Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2

est he should determine on a final retirement from public life. It was well known that he had originally accepted the office with extreme reluctance

first inaugurated, the call of his country to give it strength and permanence was not more urgent than that which now summoned him to save it from the rage of party spirit. Troubles and difficulties were also threatening the country from abroad as well as in

ressed himsel

our mind on full view of them, and that there could be little hope of changing the result. Pursuing my reflections, too, I knew we were some day to try to walk alone, and if the essay should be made while you should be alive and looking on, we should derive confidence from that circumstance and resource if it failed. The public mind, too, was t

lead the people in any quarter into violence or secession. North and South will hang together, if they have you to hang on; and if the first corrective of

your condition, and the law imposed on you by Providence in forming your character and fashioning the events on which it was to operate, and it is to motives like these and not to personal anxieties of mine or others, who have no right to call on you for sacrifices, that I appeal from your former determination, and urge a revisal of it, on the ground of change in the aspect of things. Should an honest majority result from the new and enl

public utility. Multitudes can fill the office in which you have been pleased to place me, as much to their advantage and satisfaction. I, therefore, have no motive to consult but my own inclination, which is bent irresistibly on the tranquil enjoyment of my family, my farm, and my books. I should repose among them, it is true, in far greater security, if I were to know that you remained at the watch, and I hope it will be so. To the induc

on of it, and beg permission to follow you, whether in public or private life, with those sentiments of since

om Hamilto

ts: First, the effect of your declining upon the public affairs, and upon your own reputation; secondly, the effect of your continuing in reference to the declarations you have made of your disinclination to public life. And I can truly say that I have not found the least difference of sentiment on either point.

e its safest guardians; that the period of the next House of Representatives is likely to prove the crisis of its permanent character; that, if you continue in office, nothing materially mischievous is to be apprehended, if you quit much is to be dreaded; that the same motives which induced you to accept originally ought to decide you to continue till matters have assumed a more determinate aspect; that indeed it would have been better, as it regards your own character, tha

ness to the public good. I trust that it need not continue above a year or two more. And I think that it will be

oncern for the public welfare and an affectionate personal attachment. These dispositions must continue t

wrote a

s embarrassments, not wholly unknown to you, and sacrificed some opinions, which, but for its jeopardy, I should never have surrendered, seems to me to be, now, at the eve of a crisis. It is feared by those who take a serious interest in the affairs of the United States tha

s it is meditated to push the construction of Federal powers to every tenable extreme. A third class, republican in principle, and, thus far, in my judgment, happy in their discernment of our welfare, have, notwithstanding, mingled with their doctrin

ences of a dereliction of the reins. The constitution would never have been adopted, but from a knowledge that you had once sanctioned it, and an expectation that you would execute it. It is in a state of probation. The most inauspicious struggles are past, but the public deliberations need stability. You alone can give them stability. You suffered yo

ause whatsoever, of one thing I think I am sure (and I speak this from a satisfactory inquiry lately made), that, if a

learn from the following l

our favors of the 5th and 13th instant, and to thank you for the info

ditional poignancy, and, from the declining state of the health of my nephew, to whom my concerns of a domestic and private nature are entrusted, it comes with aggravated force. But as the all-wise Disposer of events has hitherto watched over my steps, I trust that, in the importa

which they now teem, of rendering the Union asunder. The seeds of discontent, distrust, and irritation which are so plentifully sown, can scarcely fail to produce this effect, and to mar that prospect of happiness which, perhaps, never beamed with more e

investigate the motives or the facts, it will be impossible, I conceive, for any man living to manage the helm or to keep the machine tog

had, in fact, already determined to retire at this time, and had accordingly prepared a farewell address to the people for the occasion. But

have discovered sentiments in favor of distinct orders in society, and, although he had spoken highly of the constitution of the United States, it was imagined that his balance could be maintained only by hereditary classes. He was also understood to be friendly to the system of finance which had been adopted, and was believed to be among the few who questioned the durability of the French republic. His great services and acknowledged vir

e Commander-in-Chief and gave him a fair claim to the favor of his country. Embracing afterward with ardor the system of State supremacy, he had contributed greatly to the rejection of the resolutions for investing Congress with the power of colle

ng the ballots in the Senate chamber (Feb. 13, 1793), it appeared that the unanimous suffrage of his country ha

to be administered in private, and that one of the judges of the Supreme Court should attend to this duty at the President's own house. Knox and Randolph were of a different opinion and decided that the ceremony sho

h, from Connecticut, afterward chief justice of the United States; Roger Sherman, also from Connecticut, one of the committee for preparing the Declaration of Independence; Ruf

