. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 ^Sii33^!Jifc5t3il3fcS^^ 
 
 REESE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 Class 
 
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Kngraved by J B Longacre from a Painting by B. Otis after the Portrait by G. Si 
 
 Dinted by H Quig- 
 
- 
 
 THE 
 
 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ADMINISTRATION 
 
 OF 
 
 , esiq 
 
 LATE PRESIDENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 BY JOHN WOOD, 
 
 Author of the Hiftory of Switzerland, and Svvifs Revolution. 
 
 NEW-YORK PRINTED 
 
 OF THE 
 
 1802. 
 
 C*. . 
 
HISTORY 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introductory Remarks. ...Biography of Mr. Adams.... 
 Reviezv of his Political Tenets. ...Causes of his 
 Election. 
 
 THE United States of America enjoyed, under 
 the administration of the illustrious Washington, 
 all those advantages which result from the prudent 
 policy of a virtuous magistrate. The peaceful sys 
 tem which he pursued, repaired, in a great measure, 
 the injuries sustained by a long and expensive civil 
 war. His interests and passions were the same as 
 those of the people, and a constant communica 
 tion of good offices kept alive their attachments. 
 During the first four years of the present confede 
 racy, the second station of executive public em 
 ployment, and all of the third grade, remained in 
 
 A 
 
2 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the same hands ; nor did any changes take place in 
 the more subordinate, but from voluntary resigna 
 tion and death. The public debt decreased in a 
 much greater proportion than ever was known to 
 take place in the same period, in any nation of the 
 \vorld. ...the expences of government were also 
 much less, in proportion to wealth and numbers, 
 than those of any kingdom in Europe. Affairs re 
 mained in this prosperous state until the conclusion 
 of Jay s Treaty., which the growing propensity for 
 commerce and interest had effected. Then, for 
 the first time, those generous maxims of liberty 
 which had established our independence, were 
 -observed to suffer.. ..our towns and villages were im 
 mediately stocked with British agents, Nova-Sco- 
 tian tories, and French royalists. ...the epithet of 
 royalist became a distinction more powerful than 
 merit, and the name of republican the most odious 
 of titles. The voluntary resignation of Washing 
 ton, who, probably, perceived the disorders which 
 were to follow, and the election of a monarchical 
 President, gave a four years triumph to this Hydra 
 of despotism. Before I relate the tyranny and cor 
 ruption which disfigured this period, it may not 
 be improper to give a short account of the life 
 of Mr. Adams, his political tenets, and the in 
 cidents attending his election. This will form the 
 design of the present chapter. 
 
 John Adams was born at Braintree, in Massa 
 chusetts, the 19th of October, 1735. General re 
 port states his father to have been a shoemaker. 
 
OF JOHN ADAM S. 3 
 
 and the descendant of a Scotch family who emi 
 grated to Massachusetts Bay about 1650. Young 
 Adams is also said to have prosecuted, for several 
 years, the same business ; until, by the advice cf 
 his uncle, who was a village schoolmaster, he ap 
 plied himself to the study of letters, and relinquish 
 ed the occupation of Crispin. In the year 1755 he 
 taught a school near Braintree, and continued in * 
 this sphere of life for several years. At what pe- 
 riud he commenced the study of law is uncer 
 tain...^^ only know that on the 5th of March, 
 1770, he advocated the cause of monarchy at Boston;, 
 in the case of Captain Preston, who barbarously put 
 to death several citizens of that town. Dr. Morse, 
 inja^saort biography which he has given of Mr. 
 Adams, has the following particulars respecting 
 this trial : " The cause of Captain Preston was most 
 unpopular. The whole town had been in a state 
 of irritation on account of the conduct of Governor 
 Hutchinson, and the troops which were stationed 
 in it. ...their resentment now burst into a flame. ..but 
 he felt the cause to be a just one ; and the danger 
 of incurring the displeasure of his countrymen 
 could not deter him from undertaking it. He con 
 ducted the cause with great address, by keeping 
 off the trial till the passions of the people had time 
 to subside. The trial at length commenced, and 
 lasted several days, during which, he displayed the 
 most extensive knowledge of the laws of his coun 
 try, and of humanity ; and, at the conclusion, he 
 had the satisfaction of proving to Great-Britain 
 
4 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 herself, that the citizens of Massachusetts would 
 be just and humane to their enemies, amidst the 
 grossest insults and provocations." Captain Pres 
 ton was acquitted. 
 
 Mr. Adams was afterwards elected a member 
 of the first Congress, in 1774, and certainly assist 
 ed at bringing about the memorable resolution of 
 the 4th of July, 1776, which declared the Ame 
 rican Colonies free, sovereign, and independent 
 States. 
 
 Having been, for a considerable length of time, 
 one of the commissioners of the War-department, 
 and a principal suggestor of the terms to be offered 
 to France, for forming a treaty of alliance and 
 commerce, he was sent to the court of Versailles, 
 along with Franklin and Lee, as Ministers Pleni 
 potentiaries of the United States, to consummate 
 that important business. On his return from France, 
 he was called upon by Massachusetts to assist in 
 forming a plan of government ; and this State is, 
 without doubt, indebted to Mr. Adams, both for 
 the excellencies as well as imperfections of its pre 
 sent constitution. 
 
 When this business was completed, he return 
 ed to Europe, vested with full powers from Con 
 gress, to assist at any conference which might be 
 opened for the establishment of peace; and he 
 soon after received other powers to negociate a 
 loan of money for the use of the United States; 
 and to represent them as their Minister Plenipo 
 tentiary, to their High Mightinesses the States 
 General of the United Provinces. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 5 
 
 While in Europe, Mr. Adams published his 
 Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the / 
 United States of America. To ascertain the politi 
 cal creed of Mr. Adams, it is only necessary to con 
 sider a few passages in the preface to this elabo 
 rate compilation. According to Mr. Adams, a mo 
 narchy, limited by an aristocratical and a democrat-/ 
 ical power in the constitution, is the most perfect 
 government of any. "The English," he says, " by 
 blending together the feudal institutions with those 
 of Greece and Rome, have made that noble com 
 position which avoids the inconveniencies and re 
 tains the advantages of both; and that it would be 
 the height of folly to go back to the institutions of 
 Woden and Thor and of the ancient Germans, after 
 knowing the History of England." Hume and 
 Robertson, he asserts, have given such admirable 
 accounts of the feudal institutions, and their conse 
 quences, that it would have been, perhaps, more dis- 
 creet in him to have referred to them, without say 
 ing any thing upon the subject. 
 
 As the principles of Mr. Adams respecting 
 government, are erected upon the feudal system, ^ 
 and as the theory which he has adopted con 
 cerning that system, appears, by his own confession, 
 to be drawn from Hume and Robertson, it is on 
 ly necessary, in order to expose the fallacy of the 
 political structure which Mr. Adams has raised, to 
 detect a few ofthe leading errors of these writers. 
 
 Hume and Robertson, it is well known, were 
 the slaves of a faction, and that they meanly pros* 
 
6 THE ADMINISTRATION" 
 
 tituted their talents to vindicate tyranny, and de 
 stroy the rights of their nation. ...they dwell on 
 what they term the aris,tocratical genius of ancient 
 times. ...they take a pleasure in painting the 
 power of the Saxon nobles, and in displaying the 
 abjectneas of the people of ancient Britain. From 
 a view of paying a compliment to royalty, they af 
 fect to consider the Norman invasion as the proper 
 sera of the British constitution; and William the 
 Robber, as the founder of English liberty. Mr. 
 Hume says "none of the feudal governments in Eu 
 rope had such institutions as the county courts, 
 which the great authority of the Conqueror still re 
 tained from the Saxon customs. ...all the freehold 
 ers of the county, even the greatest barons, were 
 obliged to attend the sheriffs in these courts, and to 
 assist them in the administration of justice." 
 
 In every feudal kingdom, however, notwith 
 standing this strong affirmation, the comes was 
 known and the comitatus. The comitatus, or 
 county, was the territory or estate of the comes ; 
 and the court he held, and in which he presided, 
 was the county court, to which the freeholders and 
 feudators were called, and acted as assessors or 
 Judges." * 
 
 Mr. Hume says in another place, " that the 
 great authority of the Conqueror retained the coun 
 ty courts, from the Saxon customs." He thus in 
 fers that these courts were favorable to the royal 
 authority. The fact, however, is exactly the reverse, 
 
 * Dr. Gilbert Stuart s View of Society in Europe, 
 
OF. JOHN ADAMS. 7 
 
 The greater jurisdiction there is in the nobles and 
 the people, the more limited is the prerogative of 
 princes. The county courts were eminent and for 
 midable supports of the liberty of the subject ; 
 nnd instead of giving them encouragement, it was 
 the interest of the Conqueror to employ his great 
 authority in their suppression. 
 
 Mr. Hume, notwithstanding a variety of autho 
 rities which oppose his assertions, expresses himself 
 to the following purpose. (Appendix 2d, to the 
 History of England.) " The great similarity among 
 all the feudal governments of Europe is well known 
 to every man that has any acquaintance with an 
 cient history ; and the antiquaries of all foreign 
 countries, where the question was never embarrass 
 ed by party disputes, have allowed, that the com 
 mons were very late in being admitted to a share in 
 the legislative power." 
 
 The learned work of Archbishop Hincmar, De 
 Ordine Palatii, places this matter in a very differ 
 ent light ; and the Abbe Mably, who copies and 
 comments upon it, acknowledges the supreme 
 power of the assemblies of the ancient Germans and 
 Saxons, selects examples of it, and of the inter 
 ference and consideration of the people. In fact, 
 nothing of any moment or value, in peace or in war, 
 could be done without their approbation. Their 
 assemblies, however, were very different from the 
 Elats Generaux of after times, when the rights of 
 the people were insulted, and the legislative power 
 came to reside in the sovereign..,, yet it is not unco;"- 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 mon to confound them ; and on the foundation of 
 this error, improper conclusions have been inferred 
 against the commons of England. 
 
 While liberty and the deputies of the people 
 made a figure, and while the prerogative of the 
 sovereign was restrained and directed by nation* 
 al councils and assemblies, in the other countries 
 of Europe, it appears the height of wildness to 
 conclude, as Hume has done in his History of Eng 
 land, and Robertson in his plausible introduction 
 to the History of Charles V. that in Britain, the 
 inhabitants w T ere in a state of slavery ; and that 
 the mandate of the Prince was law. His condition, 
 t:o far from being despotic, was every moment ex 
 posed to danger and insult. , He might be depo 
 sed fora slight offence. ...he was elected to his of 
 fice. ...and his coronation oath expressed his sub 
 jection to the community, and bound him to pro 
 tect the rights of his subjects. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon laws are proofs, that instead 
 of governing by his will or caprice, he was under 
 the controul of the national assembly. In the pre 
 ambles to them, we find that the wltes or sapientes, 
 were a constituent branch of the government. 
 The expression, seniores sapientes popidi mei, is a 
 part of the prologue to the ordinations of King 
 Ina, anno 712. And these sapientes populi, or 
 deputies of the people, appear in the laws of other 
 princes of the Anglo-Saxons. 
 
 By a curious testimony, it is even obvious that 
 the word sapientes must have meant the commons* 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 9 
 
 In the supplication del County de Devonshire to 
 Edward III. there are these expressions: " Que 
 luy please par Vavys des prclats, countees, barons, et 
 mitres sages in cest present parliament qrdeiner, <Sfc. 
 The bishops, the earls, barons and other sages,, in 
 this present parliament, ordain. * This supplication 
 is printed in the 4 Inst. p. 232, in the reign of the 
 third Edward : from the autres sages expressing 
 the commons, it may surely be decisively infer 
 red that sapiejites had the same meaning in older 
 times. 
 
 In fact, the expressions that denote the Anglo- 
 Saxon assemblies, allude to their nationality. "Com 
 mune concilium, converdiis omnium., concilium cleri 
 et populi, omnium principium et omnium sapientum 
 conventus, &~c. The common council", the general 
 assembly, the assembly of the clergy and people, 
 the convention of all the chiefs and all the wise 
 men," are appellations which mark forcibly the 
 interference and assistance of the commons. 
 
 Dr. Robertson has, with more art, although not 
 with equal force of thought and reasoning, incul 
 cated the same opinions as Mr. Hume. The for 
 mer was better versed in Jesuitical intrigue, the 
 latter deeper founded in metaphysical argument. 
 They both employed themselves in the cause of 
 monarchy, and their works, from beginning to 
 conclusion, can only be regarded as plausible de 
 fences of prerogative. Mr. Adams, trusting to the 
 undue weight of what are called great authorities, 
 
 B 
 
10 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 has put implicit confidence in their assertions, and 
 in a theory which was framed by them, for the ex 
 press purpose of complimenting royalty at the ex- 
 pence of their nation. 
 
 From the same cause have sprung the Senates 
 of the United States. In England, and every other 
 country where the feudal system has been establish 
 ed, an order of men superior to the commons ne 
 cessarily exist, and must remain until a total revolu 
 tion in property as well as government takes place ; 
 but in America, where the distinction of superiorand 
 vassal is unknown, and where men hold their pro 
 perty by an equal tenure, the erection ofa senate, 
 or house of chieftains, is a direct violation of the 
 rights of citizens, and can serve no other purpose 
 than to clog *the wheels of government, and add 
 to the national expence. 
 
 Mr. Adams urges as an argument in favor of 
 the establishment of a Senate, " that the rich, the 
 well-born and the able, acquire an influence among 
 the people that would soon be too much for simple 
 honesty and plain sense in a House of Representa 
 tives. The most illustrious- of them should, there 
 fore, be separated from the mass, and placed 
 by themselves in a Senate; this is, to all hon 
 est and useful intents, an ostracism. A member 
 of a Senate of immense wealth, the most respected 
 birth and transcendant abilities, has no influence 
 in the nation, in comparison of what he would 
 have in a single representative assembly. When a 
 Senate exists, the most powerful man in the State 
 
OF JOHN ADAMr. IT 
 
 may safely be admitted into the House of Repre 
 sentatives, because the people have it in their pow 
 er to remove him into the Senate as soon as his inr 
 fluence becomes dangerous." A weaker argumenr y 
 than this, could scarcely have been conceived ; 
 since it is obvious, that if the people have it in their 
 power to remove a member from the House of 
 Representatives into the Senate, when his power 
 becomes dangerous, that they have it also in their 
 power to elect another representative ; which would 
 answer a much better purpose ; for, if a man s princi 
 ples are such as to be dangerous in one house, they 
 will be equally so in another. 
 
 " The Teutonic institutions described by Caesar 
 and Tacitus," says Mr. Adams, " are the most me 
 morable experiment, merely political, ever yet made 
 in human affairs. ...they have spread all over Europe, 
 and have lasted eighteen hundred years. Nothing, 
 therefore, ought to have more weight with America, 
 to determine her judgment against mixing the au 
 thority of the one, the few and the many, assured 
 ly in one assembly, than the wide spread miseries 
 and final slavery of almost all mankind, in conse 
 quence of such an ignorant policy in the ancient 
 Germans." Mr. Adams could not possibly have 
 expressed sentiments more hostile to the pure prin 
 ciples of republicanism than these. It is well known, 
 that while the superior and the vassal, the chief and 
 the retainer, were intimately connected, appeared 
 in the same assembly, and were only distinguished 
 by virtye and talents, the feudal association, was 
 
12 THE ADMINISTRA TlOtf 
 
 a state of the greatest happiness.. ..violence and cor 
 ruption did not disfigure society, until the original 
 manners which the Germans brought from their 
 woods began to decay. The separation of the in 
 terests of the lord and the vassal, by the two Houses 
 of Assembly, first altered the condition of society. 
 Sufferance soon succeeded to enjoyment, oppres 
 sion to freedom, and contentions arose, which 
 terminated in the destruction of the independence 
 of the European nations. Yet this latter state is 
 that which Mr. Adams labours to impose upon 
 Americans : and to divide their society, by erecting a 
 house of noble Senators in the midst of republicans. 
 X These having been the acknowledged senti 
 ments of Mr. Adams, it may appear strange how 
 he became the President of a free people, and the 
 successor of the virtuous Washington. The ser 
 vices which he performed towards the establishment 
 of American independence, by means of his in 
 trigues at the court of Versailles, and the profuse 
 distribution of British gold in the United States, 
 can only account for this extraordinary election. 
 But notwithstanding, upon strict enquiry, he does 
 not appear to have been the choice of the real ma 
 jority. The following facts related by Mr. Callen- 
 der, though they may be denied by the friends of 
 Mr. Adams, are certainly correct. ...the truth of 
 them has been fully ascertained : 
 
 In Pennsylvania Mr. Adams gained a vote by 
 the trick of a Post-master, who stopt the mail from 
 Greene county, till the poll was closed at Philadel- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 13 
 
 phia. In Maryland he gained a second, by the folly 
 of one Plater, who balloted both for him and Mr. 
 Jefferson, from an anxiety that Mr. Adams should 
 be Vice-President. In Maryland he gained a third 
 suffrage, in the Western district, of that state, by a 
 majority of four voices, owing to negligence on one 
 side, and knavery on the other. The district consists 
 of two counties, Alleghany and Washington. A se 
 parate poll was held in each of them. Washing 
 ton is, of the two, by far the most populous. ...the 
 census of 1790, gives it fifteen thousand eight hun 
 dred and twenty-two inhabitants, and Alleghany 
 no more than four thousand eight hundred and nine. 
 Washington is full of republicans, and Alleghany of 
 their opponents. ...the republicans put an end to 
 their poll as soon as they had a considerable supe 
 riority of the whole number of genuine voters that 
 they knew to reside in the two counties, which 
 form the district. The six per cent, agitators of 
 Alleghany did not stop their s....they brought over a 
 crowd from Pennsylvania and Virginia, and by this 
 means made up a majority of four. Neither the 
 constitution nor Congress itself had provided any- 
 check for the investigation of false votes, and the 
 majority of four trampled on the rights of real citi 
 zens. Putting these facts together, it will appear 
 that Mr. Jefferson and not Mr. Adams was the 
 choice of America. The total number of electors 
 was one hundred and thirty-eight. ...each of these 
 Voted either for Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Adams. But 
 Plater voted for both. Hence instead of one hun- 
 
14 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 dred and thirty-eighty the suffrages came to one 
 more. ...thus they mounted up to one hundred and 
 thirty-nine. Gf*these, Mr. Adams had seventy-one 
 and Mr. Jefferson sixty-eight. Laying aside the 
 Maryland vote of Plater, Mr, Adams will then have 
 seventy and Mr. Jefferson sixty-seven. ...returning 
 to M r. Jefferson the Green county vote in Penn 
 sylvania, and striking out the spurious vote in the 
 Western district of Maryland, will make an odds of 
 two votes. ...abstract these two from the majority of 
 seventy, and then Mr. Adams has only sixty-eight. 
 Then add these two to the sixty-seven for Mr. Jef 
 ferson, and he is President by a majority of one. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Speech of Mr. A dams.... Speech of Mr. Jefferson..., 
 Remarks.... British Piracy... .Mr. Monroe s Em 
 bassy. 
 
 ON Saturday the 6th of March, one thousand 
 seven hundred and ninety-seven, Mr. Adams, as 
 Prebident of the United States, attended in the 
 chamber of the House of Representatives to take 
 his oath of office, according to the direction of the 
 constitution. On his entrance, as well as on the 
 entrance of General Washington and Mr. Jeffer 
 son, loud and reiterated applause burst from the 
 audience. Having taken his seat on the elevated 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 15 
 
 chair of the Speaker of the House of Representa 
 tives, the Vice-President, General Washington, 
 and the Secretary of the Senate on his right, the 
 Speaker and Clerk of the House of Representa 
 tives on his left, and the Chief-Justice of the 
 United States and Associate Judges, at a table in 
 the centre, he proceeded to deliver the following 
 speech : 
 
 " When it was first perceived, in early times, 
 that no middle course for America remained be 
 tween unlimited submission to a foreign Legisla 
 ture, and a total independence of its claims, men 
 of reflection were less apprehensive of danger, 
 from the formidable power of fleets and armies 
 they must determine to resist, than from those con 
 tests and dissentions which would certainly arise 
 concerning the forms of government to be insti 
 tuted over the whole, and over the parts of this ex 
 tensive country. Relying, however, on the purity 
 of their intentions, the justice of their cause, and 
 the integrity and intelligence of the people, under 
 an overruling Providence, which had so signally 
 protected this country from the first, the represent 
 atives of this nation, then consisting of little more 
 than half its present numbers, not onjy broke to 
 pieces the chains which were forging, and the rod 
 of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asunder 
 the ties which had bound them, and launched into 
 an ocean of uncertainty. 
 
 "The zeal and ardor of the people during tbe 
 revolutionary war, supplying the place of govern 
 
16 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ment, commanded a degree of order, sufficient at 
 least, for the temporary preservation of society. The 
 confederation, which was early felt to be necessary, 
 was prepared from the models of the Batavian and 
 Helvetic confederacies, the only examples which 
 remain, with any detail and precision, in history ; 
 and certainly the only ones which the people at 
 large had ever considered. But reflecting on the 
 striking difference in so many particulars, between 
 this country and those where a courier may go from 
 the seat of government to the frontier in a single 
 da), it was then certainly foreseen, by some who 
 assisted in Congress at the formation of it, that it 
 could not be durable. 
 
 " Negligence of its regulations, inattention to its 
 recommendations, if not disobedience to its autho 
 rity, not only in individuals but in States, soon ap 
 peared with their melancholy consequences. ...uni 
 versal languor, jealousies and rivalries of States, de 
 cline of navigation and commerce, discouragement 
 of necessary manufactures, universal fall in the 
 value of lands and their produce, contempt of pub 
 lic and private faith, loss of consideration and 
 credit with foreign nations, and,. at length, in dis 
 contents, animosities, combinations, partial conven 
 tions and insurrection, threatening some great na 
 tional calamity. 
 
 " In this dangerous crisis, the people of America 
 were not abandoned by their usual good sense, 
 presence of mind, resolution or integrity.... measures 
 were pursued, to concert a plan to form a more per- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 17 
 
 feet union, establish justice, ensure domestic tran- 
 quility, provide for the common defence, promote 
 the general welfare, and secure the blessings of 
 liberty. ...The public disquisitions, discussions and 
 deliberations, issued in the present happy constitu 
 tion of government. 
 
 " Employed in the service of my country abroad, 
 during the whole course of these transactions. I first 
 saw the constitution of the United States in a fo 
 reign country. Irritated by no literary altercation, 
 animated by no public debate, heated by no party 
 animosity, I read it with great satisfaction, as a 
 result of good heads, prompted by good hearts ; as 
 an experiment, better adapted to the genius, cha 
 racter, situation and relations of this nation and 
 country, than any which had ever been proposed or 
 suggested. In its general principles and great out 
 lines, it was conformable to such a system of gov 
 ernment, as I had ever most esteemed. ...and in some 
 States, my own State in particular, had contributed 
 to establish. Claiming a right of suffrage, in com 
 mon with my fellow citizens, in the adoption or re 
 jection of a constitution which was to rule me and 
 my posterity, as well as them and theirs, I did no^ 
 hesitate to express my approbation of it on all oc 
 casions, in public and private. It was not then, nor 
 has been since, any objection to it in my mind, that 
 the Executive and Senate were not more perma 
 nent, nor have I ever entertained a thought of 
 promoting any alteration in it, but such as the 
 people themselves, in the course of their experi- 
 
 C 
 
18 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ence, should see or feel to be necessary or expe 
 dient, and by their representatives in Congress and 
 the State Legislatures, according to the constitu 
 tion itself, adopt and ordain. 
 
 " Returning to the bosom of my country, after 
 a painful separation from it for ten years, I had the 
 honor to be elected to a station under the new- 
 order of things, and I have repeatedly laid myself 
 under the most serious obligations to support the 
 constitution. The operation of it has equalled the 
 most sanguine expectations of its friends ; and from 
 an habitual attention to it, satisfaction in its ad 
 ministration, and delight in its effects, upon the 
 peace, order, prosperity and happiness of the nation, 
 I have acquired an habitual attachment to it, and 
 veneration for it. 
 
 <c What other form of government, indeed, can 
 eo well deserve our esteem and love ? 
 
 "There may be little solidity in an ancient idea, 
 that congregations of men into cities and nations 
 are the most pleasing objects in the sight of supe 
 rior intelligences... .But this is very certain, that to 
 a benevolent human mind, there can be no specta 
 cle presented by any nation, more pleasing, more 
 noble, majestic or august, than an assembly, like 
 that which has so often been seen in this and the 
 other chamber of Congress. ...of a government, in 
 which the Executive authority, as well as that of 
 all the branches of the Legislature, are exercised by 
 citizens, selected at regular periods by their neigh 
 bours, to make and execute laws for the general 
 
OF JOHiT ADAMS", <D** 
 
 g-ood. Can any thing essential, any thing more 1 - 
 than mere ornament and decoration, be added to 
 this, by robes or diamonds ? Can authority, be 
 more amiable or respectable, when it. descends frorrr 
 accident, or institutions established in remote an 
 tiquity, than when it springs fresh from the hearts 
 and judgments of an honest and enlightened peo 
 ple ? for it is the people only that are represented r 
 It is their power and majesty that is reflected; and 
 only for their good, in every legitimate government^, 
 under whatever form it may appear. The exist 
 ence of such a government as ours, for any length . 
 of time, is a full proof of a general dissemination of 
 knowledge and virtue throughout- the whole bodjr 
 of the people. And what object or consideration,, 
 more pleasing than this, can be presented to the 
 human mind r If national pride is ever justifiable 
 or excusable, ir is when it springs not from power 
 or riches, grandeur or glory, but from conviction of 
 national innocence, information and benevolence.. 
 
 " In the midst of these pleasing ideas, we should- 
 be unfaithful to ourselves,, if we should ever lose 
 sight of the danger to our liberties. ...if any thing. 
 partial orextraneous should infect the purity of our 
 free, fair, virtuous and independent elections.. 
 
 " If aa election is to be determined by the ma 
 jority of a single vote, and that can be procured by 
 a party, through artifice or corruption, the govern 
 ment may be the choice of a party for its own ends ; 
 not of the nation, for the national good. If thai: 
 solitary suffrage can be obtained by foreign na-- 
 
20 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 tions, by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, 
 by terror, intrigue or venality, the government 
 may not be the choice of American people, but of 
 foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who 
 govern us, and not we, the people, who govern 
 ourselves : and candid men will acknowledge, 
 that in such cases, choice would have little advan 
 tage to boast of over lot or chance. 
 
 " Such is the amiable and interesting system of 
 government (and such are some of the abuses to 
 which it may be exposed) which the people of 
 ^America have exhibited to the admiration and 
 anxiety of the wise and virtuous of all nations, for 
 eight years, under the administration of a citizen, 
 who, by a long course of great actions, regulated 
 by prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude, 
 conducting a people inspired with the same virtues, 
 and animated with the same ardent patriotism and 
 love of liberty, to independence and peace, to in 
 creasing wealth and unexampled prosperity, has 
 merited the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, com 
 manded the highest praises of foreign nations, and 
 secured immortal glory with posterity. 
 
 " In that retirement which is his voluntary choice, 
 may he long live to enjoy the delicious recollection 
 of his services, the gratitude of mankind, the hap 
 py fruits of them to himself and the world, which 
 are daily increasing, and that splendid prospect" of 
 the future fortunes of his country, which is open 
 ing from year to year. His name may be still a 
 rampart, and the knowledge that he lives, a bul- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 21 
 
 wark against all open or secret enemies of his coun 
 try s peace. 
 
 " This example has been recommended to the 
 imitation of his successors, by both houses of Con 
 gress and by the voice of the Legislatures and the 
 people throughout the nation. 
 
 " On this subject it might become me better to 
 be silent, or to speak with diffidence. But as some 
 thing may be expected, the occasion, I hope, will be 
 admitted as an apology if I venture to say, that if a 
 preference upon principles of a free, republican gov 
 ernment, formed .upon long and serious reflection, 
 after a diligent and impartial enquiry after truth ; 
 if an attachment to the constitution of the United 
 States, and a conscientious determination to sup 
 port it until it shall be altered by the judgment and 
 wishes of the people, expressed in the mode pre 
 scribed in it ; if a respectful attention to the con 
 stitutions of the individual states, and a constant 
 caution and delicacy towards the State-govern 
 ments ; if an equal and impartial regard to the 
 rights, interests, honor and happiness of all the 
 States in the union, without preference or regard 
 to a northern or southern, an eastern or western 
 position, their various political opinions on unes 
 sential points, or rather their personal attachments ; 
 if a love of virtuous men of all parties and denomi 
 nations ; if a love of science and letters, and a wish 
 to patronize every rational effort to encourage 
 schools, colleges, universities, academies, and every 
 institution for propagating knowledge, virtue and 
 
22 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 religion among all classes of the people, not only 
 for their benign influence in the happiness of life 
 in all its stages and classes, and of society in all its 
 forms, but as the only means of preserving our 
 constitution from its natural enemies, the spirit of 
 sophistry, the spirit of party, the spirit of intrigue, 
 the profligacy of corruption and the pestilence of 
 foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction 
 to elective governments; if a love of equal laws, 
 of justice and humanity in the interior administra 
 tion ; if an inclination to improve agriculture, com 
 merce and manufactures, for necessity, convenience 
 and defence ; if a spirit of equity and humanity to 
 wards the aboriginal nations of America, and a dispo 
 sition to meliorate their condition, by inclining them 
 to be more friendly to us, and our citizens more 
 friendly to them ; if an inflexible determination to 
 maintain peace and inviolable faith with all nations, 
 and that system of neutrality and impartiality among 
 the belligerent powers of Europe, which has been 
 adopted by this government, and so solemnly sanc 
 tioned by both houses of Congress, and applauded 
 by the legislatures of the States, and the public 
 opinion, until it shall be otherwise ordained by 
 Congress ; if a personal esteem for the French na 
 tion, formed in a residence of seven years, chiefly 
 among them, and a sincere desire to preserve the 
 friendship which has been so much for the honour 
 and interest of both nations; if, while the con 
 scious honour and integrity of the people of Ame 
 rica, and the internal sentiment of their own pow- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 23 
 
 cr and energies must be preserved, an earnest en 
 deavor to investigate every just cause, and re 
 move every colourable pretence of complaint j 
 if an intention to pursue, by amicable negociation, 
 a reparation for the injuries that have been commit 
 ted on the commerce of our fellow citizens, by 
 whatever nation.. ..and, if success cannot be obtain 
 ed, to lay the facts before the Legislature, that they 
 may consider what further measures, the honour 
 and interest of the government and its constituents 
 demand; if a resolution to do justice, as far as 
 may depend upon me, at all times, and to all na 
 tions, and maintain peace, friendship and benevo 
 lence with all the world ; if an unshaken confi 
 dence in the honour, spirit and resources of the 
 American people, on which I have so often ha 
 zarded my all, and never been deceived ; if eleva 
 ted ideas of the high destinies of this country, and 
 of my own duties towards it, founded on a know 
 ledge of the moral principles and intellectual im 
 provements of the people, deeply engraven on my 
 mind in early life, and not obscured but exalted by 
 experience and age. . . .and as, with humble reverence, 
 I feel it to be my duty to add, if a veneration for the re 
 ligion of a people, who profess and call themselves 
 Christians, and a fixed resolution to consider a de 
 cent respect for Christianity, among the best recom 
 mendations for the public service, can enable me, 
 in any degree, to comply with your wishes, it shall 
 be my strenuous endeavour, that this sagacious in 
 junction of the two houses, shall not be without 
 effect. 
 
24 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " With this great example before me, with the 
 sense and spirit, the faith and honour, the duty and 
 interest of the same American people, pledged to 
 support the constitution of the United States, I en 
 tertain no doubt of its continuance in all its ener 
 gy, and my mind is prepared, without hesitation, 
 to lay myself under the most solemn obligations to 
 support it, to the utmost of my power. 
 
 " And may that being, who is supreme over all, 
 the patron of order, the fountain of justice and the 
 protector, in all ages of the world, of virtuous liber 
 ty, continue his blessing upon this nation, and 
 its government, and give it all possible success 
 and duration, consistent with the ends of his provi 
 dence." 
 
 After concluding his speech, Mr. Adams de 
 scended from his seat, to receive the oath of office 
 from the chief justice. Having taken the oath, 
 which was administered with great solemnity, he 
 resumed his chair, paused a few moments, then 
 rose and retired. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson addressed the Senate, which was 
 convened in their chamber, by the call of the late 
 President ; in the following extempore speech : 
 " Gentlemen of the Senate, 
 
 " Entering on the duties of the office to which 
 I am called, I feel it incumbent on me to apologize 
 to this honorable house, for the insufficient manner 
 in which I fear they may be discharged. At an 
 earlier period of my life, and through some consi 
 derable portion of it, I have been a member of 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 25 
 
 legislative bodies, and not altogether inattentive to 
 the. forms of their proceedings. ...but much time has 
 elapsed ; since that other duties have occupied my 
 mind ; in a great degree it has lost its familiarity 
 with this subject....! fear that the house will have 
 but too frequent occasion to perceive the truth of 
 this acknowledgment. If a diligent attention, 
 however, will enable me to fulfil the functions now 
 assigned me, I may promise that diligence and at 
 tention shall be sedulously employed. For one 
 portion of my duty, I shall engage with more confi 
 dence, because it will depend on, my will and not 
 on my capacity. 
 
 " The rules which are to govern the proceedings 
 of this house, so far as they shall depend on me for 
 their application, shall be applied v/ith the most 
 rigorous and inflexible impartiality, regarding nei 
 ther persons, their views or principles, and seeing 
 only the abstract proposition, subject to my decision, 
 If, in forming that opinion, I concur with some and 
 differ .from others, as must of necessity happen, I 
 shall rely on the liberality and candor of those from 
 whom I differ, to believe that I do it on pure mo 
 tives. I might here proceed, and with the greatest 
 truth, to declare my zealous attachment to the con 
 stitution of the United States ; that I consider the 
 union of these States as the first of blessings \ and, as 
 the first of duties, the preservation of that constitution 
 which secures it. But I suppose these declarations 
 notpertinent to the occasion of entering into an oliice 
 whose primary business is merely to preside over 
 
 D 
 
26 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the form of this house. And no one more sincere 
 ly prays, that no accident may call me to the higher 
 and more important functions which the constitu 
 tion eventually devolves on this office. These have 
 been justly confided to the eminent character 
 who has preceded me here, whose talents and 
 integrity have been known and revered by me 
 through a long course of years, have been the 
 foundation of a cordial ancl uninterrupted friendship 
 between us ; and I devoutly pray he may be long 
 preserved for the government, the happiness and 
 prosperity of our common country." 
 
 The apparent liberal and patriotic sentiments dis 
 played in the President s speech, had the immediate 
 effect of conciliating the friendship of many who had 
 been his most violent opposers ; the sound of words 
 was to supply for a few days, the place of virtuous 
 deeds, .and the services of Washington were to be 
 eclipsed by the laboured periods of a studied ora 
 tion. A writer in the Argus, breaks forth in the 
 following strain of unthinking panegyric : " Who 
 can peruse tlr,3 address without giving it his most 
 unreserved approbation ? It is so long since the ci- 
 ti sns of America heard an acknowledgment, on 
 of their Executive, that all power was de- 
 ;e people, that they had almost forgot 
 guven TV as a representative one.. ..not 
 
 oleasing must it be, to hear him place in a light 
 Icring on ridicule, the diamonds, robes a and 
 cuts and decorations of royalty ? a strik 
 ing ; this, to the example of his predecessor 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 27 
 
 in office. ...may he persevere in it, uninfluenced by 
 the menaces or machinations of artful and design 
 ing men." One might have supposed this to be the 
 language of ridicule and not sincerity, had not the 
 author been a clergyman, who has since figured as 
 one of the warmest espousers of the Hamiltonian 
 faction. 
 
 As the mos"- distinguishing features In Mr. Adams V 
 administration, have been his predilection for the 
 English Government, and his avowed hatred to the 
 French, it may not be improper to give a fair state 
 ment of the conduct of both these nations, to this 
 country, previous to the election of 1797. This will 
 assist to develope the secret bonds which were so 
 firmly to unite the President of a free country with 
 a British King. The most striking mark of regard 
 which the English paid to Americans, was the re 
 spect shewn to our commerce, by insulting indis 
 criminately, during the year 1796, almost every ves 
 sel which displayed the flag of the United States. 
 To enumerate all the deeds of this nature would 
 occupy several volumes. ...a few of the most glaring 
 instances will be sufficient for the purpose. 
 
 The schooner John, of Salem, Captain Philip 
 Saunders, had been on a voyage to Jamaica; while 
 he lay there, an English officer, and five men, from a 
 sloop of war, came onboard to impress his crew. 
 Only one of them happened to be on board besides 
 the mate and a boy. The rest were on shore on bu 
 siness. The gang took the sailor. On being told 
 that he was an American, they replied that they 
 
28 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 knew this, but wanted men, and would have them 
 whatever might be the consequences. Captain 
 Saunders went on board the sloop of war to reclaim 
 his seaman. The commander, in an insolent man 
 ner, ordered him back to his own vessel, desired an 
 account of the wages due to the hand, and to send 
 them and his clothes to the sloop. ...in case of non- 
 compliance he was threatened with a flogging. 
 The rest of the crew were secreted on shore, by the 
 Captain, for ten days, till the sloop of war sailed, 
 as her declared design was to impress the whole. 
 During this period the schooner lay exposed to the 
 weather as well as the insults of the sloop of war, 
 xvithout any person to take care of her except the 
 captain, his mate and the boy. ...the sloop s crew 
 consisted of eighty seven-men ; of these thirty-five 
 were said to be Americans, who had been impress 
 ed in the West-Indies. This story is related in the 
 Salem newspapers of the 8th of March, as also by 
 Mr. Callender, who concludes his account of it by 
 observing, that such, at the distance of twenty 
 months, was the success of Jay s appeal to the mag 
 nanimity of George Guelph, and of his kissing the 
 hand of " the meat, drink, snufF, and diamond-lov 
 ing Dame." 
 
 In the spring of 1796, Captain Samuel Green 
 made a voyage from Norfolk, in Virginia, to Marti- 
 nico. He commanded a fast sailing schooner, of 
 three hundred barrels burthen -, and carried a cargo 
 for the British at that island. On his arrival, the 
 consignee shewed him a bill of sale of the vessel, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 29 
 
 and told him he was no longer master, because the 
 schooner was bought for the British government, 
 and to be fitted out as a privateer. If Captain 
 Green chose to remain on board, he was told he 
 might have employment ; this offer he refused. Se 
 veral of the sailors were impressed by the British.... 
 others were enticed to enter as volunteers in the 
 different ships. 
 
 Jacob Peterson, master of the sloop Polly, of 
 Philadelphia, on the 29th of January, 1796, ar 
 rived at Cape Nichola Mole, where he had scarce 
 ly cast anchor when the Syren, a British sixty-four, 
 pressed one of his best seamen. On the 31st he 
 sailed for Jeremie. While he remained in that 
 port, about nine o clock in the evening of the 
 9th of February, Captain Reynolds, of the Har 
 riot, a British armed ship in government service, 
 manned his boat and pressed several American sea 
 men from different ships in the harbour. He be 
 gan with the ship Carolina of Baltimore, Captain 
 Luther. 
 
 Next day Reynolds went on shore, swore that 
 he would that night make a sweep among the Ame 
 ricans. The latter, hearing of his threat, assembled 
 themselves into two vessels that lay in the harbour, 
 one of them the brig Richard and James, of Phi 
 ladelphia, and the other the schooner Eliza, of Bal 
 timore. About nine o clock in the evening, a 
 boat full of armed men was observed coming from 
 the Harriot towards the Eliza. She was hailed and 
 enjoined to keep her distance, Reynolds caused 
 
30 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 his men to fire. This was returned, and after some 
 time the boat went off.... she came back with a 
 fresh supply of men, and again found it prudent to 
 retire. The people in the Eliza then went on 
 board of the Richard and James. Reynolds went 
 on shore, procured a reinforcement, and came back 
 to a third assault. Finding the Eliza deserted, he 
 gave up the attempt. In this contest, the British 
 said that they had seventeen killed or wounded. 
 The Americans had one killed and one wounded. 
 
 On the 28th of March, 1796, the ship Bac 
 chus, Captain George, arrived at Philadelphia. 
 On the 20th he was boarded by the Thetis, a Bri 
 tish frigate. She pressed his mate and cabin-boy 
 on a suspicion of their being British subjects. The 
 mate attempted to effect an escape, but was re 
 taken and nearly flogged to death. 
 
 The schooner Voluptas, Jonathan Hall, mas 
 ter, of Baltimore, was sent into Kingston by the 
 Severn, of forty-four guns. She had on board a 
 valuable cargo of coffee and cotton, and part of an 
 outward bound freight of provisions, with a large 
 sum of money. The Supercargo, Mr. Duncan, 
 was going from Gonaives to the Platform, to pur 
 chase Coffee to load the schooner for Baltimore. 
 The pretence for seizing the Voluptas was, that 
 she carried provisions for an enemy s port. At this 
 time the Captain of the Severn had detained Mr. 
 Duncan a prisoner for 52 days, and threatened to 
 try him as a British subject for high treason, al 
 though he showed a certificate of his being an Ame 
 rican citizen. 
 
t)F JOHN ADAMS* 31 
 
 Captain Hall and Mr. Duncan were seat ia 
 irons from Cape Nichola Mole to Port-Royal, on 
 board of the Lark man of war. On their passage 
 they were put upon two-thirds of the British sea 
 men s allowance of salt beef and bread. The cap 
 tain, one night while asleep, had his watch and 
 money stolen out of his pocket. It was their 
 opinion that the Severn had designed to send the 
 schooner to the bottom, for she run so near as to 
 carry away her bowsprit. 
 
 The ship Lydia, Robert Blount, master, from 
 Portsmouth, in New-Hampshire, had arrived at 
 Kingston. About four leagues to the windward 
 of Port Royal he was boarded by the Regulus. 
 She took away his mate and four men. They were 
 all natives of Portsmouth, married, and had regu 
 lar protections/. Before taking them on board, the 
 British captain sent his surgeon into the Lydia to 
 examine the men, and see if they were in good 
 health. The Regulus had pressed above fifty 
 American seamen, went afterwards to Port-au- 
 Prince, and from thence to England. 
 
 The ship Hannah, Captain Hoare, from Phi 
 ladelphia to France, w r as, on the twenty-fourth of 
 February, taken by the Lynx sloop of war.. ..she 
 stript the Hannah of her whole crew, excepting 
 the mate, the cook and the cabin-boy, and sent 
 her into Bermuda. Most of the hands impressed 
 had protections. The Captain of the Lynx had 
 spoke on the day before with the Roebuck, of Phi 
 ladelphia, and said that he was only prevented 
 from taking her by a violent gale of wind. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 On the 29th of March, the ship Friendship, 
 Captain Atkins, arrived at Norfolk.... when within 
 the Capes of Chesapeake he was boarded by a boat 
 from the Thetis, Captain Cochran, who pressed 
 a man who had been naturalized for ten )ears be 
 fore. As the Chesapeake is within the territory of 
 the United States, he might as well have kidnapped 
 him in the streets of Philadelphia or New- York. 
 
 The Ocean, Captain Vredenburgh, was taken 
 on the 3 1 st of March, only one league from the 
 High-lands, and sent into Halifax by La Prevoy- 
 ance, a British frigate. The whole crew, except 
 ing the master and mate, were impressed into the 
 British service.... two of them were native Ameri 
 cans, and the rest Swedes and Danes. When Cap 
 tain Vredenburgh remonstrated, the British Captain 
 told him to look to Jay s Treaty. 
 
 Captain Paulding, of the brig Polly, of New- 
 York, from Curracoa, on the 3d of March, was 
 sent into Grenada by the Favourite sloop of war.... 
 his hands were impressed, his sailing orders, letters, 
 invoices, and bills of lading, destroyed. The Cap 
 tain, mate and two passengers were stripped of 
 their baggage and wearing apparel, thrown into 
 prison, where they were detained for three weeks, 
 before a passport for their departure was granted. 
 
 The Maryland Journal of the 13th of April, 
 1797, has an extract of a letter from an American 
 seaman, dated Spithead, December 26th, 1795, on 
 board the ship Assistance, in which he had been de 
 tained from the 20th of October, preceding. ...the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 33 
 
 man belonged to the Hannah of Baltimore, Cap 
 tain Wescott. This vessel, with four other Ame 
 ricans, were carried into St. Johns, Newfoundland 
 -...the sailors were either turned ashore to starve, or 
 pressed into the British service. 
 
 The Norfolk paper of the 4th of April has the 
 following paragraph : " The ship Diana, of New- 
 York, David Chadeayne master, on his passage 
 from the East-Indies to New- York, was boarded 
 by his Britannic Majesty s brig Pelican, Captain 
 J. C. Searle, who sent an officer and crew on 
 board, and took out the mate, six people, and car 
 ried her into Port-Royal, where, on the 6th of 
 March, while in their possession, she caught fire 
 and was burnt to the water s edge, with all her 
 cargo of immense value." 
 
