gratitude & Love their
Rewards.'
"7. The Navy of the United States. 'May its infant efforts, like
those of Hercules, be the Presage of its future Greatness.'
"8. The Militia. 'May they never cease to combine the Valor of
the Soldier with the Virtues of the Citizen.'
"9. The Gallant Youth of America. 'May they disdain to hold as
Tenants at Will, the Independence inherited from their
ancestors.'
"10. The Heroes who fell in the Revolutionary War. 'May their
memory never be dishonored by a surrender of the Freedom
purchased with their Blood.'
"11. The American Eagle. 'May it regard with disdain the crowing
of the Gallic cock.'
"12. Union & Valour--infallible Antidotes against diplomatic
skill.
"13. Millions for Defense but not a cent for Tribute.
"14. The first duties of a good citizen--Reverence for the Laws
and Respect for the Magistracy.
"15. Agriculture & Commerce--A Dissolution of whose partnership
will be the Bankruptcy of both.
"16. The Constitution--'Esto Perpetua.'
"After General Marshall Retired:--
"General Marshall--The man whom his country delights to Honor."
(_Ib._, June 25, 1798.)
[793] Claypoole's _American Daily Advertiser_, Monday, June 25, 1798;
and _Gazette of the United States_, Saturday, June 23, 1798.
[794] _Ib._, June 25, 1798; and June 23, 1798.
[795] Adams to Congress, June 21, 1798; _Works_: Adams, ix, 158; and
Richardson, i, 266. Italics are mine.
[796] _Infra_, chap. XII.
[797] Marshall to Washington, June 22, 1798; MS., Lib. Cong.
[798] _Aurora_, June 30, 1798.
[799] _Gazette of the United States_, June 28, 1797.
[800] _Columbian Centinel_, Boston, Sept. 22, 1798.
[801] Norfolk (Va.) _Herald_, Aug. 30, 1798.
[802] Troup to King, Nov. 16, 1798; King, ii, 465; and see same to same,
July 10, 1798; _ib._, 363.
[803] Carey's _United States Recorder_, Aug. 16, 1798.
[804] McMaster, ii, 380-85; Hildreth, v, 203 _et seq._
[805] McMaster, ii, 380-85.
[806] "Oration of Robert Treat Paine to Young Men of Boston," July 17,
1799; in Works of _Robert Treat Paine_, ed. 1812, 301 _et seq._
[807] Washington to Murray, Aug. 10, 1798; _Writings_: Ford, xiv, 72.
[808] Norfolk (Va.) _Herald_, July 10, 1798.
[809] Washington to Jas. Marshall, July 18, 1798; MS., N.Y. Pub. Lib.
And see Washington to Murray, Aug. 10, 1798; _Writings_: Ford, xiv, 71.
"I ... hope that ... when the Despots of France find how much they ...
have been deceived by their partisans _among us_, ... that an appeal to
arms ... will be ... unnecessary." (_Ib._)
[810] Troup to King, July 10, 1798; King, ii, 362.
[811] Skipwith to Jefferson, March 17, 1798; Gibbs, ii, 158.
[812] _Supra_, chap. VIII.
[813] Skipwith to Jefferson, March 17, 1798; Gibbs, ii, 158.
[814] Washington to Adams, July 4, 1798; _Writings_: Ford, xiv, 15-19.
[815] See _infra_, chap. XII.
[816] See Marshall (1st ed.), v, footnote to 743; Hildreth, v, 218; also
McMaster, ii, 390.
[817] Jefferson to Carr, April 12, 1798; _Works_: Ford, viii, 405.
[818] Jefferson to Stuart, June 8, 1798; _ib._, 436.
[819] Washington to McHenry, May, 1798; _Writings_: Ford, xiii, footnote
to 495.
[820] Jefferson to Gerry, Jan. 26, 1799; _Works_: Ford, ix, 21-22.
[821] Troup to King, July 10, 1798; King, ii, 363.
[822] King to Hamilton, London, July 14, 1798; _ib._, 365.
[823] Smith to Wolcott, Lisbon, Aug. 14, postscript Aug. 17, 1798;
Gibbs, ii, 120.
[824] King to Troup, July 31, 1798; King, ii, 377.
[825] King to Pickering, July 19, 1798; _ib._, 370.
[826] Murray to J. Q. Adams, June 8, 1787; _Letters_: Ford, 416.
[827] Troup to King, July 10, 1798; King, ii, 363.
[828] Sedgwick to King, July 1, 1798; _ib._, 353.
[829] Cabot to King, July 2, 1798; _ib._, 353.
[830] Higginson to Wolcott, Sept. 11, 1798; Gibbs, ii, 107.
[831] King to Hamilton, London, July 14, 1798; King, ii, 365.
[832] Thomas Pinckney to King, July 18, 1798; King, ii, 369.
[833] Pickering to King, Sept. 15, 1798, quoting Pinckney; _ib._, 414.
Italics are Pinckney's.
[834] Troup to King, Oct. 2, 1798; _ib._, 432-33.
[835] Washington to Pickering, Oct. 26, 1798; _Writings_: Ford, xiv,
121.
[836] Marshall to Pickering, Aug. 11, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist.
Soc.
[837] Beaumarchais.
[838] Pickering to Marshall, Sept. 4, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist.
Soc.
[839] Marshall to Secretary of State, Sept. 15, 1798; _ib._
[840] Pickering to Marshall, Oct. 19, 1798; _ib._
[841] Cabot to King, April 26, 1798; King, iii, 9.
[842] Pickering to Marshall, Nov. 5, 1798; Pickering MSS.
[843] Marshall to Pickering, Nov. 12, 1798; _ib._
[844] See next chapter.
[845] Marshall to Pickering, Oct. 15, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist.
Soc.
[846] Marshall to Pickering, Oct. 22, 1798; _ib._, Mass. Hist. Soc.,
xxiii, 251.
[847] Jefferson to Pendleton, Jan. 29, 1799; _Works_: Ford, ix, 27-28.
[848] Marshall to Pickering, November 12, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass.
Hist. Soc.
[849] Marshall to Secretary of State, Feb. 19, 1799; _ib._
[850] Marshall's fourth child, born January 15, 1798, during Marshall's
absence in France.
[851] Marshall to his wife, Richmond, Aug. 18, 1798; MS. Mrs. Marshall
remained in Winchester, where her husband had hurried to see her after
leaving Philadelphia. Her nervous malady had grown much worse during
Marshall's absence. Mrs. Carrington had been "more than usual occupied
with my poor sister Marshall ... who fell into a deep melancholy. Her
husband, who might by his usual tenderness (had he been here) have
dissipated this frightful gloom, was long detained in France.... The
malady increased." (Mrs. Carrington to Miss C[airns], 1800; Carrington
MSS.)
[852] Marshall to Pickering, August 11, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass.
Hist. Soc., xxiii, 33.
[853] Pickering to Marshall, Sept. 4, 1798; _ib._
[854] Archives, State Department. Thirty-five hundred dollars was placed
at Marshall's disposal when he sailed for France, five hundred dollars
in specie and the remainder by letter of credit on governments and
European bankers. (Marshall to Secretary of State, July 10, 1797;
Pickering MSS. Also Archives, State Department.) He drew two thousand
dollars more when he arrived at Philadelphia on his return (June 23;
_ib._), and $14,463.97 on Oct. 13 (_ib._).
[855] The "Anas"; _Works_: Ford, i, 355.