. Benton's "Abridgment of the Deba

s seated at the right, and in advance of the President of the United States; a seat on the left, and also in advance, being provided for Judge Cushing, appointed to administer the oath. The doors of the Senate chamber bein

the Senate arose and addressed the Pre

is now present and ready to administer to you the oath required by

States, rising from his seat, was plea

gistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain

r presence; that, if it shall be found during my administration of the government, I have, in any instance, violated, willingly, or knowingly, the injuncti

ired by the constitution, after which the President of t

ely, an eye-witness, Arthur J. Stansbury, for twenty-five years a reporter of Congress, has given us a very lively a

s descript

d I esteem the hour when I enjoyed it as one of the brightest moments I was ever permitted to know. Its remembrance yet glows vividly on my mind; years have not dimmed it; the whole scene is yet before me; and I need not say with what force repeated pu

, which gradually opened and gave space for the approach of an elegant white coach, drawn by six superb white horses, having on its four sides beautiful designs of the four seasons, painted by Cipriani. It slowly made its way till it drew up immediately in front of the hall. The rush was now tremendous. But as the coach door opened, there issued from it two gentlemen, with long white wands, who, with some difficulty, parted the people, so as to open a passage from the carriage to the steps, on which the fortunate schoolboy had achieved a footing, and whence the whole proceeding could be distinctly seen. As the person of the President emerged from the carriage, a universal shout rent the air, and continued, as he very deliberately mounted the steps. On reaching the platform, he paused, looking back on the carriage, thus affording to the anxiety of the people the indulgence they desired, of feasting their eyes upon his person. Never did a more majestic personage present himself to the public gaze. He was within two feet of me; I could have touched his clothes; but I should

pacity, not a sound was heard; the silence of expectation was unbroken and profound; every breath seemed suspended. He was dressed in a full suit of the richest black velvet; his lower limbs in short clothes with diamond knee buckles and black silk stockings. His shoes, which were brightly japanned, were surmounted with large square silver buckles. His hair, carefully displayed in the manner of the day, was richly powdered

f the President, my boyish gaze was attracted by the splendid attire of the Chevalier d'Yrujo, the Spanish ambassador, then the only foreign minister near our infant government. His glittering star, his silk chapeau bras, edged with ostrich feathers, his foreign air and courtly bearing, contrasted strongly with those nobility of nature's forming who stood around him. It was a very fair representation of the old world and the new. How often has the same reflection occurred to me since, on witnessing the glittering and now numerous company of foreign dignitaries collected round our President by an inauguration day, or the recurrence of our national

t of battle (and which is said to have been distinctly heard above all its roar), but sufficiently loud and clear to fill the chamber, and be heard, with perfect ease, in its most remote recesses. The address was of considerable length; its topics, of course, I forget, for I was too young to understand them;

resumed his seat, when, after a slight pause, he rose and withdrew, th

nd. Beckley's enunciation, by the by, was admirably clear, giving every syllable of every word, and I m

ired and I took advantage of the bustle to descend from my unwonte

of the transactions of that memorable day; than that which any r

simple justice. In consequence of the active part which he had taken in the French revolution, Washington's bosom friend, Lafayette, had become a prisoner to the King of Prussia, and was detained in captivity. The Marchioness Lafayette, after being a prisoner in Paris, had been suffered to retir

would appear to you in a different garb. The sole object in writing to you now is, to inform you that I have deposited in the hands of Mr. Nichola

de Lafayette, of which I never yet have received the account. I could add much, but it is bes

elay in this address and remittance, and even now, the measure adopted is more the effect o

you and yours will possess the affectionate

terference with the Prussian government on behalf of Lafayette, and was desirous, if he could be released, that he and his family should reside in the United States. Everything was don

in June and July. On the 4th of July he was present at the celebration of the national anniversary by the citizens of Alexandria. He was pr

ment of this country to use every means in its power to prevent the citizens thereof from embroiling us with either of those powers, by endeavoring to maintain a strict neutrality. I therefore require that you will give the subject mature consideration, that such measures as shall be deemed most likely to effect this desirable purpose may be adopted without delay, for I have understood that vessels are already designated as privateers, and are pr