 The Boston Newspaper of the 7th of April, 
 1796, has the following letter: 
 
 " Captain Elkanah Mayo, who arrived in town 
 this week from New- York, has favoured us with 
 the following account of the cruel treatment he 
 and his men received from the officers and men of 
 the British frigate La Pique, at Barbadoes, in De 
 cember last, viz. Captain Mayo, in the ship Poll}-, 
 of Cape- Ann, homeward bound from a whaling 
 voyage, was drove in by stress of weather to Bar 
 badoes, where he lay near three weeks for the ar 
 rival of some Americans to freight his oil home, 
 during which time the British frigate La Pique 
 arrived there from a cruize, and, in two days after, 
 pressed two of his hands. Captain Mayo applied 
 
 E 
 
34 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 to the Governor for protection, who caused the 
 men to be released. Three days after, Captain 
 Mayc/s boat being ashore with three men, wait 
 ing for him, the frigate s barge hauled in close to 
 his boat, and boarded him with cutlasses, to press 
 the men by force. The men called on Captain 
 Mayo from the shore, who run to the boat for 
 their relief, where he found the crew of the British 
 frigate, Xvith the tiller of their barge, beating his 
 men over their heads with said tiller, till the 
 blood gushed from their mouths and noses, and 
 otherwise mangling them in a barbarous and shock 
 ing manner. Captain Mayo sprung into the boat 
 and cleared it of the British crew. The command 
 ing officer, who was then on the wharf, said he 
 would have every man on board the ship. Mr. 
 Woodruff, with whom Captain Mayo did business, 
 being on the wharf, offered his bonds to the Cap 
 tain of the frigate that he would bring his protec 
 tions on shore. Captain Mayo then went on 
 board his ship to bring his protections. ...while he 
 was on beard, the commanding officer of the fri 
 gate, and aii the rest of the officers, got into their 
 barge, waiting for Captain Mayo, who was re 
 turning with all his protections. ...they boarded 
 him. ...the commanding officer jumped into Captain 
 Mayo s boat with his drawn cutlass, and dragged 
 by force all his men into their barge, and then pre 
 sented his cutlass to Captain Mayo s breast, and 
 ordered him into the barge, which he refused ; after 
 which he pricked him several times in the breast, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 55 
 
 and then towed him on board the frigate. ...he put 
 Captain Mayo s men into the hole, among his men 
 who were sick with the yellow fever.... he then or 
 dered a pair of irons to be fixed on Captain Mayo, 
 which were not, however, fixed,. ..he kept him on 
 the quarter-deck until evening,, then ordered Cap 
 tain Mayo s boat to be hauled up, and ordered him 
 on board alone- Captain Mayo requested him to 
 let him have a man to go with him, which. the -Cap 
 tain of the frigate refused ; then said he would cast 
 him off and let him go adrift. ...he told him lie might 
 perish at sea, to which he replied he hoped he 
 would. Captain Mayo told him he would not go 
 unless he cast him off.. ..he then took his barge and 
 towed Captain Mayo on board his own ship. The 
 next morning Captain Mayo went to the Governor 
 and complained of the officers conduct.. ..the Gov 
 ernor ordered his men to be immediately released,, 
 who were accordingly sent on shore. Four days 
 after, three of his men were taken with the yellow 
 fever, which they took while on board the frigate, 
 and which spread through Captain Mayo s ship s 
 company.. ..four of his men died of the fever; the 
 rest were obliged to leave the ship,, and he hired 
 negroes to pump her. Captain Mayo then char 
 tered vessels as he could find them,,to take his men 
 and cargo to the United States. This base con 
 duct of our new treaty-allies occasioned the loss of 
 eight thousand dollars to his owners. * 
 
 /, tks subscriber, do testify to the above account* 
 (Signed) ELKANAH MAYO. 
 
t> IKE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Tlie Musquito, Captain Harshar, arrived on 
 the I7tb of January at Baltimore, from Bourdeaux. 
 On the voyage he was met by the Hussar, a British 
 frigate.... his keys were taken, his chests broke open, 
 and every thing stolen that the British could lay 
 their hands on. They also drank a case of wine, 
 pressed the Musquito s mate, and one of the hands, 
 who was an American. 
 
 A letter from Fredericksburgh, dated April 1, 
 1796, has the following intelligence: The schoo 
 ner William, Captain John Scott, from Bassaterre, 
 St. Kitts, having arrived in the river, on the 23d of 
 February, between nine and ten o clock in the 
 evening in Bassaterre-road, he was boarded by a 
 boat with five men with cutlasses. ...they belonged 
 to a British armed sloop lying there. They order 
 ed William M Coy, a native^of Fredericksburgh, 
 into the boat ; but being prevented from taking 
 him, they went back to the sloop ; immediately 
 after, they returned with their commander, one 
 Williams, and an additional number of men, armed 
 with pistols and cutlasses. ...they took away from 
 the schooner, John Mansfield, William M Coy, 
 and two blacks. Next morning Captain Scott went 
 on shore, and proved these people to be citizens 
 of the United States. ...he could recover only the 
 two blacks. Every American at the port shared 
 a similar fate.... a Baltimore schooner was stript of 
 all her hands excepting the mate and a boy. 
 
 A letter from Captajn Thorndike Deland, dated 
 Kingston, 1st of April, 1796, to a merchant in 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 37 
 
 Philadelphia, contained for publication a list of 
 twelve American vessels taken and carried into 
 that port. Captain Deland farther says, that he 
 had heard of twenty-seven other ships at Tortola 
 which were in jeopardy. ...that all Americans when 
 carried into Kingston were, after examination, 
 turned ashore without provision for their support. 
 Any one having a concern in a house, or having 
 even a factor in St. Domingo, or any French port, 
 was deemed a Frenchman, and his property was 
 on that account condemned. On the 21st of April, 
 1796, the schooner William and Mary, Captain 
 Shaw, arrived at Portsmouth, New-Hampshire, in 
 thirty-eight days from Kingston. ...when he left that 
 place, the impressment of American seamen had 
 not subsided. On the 5th of May the schooner 
 Mermaid, Captain Tabet, arrived from the Mole 
 at New- York.... his mate, a native American, was 
 pressed by the Regulus. Several other Americans 
 were, at the same time, pressed from different ves 
 sels. 
 
 A Charleston newspaper of the 8th of April, 
 1796, contains the copy of a sentence past by 
 Judge Green, of Bermuda.. ..it is dated the 6th of 
 January preceding, and respected the brig Fame. 
 In summer 1795, the Fame sailed from Charles 
 ton for Bourdeaux.,..on her return she was captured 
 and taken into Bermuda.. ..the vessel and cargo 
 were both American property, but one of the own 
 ers, who went along with her, had staid behind 
 in France to dispose of the remaining part of the 
 
38 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 cargo.... this accident transformed him, in the eyes 
 of Green, into a French citizen, and on that pre 
 tence both ship and loading were confiscated. Thus 
 the British went on in the West-Indies, while Mr. 
 Bayard w T as transmitting to Philadelphia his im 
 portant assurances about indemnification, and the 
 resentment of the London Court of Admiralty at 
 the decrees of Green. 
 
 About the 23d of April, Captain Mercer of the 
 sloop Ambuscade, arrived at Philadelphia from 
 Bermuda. He brought a list of eight American 
 vessels, with their cargoes, which were condemned 
 at that place, and of seven others which were li 
 belled. ...one of the latter was a brig from Boston. 
 Captain Mercer had heard that her captain had 
 died of abuse which he received from the prize- 
 master. A paragraph of the same date says, that 
 at Nevis, the schooner Andrew, Captain Mon- 
 tayne, of Philadelphia, had her mate and seamen 
 pressed by a British schooner.*.. they were all Ame 
 ricans, and had protections. The particulars are 
 related in the Captain s protest as transmitted to 
 his owner. 
 
 Joshua Whiting was a seaman on board of the 
 American brig Samuel.... at Port-au-Prince he and 
 four others of the crew w r ere pressed by a British 
 frigate. ...three of them after eleven days, escaped 
 by swimming, in the course of which one man 
 had the calf of his leg bitten off by a shark.. ..ano 
 ther of them was retaken and almost flogged to 
 death. Whiting and the cripple escaped, after 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 39 
 
 losing their whole adventure, besides being cruelly 
 treated. 
 
 The brig Columbia, and the schooner Unity, 
 both of Newburyport, sailed from Port Lewis on 
 the 7th of March, 1796. ...next day they were 
 brought to by the Ganges, a British seventy-four, 
 and a schooner attendant on the ship, and sent into 
 Montserrat, examined, and on the 14th dismissed, 
 upon paying forty-four pounds, four shillings and 
 ten pence, as the expence of their examination. 
 
 The sloop Dove, of New-Haven, in Connecti 
 cut, had gone on a voyage to the West-Indies. 
 While lying at Antigua she was boarded by a boat s 
 crew from the Narcissus, who took away Benja 
 min Eastman. ...he was a native American, and as 
 such had a protection. On the 3d of April, 1796, 
 the master and mate of the Dove made oath to this 
 fact, at New-Haven. 
 
 In April, 1796, the American ship Eliza, sailed 
 from New- York, for St. Thomas, and had orders 
 to touch at St. Bartholomew ; she was taken by 
 captain Cochran of the Thetis frigate... ^the super 
 cargo, a Danish subject, was stript to the skin.... 
 the ship was libelled before the Vice-Admiralty 
 Court at Bermuda, under pretence of being French 
 property. The trunks of the supercargo were seal 
 ed up, and he was thrown pennyless out of the 
 ship, without clothes or a second shirt to his back. 
 The captain and crew were put on shore destitute 
 of subsistence. Six or seven days after the ship 
 and cargo had been libelled, the cattle were sold 
 
40 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 at half their prime cost, bought in by the agents 
 who sold them, and sold a second time next day, 
 at a considerable profit. 
 
 A Boston newspaper of the 26th of May, con 
 tains a deposition dated at St. George, the 27th 
 of April preceding. It was emitted by the second 
 mate of the Brigantine Polly, John Bosson, late 
 master. ...the vessel was on her way from Deniarara, 
 to Boston, when the Cleopatra, a British privateer, 
 took her. Soon after, the prize-master quarrelled 
 with captain Bosson, and wantonly beat him in a 
 most shocking manner. Within six days after, 
 captain Bosson died of his bruises, in the twenty- 
 fifth year of his age. 
 
 Such were the effects of Jay s treaty to Ameri 
 can commerce. Not more than a twelvemonth af 
 ter this treaty was signed, and not six months af 
 ter it had been fully ratified, upwards of three 
 hundred American ships were captured by British 
 frigates and British pirates ; and, upon the most 
 moderate calculation, a thousand American citi 
 zens were doomed to fight in the cause of a ty 
 rant against the rights of their nation. Much 
 noise has been made about the injuries committed 
 against American commerce by the French repub 
 lic, but in this year, when every newspaper was 
 suffocated by British Robberies, we only find three 
 or four instances of French depredation. The fol 
 lowing is the only one, of which a correct state 
 ment is given : the paragraph is from a Boston 
 paper, of the 16th of April, 1796. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 4i 
 
 By an arrival on Saturday, of a vessel from Cur- 
 racoa, we received the following protest of Huo-h 
 Wilson, master of the American brig called the 
 Jay, belonging to Baltimore, who being duly 
 sworn before the Notary Royal and Public, of St. 
 Bartholomew, declareth : That having got his 
 vessel captured and condemned, as hereafter will 
 appear, and having had his log-book and all the 
 papers belonging to the vessel and to himself tak 
 en from him, all to the shipping articles, and a 
 small memorandum book of his private disburse 
 ments, he is obliged to give his declaration from 
 memory, and to the best of his recollection, viz. 
 That on the 10th of April last, 1795, he sailed in 
 said brig from St. Pierre, in the island of Marti- 
 nico, bound to Antigua ; that on the 12th of said 
 month, in the morning, he was boarded by the 
 French armed schooner (as near as he could recol 
 lect) the Athenienne, commanded by one Paschal, 
 from Guadaloupe, under the lee of which island 
 the brig then was, and in the evening was carried 
 into Bassaterre-road, in said last island ; that the 
 same deponent, and all his crew, were immediately 
 put on board a French sloop of war, where they 
 were detained about eight or ten days, without 
 knowing what was the intention of the French to 
 do with the said brig, and without ever having 
 been heard or examined ; that the deponent and 
 supercargo, Mr. John Starck, were sent on shore 
 and conducted to the interpreter or linguist, who 
 told them the brig Jay, and her remaining cargo, 
 
 F 
 
42 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 consisting in corn and slaves, had already been 
 condemned, and who furnished Mr. Starck with a 
 copy of the condemnation; that Mr. Starck was 
 put at liberty, but the deponent was, the next day, 
 thrown into Bassaterre gaol, where he remained 
 about ten days, after which, he was drove out of 
 the said gaol, and put in chains on board a small 
 French schooner, bound to Point-a-Petre, the de 
 ponent lying all the passage (about sixty hours) 
 with eight prisoners more, chained to the same bar, 
 in the hold of said schooner, upon the stone bal 
 last, with a very scanty and indifferent food ; that 
 having arrived in such a situation at Point-a-Petre, 
 the deponent was immediately put on board one of 
 the prison-ships in the harbour, where he was de 
 tained for near eight months, that is to say, until 
 the lstinst.( January, 1796) when Captain Wheeler, 
 of the brig Peggy, of New- York, having obtained 
 permission to pick out American sailors, that might 
 be found on board of different prison-ships, came 
 along side the ship where the deponent was detain 
 ed ; that having made his case known to him, he, 
 the said Captain Wheeler, took the deponent along 
 with him, and put him on board the said brig Peg 
 gy; that on the llth inst. or there about, the de 
 ponent went in said brig from Point-a-Petre, and 
 arrived in this harbour of Gustavia, yesterday, the 
 13th inst. without yet knowing what has become 
 of his vessel, the brig Jay, her cargo, or any thing 
 belonging to her, and without ever having been 
 heard, either in behalf of said property or of him- 
 
OF JOHN AIXAMS. 43 
 
 self, during all the time of near nine months he 
 was detained in Guadaloupe, plundered of every 
 thing belonging to him, and not left a second shirt 
 to put on ; that during his detention in Point-a-Petre, 
 Captain Lyle, of Baltimore, as he passed by said 
 prison-ship, having seen and recollected the depo 
 nent, had applied to the commissaire de guerre in 
 his behalf, but in vain, as said Captain Lyle after 
 wards told the deponent." 
 
 Having related the principal depredations 
 committed upon the commerce of the United 
 States, by the respective powers of Great Britain 
 and France, during the year 1796, I shall now 
 give a general view of Mr. Monroe s embassy, and 
 of those circumstances which led to the unfortu 
 nate misunderstanding which existed between A- 
 merica and France, during the administration of 
 Mr. Adams. 
 
 For some time previous to 1794, the conduct 
 of the Executive of this country had been extreme 
 ly distant and ceremonious towards the Republic of 
 France, nor did the recal of Mr. Genet, the French 
 Ambassador, whose personal altercations with the 
 President had led the French government to make 
 this act of solemn reparation, effect any change in 
 its favour. The French justly supposed, that na 
 tional honour, if not national gratitude, would 
 have prevented the American government from 
 seizing the opportunity when they were struggling 
 for their political existence, against the power of 
 despots, to throw herself into the arms of their most 
 
44 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 potent enemy. It was, therefore, with equal sur 
 prize and indignation, that they heard of the ne- 
 gociation which Mr. Jay was carrying on between 
 America and England, the tenor of which was so 
 evidently in opposition to treaties already existing 
 between- them and us. 
 
 An intercepted letter from the President of the 
 United States, addressed to Mr. Morris, who of 
 ficiated as secret agent of the American govern 
 ment, in London, had discovered to the Directory 
 the hostile views of the government of the United 
 States, and the intrigues they were carrying on 
 with England. This letter, which was dated at 
 Philadelphia, the 22d of December, 1794, was 
 saved from the wreck of the Boston packet, that 
 had foundered on the coast of France. It was a 
 detailed answer to various letters of Mr. Morris, 
 respecting the pending negociation. The Presi 
 dent complained highly of the haughty conduct of 
 the English administration, and of the arbitrary 
 measures which they had pursued, and which 
 they were continuing to pursue, with respect to 
 American navigation. He requested Mr. Morris 
 o represent to the minister, not only the injustice, 
 but the impolicy of this conduct, particularly, at 
 the moment when it was so much the interest of 
 England, to conciliate the minds of the inhabitants 
 of the United States to the acceptance of the trea 
 ty. He detailed the efforts he had made, and the 
 difficulties he had undergone, to overcome the 
 wayward disposition of his countrymen towards 
 
>. 
 
 OF JOHN ADAMS. 45 
 
 French politics, the abettors of which, were the 
 chief opponents of the treaty in question, which, 
 however, he said, had the approbation of the 
 greater and more respectable part of the community. 
 His main object, he observed, the only object, 
 indeed, which ought to be continually kept in 
 view, was peace, which he was most anxious to 
 preserve; and if America was happy enough to 
 keep herself out of European quarrels, she might, 
 from the increase of her trade, from securing the 
 monopoly of being the carrier of the world, vie, in 
 twenty years, with the most formidable power in 
 Europe. 
 
 Such sentiments from the President of the 
 United States, naturally awakened in the French, 
 
 those feelings of resentment which arise from a 
 o 
 
 sense of injury, heightened by ingratitude ; and 
 excited also in them a desire of displaying that re 
 sentment. 
 
 On the 2d of August, 1794, when Mr. James 
 Monroe, who had been appointed our Minister 
 Plenipotentiary to the French Republic, arrived 
 in Paris, he perceived an apparent coolness and 
 distrust in the proceedings of the French Conven 
 tion, and affairs appeared to him to be in a train 
 for an entire separation of the two countries. 
 More than a week elapsed after he presented his 
 credentials to the commissary of foreign affairs, 
 without obtaining an answer when he should be 
 received. The state of things occasioned by the 
 fall of Robespierre, which took place before his 
 
46 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 arrival, he imagined might be the reason of this 
 delay, bat he soon understood that it proceeded 
 from a very different cause. It was intimated to 
 him, that the committee of public safety had im 
 bibed an opinion, that Mr. Jay was sent to Eng 
 land with views unfriendly to France, and that 
 his mission was adopted for the purpose of cover 
 ing and supporting Mr. Jay s to England ; that 
 Mr. Jay s was a measure of substantial import, 
 contemplating on the part of America, a close 
 union with England, and that Mr. Monroe s was 
 an act of policy, intended to amuse and deceive. 
 It was added, that this impression not only caused 
 the delay of his reception, but that the committee, 
 being unwilling to become the dupes of this policy, 
 was devising how to defeat it. 
 
 Upon consideration of these circumstances, Mr* 
 Monroe addressed a letter to the Convention on 
 the 14th of August, notifying his arrival, and ask 
 ing to what department of the government he 
 should present himself for recognition. This ex 
 pedient procured the desired effect, and he was 
 received by the convention itself, on the day fol 
 lowing. When he delivered his address to the 
 convention, he laid likewise before it, the resolu 
 tions of the Senate and Plouse of Representatives, 
 as communicated by the administration, in respect 
 to France and the French revolution. 
 
 After being recognized, the first object Mr. 
 Monroe turned his attention to, was the deranged 
 state of American commerce, and, for that pur- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 47 
 
 pose, he applied to the committee of public safe 
 ty, for a restoration of the ancient and legitimate 
 order of things, with reparation for the injuries 
 America had sustained. His first note to the com 
 mittee on this subject was dated the 3d of Septem 
 ber, 1794. ...six weeks, however, elapsed without 
 receiving any satisfactory answer. On the 18th of 
 October, he sent in a second note in support of the 
 former, but with little effect. He at last obtained 
 an interview with the diplomatic members of the 
 committee; commencing a conversation with a de 
 sign to lead them to that point, that he might ex 
 plain in a suitable manner, the objects of Mr. Jay s 
 mission to England. The Gazettes of Paris, at 
 that time, were filled with reports that Mr. Jay 
 was to pass over to France, to propose a mediation 
 of peace, on the part of America, at the instance of 
 England. ...which reports increased, in a consider 
 able degree, the suspicions of the committee. Mr. 
 Monroe, therefore, with a view of doing away 
 those ideas, proposed an offer of our services, to 
 promote peace by way of mediation, according to 
 an article in his instructions ; but in a manner to 
 create belief that we neither wished, nor would 
 undertake that office, unless by solicitation ; 
 nor then, except at the instance of our ally ; ad 
 ding that he wanted no immediate answer to this 
 communication, having made it only to inform 
 them of the amicable views of our administration 
 towards France. So far Mr. Monroe s object 
 went to discredit the report without noticing it* 
 
48 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The members, however, adverted directly to it, ask 
 ing Mr. Monroe, whether it was true ; to which 
 he replied, that it could not be true, since Mr. 
 Jay was sent to England on special business, only 
 tc to demand compensation for the depredations 
 on our trade, and the surrender of the western 
 posts," to which his authority was strictly limited. 
 The members acknowledged in terms sufficiently 
 polite, the atttention which was shewn on that 
 occasion, by the administration, to the interests of 
 France, as well in the offer of service to the 
 French Republic by the United States, as in the 
 confidential communication Mr. Monroe made 
 upon the subject of our own affairs. Thus the 
 conference ended. 
 
 About this time, Mr. Monroe was applied to 
 by M. Gardoqui, minister of Finance in Spain, to 
 obtain for him, of the French government, per 
 mission to enter France, ostensibly to attend cer 
 tain baths on account of ill health, but more pro 
 bably to open a negociation for peace with the 
 French Republic. At first, Mr. Monroe was a- 
 verse to comply with his demand, but it having 
 been reiterated, and passing by trumpet through 
 the Spanish and French armies, he could not avoid, 
 presenting it to the view of the French govern 
 ment. 
 
 After this incident, he was asked by the diplo 
 matic members of the committee of public safety, 
 whether he thought they could obtain by loan, of 
 the United States, or within the United States, some 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 4i> 
 
 money to aid the French government in its opera 
 tion. Mr. Monroe understood, about four or five 
 millions of dollars were wanted to be laid out in 
 the purchase of provisions and other supplies in the 
 United States. Shortly after, he was informed 
 by the diplomatic members of the Committee of 
 Public Safety, that their minister, then about to de 
 part for the United States, would be instructed to 
 propose an arrangement, whereby France should 
 engage to secure the attainment of all our claims, 
 
 O O 
 
 upon foreign powers, when she made her own trea 
 ties with them, as likewise to protect our commerce 
 from the Algerines. 
 
 By these several communications and explana 
 tions on Mr. Monroe s part, which were much aid 
 ed by the movements of general Wayne on the 
 frontiers, shewing, that if America was not in a 
 state of actual war with Great Brirain, so neither 
 was she in a state of actual peace, the doubts 
 which the committee had entertained began to 
 wear away. 
 
 On the 18th of November, 1794, the Committee 
 of Public Safety, passed an arrete, by which the 
 commissary of marine was ordered to adjust the 
 amount due to our citizens on account of the 
 Bourdeaux embargo, as likewise for supplies ren 
 dered to the government of St. Domingo. By it, 
 too, the embarrassments which impeded our direct 
 commerce with France, as also those which im 
 peded it with other countries, by the arbitrary rule 
 of contraband, in respect to provisions destined for 
 
 G 
 
50 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 those countries, were done away. Free passage in 
 American vessels was likewise allowed to the sub 
 jects of the powers at war with France, other than 
 soldiers and sailors in the actual service of such 
 powers. In short, all the objects to which Mr. 
 Monroe s note of the 3d of September extended, 
 were yielded, except that of allowing our vessels 
 to protect enemies goods; which point w r as de 
 clared to be withheld until such powers should a- 
 gree that the merchandize of French citizens, in 
 neutral vessels, should likewise be free. 
 
 Thus the business of reform, respecting our af 
 fairs with France, was commenced. ...but it did not 
 end here ; for, not long after, it was proposed by 
 the above-named committee, united -with that of le 
 gislation, in a report to the convention, as the 
 part of a general system, to put in execution like 
 wise that article of our treaty which stipulates 
 that free ships shall make free goods ; which pro 
 position was adopted and announced to Mr. Mon 
 roe, on the 3d of January, 1795. 
 
 Our affairs with France were now in a pros 
 perous state. By the repeal of the decrees under 
 which our trade was harrassed. there was an end 
 put to complaints from that cause ; and, as orders 
 were issued for the adjustment of the accounts of 
 such of our citizens as had claims upon the French 
 Republic, with a view to their payment, the pros 
 pect of retribution for past losses was likewise a 
 good one. Our commerce, also, flourished beyond 
 what was ever known before ; for, by virtue of our 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. a 
 
 treaty with France of 1778, America was becom 
 ing the carrier of her own commodities to England 
 and her allies. Such, too, was the friendly bias of 
 the people of France towards us, that notwithstand^ 
 ing our vessels gave no protection to French proper 
 ty against English cruizers, nor in certain cases to 
 the productions of the French islands turned into 
 American property, yet we were become likewise 
 the principal carriers of France. ..even the privilege 
 of American citizenship was an object of great va 
 lue to the owner, for an American citizen could 
 neutralize vessels, funds, &c. and thus profit in 
 many ways by the condition of his country. In 
 short, such was our situation with the French Re 
 public, and with other powers, so far as depended 
 on France, that there was but one point upon 
 which we had cause to feel or express any solici 
 tude ; which was, that it might not vary* 
 
 But, unhappily, this state of things, so corres 
 pondent with the ancient relations of America with 
 France, so congenial with the public sentiments, 
 and necessary to the public welfare, was not doom 
 ed to be a permanent one ; for even whilst the 
 proposition last above-mentioned, was depending 
 before the convention, accounts were received 
 from England, that Mr. Jay had concluded a trea 
 ty with that power of a very different import from 
 his instructions, or what the French government 
 had a right to expect. 
 
 As soon as this report reached Paris, it produ 
 ced in the committee a very disagreeable sensation 
 
52 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 in regard to America ; for immediately afterwards, 
 Mr. Monroe was applied to by that body in a let 
 ter, which stated, that they had heard of the con 
 tents of that treaty, and asking in what light they 
 Were to consider it. It happened that Mr. Mon 
 roe had received on the same day a letter from 
 Mr. Jay, of the 25th of November, informing him, 
 that he had concluded, on the 19th of the same 
 month, a treaty with Great Britain, which contain 
 ed a declaration that it should not be construed or 
 operate contrary to our existing treaties, " but as 
 it was not ratified it would be improper to publish 
 it." Mr. Monroe, therefore, made Mr. Jay s letter 
 the basis of his reply to the committee, adding, that 
 although he was ignorant of the particular stipula 
 tions of the treaty, yet he took it for granted the 
 report was altogether without foundation. 
 
 On the 16th of January, 1795, Mr. Monroe 
 received another letter from Mr. Jay, informing 
 him, that he proposed to communicate to him, in 
 cyphers, the principal heads of the treaty, confi 
 dentially. Mr. Monroe being surprised at this 
 intelligence, and not wishing to possess a copy of 
 the treaty, if clogged with any condition what 
 ever, wrote to Mr. Jay, by a Mr. Purviance, to 
 that purpose. He received an answer, refusing to 
 send him a copy of the treaty, urging, as a motive 
 for his refusal, that America was an independent 
 nation. 
 
 Soon after this extraordinary answer, Mr. Mon 
 roe received another letter from Mr. Jay, by Colo- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 53 
 
 nel Trumbull, informing him that he had authori 
 zed that gentleman to communicate to him the 
 contents of the treaty, but this proposition Mr. 
 Monroe very properly rejected. 
 
 Colonel Trumbull, however, made a commu 
 nication upon the subject of the treaty, to Mr. 
 Hidsborn, of Boston, with a design that he should 
 communicate the same to Mr. Monroe. ...in con 
 sequence of which, Mr. Monroe received it, and 
 made of it, afterwards, all the use which a paper 
 so informal would admit of. 
 
 About the beginning of February, 1795, Mr. 
 Monroe received a letter from the Secretary of 
 State, dated the 2d of December, 1794. In this 
 letter, the Secretary takes notice of Mr. Monroe s 
 address to the Convention, as also of his letter to 
 the Committee of Public Safety. In the first, he 
 charges him with having expressed a solicitude for 
 the welfare of the French Republic, in a style too 
 warm and affectionate.... much more so than his 
 instructions warranted. For the future, he in 
 structs him to cultivate the French Republic with 
 zeal, but without any unnecessary eclat. In Mr. 
 Monroe s letter to the Committee, demanding an 
 indemnity for spoliations, and a repeal of the de 
 crees suspending the execution of certain articles 
 of our treaty of commerce with France, the Secre 
 tary censures Mr. Monroe for having yielded an 
 interest it was his duty to secure. 
 
 About the beginning of July, 1795, Colonel 
 Humphreys, then Resident Minister of the United 
 
54 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 States, at Lisbon, arrived at Paris r with a view 
 obtain of the French Government, its aid in 
 port of our negociations with the Barbary powers, 
 He brought no letter from the administration to 
 the French Government, to authorize his treating 
 with it in person, and, of course, it became the 
 duty of Mr. Monroe, to apply in his behalf for the 
 aid that was desired. Accordingly, he addressed 
 a letter to the Committee of Public Safety, on the 
 5th of July, 1795, opening the subject to its view 
 generally, and requesting its aid in such mode as 
 should be agreed between them. Mr. Monroe 
 had several conferences with the members of the 
 diplomatic section of the Committee of Public Safe 
 ty, upon the subject, as also with the Commissary 
 of Foreign Affairs, by whom he was assured, that 
 the aid desired should be given in the most effica 
 cious manner that it could be. Arrangements were, 
 therefore, taken for pursuing those negociations, 
 under the care of Joel Barlow, and with the full 
 aid of France, when, unfortunately, as Mr. Bar 
 low was upon the point of embarking with our 
 presents, intelligence was received, that a Mr. 
 Donaldson, whom Colonel Humphreys had left at 
 Alicante, with a conditional power, but in the ex 
 pectation that he would not proceed in the business 
 till he heard further from him, had passed over to 
 Algiers, and concluded a treaty with that regency, 
 and, of course, without the aid of France -, which, 
 therefore, ended our application to the French gov 
 ernment for its aid in support of our negociations 
 with those powers. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 55 
 
 Early in June, 1795, accounts were received 
 in Paris, that the British government had revived 
 its order for the seizure of provision vessels destined 
 for France. At that period, Paris, and many 
 other parts of France, were in the greatest distress 
 for provisions ; in consequence whereof, the atten 
 tion of the government was directed with great 
 solicitude, to those quarters whence supplies were 
 expected, particularly to the United States, where 
 great sums had been expended in the purchase of 
 them. Unfortunately, however, but few of those 
 vessels reached their destination, as they were, in 
 general, taken by the British cruizers. It being 
 obvious, that the aggression of Great Britain upon 
 the rights of neutral nations, was made with the 
 intention of increasing the distress that was then 
 raging at Paris^ it tended to excite a ferment in the 
 French councils, which was not pointed against 
 Great Britain alone. The United States were par 
 ticularly animadverted upon, owing to a report 
 from one of its secret agents in England, who 
 stated, he was advised, through a channel to 
 be relied upon, that the English government had 
 intimated the measure would not be offensive to 
 the United States, since it was a case provided for 
 between Great Britain and them. 
 
 About the middle of August, 1795, American 
 Gazettes were received at Paris, containing copies 
 of the English treaty, whereby its contents were 
 made known to the committee of Public Safety. 
 From this period, therefore, all mystery was at an 
 
56 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 end. ...the possession of the treaty enabled the 
 French government to judge for itself upon all the 
 points which it involved. Nor was the effect 
 which it produced an equivocal one; for, accord 
 ing to Mr. Monroe s report, there was not a de 
 scription of persons, not in the interest of the coa 
 lesced powers, who did not openly and severely 
 censure it. 
 
 In the beginning of December, 1795, Mr, 
 Monroe received two letters from Mr. Pickering, 
 by which he was informed officially, and for the 
 first time, that the treaty was ratified. 
 
 From this period, to the 25th of June, 1796, 
 Mr. Monroe had frequent conferences with sever 
 al of the members of the Directory, from whom 
 he received the flattering assurance of the friend 
 ship of France towards the United States. But this 
 prospect was soon changed, by a letter which he 
 received from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, re 
 questing information, whether the intelligence 
 which the Gazettes announced, of the House of 
 Representatives having agreed to carry the treaty 
 into effect, was to be relied on ? and, in case it was,, 
 asking further, in what light they were to view 
 that event, before he called the attention of the 
 Directory to those consequences resulting from it, 
 which specially interested the French Republic ? 
 Mr. Monroe replied to the Minister, that with 
 respect to his first interrogatory, whether the House 
 of Representatives had passed a law to carry the 
 treaty into effect ? he could give him no authentic 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 57 
 
 information.... and with respect to the second, as 
 he had already answered his several objections to 
 that treaty, to which he had received no reply, it 
 was impossible, for him to enter again, under such 
 circumstances, into that subject. 
 
 In the beginning of August, 1796, the Direc 
 tory recalled Mr. Adet, arid appointed another to 
 take his place, with the grade of charge des af 
 faires. Mr. Monroe apprehending, from certain 
 circumstances, that he would not be well received 
 by the government of the United States, remon 
 strated against his appointment with the French 
 government, and with success; for it was revoked. 
 In the beginning of August, Mr. Monroe saw 
 in the Gazette, a communication from the Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs to Mr. Barthelemy, the Am 
 bassador of France to the Swiss Cantons, announc 
 ing an arrete of the Directory, by which it was 
 determined to act towards the commerce of neutral 
 powers, in the same manner as those powers per 
 mitted the English government to act towards 
 them. In consequence whereof, he applied to 
 the Minister for information relative to that arrete, 
 from whom he received a general answer, corres 
 ponding only in sentiment with the letter above- 
 mentioned, to the Ambassador of the Republic, at 
 Basle. 
 
 About the end of August, Mr. Monroe heard 
 that Mr. Adet was recalled, and no successor ap 
 pointed in his room. He was informed, at the same 
 time, that any further application from him to the 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 French government would be improper ; since it 
 would not only prove fruitless, but, most probably, 
 produce an ill effect. 
 
 Near seven months had elapsed since the Mi 
 nister of Foreign Affairs communicated to Mr. 
 Monroe the discontent of the Directory, on ac 
 count of Jay s treaty, and its decision to make the 
 same known to our government by an Envoy Ex 
 traordinary, to be dispatched to the United States ; 
 in the course of which time, he had not received a 
 single line from the Department of State, although 
 he had regularly informed it of every incident that 
 occurred, and notwithstanding the crisis was a very 
 important onc\ requiring the profound attention of 
 the Administration. In the course of this time, 
 Mr. Monroe was left alone by the Administra 
 tion, to oppose the discontent of France, not 
 only unaided, but likewise under circumstances 
 the most unfavourable. At this period, also, he 
 received a letter from the Secretary of State, of 
 the 13th of June, communicating to him the 
 high dissatisfaction of the President, on account 
 of his conduct respecting the British treaty. On 
 the 12th of October, he received a letter from 
 the Minister of Foreign Affairs, announcing the 
 recal of Mr. Adet, and in the beginning of 
 November, he received a letter from the Secreta 
 ry of State, announcing his own recal by the Presi 
 dent of the United States. 
 
 The Directory, when Mr. Monroe took leave, 
 observed, as they had done on a former occasion 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 59 
 
 with respect to Sweden, that the People of Ame 
 rica not being, implicated in the acts of their gov 
 ernment, were still objects of their esteem ; and 
 expressed ako their personal regard for the inte 
 rest which Mr. Monroe, during his residence at 
 Paris, had shewn for the welfare of the Republic. 
 The news of the intended resignation of the 
 President of the United States, had preceded the 
 arrival of the new Ambassador, Mr. Pinckney. 
 This event, which was expected by the French gov 
 ernment, had, in some measure, allayed its warmth ; 
 and it was hoped that an amicable arrangement 
 would speedily have taken place, as it was sup 
 posed that the choice of the United States would 
 fall on a person less hostile to their interests; but 
 as the exchange of Ambassadors under the present 
 circumstances, afforded so favourable an opportu 
 nity of expressing their feelings, they not only re 
 fused to permit the new Ambassador to remain of 
 ficially at Paris, but intimated to him, that his resi 
 dence as a private citizen was inexpedient. 
 
 CHAPTER III, 
 
 Speech of the President.... Answer from the House of 
 Representatives. ...Proceedings of Congress. 
 
 event had occurred since the confedera 
 tion of the States, which excited such general con 
 sternation and anxiety among all classes of people, 
 as the proclamation for the meeting of Congress, 
 
60 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 on the fifteenth of May. The recal of Mr. Adet. 
 and the dismission of Mr. Pinckney, by the Direc 
 tory of France, sufficiently evinced the opinion 
 which that Republic entertained of our Adminis 
 tration. From the well known principles of Mr. 
 Adams, it was not to be expected that proper per 
 sons would be appointed to effect a reconciliation 
 between the two countries. Yet, great hopes were 
 entertained by the republican party, that whatever 
 might be the views of the Executive, the virtue and 
 patriotism of the House of Representatives were 
 such, as never to allow them to abandon our 
 natural ally, and embrace again the arms of Bri 
 tain, against the cause of universal freedom. 
 
 The first business which the House of Repre 
 sentatives entered upon after having met, was the 
 choice of a Speaker. Mr. Dayton, Mr. Dent and 
 Mr. Baldwin, were the three candidates ; but Mr. 
 Dayton was elected, there being seventy-six votes 
 in his favor. Mr. Dent and Mr. Baldwin had only 
 one each. 
 
 Upon Tuesday, the 16th of May, the President 
 addressed to both Houses of Congress assembled, 
 the following speech : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives , 
 
 cc The personal inconveniences to the members 
 of the Senate and House of Representatives, in 
 leaving their families and private affairs at this sea 
 son of the year, are so obvious, that I the more re 
 gret the extraordinary occasion which has render 
 ed the convention of Congress indispensable. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 61 
 
 " It would have afforded me the highest satis 
 faction, to have been able to congratulate you on a 
 restoration of peace to the nations of Europe, whose 
 animosities have endangered our tranquility....but 
 we have still abundant cause of gratitude to the 
 supreme dispenser of national blessings, for gene 
 ral health and promising seasons ; for domestic 
 and social happiness ; for the rapid progress and am 
 ple acquisitions of industry, through extensive ter 
 ritories ; for civil, political and religious liberty. 
 While other States are desolated with foreign war 
 or convulsed with intestine divisions, the United 
 States present the pleasing prospect of a nation, 
 governed by mild and equal laws, generally satis 
 fied with the possession of their rights ; neither en 
 vying the advantages nor fearing the power of other 
 nations ; solicitous only for the maintenance of or 
 der and justice, and the preservation of liberty ; 
 increasing daily in their attachment to a system of 
 government, in proportion to their experience of 
 its utility ; yielding a ready and general obedience 
 to laws, flowing from the reason and resting on the 
 oniy solid foundation, the affections of the people. 
 
 " It is with extreme regret I shall be obliged to 
 turn your thoughts to other circumstances, which 
 admonish us, that some of these felicities may not 
 be lasting; but if the tide of our prosperity is full, 
 and a reflux commencing, a vigilant circumspection 
 becomes us, that we may meet our reverses with 
 fortitude, and extricate ourselves from their conse 
 quences, with all the skill we possess, and all the 
 efforts in our power. 
 
62 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 cc In giving to Congress information of the state 
 of the union, and recommending to their considera 
 tion, such measures as appear to me. expedient or 
 necessary, according to my constitutional duty, the 
 causes and the objects of the present extraordinary 
 session will be explained. 
 
 " After the President of the United States receiv 
 ed information that the French government had 
 expressed serious discontents at some proceedings 
 of the government of these States, said to affect 
 the interests of France, he thought it expedient to 
 send to that country, a new minister, fully instruct 
 ed to enter on such amicable discussions, and to 
 give such candid explanations, as might happily re 
 move the discontent and suspicions of the French 
 government, and vindicate the conduct of the Uni 
 ted States. For this purpose, he selected from 
 among his fellow citizens, a character, whose inte 
 grity, talents, experience and services, had placed 
 him in the rank of the most esteemed and respected 
 in the nation. The direct object of his mission was 
 expressed in his letters of credence to the French 
 Republic, being, to " maintain that good under 
 standing, which, from the commencement of the 
 alliance, had subsisted between the two nations, and 
 to efface unfavorable impressions, banish suspicions 
 and restore that cordiality, which was at once the 
 evidence and pledge of a friendly union/ And his 
 instructions were to the same effect, " faithfully to 
 represent the disposition of the Government and 
 People of the United States, their disposition be- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 63 
 
 ing one - y to remove jealousies and obviate com 
 plaints, by shewing that they were groundless 5 to 
 restore that mutual confidence which had been so 
 unfortunately and injuriously impaired, and to ex 
 plain the relative interests of both countries, and 
 the real sentiments of his own." 
 
 " A minister thus specially commissioned, it was 
 expected, would have proved the instrument of 
 restoring mutual confidence between the two re 
 publics. ...the first step of the French government 
 corresponded with that expectation. A few days 
 before his arrival at Paris, the French Minister of 
 Foreign Relations, informed the American Minister 
 then resident at Paris, of the formalities to be ob 
 served by himself in taking leave, and by his suc 
 cessor, preparatory to his reception. These formal 
 ities they observed ; and on the ninth of December, 
 presented officially to the Minister of Foreign Re 
 lations, the one a copy of his letters of recal, the 
 other a copy of his letters of credence. These 
 were laid before the Executive Directory. Two 
 days afterwards, the Minister of Foreign Relations, 
 informed the recalled American Minister, that the 
 Executive Directory had determined not to receive 
 another Minister Plenipotentiary from the United 
 States, until after the redress of grievances demand 
 ed of the American government, and which the 
 French Republic had a right to expect from it. 
 The American Minister immediately endeavoured 
 to ascertain, whether, by refusing to receive him, it 
 was intended that he should retire from the territo- 
 
64 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 nes of the French Republic, and verbal answers 
 were given, that such was the intention of the Direc 
 tory. For his own justification, he desired a written 
 answer ; but obtained none until towards the last 
 of January : when, receiving notice in writing to 
 quit the territories of the Republic, he proceed 
 ed to Amsterdam, where he proposed to wait 
 for instruction from this government. During his 
 residence at Paris, cards of hospitality were refused 
 him, and he was threatened with being subjected 
 to the jurisdiction of the minister of Police. ...but 
 with becoming firmness, he insisted on the protec 
 tion of the law of nations, due to him as the known 
 minister of a foreign power. You will derive fur 
 ther information from his dispatches, which will be 
 laid before you. 
 
 66 As it is often necessary that nations should treat 
 for the mutual advantage of their affairs, and espe- 
 pecially to accommodate and terminate differences ; 
 as they can treat only by ministers, the right of em 
 bassy is well known, and established by the law 
 and usage of nations; the refusal on the part of 
 France to receive and hear our minister, is then 
 the denial of a right, but the refusal to receive him 
 until we have acceded to their demands, without 
 discussion and without investigation, is to treat us 
 neither as allies, nor as friends, nor as a sovereign 
 State. 
 
 " With this conduct of the French government, 
 it will be proper to take into view the public audi 
 ence given to the late minister of the United States, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 65 
 
 on his taking leave of the Executive Directory. 
 The speech of the President discloses sentiments 
 more alarming than the refusal of a minister, be 
 cause more dangerous to cur independence and 
 union ; and, at the same time, studiously marked 
 with indignities towards the government of the 
 
 o o 
 
 United States.... it evinces a disposition to separate 
 the people of the United States from the govern 
 ment ; tj persuade them that they have different 
 affections, principles and interests from those of 
 their fellow citizens, whom they themselves have 
 chosen to manage their common concerns, and thus 
 to produce divisions fatal to our peace. Such at 
 tempts ought to be repelled, with a decision which 
 shall convince France and the world, that we are 
 not a degraded people, humiliated under a colonial 
 spirit of fear and sense of inferiority, fitted to be 
 the miserable instruments of foreign influence, and 
 regardless of national honor, character and interest. 
 C I should have been happy to have thrown a 
 veil over these transactions, if it had been possible to 
 conceal them, but they have passed on the great 
 theatre of the world, in the face of all Europe and 
 America, and with such circumstances of publicity 
 and solemnity, that they cannot be disguised, and 
 will not scon be forgotten ; they have infliicted a 
 wound in the American breast. ...it is ray sincere 
 desire, however, that it may be healed ; it is my 
 sincere desire, and in this, I presume, I concur with 
 you and with our constituents, to preserve peace 
 and friendship with all nations ; an<4 believing that 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 neither the honour nor the interest of the United 
 States absolutely forbid the repetition of advances 
 for securing those desirable objects with France^ 
 I shall institute a fresh attempt at negociation, and 
 shall not fail to promote and accelerate an accom 
 modation, on terms compatible with the rights, 
 duties, interests and honour of the nation. If we 
 have committed errors, and these can be demon 
 strated, we shall be willing to correct them ; if we 
 have done injuries, we shall be willing, on convic 
 tion, to redress them; and equal measures of jus 
 tice, we have a right to expect from France, and 
 every other nation. The diplomatic intercourse 
 between the United States and France being at 
 present suspended, the government has no means 
 of obtaining official information from that country; 
 nevertheless, there is reason to believe, that the 
 Executive Directory passed a decree on the second 
 of March last, contravening in part, the treaty of 
 amity and commerce of 1778, injurious to our law 
 ful commerce and endangering the lives of our ci 
 tizens. A copy of this decree will be laid before 
 you. 
 