ready adverted to-that of the two great political parties then existing, one was in favor of direct aid to the French revolutionists, while the other, desirous to remain neutral while the European contest was going on, was charged by its opponents with partiality to Engla

e should be received. Upon these two questions the opinion of the Cabinet was unanimous in the affirmative-that a proclamation of neutrality should issue, and that the minister from the French Republic should be received. But upon all the other questions, the opinions of the four heads of the departments were equally divided. They were indeed questions of difficulty and delicacy equal to their importance. No less than whether, after a revolution in France annihilating the government with which the treaties of alliance and of commerce had been contracted, the treaties themselves were to be considered binding as between the nations, and particularly whether the stipulation of guarantee to France of her possessions in the West Indies, was binding upon the United States to the extent of imposing upon them the obligation of taking side with France in the

guarantee, because that stipulation, and the whole treaty of alliance in which it was contained, were professedly, and on the face of them, only defensive, while the war which the French convention had declared against Great Britain, was on the part of France offensive, the first declaration having been issued by her-that the United States were at all events absolved from the obligation of the guarantee by their inability to perform it, and that under the constitution of the United States the interpretation of treaties, and the obligations resulting from them, were within the competency of the executive department

stage of its progress, which nothing could resist, and far from indulging any question of the right of the President to recognize a new revolutionary government, by receiving from it the credentials which none but sovereigns can grant, the American people would, at that moment, have scarcely endured an instant of hesitation on the part of the President, which should have delayed for an hour the reception of the minister from the republic of France. But the proclamation enjoining neutrality upon the people of the United States, indirectly counteracted the torrent of pa

ch the intercourse with foreign nations was regulated, and which was rigidly adhered to. In fact, it was the only step that could have saved the United States from being drawn into the vortex of European wars, which raged with so much violence for a long time afterward. Its wisdom and

ad thrown an armor theretofore deemed sacred, and for directly criminating the conduct of the President himself. It was only by opposing passions to passions, by brin

the combination of European governments against France, and the apathy with which this combination was contemplated by the executive. At the same time the most vehement declamations were published for the purpose of inflaming the resentments of the people against Britain; of enhancing the obligati

ce sufficiently bitter, quickly assumed

ench government was directed to the United States, and the resolution was taken to recall the minister who had been appointe

e flattering to the nation, and decently respectful to its government. But Mr. Genet was also furnished with private instructions, which the course of subsequent events tempted him to publish. These indicated that if the American executive should n

, but he seems to have been betrayed by the flattering reception which was given him and by th

ate, and by its citizens, with an enthusiasm well calculated to dissipate every doubt he might previously have entertained concerning the dispositions on which he was to operate. At this place he continued for several days, receiving extravagant

uls of France were assuming, under the authority of Mr. Genet, to hold

May (1793) he arrived at Philadelphia, preceded by the intelligence of his transactions in South Carolina. This information did not diminish the extravagant transports of joy with which he was welcomed by the great body of the inhabitants. Mea

the "zealous and disinterested aids" which the French people had furnished to America, unbounded exultation at the success with which their arms had been crowned, and a positive conviction that the safety of the United

ion Mr. Genet gave the most explicit assurances that, in consequence of the distance of the United States from the theater of action, and of other circumstances, France did not wish to engage them in war, but would willingly leave them to pursue their happiness

of complaints, partly founded on his proceedings in Charleston,

ioned-assumptions calculated to render America an instrument of hostility

e United States. The ship Grange, a British vessel which had been cleared out from Philadelphia, was cap

hin the power of the American government, Mr. Hammond

fatuation. Accordingly it was agreed in the Cabinet, without a dissenting voice, that the jurisdiction of every independent nation, within the limits of its own territory, being of a nature to exclude the exercise of any authority th

hould be tried against those citizens of the Unite

owever, that the original owners might claim indemnification, and that if the property was not

f the treaties by which the two nations were connected. In his exposition of these treaties, he claimed, for his own country, all that the tw

by the executive; but that no cause was perceived for changing the system which had been adopted. He was further informed that, in the opinion of the President, the United States owed it to them

tes in Congress assembled should determine that their solemn engagements should no longer be performed. Intoxicated with the sentiments expressed by a great portion of the people, and unacquainted with the firm character of Washington, he seems to have expected that the

ill be exposed to inevitable ruin in going out of the ports of the United States, which is certainly not the intention of the people of America. Their fraternal voice has resounded from every quarter around me, and their accents are not equivocal. They are pure as the hearts of those by whom they are expressed, and the more they have touched my sensibility, the more they must interest in the happiness of America the nation I represent;-the more I wish, sir, that the Federal government should observe, as far as in their power, the pub