 " While we are endeavoring to adjust all our dif 
 ferences with France by amicable negociation, the 
 progress of the w r ar in Europe, the depredations 
 on our commerce, the personal injuries to our citi 
 zens, and the general complection of affairs, render 
 it my indispensable duty, to recommend to your 
 consideration, effectual measures of defence. 
 "The commerce of the United States has become 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 67 
 
 an interesting object of attention, whether we con 
 sider it in relation to the wealth and finances, or the 
 strength and resources of the nation. With a sea 
 coast of near two thousand miles in cxtent,-opening 
 a wide field for fisheries, navigation and commerce, 
 a great portion of our citizens naturally apply their 
 industry and enterprize to these objects ; any se 
 rious and permanent injury to commerce, would 
 not fail to produce the most embarrassing disor 
 ders; to prevent it from being undermined and 
 destroyed, it is essential that it receive an ade 
 quate protection. 
 
 " The naval establishment must occur to every 
 man who considers the injuries committed on our 
 commerce, the insults offered to our citizens, and 
 the description of the vessels by which these abuses 
 have been practised ; as the sufferings of our mer 
 cantile and seafaring citizens cannot be ascribed 
 to the omission of duties demandable, considering 
 the neutral situation of our country v they are to be 
 attributed, to the hope of impunity arising from a 
 supposed inability on our part, to afford protection 
 
 to resist the consequence of such impressions 
 
 on the minds of foreign nations, and to guard 
 against the degradation and servility which- they 
 must finally stamp on the American character, is an 
 important duty of government. 
 
 "A naval power, next to the militia, is the na 
 tural defence of the United States. The experi 
 ence of the last war would be sufficient to shew 
 that a moderate naval force, such as would be es- 
 
68 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 sily within the present abilities of the Union, would 
 have been sufficient to have baffled many formidable 
 transportations of troops from one state to another, 
 which were then practised.... our sea coasts, from 
 their great extent, are more easily annoyed, and 
 more easily defended by a naval force than any 
 other ; with all the materials our country abounds ; 
 in skill, our naval architects and navigators are 
 equal to any ; and commanders and seamen will 
 riot be wanting. 
 
 " But, although the establishment of a perma 
 nent system of naval defence appears to be requi 
 site, I am sensible it cannot be formed so speedi 
 ly and extensively as the present crisis demands. 
 Hitherto, I have thought proper to prevent the 
 sailing of armed vessels, except on voyages to the 
 East-Indies, where general usage, and danger from 
 pirates, appeared to render the permission proper -, 
 yet the restriction has originated solely from a wish 
 to prevent collusions with the powers at war, con 
 travening the act of Congress of June, one thous 
 and seven hundred and ninety-four, and not from a- 
 ny doubt entertained by me of the policy and pro 
 priety of permitting our vessels to employ means 
 of defence, while engaged in a lawful foreign 
 commerce. It remains for Congress to prescribe 
 such regulations, as will enable our sea-faring citi 
 zens to defend themselves against violations of the 
 
 O 
 
 law of nations, and at the same time restrain them 
 from committing acts of hostility against the pow 
 ers at war. In addition to this voluntary provi- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 69 
 
 sion for defence, by individual citizens, it appears 
 to ine necessary, to equip the frigates, and provide 
 other vessels of inferior force, to take under con 
 voy such merchant vessels as still remain un 
 armed. 
 
 "The greater part of the cruizers, whose de 
 predations have been most injurious, have been 
 buiit, and some of them partially equipped in the 
 United States. Although an effectual remedy may 
 be attended with difficulty, yet I have thought it 
 my duty to present the subject generally to your 
 consideration. If a mode can be devised by the 
 \visdom of Congress, to prevent the resources of 
 the United States from being converted into the 
 means of annoying our trade, a great evil will be 
 prevented. ...with the same view I think it proper 
 to mention, that some of our citizens resident abroad, 
 have fitted out privateers, and others have volun 
 tarily taken the command, or entered on board of 
 them, and committed spoliations on the commerce 
 of the United States. Such unnatural and iniqui 
 tous practices can be restrained only by severe 
 punishments. 
 
 " But besides a protection of our commerce on 
 the seas, I think it highly necessary to protect it at 
 home, where it is collected in our most important 
 ports. The distance of the United States from Eu 
 rope, and the well known promptitude, ardor and 
 courage of the people in defence of their country, 
 happily diminish the probability of invasion : ne 
 vertheless, to guard against sudden and predatory 
 
 ! 
 
70 THE -ADMINISTRATION 
 
 incursions, the situation of some of our principal 
 sea-ports demands your consideration ; and as our 
 country is vulnerable in other interests besides 
 those of its commerce, you will seriously deliber 
 ate, whether the means of general defence ought 
 not to be increased, by an addition to the regular 
 artillery and cavalry, and by arrangements for form 
 ing a provisional army. 
 
 " With the same view, and as a measure which 
 even in time of universal peace ought not to be ne 
 glected, I recommend to your consideration, a re 
 vision of the law r s for organizing, arming and dis 
 ciplining the militia, to render that natural and safe 
 defence of the country efficacious. Although it is 
 very true that we ought not to involve ourselves in 
 the political system of Europe, but to keep ourselves 
 always distinct and separate from it, if we can; 
 yet to effect this separation, early, punctual, and 
 continual information of the current chain of events, 
 and of the political projects in contemplation, is 
 no less necessary than if we were directly concern 
 ed in them. ...it is necessary, in order to the dis 
 covery of the efforts made to draw us into the vor 
 tex, in season to make preparation against them. 
 However we may consider ourselves, the maritime 
 and commercial pow r ers of the world will consider 
 the United States of America, as forming a weight 
 in that balance of power in Europe, which never 
 can be forgotten or neglected. ...it would not only 
 be against our interest, but it would be doing wrong 
 to one half of Europe at least, if we should volun- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 71 
 
 tarily throw ourselves into either scale. ...it is a na 
 tural policy for a nation that studies to be neutral, 
 to consult with other nations engaged in the same 
 studies and pursuits. ...at the same time that meas 
 ures might be pursued with this view, our treaties 
 with Prussia and Sweden, one of which is expired, 
 and the other near expiring, might be renewed, 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 " It is particularly your province to consider the 
 state of the public finances, and to adopt such 
 measures respecting them, as exigencies shall be 
 found to require ; the preservation of public credit, 
 the regular extinguishment of the public debt, and 
 a provision of funds to defray any extraordinary 
 expence, will, of course, call for your serious at 
 tention ; although the imposition of new burthens 
 cannot be in itself agreeable, yet there is no ground 
 to doubt, that the American people will expect 
 from you, such measures as their actual engage 
 ments, their present security, and future interest 
 demand. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Senate r , and 
 
 ee Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 
 "The present situation of our country, imposes 
 an obligation on all the departments of government, 
 to adopt an explicit and decided conduct. In my 
 situation, an exposition of the principles by which 
 my administration will be governed, ought not to 
 be omitted. 
 
 " It is impossible to conceal from ourselves or the 
 world, what has been before observed, that endea- 
 
72 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 vours have been employed to foster and establish 
 a division between the government and people of 
 the United States. To investigate the causes which 
 have encouraged this attempt, is not necessary ; 
 but to repel, by decided and united councils, insi 
 nuations so derogatory to the honor, and aggres 
 sions so dangerous to the constitution, union and 
 even independence of the nation, is an indispensa 
 ble duty. 
 
 " It must not be permitted to be doubted, whe-r 
 ther the people of the United States will support 
 the government established by their voluntary con 
 sent, and appointed by their free choice, or whe 
 ther, by surrendering themselves to the direction of 
 foreign and domestic factions in opposition to their 
 own government, they will forfeit the honourable 
 station they have hitherto maintained. 
 
 " For myself, having never been indifferent to 
 what concerned the interests of my country ; devo 
 ted the best part of my life to obtain and support 
 its independence, and constantly witnessed the 
 patriotism, fidelity and perseverence of my feliow 
 citizens on the most trying occasions, it is not for 
 me to hesitate or abandon a cause in which my 
 heart has been so long engaged. 
 
 " Convinced that the conduct of the govern 
 ment has been just and impartial to foreign nations, 
 that those internal regulations, which have been 
 established by law for the preservation of peace, 
 are in their nature proper, and that they have 
 been fairly executed, nothing will ever be done by 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 73 
 
 me to impair the national engagements, to innovate 
 upon principles which have been so deliberately 
 and uprightly established, or surrender in any man 
 ner, the rights of the government, To enable me to 
 maintain this declaration, I rely, under God, with 
 entire confidence on the firm and enlightened sup 
 port of the national legislature, and upon the virtue 
 and patriotism of my fellow citizens." 
 
 The business which engaged both Houses of 
 Congress, for the first fortnight of this session, was 
 the preparing of an answer to Mr. Adams, for this 
 gracious speech. Messrs. Venable, Freeman, 
 Griswold, Kittera and Rutledge, were the commit 
 tee appointed by the House of Representatives for 
 that purpose. The three latter were truly federal ; 
 and the first report they gave in, was even too com 
 plaisant for many of the federal faction to suffer. 
 
 Mr. Nicholas, of Virginia, proposed an amend 
 ment, which tended to modify the approving pane 
 gyric contained in the answer. He said, that this 
 was the most important crisis America had known 
 since the Declaration of its Independence ; and it 
 would depend much upon the answer returned to 
 the President s speech, whether we were to witness 
 a similar scene of havoc and distress, to that which 
 was not yet forgotten. The situation in which we 
 stood with respect to France, in his opinion, called 
 for the most judicious proceedings ; it was his wish, 
 to heal the breach, which was already too great, by 
 temperate, rather than wi4en it by irritating meas 
 ures. 
 
 K 
 
TH-E ADMINISTRATION 
 
 He confessed, that he considered the answer re 
 ported to them, as going to decide the question of 
 peace or war for this country.. ..he thought it a 
 thing of that sort which might have the worst pos 
 sible consequence,, and could have no good effect ; 
 it might tend to irritate, to prevent any sort of in 
 quiry or settlement taking place, but could not 
 serve towards an adjustment of differences. What, 
 said Mr. Nicholas, can be expected, if Americans 
 act upon this temper? Their declaration with respect 
 to France, will probably reach that country before 
 an envoy can be sent to endeavour to negociate a 
 settlement of differences.... why endeavor to frighten 
 them, when we are the weakest power ? He said, he 
 did not mean to recommend humiliating measures ; 
 he would pledge himself not to submit to insult with 
 out redress, nor was any man more unwilling to 
 make mean or improper concessions than he ; but 
 the language of moderation and justice he preferred 
 to a boasting manner. If injury or error had been 
 committed on the part of America, he wished it to 
 be corrected. He considered it to be for the honor, 
 credit and interest of America, that the committee 
 should go into a fair and full examination of the 
 address before them, and he hoped that examina 
 tion would take place. 
 
 Mr. Freeman, member for New-Hampshire, 
 after several preliminary observations, declared, 
 he should vote for the amendment, as he saw 
 nothing in it exceptionable. ...it did not con 
 tain, he saidj an unqualified approbation of the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 73 
 
 measures of the executive, nor any undignified ex 
 pressions. If the amendment should not prevail, 
 still the original report might be so amended, as to 
 induce him, perhaps, to vote for it. He hoped a 
 spirit of conciliation would obtain, and that unani 
 mity might prevail on the occasion. 
 
 Mr. Edward Livingston,* of New- York, in a 
 speech of five hours, which it would be impossible 
 to abridge, supported the amendment. 
 
 Mr. Gallatin was of opinion the debate had beerr 
 extended on so wide a field, that the object which, 
 in his mind, occupied the first place, was in some ; 
 measure, deprived of the full consideration which 
 time and circumstances demanded; he thought those, 
 arguments which .concerned the conduct of foreign, 
 nations towards each other, might as well have, 
 been omitted altogether, on the present occasion, 
 The members of the committee might be made sen-, 
 sible of the irritation of such discussions, but he be 
 lieved no one would pretend to say, he was fully in 
 formed of foreign concerns on either side, to decide 
 upon their policy or impolicy. At the same time,, 
 it should be considered, that the situation of Ame 
 rica, and the best policy to be pursued in her situa 
 tion, were the only proper objects of our immediate 
 attention, and those alone upon which the House 
 * This gentleman is a descendant of a Scotch family, who 
 emigrated to America the beginning, of last century. His great 
 grandfather was a John Livingston, a Presbyterian Clergyman, 
 who made a conspicuous figure during the reformation. Mr- 
 Livingston has lately been elected Mayor of New-York. 
 
6 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 should pretend to be properly informed, or to de 
 cide with effect. 
 
 The question before the house, he said, was the 
 amendment proposed by the gentleman from Vir 
 ginia, (Mr. Nicholas) respecting which, we could 
 not be too speedy in our decisions. The events on 
 the other side of the Atlantic, were so rapid, as not 
 to be within our reach or controul ; we even did not 
 know the events which had already taken place. 
 He would not rely on the generosity of any nation 
 in particular circumstances ; and there was no 
 knowing the extent to Which success might lead 
 men, under a mistaken impression of injury. Ame 
 rica ought to lose no time. France had nearly 
 overwhelmed all Europe by land. ...what she might 
 do next, we did not know : whether she was just 
 or unjust, we should at least not lose time in nego 
 tiation ; and we ought the more readily to do this, 
 because there was no man in America, of what 
 party he might be, who would not resist, if resist 
 ance was required ; therefore, (he said) while the 
 conflict remained doubtful, it became us to deter 
 mine on cur affairs; and as the amendment appear 
 ed to furnish the only grounds upon which negocia- 
 tion was at all likely to be attended with the neces 
 sary effects of securing power and independence; 
 they ought to be preserved. 
 
 Several other amendments having been propo 
 sed and carried, the following address was at length 
 agreed to, and presented to the President by the 
 members of the House of Representatives, on the 3d 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS,. 77 
 
 of June, who all walked in procession for that pur 
 pose : 
 
 " To the President of the United States. 
 " SIR, 
 
 "The interesting details of those events which 
 have rendered the convention of Congress, at this 
 time indispensable, (communicated in your speech, 
 to both Houses), has excited in us the strongest 
 emotions. Whilst we regret the occasion, we can 
 not omit to testify our approbation of the measure,. 
 and to pledge ourselves, that m> consideration of 
 private inconvenience, shall prevent, on oar part, a 
 faithful discharge of the duties to which we are 
 called. 
 
 " We have constantly hoped, that the nations 
 of Europe, whilst desolated by foreign wars, or 
 convulsed by intestine divisions, would have left 
 the United States to enjoy that peace and tranquili- 
 ty to which the impartial conduct of our govern 
 ment has entitled us ; and it is now with extreme 
 regret, we find the measures of the French Repub 
 lic tending to endanger a situation so desirable and 
 interesting to our country. 
 
 " Upon this occasion, we feel it our duty to ex 
 press, in the most explicit manner, the sensations- 
 which the present crisis has excited, and to assure 
 you of our zealous co-operation in those measures 
 which may appear necessary for our security or 
 peace. 
 
 " Although it is the earnest wish of our hearts 
 that peace may be maintained with the French Re- 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 public, yet we never will surrender those rights 
 which belong to us as a nation ; and whilst we 
 view with satisfaction, the wisdom, dignity and 
 moderation which have marked the measures of 
 the supreme Executive of our country, in its at 
 tempts to remove, by candid explanations, the 
 complaints and jealousies of France, we feel the 
 full force of that indignity which has been offered 
 our country in the rejection of its minister. No- 
 attempts to wound our rights as a Sovereign State 
 will escape the notice of our constituents. ...they 
 will be felt with indignation, and repelled with 
 that decision which shall convince the world that 
 w r e are not a degraded people, that we can never 
 submit to the demands of a foreign power, without 
 examination and without discussion. 
 
 " Knowing, as we do, the confidence reposed by 
 the people of the United States in their govern 
 ment, we cannot hesitate in expressing our indig 
 nation at any sentiments tending to derogate from 
 that confidence. ...such sentiments, wherever en 
 tertained, serve to evince an imperfect knowledge 
 of the opinions of our constituents. 
 
 " Sensibly as we feel the wound which has 
 been inflicted by transactions disclosed in your com 
 munication, yet we think with you, that neither the 
 honor nor the interest of the United States forbid 
 the repetition of advances for preserving peace. 
 
 " We therefore receive, with the utmost satis 
 faction, your information that a fresh attempt at 
 negociation will be instituted, and we cherish the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 79 
 
 hope, that a mutual spirit of conciliation, and a 
 disposition on the part of France, to compensate for 
 any injuries which may have been committed on 
 our neutral rights, and on the part of the United 
 States, to place France on grounds similar to those 
 of other countries, in their relation and connection 
 with us, if any inequalities shall be found to exist, 
 will produce an accommodation compatible with 
 the engagements, rights, interest and honor of the 
 United States. 
 
 f( Fully, however, impressed with the uncer 
 tainty of the result, we shall prepare to meet with 
 fortitude, any unfavorable events which may oc 
 cur, and to extricate ourselves from their conse 
 quences, with all the skill we possess, and with 
 all the efforts in our power. Believing with you, 
 that the conduct of the government has been just 
 and impartial to foreign nations, that the laws for 
 the preservation of peace have been proper, and that 
 they have been fairly executed, the representatives 
 of the people do not hesitate to declare, that they 
 will give their most cordial support to the execu 
 tion of principles so deliberately and uprightly es 
 tablished. 
 
 " The many interesting subjects which you 
 have recommended to our consideration, and which 
 are so strongly enforced by this momentous occa 
 sion, will receive every attention which their im 
 portance demands ; and, we trust, that by the de 
 cided and explicit conduct which will govern our 
 deliberation, every insinuation will be repelled 
 
80 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 which is derogatory to the honor and independence 
 of our country. 
 
 " Permit us, in offering this address, to express 
 our satisfaction at your promotion to the first office 
 in the government, and our entire confidence that 
 the pre-eminent talents and patriotism which have 
 placed you in this distinguished situation, will ena 
 ble you to discharge its various duties with satis 
 faction to yourself, and advantage to our common 
 country. " 
 
 The House having returned, went into a com 
 mittee of the whole on the state of the union. The 
 following propositions were brought forward and 
 their consideration occupied the attention of the 
 House the greatest part of the session: 
 
 1st. That provision should be made for fortify 
 ing the ports and harbours of the United States- 
 The sum of 75,000 dollars was voted for this pur 
 pose. 
 
 2d. That provision be made by law for com 
 pleting and manning the frigates United States, 
 Constitution and Constellation. 
 
 3d. That provision be made by law for pro 
 curing by purchase, a further naval force, to consist 
 of three frigates and six sloops of war. 
 
 4th. That provision be made by law for em 
 powering the President to employ the naval force 
 of the United States, as convoys, to protect the trade 
 thereof. 
 
 5th. That provision be made for regulating the 
 arming of merchant vessels of the United States. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS-. $1 
 
 6th. That the military establishment should 
 be augmented by one regiment, a corps of artil 
 lerists and engineers, and several companies of dra 
 goons. 
 
 7th. That provision be made for empowering 
 the President to raise a provisional army, to consist 
 of a certain number of regiments of infantry, one 
 regiment of artillery and one regiment of drap-oons. 
 
 o J o o 
 
 8th. That provision be made for authorising the 
 President to borrow money, for the defence and 
 security of the United States. 
 
 9th. That a revenue be raised^ adequate to the 
 reimbursement of such sums as the President may 
 borrow. 
 
 10th. That the exportation of arms, ammunition 
 and military stores, be prevented for a limited time, 
 On the 12th of June, the President of the United 
 States sent a message to the House of Represent 
 atives, acquainting them, that he had received in 
 formation from the commissioners appointed on the 
 part of the United States, pursuant to the third ar 
 ticle of our treaty with Spain, that the running and 
 marking of the boundary line between the colonies 
 of East and West Florida, and the territory of the 
 United States, had been delayed by the officers of 
 his Catholic Majesty ; and that they had declared 
 their intention to maintain his jurisdiction, and to 
 suspend the withdrawing of his troops from the mi 
 litary posts they occupied within the territory of 
 the United States, until the two governments should, 
 "by negociation ; settle the meaning of the second ar 
 
 JL 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 tide, respecting the withdrawing of the troops, gar 
 risons or settlements of either party, in the terri 
 tory of the other; that is, whether, when the Spa 
 nish garrisons withdrew, they were to leave the 
 works standing or to demolish them ; and until, by 
 an additional article to the treaty, the real property 
 of the inhabitants should be secured; and likewise, 
 until the Spanish officers were sure the Indians 
 would be pacific. 
 
 The President mentioned, that in order to re 
 move the first difficulty, he had resolved to leave 
 the matter to the discretion of the officers of his 
 Catholic Majesty ; and as to the second, he would 
 cause an assurance to be published, that the settlers 
 or occupants of the land in question, should not be 
 disiurbed in their possessions by the troops of the 
 United States, but on the contrary, that they should 
 be protected in all their lawful claims. He also 
 recommended to the consideration of the house, the 
 expediency of creating a government in the midst 
 of the Natches, similar to that established for the 
 terri.ory North West of the river Ohio, but with 
 certain modifications, relative to titles in claims of 
 land, whether of individuals or companies, or to 
 claims of jurisdiction of any individual state. 
 
 Towards the close of the session, the attention 
 of Congress was drawn to one of the most singular 
 conspiracies that had hitherto been attempted in 
 the United States, viz. a plan laid by William 
 Blount, a Senator, from the State of Tennessee, and 
 Mr. Listen, the English minister, for the British to 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 8& 
 
 invade the Spanish territory from Canada, aided by" 
 men enlisted within the United States, and by the 
 Indians. This mysterious affair was first brought to 
 light by the following- letter from Blount, to a per 
 son of the name of Carey, an Indian interpreter: 
 
 " Colonel King s Iron Works, April 21, 1797. 
 ic DEAR CAREY, 
 
 " I wished to have seen you before I returned 
 to Philadelphia ; but I am obliged to return to the 
 session of Congress, which commences on the 15th 
 of May. 
 
 " Among other things I wished to have seen you 
 about, was the business of Captain Chesholm men 
 tioned to the British minister last winter at Phila 
 delphia. 
 
 " I believe, but am not quite sure, that the plan 
 then talked of, will be attempted this fall, and if it 
 is attempted, it will be in a much larger way than 
 then talked of ; and if the Indians act their part, 
 I have no doubt but it will succeed. A man of 
 consequence has gone to England about the busi 
 ness, and if he makes arrangements as he expects, 
 I shall have a hand in the business, and probably 
 shall be at the head of the business, on the part 
 of the British. You are, however, to understand., 
 that it is not yet quite certain that the plan will 
 be attempted ; you will do well to keep things 
 in a proper train of action, in case it should be at 
 tempted, and to do so will require all your manage 
 ment....! say all your management, because you 
 must take care in whatever you say to Rogers, or 
 
84 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 any body else, not to let the plan be discovered by 
 Hawkins, Dinsmore, Byers, or any other person in 
 the interest of the States of Spain. 
 
 " If I attempt this plan, I shall expect to have 
 yon, and all my Indian country arrd all my Indian 
 friends with me ; but you are now in good busi 
 ness, I hope, and you are not to risk the loss of it, 
 by saying any thing that will hurt you, until you 
 hear from me. Where Captain Chesholm is I 
 do not know : I left him at Philadelphia in March., 
 and he frequently visited the minister, and spoke 
 upon the subject ; but I believe he will go into the 
 Creek nation by way of Carolina or Georgia.. ..he 
 gave out that he was going to England, but I did not 
 believe him. Among other things that you may safe 
 ly do, will be to keep my consequence with Watts, 
 and the Creeks and Cherokees generally, snd you 
 must by no means say any thing in favour of Haw 
 kins, but as often as you can, with safety to your 
 self, you may teach the Creeks to believe that he 
 is no better than he should be ; any power or con 
 sequence he gets, will be against our plan. Per 
 haps Rogers, who has no ofrke to lose, is the best 
 man to give out talks against Hawkins. Read the 
 letter to Rogers; if you think it best to send it to 
 him, put a wafer in it, and forward it to him by a 
 safe hand, or perhaps you had best send to him to 
 come to you, and speak to him yourself, respecting 
 the state and prospect of things. 
 
 "I have advised you in whatever you do, to 
 take care of yourself,,.. I have now to tell you to 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 85 
 
 take care of me too, for a discovery of the plan 
 would prevent the success, and much injure ail par 
 ties concerned ; it may be, that the commissioners 
 may not run the line, as the Indians may expect or 
 wish, and in that case the Indians may be taught 
 to blame me for making the treaty. 
 
 " To such complaints against me, if such there 
 are, it may be said by my friends, at proper times 
 and places, that Doublehead confirmed the treaty 
 with the President, at Philadelphia, and receives 
 as much as 5000 dollars a year, to be paid to the 
 nation, over and above the first price : Indeed, it 
 may with truth be said, that though I made the 
 treaty, I made it by the instructions of the Presi 
 dent y and, in fact, it may with truth be said, that I 
 was by the President instructed to purchase much 
 more land than the Indians would agree to sell. 
 
 " This sort of talk will be throwing all the blame 
 off me, upon the President ; and as he is now oat 
 of office, it will be of no consequence how much 
 the Indians blame him. And among other things 
 that may be said for me is, that I was not at the 
 running of the line, and that if I had been, it 
 would have been run more to their satisfaction. 
 In short, you understand the subject, and must 
 take care to give out the proper talks, to keep up 
 my consequence with the Creeks and Cherokees. 
 Can t Rogers contrive to get the Creeks to desire 
 the President to take Hawkins out of the nation ? 
 for if he stays in the Creek nation, and gets the 
 good will of the nation, he can and will do great 
 
86 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 injury to our plans. When you have read this let* 
 ter over three times, then burn it. I shall be at 
 Knoxville in July or August, when I will send for 
 Watts and give him the whiskey I promised him. 
 " WILLIAM BLOUNT." 
 
 After the above letter came into the hands of 
 the President, application was made to the British 
 minister, for information on the subject. ...he at 
 first professed entire ignorance of the affair, but at 
 length acknowledged that application was made to 
 him by several persons six months before, on this 
 business ; that he had laid their plan before his gov 
 ernment, but that it had declined having any thing 
 to do with the business. He, however, refused 
 to give up the names of the persons concerned. 
 Mr. Blount attended in his place in the Senate, on 
 the 6th of July, in consequence of an order frpm 
 that House, and after a motion to inform the Pre 
 sident and House of Representatives of the circum 
 stance, he rose and read from a paper his senti 
 ments on the subject of his letter. He said, that 
 understanding an impeachment was to be brought 
 against him, for the part he was supposed to have 
 taken in the contrivance of the British, to invade 
 the Spanish territory through the United States, he 
 was determined to be silent in the present stage of 
 the business, not doubting but in the end, his cha 
 racter would come out pure, and defeat the malice 
 of his enemies. 
 
 Mr. Ross brought up the report from the com 
 mittee which had been appointed to investigate 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 87 
 
 Into this conspiracy ; and, after recapitulating the 
 points of the letter, stated, that the criminality went 
 beyond the personal conduct of the member, as Sen 
 ator ; that it appeared that Carey was an agent in the 
 pay of the United States, stationed within the Che 
 rokee nation ; that Hawkins was the superintendant 
 of Indian affairs in behalf of the United States, and 
 the others, severally, in similar situations; that the 
 attempt to dissuade them from their duty, and the 
 expression, that the proceedings should be kept 
 hidden from the United States and Spain, evident 
 ly bespoke purposes not consistent with the peace 
 of America. He concluded, that it was the opin 
 ion of the committee, that William Blount should 
 be expelled from his seat in the Senate, and that 
 he was guilty of an high misdemeanor. 
 
 Mr. Blount requested the privilege of counsel, 
 which, after a long debate, was granted. ...he pro 
 posed three who were unanimously rejected..., 
 Messrs. Dallas and Ingersoll were at length chosen. 
 On July the 7th, the Senate was engaged in dis 
 cussing the resolution for his expulsion. The 
 counsel on Blount s behalf, contended, that as a 
 motion for impeachment was pending, or past, in 
 the House, the Senate, who were to sit as Judges 
 to decide it, ought not to prejudge the question. 
 
 Mr. Sitgreaves, in the name of the House of 
 Representatives, and of the people of the United 
 States, said, that he impeached Mr. Blount of 
 high crimes and misdemeanors, and, in due time, 
 would exhibit particular articles against him. Fur* 
 
88 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ther, that the House demanded, the Senate should 
 take an order for the appearance of Mr. Blourit, to 
 answer to the said impeachment. 
 
 After a considerable debate on this motion, Mr* 
 Blount entered into recognizance for his appear 
 ance, in the sum of 20,000 dollars. ...Pierce Butler 
 and Thomas Blount, esquires, were accepted as 
 his sureties, 
 
 On July the 8th, the motion was proposed in 
 the Senate for expelling Mr, Blourit. Messrs. Dal 
 las and Ingersoll took their seats at the Bar of the 
 House, as his counsel. Mr. Dallas commenced his 
 defence in a very able address, which occupied more 
 than three hours.... Mr. Ingersoll followed him in 
 a speech of nearly two hours. These gentlemen 
 had recourse to every precedent which could be 
 produced from history,and to every argument which 
 ability and ingenuity could suggest. They par 
 ticularly relied on the ground, that the punishment 
 of an offender, should, in no case, precede his 
 trial, and that to expel Mr. Blount from his seat 
 then, would be to do what could only be done, 
 provided he was found guilty on the impeachment 
 preferred, which, however, they denied the House 
 of Representatives to prefer. 
 
 The defence being finished, Mr. Ross rose, 
 and, in a very luminous speech, examined all the 
 arguments which had been adduced by the counsel, 
 in order to shew their want of solidity. He justi 
 fied the expulsion of Mr. Blount from his seat, on 
 the evidence which they had of his unworthiness 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 83 
 
 to ftfl it, and appealed very forcibly to the feelings 
 of the House as to the nature of the crime of which 
 he stood charged, and as to what might have been 
 the consequence, had his plans been carried into 
 effect. 
 
 After some of the other members had delivered 
 their opinions on the subject, Mr. Bloodworth 
 moved to postpone the decision till Monday. ...the 
 yeas and nays ^eve taken upon the question, and 
 it was negatived 19 to 7. The question was then 
 put on the expulsion, and carried by yeas and nays, 
 26 to 1 ; the negative vote was Mr. Tazewell s. 
 
 After this decision had taken place, Mr. 
 Blount s bail delivered him up, and he was taken 
 into the custody of the Messenger of the House. 
 
 Mr. 81ou.it was then held for his appearance, in 
 a recognizance of one thousand dollars in himself, 
 and 500 each in two sureties. Both Houses after 
 wards adjourned until the 2d Monday in November. 
 
 The following are the titles of the acts passed 
 during this session of Congress. 
 
 1. An set for prohibiting, for a limited time,, 
 the exportation of arms and ammunition, and for 
 encouraging the importation thereof. 
 
 2. An act to prevent citizens of the United 
 States from privateering against nations in amity 
 with the United States. 
 
 3. An act to provide for the farther defence of 
 the ports and harbours of the United States. 
 
 4. An act authorizing a detachment of the mi 
 litia of ihe United States. 
 
 M 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 5. An act, in addition to an act, intitled, xc an 
 act concerning the registering and recording ships 
 and vessels." 
 
 6. An act directing the appointment of agents 
 in relation to the 6th article of the British treaty. 
 
 7. An act providing a naval armament. 
 
 8. An act to ascertain the time for the next 
 meeting of Congress. 
 
 Titles of Bills postponed till the next Session. 
 
 \. To prevent the arming of private ships, ex 
 cept in certain <:ases, and under certain regula 
 tions. ...rejected in the House of Representatives. 
 
 2. For raising and organizing an additional 
 corps of artillerists and engineers. ...rejected in the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 3. To prevent citizens of the United States 
 from entering into the military or naval service of 
 any foreign Prince or State. ...postponed in the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 4. To enable the President of the United States, 
 under certain restrictions, to raise a provisional ar 
 my. ...rejected in the Senate, where it originated. 
 
 5. To authorize the President of the United 
 Sates to lay, regulate and revoke embargoes.. ..re 
 jected in the Senate, where it originated. 
 
 6. To suspend, in part, the operation of an act, 
 intitled, " an act for raising a further sum by ad 
 ditional duties on certain articles imported, and for 
 other purposes", ...rejected in the House of Repre 
 sentatives. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 7. For arming, organizing and disciplining the 
 militia of the United States.. ..postponed in the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 Titles of Bills brought in> and not decided upon. 
 
 1. A bill laying duties on licences for selling- 
 foreign wines, and foreign distilled spirituous li 
 quors by retail. ...passed in the House of Represent 
 atives. 
 
 2. A bill to continue in force, fora limited time, 
 the act and parts of acts therein mentioned.... pas 
 sed in the House of Representatives, 
 
 3. A bill to authorize the President of the Uni 
 ted States, during the recess of the Congress., to pro 
 vide galliesand other vessels, for certain purposes 
 therein mentioned. 
 
 4. A bill making additional appropriations for 
 the support of government for the year 1797. 
 
 5. A bill authorizing a loan of money. 
 
 6. A bill laying duties on stamped vellum* 
 parchment and paper. 
 
 7. A bill providing for the more effectual col 
 lection of certain internal revenues of the United 
 States. 
 
 8. A bill respecting Consuls and Vice-Consuls. 
 
 9. A bill allowing an additional mileage to the 
 members of both Houses. 
 
 10. A bill for laying an additional tax on salt 
 imported* 
 
/ THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 CHAPTER iy. 
 
 Remarks on the meeting of Congress. ...History of 
 the A gerine Treaty.... BlounCs Conspiracy inves 
 tigated.... British Piracy. 
 
 1 HE convention of Congress at this period, 
 appeared to impartial men of every psrty, as one 
 of the most extraordinary occurrences in the infant 
 history of the American Republic. 
 
 When the treachery of Great Britain hurled up 
 on us the fury of the Barbary powers, and, by bribe 
 ry and corruption, stimulated the peaceful Indians 
 to hostilities.. ..when English pirates plundered our 
 vessels, insulted our flag and impressed our sea 
 men, a war with Britain was cried down by the 
 trumpet of federal proclamation. In place of Con 
 gress being summoned to listen to the thundering 
 accents of a war-speech, a messenger was dispatch 
 ed to the Court of Britain, robed with dignity, 
 and armed with the pow r er of forming an alliance, 
 at the remembrance of which posterity will blush, 
 and the virtues of Washington will sink into con 
 tempt. 
 
 The administration of France viewed with jus 
 tice the duplicity of our proceedings, but with 
 their usual magnanimity, they overlooked it for a 
 considerable time. Finding themselves, however, 
 despised in the esteem of our men of power, and 
 deserted by the Executive, they remonstrated in 
 
QF JOHN ADAMS. 93 
 
 the mildest and most pacific terms against our usage 
 and our ingratitude. When no satisfactory ex 
 planation was deigned to be given, they suspended 
 the functions of their minister, and refused to receive 
 one from us, unless some negociation was entered 
 upon. In short, they considered the cold indiffer 
 ence of our executive, and the acquiescence of 
 our merchants to its measures, as just grounds for 
 this proceeding, and a fit retaliation for the shame 
 ful conduct of the United States,. 
 
 It is not rny intention to justify France entirely 
 in her depredations on our commerce ; but if Ad 
 ams and his party could defend the British scheme 
 of adjudication, upon the grounds that the ruin of 
 France was her main object, the candor of Re 
 publicans ought to justify France upon a more libe 
 ral basis. The object cf the French Directory ex 
 tended no further than to injure the commerce of 
 a power which aimed at the destruction of liberty, 
 and which endeavored to monopolize the produce 
 of the world. But the utmost excesses of France, 
 never could be compared with the most trivial de 
 predations of our English allies. American pro 
 perty was never confiscated, unless detected in an 
 illicit trade.. ..our seamen were never impressed, 
 much less flogged to death. ...the dungeons of des 
 potism, were never exposed to our patriots ; nor 
 was there an instance of an American citizen, as 
 Jonathan Robbins, being demanded to die by the 
 hands of a foreign executioner. 
 
94- THE ADMINISTRATION" 
 
 Mr. Adams, in his speech, spoke abtfut foreign 
 and domestic factions.... upon this, a writer in the 
 Argus observed, " that as there was but one foreign 
 and one domestic faction in the United States, it was 
 wondrous strange that Mr. Adams should have 
 held the monsters up to day. * " The British fac 
 tion/ says this writer, "was the only foreign fac 
 tion, and the tory faction the only domestic faction 
 America was cursed with." These factions admir 
 ed John Adams because John Adams admired the 
 British Constitution, and cursed the French Re 
 public. They bestowed unbounded panegyrics 
 upon Alexander Hamilton, because this gentleman 
 acted the part of prime minister to the President. 
 They thought the administration and the govern 
 ment ought to be confounded and identified ; that 
 the administration was the government, and the 
 government the administration ; and, that the peo 
 ple ought to bow in tame submission to its whim 
 and caprice. 
 
 Mr. Adams says in his speech, that " it will be 
 proper to take into view the public audience given 
 to the late minister of the United States, on hrs 
 taking leave of the Executive Directory," because, 
 in his opinion, it was marked with indignities to 
 wards the government of the United States, and 
 evinced a disposition to separate the people of the 
 United States from the government ; " that such 
 attempts ought to be repelled with a decision which 
 shall convince France and the world, that we are 
 not a degraded people, humiliated under a colonial 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 95 
 
 spirit of fear and sense of inferiority, fitted to be 
 the miserable instruments of foreign influence, and 
 regardless of national honor, character and inte 
 rest." 
 
 This sentiment of Mr. Adams was soon re 
 echoed, both in Church and Senate, by his courtiers 
 and sycophants. Nothing was heard of but in 
 trigues between the people of the United States and 
 France. A Senator of Congress declared in conven- v 
 tion, that he should be for making a law to banish 
 every citizen of America that educated his children 
 in the study of the French language. ...the author of 
 the Serious Considerations on the election of Pre 
 sident, laboured for several Sundays together, en 
 deavouring to persuade his audience that the genius 
 of Frenchmen was deceit, and that every principle 
 which savoured of French manners, was dangerous 
 to the peace of society. In short, no stone was 
 left unturned by the partizans of Mr. Adams, and 
 the federal preachers of the gospel, to embroil the 
 people of the United States in a war with the 
 French Republic. To effect this purpose, it has 
 been proved, that agents of Britain clandestinely 
 purchased American vessels, introduced them into 
 French ports, and then sent them on buccaneering 
 cruizes under French colours, against the Ameri 
 can trade. 
 
 What were the motives which dictated this 
 policy to Mr. Adams and the federal party ? Whe 
 ther love for monarchy or a regard for the inde 
 pendence of America, I shall not attempt to decide -, 
 
96 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 but will observe, that it was not only injudicious 
 and short-sighted, but the most pernicious system 
 that could be pursued, by the first magistrate of a 
 republican government. 
 
 I shall not leave it to the partizans of Mr. Adams 
 to argue, that France had no right to impose laws 
 upon America ; this every candid enquirer will 
 admit. Nor have the people of the United States 
 any right i:o prescribe laws for France. Each nation 
 is certainly thus far independent of each other ; but 
 while Adams, Pickering and Jay, felt so strong a 
 propensity to form treaties with foreign nations, and 
 while our representatives proclaimed those treaties 
 to be the supreme law of the land a breach of trea 
 ty must be a violation of the laws of that land, with 
 whom such treaties are made ; but the breach was 
 not so wide, as to justify the most distant appre 
 hensions of a war with France. Those who im 
 posed such ideas, were political impostors, who only 
 aimed at amassing power and wealth upon the 
 ruins of the people. The observations made by 
 Mr. Monroe, on this subject, deserve to be im 
 pressed on the heart of every American ; nor can I 
 do better than repeat them here. " The contrast, 
 (says that elegant writer) between the situation 
 we might have held through the whole of this war, 
 and that which we have held, is a striking one. 
 We might have stood well with France, avoiding 
 all the losses we have sustained from her, enjoying 
 the benefit of the principles of free trade, and even 
 appeared as an advocate for those principles, and 
 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 07 
 
 without going to any extremity ; we might have 
 preserved our ancient renown, bought at a great 
 expence of blood and treasure, in a long war, in a 
 contest for liberty, and even appeared as a de 
 fender of liberty, and without fighting for her ; we 
 might too, in my opinion, have commanded a bet 
 ter fortune in our negociation with Britain, and 
 only by availing ourselves, in a suitable manner, 
 of the fortunes of France ; and, instead of a situ 
 ation so advantageous, so honorable, so satisfac 
 tory to our country, what is that into which our 
 government has conducted us? our navigation de* 
 stroyed, commerce laid waste, and a general bank 
 ruptcy threatening those engaged in it ; the friend 
 ship of a nation lost, the most powerful on earth, 
 who had deserved better things from us, and 
 had offered to place us, our vessels and commodi 
 ties, on the footing of its native citizens, in all its 
 dominions ; war hanging over us, and that not on 
 the side of liberty and the just affections of our 
 people, but of monarchy and our late most deadly 
 foe ; and we are made fast by treaty, and by the spi 
 rit of those at the helm, to a nation bankrupt in 
 its resources, and rapidly verging either to anarchy 
 or despotism. Nor is this all: Our national honor 
 is in the dust ; we have been kicked, cuffed and 
 plundered all over the ocean ; our reputation for 
 faith scouted ; our government and people brand 
 ed as cowards, incapable of being provoked to re 
 sist, and ready to receive again those chains we 
 had taught others to burst. Long willit be before 
 
9$ THfc ADMINISTRATION 
 
 we shall be able to forget what we are, nor will 
 centuries suffice to raise us to the high ground from 
 which we have fallen." 
 
 One of the most extraordinary acts which was 
 committed by Washington, and approved of by 
 the administration of Adams, was the Algerine 
 treaty. This treaty was subscribed by the Dey 
 and by Mr. Donaldson, upon the 5th of September, 
 1795. The Dey promised to observe it for an an 
 nual consideration of twelve thousand sequins, in 
 maritime stores from the United States. A sequin 
 is worth a dollar and about ninety-seven cents ; of 
 course, twenty-four thousand dollars could pur 
 chase maritime stores to the worth of twelve thou 
 sand sequins. On May the 6th, 1796, twenty- 
 four thousand dollars per annum were pledged and 
 appropriated for payment of the annuity.. ..but it 
 was immediately found out, that, by the estimate 
 of the prices fixed between Donaldson and the 
 Dey, the stores would cost three times as much in 
 Philadelphia as they were reckoned at in Algiers. 
 For instance, Donaldson promised to furnish pow 
 der at half a dollar per pound, at the very time 
 that article sold in Philadelphia for three half dol 
 lars per pound ; thus, by the gross ignorance of our 
 envoy, the tribute was trebled. 
 
 The price of masts furnishes another instance 
 of a similar nature. Donaldson estimated them at 
 three hundred dollars each ; but there is good rea 
 son to suppose that they could not be conveyed to 
 Algiers, for a total charge of less than twelve or 
 
 \ 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 93 
 
 thirteen hundred dollars ; some of them that had 
 been cut within a few miles of the lake Otsego,, hi 
 the State of New-York, cost one hundred pounds 
 per stick, for transportation from the place of their 
 growth to the lake ; from thence they were to be 
 floated down the Susquehannah, which rises from 
 that body of water. In May, 1797, a number of 
 these masts had come down as far as Wright s ferry, 
 in Pennsylvania. ...several had stuck upon the rocks. 
 About Christmas, 1797, others were sold at the 
 same ferry for twenty dollars, and then sawed down 
 into planks. Judge Cooper was the contractor for 
 these masts ; he got one or two of them transported 
 by land to Philadelphia ; there he offered to the per 
 son who carried them down, eighty dollars for the 
 carriage, but to his astonishment, was informed, 
 that twice that sum would be necessary. The 
 masts themselves, were a most beautiful specimen, 
 of the vegetation of an American forest ; they were 
 from ninety to an hundred feet in length, from three 
 to four feet in diame.ter 5 without a single limb in 
 the whole piece. 
 