Genet in Charleston to cruise in the service of France, were arrested by the civil magistrate, in pursuance of the determination formed by the e

ested on board the privateer of the French republic, the Citizen Genet, and conducted to prison. The crime laid to their charge-the crime which my mind

d their vessels, I call upon your intervention, sir, and that of the President of the United States, in order to obtain the immediate releasement of the above-mentioned officers, who have ac

untry of which he was the chief magistrate. Yet, in no single instance did the administration in its communications with Genet, permit itself to be betrayed into the use of one intemperate expression. The firmness with which h

ages of people, at which the ensigns of France were displayed in union with those of America-at which the red cap, as a symbol of French liberty and fraternity, triumphantly passed from head to head-at which toasts were given expressive of a desire to identify the people of America with those of France, and, und

communicated to the public, and were represented as f

was endangered also by "the pride of wealth and arrogance of power" displayed within the United States, was the motive assigned for the association. "A constant circulation of useful information, and a liberal communication of republican sentiments, were thought to be the best antidotes to any political p

m of their existence to be the resolute champions of all the encroachments attempted by the agents of the French repub

ties between the two nations, and, in defiance of the positive determina

etained him less than three weeks; and, in his absence, the heads of departments

strongly marking the rashness of Genet, and his

uise, under the name of le Petit Democrat, when Hamilton communicated her situation to Jefferson and Knox, the Secretaries of State and of War; in consequence of which, Governor Mifflin was desired to cause

ed that, by their influence, Washington had been misled, and observed, with considerable emphasis, that the President was not the sovereign of this country. The powers of peace and war being vested in Congress, it belonged to that body to decide those questions growing out of treaties which might involve peace or war, and the President, therefore, ought to have assembled the national Legislature before he ventured to issue his proclamation of neutrality, or to prohibit, by his instructions to the State governors, the enjoyment of the particular rights which France claimed under the express stipulations of the treaty of commerce. The executive construction of that treaty was neither just nor obligatory, and he would make no engagement which might be construed into a relinquishment of rights which his constituents deemed indispensable. In the course of this vehement and angry declamation, he spoke of publishin

iling on him to pledge his word that the privateer should not leave the port until the arrival of the President. The minister was not less intemperate with Jefferson than he had been with Dallas. He indulged himself in a repetition of nearly the same passionate language, and again spoke, with extreme hars

ly. She would change her position and fall down the river

nsequence of which, the governor dismissed the militia, and requested the advice of the heads of departments on the course which it would be proper for him to pursue. Both the governor

sures for establishing a battery on Mud Island, under cover of a party of militia, with directions, that if the vessel should attempt to

opted. The vessel fell down to Chester before the arrival of Washington and

lphia, and requested that the Cabinet ministers would

emocrat. On reading them, a messenger was immediately dispatched for Jefferson, but he had retired, indisposed, to his seat

et the acts of this government at defiance with impunity and then threaten the executive with an appeal to the p

e had time to consider them (upon me they come unexpectedly), I wish to know y

suspended, and in the council of the succeeding day it was determined to retain in port all privateers which had been equipped by any of the belligerent powers within the United States. Genet was informed of this determination, but in contempt of it, the Little Democrat

the principles of neutrality establish that friendly vessels make friendly goods; in vain, sir, does the President of the United States endeavor, by his proclamation, to reclaim the observation of this maxim; in vain does the desire of preserving peace lead to sacrifice the interests of France to that of the moment; in vain does the thirst of riches preponderate over honor in the political balance of America-all this management, all this condescension, all this humility, end in nothing; our enemies laugh at it; and the French, too confident, are punished for having believed that the American nation had a flag, that they had some respect for their laws, some conviction of their strength, and entertained some sentiment of their dignity. It is not possible for me, sir, to paint to you all my sensibility at this scandal, which tends to the diminution of your commerce, to the oppression of ours, and to the debasement and vilification o

ming style in which the decision of the executive was demanded, had avowed and defended the opinion that, "by the general law of nations