 Before the Senate and the President had ratified 
 such a treaty, prudence at least should have sug 
 gested to them, the propriety of inquiring into the 
 price of the different articles they had engaged to 
 furnish. Their door keepers might have informed 
 them of the price of gun powder, and certainly a 
 carpenter might be found, whose knowledge in the 
 price of timber, would have given a guess for the 
 charge of masts. This, however, is only a specimen 
 
iOO THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 of federal negligence, and of that unnecessary ex- 
 pence, which prevailed in every transaction that 
 took place during the period of the late administra 
 tion. 
 
 The consequence was, that the twenty-four thou 
 sand dollars per annum could not purchase the ma 
 ritime stoics ; of course, Congress found themselves 
 reduced to the ridiculous necessity of passing a se 
 cond act of appropriation. It was dated March 
 3d, 1797, and the second clause is in these words, 
 cc and be it further enacted, that a further sum, not 
 exceeding ninety-six thousand two hundred and 
 forty-six dollars and sixty-three cents, be, and the 
 same is hereby appropriated, for discharging the 
 two first years annuity to the Dey and Regency of 
 Algiers, pursuant to treaty, in addition to the sum 
 appropriated for that purpose, by the act of the 
 6th of May, 1796." 
 
 Thus, an additional tribute of fifty thousand 
 dollars per annum, was saddled upon this country 
 by the incapacity of our envoy, and the negligence 
 of our Senate. 
 
 But -the most scandalous part of this most 
 shameful treaty is yet to be told. The first clause 
 of the law just quoted, authorizes the President 
 i( to apply a sum not exceeding two hundred and 
 eighty thousand, two hundred and fifty-nine dollars, 
 and three cents, to the expences which may have 
 been incurred in any negotiations with the Dey 
 and Regency of Algiers, beyond the sums here 
 tofore appropriated/* 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 101 
 
 The law contains not a single word of explana 
 tion, how this money should be applied ; this was 
 left to the discretion of Washington ; and this gen 
 eral, who appears, in the latter end of his adminis 
 tration, to have had no will of his own, by the ad 
 vice of Mr. Adams, built a frigate for the tyrant of 
 Algiers, to harrass our trade whenever the tribute 
 should not be regularly remitted. 
 
 This frigate, which was called the Crescent, was 
 finished even before it was deemed necessary to 
 consult Congress. In the Americaa annual regis 
 ter for 1796, Mr. Callender takes notice that it 
 was then upon the stocks, and the law which as 
 signed the money to pay for it, was not passed for 
 six weeks after the publication of the book. It is 
 impossible that there could be a more glaring- 
 breach of the Constitution than this here specified. 
 By that instrument, of which the President swore 
 to the observation, he is expressly prohibited from 
 touching one farthing of the public money, unless 
 for purposes pointed out beforehand by Congress. 
 To demonstrate the President s imprudence, it is 
 only requisite to read the clause last quoted. The 
 very fractions, in the sum of the appropriations for 
 the treble tribute, and for the Crescent, evidently 
 shew, that every cent, of the money had been ex 
 pended before Congress had been consulted; be 
 cause the legislature would not have stopt at three 
 cents, unless it had been to meet some particular 
 account. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 How much of these two hundred and eighty 
 thousand dollars went for the frigate, I cannot spe 
 cify. The Aurora of March 30, 1797,. has a long 
 article upon this tribute ; the writer say?, that the 
 Crescent cost ninety-nine thousand, seven hundred 
 and twenty-seven dollars. 
 
 Another remarkable circumstance in this treaty 
 is, that it does not say from what date the first year 
 of payment was to commence, nor at what periods 
 the stores were to be delivered. Besides the seven 
 ty-two thousand dollars per annum, and the two 
 hundred and eighty thousand dollars of penalty, 
 the Dey has received from the United States, an 
 other, and a very considerable disbursement,. in eon- 
 sequence of Donaldson s treaty. A large sura of 
 money was to be paid down to him,, and it was the 
 delay of making this payment, that produced the 
 building of the Crescent. On the face of the treaty 
 there appears no mention of such a sum. Mr. 
 Callender, who treats this business to its very foun 
 dation, says, government was utterly ashamed of it, 
 and did not wish the story to be staring in the 
 statute book. He gives the following particulars 
 as far as they can be traced : 
 
 " On March 20, 1794, a lav/ was passed, authori 
 zing the President to borrow one million of dollars, 
 at an interest not exceeding five per cent. " to be 
 applied to such public purposes as are authorized 
 by law." The bank of the United States is, by the 
 same, apt, authorized to lend the money to the Pre 
 sident. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 103 
 
 ** This act bears, in its very blush, the signals 
 of hypocrisy. Is is well known that no money can 
 be borrowed at five per cent, and much less a mil 
 lion of dollars. But Congress knew that they were 
 going to do something which was a little worse than 
 ordinary, and this blind was held out with a view 
 to divert the attention of their constituents from the 
 real fact, and to excite admiration, to be sure, at 
 their wonderful ceconomy. 
 
 (C The wording of this act is curious in another 
 respect, in as much as it does not tell what was 
 going to be done with the cash. ...eight hundred 
 thousand dollars of it were to be employed in this 
 infernal negociation with the Dey of Algiers. ...the 
 other two hundred thousand dollars went for other 
 expences of intercourse with foreign nations. On 
 February 15, 1797, Mr. Wolcott gave a statement 
 to Congress, of what was become of these two 
 hundred thousand dollars. ...this document fills 
 eighteen pages. ...it is extremely interesting; but 
 we must at this time attend the eight hundred 
 thousand dollars, in their perilous pilgrimage from 
 Philadelphia to Algiers. 
 
 " What follows has been partly copied from the 
 Aurora of March 30th, 1797, and it must be ob 
 served, that although government has an host of 
 writers in constant employment, this narrative was 
 never contradicted. Indeed, the principal features 
 of it are incontestably true ; and, from the most re 
 spectable private information, I am satisfied of the 
 strict accuracy of all the circumstances which are 
 now to be related : 
 
104- THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " These eight hundred thousand dollars were to 
 be borrowed from the bank, which had no hard 
 money to itself. But this company holds a great 
 mass of national stock, and agreed to lend it to 
 government at par.. ..in other words, the bank held 
 the bill of government for twenty shillings ; but this 
 bill would not sell in the market for more than 
 seventeen shillings, or thereabouts. Government 
 consented, however, to accept of it back again, 
 as worth twenty shillings, and to give a second 
 obligation for the million of dollars. This aukward 
 practice of taking its own bills, and then going to 
 market to sell them, is not, perhaps, quite intelli 
 gible to every reader. Government having now got 
 hold of its own bills, the object was to raise money 
 upon them. ...the bills might have been sold in Ame 
 rica, but so great a quantity of them coming into 
 the market at one time, would have reduced the 
 price of stock, and several members of government 
 are stockholders. The bills of government were, 
 therefore, sent to London, and sold there at a lower 
 price than what they would have sold for in the 
 
 United States. 
 
 Dols. Cts. 
 
 The sum borrowed from the bank was 800,000 
 The Aurora says that the government 
 bills, that is, the national stock receiv 
 ed from the bank, sold in London for 
 omy 685,572 22 
 
 Loss by the sale 114,427 78 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 105 
 
 " Sir Francis Baring, the banker in London, had, 
 in the mean time, agreed to advance seven hun 
 dred and two thousand, seven hundred and fifty- 
 eight dollars, on account of this affair. In No 
 vember, 1794, an attempt was made to get the 
 money from England ; but a proclamation had 
 about that time been issued at London, prohibit 
 ing the exportation of bullion. ...this made it im 
 possible to send the remittance in that shape. After 
 a lapse of eight months, drafts were obtained upon 
 Leghorn, Hamburgh and Lisbon.... at this junc 
 ture the French took Leghorn, but Buonaparte 
 did not interrupt the transaction. By the course 
 of exchange, however, thirty-seven thousand seven 
 hundred and fifty-eight dollars were lost. ...the sum 
 was thus reduced from seven hundred and two 
 thousand and odd dollars, to six hundred and sixty- 
 five thousand. The Aurora says, that this last 
 sum, in its remittance to Algiers, was again redu 
 ced to six hundred and forty-two thousand five 
 hundfed dollars. We shall now add together these 
 three successive sums of loss which those eight hun 
 dred thousand dollars sustained. 
 
 Dols. Cts. 
 
 1. The national paper was sold in 
 
 London with a loss of 1 14,427 78 
 
 2. By the disadvantage of exchange 
 
 in the drafts upon Leghorn, 37,753 81 
 
 3. Expence of conveyance to Algiers, 22,500 
 
 174,686 59 
 O 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Dols. Cls. 
 But there is another item of expence ; 
 
 before the American public stock was 
 sold. Sir F. Baring had promised to 
 send to the Continent 702,758 51 
 
 The paper sold for only 685,572 22 
 
 Difference, 17,186 29 
 It would be necessary for the gov 
 ernment of America to make up the 
 difference to their agents in London.... 
 add this to the former losses, 174-.,686 9 
 
 Total loss by the remittance, 191,872 88 
 Besides these one hundred and nine 
 ty-two thousand dollars of direct loss, 
 the money wandered for more than 
 twelve months upon its way. ...at six per 
 cent, upon eight hundred thousand 
 dollars, this interest comes to forty- 
 eight thousand, and we cannot offer 
 less than twelve thousand to the bank 
 ers in London for their trouble. The 
 former statement of loss was 191,872 88 
 
 Interest of the eight hundred thou 
 sand dollars for one year, and subjoin 
 ing for agency to Baring, 60,000 
 
 Total 258,872 88 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 107 
 
 <c The conclusion of the whole matter is this; 
 Congress transmitted to Algiers, six hundred and 
 forty-two thousand, five hundred dollars. 
 
 cc The additional expence of sending this mo 
 ney, cost two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 
 or thereabouts." 
 
 Mr. Callender proceeds to remark, that if Mr. 
 Washington had chosen to go into the market, and 
 buy these eight hundred thousand dollars worth of 
 stock from the common holders, a considerable sum 
 would have been saved to the public. For in 
 stance, says he, if stock was at eighteen shillings 
 per pound, this makes an odds of one tenth part ; 
 at that rate, his nominal eight hundred thousand 
 pounds worth of it, could have been bought in for 
 seven hundred and twenty thousand dollars of hard 
 cash, if he had been master of that much money.... 
 in this way Mr. Pitt bought in some part of the 
 national debt of England. But as the federal gov 
 ernment could not take this method, it was neces 
 sary to go to the bank of the United States, and 
 there to borrow, not money, but depreciated, paper. 
 The paper was sold in England, at the ruinous dis 
 count of one hundred and fourteen thousand, four 
 hundred and twenty-seven dollars. Thus govern 
 ment granted its obligation to the bank for eight 
 hundred thousand dollars, and could be obliged by 
 the bank to refund every farthing of the sum, while 
 it received in return, depreciated paper ; which 
 it was obliged to sell a^ain for less than se- 
 
 o o 
 
10B THE ADMIN1STRATIO-N 
 
 ven hundred thousand dollars. The result was, 
 that the bank did, in effect, receive upon the trans 
 action, a premium of about one hundred thousand 
 dollars, more or less. The bank had only to go into 
 the market, and buy, at about seventeen shillings 
 and six pence per pound, as much paper as Mr. 
 Washington wanted, and for which he gave an ob 
 ligation at par, that is, at its full nominal value, of 
 twenty shillings per pound. 
 
 From the whole history of the Algerine tribute, 
 it is obvious, that our executive had no grounds to 
 be so angry, even if the French did ask for a present 
 in money, which, most probably, never was the 
 case. To the Algerines we never were in the 
 smallest degree indebted more than we have been 
 to England ; on the contrary, we have suffered from 
 both nations ; even in time of peace, our citizens 
 have been impressed by the one, and enslaved by 
 the other.. ..our commerce has been trampled upon 
 by both, and our laws spurned with contempt. An 
 American Republican is as much despised in Bri 
 tain as in Algiers, and regarded with the same 
 insignificance as an African in the United States. 
 A dereliction of his principles can only insure his 
 person protection in London or Edinburgh. In 
 the year 1794, thirty students from Virginia were 
 nearly massacred, in the theatre of the latter 
 metropolis, from their ignorance that it was the 
 practice to give the same homage to the tune of God 
 save the King, as the Christian pays to his Creator..., 
 yet this is the nation in whose alliance Mr. Adams 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. ]Q9 
 
 gloried, whose administration he adoreB, and the 
 government of which he held up to his country 
 as a model of perfection. In speaking disrespect 
 fully of Great Britain, I hope it will not be sup 
 posed I attempt to stigmatize the people of that 
 kingdom.... the king, the nobles, the army and the 
 priests, must be separated from the people. The 
 individuals there, who are not connected with go 
 vernment, entertain principles equally liberal with 
 Frenchmen or Americans, and the superior advan 
 tage of education which they enjoy, gives a ra 
 tional firmness to the mind, which the mass of 
 Americans is still unacquainted with. 
 
 The secret connection which subsisted between 
 Mr. Adams and the government of Great Britain, 
 is no where more conspicuous than in the myste 
 rious conspiracy of Senator Blount. In the history 
 of modern intrigue, it is impossible to find a paral 
 lel to this : An English ambassador is proved, by 
 his own confession, to have held a secret and il 
 legal correspondence with members of the Senate 
 ....yet this ambassador is not only suffered by the 
 President to exercise the usual functions of his of 
 fice, but to conceal the names of those Americans 
 who were to be his accomplices in the destruction 
 of our country. A greater degree of friendship and 
 intimacy even manifested itselfbetween Mr. Adams 
 and Mr. Liston after the discovery of this affair 
 than before ; their interviews were more frequent, 
 and the dry formality of a courtly audience was 
 exchanged for the familiar ceremony of domestic 
 
110 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 acquaintance. Nothing was more common than 
 for the President of the United States and the am~ 
 y bassador of Great Britain, to be seen arm and arm 
 in the streets of Philadelphia, discussing the poli 
 tics of the day, and contrasting the shrewd observa 
 tions of Mr. Cobbett, (as they were pleased to term 
 them) with the scurrilous abuse of Mr. Duane.* 
 
 If \ve draw our attention a moment to the pre 
 parations which were carrying on in Britain, at the 
 beginning of 1797, we shall see sufficient proofs of 
 the reality of Blount s plan. Ten thousand troops 
 
 * Mr. Duane had been the proprietor and editor of several 
 newspapers in India, but the last, which was his sole property, 
 was " The Indian World" by which he had realized a handsome 
 fortune, and in September, 1794, advertised his whole standing 
 property for sale, meaning, and publishing his intention, to return 
 to Philadelphia. Kis property was to be sold on the ist of Janu 
 ary, 1795, and he had sought a passage in the Hercules, of 
 Boston, Capt. Delano, then lying at Calcutta, and to sail in all 
 April. 
 
 At this time, Mr. Duane was on terms of the best good will 
 with most of the public characters in that part of India, and in the 
 especial esteem of the gentlemen of the army, who had made his 
 paper the vehicle by which their grievances were complained of, and 
 which have since been redressed in the most ample manner. Mr. 
 Duane had been particularly noticed by Sir William Jones, and 
 Sir John Shore, and from both had received tokens of marked 
 attention, which he considered flattering and honorable to him. 
 On the evening of the 26th December, 1794* a note was left at 
 Mr. Duane s country-house, written by Capt. John Collins, pri 
 vate secretary to Sir John Shore, inviting Mr. Duane to the Gov 
 ernor-General s housei on the next day, at 8 o clock. Mr. Du - 
 ane did not receive the note until the morning of the 27th, when 
 on his way to the Grand Lodge of Masons, whose festival was 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. } 11 
 
 were kept encamped for six months together, at 
 Plymouth, for the ostensible purpose of proceeding 
 to the West-Indies; to the West-Indies they never 
 went, nor was there ever a rational apology assigned 
 by Mr. Pitt for this unaccountable armament, who 
 retained idle for such a period, not only this army, 
 but a fleet of one hundred transports, which lay 
 ready to receive them. When we add to this, that 
 in the spring of the same season, one regiment of 
 artillery and three regiments of infantry, were dis 
 patched to Canada with fifty thousand stand of 
 
 on that day ; he instantly proceeded to the Governor-General s, 
 expecting to breakfast there. He was met in the saloon by 
 Capt. Collins, and after salutations, the following circumstances 
 took place : 
 
 Capt. Collins. I am glad you are fo punctual, Mr. Duane. 
 
 Mr. Duane. I generally am, Sir ; I hope the Governor- 
 General is well. 
 
 Capt. C. He is not to be seen, and 
 
 Mr. D. I understood I was invitea by him. 
 
 Capt. C. Yes Sir, but lam directed by the Governor-Gen 
 eral to inform you, that you are to consider yourself as a state pri 
 soner. [He stampt on tae floor, and thirty Sepahis, who stood 
 concealed behind the folding doors of an anti-chamber, rushed 
 out, and presented their bayonets to D. s breast.. ..the doors be 
 ing left open by them, discovered Sir John Shore, and two others 
 of the Supreme Council on a sopha.] 
 
 Mr. D. I did not think Sir John Shore, or you, Sir, could 
 be so base and treacherous as to proceed? or even to think as you 
 do. 
 
 Capt. C. Silence, Sir (To the Sepahis) Ghillow Sepabi 
 (in English, drag him along, Sepahis. ) 
 
 Mr. D. (To the Sepahis) Ostl babaa-hum lecjagga..,,( softly 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 arms, what are we to suppose ? Previous to 1797, 
 there were sufficient troops and arms in Canada to 
 keep the natives in subjection. ...something more 
 must have been intended. There was no invasion 
 dreaded in that quarter of the globe, from France, 
 nor had Britain any enemies in that part of Ame 
 rica to contend with. Some expedition or other 
 must have been meditated to take place in Canada, 
 and this expedition could only have been against 
 the United States, or against Spanish America, 
 through the medium of the United States. Such 
 
 my friends, I shall go along with you)... .to Collins.... What is to 
 follow next, Collins ; the bow-string or scymetar ? 
 
 Capt. C. You are insolent, Sir....ChiIlo<w joub, soor Marani 
 ....(drag him along, you pig eating scoundrels.) 
 
 Mr. D. You are performing the part of Grand Vizier, now, 
 my little gentleman, and these are your mutes.. ..Calcutta is be 
 come Constantinople, and the Governor-General the Grand 
 Turk. 
 
 Much more passed, but during the last sentences, Mr. Duane 
 was conveyed down stairs, put into his palanquin, and his bear 
 ers beaten all the way to Fort William. There he was given in 
 charge with ridiculous fuss.. ..two centinels placed at the outer 
 door of the quarters, (which were those of a field officer) and a 
 centinel with a drawn bayonet, always by his side, asleep or a- 
 wake. The day he was seized, was Saturday ; on Monday 
 morning following, a company of Royal Grenadiers paraded on 
 the ramparts, and he was marched to the water side, where a 
 company of Royal Light Infantry was ready to receive him in a 
 barge, upon he which was conducted to an armed Indiaman, com 
 manded by Sir Charles Mitchel, and carried to Europe. No 
 charge was ever lodged against him, but when at St Helena he 
 yrould not be permitted to go on shore there, being a foreigner, and 
 when the vessel arrived in the English Channel he was put on 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 113 
 
 an enormous quantity of arms as fifty thousand 
 stand could have been sent for no other purpose ; 
 the army of ten thousand men, if the expedition 
 had taken place, would, most probably, have land- 
 ed in South America, in place of the West-Indies, 
 so as to co-operate with the force from Canada, 
 precisely according to the plan laid down by Sena 
 tor Blount. What became of the British arms 
 which were sent to Canada, we know not. Whe 
 ther they are there still, or were afterwards sent 
 
 shore without obtaining a single word of .information as to the 
 cause. Though his property on a moderate calculation was 
 worth ^*8ooo sterling, beside out-standing debts to the amount 
 of 25,000 Roupees or 13,000 Dollars, when he applied to one 
 of the first lawyers in England to institute a suit for the re 
 covery of it, the gentleman had the candour to ask how much 
 money he had left ; being told about 200 sterling, he return 
 ed a fee of 20 guineas, said that though the case was one of 
 the most extraordinary and oppressive he had ever heard of, he 
 advised Mr. Duane not to attempt wasting what he had left, in a 
 competition with the funds of the East-India Company, who 
 could spend 40,600 without missing it. Several gentlemen had 
 written from India to their friends in behalf of Mr. Duane, among 
 others to Lord Lucan, who in conversation with Mr. Duane, 
 said that the only way to recover his property would be to go 
 to Mr. Dundas, and make a disclosure of all that he knew con 
 cerning persons in India.. ..this intimation might have been in 
 terpreted two ways, but the first impression which it made on 
 Mr. Duane was that of contempt ; he took his hat and without 
 saying a word, left him, and relinquished all hope of restitution 
 for the robbery. In a few weeks afterwards Mr. Duane return 
 ed to his native country, and of course with very great cause to 
 admire the Constitution, laws and order of the British govern 
 ment., domestic and foreign ! 
 
 P 
 
114 iHE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 back, is a matter upon which the English papers 
 are silent. 
 
 I shall conclude this chapter with an account 
 of the principal depredations committed on our 
 commerce by British vessels of war, from May, 
 1797, until the meeting of Congress in November. 
 
 On the 23d of May, 1797, James Hammond, 
 a native citizen of the United States, belonging to 
 the American ship Hope, of New-York, Michael 
 Pierce, master, when on shore in the Island of Ma 
 deira was pressed by Captain James, of the Bri 
 tish brig of war, El-Corso, and carried forcibly on 
 board in open day, before the house of the Ameri 
 can Consul, Mr. Pintard. Captain Pierce having 
 applied to Mr. Pintard for redress, the latter wait 
 ed upon the British Vice-Consul, who, at length, 
 persuaded Captain James to deliver up Hammond ; 
 but the day before the Hope intended to sail, a 
 boat s crew came again on board from the El-Corso 
 and carried off five men, three of them Americans, 
 one a Swede and the other an Italian. Mr. Pintard 
 remonstrated with the British Consul upon the 
 grossness of the insult, but received for answer, that 
 all interference on his part would be in vain, for Bri 
 tish Captains supposed they had, when out of Bri 
 tish ports, an unlimited authority to tyrannise over 
 the rest of mankind. Captain Pierce then went to 
 the British Captain himself, but the only satisfac 
 tion he received, was to be thrown into prison 
 along with the supercargo, for refusing to give the 
 five men their wages. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 115 
 
 On the 2d of June, 1797, a number of Ameri 
 can captains, at Port-au-Prince, in St. Domingo, 
 presented a petition to governor Simcoe....they re 
 presented that eleven American vessels, with car 
 goes amounting to three hundred thousand dollars, 
 had been captured by British privateers, and were 
 then lying in that port in expectation of a trial.... 
 they had applied for it, and were told in answer, 
 that they were to be sent for adjudication to Mole 
 St. Nicholas. They state, that several of the vessels 
 could not proceed to that place without conside 
 rable repairs, and that others had been abandon 
 ed by their crews ; some with their cargoes were 
 likewise in a state of suffering. Many of the pe 
 titioners being entire strangers, were reduced to in 
 conveniences from want of money. Several crews 
 and supercargoes were laid under the most distress 
 ing circumstances, from sickness, disappointment 
 and mortification. 
 
 The Governor s answer was haughty and re 
 proachful. He promised to recommend to the 
 judge of the Admiralty, Mr. Combauld, to decide 
 their cases at an early period ; but he gave them 
 no reason to suppose that there would be a court 
 erected for that purpose at Port-au-Prince. He hop 
 ed that they would be acquitted of that contraband 
 traffic, which many citizens of the United States 
 carried on with the French government in St. Do 
 mingo. He closed with telling them, that this 
 illicit trade might, at no remote distance, serious!* 
 disturb the security of the American continent. 
 
116 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 On the 27th of July, 1797, Nathaniel Silsbee, 
 Captain of the ship Betsey, wrote a letter to the 
 printer of a Salem newspaper; he had arrived at 
 Salem from Madras, three days before the date of 
 the letter. At his departure, there were in that port 
 nine English ships of war. One of them was the 
 Sybille frigate, Captain Cook, who pressed from 
 Captain Silsbee, Edward Hulen, a native of Salem. 
 He also threatened, that if any complaint should be 
 made by Silsbee to the governor on shore, he would 
 not only take every seaman, but every officer from 
 the Betsey. He did not commit this violence from 
 scarcity of hands ; for he told Captain Silsbee that: 
 he had thirty-five men over and above his ship s 
 complement. He added, that he believed fifteen of 
 them were real American citizens ; that he had 
 pressed them from on board of American ships at 
 Lisbon, in spite of the remonstrances of the Ameri 
 can Consul at that place. Cook farther declared, 
 that he would keep these men in perfect security 
 till the end of the war. 
 
 After the impressment of Hulen, the Betsey 
 was daily visited by a Lieutenant from the Sybille ; 
 during his stay on board, this officer took full com 
 mand of the ship, mustered the crew regularly on 
 the quarter deck, and would not suffer any ship s 
 duty to be carried on at these times ; he farther 
 threatened to correct the American officers for not 
 manning the ship s-side, and paying him such res 
 pect, as he said, the presence of any British officer 
 ought to command. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 117 
 
 The brig Two Sisters, Captain Conkling, of 
 New- York, on the 13th of August was boarded by 
 the General Nicholl, a British Letter of Marque, 
 Captain Morrison. ...Captain Conkling was ordered 
 on board with his papers ; Morrison, without 
 deigning to examine them, put them in his chest, 
 and went himself on board the brig, where he beat 
 with his hanger every sailor, ordering them at the 
 same time, to declare the property to be French. 
 Finding, however, such treatment in vain, he took 
 the mate and the men on board and put the 
 whole in irons, until he rifled the vessel complete 
 ly. The brig after being deprived of the most valu 
 able part of her cargo, was afterwards dismissed. 
 
 The following is a summary of an account sta 
 ted by Captain Dunlevy, who remained in Hispa- 
 niola from the 9th of June to the 20th of October, 
 1797: Eighteen American vessels with their car 
 goes were condemned.. ..two of the captains of 
 these ships were detained three months before they 
 could get their papers, which could have been had 
 with ease in three days, or a much less time ; another 
 of the captains died of grief; a nineteenth vessel, 
 with her cargo, was sold to pay the costs of suit ; 
 a twentieth was cleared, but the cargo condemned. 
 
 These were the advantages America reaped 
 from her alliance with monarchy. It is true, in 
 numerable instances occurred, this summer, of like 
 depredations on the part of France ; but then it 
 ought to be remembered, that we were in a state of 
 war with that country, but at peace with England. 
 
118 ,HE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Speech cf the President., . .Address from the Senate. . . . 
 BloitnCs Conspiracy.. ..Quarrel between Mr. Lyon 
 and Mr. Grhzvold.... Instances of a similar nature 
 in the Parliament of Scotland, the House of Com 
 mons in England, and the Senate of Lucerne, in 
 Switzerland. . ..Communication from the President 
 relative to the negotiation with France.... Acts 
 
 o 
 
 passed by Congress. 
 
 1 HE House of Representatives met, accord 
 ing to their resolution of adjournment, on the 2d 
 Monday of November ; but a sufficient number of 
 Senators having not come forward to form a quo 
 rum until the 23d of November, no business of 
 consequence was entered upon. ...about twelve that 
 day, both houses being convened, the President 
 delivered the following speech : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the. Senate, and 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 
 "I was for some time apprehensive that it would 
 be necessary, on account of the contagious sickness 
 which afflicted the city of Philadelphia, to convene 
 the national legislature at some other place. 
 
 " This measure it was desirable to avoid; be 
 cause it would occasion much public inconveni 
 ence, and a considerable public expence, and add 
 to the calamities of the inhabitants of this city, 
 whose sufferings must have excited the sympathy 
 of all their fellow-citizens. Therefore., after taking 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 119 
 
 measures to ascertain the state and decline of the 
 sickness, I postponed my determination, having 
 hopes, now happily realized, that, without hazard 
 to the lives or health of the members, Congress 
 might assemble at this place, where it was next by 
 law to meet. I submit, however, to your considera 
 tion, whether a power to postpone the meeting ot 
 Congress, without passing the time affixed by the 
 constitution, upon such occasions, would not be a 
 useful amendment to the law of one thousand seven 
 hundred and ninety-four? 
 
 " Although I cannot yet congratulate you on the 
 re-establishment of peace in Europe and the resto 
 ration of security to the persons and properties of 
 our citizens from injustice and violence at sea, 
 we have, nevertheless, abundant cause of gratitude 
 to the source of benevolence and influence, for in 
 terior tranquility and personal security ; for propi 
 tious seasons, prosperous agriculture, productive 
 fisheries, and general improvements ; and above 
 all, for a rational spirit of civil and religious liberty > 
 and a calm, but steady determination, to support 
 our sovereignty, as well as our moral and religious 
 liberty, against all open arid secret attacks. 
 
 " Our envoys extraordinary to the French Re 
 public, embarked the one in July, the other early 
 in August, to join their colleague in Holland. I 
 have received intelligence of the arrival of both of 
 them in Holland, from whence they all proceeded 
 on their journey to Paris, within a few days of the 
 nineteenth of September. Whatever may be the 
 
120 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 result of this mission, I trust that nothing will have 
 been omitted on my part, to conduct the negocia- 
 tion to a successful conclusion, on such equitable 
 terms, as may be compatible with the safety, iionor 
 and interest of the United States. Nothing, in the 
 mean time, will contribute so much to the preser 
 vation of peace, and the attainment of justice, as 
 a manifestation of that energy and unanimity, of 
 which, on many former occasions, the people of the 
 United States have given such memorable proofs, 
 and the exertion of those resources for natural de 
 fence, which a beneficent providence has kindly 
 placed within their power. 
 
 " It may be confidently affirmed, that nothing 
 has occurred since the adjournment of Congress, 
 which renders inexpedient those precautionary 
 measures recommended by me, to the considera 
 tion of the two Houses, at the opening of your late 
 extraordinary session. If that system was then 
 prudent, it is more so now, as increasing depre 
 dations strengthen the reasons for its adoption. 
 
 " Indeed, whatever maybe the issue of the ne- 
 gociation with France, and whether the war in 
 Europe is or is not to continue, I hold it most cer 
 tain, that permanent tranquility and order will not 
 soon be obtained. The state of society has so 
 long been disturbed, the sense of moral and reli 
 gious obligations so much weakened, public faith 
 and national honor have been so impaired, respect 
 to treaties has been so diminished, and the law of 
 nations has lost so much of its force 3 while pride^ 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 121 
 
 ambition, avarice and violence have been so long 
 unrestrained, there remains no reasonable ground 
 on which to raise an expectation that a commerce 
 without protection or defence will not be plun 
 dered. 
 
 " The commerce of the United States is essen 
 tial, if not to their existence, at least to their comfort, 
 their growth, prosperityand happiness. The genius, 
 character and habits of the people are highly com 
 mercial; their cities have been formed and exist up 
 on commerce ; their agriculture, fisheries, arts and 
 manufactures are connected with, and depend upon 
 it. In short, commerce has made this country what it 
 is, and it cannot be destroyed or neglected without 
 involving the people in poverty and distress. ...great 
 numbers are directly and solely supported by navi 
 gation. ...the faith of society is pledged for the pre 
 servation of the rights of commercial and sea-faring, 
 no less than of the other citizens. Under this view 
 of our affairs, I should hold myself guilty of a ne 
 glect of duty, if I forbore to recommend that we 
 should make every exertion to protect our com 
 merce, and to place our country in a suitable pos 
 ture of defence, as the only sure means of preserv 
 ing both. 
 
 " 1 have entertained an expectation that it would 
 have been in my power, at the opening of the ses 
 sion, to have communicated to you the agreeable 
 information of the due execution of our treaty 
 "with his Catholic Majesty, respecting the withdraw 
 ing of his troops from our territory, and thedemar- 
 
 Q 
 
122 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 cation of the line of limits. But by the latest au 
 thentic intelligence, Spanish garrisons were still 
 continued within our country, and the running of 
 the boundary line had not been commenced. These 
 circumstances are the more to be regretted, as 
 they cannot fail to affect the Indians in a manner 
 injurious to the United States. Still, however, 
 indulging the hope that the answers which have 
 been given will remove the objections offered by 
 the Spanish officers to the immediate execution of 
 the treaty, I have judged it proper that we should 
 continue in readiness to receive the posts, and to 
 run the line of limits. 
 
 " Further information on this subject will be 
 communicated in the course of the session. 
 
 " In connection with this unpleasant state of 
 things on our western frontier, it is proper for me 
 to mention the attempts of foreign agents to alien 
 ate the affections of the Indian nations, and to. 
 excite them to actual hostilities against the United 
 States. Great activity has been exerted by these 
 persons, who have insinuated themselves among 
 the Indian tribes residing within the territory of the 
 United States, to influence them to transfer their 
 affections and force to a foreign nation ; to form 
 them into a confederacy, and to prepare them for 
 war against the United States. 
 
 " Although measures have been taken to coun 
 teract these infractions of our rights, to prevent In 
 dian hostilities, and to preserve entire their attach 
 ment to the United States, it is my duty to observe^ 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 
 
 that to give a better effect to these measures, and 
 to obviate the consequences of a repetition of such 
 practices, a law providing adequate punishment 
 for such offences may be necessary. 
 
 " The commissioners appointed under the fifth 
 article of the treaty of amity, commerce and navi 
 gation, between the United States and Great Bri 
 tain, to ascertain the river which was truly intend 
 ed under the name of St. Croix, mentioned in the 
 treaty of peace, met at Passamaquoddy Bay, in 
 October, 1796, and viewed the mouths of the rivers 
 in question, and the adjacent shores and islands^ 
 and being of opinion that actual surveys of both 
 rivers to their sources were necessary, gave to the 
 agents of the two nations instructions for that pur 
 pose, and adjourned to meet at Boston in August. 
 They met, but the surveys requiring more time 
 than had been supposed, and not being then com 
 pleted, the commissioners again adjourned to meet 
 at Providence, in the State of Rhode-Island, in 
 June next, when we may expect a final examina 
 tion and decision. 
 
 " The commissioners appointed in pursuance of 
 the 6th article of the treaty, met at Philadelphia in 
 May last, to examine the claims of British sub 
 jects, for debts contracted before the peace, and 
 still remaining due to them from citizens or inhab 
 itants of the United States. Various causes have 
 hitherto prevented any determinations ; but the bu 
 siness is now resumed, and doubtless will be pro- 
 stecuted without interruption, 
 
124 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " Several decisions on the claims of citizens of 
 the United States, for losses and damages sustain 
 ed by reason of irregular and illegal captures or 
 condemnations ot their vessels, or other property, 
 have been made by the commissioners in London, 
 conformably to the seventh article of the treaty. 
 The sums awarded by the commissioners have 
 been paid by the British government. A conside 
 rable number of other claims, where costs and da 
 mages, and not captured property, were the only 
 objects in question, have been decided by arbitra 
 tion, and the sums awarded to the citizens of the 
 United States have also been paid. 
 
 " The commissioners appointed agreeably to 
 the twenty-first article of our treaty with Spain, 
 met at Philadelphia in the summer past, to exa 
 mine and decide on the claims of our citizens for 
 losses they have sustained, in consequence of their 
 vessels and cargoes having been taken by the sub 
 jects of his Catholic Majesty, during the late war 
 between Spain and France. ...their sittings have 
 been interrupted, but are now resumed. 
 
 " The United States being obligated to make 
 compensation for the losses and damages sustained 
 by British subjects, upon the award of the commis 
 sioners acting under the sixth article of the treaty 
 with Great Britain, and for the losses and damages 
 sustained by British subjects, by reason of the 
 capture of their vessels and merchandize, taken 
 within the limits and jurisdiction of the United 
 States and brought into their ports, or taken by 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 125 
 
 vessels originally armed in ports of the United 
 States, upon the awards of the commissioners act 
 ing under the seventh article of the same treaty, 
 it is necessary that provision be made for fulfilling 
 these obligations. 
 
 " The numerous captures of American vessels 
 by the cruizers of the French Republic, and of 
 some by those of Spain, have occasioned considera 
 ble expences in making and supporting the claims 
 of our citizens before their tribunals. The. sums 
 required for this purpose have, in divers instances, 
 been disbursed by the consuls of the United States. 
 By means of the same captures, great numbers of 
 our seamen have been thrown ashore in foreign 
 countries, destitute of all means of subsistence ; and 
 the sick in particular have been exposed to griev 
 ous sufferings. 
 
 " The consuls have in these cases also advanced 
 monies for their relief. For these advances they 
 reasonably expect reimbursements from the United 
 States. 
 
 " The consular act relative to seamen requires 
 revision and amendment. ...the provisions for their 
 support in foreign countries, and for their return, are 
 found to be inadequate and ineffectual. Another 
 provision seems necessary to be added to the con 
 sular act. ...some foreign vessels have been discover 
 ed sailing under the flag of the United States, and 
 with forged papers.. ..it seldom happens that the 
 consul can detect this deception ; because they 
 have no authority to demand an inspection of the 
 register and sea-letters, 
 
126 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 "It is my duty to recommend to your serious 
 consideration, those objects which by the consti 
 tution are placed particularly within your sphere, 
 the national debt and taxes. 
 
 " Since the decay of the feudal system, by 
 which the public defence was provided for chief 
 ly at the expence of individuals, the system of loan 
 has been introduced.. ..and as no nation can raise 
 within the year by taxes, sufficient sums for its de 
 fence and military operations in time of war, the 
 sums loaned and debts contracted have necessarily 
 become the subject of what have been called fund 
 ing systems. 
 
 " The consequences arising from the continual 
 accumulation of public debts in other countries, 
 ought to admonish us to be careful to prevent 
 their growth in our own. The national defence 
 must be provided for, as well as the support of gov 
 ernment ; but borh should be accomplished as much 
 as possible by immediate taxes, and as little as 
 possible by loans. 
 
 "The estimates for the service of the ensuing 
 year, will, by my direction, be laid before you. 
 " Gentlemen of the Senate, and 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives^ 
 
 " We are met together at a most interesting pe 
 riod.... the situations of the principal powers of Eu 
 rope are singular and portentous ; connected with 
 some by treaties, and with all by commerce, no im 
 portant event there can be indifferent to us. Such 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 327 
 
 circumstances call with peculiar importunity, not 
 less for a disposition to unite in all those measures 
 on which the honor, safety and prosperity of our 
 country depend, than for all the exertions of wis 
 dom and firmness. 
 
 " In all such measures, you may rely on my 
 zealous and hearty concurrence." 
 
 After the President retired, the House proceed 
 ed to the choice of a Chaplain. The persons no 
 minated, were Dr. Green, Dr. Priestly, Dr. Blair, 
 General Williams and Mr. Ustick. When the votes 
 were examined, Dr. Green was found to have 53, 
 and none of the rest more than six. ...he was of 
 course duly elected. 
 
 On Friday, the 24th, Mr. Harper moved for an 
 address to the communications of the President. 
 He was opposed by Mr. Lyon, who showed very 
 forcibly the absurdity, and the expence incurred to 
 the nation, by establishing a custom of debating ten 
 or fourteen days, as in the last session, about the 
 wording of an answer to the President s speech. 
 The motion of Mr. Harper was, however, carried ; 
 and after a week s deliberation, an answer was 
 agreed to nearly similar to the one presented by the 
 Senate. Of the two, this deserves more particular 
 notice, as it will shew the state of humble submis 
 sion to which the Senate, (a body that ought to have 
 retained some appearance of dignity) descended in 
 the late administration: 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 cc The communication you have thought proper 
 to make in your speech to both Houses of Congress, 
 
128 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 on the opening of their present session, afford addi 
 tional proofs of the attention, integrity and firmness 
 which have marked your official character. 
 
 " Yv r e cannot but approve of the measures you 
 had taken to ascertain the state and decline of the 
 contagious sickness which has so lately afflicted the 
 city of Philadelphia, and the pleasing circumstance 
 that Congress is now assembled at that place, with 
 out hazard to the health of its members, evinces 
 the propriety of your having postponed a determina 
 tion to convene the national legislature at any other 
 place. ...we shall take into consideration the law of 
 1794, on this subject, and will readily concur in 
 any amendment which may be deemed expedient. 
 
 " It would have given us much pleasure to 
 have received your congratulations on the re-estab 
 lishment of peace in Europe, and the restoration 
 of security to the persons and properties of our ci 
 tizens from injustice and violence at sea. But 
 though these events, so desirable to our country 
 and the world, have not taken place, yet we have 
 abundant cause of gratitude to the Great Disposer 
 of human events, for interior tranquility and per 
 sonal security ; for propitious seasons, prosperous 
 agriculture, productive fisheries, and general im 
 provement j and above all, for a rational spirit of 
 civil and religious liberty, and a calm, but steady 
 determination to support our sovereignty against 
 all open and secret attacks. 
 
 " We learn with satisfaction, that our envoys 
 extraordinary to the French Republic, had safely 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 129 
 
 arrived in Europe, and were proceeding to the scene 
 of negociation ; and whatever may be the result 
 of the mission, we are perfectly satisfied that noth 
 ing on your part has been omitted, which could 
 any way conduce to a successful conclusion of 
 the negociation, upon terms compatible with the 
 safety, honor and interest of the United States; 
 and we arc fully convinced, that in the mean time, 
 a manifestation of the unanimity and energy of 
 which the people of the United States have given 
 such memorable proofs, and a proper exertion Q 
 those resources of national defence which we pos-* 
 sess, will essentially contribute to the preservation 
 of peace and the attainment of justice. 
 
 " We think, Sir, with you, that the commerce 
 of the United States is essential to the growth, com 
 fort and prosperity of our country ; and that the 
 faith of society is pledged for the preservation of 
 the rights of commercial and sea-faring, no less 
 than of other citizens; and even if our negociation, 
 with France should terminate favorably, and the 
 war in Europe cease, yet the state of society which 
 unhappily prevails in so great a portion of the 
 world, and the experience of past times under bet 
 ter circumstances, unite in warning us that a com 
 merce so extensive, and which holds out so many 
 temptations to lawless plunderers, can never be 
 safe without protection and defence ; and we hold 
 ourselves obliged by every tie of duty which binds 
 us to our constituents, to promote and concur in 
 such measures of marine defence as may convince 
 
 R 
 
130 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 our merchants and seamen that their rights are 
 not sacrificed nor their injuries forgotten. 
 
 " We regret that notwithstanding the clear 
 and explicit terms of the treaty between the United 
 States and his Catholic Majesty, the Spanish garri 
 sons are not yet withdrawn from our territory, nor 
 the running of the boundary line commenced. 
 
 " The United States have been faithful in the 
 performance of their obligations to Spain, and had 
 reason to expect a compliance equally prompt on 
 the part of that power. We still, however, in 
 dulge the hope that the convincing answers which 
 have been given to the objections stated by the 
 Spanish officers to the immediate execution of the 
 treaty, will have their proper effect, and that this 
 treaty, so mutually benefical to the contracting 
 parties, will be finally observed with good faith.... 
 we, therefore, entirely approve of your determina 
 tion to continue in readiness to receive the posts, 
 and to run the line of partition between our terri 
 tory and that of the King of Spain. Attempts to 
 alienate the affections of the Indians, to form them 
 into actual hostility against the United States, whe 
 ther made by foreign agents or by others, are so in 
 jurious to our interests at large, and so inhuman 
 with respect to our citizens inhabiting the adjacent 
 territory, as to deserve the most exemplary punish 
 ment, *nd we will cheerfully afford our aid in 
 framing a law which may prescribe a punishment 
 adequate to the commission of crimes so heinous* 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 131 
 
 f The several objects you have pointed out 
 to the attention of the Legislature, whether they 
 regard our internal or external relations, shall re 
 ceive from us that attention which they merit, and 
 we will readily concur, in all such measures as 
 may be necessary, either to enable us to fulfil 
 our engagements at home or to cause ourselves 
 to be respected abroad ; and at this portentous pe 
 riod, when the powers of Europe, with whom 
 we are connected by treaty or commerce, are 
 in so critical a situation, and when the conduct 
 of some of those powers towards the United States 
 is so hostile and menacing, the several branches 
 of the government, are, in our opinion, called up 
 on with peculiar importunity to unite, and, by 
 union, not only to devise and to carry into effect 
 these measures, on which the safety and prosperity 
 of our country depend, but also to undeceive those 
 nations, who, regarding us as a weak and divided 
 people, have pursued systems of aggression incon 
 sistent with a state of peace between independent 
 nations. And, sir, we beg leave to assure you, that 
 we derive a singular consolation from the reflection, 
 that at such a time the Executive part of our go 
 vernment has been committed to your hands ; for 
 in your integrity, talents and firmness, we place the 
 most entire confidence." 
 
 To this address the President was pleased to 
 give a few words in reply, complimenting them 
 in his turn, upon their wisdom, their penetration,, 
 and independent spirit. 
 
132 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The House of Representatives delivered their 
 address the day following, and received the honor 
 of tasting the wine and breaking the bread of tht 
 President. Mr. Lyon, of Vermont, was the only 
 member who had the firmness to refuse attending 
 this procession. 
 
 The first important business which came be 
 fore Congress this session, was the conspiracy of 
 governor Blount. Mr. Sitgreaves, on the 4th of 
 December, brought up the report from the com 
 mittee which had been appointed for the purpose 
 of collecting evidence relative to this subject. In 
 their report the committee state, that soon after 
 their appointment, they received a trunk from J. 
 Ross, Esq. containing sundry papers belonging to 
 William Blount, which had been seized by order 
 of the Senate. From a perusal of these papers, it 
 appeared that one Nicholas Romayne, a practition 
 er of physic, in New- York, was intimately connect*- 
 ed with Blount. They, therefore, conceived it to 
 be their duty to secure the person of Romayne, and 
 for that purpose issued a writ, the execution of 
 which they placed in the hands of the Secretary of 
 State, who appointed Captain W. Eaton, messen 
 ger on the occasion. This messenger returned 
 with Romayne and his papers, which he also 
 seized on the 10th of July. Mr. Romayne, after 
 being examined, gave security for his appearance 
 before the Senate on the trial of Blount. 
 
 Major Lewis was appointed by the commit 
 tee to secure James Carey, and one James Grant, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 132 
 
 who also appeared to have had connections with 
 Blount. Mr. William Davy, of Philadelphia, was 
 examined respecting a Mr- Chisholm, who sailed 
 for London in a vessel chartered by him, having 
 his passage paid by Mr. Listen. Mr. Davy recol 
 lected a conversation which passed between Mr. 
 Chisholm and Mr. Thornton, the Deputy of Mr. 
 Liston, who promised Chisholm the command of a 
 squadron to act against Pensacola. He also pro 
 duced a letter from his brother irrLondon, mention 
 ing that Chisholm endeavored to get money from 
 him ; but before he gave him any, he applied to 
 Lord Grenville s office, to know if he had got any 
 money from thence, and finding they had supplied 
 him largely, he declined letting him have any. 
 
 The deposition of Dr. Romayne was nearly as 
 follows : He stated that he had been acquainted 
 with Mr. Blount since 1782 ; that his first acquaint 
 ance with Chisholm, was whilst in treaty with Mr. 
 Blount in land speculation. Some time afterwards 
 he intended going to London to sell lands, but 
 abandoned that design, owing to property falling 
 in price. He said governor Blount promised to 
 procure a bill to enable aliens to hold land in the 
 State of Tennessee. He confessed that Blount- 
 used often to regret that the English did not possess 
 Louisiana, and spoke of going to England on that 
 business, for that they had much better possess 
 it than the French ; that it was agreed on be 
 tween Blount and himself, to sound certain persons 
 in Philadelphia, as well as in Virginia and the 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Southern States, on this subject ; but that the 
 whole business had been dropped for some time, 
 by Blount s neglecting to answer his letters. 
 
 The letters which passed between Blount and 
 Romayne have dates from February to May, 1797, 
 and were chiefly on the project of going to England 
 on the business of Louisiana. In these letters Dr. 
 Romayne frequently speaks with confidence of suc 
 cess, and often remarks upon the critical situation 
 of the European powers, and the improbability of 
 peace. 
 
 Several letters passed between Romayne and 
 Mr. Listen, but the former acknowledged their be 
 ing destroyed, except the following one, which, of 
 itself is a sufficient proof of the conspiracy on the 
 part of the British minister : 
 
 Philadelphia, 28th April, 1797. 
 cc I am much indebted to you, Sir, for your 
 friendly letter of the 14th of this month, inclosing 
 one from Mr. Pulteney, whose good opinion gives 
 me high satisfaction. (That letter is now returned.) 
 " Taking it for granted that I understand to 
 what business you allude, I could wish to have a 
 full examination of your sentiments on the subject. 
 It may be done, I think, in writing ; you may de 
 pend on secrecy and discretion on my part. 
 
 " The general sketch of what has taken place 
 here, is, that a person came to me to make certain 
 important propositions of enterprize, to which I 
 listened, but said I had no power to act. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 135 
 
 " He appeared to me determined and active, 
 though illiterate and unfit to assume command. 
 
 " He urged to have my consent to go to Europe^ 
 to tell his own story, to which I consented (though 
 with some hesitation) not thinking myself authorized 
 to give a positive refusal. 
 
 " It strikes me that if a person of confidence, 
 with proper authority from home, were to accom 
 pany him to the scene of action, something might 
 probably be effected. 
 
 (e Information of every sort will be gratefully 
 received. 
 
 " N. B. I have no intention of sending my se 
 cretary any where. 
 
 " Believe me, with great truth and regard, Sir, 
 your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 " ROBERT LISTON. 
 
 "DR. ROMAYNE." 
 
 The charges exhibited by the House of Repre 
 sentatives against William Blount, are contained 
 in the five following articles : 
 
 6( ARTICLE I. 
 
 " That whereas, the United States in the 
 months of February, March, April, May and June, 
 1797, were at peace with his Catholic Majesty, the 
 King of Spain ; and whereas, during the months 
 aforesaid, his said Catholic Majesty and the Kin^ 
 of Great Britain were at war with each other ; yet 
 he the said William Blount, though, a Senator of 
 the United States, did conspne, within its territo 
 ries, to carry on a military expedition against the 
 
136 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 dominions of his Catholic Majesty in the Floridas 
 and Louisiana, for the purpose of conquering the 
 same for the King of Great Britain. 
 
 " ARTICLE II. 
 
 " That whereas, on the 27th of October, 1795, 
 a treaty of friendship, limits and navigation, was 
 concluded between the United States and his Ca 
 tholic Majesty, by the 5th article of which, it was 
 agreed that the two contracting parties should main 
 tain peace and, harmony among the Indian nations 
 who inhabit the country adjacent to the two Floridas 
 ....yet the said Mr. Blount, disregarding the stipula 
 tions of said treaty, did conspire to excite the Creek 
 and Cherokee Indians to commence hostilities a- 
 gainst the subjects of his Catholic Majesty in the 
 Floridas and Louisiana, for the purpose of reducing 
 the same to the dominion of the King of Great Bri- 
 tain, with whom his Catholic Majesty was at war. 
 
 " ARTICLE III. 
 
 " That whereas, by the ordinances of Congress 
 for regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian 
 tribes, it has been made lawful for ihe President of 
 the United States, in order to insure the continu 
 ance of the friendship of the said Indian tribes, to 
 appoint temporary agents to reside among them ; 
 and whereas, in pursuance of the said authority, he 
 did appoint Benjamin Hawkins to be principal 
 temporary agent for Indian affairs within the In 
 dian nations south of the river Ohio. ...yet the said 
 William Blount did, in the prosecution of his crim 
 inal designs, contrive to alienate the confidence of 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 1ST 
 
 the said Indian tribes from Benjamin Hawkins, 
 contrary to tire duty of his trust and station as a 
 senator of the United States. 
 
 <c ARTICLE IV. 
 
 Ci That whereas, by the ordinances of Congress 
 it is made lawful for the President to establish 
 trading houses at such places on the western and 
 southern frontiers as he shall judge most conveni 
 ent for carrying on a liberal trade with the Indian 
 nations, and to appoint an agent in each trading 
 house, with such clerks as may be necessary fof 
 the execution of the said acts, he did appoint 
 James Carey to be the interpreter for the United 
 States to the Cherokee nation ; yet the said Wil 
 liam Blount did contrive, by bribery and corrup 
 tion, to lead off the said James Carey from the 
 duties of his office. 
 
 " ARTICLE V. 
 
 ce That whereas, certain tribes or nations of In 
 dians inhabit within the territorial limits of the Uni 
 ted States, between whom and the settlements of 
 the United States certain boundary lines have been 
 agreed upon, to separate the lands and possessions 
 of the said Indians from die lands and possessions 
 of the United States ; and whereas, it was farther 
 stipulated that the boundary line should be ascer 
 tained and marked by three persons appointed on. 
 the part of the United States, and three Chcrokees 
 on the part of their nation; yet the said William 
 Blount did contrive to create and foment discon- 
 *~;ni:s and disaffection among the- said Ia<lLans ro- 
 
738 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 wards the government of the United States, in re 
 lation to the ascertainment and marking of the said 
 boundary line, contrary to the duty and trust of his 
 station as Senator ,of the United States, and against 
 the peace and interests thereof." 
 
 The following gentlemen were appointed by 
 the House as managers to conduct the impeach 
 ment against Mr, Blount: Mr. Sitgreaves, Mr. 
 Bayard, Mr. Harper, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Pinckney, 
 Mr, Dana, Mr. Sewall, Mr. Hosmer, Mr. Den 
 nis, Mr. Evans and Mr. Imlay. 
 
 During the ballot of their election an unfortu 
 nate quarrel took place between two members, 
 Mathew Lycn, of Vermont, and Roger Griswold, 
 which occupied the attention of the House for 
 several weeks after. The committee of privileges, 
 who were instructed to enquire into the conduct 
 of these gentlemen, made the following report on 
 the second of February : 
 
 That during the sitting of the House on the 
 30th of January, when the tellers of the House 
 were engaged in counting the ballots for managers 
 of the impeachment against William Blount, Mr. 
 Lyon was standing without the bar of the House, 
 and in conversation with the Speaker, who had left 
 his seat as is usual on such occasions; the subject 
 of his conversation was the conduct of the Repre 
 sentatives of the State of Connecticut, of whom 
 Mr. Griswold was one. Mr. Lyon declared that 
 they acted in opposition to the interests and opin 
 ions of nine tenths of their constituents j that they 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. - 
 
 were pursuing their own private views, without 
 regarding the interests of the people of that: State -, 
 that they were seeking offices which they were 
 willing to accept, whether yielding 9000 or lOOOr 
 dollars. He further observed, that the people o 
 that State were blinded and deceived by those Re 
 presentatives ; that they were permitted to see but 
 one side of the question in politics, being lulled 
 asleep by the opiates which the members from that 
 State administered to them, with other expressions, 
 equally tending to derogate from the political in 
 tegrity of the Representatives of Connecticut. 
 
 On Mr. Lyon s observing, that if he should go> 
 into Connecticut and conduct a letter press there 
 for six months, although the people of that State 
 were not fond of revolutionary principles, he could 
 effect a re volution and turn out the present Repre 
 sentatives, Mr. Griswold replied, " if you go in 
 to Connecticut Mr. Lyon, youvhad better wear 
 your wooden sword," alluding to Mr. Lyon s hav 
 ing been cashiered in the army. 
 
 Mr. Lyon did not notice the allusion at the time, , 
 but continued the conversation ; Mr. Griswold 
 then left his seat and stood next to Mr. Lyon, lean- 
 kigon the bar, but being outside of the same,- 
 
 On Mr. Lyon s saying, he knew the people 
 of Connecticut well, having lived among them ma 
 ny years, that he had frequent occasion to fight 
 them in his own district, and that he never fail 
 ed to convince them, Mr. Griswold asked if he 
 
HO THE AECMimSTR AfrOS 
 
 fought them with his wooden swords on which Mn 
 !Lyon spit in his lace. 
 
 The House was engaged in the investigation of 
 this unimportant affair until the 28th of February, 
 A motion was made for the expulsion both of Mr. 
 Lyon and Mr. Griswold, but it was finally negativ 
 ed ; and the two disorderly members were allowed 
 to retain their seats, without ever receiving a repri 
 mand for their conduct. However Mr. Lyon may 
 be respected for his firmness in adhering to the rights 
 of his-country, his conduct on this occasion must be 
 regarded by every impartial person, to have been 
 equally unwarrantable and unbecoming the digni 
 ty of a member of Congress > as the behavior of Mr. 
 Griswold, Perhaps the punishment of expulsion, 
 might be supposed to affect the rights of their con 
 stituents, but certainly a moderate fine, and a re 
 primand from the Speaker, ought to have been the 
 lightest apology admitted of. 
 
 Similar instances of indecorous behavior have 
 occurred in the parliaments of Britain,, and the na 
 tional assemblies of other countries ; but they have 
 been always attended with the marked disapproba 
 tion of the assembly insulted. During the contest 
 that .took place in the Scotch parliament relative to 
 the union of that country with England, a furious 
 Jacobite tory tossed the wig of his political oppo 
 nent into the fire. The offender, whose name was 
 M Donalcl, was condemned by a vote of the House 
 to be incapable of wearing a wig on his head, a 
 sword by his side, or affixing his arms to any writ- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 
 
 ten document for the space of one twelvemonth 
 after the transgression. 
 
 In the reign of James I. of England, a motion 
 was made in the House of Commons to supply 
 the Welch members with pocket handkerchiefs; 
 owing to several indecencies that were daily prac 
 tised by these mountaineers. 
 
 In Lucerne, in Switzerland, in the year 1792, a 
 democratical member entered the Senate, with the 
 three colored ribbon flying at his breast. This As 
 sembly, who were all, excepting a few individuals, 
 attached to aristocracy, evinced their displeasure 
 by a low hooting and hissing ; one, however, who 
 could not govern so easily his passion, walked up 
 to the republican member, and tore off, in a forci 
 ble manner, the ensign of liberty. The aristocrat 
 was instantly called to order, underwent a trial for 
 disorderly behavior in the Senate, and was fined 
 in a sum of 300 florins. 
 
 The next business of importance which occu 
 pied the attention of Congress, was a communi 
 cation of the President, respecting the dispatches 
 which he had received from the envoys extraordi 
 nary of the United States to the government of 
 France. These papers were laid before the public 
 by an order of the Senate on the 5th of April. Be 
 fore their communication, a thousand reports were 
 industriously circulated, tending to place the con 
 duct of the French Directory in the most odious 
 light.... even members themselves, were found base 
 enough to give by letter and otherwise, impressions 
 
142 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 of their contents very different from the truth. It 
 was publicly declared, and that on the authority of 
 a member, that twelve millions of dollars had been 
 demanded, as a condition on which a negociation 
 would be opened This furnishes a striking proof 
 of the hostile disposition which our Executive en 
 tertained towards the French Republic, and of 
 its determination, at all events, to bring about a 
 war between the two countries. The limits of 
 this volume preclude the possibility of inserting 
 these official papers ; but the following is a correct 
 summary of their substance : 
 
 On the 4th of October, 1797, Charles Cotes- 
 worth Pinckney, John Marshall and Elbridge Ger 
 ry arrived in Paris, as envoys extraordinary from 
 the United States of America to the French Re 
 public. On the 6th, they communicated their ap 
 pointment by an official letter to Talleyrand, minis 
 ter of foreign affairs -, and on the 8th they waited 
 upon this minister, and delivered their letters of 
 credence. ...he informed them that he was, by order 
 of the Directory, preparing a report of the situation 
 of the United States with regard to France, and 
 when finished, he would acquaint them with the 
 steps that were to follow. Cards of hospitality 
 were then given to them in a style suitable to their 
 official character. 
 
 On the llth of November, the envoys wrote 
 an official letter to Talleyrand, complaining of hav 
 ing not yet received any reply from him or the Di 
 rectory, of the situation in which they were thus 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 143 
 
 left. Not obtaining an answer, they sent their Se 
 cretary, Major Rutledge, to Talleyrand, who in 
 formed Major Rutledge, that he had communicated 
 the letter of the envoys to the Directory, and they 
 would direct him what steps to take. 
 
 This was the whole of the official intercourse 
 our envoys had with the French government. By 
 letter, dated the 24th of December, they inform 
 our Secretary of State that they were resolved, if 
 on the 10th of January they had no official answer 
 to their letter, to write to Talleyrand, stating the 
 object of their mission, and discussing the subject 
 of difference between the two nations in like man 
 ner as if they had been actually received ; and to 
 close the letter with requesting the government to 
 open the negociation with them, or to grant them 
 their passports. 
 
 The last letter of the envoys to our government 
 is dated 8th January, and therefore prior to the let 
 ter which they intended to write. 
 
 Between the 14th of October and the 1st of 
 November, some gentlemen (whose names are not 
 communicated by the Executive to Congress, but 
 who are designated by the letters W. X. Y. and Z.) 
 were introduced to our envoys, and two of them, 
 Mr. X. and Mr. Y. stated that they had messages 
 from Mr. Talleyrand, who was desirous that a re 
 conciliation should take place, and that they would 
 suggest plans for that purpose. The substance of 
 their proposals was, that the Directory, and par 
 ticularly two of the members of it, were exceed- 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ingly irritated at some passages of the President" * 
 speech of the 16th of May past; that an expla 
 nation of some parts and & reparation of others 
 (which parts were designated) should be made ; 
 that in lieu of reparation for the speech, the Direc 
 tory would accept money ; that is to say, a loan 
 for the use of the French Republic of 32,000,00(5 
 florins (equal to 12,800,000 dollars) and besides 
 that, a sum of money by way of douceur, for the 
 pocket of the Directory and- ministers, which 
 might be at the disposal of Mr. Talleyrand, equiva 
 lent to 1,200,000 livres or/50,000 sterling; that 
 commissioners should be appointed to ascertain the 
 claims of the United States in like manner as under 
 our treaty with England, excepting those con 
 demned for want of a role d equipage, which must 
 be left a subject of negociation ; and that France 
 should, by a new treaty, be put upon the same 
 footing as England. It was also stated by the 
 same gentlemen, and especially by Mr. Y. (who is 
 ealled a confidential friend of Talleyrand, but who 
 stated that he had no official character) that the 
 loan to be made should be executed by the United 
 States, purchasing from the French Republic at par, 
 a quantity of stock, bearing 5 per cent, interest, 
 paid by Holland to France, known by the name of 
 Dutch rescriptions, and which at market was worth 
 only 10^. in the pound. 
 
 It was also demanded, that our government 
 should advance to our citizens the amount of indem 
 nifications to be paid for illegal captures by France,, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 145 
 
 the said amount to be afterwards repaid by France 
 to our government ; and it was added, that it would 
 be extremely proper that the amount of indemni 
 fications thus paid to our citizens, should again be 
 by them applied in new supplies to the French 
 government. This last part seems, however, to 
 have been dropped by those agents ; and on the 
 30th of October Mr. Y. gave in writing the follow 
 ing propositions : 
 
 1st. The American envoys shall remain here 
 for 6 months, in the same manner and upon the 
 same footing as did Mr. Ara-njo, the envoy of Por 
 tugal. 
 
 2d. There shall be formed a commission of 
 5 members, agreeably to a form to be established, 
 for the purpose of deciding upon the reclamations 
 of the Americans, relative to the prizes made on. 
 them by the French privateers. 
 
 3d. The American envoys will engage that 
 their government shall pay the indemnifications, or 
 the amount of the sums already decreed to the Ame 
 rican creditors of the French Republic, and those 
 which shall be adjudged to the claimants by the 
 commissioners ; this payment shall be made under 
 the name of an advance to the French Republic, 
 who shall repay it in a time and manner to be 
 agreed on. 
 
 4th. One of the American envoys shall return 
 to America, to demand of his government the ne 
 cessary powers to purchase for cash, the 32,000,000 
 of the Dutch resolutions belonging to the French 
 
 T 
 
14-6 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Republic, in case the envoys should conclude a 
 treaty which shall be approved of by the two na 
 tions. 
 
 5th. In the mean time the definitive treaty 
 shall proceed, for the termination of all differences 
 existing between the French Republic and the 
 United States, so that the treaty maybe concluded 
 immediately on the return of the deputy. 
 
 6th. The question of the role d equipage shall 
 remain suspended until the return of the deputy, 
 and the commission shall not pronounce upon any 
 reclamation when this point shall be in question. 
 
 7th. During the 6 months granted for the gb-< 
 ing and returning of the deputy, hostilities against 
 the Americans shall be suspended, as well as the 
 process for the condemnation before the tribunals, 
 and the money of the prizes already condemned, in 
 the hands of the civil officers of the nation, shall re 
 main there, without being delivered to the priva 
 teer-men, until the return of the deputy. 
 
 These propositions were to be made by our en 
 voys as coming from themselves, and Mr. Talleyrand 
 would undertake to use his influence with the Di 
 rectory to have them adopted. ...but Mr. X. added, 
 that Mr. Talleyrand would not consent even to lay 
 the proposition before the Directory without previ 
 ously receiving the ^.50,000 sterling, or the grea- 
 cr part of it. 
 
 They were, however, rejected by our envoys, 
 who hinted that they would pay the douceur 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 147 
 
 of ,,.50,000 sterling on the ratification of the 
 treaty. 
 
 Mr. Talleyrand, on the 28th of October, offer 
 ed to Mr. Gerry for perusal, anarrete of the Direc 
 tory, in which they had demanded reparation for 
 the President s speech ; and added, that he thought 
 that he could, by money, prevent its effect.... and 
 on the 3d of November Mr. Y. shewed the envoys 
 a copy of a letter, said to be prepared by Mr. 
 Talleyrand in pursuance of the arrete, which he 
 said would be sent, unless they came into the 
 above stated proposition. The envoys said they 
 did not wish the letter to be delayed ; but, notwith 
 standing, it never was sent. Mr. Y. also argued a- 
 great deal on the immense power of France, the 
 danger of a war to America, the impending ruin of 
 England, the certainty of the invasion, the great ad 
 vantage of neutrality, and the great number of 
 friends to France in America, who would throw 
 the blame of the rupture of the negociation on the 
 British party. 
 
 To all these insinuations the envoys answered 
 with firmness, still declaring that they had full pow 
 ers to make a treaty to restore friendship, but none 
 to make a war ? which would amount to a breach of 
 neutrality ; and they agreed.,, on the 1st of Novem 
 ber, to have no further direct intercourse with the 
 French government. 
 
 On the 17th of December, Mr. Y. made an 
 other attempt, saying that six weeks having 
 elapsed since the rejection of the former proposi- 
 
14& THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 tions, perhaps the envoys had changed their 
 and he said that Mr. Talleyrand thought, that if 
 two measures were adopted, a reconciliation would 
 follow, to wit : the gratuity of ,.50,000 sterling, 
 and a purchase of only 16,000,000 Dutch reserip- 
 tions at par (equal to 6,400,000 dollars). He stated 
 that the state of Virginia owed to M. Beaumarchais 
 < 145,000 sterling, and he (Beaumarchais) con 
 sented to lose . 45,000 of it, provided he got the 
 other ..100,000, and the gratuity of ,.50,000 
 sterling was given to Talleyrand ; that in this man 
 ner the United States would be only ,.5000 ster 
 ling out of pocket, as they would get the ,.45,000 
 from Virginia. ...and as to the rescriptions, he said 
 more than one half of the sum could be borrowed 
 in Holland on the credit of the rescriptions, and the 
 balance would be demanded only in easy instal 
 ments, which might also be obtained in loan. He 
 again threatened, in case of non-compliance, and 
 said that a few frigates from St. Domingo would be 
 sent to ravage the coasts of the United States. 
 
 On the same day Mr. Gerry and Mr. Y. went 
 to see Mr. Talleyrand ; and Mr. Gerry told Mr. 
 Talleyrand that Mr. Y. had stated to him that morn 
 ing some propositions, as coming from Mr. Talley- 
 rand; respecting which he could give no opinion. 
 Mr. Talleyrand said that the information given by 
 Mr. Y. was just, and might always be relied on; 
 but that he would reduce to writing his proposi 
 tions, which he did ; and, after having shewn them 
 to Mr. Gerry, burnt the paper. Mr. Gerry, on hi? 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 149 
 
 return home, reduced them to writing from memo 
 ry, as follows : 
 
 " France has been serviceable to the United 
 States, and now they wish to be serviceable to 
 France ; understanding the French Republic has 
 16 millions of Dutch rescriptions to sell, the United 
 States will purchase them at par, and will give her 
 further assistance when in their power. 
 
 " The first arrangement being made, the French 
 government will take measures for reimbursing the 
 equitable demands from America, arising from 
 prizes, and to give free navigation to their ships in 
 future/* 
 
 On the 4th of May and the 18th of June, the 
 President sent two other messages to Congress, re 
 lative to fresh communications he had received from 
 the envoys, respecting a decree passed by the 
 Councils of France, to capture and condemn all 
 .neutral vessels laden in part or in whole with the 
 manufactures or productions of England or its pos 
 sessions. The envoys had remonstrated against the 
 injustice of this decree, in a letter to the minister 
 of Foreign Affairs in France, dated the 17th of Jan 
 uary, but received no satisfactory reply. 
 
 Congress were taken up the greater part of 
 the remainder of this session, which was both the 
 longest and most important that had yet been held 
 under the present confederacy, in discussing the 
 Alien aad Sedition bills, which met with consider 
 able opposition from the most respectable members 
 in the House of Representatives. The speech of 
 
15O THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Mr. Livingston, against- the Alien bill, was justly- 
 esteemed, and his patriotic exertions on this occa 
 sion will ever be remembered. 
 
 On Monday, the 16th of July, they adjourned^ 
 after passing the following acts : 
 
 1. An act to postpone for a limited time, the 
 commencement of the duties imposed by the act, 
 intitled, "An act laying duties on stamped vellum, 
 parchment and paper. 
 
 2. Making certain partial appropriations for 
 the year 1798. 
 
 3. Authorizing the payment of certain sums 
 of money to the daughters of the late Count de 
 Grasse. 
 
 4. For the relief of the representatives of Wil 
 liam Carmichael, deceased. 
 
 5. For the relief of North and Vesey, of Charles 
 ton, South-Carolina. 
 
 6. For allowing a compensation to the door 
 keeper of the Senate and his assistant, for their 
 services during the late session of Congress. 
 
 7. For the relief of John Frank. 
 
 8. To prescribe the mode of taking evidence 
 in cases of contested elections for members of the 
 House of Representatives of the United States, 
 and to compel the attendance of witnesses. 
 
 9. Providing for the payment of the interest on 
 a certificate due to General Kosciusko. 
 
 10. To amend the several acts for laying duties 
 on spirits distilled within the United States, and on 
 stills. 
 
<&F JOHN ADAMS. 151 
 
 1 1 . Supplementary to the act, intitled, " An act 
 regulating foreign coins, and for other purposes. 
 
 12. Directing the Secretary of War to place 
 certain persons on the pension list. 
 
 13. For the relief of William Alexander. 
 
 14. Appropriating a certain sum of money to 
 defray the expence of holding a treaty or treaties 
 with the Indians. 
 
 15. To provide for the widows and orphans of 
 certain deceased officers. 
 
 16. For the erection of a light-house, and plac 
 ing buoys at the several places therein mentioned. 
 
 17. Providing the means of intercourse between 
 the United States and foreign nations. 
 
 18. Making appropriations for the support of 
 government for the year 1798, and for other pur 
 poses. 
 
 19. For the relief of Sylvanus Cromwell. 
 
 20. To amend the act, intitled, " An act laying 
 duty on stamped vellum, parchment and paper." 
 
 21. Declaring the consent of Congress to an 
 act of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
 
 22. Declaring the consent of Congress to an act 
 of the State of Maryland, passed the 28th of De 
 cember, 1793, for the appointment of a health of 
 ficer. 
 
 23. For an additional appropriation to provide 
 and support a naval armament. 
 
 24. To continue in force the 5th section of an 
 act in addition to the act, intitled, " An act to es 
 tablish the post-office and post-roads of the United 
 States/ 
 
152 THE ADMINISTRATION" 
 
 25. To continue in force for a limited time, a 
 part of an act, in-titled, "An act making further 
 provision for securing and collecting the duties on 
 foreign and domestic distilled spirits, stills, wines 
 and teas." 
 
 26. For the relief of the refugees from the Bri 
 tish provinces of Canada and Nova-Scotia. 
 
 27. To continue in force the act, intitled, " An 
 act prohibiting, for a limited time, the exportation 
 of arms and ammunition, and for encouraging the 
 importation thereof. 
 
 28. For an amicable settlement of limits with 
 the State of Georgia, and authorizing the estab 
 lishment of a government in the Missisippi terri* 
 tory. 
 
 29. Authorizing an expenditure, and making 
 an appropriation for the reimbursement of the mo* 
 nies advanced by the consuls of the United States 
 in certain cases. 
 
 30. Supplementary to an act, intitled, " An act 
 authorizing a loan for the use of the city of Wash 
 ington, in the district of Columbia, and for other 
 purposes therein mentioned. * 
 
 31. To provide an additional armament for the 
 further protection of the trade of the United States, 
 and for other purposes. 
 
 32. Making an appropriation for the payment 
 of a balance found due to the legal representatives 
 of William Carmichael, deceased. 
 
 33. To provide an additional regiment of ar 
 tillerists and engineers. 
 
 34. For erecting light-houses. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 153 
 
 35. To establish an executive department, to 
 be denominated the department of the navy. 
 
 36. To authorize certain officers and other per 
 sons, to administer oaths. 
 
 37. Supplementary to the act providing for the 
 further defence of the ports and harbours of the 
 United States. 
 
 38. To enable the President of the United States 
 to procure cannon, -.arms and ammunition, and for 
 other purposes. 
 
 39. To authorize the President of the United 
 States to cause.to be purchased or built, a number 
 of small vessels, to be equipped as gallies or other 
 wise. 
 
 40. For the relief of Obadiah Brown. 
 
 4 1 7 Directing the payment of a detachment of 
 militia, for services performed in the year 1794, un 
 der Major James Ore. 
 
 42. To continue in force a part of an act, re 
 specting the compensation to the officers and ma 
 riners of the revenue cutters. 
 
 43. To revive and continue in force the act re 
 specting the compensation of clerks, and for other 
 purposes. 
 
 44. For the relief of William Imlay. 
 
 45. For the relief of Joseph Nourse. 
 
 46. To amend the act, intitled, " an act to amend 
 and repeal in part, the act, intitled, " An act to as 
 certain and fix the military establishment of the 
 United States." 
 
 U 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 47. Authorizing the President of the United 
 States to raise a provisional army.* 
 
 48. More effectually to protect the commerce 
 and coasts of the United States. 
 
 49. Providing for the relief of persons imprison 
 ed for debts due to the United States. f 
 
 50. Supplementary to an act, intitled, " An act 
 for the relief of persons imprisoned for debt." 
 
 51. Respecting loan-office and final settlement 
 certificates, indents of interest and the unfunded 
 or registered debt, credited in the books of the 
 Treasury. 
 
 52. Making appropriations for the military es 
 tablishment for the year 1798, and for other pur 
 poses. 
 
 * By this act, the President was authorized, in the event of a 
 declaration of war against the United States, to enlist and call 
 into actual service, for a term not exceeding three years, an army 
 of ten thousand men ; each soldier to receive a bounty of ten dol 
 lars, one half on enlisting, and the other half on joining the corp 
 to which he might belong. 
 
 j- Any person imprisoned upon execution issuing from any 
 court of the United States, for a debt due to the same, by this act 
 may procure his freedom, if he applies in writing to the Secretary 
 of the Treasury, stating the circumstances of the case, and his in 
 ability to discharge the debt, provided there be proof sufficient 
 of the truth of the facts stated by the debtor. 
 
 f This act allows the sum of 1,41 1,798 dollars for the milita 
 ry establishment of 1798, to be appropriated as follows : 
 
 For the pay of the army of the United States, 264,824 
 dollars : For the subsistence of the officers of the army, 40,661 
 dollars : For the subsistence of the non-commissioned officers, 
 247,178 dollars: Forage, 15,816 dollars : Horses for the caval- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 155 
 
 53. To suspend the commercial intercourse be 
 tween the United States and France, and the de~- 
 pendencies thereof. 
 
 54. Supplementary to, and to amend the act, 
 intitled, " An act to establish an uniform rule of 
 naturalization, and to repeal the act heretofore 
 passed on that subject." 
 
 55. To amend the act, intitled, " An act provi 
 ding a naval armament," and the act, intitled, " An 
 act to authorize the President of the United States 
 to cause to be purchased or built a number of small 
 vessels, to be equipped as galleys or otherwise." 
 
 ry, to replace those who may die* 4,500 dollars : Cloathingv 
 83,050 dollars : Bounties and premiums, 38,000 dollars : Hos 
 pital Department, 10,000 dollars : Ordnance Department, 
 43,000 dollars : Quarter-Master s Department, 224,000 dollars : 
 Payment of annuities to the six nations, 14,000 dollars : For tli?. 
 expences attending the transmission- of goods for the above annui 
 ties, 9,000 dollars : For promoting civilization, and pay of tern- 
 porary agents, 15,000 dollars : For ratios to Indians at the dif 
 ferent military posts, 20,000 dollars : For building a grist and 
 saw-mill, for the use of the Stockbridge Indians, 3,000 dollars : 
 For presents to Indians on their visits to the seat cf government, 
 10,000 dollars : For the protection of the frontiers of the Uni 
 ted States, 60,000 dollars : For loss of stores, ?.uowances to offi 
 cers on being ordered to distant commands, &c. 20,000 dollars : 
 For the annual allowance to the invalids of the United States, 
 12,067 dollars 7 cents : For the construction and repair of cer 
 tain vessels on the lake, 16,700 dollars : For making good a defi 
 ciency in the appropriations for the subsistence of the non-com 
 missioned officers and privates of the army of the United States, 
 1 14,167 dollars : For making ood a deficiency in the appropria 
 tions for the expence of the Quarter-Master and Indian Depart 
 ments, 54,694 dollars. 
 
156 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 56. Supplementary to, and to amend 1 the act, 
 intitled, " An act authorizing the President of the 
 United States to raise a provisional army.* 
 
 57. To extend the privilege of franking letters 
 and packets to the Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 58. Concerning Aliens.* 
 
 59. To authorize a grant of lands to Stephen 
 Monot, and other inhabitants of Galliopolis, therein 
 named. 
 
 60. To authorize the defence of the merchant 
 vessels of the United States, against French depre 
 dations. 
 
 61 . To punish frauds committed on the bank of 
 the United States. 
 
 62. In addition to the act more effectually to 
 jprotect the commerce and coasts of the United 
 Stales. 
 
 63. Making an appropriation for the expcnces 
 incident to the new regiments of artillerists and en 
 gineers during the year 1798. 
 
 64. Supplementary to the act, intitled, "An act 
 to provide an additional armament for the further 
 protection of the trade of the United States, and for 
 other purposes." 
 
 * By this act, which was to continue in force until the 22d of 
 June, 1 800, it was lawful for the President of the United States 
 to order all such Aliens as he might judge dangerous, to depart 
 out of the territory of the United States within a limited time ; 
 and in case any Alien, so ordered to depart, should be found at 
 large within the United States, after the time limited, he was lia 
 ble to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years, and 
 rendered incapable of ever becoming a citizen of the United States. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 157 
 
 65. Providing arms for the militia throughout 
 the United States. 
 
 66. Respecting Alien enemies. 
 
 67. To declare the treaties heretofore con 
 cluded with France, no longer obligatory on the 
 United States. 
 
 68. Further to protect the commerce of the 
 United States.* 
 
 69. Limiting the time within which claims 
 against the United States, for credit on the books 
 of the Treasury, may be presented for allowance. 
 
 70. To provide for the valuation of lands and 
 dwelling houses, and the enumeration of slaves, 
 within the United States. 
 
 71. To augment the army of the United States, 
 and for other purposes. 
 
 72. To enable the President of the United 
 States to borrow money for the public service. 
 
 73. For erecting a light house at Gay-Head, 
 on Martha s Vineyard, and for other purposes. 
 
 74. Authorizing an additional naval armament. 
 
 75. For the relief of sick and disabled seamen. 
 
 76. For allowing an additional compensation 
 to the door-keepers and assistant door-keepers of 
 the Senate and House of Representatives. 
 
 77. In further addition to the act, intitled, 
 " An act to establish the judicial courts of the Uni 
 ted States. 7 
 
 * The President was hereby authorized, whenever he should 
 judge it expedient, to instruct the public armed vessels in the ser 
 vice of the United States, to seize any armed French, or pretend 
 ed French vessels, found within the jurisdictional limits of the Uni 
 ted States, or elsewhere on the high seas. 
 
158 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 78. To suspend, fora further time, the duties 
 upon the manufacture of snuff within the United 
 States, and the drawback upon the exportation 
 thereof. 
 
 79. Making certain appropriations, and to au 
 thorize the President to obtain a loan on the credit 
 of the direct tax. 
 
 80. Allowing an additional compensation to 
 the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the 
 House of Representatives, and their Clerks, for 
 the present session of Congress. 
 
 81. Making certain additional appropriations 
 for the year 1798. 
 
 82. Authorizing the grant and conveyance of a 
 certain lot or piece of ground to Eli Williams. 
 
 83. To alter and amend the several acts for the 
 establishment and regulation of the Treasury, War 
 and Navy Departments. 
 
 84. To amend the act, intitled, cc An act to sus 
 pend the commercial intercourse between the Uni 
 ted States and France. 
 
 85. An act in addition to the act, intitled, " An 
 act for the punishment of certain crimes against the 
 United States." The 1st clause of this act, which 
 was termed the Sedition Act, ordained, " that if 
 any person should unlawfully combine or oppose 
 any measure of the government of the United 
 States, or intimidate any person holding a place or 
 office under the same, he shall be deemed guilty of 
 a high misdemeanor, and on conviction, be pun 
 ished by a fine not exceeding 5000 dollars, and im- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 159 
 
 prisoned during a term not less than six months, 
 and not exceeding five years." 
 
 2d clause expressed, cc that if any person should 
 write or publish, or cause to be written or publish 
 ed, any libel against the government of the United 
 States, or either House of Congress, or against the 
 President, he should be punished by a fine not ex 
 ceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprison 
 ment not exceeding two years. 71 This act was to 
 continue in force until the 3d of March, 1801. 
 
160 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Reflections on the conduct of the President.... Dis 
 mission of Mr. Gardner cf New-Hampshire.... 
 Spies encouraged.... Anecdote of the Spy Or am.... 
 Treatment to General Sumpter of South-Carolina., 
 at the New-Circus, Philadelphia.... Federal mob 
 on the 9th of May, 1798. ...Dismission of Dr. 
 James Reynolds from the Dispensary at Philadel 
 phia.. ..Persecution by the Dunkards.... Federal ad 
 dresses.... Vanity of the President.... Remarks of 
 Mr. Callendcr on the President s answer to the 
 New- Jersey Militia... .Procession of the President 
 from Quincy to Boston.. .Bostonian honors.... Re 
 ception given to the President at Fanuiel-Hall.... 
 Characters of the Senators and Members of the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 1 HE beginning of the year 1798 may not im 
 properly be styled the commencement of the reign 
 of terror in the United States. Previous to the 
 spring of this year, the image of a republic, and 
 the mildness of Washington s administration werer 
 preserved with a decent reverence. The unfortu 
 nate alien had not to dread a dungeon more horri-; 
 ble than that which he escaped, nor was the pen or 
 the lips of the patriot compelled to submit to* 
 the rigid forms of a sedition law. The wavering 
 intellect of Mr. Adams had only now assumed the 
 consistency of a tyrant. Although he might have 
 long aspired at sovereign power, his administration 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 161 
 
 was unstained with acts of cruelty. He had not, 
 previous to this period, calumniated virtue, pun 
 ished merit, rewarded vice, and given a poignancy 
 to the rage of contending parties. Vv T hatever his 
 intentions might formerly have been, his conscience 
 and not the world witnessed their criminality. 
 
 William Gardner, commissioner of loans for 
 New-Hampshire, a man of honor and integrity, 
 was one of the first whom he deprived of the means 
 ot supporting a numerous family, on account of 
 his political principles. This gentleman had in De 
 cember, 1790, accepted the above office. ...he was 
 then treasurer of New-Hampshire, a place worth 
 about a thousand dollars per annum. ...his situa 
 tion as commissioner amounted only to six hundred 
 and fifty. ...he did not solicit his new office. ...he was 
 urged to accept of it by an assurance that Congress 
 would augment the salary. ...as they did not, Mr. 
 Gardner signified his intention to resign within 
 eighteen months after his acceptance. Mr. Hamil 
 ton, then Secretary of the Treasury, sent him a let 
 ter in answer, dated the 14th of June, 1792. la 
 this letter, Mr. Hamilton expresses the warmest 
 approbation of Mr. Gardner s services, and regrets 
 that they had not been adequately rewarded. ...he 
 solicited him to continue his situation, with the 
 assurance that his salary would be enlarged. Mr. 
 Gardner received two other letters in the same 
 style from Mr. Hamilton, and two from his succes 
 sor, Mr. Wolcott....of these, the last is dated so 
 late as February 6th. 1797. In summer, 1798, he 
 
 X 
 
162 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 was tamed out, for refusing to subscribe an address 
 to the President which was circulated at Ports 
 mouth, in New-Hampshire, couched in the most 
 fulsome style, and breathing only slander and ser 
 vile bombast. 
 
 The same system of persecution was immedi 
 ately extended all over the continent/ Every per 
 son holding an office was obliged to resign, or adore 
 Mr. Adams as the Augustus of the new world.... 
 a catalogue of their expulsions would fill a pam 
 phlet. Spies were employed to report to the Ex 
 ecutive every action and every word which reflect 
 ed upon the President or his servants. No public 
 company was free from these hired slaves of tyran- 
 ny.yfthe tables of the virtuous were besieged by 
 their sycophancy and betrayed by their hypocrisy. 
 One of them, by name Oram, had even the audacity 
 to introduce himself into a hotel where the Vice- 
 President lodged. The mind of Mr. Jefferson is 
 above suspicion or disguise. ...his conversations on 
 philosophy and politics were carried to the Inqui 
 sition at Braintree, there new modelled, and after 
 wards handed to Abercromby, Linn and Mason, 
 by whom they were trumpeted forth to the world. 
 Mr. Adams had resolved to reward the villain by 
 making him a captain of artillery, but the depraved 
 part of the Senate were ashamed of his character, 
 and the project was relinquished. 
 \ The Emperors of Rome, in the height of their 
 power, received from their humble subjects not 
 more servile marks of submission than were paid 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 163 
 
 to President Adams by the federal faction. The 
 republican who had firmness enough of mind to 
 know his own importance, was always insulted, 
 and often in hazard of his life from this host of 
 aristocracy. In the summer of 1798, General Sump- 
 ter, of South Carolina, was unwarrantably abused 
 at the new Circus, in Market-street, Philadelphia, 
 because he did not pull off his hat, kiss the ground 
 and clap his hands when John Adams entered the 
 place. The General sat in one of the front rows 
 when a rumour spread that the President was com 
 ing in.... the spectators were rising from their seats, 
 hurrying off their hats and commencing to clap, 
 when one Fitzhugh called out in a loud voice, 
 asking why the General did not clap ? A second 
 rumour arose, and a second demand for clapping 
 was made upon the venerable veteran. ...at the same. 
 time Fitzhugh attempted to seize his hands and 
 force him to give applause^/ General Surnpter re 
 presented there was no mutual acquaintance to 
 justify such freedoms, that he was a stranger to 
 the gentleman.,, and asked if the latter knew who 
 he was ? " Oh damn you, we know you and all 
 your party," replied the tory ; Ci I hope in six months 
 time to see you all banished from the country j" 
 then turning to the spy Oram, he went on thus : 
 " does not Dayton keep these fellows in excellent 
 order," alluding to the ruffian insolence of this 
 man when Speaker of the House of Representa 
 tives. The second rumour of the approach of the 
 President proved also groundless. At last, how- 
 
161 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ever, his Majesty did appear. Fitzhugh then at 
 tempted to snatch off General Sumpter s hat, ask 
 ing why, like the rest of the company, he did not 
 uncover? The General found out his name, and 
 called for him next morning at his lodgings ; but 
 Fitzhugh was gone. 
 