ependence, the spirit in which it originated had been pursued, and the haughty style of a superior had been substituted for the respectful language of diplomacy. He had seen the same minister undertake to direct the civil government, and to pronounce, in opposition to the decisions of the executive, in what departments the constitution of the United States had placed certain great national powers. To render this state of things more peculiarly critical and embarrassing, the person most instrumental in producing it had, from his arrival, thrown himself into the arms of the people, stretched out to receive him, and was emboldened by their favor to indulge the hope of succeeding in his endeavors, either to overthrow their government, or to bend it to his will. But the' full

tence had placed the nation were incessantly calumniated as infractions of those tre

, it was seldom to be shaken. Before the last letter of Genet was comm

is, the American minister at Paris, should present the whole case to the French government and request Genet's r

of the United States. These rules evidence the settled purpose of the executive faithfully to observe all the national engagements and

e impotent. But this, however strong a plea for retaliating upon France, was none for making America suffer. Corn, indeed, formed the chief export of the United States, and to prohibit them from shipping it at all-for the new regulation amounted in fact to this-was a grievance which the most pacific neutral could scarcely submit to. Another continually recurring source of complaint on the part of the United States against England was t

confined his attempts to employ the force of America against the enemies of his country to maritime enterprises. On his first arrival he is understood to have planned an expedition against the Floridas, to be carried on from Georgia, and another against Louisiana, to be carried on from the western parts of the United States. Intelligence was received that the principal officers were engaged, and the temper of the people inhabiting the western country was such as to furnish some ground for the apprehension th

apture. She was rescued from the possession of the marshal by an armed force, acting under the authority of Mr. Duplaine, the French consul, which was detached from a frigate then lying in port. Until the frigate sailed she was guarded by a part of t

r. Duplaine was revoked and he was forbidden further to exercise the consular functions. It will excite surprise that even this necessary measure

cted in the Atlantic from piratical depredations. In September, 1793, an unexpected truce for a year was concluded between Portugal and Algiers. The Dey's cruisers, therefore, immediately, and without previous notice, passed into the Atlantic, and American vessels, while on their way to Portugal and other parts of Europe, and without the smallest suspicion of danger, became a pre

ciety in Lexington, Kentucky, this sentiment was unanimously avowed in terms of extreme disrespect to the government, and a committee was appointed to open a correspondence with the inhabitants of the entire west for the purpose of uniting them on this subject and of preparing a remonstrance to the President and Congress of the United States, to be expressed "in the bold, decent, and determined language proper to be used by injured freemen when they address the servant

been made by the Cabinet of Madrid to that of London, the object of which was the United States. The precise nature of these propositions was not ascertained, but it was understood generally that their tendency was hostile, and

lic affairs, had been detained at Philadelphia during a great portion of the recess of Congress. He left that place for Mount Vernon toward the end of Septe

Cabinet, of whom Jefferson appears to have retired to Virginia and the othe

ladelphia being considered unsafe. Germantown, Wilmington, Trenton, Annapolis, Reading, and Lancaster were suggested each in turn as suitable places, but the power of the

y examined, nor was the case at that time so serious as it now is. From the Attorney-General (Randolph), to whom I have since written on this subject, requesting an official opinion, I have received no answer, nor is it likely I shall soon, as I believe he has no communication with Philadelphia. Time presses and the malady at the usual place of meeting is becoming more and more alarming. What then do you think is the most advisable course for me to pursue in the present exigency-summon Congress to meet at a certain time and place in their legislative capacity? Simply state facts and say that I will meet the members at the time and place just mentioned for ulterior arrangements? Or leave matters as they are if there is no power in the executive to alter the place legally? In the first and second cases, especially the first, the delicacy of my naming a place will readily occur to you. My wish would be that Congress could be assembled at Germantown to show that I meant no partial

assment. I even ask more. I would thank you, not being acquainted with forms, to sketch some instrument for publication, adapted to the course y

rtments having matters of their own, which called them away, has prevented my return thither longer than I had intended. I have now desired the

a person who had it from Governor Mifflin, that, by an official report from the mayor of the city, upward of 3,500 had died, and that the disorder was raging more violently than e

ge Washington, 132. For Vice-President-John Adams, 77;

lished in Arthur

Adams on Washington's P

th of October John Ha

ed during the prevalence of the yello