 The ninth day of May, 1798, which was ap 
 pointed by the State of Pennsylvania as a day of 
 fast and of worship to the creator, was designed by 
 the federal faction as a day of massacre and blood 
 shed : "they and the clergy had fixed upon it as the 
 most proper for commencing their political perse 
 cution. A well known clerical aristocrat, of Christ s 
 Church, Philadelphia, \vas to give the signal of 
 riot from the pulpit, by a thundering declamation 
 against philosophers and jacobins, free-masons and 
 iiluminati. Bache, the printer, whose family and 
 house were doomed for destruction, heard, by ac 
 cident, of his danger.... he applied to Hilary Baker, 
 then mayor of the city, for protection, but the 
 mayor was in league with the conspirators, and 
 protection was refused. Bache, as his only means 
 of defence, collected and armed all his friends, 
 and the other republican house-holders did the 
 same. The aristocrats, seeing these preparations, 
 desisted from their plan, but like cowardly assassins, 
 they filled the streets with noise and alarm, broke 
 several windows, knocked down the lamp-posts, 
 bedaubed the statue of the venerable Franklin 
 with mud, and defiled the entrance to every pub 
 lic building with crowns and ensigns of royalty. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 165 
 
 When the hour of twelve at night was struck, the 
 Coffee-House, in South -Second-street, which is 
 kept by an old servant of the Ambassador Liston, 
 was immediately crowded with Adamites, who stun 
 ned the ears of the neighborhood until sun-rise next 
 
 o 
 
 morning with " God save the King/ and " Rule 
 Britannia." The history of this night has never 
 been completely told. Mr. Callender affirms, that 
 a large quantity of arms were lodged in a house near 
 the Hall of Congress, from whence muskets and 
 balls were to have been distributed to the federal 
 inob. Happily, however, by the exertions of the 
 republican inhabitants, the storm blew over, and 
 Philadelphia did not witness, as was intended, the 
 scenes of Paris on the 10th of August and 2d of 
 September, 1792. * 
 
 The spirit of party even extended itself to 
 charitable institutions. The Dispensary at Philadel 
 phia was then conducted by six physicians, who 
 gave attendance gratis. One of these was Dr. 
 James Reynolds, of Ireland, a gentleman who was 
 obliged to abandon his native country on account of 
 his attachment to political liberty. The managers 
 of the Dispensary, in place of thanking him for the 
 acceptance of a trust by which he could gain no 
 thing, took offence at his attendance, and gave him 
 notice that his services were not acceptable. The 
 other five physicians wrote a letter to the managers, 
 representing, that they could never admit the in 
 troduction of such a principle for dismission. ...the 
 board treated their letter with contempt, and re- 
 
166 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 turned it back with a note wrote on the cover, that 
 * the contents were of a nature improper to be con 
 sidered." The physicians immediately gave in their 
 resignation, adding, that they would continue their 
 attendance until successors could be appointed. 
 The managers sent them another letter, and, with 
 out thanking them for the latter part of their com 
 munication, accepted of their proposal to resign. 
 
 In this same summer., (1798) a German, living 
 in Maryland, wrote an account of himself in a letter 
 to Philadelphia. He had been reduced, in his own 
 country, from opulence to want, by his attach 
 ment to the French revolution. He indented him 
 self and his family with the captain of a vessel 
 bound for Maryland ; the captain could not sell 
 the man, and gave him liberty to shift for his 
 support. The German was engaged by some 
 Dunkards to teach a school ; after a considerable 
 time, his employers came to learn his political his 
 tory. At the period of his writing this letter, they 
 had resolved to turn him loose on the world in re 
 venge for his political tenets : what became of him 
 afterwards is not known. 
 
 During these scenes of tyranny, which were 
 daily exhibited in the streets of Philadelphia, Balti 
 more and New- York, the federal papers through 
 out the union were filled with addresses to the 
 President, complimenting him upon the mildness, 
 justice, and impartiality of his administration; his 
 attachment to liberty and his benevolence to for 
 eigners. Pickering, Liston and the British mer- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 167 
 
 chants, were the most active instruments in procur 
 ing these epistles of royal jargon. 
 
 Every town and village which did not honor the 
 President with their approbation, w r ere supposed 
 to be under the influence of some jacobin. The 
 province of Maine, where General Dearborn, the 
 present Secretary of War resides, was ranked in 
 the number; and the whole odium thrown upon 
 this patriotic officer. Mr. Pickering is said to have 
 wrote to him a letter, requesting him to use his 
 influence with the inhabitants to address the Pre 
 sident ; informing him at the same time, that 
 Mr. Adams entertained the highest opinion of his 
 friendship, s and that this act would still farther 
 strengthen that sentiment. General Dearborn, 
 with that candid integrity which marks his charac 
 ter, returned an answer, informing the Secretary of 
 State, that whatever his private sentiments might 
 be, he had taken no part in preventing the inhabit 
 ants to address the President, nor would he use 
 his exertions to promote an address, however agree* 
 able it might be to Mr. Adams, unless he saw a 
 change of measures from those which were carry 
 ing on. Mr. Pickering wrote a second and a third 
 letter to the same purpose, but received no an 
 swer. 
 
 An address from New- York was presented, 
 containing four thousand signatures, but three 
 thousand of the names were those of English mer 
 chants, their clerks and servants, who had not re 
 sided above a few years in the State ; several in- 
 
168 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 stances were even known of merchants compelling 
 their clerks to sign more than once under different 
 signatures. 
 
 One of these addresses will be a sufficient spe 
 cimen of the fulsome flattery which was made use 
 of: It is the production of a society of merchants 
 at Boston . 
 
 " To John Adams, Esq. President of the United 
 "States of America. 
 
 " We the subscribers, inhabitants and citizens 
 of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, deeply 
 impressed with the alarming situation of our coun 
 try, and convinced of the necessity of uniting with 
 firmness at this interesting crisis, beg leave to ex 
 press to you, the chief magistrate and supreme ru 
 ler over the United States, our fullest approbation 
 of all the measures, external and internal, you have 
 pleased to adopt under direction of the divine au 
 thority, for settling and accommodating all existing 
 differences, upon terms compatible with the safety, 
 the interest and the dignity of the United States. 
 
 " We beg leave also to express the high and ele 
 vated opinion we entertain of your talents, your 
 virtue, your wisdom and your prudence ; and 
 our frxed resolution to support, at the risk of our 
 lives and fortunes, such measures as you may de 
 termine upon to be necessary for promoting and 
 securing the honor and happiness of America; nor 
 can we omit, upon such an occasion, to declare to 
 the world, that we are not humiliated under a co 
 lonial sense of fear, that we are not a divided peo- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS* 169 
 
 pie, but that we know the duty we owe to the Pre 
 sident of our country > and are determined to sup 
 port him. 
 
 " Boston, 1st May, 1798." 
 
 The childish vanity Mr. Adams displayed up 
 on receiving these addresses* gave surprise to those 
 who even had the best opportunity of being ac 
 quainted with his weaknesses. They usually form 
 ed part of his table equipage, as regularly as a 
 newspaper, or a dish of coffee. ...a file of five hun 
 dred of them, suspended in the front of his library, 
 served him as a political dictionary for civil, na 
 val and military appointments, on all occasions. 
 None whose name was not found entered in this sa 
 cred register, could claim any pretensions to the fa 
 vor of Mr. Adams. The magistrate, the soldier 
 and the sailor, equally owed their birth to this bun 
 dle of federal parchment, which is now preserved 
 in the palace of Braintree, and which will transmit 
 to posterity the political state of America at the 
 close of the eighteenth century. 
 
 Those addresses which were not couched in the 
 most submissive terms were treated with the great 
 est contempt. One of this nature was transmitted 
 in June, 1798, by some officers and soldiers of the 
 Jersey militia. They said that they did not ac 
 knowledge an implicit approbation of the conduct 
 of Mr. Adams ; they declared their disbelief " that 
 the administration of our government had in all. 
 cases been absolutely perfect !" they explained their 
 aversion to an English alliance and a French war ; 
 
 Y 
 
170 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 they ascribed the calamitous situation of the United 
 States to the influence of interested commercial 
 characters, and of the internal faction that had for 
 merly resisted the American Revolution ; they 
 warned Air. Adams to beware of surrounding flat 
 terers, and of men who panted to speculate in the 
 spoils of war, Mr. Adams returned them an an 
 swer, censuring them in the severest terms for 
 presuming to call a government of their own choice 
 a party, and for asserting, or even supposing, that 
 he caressed those characters who were the worst 
 enemies of America. 
 
 On this answer, Mr. Callender, with his usual 
 acuteness, makes the following severe, though just 
 remarks : " Under the general phrase of govern 
 ment, Mr. Adams here attempts to confound the 
 constitution and its officers. These are two mat 
 ters entirely distinct ; as such they shall be sepa 
 rately discussed. I begin with the form of gov 
 ernment ; that is, the present federal constitution. 
 
 " This system was, after a violent struggle, 
 adopted by a majority of the people. ...one reason 
 or conceit, which led them to this measure, was, 
 lest the United States should be invaded and par 
 titioned by some foreign power. For the last ten 
 years our public transactions have often originated 
 in false alarms, operating on the public mind like as 
 many shocks of electricity. ...at one time Genet was 
 to overturn the government ; when that bugbear 
 vanished, the Western mob, so carefully fostered 
 into consequence by Hamilton, was to cover the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 17! 
 
 continent with carnage and desolation. The third 
 annual panic arose in July, 1795, on the publica 
 tion of Jay s treaty ; by democratical demonstra 
 tion, the whole shipping of America was, in two 
 years at farthest, to be annihilated. Nine months 
 after, we found out that this very bargain was the 
 best imaginable, and that nothing but an immedi 
 ate acceptance of it could save our foreign com 
 merce from extinction, This was in 1796. The 
 periodical tremor of 1797, began by the recal of 
 Adet from Philadelphia, the rejection of Pinckney 
 at Paris, the torrent of French piracy that burst up 
 on our navigation, and our consciousness of having, 
 in some measure, deserved the vengeance of the 
 Republic. Men of sense recollected the imper 
 tinence of our Presidential speeches regarding 
 France, the brutality of newspapers hired by Bri 
 tish ambassadors,, and patronized by the federal 
 party, and above all, the ever infamous desertion of 
 our allies and benefactors, consummated by Jay s 
 treaty. In 1798, America did, for once, assume an 
 appearance of resolution. To meet the approach 
 ing war, Congress voted for preparations to the 
 amount of about fourteen millions and six hundred 
 thousand dollars ; and after all this additional vor 
 tex of debt, we discovered that the last annual 
 alarm has been equally false with each of its pre 
 decessors. The French were provoked to plunder, 
 but they have hitherto refused to fight. 
 
 " I now return to the tremor of 1787, by which 
 the " government of your own choice," viz. the 
 
172 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 federal constitution, was crammed down the gullet 
 of America. The first grand argument for adop 
 tion was the danger existing from external conquest. 
 This could only be attempted upon three quar 
 ters : First, by the English, a people whom the 
 Americans had just before beaten, and who, during 
 that very period, were successively on the brink of 
 war with France, Holland and Russia. Second, 
 France might possibly have invaded this country ; 
 but her exchequer was bankrupt, and she was of 
 course incapable of righting. Third, Spain could 
 have disturbed the United States, but her councils 
 are always pacific. For the last hundred and 
 fifty years, her vigor has been broken, and she has 
 never once gone to war, but when kicked into it 
 by the ambition of France or England. In short, 
 at the time in question, the powers of Europe were 
 occupied in plotting the destruction of each other > 
 they had no leisure of thinking of America. Pat 
 rick Henry and his friends, in the convention of 
 Virginia, could not force Mr. Madison s majority 
 to comprehend this very plain fact. The dread of for 
 eign conquest was, in 1787, as ridiculous as that of 
 witchcraft, for which Mr. Burroughs, once a parson 
 of Salem, was hung by the Saints of the last cen 
 tury." 
 
 Mr. Callender urges, in ridicule, a number of 
 other arguments America had for framing a new 
 constitution : 
 
 1st. Rhode-Island (says he) refused to pay 
 her share of the expence of the war or of taxes to 
 discharge it. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 173 
 
 2d. The advantages that Congress would pos 
 sess over individual States, in framing commercial 
 treaties with foreign nations. 
 
 Mr. Callender admits that this motion was a 
 plausible one, and the principal cause of the forma 
 tion of the constitution. 
 
 3d. In order to pay the debts of the United 
 States, which the Congress under the old confede 
 ration could not pay. 
 
 On January 1st, 1790, the domestic and for 
 eign debt of the United States amounted, col 
 lectively, to fifty-four millions, three hundred and 
 sixty-two thousand dollars. The domestic debt 
 had been a great source of gambling to the mem 
 bers of Congress ; with a view, therefore, to con 
 ceal their infamous traffic, they comprehended in 
 the same statute a mass of debt due by individual 
 States. With the same justice they might have in* 
 eluded all the debts which are reciprocally due be 
 tween private citizens ; the one measure would 
 have been as regular as the other. To assist them 
 selves in supporting this assumption of State debts, 
 they authorized, on the 4th of August, 1794, a loan 
 of twenty-one millions, five hundred thousand dol 
 lars. The certificates of debts due by individual 
 States, and which had been issued by them as pledg 
 es to ther private creditors, were, under certain re 
 strictions, to be received at the Federal Treasury 
 as current cash, in part of the loan. Thus the Fede 
 ral Treasury was to reimburse itself by recourse up 
 on the individual states, for payment of these cer- 
 
174 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 tificates. The young government, therefore, wasr 
 soon involved in a labyrinth of debt, which so far 
 from decreasing, would, if the measures of the late 
 administration had been pursued, accumulated to a 
 sum our revenues never would have been adequate 
 to defray. 
 
 " Wherefore/* says Mr. Callender, " the prin 
 cipal inducements to accept of the constitution of 
 your own choice are proved by common sense or 
 experience, to have been absolutely chimerical, and 
 nothing better than hobby-horses. 
 
 " In contradiction to what Mr. Adams affirms 
 in his answer, it is established, that the present gov 
 ernment, both in its origin and progress, has been, 
 in every shape and s-ense, the government of a party ; 
 and of a party that is, in many respects, very worth 
 less. In opposition to the merit assumed by the 
 President, as a promoter of domestic peace, it is 
 established, that his measures multiply domestic 
 discord ; and that the scandalous newspapers print 
 ed under his influence, are so many trumpets sound 
 ing to the charge of civil war. In addition to his 
 inflammatory aspersions regarding French tribute, 
 it is proved, that the United States are tributary to 
 the Indians, to the Algerines and to the English." 
 
 Mr. Adams expressed himself in the same man 
 ner to an address from the Bostonians of the 7th of 
 August, 1797, as he did to the New- Jersey militia. 
 
 " The idea," says he, " of separating the people 
 from a government of their own choice, can origi 
 nate with none but enemies of republican govern- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 175 
 
 inents. Such a project, were it practicable, would 
 be a demonstration, that the people are not capa 
 ble of such a government ; and by a sudden in 
 troduction of wasting calamities, would soon con 
 vince the people themselves of the necessity of in 
 stituting another form for their own security and 
 protection. The decided reprobation of such ne 
 farious designs by the citizens of Boston and its vi 
 cinity, will have a great effect in defeating them." 
 
 The Bostonians may justly be considered to 
 have been the Praetorian guards of John Adams, 
 The homage of flattery which was first paid him by 
 these citizens, was at length converted into a so 
 lemn protestation of fidelity. Whenever he enter 
 ed their town, a numerous cavalcade composed of 
 horsemen and foot, of women and children, were 
 accustomed to collect round his person ; to address 
 him rather as the sovereign of the world than the 
 President of the United States, and to adore him as 
 a divinity and not as a man. His procession from 
 Quincy, on the 17th of August, 1797, and the 
 pompous parade displayed on this occasion, will 
 long be remembered as a specimen of the ostenta 
 tious dignity he was pleased to affect, and of thehon- ,/ 
 ors which the folly of his countrymen allowed him. 
 Perhaps the monarch of France never visited Ver 
 sailles in greater state than Mr. Adams did Boston 
 that day. 
 
 At an early hour in the morning, a corps of cav 
 alry, commanded by Captain Amory, marched 
 to Quincy, and paraded before his door. From 
 
176 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 thence the President was escorted to the seat of his 
 Excellency, the Governor, at Roxbury....a troop of 
 girls dressed in white walked before him, and 
 strewed the road with flowers and leaves of laurel. 
 The citizens of Quincy led up the rear, bearing 
 the American Flag, the Portrait of John Adams, and 
 the Ensigns of Liberty. This numerous cavalcade 
 was met on the road from Milton, and joined by the 
 officers of the Boston regiment, in uniform, as also 
 by a motley group of Bostonians, some in carriages, 
 some on horseback, and others on foot, who were 
 hurrying to pay their respects to the President. The 
 increased multitude continued their rout to town, 
 at the entrance of which they were welcomed by 
 a federal salute from Captain Bradlee s artillery. 
 At the ancient fortification they were reinforced by 
 cadets, by artillery and by infantry, all commanded 
 by devoted subjects to royalty. The line of march 
 then continued to the centre of the city, amidst the 
 welcoming huzzas of crow r ds of sycophants, and the 
 smiles of bevies of ladies, who adorned the windows 
 and displayed their charms to attract the fancy 
 of the President. Having arrived at the Old 
 South, Mr. Adams alighted, passed his escort in 
 review, displayed his person for a few minutes to 
 the admiring spectators, by walking on the balco 
 ny of the old State-House, from whence he pro 
 ceeded to the Senate chamber, where a procession 
 was formed of the principal Officers of State, the 
 Senators of State, the Judges, and the Members 
 of the House of Representatives, who conducted 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 177 
 
 their Sovereign to partake of the pleasures which 
 were prepared for his reception at Fanuiel Hall. 
 
 This apartment was decorated throughout with 
 trees and evergreen. At the bottom of the stairs, 
 an arch properly supported, exhibited the Federal 
 Constellation. At the head of the first flight, was 
 the bust of "a patriot," irradiated in glory, motto, 
 
 e The lustre of his Actions burns with triumphant 
 brightness and spreads a glory round him." Over 
 him an obelisk topped with the Omniscient Eye, 
 motto, Fideles protego ; descending from which a 
 Cherub extended a Garter, motto, sic itcr ad as- 
 tra, presented the Palm and the Lartrd, and of 
 fered them as Premium Virtutls. The second 
 flight exposed to vie wan L T rn bearing these words, 
 
 : To the memory of those brave men who have fal 
 len in the cause of Liberty," and a Pedestal with hie 
 manes ob patrium pugnando vidnera passl. At the 
 entrance of the hall, Liberty in all her charms and 
 emblems, held a scroll, seeming to breath its wish, 
 <f Liberty, Peace and Happiness to all mankind." 
 A festooned orchestra formed the entrance to the 
 room, which was hung round with tapestry the 
 most splendid which the States of New-England 
 ever beheld. The decorations of columns, ribbons, 
 wreaths and festoons were variously suspended and 
 grouped to please the fancy of the eye and attract the 
 crowd of flatterers whom Mr. Adams was to honor 
 with his presence. Over his seat, which was elevated 
 in the form of a throne, the arms of the United States 
 were seen supporting a portrait of himself, to which 
 
 Z 
 
178 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 was. affixed a satin curtain, and the following lines 
 said to be the production of the Poet Trumbull: 
 
 " First Advocate of Independence* cause ; 
 First to defend Columbia s balanced laws ; 
 First to oppose when Anarch s sons assail, 
 A conscious, grateful people bid thee hail." 
 
 Such was the pomp and parade that usually 
 took place whenever Mr. Adams was pleased to 
 compliment the inhabitants of Boston with a court 
 ly visit. A striking specimen of the genius and 
 character of these people, who affect to hold in 
 contempt the innocent and sprightly levity of the 
 citizens in the Southern States. 
 
 It may be interesting to know how the Alien 
 act, that powerful engine of tyranny which Mr. 
 Adams so successfully wielded, was passed into a 
 law. I shall, therefore, give an account of the pro 
 portion of votes from each State in favor of the 
 bill and against it. 
 
 This act originated in the Senate of Congress, 
 where it was read, for the first time, upon June 8, 
 1798. Humphrey Marshal, the poet, proposed an 
 amendment of the second clause of the first sec 
 tion. ...it was in these words : cc which order shall 
 also express the cause of removal." Although noth 
 ing could be more reasonable than this amend 
 ment, it was rejected by seventeen votes against 
 six. 
 
 The votes were fifteen against eight on the 
 passing of the bill. They stood thus : 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, vJJS 
 
 In favor of the Bill. 
 
 New-Hampshire, 1 ; Massachusetts, 1 ; Rhode- 
 Island, 1 ; Connecticut, 2 -, Vermont, 2 ; New- 
 York, 2 ; New-Jersey, 1 ; Pennsylvania, 1 ; De 
 laware, 2; Alaryland, 1 ; South-Carolina, 1. To 
 tal 15. 
 
 Against the Bill. 
 
 Virginia, 2 - 3 North-Carolina, 1 ; Kentucky, 2 ; 
 Tennessee, 2 ; Georgia, 1. -Total 8. 
 
 It passed in the House of Representatives on the 
 21st of June, 1798, by forty-six votes against forty. 
 Nineteen members were absent. 
 For the Bill. 
 
 New-Hampshire, 3 ; Massachusetts, 11 ; Rhode- 
 Island, 2 , Connecticut, 7 ; Vermont, 1 ; New- 
 York, 5 ; New-Jersey, 4 ; Pennsylvania, 4 ; Del 
 aware, 15 Maryland, 4; Virginia, 1 ; North-Ca 
 rolina, 1 y South-Carolina, 2. Total 46. 
 
 Against the Bill. 
 
 Massachusetts, 1 ; Vermont, I ; New-York, 2 ; 
 Pennsylvania., 6 ; Maryland, 3 ; Virginia, 11 ; 
 Kentucky, 2 ; North-Carolina, 8 ; Tenessee, 1 $ 
 South-Carolina, 3; Georgia,. 2. Total 40. 
 
 From wlience it appears evident, that the pass 
 ing of the Alien act was entirely owing to the New- 
 England faction. Not one Senator from these States / 
 voted against it, and only one Representative out of 
 twenty-four who were present. On the contrary, 
 eleven members from Virginia out of twelve who at 
 tended the House, exerted every effort to oppose 
 
180 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the bill. In the Senate, there were 14 members 
 j to the north of the river Potowmac, every one 
 of whom supported it. Of the nine members to 
 the south of that river,, two voted for it and seven 
 against it. 
 
 John Langdon, Senator from New-Hampshire, 
 was absent at the passing of the bill. This is 
 one of the few honest men whom New-England 
 has sent to Congress. During the revolution his 
 services were conspicuous ; a firm adherence to 
 republicanism has been a constant and uniform 
 trait in his character ever since. But Mr. Lang- 
 don, like most other virtuous men, had the mis 
 fortune to incur the displeasure of Mr, Adams. 
 The following letter which this Senator wrote to 
 Samuel Ringold, of New-Hampshire, previous to 
 the election of Mr. Jefferson, unfolds sufficiently 
 his own principles as well as those of the Presi 
 dent. It is one of those precious morsels of politi 
 cal information w^hich deserves a place in every 
 publication intended to record the vices and views 
 of the late administration. 
 
 " Portsmouth, October 10, 1800. 
 " DEAR SIB, 
 
 " Your agreeable favor of the 4th instant has this 
 moment come to hand ; I am greatly rejoiced to 
 see gentlemen of property and influence coming 
 forward at this eventful moment in the common 
 cause of our country 5 I have no doubt we shall 
 yet be saved. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 181 
 
 <c I am now packing my baggage, shall set out 
 in the stage to-morrow morning for the city of 
 Washington ; hope to be in Baltimore the begin 
 ning of next month ; this prevents me answering 
 your letter so fully as I could wish, having only 
 one moment to spare. 
 
 " In the conversation held between Mr. Adams, 
 Mr. Taylor and myself, Mr. Adams certainly ex 
 pressed himself (as far as my memory serves me) 
 in the very words mentioned in your letter, viz. / 
 that he hoped, or expected to see the day when 
 Mr. Taylor, and his friend Mr. Giles, would be 
 convinced that the people of America would not 
 be happy without an hereditary Chief Magistrate 
 and Senate, or at least for life. 
 
 " Believe me sincerely, 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 "JOHNLANGDON. 
 
 " SAMUEL RINGOLD." 
 
 It may be remembered that Mr. Callender re 
 quested time might be granted him to serve a sub 
 poena on Mr. Langdon, as also on several others, 
 whose evidence he believed would sufficiently 
 prove the most material of his charges against Mr. 
 Adams. But this necessary postponement, which 
 would have shewn the President in his proper 
 colours, was peremptorily refused by the Federal 
 Court. This circumstance, and the conduct of 
 Judge Chase on that occasion, shall be more par 
 ticularly investigated when we come to narrate the 
 trial of Mr. Callender. 
 
I 5 J THE ADMINISTRATION* 
 
 JfTr. Langdon, to his other virtues, adds thafr 
 cf a charitable and generous mind. ...few of his 
 countrymen possess this virtue in an equal degree. 
 Inattentive to the spirit of party and political in 
 trigue, his principal study and greatest ambition 
 are to reward industry and obtain the applause of 
 good men. On all occasions he has stood forth and 
 exerted himself in the cause of the distressed and 
 injured citizen. In short, which ever way we 
 view Mr. Langdon, we find him fertile in every 
 great and good qualification. 
 
 Leaving Mr. Langdon, we enter a barren waste 
 when we venture to explore the characters of the 
 other Senators from New-England. 
 
 Theodore Sedgwick, of Massachusetts, and 
 James Hillhouse, of Connecticut, were the prin 
 cipal authors of the Alien and Sedition Acts ; they 
 also voted for Hamilton s plan of funding the do 
 mestic debt. A transaction more detestable than 
 this scheme can hardly be conceived, when it is 
 known that both these men had made considerable 
 purchases in the certificates of the old army. 
 
 Foster, of Rhode-Island, is one of the weak 
 est men in the United States. He voted, if we 
 may believe his friends, for the plans of the Pre 
 sident, without comprehending their tendency or 
 import. His constituents, who sent him to Con 
 gress, and who were acquainted with the narrow 
 extent of his talents, ought only to be censured. 
 
 Elijah Paine, from Vermont, presents a char 
 acter of a different complexion. He displays on 
 
X)F JOHN ADAMS. 183 
 
 | 
 
 every occasion, a natural fiergrsness which it is im 
 possible to temper or disguise. Though a stranger 
 to real wisdom, he is possessed both of selfish cun 
 ning and a talent for intrigue. He can threaten or 
 cringe to his opponents as circumstances require ; 
 but in general, his behavior borders on rudeness, 
 and his oratory is savage in the extreme. 
 
 Uriah Tracey may be regarded as the Burke of 
 Connecticut. Though neither possessed of the 
 talents, the erudition, or the splendid eloquence 
 of that British Senator, he rivals him in anti-jaco 
 bin abuse and vindictive declamation asrainst the 
 
 O 
 
 French nation. He would wade up to the knees 
 in blood to extirpate the republicans of France. 
 He has declared in Congress, that if he had his 
 wish, he would arm every man, woman and child 
 in America against every man, woman and child 
 in France. These were not words uttered in the 
 heat of passion, in the unthinking moment of 
 pleasure, or over the intoxicating fumes of Brain- 
 tree claret ; they were pronounced in a solemn ex 
 hortation to the Senators of the United States, and 
 accurately recorded by Mr. Lloyd, the Steno 
 grapher, who was present. 
 
 Mr. Bingham, of Philadelphia, Senator for Penn 
 sylvania, is a merchant of immense property, a 
 high-flying Federalist, and devoted to the British 
 interest. He is ambitious of being thought a man 
 of science and a lover of the arts, but no man ha> 
 less claim to these pretensions than Mr. Bmdiam. 
 The ability of reading his own language,, ai.d -f ill- 
 
184- THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 reeling the clerks of his counting-house, constitutes 
 his whole stock of learning. Although the virtues 
 of honesty and a generous heart are not the most 
 conspicuous traits in his character, yet he was the 
 friend of Mr. Adams and companion to the am 
 bassador Liston. 
 
 The charges which have been adduced against 
 James Ross, the colleague of Mr. Bingham, are 
 too numerous to admit of insertion in their full 
 extent. I shall only briefly specify those^ the truth 
 of which even his friends are compelled to allow. 
 
 This Senator voted, in the convention of Penn 
 sylvania, on the 2d of February, to strikeout of the 
 constitutional regulations about holding offices, the 
 words " who acknowledges the being of a God, 
 and a future state of rewards and punishments. 
 
 He staid away from the Senate without any 
 cause for nineteen weeks and four days, so that 
 Pennsylvania, which had only two votes in the 
 Senate, was left with no more than one vote in that 
 body. (Journal of the Senate, January 8, April 26, 
 and July, 1798.) By this means he escaped the 
 odium of voting for the Alien and Sedition bills. 
 
 Mr. Ross voted for the British treaty ; for in 
 creasing the salaries of the officers of government 
 when the people were groaning under the weight 
 of new taxes; he voted also for a standing army. 
 
 At the table of Messrs. Hollines and Rainey, 
 merchants, at Philadelphia, when " The Consti 
 tution of the United States" was given as a toast, 
 he left the room, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 185 
 
 Mr. Ross has been proved to be a Deist. ...see a 
 letter from Mr. Jones, late chaplain to General 
 Wayne, inserted in the Aurora, 1st October, 1797. 
 
 General Lloyd, of Maryland, is the last of the 
 Federal Senators I shall at. present remark. This 
 man, in the year 1799, entered into a contract with 
 the Secretary of the Navy to furnish staves to the 
 amount of 1500 dollars ; he received the money In 
 hand and engaged to send the staves as soon as he 
 got home, A twelvemonth elapsed and no staves 
 came to hand ; upon enquiry being made, it was 
 discovered that General Lloyd possessed no wood 
 fit for that purpose. The money was never return 
 ed, but the honest general was compelled, by the 
 present administration, to give a bond for the sum, 
 bearing interest. 
 
 The Senators who opposed the bills were char 
 acters very different. Mr. Henry Tazewell, and 
 General Mason, of Virginia, were of this party. 
 I cannot represent these men in juster terms than 
 Mr. Callender has clone. " Mr. Henry Tazewell/ 
 says this writer, " was too honest to be purchased, 
 and too firm to be bullied; too watchful to be sur 
 prised, and too shrewd to be deceived. This gen 
 tleman was long an effective antagonist to the 
 stratagems of Senatorial deceit, and the brutality 
 of Senatorial despotism." 
 
 " With an happy temper, an invulnerable char 
 acter, an independent fortune and an amiable fa 
 mily ; with every physical and moral circumstance 
 about him which can provoke the envy, or chal- 
 
 Aa 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 lenge the esteem of mankind, General Mason has 
 -presented an object of calumny for a set of mis 
 creants whom his good sense obliges him to de 
 spise, but whom his good nature will hardly suffer 
 him to detest. Without parade or effort, his pa 
 triotism flows, like a natural fountain, from the 
 sweetness and rectitude of the primitive elements 
 of his mind. Had the majority of the Senate voted 
 and acted like General Mason, this country, to 
 borrow the language of Demosthenes, might have 
 escaped from an Iliad of misfortunes" 
 
 Of the twenty-six Representatives from New-* 
 England,only three made a figure, or even were heard 
 of during the revolution. These were General Shep 
 ard, General Varnum and Gerferal Skinner. General 
 Varnum was the only member who voted against the 
 Alien bill. General Skinner was not present, or 
 most probably he would have acted with the same 
 patriotism. As for General Shepard, who voted 
 for it, his best friends allow his only merit consists 
 in that species of personal courage which fits the 
 mercenary assassin, but becomes not the republican 
 soldier. ...Shepard could fight with the same cou 
 rage in the cause of despotism as in that of liberty. 
 Strong in body but weak in intellect, he only ap 
 preciates those qualities wHich characterize the 
 barbarian ; while he holds in ridicule the more gen 
 erous virtues which adorn the mind and enlarge 
 the understanding of the civilized patriot. In short, 
 nature could not, without difficulty, produce a be 
 ing more ignorant and wretched in point of rea 
 soning, than this New-England General. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Sewall, of Massachusetts, was con 
 sidered a tory during the revolution. He figured 
 in the Bankrupt list, and has therefore little to 
 fear from the worst misfortunes that can befal his. 
 country. When he attempts to speak, his inso 
 lence and virulence of expression are unequalled 
 by the billingsgate of the lowest miscreant who 
 bawls at Westminster for royal favor. But his char 
 acter being known, his efforts are disregarded, and 
 his inflammatory jargon suffers a merited contempt. 
 
 Dwight Foster, member from the same State, 
 was also a tory. This man being conscious of his. 
 own weakness, seldom speaks but when he lisps 
 an unmeaning sentiment in honor of John Adams 
 at some federal hall of riotous, debauch. Sloth and, 
 indolence, or a game at cards, are his favorite 
 amusements. His hatred to the French is report 
 ed principally to proceed from the lively sentiment 
 in discourse which distinguishes that nation, and 
 which by no means accords with the phlegmatic 
 humor of Mr. Foster. 
 
 John Allen, of Connecticut, is as remarkable 
 for the uncouth and vulgar extravagance of his ex 
 pressions, as he is for his tall hectic appearance. 
 He has declared in a public assembly, that the fe^ 
 deral constitution was not worth a damn, and that 
 he would be glad to give it a kick. He gave up 
 his seat in Congress for the sake of being chosen 
 into the Assembly of Connecticut ; but his behav 
 ior, when a Representative, disgusted even the 
 federalists, and he was overpowered by a repub* 
 
188 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 lican candidate, which circumstance, it is 
 had such an effect upon his nerves, as almost to de 
 prive him of the weak and tender capacity of rea 
 soning which he formerly possessed. 
 
 Mr. George Thatcher, member also from Mas 
 sachusetts, when in the third Congress was almost 
 never known to open his lips. At that time he 
 supported the character of a reasonable man ; bat 
 observing that silence was not the way of gaining 
 the favor of the President and advancing in the list 
 of preferment, he studied for a whole summer the 
 art of anti-jacobin declamation with such success, 
 that he delivered in the Congress after, a thunder 
 ing speech, intending to prove that Barras was 
 either msd or drunk, when he, made his farewell 
 address to Mr. Monroe. His friends were astonish 
 ed at his powers, and dignified him with the title of 
 the American Barras. Malice, however, who sheds 
 her venom upon the best of characters, accounts for 
 this rapid and remarkable change in the manners of 
 Mr. Thatcher by the powerful attraction of British 
 gold, and even hints at a promise from the ambas- 
 sadorListon, if Blount sconspiracy had taken effect. 
 But it is much more probable that the love of vani 
 ty and applause, and a desire to rise in the estima 
 tion of -Mr. Adams, were the principal motives 
 which induced this New-England member to pass 
 from the humble path of reserve and decency into 
 the boisterous ocean of noise and petulance. 
 
 Harrison G. Otis is another member from the 
 royal state of Massachusetts, who laboured with 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 all the trick of a quibbling attorney, to get the Alien 
 bill passed into a law. This man is not entirely 
 divested of fancy, but he is a stranger to argument, 
 and unacquainted with the virtues of truth and 
 candor. The interest of British merchants, it is 
 reported, procured him to be one of the direc 
 tors of the bank of the United States, and several 
 pecuniary favors which he has granted these gen 
 tlemen in return, prove that he possesses, in an 
 eminent degree, the qualifications of gratitude and a 
 bountiful heart to his friends. He is neither de 
 void of filial affection, if we may judge from 
 his petty manoeuvres to procure an addition of two 
 hundred dollars to the salary of his father. But the 
 fear which he expresses of Frenchmen, and his 
 hatred at Irishmen, are the two striking character 
 istics of his mind. In the summer of 1798, he so 
 much dreaded a French invasion, that it is said, he 
 would have removed into some of the back settle 
 ments had it not been for the persuasion of Dwight 
 Foster and George Thatcher. No man, says Mr. 
 Callender, can be more ambitious to be the scaven 
 ger of his parry than this calumniator of the Irish 
 nation. Mr. Otis has since obtained his wish, for 
 no man is more employed in rallying and collecting 
 together the scattered dregs of federalism than Har 
 rison G. Otis. 
 
 The late Mr. Josiah Coit, of Connecticut, who 
 voted both for the Alien and Sedition bills, wished 
 at first to be considered impartial ; but on this ac 
 count he was attacked with the utmost fury by the 
 
19O THE ADMINISTRATION 1 
 
 Treasury newspapers. William Cobbett railed at 
 him under the name of the Connecticut Bear ; Tim 
 othy Pickering used to say, a doubtful friend was. 
 more dangerous than a professed enemy, and so 
 was Mr. Coit ; Mr. Adams said he never wished 
 to keep his mouth shut but in the presence of Mr. 
 Coit. To do away these prejudices which Mr. Coit 
 perceived the federal faction possessed towards 
 him, he made a long and violent invective in Con 
 gress against Mr. Jefferson, and afterwards voted 
 for every measure the President desired. 
 
 Such were the characters of the principal lead 
 ers of the New-England faction, who ushered in 
 to existence the Alien bill and gave a stab to the 
 independence of America which will be long felt 
 and remembered. I shall now slightly trace a few 
 of the Federal Representatives in the other States, 
 who were no less active in promoting the power of 
 the President and infringing upon the rights of the 
 people. 
 
 General, Williams, of the State of New-York, 
 stands first in the list of these Federalists. This 
 man, in the early period of his life, was for several 
 years tumbler to a Quack Doctor, who trav 
 elled through the United States, vending his nos 
 trums. In these itinerant speculations, Gen 
 eral Williams, who is remarkable for activity and 
 strength of body, used to carry upon his shoul 
 ders all the stage apparatus and several chests of 
 medicine. When the revolutionary war broke out 
 he enlisted in the army, and by his valor more 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 191 
 
 than his honesty, rose to the rank he now holds. In 
 1116, he was elected a Senator from the State of 
 New- York, but was expelled two years afterwards 
 for the crimes of perjury, forgery and corruption, as 
 may be seen by the Journals of that Assembly** 
 
 * The following are the charges which were preferred against 
 him by the Senate of New-York, on the 24th of October, 1778 : 
 
 I. That John Williams, Efq. has ordered regimental courts 
 martial, for the trial of persons upwards of fifty years of age t 
 and others ; and for offences not cognizable before any court 
 martial of the militia, authorized by the law of this state, ia 
 which case the supposed delinquents have been fined in different 
 sums, from four shillings up to thirty pounds ; and that in con 
 sequence thereof, their personal property had been distrained and 
 sold at an under value, to their great loss and impoverishment, 
 and without being duly convened at such court martial, and 
 furnished with an opportunity of defending themselves. 
 
 2d. That Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, of the said John Wil 
 liams s regiment, was not only not consulted about the appoint 
 ment of such courts martial, but was never appointed or request 
 ed by the said John Williams, to sit in, or attend at either of them ; 
 although the said John Williams had frequent and ready admis 
 sion at the said courts martial. 
 
 3d. That he not only subjects persons, by means of such pe 
 cuniary punishments as aforesaid, to heavy forfeitures, but also., for 
 effectually levying them, threatens many of the inhabitants of the 
 county to try them for their lives, unless they submit to the 
 penalties imposed by such courts martial as aforesaid ; declaring, 
 to their great distress, that he has it in his power to strip them of 
 all their property. 
 
 4th. That he has made false abstracts for the militia, who 
 have been in actual service under him, whereby he has, to the pre* 
 judiceof the continent, received much greater sums than it was 
 ever conceived were due to such militia; and has withheld 
 
192 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The federalists exclaim against the private 
 characters of those men who figured in the Nation 
 al Assembly and Convention of France ; while 
 they pass over in silenee the vices of their own par 
 ty. But let them examine the life and actions of 
 
 from persons belonging to his regiment, pay that was actually due 
 them, and received by him for their use. 
 
 5th. That in the trial of sundry persons, before such courts 
 martial, as aforesaid, for supposed offences, he has caused the said 
 courts to enquire into facts, which, if they ever happened, must 
 have been perpetrated long before the militia law took place ; 
 thus making a law, which was only intended to apply to cases 
 posterior in their occurrence to the law itself, have retrospect to 
 facts, which if real, must have occurred before the passing thereof. 
 
 6th. That when the continental troops abandoned Ticonde- 
 roga, and retreated from the enemy, and they advanced into the 
 country, he sent one Jonathan Baker to Major Skeene, in the: 
 enemy s service, and furnished him with hard money to bear his 
 expences ; that Baker returned from Major Skeene with a mani 
 festo and proclamation from General Burgoyne, calculated to en 
 force the submission of the inhabitants ; which manifesto and pro 
 clamation were brought into the committee and by them sup 
 pressed. 
 
 yth. That afterwards, when the enemy had advanced as far as 
 Fort Ann, and the danger of the inhabitants thereby increased, 
 he called the people of his regiment together, and told them they 
 must take care of themselves, intimating thereby his declining to 
 command them ; and that afterwards, having collected them in 
 his barn, he told them they had but one of three things to choose, 
 to wit, either to fly for their lives, or take up arms and fight the 
 enemy, or submit to them and take protections. And that after 
 wards, when Captain M Crocker, a continental officer, arrived on 
 the spot, he, the said John Williams, abandoned the command of 
 his regiment to the said officer. (Page 136, Journal of the 
 Senate of the State of New-York, fpr 1778.) 
 
OF JOHN ADAM3. 
 
 this beloved friend of Mr. Adams, an ?t^ 
 them with the deeds of the blackest ja 
 ever graced the bloody list of Robespier ^nd they 
 will find that General John Williams is infinitely 
 their superior in perfidy and low chicanery. It is 
 inconceivable how this man ever, came to be 
 elected a member of Congress, or how the House 
 of Representatives suffered him to profane their 
 presence > unless we suppose that an interval of 
 time had cast a shade over his villainy, and that in 
 the dearth of honesty the rogue crept in. 
 
 On the 28th January, "1779, General Williams, after a full 
 investigation of these charges, was found guilty of those contain 
 ed in the 2d and 4th articles, and in some instances, of those in 
 the 1st article. (Page 159, Journal of the Senate.) On the 8th 
 of February, 1779, he was expelled by the following minute : 
 (Page 1 66, Journal of the Senate.) The crimes of which John 
 Williams, Esquire, stands adjudged by the resolutions of this Sen 
 ate, of the 29th of January last, holds him upas entirely destitute 
 of integrity, evidenced by his unjust misapplication of military au 
 thority, Jiis flagrant peculation on the United States of North 
 America, his dishonest attempts to deprive the militia under his 
 command of their just pay, and his after attempts to cover his in 
 justice by undue applications of a great pa?t of the monies which 
 he had received from the pay ofllce of the said United States, up 
 on false and fraudulent pay abstracts, fabricated and attested by 
 himself. In this accumulated and just view of his conduct, he 
 appears to this Senate, wholly unworthy to represent the good 
 people of this State in the dignified and important place of a Sena-, 
 tor thereof. 
 
 Resolved, therefore, that the said John Williams, Esquire, be, 
 and he is hereby expelled this Senate. 
 
 Bb 
 
TH E ADMINISTRATION 
 
 n Dayton, of New- Jersey, the late 
 Congress, is notorious from Boston to 
 <j-^ujg-ia. The deeds of the other members of Con 
 gress were scarcely known beyond the circle of 
 their respective States, but the speculations of this 
 Kian have rung throughout the western world. They 
 are unfolded in sixteen letters to one Francis Childs, 
 which were made public by a bill of complaint 
 which Dayton and one Lawrence presented to the 
 Chancellor of New-York, against Childs. The let 
 ters will speak for themselves ;* for any comment 
 
 * ,To the Honorable Robert R. Livingston, Esquire, Chancellor of 
 
 the State of New-Tor L 
 
 The bill of complaint of Jonathan Hampton Lawrence and 
 Jonathan Dayton, humbly complaining, shew unto your honor, 
 your orators, Jonathan H. Lawrence and Jonathan Dayton, of 
 the City of New- York, merchants, trading and using commerce, 
 together with Francis Childs, under the style or firm of Law 
 rence, Dayton and Co. That some time in or about the thir 
 teenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven, 
 hundred and ninety-fix, the said Francis Childs and a certain Wil 
 liam Denning, junior, applied to your orators, to endorse two 
 promissory notes for them ; the one drawn by the said Francis, 
 Chiids,for the sum of eighteen thousand eight hundred and ten dol 
 lars, the other drawn by the said William Denning, junior, for 
 the sum of six thousand six hundred dollars, both dated on the said 
 thirteenth day of May, in the year lail aforesaid, and payable, 
 with interest, in eighteen months after date ; and your orators 
 shew, that in compliance with such request, they endorfed the 
 said notes, with their said firm, and delivered the same to the 
 said William Denning, junior, and Francis Childs. And your 
 orators shew, that the said several promissory notes were deliver 
 ed by the said Francis Childs and William Denning, junior, to a 
 certain Thomas Marston, in purfuance of a colorable agreement 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 195 
 
 upon such a scheme would only tend to render stale 
 and less flagrant the rascality of the transaction. 
 Some crimes are so horrible in their nature as will 
 not endure the lash of censure, and the actions of 
 
 for the sale of land-office warrants ; which, as your orators are 
 informed by the said William Denning, junior, was an usurious., 
 agreement, for the loan of money at an interest greatly exceed 
 ing the interest of seven per cent, per annum. And that the 
 jaid notes were made and given by them, and received by the said 
 Thomas Marston,,to secure the said -sum, and the illegal and usu 
 rious interest thereof, contrary to the form of the statute, in such 
 case made and provided ; whereby your orators are advised, the 
 said several notes are void and of no effect. And your orators 
 further shew, that at and for some considerable time after the said 
 thirteenth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, 
 the said Francis Childs, and the said William Denning, junior, 
 f were and continued to be solvent; but that your orators did not 
 pay the said notes and endorsements, to secure themselves against 
 the said endorsements by suits against the said William Denning 
 and Francis Childs, they being assured by the said William Den 
 ning, junior, that the said corrupt agreement could be proved by 
 evidence in his possession, and that the said evidence should be 
 produced ; the said William Denning, junior, having formally for 
 bidden your orators to pay the said note, on the ground of such 
 corrupt agreement. But now, so it is, may it please your honor, 
 that the said Francis Childs, and William Denning, junior, having 
 become insolvent, the said Thomas Marston, delayed commencing 
 any prosecution against your orators, until the said William Den 
 ning and Francis Childs became insolvent ; but about a year af 
 ter the said notes became due, commenced a suit in the Supreme 
 Court of this State, against your orators, as endorsers of the said 
 several notes. And the said Francis Childs and William Denning* 
 well knowing their inability to pay the said notes, in case they 
 should be taken up by your orators, but combining and confede 
 rating themselves, to and with the said Thomas Marston, and to 
 
196 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Dayton are of this class. Mr. Callender says there 
 appears to be something about this Federalist which 
 even treachery cannot trust. 
 
 Four members from Pennsylvania voted for the 
 
 and with divers other persons, at present unknown to your orators, 
 whose names, when discovered, they pray may be inserted in this 
 their bill of complaint, with proper and apt words, to charge them 
 as parties thereto, in this respect, how to injure and aggrieve your 
 orators, refuse to produce the testimony of the original agreement 
 and consideration for the said notes ; and the said Thomas Mars- 
 ton refuses to discover whether any, and what sums of money was 
 left in his hands, by the said Francis Childs or William Denning, 
 junior, or either of them, which ought, inequity, to have beeiven-. 
 dorsed as a payment thereon. All which actings and doings, of 
 the said confederators, are contrary to equity and good conscience, 
 and tend to the manifest injury and oppression of your orators. 
 In tender consideration whereof, and forasmuch as your orators are 
 wholly remediless in the premises, by the court rules of the com 
 mon law, the said suit being now pending against them, and your 
 said orators being unable to plead, on account of the want o such 
 precise information of the evidence of the said original agreement 
 as the said confederates possess, but which they now refuse to 
 communicate, and that the rather, as the information relative to 
 .such evidence, together with the delay in bringing the said suit, 
 tended to prevent your orators from securing themselves against 
 the said endorsements. To the end, therefore, that the said Tho 
 mas Marston, Francis Childs, and William Denning, junior, and 
 the rest of the confederators, when discovered, may, upon their 
 several and respective corporeal oaths, true, full, and perfect an 
 swer make, to all and singular the premises, in as full and ample 
 manner as if the same were here again repeated, and they thereto 
 interrogated. And that the said suits at law, against your ora* 
 tors, may be enjoined, and that they may have such farther and 
 other relief, as to your honor shall seem meet, and be agreeable to 
 equity and good conscience. May it please your honor, to grant 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 197 
 
 Alien act ; and Mr. Hartley, who was then ab 
 sent, voted for the Sedition act. 
 
 Mr. Bayard, from Delaware, is an avowed 
 aristocrat, an unblushing advocate for political 
 vOrruption, and a man whose life has been dedica 
 ted to the most unworthy pursuits. 
 
 unto your orators, the most gracious writ of the people, of injunc 
 tion to the said Thomas Marston, his attornies, counsellors, soli 
 citors and agents, and every of them, to be directed, thereby com 
 manding them, under a certain pain, therein to be expressed, ab 
 solutely to desist from further prosecuting the said suit at law 
 against your orators, until the said defendants shall have fully an 
 swered this bill, and your honor shall make other order herein to 
 the contrary. And may it also please your honor, to grant unto 
 your orators, the most gracious writ of the people, of injunction 
 to the said Thomas Marston, Francis Childs, and William Den 
 ning, junior, and their confederates, when discovered, command 
 ing them and every of them, at a certain day and under a certain 
 pain, therein to be expressed, to be and appear before your honor, 
 in this honorable court, to answer all and singular, and to stand 
 to perform and abide such order and decree therein, as may be 
 agreeable to equity and good conscience ; and your orators will 
 ever pray. J. H. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Sworn this second day of June, iSco, before me, 
 
 JAMES M. HUGHES, Master in Chancery. 
 
 I certify that I have perused the within bill, and in my opin- 
 on a writ of injunction ought to iflue, agreeably tp the prayer 
 thereof, the suit at law not being at issue. 
 
 JAMES M. HUGHES, Master in Chancery. 
 
 Dated 2d June, 1800. 
 
 I certify the preceding to be a true copy of a bill filed in my 
 July 5, 1800. 
 
 ISAAC L. KIP, Clerk of Chancery, 
 
198 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 William Craik, of Maryland, was originally a 
 man of some moderation, and possessed of a consi 
 derable share of political knowledge. By both 
 parties he was heard with deference and respect * 
 
 Answer of T. Mars ton to the above Complaint. 
 
 State of New-York, 7 
 
 Court of Chancery, 3 The several answers of Thomas Marston> 
 defendant^ who if impleaded with Fran* 
 cis Childs and William Denning, junior, to 
 the bill of complaint of Jonathan H. Law 
 rence , and Jonathan Dayton* complainants + 
 
 IN CHANCERY. 
 
 This defendant,, now, and at all times hereafter, saving and 
 reserving to himself all, and all manner of benefit, and advantage 
 of exception, that may be had or taken, to the many errors, un 
 certainties, and manifest insufficiencies, in the complainants said 
 till of complaint, contained for answer thereto, or unto so much 
 thereof as this defendant is advised is material or necessary to make 
 answer unto, he answereth and saith, that some time in the month 
 cf April, or the beginning of May, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, this defendant holding 
 certain land-office warrants, he was applied to by Francis Childs, 
 named in the said bill of complaint, through his agent, George 
 Knox, to sell the same warrants to him ; that this defendant 
 agreed with the said agent to sell the said warrants at and after the 
 rate of fifty-five dollars for each hundred acres ; that the number 
 of warrants amounted, as near as this defendant can recollect, ta 
 four hundred and sixty-t\vo, covering in the whole forty-six thou 
 sand two hundred acres of land. And this defendant further 
 saith, that the amount of the consideration to be given for the said 
 warrants, was twenty-five thousand four hundred and ten dollars ; 
 and that the same this defendant agreed to accept in notes, pay 
 able within eighteen months, with lawful interest ; and this de 
 fendant further answering, saith, that on the thirteenth day of 
 May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 199 
 
 "but this did not please Mr. Adams, and a friendly 
 hint was given to him by Secretary Pickering that 
 
 neither praise nor profit could be got by such con 
 duct. 
 
 ninety-six, the agreement for the sale of the said land-office war 
 rants was completed, and, as near as he can recollect, he deliver 
 ed the said warrants to the said agents, or a clerk of the said 
 Francis Childs, and at the same time, this defendant received a 
 promissory note, dated the said thirteenth day of May, in the 
 said year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, made by 
 the said Francis Childa, in favor of Lawrence, Dayton and Co. 
 for the sum of eighteen thousand eight hundred and ten dollars, 
 payable in eighteen months, with interest, which note was endorsed 
 by said Lawrence, Dayton and Co. to William Denning, junior, 
 and by the said William Denning, junior, endorsed to this defend 
 ant. And this defendant further saith, that for the residue of thd 
 said consideration for the said warrants, he received one other pro 
 missory note, bearing date the said thirteenth day of May, in the 
 year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, made by the said 
 William Denning, junior, in favor of Lawrence, Dayton, and Co. 
 for the sum of six thousand, six hundred dollars, payable iti 
 eighteen months, with interest, which note was endorsed by thi 
 said Lawrence, Dayton and Co. to this defendant. And this 
 defendant further saith, that the said agreement for the purchase 
 of the said land-office warrants, as aforesaid, was an honest and 
 bona fide transaction, and not a corrupt or usurious agreement ; 
 neither are the considerations expressed in the said promissory 
 notes, usurious or illegal ; neither were the said notes given 
 for the loan of money, at an interest exceeding the interest of 
 seven per cent, per annum ; but the same were given, to secure to 
 this defendant the payment of the amount of the consideration 
 money, agreed to be given to this defendant, for the said lancl- 
 affice warrants, and for no other purpose. And this defendant 
 further answering, saith, that some time after the said notes be 
 came due, he caused a suit to be instituted in the Supreme Court 
 
200 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 For the speculations of General Morgan, of 
 Virginia, I must refer the reader to Captain Ste- 
 phenson s printed letters. Morgan held an office 
 in the Pittsburgh expedition, and shared very deep- 
 
 of Judicature of this State against the complainants Upon the? 
 Said note ; that as this defendant hath been informed by his at 
 torney, and which information he believes to be true, in such suit 
 it was plead in abatement of the same, that the said Francis Childs 
 was their partner; and thereupon the said suit was discontinued 
 and the suit alluded to in the complainants bill of complaint, in 
 stituted, and is now depending. And this defendant further 
 saith, that he has not received at any time, either from the com 
 plainants, the said Francis Childs, or the said William Denning, 
 junior, any payment whatever, on account of the said notes, or 
 cither of them ; but that the sum of twenty-five thousand four 
 hundred and ten dollars, the amount of the said notes, with the 
 lawful interest thereon, from the said thirteenth day of May, in 
 the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, is now justly 
 due this defendant. And this defendant humbly insists, that the 
 allegations of the said complainants, in their said bill of com 
 plaint, are mere pretexts, to avoid paying a just debt. And this 
 defendant further saith, that as the agreement for the sale and de 
 livery of the said land-office warrants, was a verbal one, from the 
 length of time elapsed, since the making of it, he cannot from his 
 recollection, set forth any further or more relating thereto, than 
 what he hath already done, in this his answer. And this defend 
 ant further saith, that he denies all, and all manner of unlawful 
 combination and confederacy, wherewith he is charged, without 
 that there is any other matter, cause or thing,in the complainants* 
 said bill of complaint contained, material or effectual in the law, 
 for this defendant to make answer unto, and not herein and hereby 
 well and sufficiently answered, avoided, traversed, or denied, is 
 true, to the knowledge and belief of this defendant, all which mat 
 ters and things this defendant is ready and willing to aver, main 
 tain, and prove, as this honorable court shall direct ; and humbly 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 201 
 
 ]y in the profits of that job. Want of health pre 
 vented liis attendance when the Alien and Sedition 
 bills passed, or he would, without any hesitation, 
 have voted for the royal pair. 
 
 prays to be hence dismissed, with his reasonable costs and charges 
 in the law, in this behalf, most wrongfully sustained. 
 
 THOMAS MARSTON. 
 Sworn the 1st of July, 1800, before 
 
 THOMAS COOPER, Master in Chancery. 
 
 Answer of Francis Child.?, &V. 
 
 State of New-York. 1 
 
 In Chancery. j The several answers of Francis Ck JJs, de 
 fendant^ who is tmphaded ivlth Thomas 
 Miirston and William Denning, junior, to 
 tLs bill of complaint of Jonathan H. Law 
 rence and Jonathan Dayton, complainants. 
 
 This defendant, saving to himself, now, and at all times 
 hereafter, all, and all manner of benefit, and advantage of excep 
 tion, that may be had or taken, to the many untruths, errors, 
 uncertainties, and manifest insufficiencies, in the complainants* 
 said bill of complaint, contained for answer thereunto, or unto 
 so much thereof as this defendant is advised is material or neces 
 sary for this defendant to make answer unto, he answercth and 
 saith, that some time previous to the thirteenth day of May, in 
 the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, 
 this defendant and the complainants, Jonathan H. Lawrence and 
 Jonathan, Dayton became partners in trade, under the firm and 
 style of Lawrence Dayton, and Co. That the said Jonathan 
 Dayton was then Speaker of the House of Representatives in 
 Congress, and resided, at that time, in the city of Philadelphia ; 
 and from his situation in public life, well knowing the advan 
 tages which would result from speculating in land-office warrants^ 
 projected a speculation, and wrote to this defendant, in the city 
 9f New-York, to purchase a quantity of paper of thai duscrip- 
 
 C c 
 
"502 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 James Machir is a Scots tory, and cautiously 
 ^withdrew himself to the country before the bills 
 were brought forward. 
 
 Thorn:!.) Evans, also of Virginia, voted for 
 
 tion ; that thereupon, this defendant learning that Thomas 
 Marston, of the city of New-York, gentleman, had a number of 
 land-office warrants to dispose of, this defendant applied, by his 
 agent, to the said Thomas Marston, for the purchase of the said 
 warrants, which were in number four hundred and sixty-two. 
 And this defendant agreed with the said Thomas Marston, to 
 allow for the same, tit and after the rate of fifty-five dollars for 
 each hundred acres of land contained in the said warrants, to be 
 paid within eighteen months, with interest. And this defendant 
 further saith, that the said warrants were to and did actually cover 
 forty-six thousand two hundred acres of land. And this de 
 fendant further saith, that at the time the said speculation was on 
 foot, he communicated the same to the said Jonathan H. Law 
 rence, who expressed a wish to be concerned therein ; that there 
 upon this defendant wrote to the said Jonathan Dayton upon the 
 subject, who approved of the said Jonathan H. Lawrence being 
 concerned in the said speculation. And this defendant further 
 saith, that William Denning, junior, of the city of New-York, 
 also knowing of the said speculation, did apply to this defendant, 
 to let him, the said William Denning, junior, into a share of the 
 said purchase and speculation ; that thereupon this defendant 
 consulted with the said Jonathan H. Lawrence, who was, the 
 ticking partner of the house of Lawrence, Dayton and Co. 
 and who consented to the said William Denning, junior, becom 
 ing interested in the said purchase and speculation with them. 
 And this defendant further answering, saith, that he, immediate 
 ly thereafter, by his said agent, concluded the said agreement 
 with the said Thomas Marston, and informed him that the said 
 William Denning, junior, was to be concerned with this defend 
 ant, the said Jonathan H. Lawrence and Jonathan Dayton, in 
 the said purchase. And this defendant further answering, saith, 
 
OF JOHN A DAW?. 20$ 
 
 both, and defended them in a pamphlet, the style 
 and language of which were not ill adapted to the 
 dignity of the cause he had undertaken. 
 
 Mr. Grove was the only member from North- 
 that in order to secure to the said Thomas Marston, the payment 
 of the consideration money, agreed to be paid to the said Thomas 
 Marston, for the said warrants, at the time aforesaid, and at the 
 rate aforesaid, amounting in the whole to the sum of twenty-five 
 thousand four hundred and ten dollars, this defendant, in conse 
 quence of a previous understanding between him and the said 
 Jonathan H. Lawrence for that purpose, and at his request, did* 
 on the thirteenth day of May, in the year one thousand seven 
 hundred and ninety-six, make a certain promissory note to Messrs* 
 Lawrence, Dayton and Co. payable to them, or order, in eigh 
 teen months after date, for the sum of eighteen thousand eight 
 hundred and ten dollars, with interest, (that sum being the 
 amount of the said warrants which fell to the share of Lawrence, 
 Dayton a-vl Co. on such purpose) which note was endorsed by 
 the said Jonathan H. Lawrence, for Lawrence, Dayton and Co. 
 to the said William Denning, junior, and by the said William 
 Denning, junior, endorsed to the said Thomas Marston. And. 
 this defendant further saith, that for the residue of the conside 
 ration money for the said warrants, the said William Denning, 
 junior, did make a certain other note to the said Lawrence, Day 
 ton and Co. payable in eighteen months, for the sum of six thou 
 sand six hundred dollars, with interest (that sum being the 
 amount of the said warrants, at the rate aforesaid, which fell to 
 the share of the said William Denning, junior) which said last 
 mentioned note was endorsed by the said Jonathan H. Lawrence, 
 for the said Lawrence, Dayton and Co. to the said Thomas 
 Marston. And this defendant further saith, that said notes being 
 thus drawn, endorsed and delivered to the said Thomas Marston, 
 the said land warrants, at the same time, were delivered by the 
 said Thomas Marston to a clerk of this defendant, and this de 
 fendant delivered the same to the said Jonathan H. Lawrence? 
 
204 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Carolina who supported these bills. This man, to 
 use the words of Junius,is only " the Punch of the 
 puppet-show, to speak as he is prompted by the 
 chief juggler behind the curtain." 
 
 and who, to the best of this defendant s recollection and belief, 
 entered the same, or such parts thereof as belonged to the said 
 Lawrence, Dayton and Co. in the books of the said company, 
 and delivered the same, which fell to the share of the said Wil 
 liam Denning, junior, to him. And this defendant further saith, 
 that he is informed that the said William Denr.ing, junior, some 
 short time after, sold and disposed of the said land warrants which 
 fell to his share, to a profit ; and that the said Lawrence and 
 Dayton, though not for the benefit of Lawrence, Dayton and 
 Co. located a part of the said warrants which fell to their share, 
 on lands of an immense value. And this defendant further an 
 swering, saith, that the said agreement, for the said purchase of 
 the said land warrants, was not a corrupt or usurious agreement ; 
 neither were the considerations expressed in the said nctes usuri 
 ous or illegal ; neither were the said notes given for the lean of 
 money, at an interest exceeding the intereft of seven per cent, 
 per annum ; but the same were given to secure to the said Tho 
 mas Marston the consideration money to b* paid for the said 
 ivarrants, which were purchased upon good faith, and a fair 
 transaction. And this defendant further saith, that the said 
 note, so as aforesaid drawn by this defendant, was not for his 
 Own private benefit or account, but on account of the said Law 
 rence, Dayton and Co. And that before and since the filing of 
 the said bill of complaint, the said Jonathan II. Lawrence has 
 acknowledged the same to this defendant. And this defendar/c 
 further saith, that before the said notes became due, he went to 
 Europe; and that before he went to Europe, conceiving himself 
 not separately answerable for the payment of the said note eo 
 drawn by him as aforesaid, lie never made any arrangements for 
 the payments thereof when the same became due ; but this de 
 fendant saith, that when he went to FAiropc, he left in the hands 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 205 
 
 The members from South-Carolina who voted 
 for the Alien and Sedition acts, were Thomas Pinck- 
 ney, Robert G. Harper and John Rutledge. 
 
 The political character of Harper is well known ; 
 
 of the said Jonathan H. Lawrence and Jonathan Dayton, per 
 sonal property sufficient to have paid his proportion of the said. 
 notes, which property might easily have been turned into money, 
 and the notes paid off and discharged, had the said Jonathan H. 
 Lawrence and Jonathan Dayton been disposed so to do. And 
 this defendant further saith, that he has been informed, and verily 
 believes, that after the said William Denning, junior, had given 
 his note as aforesaid, and before the same became due, the said 
 William Denning, junior, became insolvent. 
 
 And this defendant further saith, that the said speculation in 
 the said land warrants, was a pro] eel: and contrivance of the said 
 Jonathan Dayton, whilst he was Speaker of the House of Repre 
 sentatives in Congress, as this defendant can abundantly shrw by 
 letters from the said Jonathan Dayton, to him upon the subject, 
 and copies of which are hereunto annexed : And this defendant 
 further answering, saith, that he cannot but confess that the whole 
 amount of principal and interest on the said notes, are now hon 
 estly due to the said Thomas Marston, agreeable to the tenor of 
 the said notes, and that the said notes ought long since to have 
 been paid off : And this defendant denies that any payment what 
 ever has been made by him to the said Thomas Marston, on 
 account of the said notes or either of them ; and insists that the 
 allegations of the said complainants as contained in their bill of 
 complaint, are mere shifts used by them to delay or get rid of the 
 payment of a just debt : And this defendant furtheranswering, faith, 
 that he knows not of his own knowledge, when the suit mentioned 
 in the complainants bill of complaint was instituted upon the 
 said notes, but he has been informed and believes, that during his 
 absence in Europe, a suit was commenced upon the said notes, 
 against the raid Jonathan H. Lawrence and Jonathan Dayton, 
 and that to such suit, the said complainants plead in abatement, 
 
206 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 and probably we shall have his secret history, when* 
 like Alexander Hamilton, he will be obliged to 
 give to the world his amorous intrigues, in order 
 to divert public attention from contemplating the 
 
 that this defendant was not a party to the said suit : and that 
 thereupon the said suit was discontinued, and a suit commenced 
 anew in the Supreme Court of this State upon the said notes, in. 
 which suit this defendant is made one of the defendants, and 
 which suit, as this defendant is informed, is the one now alluded 
 to in the complainants said bill of complaint. And this defendant 
 further saith, that as the agreement respecting the purchase of the 
 said land office warrants, from the said Thomas Marston, was not 
 reduced to writing, he can declare or discover no other agreement 
 than the one before in this his answer, set forth in that behalf. 
 And this defendant denies all, and all manner of unlawful combi 
 nations and confederacy wherewith he is charged without that, 
 that there is any other matter, cause orthingin the complainants, said 
 bill of complaint, contained material or effectual in the law for this 
 defendant to make answer unto, and not herein and hereby well 
 and sufficiently answered, avoided, traversed or denied, is true to 
 the knowledge or belief of this defendant, all which matters and 
 things this defendant is ready and willing to aver, maintain and 
 prove as this honorable court shall direct, and humbly prays to be 
 hence dismissed with his reasonable costs and charges in the law* 
 
 in this behalf wrongfully sustained. 
 
 FRANCIS CHILDS. 
 
 Sworn this 26th day of June, 1800, before me, 
 
 THOMAS COOPER, Master in Chancery. 
 
 LETTER. (No. I.) 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I transmit herewith Finlay s Commercial Register, which may 
 be useful to you and L. D. & Co. as matter of information. I 
 hope to hear from you upon the subject of the warrants, when 
 the mail which left New- York yesterday arrives here. A large 
 company is forming itself here, for the purchase of United States 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 207 
 
 schemes he had formed for enslaving his country. 
 The characters of Pinckney and Rutledge I 
 reserve until I treat of the election of Mr. Jeffer 
 son in South-Carolina. 
 
 lands, and a part of their capital is to be 2000 military land war 
 rants ; but it will be impossible for the company to procure them 
 without paying a very high price. 
 
 Yours in haste, JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 P. S. You need not mention my name. 
 FRANCIS GUILDS, Esq. New-Tork. 
 
 Free. JONA. DAYTON. 
 (No. II.) 
 
 Philadelphia, January 27, 1796. 
 DEAR. SIR, 
 
 I have been very directly informed that military land warrants 
 have been, within a few days, sold in New-York, upon time, at se 
 venty-five dollars per hundred acres. Will you employ some 
 broker, who is in that line, to enquire how much can be had in 
 cash for them, to the amount of 200 warrants, or 20,000 acres, 
 and how much upon time, with or without the legal interest. Do 
 not mention my name to the broker, or any other person ; nor 
 make it known that it is my wish to sell, as such information might 
 possibly have an influence to produce a fall. The committee have 
 reported a bill for the sale of lands, in the North-Western Territo 
 ry ; have fixed the price at two dollars per acre, and have admit 
 ted military warrants, in payment for all purchasers, in the pro 
 portion of one seventh. As soon as it comes from the press I will 
 transmit it to you. The same committee are preparing two other 
 bills, the one for sale of lands in the South- Western Territory, 
 and the other, for the grant of the military tracts upon the loca 
 tion of military warrants. You will oblige me by writing on this 
 subject by Monday s mail. JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 P. S. Mr. Mitchell was one who gave seventy-five dollars. 
 F. CHILDS, Esq. 
 
208 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Observations upon the Allen and Sedition Bilk.... 
 Arrestment of Dr. Smith and Mr. Burk... .Origin 
 of Dr. Smith s acquaintance ivith Mr. Adams.... 
 Trial cj Colonel Matheiv Lyon... .Barbarous treat 
 ment towards French prisoners.... Case of Joseph 
 Ball and others. 
 
 1 HE Alien and Sedition bills were acts, for 
 the passing of which Mr. Adams deserves to be 
 dragged and impeached before the bar of the Sen 
 ate - 3 nor will Congress perform their duty to the 
 
 (No. III.) 
 
 Philadelphia, January 29, 1796. 
 PEAR SIR, 
 
 I send you a copy of the bill for the sale of lands in the North- 
 Western Territory ; it would be well for M". Morton to publish 
 it, that any personsmay.be at liberty to make such remarks, 
 either by letters to members, or otherwise, as suggeft themselves. 
 Has Capt. Waddell sailed, and did he sail before the receipt of 
 my letters ? It is possible that the publication of the inclosed bill, 
 on Monday, may so affect the market for warrants, as to raise 
 them on Monday evening. I wish, therefore, you would write 
 to me by Tuesday s mail. If your broker should be offered more 
 than 52 dollars in cash, or in proportion for thirty or sixty days, 
 you may direct him to make engagements for 200 warrants, or 
 20,000 acres, to be delivered in eight days ; or you can probably 
 borrow them from Capt. Wataon, or some other friend, until I 
 can send them from this place. Your attention to this will oblige 
 your friend, &c. JONA. Da 
 
 FRANCIS CHILDS> Esq. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 209 
 
 people, if they suffer such an infringement of their 
 rights to pass unnoticed. The rebellion of Fries, 
 cr the outrages committed by the western mob, 
 were not such flagrant violations of the Constitution 
 
 (No. IV.) 
 
 Philadelphia, February 5, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 In consequence of the great scarcity of cash, it may perhaps 
 be more beneficial to make sale of the warrants upon credit. I 
 wish the first payment of four thousand dollars to fall due the 
 thirtieth of March, and the residue at such convenient times 
 thereafter as may accommodate the purchaser. I expect an op 
 portunity in one or two daya to send forwards the two hundred 
 warrants, as I shall want a supply of money in a few days beyond 
 v/hat I have at command. I would consent to your taking for 
 one third or one half of them, fifty dollars in cash, if you cannot get 
 more, as they have been sold in New-York for seventy- five dollars 
 on a year s credit. It is best to request your agent to ask high 
 enough for them, and to know from any persons offering to pur 
 chase, what they will give. 
 
 A company has formed itself here, which will absorb 16 or 
 1800 land warrants, amounting to 160 or 180,000 acres. I have 
 desired Mr. Meeker to sign, in name of J. H. Lawrence and 
 Co. such number of shares as amount to 30,000 acres, payable 
 in warrants. If you or he wish to come in, it is so arranged that 
 you cim come in for a part of the 30,000, after the plan of the as 
 sociation and its objects are made known to you. Write to me 
 by the next mail, and believe me yours, with esteem, 
 
 M R. CHJLDS. J. D. 
 
 (No. V.) 
 
 Philadelphia) Feb. 9, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have received your s of yesterday, and agreeably to my pro 
 mise transmit you herewith a copy of the bill reported by the 
 committee, for locating military land warrants. Is it necessary 
 
 Dd 
 
210 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 of the United States, as those unwarrantable deeds. 
 I do not mean to perplex the reader with a tedious 
 argument upon a subject which has already been 
 so fully discussed ; divine inspiration itself, could 
 hardly throw a new light upon it. 
 
 that I should send you the warrants before I have information 
 that you have stipulated for their sale ? as in case you fail I should 
 wish to have them here, to take advantage of any sudden favor* 
 able offer in this place. If, however, you think it advisable, I 
 will forward them by the first good opportunity, although the one 
 which I expected by Mr. Ogden has failed, he having returned 
 from Trenton home without visiting us as he had proposed. What 
 terms have been offered you for the warrants in cash or on time ? 
 The enclosed bill may be printed if you think best. 
 
 Yours with esteem, 
 
 J. D. 
 
 P. S. Do you know whether James Watson still holds his 
 warrants ? 
 
 F. CniLDSy ]$*>. 
 
 (No. VI.) 
 
 Philadelphia, Feb. 10, 1796, 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 1 have this moment received your s of yesterday, and approve 
 of the sale at 50 dollars for the whole 200. A good opportunity 
 must be sought for transmitting them to you. I will thank you 
 to inform rr>^ on what day you must have them, so that if a good 
 conveyance does not previously offer, I must send a person pur 
 posely with them to reach you within the time. The payment 
 in i o or 15 days will answer my purpose well, provided you are 
 certain of a compliance at that time, and the warrants are only 
 to be delivered at the moment of payment. You will please to 
 employ the money as you propose for me, if to be done safely 
 and to great advantage. I have fifty more which I would sell at 
 55 dollars for 60 days to Mr. M. if he can give you a good en 
 dorser.. ..perhaps John Stites. Inform me the day I must send 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 21L 
 
 The 9th Sect, of Art. 1. of the Constitution, 
 proves, in a sufficient manner, the illegality of the 
 Alien bill. "The migration or importation," says 
 that clause, " of such persons as any of the States 
 
 them, and what can be had in cash or on credit, when you write 
 me. I am holder of a very large quantity, which higher prices 
 alone can tempt me to sell ; do you know who are the buyers gen 
 erally in your market ? 
 
 The charters you request, shall be procured and sent. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 FRANCIS CHILDS, ES*I. JONA. DAYTON, 
 
 (No. VII.) 
 
 Philadelphia, Pel. l$th, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Mr. Benjamin Williamson is now here, and will leave this place 
 on Wednesday morning. I shall send the warrants by him, and 
 he has promised that he will take them immediately to you in 
 New- York, so that you may expect them on Saturday at farthest. 
 Do not loose sight of the contract you have made, for I am aware 
 that they will experience a temporary fall, and if you fear any 
 disadvantage from the delay, it may be possible to borrow them ; 
 but as your letter mentions that you are to be paid in 1 2 or 1 5 
 days, I conclude the purchaser will think himself favored that 
 you do not call upon him sooner. Your broker or agent would 
 do well to enquire whether he will be ready to pay the money, and 
 receive the warrants by Saturday, or if it is prefered, by Monday. 
 Is it improper for you to tell me who the purchaser is ? I am pro 
 mised the papers which you wished to have to-day. 
 
 Yours in haste, 
 
 . FRANCIS GUILDS, ES& JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 (No. VIII.) 
 
 Phil. Feb. 2$d t 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have received your s of yesterday : I am of opinion that th 
 laud-office bill will pass, the difference in sentiment which occurs 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 now existing, shall think proper to admit, shall not 
 be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and eight ; but a tax or du 
 ty may be imposed on such importation, not ex- 
 
 in debate appearing to turn principally upon the mode and system 
 rather than upon the expedience of doing it. Warrants cannot 
 be got here at 50.. ..no broker or other person will engage to sup 
 ply two or three hundred under sixty dollars each, but they bid 
 no price in proportion in cash, as it is extremely scarce. I have 
 not sold out as St. and Salt, suspect ; or rather I hold more than 
 two thirds of all I had, believing that they cannot eventually fall. 
 I may, however, sell sixty more, but not for less than those you 
 disposed of for me. They will, I am sure, soon rise in New-York, 
 as they are not to be had here ; and the Spanish treaty, which is 
 arrived, and is said to have secured the navigation of the Missisippi, 
 will give a new spring to that speculation. You will, without 
 doubt, close the business of your w 1 contract as soon as pos 
 sible, that you may have and employ the money to the best and 
 earliest advantage. 
 
 In great haste, yours, 
 
 F. CSIIDS, Ets. J. DAYTON. 
 
 (IX.) 
 
 Philadelphia,, March I, 1796- 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Colonel Samuel Ward has probably informed you, that at 
 his request, and to accommodate Mr. Comfort Sands, I agree to 
 give up the bond and mortgage on the two lots, and take the 
 note of the one, endorsed by the other for the sum. My papers 
 are in the hands of Mr. Lawrence, to whom, with you, I have 
 referred the business. I will thank you for your attention to it, 
 and particularly to see that I am made secure, as you know infi 
 nitely better than I do the circumstances of the merchants or men 
 of business. If Colonel Ward should comply with my request, 
 and anticipate the payment of one third or one half, by giving 
 one note payable on the thirtieth of March, and postponing the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 213 
 
 ceeding ten dollars for each person." Judge Iredell 
 wished to persuade the Grand Jury of Pennsyl 
 vania, upon the trial of Fries, that this clause was 
 only intended for blacks ; but even allowing his 
 
 like proportion of it to a more distant time, it will oblige me, 
 but I would not insist upon it as the condition of my compliance. 
 Will you be so obliging as to inform Mr. Lawrence that I have 
 received his letter upon the subject of the new Insurance Compa 
 ny about to be established in New-York, and I authorize him or 
 you, if you think it advisable, and subscribe for yourselves, to 
 put down my name for twenty shares exclusively of the subscrip 
 tion for the company. Have you yet received the money for the 
 
 w ts, or what prevents your receiving it ? The interest itself 
 
 on such a sum is of some consequence, even if no other injury can 
 arise from delay. Do you know their price at this time in New- 
 York ? It has been hinted to me, that the long expected ratifi 
 cation of the British treaty is arrived, and that the whole will be 
 promulgated by proclamation, in this evening s paper. The 
 Spanish treaty is now before the Senate, and is said to be very 
 favorable. It will, when known, undoubtedly give a new spring 
 to our land-office bill, and enhance the value of our western lands. 
 Yours with regard, JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 P. S. Mr. Denman, in course of conversation, has just men 
 tioned that he sold 200 warrants on a credit of 30 days, at 51, dol 
 lars. Have you made the change in the original contract ; or 
 
 were they other w ts. 
 
 F. C lntm. 
 
 (No. X.) 
 
 Philadelphia , March 14, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have drawn upon you this morning in favor of Matthias Den 
 man, for four thousand dollars, payable in fourteen days from 
 the date. 
 
 You will, of course, take care to bring within your reach by 
 that time, so much of the proceeds of the sales of my w ts as 
 
214 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 idea to be just, the Alien bill contained no excep 
 tion in favor of negroes more than whites : Aliens 
 of every description, Europeans, Chinese and Afri 
 cans were, by this bill, left at the mercy of the 
 
 will enable you to discharge the bill. Are you employing the 
 money to advantage, or is it still in the hands of the purchaser ? 
 and if so, what does he allow for the use of it ? How long no 
 tice must be given you, if I should find it my interest to draw for 
 the residue ? A contract which I have lately made, will, if ful 
 filled by the other party, impose on me an obligation to pay, by 
 instalments, about 3*500 dollars, six hundred of which are to be 
 on demand. He is disposed to make a considerable abatement 
 from the residue for prompt payment ; but not knowing what 
 you are to receive, I cannot judge whether it is better to leave the 
 money where it is. You have, I find, organized your Insurance 
 Company, but the President is a man whose name I never before 
 heard. Do you know any thing yet respecting Capt. Landon, 
 or do you expect to see before you hear from him ? Can you tell 
 the higheft price, obtainable in cash or on credit, with approved 
 notes, for 100 warrants ? It has become very problematical whe 
 ther the rice speculation will prove as advantageous as was at first 
 expected.. ..what think you of it ? Have you heard from Capt. 
 Waddell ? Yours with esteem, 
 
 JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 F. CHILDS, Es%s 
 
 (No. XI.) 
 
 Philadelphia, March 24, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 By Capt. Clay, of this town, who left Liverpool the 22d 
 ult. we have an inundation of news.... I inclose the hand-bill and 
 paper. You will readily perceive that the most important article, 
 under the head of the preliminary convention for peace, was a fa 
 brication. 
 
 I advised you, in a former letter, of my having drawn upon 
 you for 4000 dollars, in favor of Mr. Denman ; I have since 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 215 
 
 President, either to be buried in a dungeon or sent 
 to starve on some inhospitable shore. Neither 
 time nor money was allowed the unfortunate stran 
 ger who had incurred the displeasure of Mr. Adams, 
 
 heard nothing from him or you. It was my wish to have been 
 
 informed, likewise, how the product of the warrants is situated, 
 
 and what compensation is to be allowed for its use, as a very 
 
 handsome offer had been made, which I could not accept until I 
 
 had advice from you. With sincere regard, yours, 
 
 F. CHILDS, Es^. JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 (No. XII.) 
 
 Philadelphia) March 29, 1796. 
 DEAR SIP,, \_EXTRACT.~] 
 
 The committee, yesterday, reported the land-office bill, con 
 formably to the alterations and amendments made in committee of 
 the whole house ; it is ordered to be printed, and when put into 
 our hands a copy shall be sent. ...my opinion is that the bill will 
 
 pass. On what terms are the 400 w ts offered you, on a 
 
 credit of 6 and 12 months ? Not so large can be had here on any 
 terms ; but I should wish to compare k first with the offers in this 
 place. In respect to the English treaty, it is my opinion that 
 every question relating to it, in every shape, will have an unfa 
 vorable aspect towards it, except the last and most important one, 
 viz. that of making appropriations, upon which occasion, I am 
 inclined to believe, there will be a majority for carrying it into 
 effect. I request you, however, not to mention my name as an 
 authority for it, on account of my situation. 
 
 Yours with esteem, 
 
 F. CHU.DS, Es^. JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 (No. XIII.) 
 
 Philadelphia, April 6, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, \_EXTRACT.~] 
 
 I am pleased that you have made the arrangements which you 
 mention, respecting the sura of 5000 dollars, which remains on 
 
216 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 to enable him to return to his native country ; he 
 had only one alternative, either to rot in jail or em 
 bark upon the ocean, perhaps without a farthing 
 in his pocket. 
 
 account of the w . - The w you mention cannot, in my 
 
 opinion, but prove a good bargain at 55, on a credit of 6 months ; 
 you are, however, as capable of judging as myself. I have made 
 an offer for 200 here for myself, at nearly the same rate. We are 
 discussing the land-office bill, which will undoubtedly pass, great 
 progress having been made in it yesterday. 
 
 Yours with esteem, 
 
 F. CHILLS, JEs^ J. DAYTON. 
 
 (No. XIV.) 
 
 Philadelphia, Apnl 19, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have received yours of the I5th. There were many reasons 
 which induced a wish that you would become equally concerned 
 with Mr. Lawrence and myself, in the house about to be formed 
 and established in New-York. ...it was therefore with pleasure I 
 read your determination. In answer to your enquiries respecting 
 the English treaty, I assure you that I entertain an opinion dif 
 ferent from the leaders of both parties.. ..they think that a majority 
 will refuse appropriations ; I do not think so, although it is highly 
 probable that such will be the first vote and decision. As in mi 
 litary so in political contests, an unsteadiness or wavering in the 
 ranks on one side always augurs an unfavorable issue to the party 
 where it is perceived, and rarely fails to produce flight, dismay and 
 defeat : Such symptoms are perceptible in the phalanx of the op- 
 posers of appropriations, and I own I shall be egregiously mista 
 ken if (when it becomes a question of nerve) a sufficient number 
 do not tread back their ground to occasion a result very different 
 from that which present appearances indicate. They calculate 
 upon the number you mention, viz. 57, and say that they are cer 
 tain, and cannot be diminished, but will probably be increased ; this 
 would, on account of absentees, make a majority of 15 ; too large a 
 number to be easily operated upon ; but Las is no common case. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 217 
 
 It is amazing with what effrontery Judge Ire- 
 dell labored to explain away the above clause. " It 
 is believed, says he, " that it was never suggest* 
 ed in any other country, that aliens had a right to 
 
 The section in the land-office bill which provided for the admission 
 of military warrants in a certain proportion, in payments, was, up- 
 qn my suggesting that it would be more favorable and acceptable 
 to the army, to have a tract equal to the Wab.ash tract, appropria 
 ted for military rights near the Sciota, struck out. There did 
 not appear to be a single member opposed to give such a tract in 
 lieu of the other plan, and the bill for locating military warrants 
 \vill be so amended. The disadvantages of the original plan were, 
 that warrants could only be introduced in proportion as the land 
 sold, for two dollars and upwards, and it could not be expected 
 that in this way, more than one thousand warrants would be ab 
 sorbed in any one year ; as 600,000 acres was the largest quantity 
 Calculated to be so!4 annually at those prices, and the sixth part- 
 thereof would require 1000 warrants or iop,ooo acres. On the 
 other plan the whole number which any man possesses may be lo~ 
 cated and realised in twelve months, and that on lands good and 
 well situated. The prospect of their rising in value is, in my 
 opinion, fairer than it ever was, and I have, since the sale made by 
 you, purchased nearly 100 for cash, 200 on a year s credit with le 
 gal interest, and expect to get 2 or 300 more. What is their 
 price with you, on a year s credit, with or without legal interest : 
 Can any and what number be had upon a sudden demand and oc 
 casion ? The contents of this letter are of such a nature as render 
 it improper to be seen by any except yourself,;... burn it, therefore, 
 when you have perused it, and believe me 
 
 Sincerely yours. 
 (No. XV.) 
 
 Philadelphia, April 19, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have received your s of yesterday. The alarm which you 
 to prevail in the city of New- York, will be productive pjf 
 
 Ee 
 
18 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 -go into a foreign country, and stay at their will and 
 pleasure, without any leave from the government." 
 Supposing this to be the case, the laws of other na 
 tions could not supersede and do away an express 
 
 good rather than evil, although I am far from believing that 
 the present state of things warrants it. The shock which private 
 credit is receiving, and the fall of produce, as well as the stagnation 
 of commerce, even though it be temporary, are serious evils. Can 
 not the friends of Livingston, Havens, Hathorn, Van Courtlandt 
 and Bayley, be induced to remonstrate seriously with them, a- 
 gainst their opposition to making the proper provision for carry 
 ing the treaty into effect. Request Mr. Childs to make the at 
 tempt, he or his friends must know who have the greatest influ 
 ence with those gentlemen, and they will, I am sure, respect much 
 more the advice of their friends and supporters, immediately ad 
 dressed to them personally, than that of a petition directed to the 
 House of Representatives. But I -do not mean to discourage the 
 latter mode of declaring your sentiments ; but I recommend the 
 sending persons even into the districts of the members I have men- 
 tioned, in order to engage influential men to be active. There 
 will be time to do this, for the discussions will probably be very 
 lengthy.. ..or if they are not, the first vote will not be so conclu 
 sive but that we may change, whenever a few will come over from 
 the first majority. That majority is diminishing.. ..three from Ma 
 ryland and the one from Jersey who voted for Livingston s resolu 
 tion will now vote for carrying the treaty into effect ; two New- 
 York members, and two or three are wavering, but are inclined to 
 the Virginia side, if the stir that is making does not shake their 
 nerves. Tell Mr. Childs they must be active, and appoint respec 
 table committees to correspond in all directions, excepting south of 
 the Potomack. Keep up, for a time, the spirit that is now fer 
 menting, and all will yet be well. My opinion is, that your ar 
 rangements and establishment in New- York should go forward, for 
 I cannot persuade myself that a majority will persist in their op 
 position, or that if they do, the consequences will be so important 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 219- 
 
 artiele in our Constitution, which allowed the im 
 portation of aliens for a specified time. America, 
 however, is not the only country which held out 
 this protection for foreigners.... in Great Britain^ 
 
 as are apprehended. This is intended for you and Mr. Childs 
 only, as I would not say any thing which would tend to relax the 
 laudable exertions which are about to be made. The purchase 
 you hint at, may, I believe, be made advantageously, if you can 
 hit upon the price when it is at its lowest. Should you be very 
 much pressed for money, I can accommodate you here for a num 
 ber of days, and until you are more in cash, with the 750 dollars. 
 Yours with esteem, JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 (No. XVI.) 
 
 Philadelphia, May l$th, 1796. 
 DEAR SIR,, 
 
 Your s of yesterday is received.- The 3000 dollars which I ask- 
 <*d to be remitted from Mr. Denning before the adjournments, will 
 not probably be wanted before the 24th or 2^th, as our session will 
 necessarily be prolonged a few days beyond the time contemplated. 
 I will join with you in the purchase of the 462 w. and am- willing 
 that Mr. Lawrence should be concerned also, if he wishes:it. En 
 quire when you go to the city next week, whether any other con- 
 siderable quantity may be had, and on what terms, and give me im 
 mediate information, and at the same time, where you will be on 
 each day next week, whether in E. Town or N. York. I have 
 sometimes thought it might be advisable to form a company to 
 purchase all the floating w. and afterwards locate tkem ; but soms 
 inconvenience would attend such a partnership which, rather deters 
 
 me from it. Who are these in the city that are purchasing. w 
 
 with an intention to hold and locate them ? I will write by to 
 morrow s mail and send you the last report of the land-office com 
 mittee. Yours, JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 P. S. Deliver the enclosed Register to Mr. Lawrence, who 
 will probably be at home on Sunday. 
 
 F. CHILD s, ESQ. 
 
 [Mr. Dayton has since withdraw-i his suit after paying the 
 
226 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 before the Alien bill passed, they enjoyed the same 
 privilege of residence as citizens. 
 
 Respecting the Sedition act, it is entirely incom- 
 patible with the following amendment to the Con- 
 siitution: " Congress shall make no law respect 
 ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the 
 full exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of 
 speech, or of the press, or the right of the people 
 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the govern 
 ment for a redress of grievances/ 
 
 Judge Iredell s sole defence of this bill rests 
 upon the supposition, that it was not intended 
 to affect the liberty of the press, and he is forced 
 to acknowledge, that the above clause in the Se 
 dition act, renders void any law which would 
 have that tendency. But it is no difficult mat 
 ter to prove, notwithstanding the ingenious sub 
 tlety of the judge s argument, that the Sedition 
 law, struck directly at the vitals of that inesti 
 mable right.. ..It imposed a fine of two thousand 
 dollars, upon every person \vho should write or 
 publish, or cause to be written or published, a 
 libel against the government of the United States, 
 or either House of Congress, or against the Pre 
 sident > and by the trials which took place, it 
 may be seen, that any publication which did not 
 approve of the measures of government, and the 
 conduct of the Executive, was construed into a 
 
 costs; which is an evident proof of the justice of the answers of 
 Mr. Marston and Mr. Childs, and the injustice of his own com 
 plaint. J 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 libel. The prosecutions of Lyon and Callender, 
 of Cooper and Holt, are the best commentary upon 
 the Sedition law. The names of these gentlemen 
 will be quoted in support of the liberty of the 
 press, and of the tyranny of Mr. Adams whrii 
 the labored arguments of Paterson and Peters, 
 of Iredel!,* Addison and Chase, are no longer re* 
 membered.f 
 
 Dr. James Smith and Mr. Burk, of New-York, 
 
 the former a citizen and the latter an alien, were 
 among the first who were arrested upon the Sedi 
 tion act. They were the editors of a newspaper 
 called the Time-Piece, and had inserted a para 
 graph which did not meet with the approbation 
 of the President. An antipathy of a long stand 
 ing had existed between Mr. Adams and the 
 Doctor. Smith is a native of America ; he went 
 to Britain before the declaration of our indepen 
 dence, and afterwards passed over to France. 
 There he got acquainted with Mr. Adams when 
 at Paris, in the year 1777. But these two poli 
 ticians did not long agree. ...the open republican 
 ism of the Doctor could not accord with the sly 
 and Jesuitical policy of the American negociator > 
 they were also rivals in other pursuits. The city 
 of Paris is the grand theatre for amusing sport and 
 amorous intrigue. Both Mr. Adams and Doctor 
 
 * Judge Iredell died a few months after the trial of Fries. 
 
 f The ETay of Hortensius, and Mr. Wortman s Treatise 
 on Political Enquiry, may be consulted with considerable profit 
 on tfyis subject. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Smith were desirous of exhibiting their youthful 
 talents, and of displaying to the metropolis of Eu 
 ropean fashion, the gallantry of the new world. In 
 these respects Dr. Smith had infinitely the advantage; 
 his lively wit and jeu-d csprit were more acceptable 
 to the Parisian ladies than the dull and phlegmatic 
 humor of Mr. Adams. This circumstance, joined to 
 a difference in political opinion, created an irrepa 
 rable breach between them, which was not forgot 
 by the one when raised to the elevated station of 
 President of the United States, or by the other in 
 the more humble capacity of a newspaper editor. 
 When Mr. Adams heard of the Doctor s intention 
 to return to his native country, at the commence 
 ment of the present war, he exhibited signs of dis 
 pleasure and uneasiness ; probably he dreaded that 
 some of the frolics in which he acted the part of a 
 lifeless Punch at the palace of Vergennes, would 
 be brought to light, and that Americans would 
 hear with surprise, that instead of a diplomatic 
 character, they had sent a buffoon to the Court of 
 Versailles. 
 
 Whether from American or British influence,, 
 certain it is, that Doctor Smith could, with the 
 greatest difficulty procure an American captain to 
 carry him to New- York, and even after he had en 
 gaged with one, the vessel, either by accident or de 
 sign, run aground upon the English coast, and no 
 tice was sent to the British ministry and the Ameri 
 can ambassador that Smith was on board ; but no 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS* 223 
 
 public steps for his detention being taken, he was 
 allowed to proceed for his native country, 
 
 Burk knowing, as he was an alien, that he 
 would not only receive the punishment which a fed 
 eral court would generously bestow, but be after* 
 wards compelled to leave the United States, thought 
 it most prudent to take himself ofT without waiting 
 for the issue of a trial. The Time-Piece was, in 
 consequence, -dropped, and this being the point 
 which Mr. Adams wished to accomplish, the trial 
 of Dr. Smith was never brought forward. 
 
 Although the Sedition law had now for some 
 time been employed in holding the citizens in sub 
 jection, and preventing them from a mutual commu 
 nication of their griefs and injuries, yet it was never 
 supposed, that Mr. Adams would venture to ex- , 
 tend the same scourge of povi er to the Represent 
 atives of the people. This was a step for which he 
 could borrow no precedent even from England, the 
 government of which he so much admired. ...he was 
 also conscious of the danger of the attempt, and 
 probably would never have tried the experiment, 
 had it not been for the urgent entreaties of his 
 Secretaries, Timothy Pickering and Oliver Woleoit, 
 These active inquisitors entertained an implacable 
 aversion towards Colonel Mathew Lyon. They 
 dreaded the open honesty of his tongue, and the 
 rough though just censure of his pen. They knew 
 while this patriot was at large, it would be impos 
 sible to cancel truth and lull into lethargy the citizen > 
 
24 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 of Vermont and the eastern Slates. Bat were he de 
 prived of the use of his literary arms, even ior a few 
 months, they had hopes that in this time, they might 
 draw the chains of slavery so far over his unhappy 
 countrymen, as afterwards to defy both the force of 
 patriotism and the love of liberty to remove. 
 
 The loss of no occurrence in the Judiciary courts 
 of America, ought so much to be regretted as an 
 accurate statement of this trial. The rigid disci 
 pline practised in the Federal court, in which Judge 
 Paterson presided, prevented even the Printer of the 
 Vergennes Gazette from taking notes. The mis 
 erable account, therefore, printed in most of the 
 public papers, was the production of one of Lyon s 
 jury, whose name, like that of the traitor Arnold, 
 must fill every honest mind with indignation and 
 scorn . 
 
 Thus circumstanced, it is only practicable to 
 relate the leading occurrences that took place on 
 that occasion : 
 
 On -Friday, the 5th of October, 1798, the grand 
 jury of Vergennes brought into court an indict 
 ment containing three counts against Colonel Ma- 
 v thew Ly6n, Representative for Vermont. 1 he fit ->t 
 of which charged Mr. Lyon with writing a letter 
 to Mr. Spooner, printer of the Windsor paper, pub 
 lished on the Slot of July la>^t, containing artiui and 
 indirect accusations against the President of the 
 United States ; importing corruption in his appoint 
 ment of men to office, displacing and " rejecting 
 men of age, experience, wisdom and independency 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS-. 22 1 
 
 of sentiment/ and insinuating that he is devoted to 
 a fondness for " ridiculous pomp, idle parade and 
 selfish avarice." The second and third counts were 
 for uttering, publishing and printing, of certain 
 parts of a letter, said to be from an American di 
 plomatic character in France, (commonly called the 
 Barlow letter) "abusing, in amost virulent manner, 
 the President and Senate of the United States ; and 
 particularly for their conduct towards France." 
 
 The indictment contained inuendoes in com 
 mon form, and averments of the " intention of the 
 defendant to stir up sedition, and to bring the Pre- 
 sident and government of the United States into 
 contempt, &c." 
 
 Mr. Lyon was apprehended and brought be 
 fore the court on Saturday morning, put to plead, 
 and desired to name his counsel, He pleaded not 
 guilty, and informed the court that he had sent to 
 Bennington for Jonathan Robinson and David 
 Fay> Esqrs. to be his counsel, but that he did not 
 expect them until Monday. ...he was, therefore, ad 
 mitted to bail, and the court put the cause over to 
 Monday. Accordingly, on that day at 1 1 o clock, 
 Mr. Lyon was called ; he observed that his counsel 
 had not arrived, and requested a postponement : 
 the court adjourned to 1 1 o clock ; he again re 
 quested a postponement, and the court, after some 
 hesitation, adjourned to 12 o clock. 
 
 At twelve the court opened, and Mr. Lyon 
 informed the court that he chose to proceed to trial, 
 although his counsel from Bennington had not ar- 
 
 Ff 
 
226 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 rived. He sent for Judge Israel Smith to advc- 
 cate his cause, who declined being particularly as 
 signed as counsel, but at Mr. Lyon s desire he sat 
 by him durirg the trial and advised. 
 
 After a statement of the case by Charles Marsh, 
 the attorney of the United States, Mr. Lyon enter* 
 ed upon his defence. He began by observing, 1 st, 
 that the court had no jurisdiction of the cause, for 
 that the law of Congress was unconstitutional and 
 void. 2d, that the publications were innocent ; 
 and 3d, that the contents .were~lrue. This he 
 said he would prove by Judge Paterson, and his 
 friend, Judge Smith. He accordingly asked Judge 
 Paterson if he had not frequently dined with the 
 President, and observed his ridiculous pomp and 
 parade : The latter shook his head, smacked his 
 lips and recalled to his memory the convivial de 
 bauch. " Mr. Lyon," says he, " I have sometimes 
 dined with the President, but in place of pomp and 
 parade have seen a great deal of hospitality with 
 out much ceremony." Mr. Lyon then enquired 
 whether he did not see more pomp and servants 
 there than at the tavern where he lodged at. Rut 
 land. The Judge, conscious that there was some 
 difference between the table of Braintree and the 
 humble fare of a country tavern, with the privilege 
 of half a bed, made no reply, but smoked a segar. 
 Judge Smith was not examined ; and Mr. Lyon 
 proceeded to read several parts of the publications 
 complained of, upon which he made several perti 
 nent and judicious remarks, The cause was then 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 227 
 
 argued by Mr. Marsh, on the part of the United 
 States, and by Mr. Lyon for himself. 
 
 The charge of Judge Paterson was neither 
 candid nor perspicuous, but abounded in sophistry ; 
 if it had been preserved it would afford an illustri 
 ous specimen of federal talents and federal recti 
 tude. 
 
 The jury retired at eight o clock in the evening 
 and brought in their verdict of guilty about nine. 
 
 The court called on the prisoner to shew cause 
 wherefore judgment should not be pronounced a- 
 gainst him ; also to give any information he pleased 
 that might serve to reduce the fine. Mr. Lyon re 
 quested time until the next morning, which the 
 court accordingly granted. 
 
 On Tuesday, when the court met, he informed 
 them " that he very lately possessed property 
 which he estimated at 20,000 dollars, and had con 
 veyed it to certain persons who were bound for his 
 debts, amounting to about 1600 dollars.. ..he did 
 not know that he could command 200 dollars by 
 his property, but he confessed he was worth more 
 than any sum it was in the power of the court to 
 impose on him as a fine." 
 
 He also complained " that the juries were pack 
 ed, and brought from towns which were known 
 to be inimical to him, for the purpose of crushing 
 him - y that he was hurried on to trial, and there 
 fore was not prepared." 
 
 Judge Paterson, after commenting upon the 
 heinous crime of attempting to ridicule the Presi- 
 
228 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 dent, passed sentence on him in the following- 
 words : 
 
 (C Mathew Lyon, it is the pleasure of this court 
 / that you be imprisoned four months, pay costs and 
 a fine of one thousand dollars, and stand committed 
 until the judgment be complied with." 
 
 Colonel Lyon was then conducted out of court 
 and thrown into a dungeon six feet square, where 
 he was left to starve during a rigorous winter. 
 The character of this patriot cannot be better de 
 scribed than in the words of Dr. Graham, in his 
 sketch of Vermont : 
 
 " Fairhaven joins on Skeensborough, and is the 
 most flourishing town in the State ; it owes it s 
 consequence to it s founder, Colonel Lyon, whose 
 enterprise and perseverance in carrying on manu 
 factories, has been of infinite utility to the public, 
 to the gratitude of which he has the strongest 
 claims. He has erected a furnace for casting all 
 kinds of hollow iron ware, and two forges, a slitting- 
 *niil for the making of nail rods, a paper-mill, a 
 printing press, and corn and saw-mills.. ..It is a 
 curious fact, that Colonel Lyon has executed a 
 good deal of printing at his office, on paper manu 
 factured by himself, of the bark of the bass-wood 
 tree, and which is found to answer every purpose 
 for common printing. He has held some of the 
 first offices in the state, and no man in it can be 
 more qualified to do so, as his knowledge of the 
 finances and situation of the country is scarcely to 
 be equalled ; nor does his integrity ever suffer him 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 229 : 
 
 to lose sight of the real good of the people. ...His 
 friendship and generosity are as great as his am 
 bition.... his passions and all his pursuits flow from 
 the noblest feelings of the heart ; they are all ex 
 erted for the benefit of mankind, and not only 
 endear him to my esteem, but secure to him the 
 respect and affection of all those who are happy 
 in his acquaintance, or who have a knowledge of 
 his character." 
 
 The cruelty of jacobinism has been compared 
 to the horrors of the Jersey prison-ship ; but the 
 barbarity of either will hardly bear a comparison 
 .with the Federal tortures that were practised under 
 the name of ceconomy, upon the crews of two French 
 vessels, the Sanspareil and the Jaloux... .These 
 ships had been captured by some of Mr. Adams s 
 armed cruisers, and the men confined from the 20th 
 of September until, the 6th of November, 1798, 
 in the small prison of New-Castle. The following 
 extract from a letter inserted in the Aurora, de 
 scribes their treatment and their situation : "They 
 have not been allowed a basket to contain the 
 provisions which private humanity bestowed upon 
 them ; a single pot serves for every species of vessel 
 for sixty men ; locked up at night, they are under 
 the necessity of making use of their hats, their 
 shoes, their handkerchiefs and their shirts, to con 
 tain those excretions from which nature has not 
 exempted an individual of the animal creation. 
 They have been without a separate apartment for 
 the sjck, nor have they been granted the most 
 
230 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 trifling utensil to prepare or administer to the side,, 
 the few medicines which they have left. They are 
 totally destitute of warm cloathing, and the naked 
 floor of the room, often wet, is the place where they 
 may repose during the night. Men not long from 
 a tropical climate., men long estranged from the 
 rigors of a northern winter, may, without being 
 deemed unreasonable, call this treatment cruel. 
 
 " Two of their number have literally perished 
 since their confinement in the prison. ...one died 
 through want, it not being in the power of his com 
 panions to administer medicines ; and the other 
 fell a victim to the severity of the cold. Two others 
 must have paid the last debt to nature had it not 
 been for the humane attention of the inhabitants of 
 New-Castle, to whom they owe their protracted ex 
 istence. These acts of humanity were attributed 
 by a pettifogger of the same place, to some lurking 
 remains of friendship for the French; but his wick 
 edness was of no avail/ The letter adds, that the 
 people of New- Castle supplied them with clothes, 
 without which, they say, that many of them must 
 have perished. On the day the letter was wrote, 
 they were, for the first time, visited by Mr. Robert 
 Hamilton, Commissary of Prisoners ; they com 
 plained to him, but were answered, "that govern 
 ment allowed nothing, and if they had no friends 
 they might perish." 
 
 Whatever barbarities may have been commit 
 ted by the French upon their prisoners, the follow 
 ing fact ought to make Americans blush : A car- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 231. 
 
 : tel in the end of 1798, was sent from this country 
 to Bourdeaux with seventy French prisoners. They 
 were shut up in a small steerage, with hardly wa 
 ter and meat for six men. Twelve died of hunger 
 during the passage, six after being landed, and the 
 others were so sick and so much enfeebled that lit 
 tle hopes were entertained of their recovery. 
 
 I only mention these circumstances with a vie w 
 of showing the danger of vesting an unlimited con 
 fidence in the officers of government. The best / 
 men and the warmest patriots ought to be watched 
 with a jealous eye. Wealth and power render cal 
 lous the most tender passions, and shade with a 
 mantle of vice the brightest virtues. 
 
 Among the federal frauds committed this vear, 
 
 o * 
 
 the case of Joseph Ball deserves particular notice. 
 This man, with several others, were holders of bills 
 of credit, issued in pursuance of a resolution of 
 Congress, dated March 18th, 1780. These bills 
 were to be paid out of the funds of individual States ; 
 but as credit of this nature was not sufficient for 
 circulating the paper, Congress passed an act which 
 contains the following clause : " that the said new 
 bills, issue on the funds of individual States for that 
 purpose established, and be signed by persons ap 
 pointed by them, and that the faith of the United 
 States be also pledged for the payment of the said 
 bills, in case any State, on whose funds they shall 
 be emitted, should, by the events of war, be render 
 ed incapable of redeeming them." 
 
THE ADMlNISTRATIOiSf 
 
 A memorial respecting these bills was present* 
 edtothe House of Representatives in the month 
 of March, 1798, by Ball and the others concerned.... 
 a committee was appointed to examine their claims* 
 This committee, in their report, quotes the above 
 clause, and then adds the following observations : 
 " The interest accruing on them (viz. the bills) was 
 to have been paid by the United States annually, 
 if called for, in bills of exchange on Europe, and 
 the amount charged to the States respectively. It 
 does not appear, however, that any such payments 
 were made." The interest was several times call 
 ed for, but never paid ; so that in the beginning 
 Congress broke their bargain. 
 
 The report then remarks, that the greater part 
 of those bills had been redeemed by the States 
 which stood indebted for them, and adds, that "the 
 bills for which payment is now demanded, are 
 chiefly of those issued by the States of New-Hamp 
 shire, Massachusetts and Rhode-Islsnd. This spe 
 cies of paper has never been considered as form 
 ing any part of the debt of the United States ; in the 
 various arrangements which have been made since 
 the establishment of the present government rela 
 tive to the debt of the United States, no provision 
 has ever been made for those bills." This appears 
 a strange assertion, for the indorsement upon each 
 of them stood thus : fc The United States ensure the 
 payment of the within bill, and will draw bills of 
 exchange for the interest, annually, if demanded/* 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS* 233 
 
 At the end of eighteen years this interest is de 
 manded ; and the committee report, that the en 
 dorsers are not obliged to pay it although the en 
 dorsement is not denied. 
 
 The committee next observe, that on January 
 16th, 1795, Mr. Wolcott reported to Congress up 
 on these bills, which the holders had lodged for 
 payment at the Treasury office. The total amount 
 of the principal sums was ninety thousand five hun 
 dred and seventy-five dollars. The Secretary s plan 
 of redemption I shall give in his own words, viz. 
 that these bills " should be provided for by taking 
 the principal sum of them, without interest, on 
 loan, at five per cent, payable quarter-yearly, re 
 deemable at the pleasure of the United States^ and 
 payable in thirty years. " 
 
 As Mr. Wolcott admits the claim was just, the 
 interest certainly became as much due as the prin 
 cipal sum. At the same time when the committee 
 made their report, the simple interest amounted 
 to nearly the original sum. In 1793, the money 
 had been owing for eighteen years, and the bills 
 were to bear an interest, according ro the original 
 terms of agreement, at five per cent. The interest, 
 therefore, came to eighty-one thousand, five hun 
 dred and nine dollars and sixty cents. ...if it had 
 been paid annually, as injustice it ought to have 
 been, it would have amounted vastly higher; for 
 the creditors would then have reaped the advan 
 tage of compound interest. Supposing this to have 
 been the case, the account will stand thus : 
 
 Gg 
 
"234 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Dollars, 
 
 Principal Sum 90,574 
 
 Compound Interest for fourteen years 
 and an hundred and five days, at 
 5 per cent. - 90,674 
 
 Do. Interest for the next four years 
 
 about 41,200 
 
 Total sum, 222,148 
 
 If this collective sum be divided into five equal 
 parts, the interest will make exactly three out of 
 these five parts. In other words, if Mr. Wol- 
 cott s plan had been adopted, the creditors would 
 have been practically and in substance, defrauded 
 out of three fifths of their money. They would 
 have been just in the situation of a man who re 
 ceives a bankrupt composition of eight shillings 
 per pound. 
 
 Upon this scheme of the Secretary, Mr. Ball 
 and the other bill-holders would have made a most 
 pitiful bargain. It would have been singular in 
 any other man but Mr. Wolcott to have proposed 
 such a heavy reduction, after acknowledging in the 
 strongest and fullest terms, the justice of the whole 
 debt. But the nefarious inconsistencies of the ci- 
 devant Secretary of the Treasury are notorious. 
 The committee then proceed thus : " Good faith 
 demands that the United States should supply the 
 omissions of the States which issued the bills, by 
 providing themselves at the least for the interest 
 upon them; but it is not easy to pronounce on 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 235- 
 
 what terms they ought to be provided for".. ..it is 
 granted, however, by the committee, that Con 
 gress were bound to provide for the interest on 
 some terms or other. " It is a well known fact," 
 continues the report, " that these bills sunk in the 
 same vortex of depreciation with the old continent 
 al bills, and while they continued to circulate, 
 were generally in the ratio of forty of the old for 
 one of the new. This unfortunate depreciation, 
 which operated upon all the paper money notes 
 and certificates, issued during the war, necessitated 
 the United States to adopt principles relative to 
 them, which cannot apply in case of ordinary con 
 tract. The States, individually, have assumed sim 
 ilar privileges, and in making provision for the 
 bills in question, in some instances have consider 
 ed them as depreciated currency. The committee 
 are informed., that all the States who issued bills of 
 this description, have already made provision for 
 their redemption either at their nominal amount, or 
 a certain ratio of depreciation, except the State of 
 Rhode-Island ; and they think,, it is fairly to be 
 presumed, that the States have made as liberal a 
 provision as the nature of the case demanded. The 
 United States have once made allowances to the 
 several States, in settlements of their accounts for 
 the supplies for which those bills were issued ; 
 should they make any further provision, they must, 
 consider the several States as indebted to them for 
 the amount of such provision. 
 
236 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " From an attentive consideration of all the 
 circumstances of this case, which the committee 
 have endeavored fully to examine and present to 
 the view of the House, they are of opinion, that it 
 Trill not be expedient for Congress to make any 
 provision for the payment of the said bills, or any 
 interest thereon ; they therefore recommend, that 
 the petitioners respectfully have leave to withdraw 
 their petitions/ 
 
 The House of Representatives agreed to the 
 report, and Ball and his fellow sufferers were obli 
 ged to submit to the fraud. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Meeting of Congress.... Speech of the President..., 
 Remarks.... Impeachment of Blount.... Gerry s dis 
 patches. ...Story of the female spy and her t-ibs of 
 seditious papers . . . .Acts passed by Congress. 
 
 ON Monday, the 3d of December, the third 
 session of the fifth Congress commenced ; but eight 
 members being absent from the Senate of the num 
 ber necessary to form a quorum, the President did 
 not meet them until the 8th. A melancholy gloom 
 was diffused over the countenances both of the 
 Senators and the Representatives. They had as 
 sembled at the close of the greatest pestilence Ame 
 rica had yet experienced, and there were few of 
 them who had not to lament the loss of some par- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 237 
 
 iicular friend or acquaintance. Even thePresident 
 himself, whose feelings are not the most tender, 
 seemed deeply affected, and for the first time, ap 
 peared to sympathise with the sufferings of the 
 people. This temporary compassion might, how 
 ever, have proceeded from a different cause : A- 
 midst the flattering compliments of Timothy Pick 
 ering, Oliver Wolcott, and a train of federal cour 
 tiers, it was impossible Mr. Adams could dis 
 guise from himself, that he had incurred the con 
 tempt and hatred of every man of honesty and vir 
 tue in the United States. The dungeon in which 
 the Vermont patriot was starving, must, in the sol 
 itary moments of silent reflection, have stared him 
 in the face, and reminded him of the fate his crimes 
 deserved. The just apprehension of a guilty con 
 science, heightened, perhaps, by the calamity with 
 which America had been afflicted, and not the 
 praise-worthy compassion of a generous mind, was 
 most probably the cause of that unusual diffidence 
 and appearance of sorrow w T hich he exhibited in 
 delivering the following speech : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 " While with reverence and resignation we con 
 template the dispensations of Divine Providence, 
 in the alarming and destructive pestilence with 
 which several of our cities and towns have been 
 visited, there is cause for gratitude and mutual 
 congratulations that the malady has disappeared, 
 and that we are again permitted to assemble in 
 safety, at the seat of government, for the discharge 
 
-38 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 of our r mportant duties. ...but when we reflect that 
 this fatal disorder has, within a few years made re 
 peated ravages in some of our principal sea-ports, 
 and with increased malignancy ; and when we con 
 sider the magnitude of the evils arising from the 
 interruption of public and private business, where 
 by the national interests are deeply affected, I 
 think it my duty to invite the legislature of the 
 union to examine the expediency of establishing 
 suitable regulations in aid of the health-laws of the 
 respective states ; for these being formed on the 
 idea, that contagious sickness may be communi 
 cated through the channels of commerce, there 
 seems to be a necessity that Congress, who alone 
 can regulate trade, should frame a system, which, 
 while it may tend to preserve the general health, 
 may be compatible with the interests of commerce, 
 and the safety of the revenue. 
 
 "While we think on this calamity, and sym 
 pathise with the immediate sufferers, we have a- 
 bundant reason to present to the Supreme Being, 
 our annual obligations of gratitude, for a liberal 
 participation in the ordinary blessings of his pro 
 vidence : to the usual subjects of gratitude I cannot 
 omit to add one of the first importance to our well- 
 being and safety....! mean the spirit which has 
 arisen in our country against the menaces and ag 
 gressions of a foreign nation. A manly sense of 
 national honor, dignity and independence has 
 appeared, which, if encouraged and invigorated 
 by every branch of the government, will enable 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 239 
 
 us to view, undismayed, the enterprises of any fo 
 reign power, and become the sure foundation of 
 national property and glory. 
 
 " The course of the transactions in relation to 
 the United States and France, which have come to 
 my knowledge during your recess, will be made 
 the subject of a future communication. That 
 communication will confirm the ultimate failure or 
 the measures which have been taken by the gov 
 ernment of the United States, towards an amicable 
 adjustment of differences with that power. You 
 will, at the same time, perceive that the French 
 government appears solicitous to impress the opin 
 ion, that it is averse to a rupture with this country, 
 and that it has in a qualified manner, declared itself 
 willing to receive a minister from the United States, 
 for the purpose of restoring a good understanding. 
 It is unfortunate for professions of this kind, that 
 they should be expressed in terms which may coun 
 tenance the inadmissable pretension of a right, to 
 drescribe the qualifications which a minister from 
 the United States should possess, and that while 
 France is asserting the existence of a disposition on 
 her part to conciliate with sincerity the differences 
 which have arisen, the sincerity of a like disposi 
 tion on the part of the United States, of which so 
 many demonstrative proofs have been given, should 
 even be indirectly questioned. It is also worthy of 
 observation, that the decree of the Directory, al- 
 ledged to be intended to restrain the depredations 
 of French cruisers on our commerce, has not given, 
 
2 10 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 and cannot give any relief j It enjoins them to con 
 form to all the laws of France, relative to cruising 
 and prizes, while these laws are themselves the 
 sources of the depredations of which we have so 
 long, so justly, and so fruitlessly complained. 
 
 " The law of France, enacted in January last, 
 which subjects to capture and condemnation neutral 
 vessels and their cargoes, if any portion of the lat 
 ter are of British fabric or produce, although the 
 entire property belong to neutrals, instead of being 
 rescinded, has lately received a confirmation by the 
 failure of the proposition for its repeal. While this 
 law, which is an unequivocal act of war on the com 
 merce of the nation it attacks, continues in force, 
 those nations can see in the French government on 
 ly a power regardless of their essential rights , of 
 their independence and sovereignty, and if they 
 possess the means, they can reconcile nothing with 
 their interest and honor but a firm resistance. 
 
 " Hitherto, therefore, nothing is discoverable 
 in the conduct of France which ought to change 
 or release our measures of defence ; on the con 
 trary to extend and vigorate them, is our true po- 
 licv. We have no reason to regret that those 
 measures have been thus far adopted and pursued, 
 and in proportion as we enlarge our view of the 
 portentous and incalculable situation of Europe, 
 we shall discover new and cogent motives, for the 
 full developement of our energies and resources. 
 
 " But in demonstrating by our conduct, that 
 we do not fear war, in the necessary protection of 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 241 
 
 our rights and honor, we shall give no room to 
 infer that we abandon the desire of peace. ...an , 
 efficient preparation for war can alone ensure peace. 
 It is peace that we have uniformly and persever- 
 ingly cultivated ; and harmony between us and 
 France may be restored at her option ; but to send 
 another minister, without more determinate assu 
 rances that he would be received, would be an act 
 of humiliation to which the United States ought 
 not to submit ; it must therefore be leit to France, 
 if she is indeed desirous of accommodation, to lake 
 the requisite steps ; the United States will readily 
 observe the maxims by which they have hitherto 
 been governed ; they will respect the sacred rights 
 of embassy; and with a sincere disposition on the 
 part of France, to desist from hostility, to make 
 reparation for the injuries heretofore inflicted on 
 our commerce, and to do justice in future, there 
 will be no obstacles to the restoration of a friendly 
 intercourse. In making to you this declaration, I 
 give a pledge to France and to the world, that the 
 executive authority of this country still adheres to 
 the humane and pacific policy which has invaria 
 bly governed its proceedings, in conformity with 
 the wishes of the other branches of the government 
 and of the people of the United States. But consi 
 dering the late manifestations of her policy towards 
 foreign nations, I deem it a duty deliberately and 
 solemnly to declare my opinion, that whether we 
 negociate with her or not, vigorous preparations 
 for war will be alike indispensable. ...these alone 
 
 Hh 
 
IHli ADMINISTRATION 
 
 will give us an equal treaty, and ensure its observ 
 ance. 
 
 "Among the measures of preparation which 
 appear expedient, I take trie liberty to recal your 
 attention to the naval establishment. The benefi 
 cial effects of the small naval armament, provided 
 under the acts of the last session, are known and 
 acknowledged ; perhaps no country ever experien 
 ced more sudden and remarkable advantages from 
 any measure of policy than we have derived from 
 the arming for our maritime protection anddefence. 
 We ought, without loss of time, to lay the founda- 
 J tion for an increase of our navy, to a size sufficient 
 to guard our coasts and protect our trade. Such a 
 naval force, as is doubtless in the power of the. 
 United States to create and maintain, would also 
 afford to them the best means of general defence, 
 by facilitating the safe transportation of troops and 
 stores to every part of our extensive coasts. To 
 accomplish this important object, a prudent fore 
 sight requires that systematical measures be adopt 
 ed for procuring, at all times, the requisite timber 
 and other supplies. In what manner this shall be 
 done I leave to your consideration. 
 
 "..I will now advert, gentlemen, to some matters 
 of less moment, but proper to be communicated 
 to the national legislature. 
 
 "After the Spanish garrisons had evacuated the 
 posts which they occupied at the Natchez and the 
 Walnut Hills, the Commissioner of the United 
 States commenced his observations to ascertain the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 point near the Missisippi, which terminated the 
 thern-most part of the thirty-first degree of north 
 
 aritude. From thence he proceeded to run the 
 boundary line between the United States and Spain 
 He was afterwards joined by the Spanish Commis- 
 
 oner, when the work of the former was confirmed ; 
 and they proceeded together to . the demarcation 
 
 f the l,ne. Recent information renders it proba 
 ble, that the northern Indians either instigated to 
 opppose the demarcation, or jealous of the conse 
 
 cr h -f n white people tor - ai; " : 
 
 land to wh,ch the Indian title had not been extin 
 guished have ere this ume, stopped the prog " s 
 of the Commissioners.,^ considering the mis 
 ch,efsw hl ch may result from continuing the de- 
 marcation ,n opposition to the will O f th" l nd ; a 
 tnbes, the great expence attending it, and that 
 boundanes which the Commissioners have u 
 estabhshed, probably extend at least as ft as tl 
 Ind,an tule has been extinguished, it w- ll per 
 haps, become expedient and^ecess^ry to 
 further proceedmgs, by recalling our Com 
 
 jngapart of the boundary therein^escribed, he 
 
 finely deeded that question. On the twen y -fif h 
 
 October,.they made their declaration, that a river 
 
24-4 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 called Scoodiac, which falls into Passamaquoddy 
 Bay, at its north-western quarter, was the true St. 
 Croix intended in the treaty of peace, as far as it s 
 great fork, where one of its streams comes from the 
 westward and the other from the northward, and 
 tbat the latter stream is the continuation of the 
 St. Croix to its source. This decision, it is under 
 stood, will preclude all contention among individu 
 al claimants, as it seems that the Scoodiac, and its 
 northern branch, bound the grants of land which 
 have been made by the respective adjoining gov 
 ernments. A subordinate question, however, it has 
 been suggested, stiil remains to be determined. 
 Between the mouth of the St. Croix, as now settled, 
 and what is usually called the Bay of Fundy, lie 
 a number of valuable islands: The Commissioners 
 have not continued the boundary line through any 
 channel of these islands ; and unless the Bay of 
 Passamaquoddy be a part of the Bay of Fundy, this 
 further adjustment of boundary will be necessary : 
 But it is apprehended that this will not be a matter 
 of any difficulty. 
 
 " Such progress has been made in the examina 
 tion and decision of cases of capture and condem 
 nation of American vessels, which were the subject 
 of the seventh article of the Treaty of Amity, Com 
 merce and Navigation between the United States 
 
 o 
 
 and Great Britain, that it is supposed the Commis 
 sioners will be able to bring their business to a con 
 clusion in August of the ensuing year. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 245 
 
 <c The Commissioners, acting under the 21st 
 article of the treaty between the United States and 
 Spain, have adjusted most of the claims of our ci 
 tizens, for losses sustained in consequence of their 
 vessels and cargoes having been taken by the sub 
 jects of his Catholic Majesty, during the war be 
 tween France and Spain. 
 
 " Various circumstances have occurred to delay 
 the execution of the law for augmenting the milita 
 ry establishment ; among these the desire of obta ; i> 
 insr the fullest information to direct the best selec- 
 
 o 
 
 tion of officers. As this object will now be speedily 
 accomplished, it is expected that the raising and 
 organizing of the troops will proceed without ob 
 stacle and with effect. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Represent at ives, 
 cc I have directed an estimate of the appropri 
 ations, which will be necessary for the service of 
 the ensuing year to be laid before you, accompani 
 ed with a view of the public receipts and expen 
 ditures to a recent perusal. It will afford you sa 
 tisfaction, to infer the great extent and solidity of 
 the public resources, from the prosperous state of 
 the finance, notwithstanding the unexampled em 
 barrassments which have attended commerce. 
 When you reflect on the conspicuous examples of 
 patriotism and liberality which have been exhibited 
 by our mercantile fellow-citizens, and how great 
 a proportion of the public resources depends on 
 their enterprise, you will naturally consider, whe* 
 ther their convenience cannot be promoted and re- 
 
-16 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 conciled with the security of the revenue, by 2 
 revision of the system, by which the collection is 
 at present regulated. 
 
 " During your recess, measures have been stea 
 dily pursued for effecting the valuations and returns 
 directed by the act of the last session, preliminary 
 to the assessment and collection of a direct tax. 
 No other delays or obstacles have been experienced, 
 except such as were expected to arise from the 
 great extent of our country, and the magnitude 
 and novelty of the operation ; and enough has 
 been accomplished to assure a fulfilment of the 
 views of the legislature. 
 
 * Gentlemen of the Senate, and 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives , 
 
 " I cannot close this address without once 
 more adverting to our political situation, and in 
 culcating the essential importance of uniting in the 
 maintenance of our dearest interests ; and I trust, 
 that by the temper r.nd wisdom of your proceedings, 
 and by a harmony of measures, we shall secure to 
 our country that weight and respect to which it is 
 so justly intitled." 
 
 This speech of Mr. Adams forms the fourth 
 specimen of the political oratory which graced the 
 Presidential chair during the anglo-federal admin 
 istration . Among the many forms and usages which 
 America has borrowed from her mother-country, 
 that of a President s Speech, at the beginning of 
 every session, appears to be one of the most unfor- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 247 
 
 tunate, though one which has been cultivated with 
 the greatest zeal. 
 
 A few lines of a complimentary address to 
 the parliament of Britain, the studied composi 
 tion of the minister of state, but delivered by the 
 king, has given rise to the annual habit of an hour s 
 declamation from the President of America, how 
 ever trivial the circumstances of his communication 
 may be, or however unfitted our chief-magistrate 
 himself is for such a task. Although the speeches 
 of our present President will ever form a con 
 spicuous figure in the annals of rhetoric, it is not 
 to be supposed his successors will all have the same 
 strength of mind or power of language. The ad 
 dresses of the venerable Washington are no longer 
 remembered, and the lengthy orations delivered by 
 Mr. Adams are now read with disgust ; but the 
 province of impartial history requires their inser 
 tion. A careful perusal of them will also repay the 
 patient reader, who wishes to be acquainted with 
 the designs of the late administration, as they show 
 the character of Mr. Adams in a more conspicu 
 ous light than all his other productions. 
 
 The main topic of this last speech is our late dif 
 ference with France. Mr. Adams says " that the Di 
 rectory questioned the sincerity of our administra- / 
 tion towards peace." They certainly did so, and 
 upon the best grounds. Our love for peace was 
 never to be demonstrated by an evident partiality to . 
 the measures of Grenville and Pitt, and by virulence 
 and contumely towards the Republicans of France. 
 
248 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 A desire for peace surely was not to be displayed 
 by appointing men for our envoys whose principles 
 were known to be of a monarchical bias. It was not 
 a demonstration of wisdom, or of our aversion to 
 hostilities, to prevent one of those ministers from 
 treating, with whom the Directory were ready to 
 treat. The voidance of a treaty entered into with 
 France, and the breaking off all intercourse with 
 her when she was assailed on every side by the ar 
 mies of tyrants, were not the most manifest marks 
 of our affection to her ; yet the rhetoric of Mr. 
 Adams passes over these circumstances^ and dis 
 covers in the views of France, new and cogent mo 
 tives for the full developement of our energies and 
 resources. 
 
 The House of Representatives were occupied 
 their usual time in preparing an answer to the Pre 
 sident. 
 
 On Friday, the 4th of December, they took in 
 to c on ,! deration a proposition made by Mr. Har 
 per, for printing 20,000 copies of the Alien and Se 
 dition laws, which was agreed to. 
 
 On the 18th of December, the Senate formed 
 itself into a court of impeachment for the purpose 
 of trying \Viiliam Blount for crimes and misde 
 meanors against the United States ; but Mr, Blount 
 having not appeared, they postponed the trial until 
 Monday, the 24th of December, when Messrs. Dal 
 las and Ingersoll, the counsel for Mr. Blount, put 
 in their plea against the charge exhibited. Mr. 
 Harper, in behalf of the managers, prayed for time 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 249 
 
 to be allowed them for making their replication, 
 and Thursday, the 3d of January, was fixed upon 
 for that purpose. 
 
 On this day the impeachment of Mr. Blount 
 was resumed in the Senate. The court being form 
 ed, Mr. Bayard, who was chairman, presented a 
 replication in behalf of the Representatives, setting 
 forth, that as the arguments stated by Blount s coun 
 sel respecting the House of Representatives not 
 having, power to prefer the articles of impeachment 
 and the Senate power to try them, were insufficient, 
 their plea on that account ought not to be sustain 
 ed, but that Mr. Blount should be compelled to 
 answer to the articles of impeachment. 
 
 Mr. Ingersoll, counsel for the defendant, said 
 that the managers had favored him and Mr. Dal 
 las with a copy of the replication, to which they 
 had agreed to oppose a demur, which he present 
 ed and the same was read. 
 
 Mr. Bayard entered into a lengthy examination 
 of the plea put in by Mr. Blount s counsel; he 
 said their first objection to the jurisdiction of the 
 Senate over the crimes with which the defendant 
 was charged, was the privilege of a jury. He ob 
 jected to the necessity of a jury in impeachments 
 more than in Courts-Martial ; that the House of 
 Representatives had examined the evidences in this 
 case, and had solemnly given inquest of the guilt 
 of the accused, and exhibited articles of impeach 
 ment; but that the necessity of a jury, if proved, 
 might be answered, as the Senate had power to 
 
 li 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Issue process for bringing a jury from the district 
 where the crime was committed. ...besides, in cases 
 of impeachment there might be two trials, and 
 who ever heard cf two juries pronouncing verdict 
 on one accusation ? 
 
 Again, he objected that a Senator was not a civil 
 cffijer in the United States, and therefore not con- 
 stitutionally impeachable. He went into an elabo 
 rate examination of those parts of the Constitution 
 whereon the meaning was presumable by cpmmon 
 law, and the same presumption must be taken with 
 respect to a Senator s real situation. Who i hen on 
 the presumption of common law was impeachable ? 
 Agreeable to the jurisdiction of the Houses of Lords 
 and Commons-, in England, it would be in the pow 
 er of the Senate and Representatives to declare 
 who should be impeached ; they were competent to 
 it. The situation of a Senator was at times Legisla 
 tive, Executive and Judicial. He referred to the 
 sense of Congress in 1787, when the government 
 cf the S. W. Territory (now Tenessee) was estate 
 lished - 3 then it was the opinion of that House, 
 that the members of the Legislature and Senate 
 were civil officers ; and it was not a little remarka 
 ble, that Mr. Blount voted in favor of that point 
 which his counsel now disputed. He confessed he 
 was aware that the counsel would oppose to this 
 principle, that part of the constitution which they 
 had not named in their plea, where itgave the Presi 
 dent power to choose all civil officers. It would be 
 said that a Senator was not acivil officer, because not 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 251? 
 
 chosen by the President; but, he said, the clause 
 alluded to had the words "under the government/ 1 
 which plain lv implied that there were offices in 
 the government. ...the Senate are the Government: 
 Against that he supposed it might be said that the 
 Constitution provided that no civil officer should be 
 a member of either House, meaning no officer of 
 the President s appointing ; now if that was not 
 the meaning, he insisted the Speaker could not be 
 a- member of the House of Representatives. He 
 agreed that it was not the distinct parts, but the 
 main and general meaning of the Constitution, 
 that the honorable council should be guided by in 
 their decision of the point of jurisdiction before 
 them. Regarding this, he particularly mentioned a> 
 part where it was said, that no person who had ob 
 tained a title from any foreign prince, should en 
 joy any office in the United States. If, therefore, a 
 Senator was not to be considered as an officer in the 
 government, a dangerous principle might be in 
 troduced contrary to the real intention of the Con 
 stitution, as th^y may enjoy titles ; but this could- 
 not be supposed to be its meaning. Another ob 
 jection to the jurisdiction mentioned in the plea 
 
 was, that the defenda.it was not now a Senator 
 
 He hinted at this argument, in order to show that 
 any officer might evade a trial by resigning his situ 
 ation as soon as a crime was committed. 
 
 It was also argued in the plea, that the crime 
 charged was not during the execution of any trust,, 
 or for mal-conduct in office. To this Mr. Bayard only* 
 
252 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 replied, that a Judge, heading an insurrection, did 
 rot commit the crime in office ; but this could be 
 no excuse from punishment. As to the last plea 
 of the competency of common law jurisdiction, he 
 opposed the principle. 
 
 The President then told the counsel that they 
 might reply ; but Mr. Ingersoll requested, as the 
 hour of adjournment was arrived, and as the 
 counsel wished to prepare an answer to the observ 
 ations of Mr. Bayard, that it might be postponed 
 until Friday. 
 
 This day having met, Mr. Dallas delivered a 
 very long, argumentative and ingenious speech, in 
 defence of the plea which had been filed in behalf 
 of the defendant, and in answer to the speech of 
 Mr. Bayard. Mr. Dallas commenced his speech 
 at half past eleven and did not close it till past three. 
 
 On Saturday Mr. Ingersoll finished the defence 
 in support of the plea, against the jurisdiction of 
 the court ; after which Mr. Harper made a reply, 
 in support of the jurisdiction of the Senate. The 
 court then adjourned until Monday, when the ques 
 tion was determined by 14 votes to 1 1 against the 
 jurisdiction... .so that the impeachment fell to the 
 ground. 
 
 Although it is to be regretted, that such a con 
 spirator as Blount should have escaped the punish 
 ment due to his crimes, yet the decision was cer 
 tainly favorable to the rights of the people ; for if 
 once the right of impeaching members of Congress 
 had been established, it would have proved a pow~ 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 253 
 
 erful engine of tyranny. The names of those mem 
 bers who voted for this dreadful prerogative,, ought 
 therefore to be marked as inimical to the liberty 
 of this country. These were, Chipman, Davenport, 
 Goodhue, Latimer, Livermore, Lloyd, Paine, Ross, 
 Sedgwick, Stockton and Tracey. 
 
 On the 18th of January, the President commu 
 nicated to Congress several papers relative to the 
 affairs of the United States with the French Re 
 public, consisting of a letter from Mr. Pickering 
 to Mr. Gerry, dated 25th June, 1798, a letter 
 from Mr. Gerry to Mr. Pickering, dated 1st Oc 
 tober, 1798, after his arrival in. this country, and 
 the correspondence which took place in Paris be 
 tween Mr. Gerry and the Minister for Foreign Af 
 fairs, M. Talleyrand. 
 
 Mr. Pickering censures Mr. Gerry in rather se 
 vere and unjustifiable terms, for not having taken 
 his departure from France along with Generals 
 Pinckney and Marshall. " The respect," says he, 
 " due to yourselves and to your country, irresisti 
 bly required that you should turn your backs to a 
 government that treated both with contempt ; a 
 contempt not diminished but aggravated by the 
 flattering but insidious distinction in your favor, 
 in disparagement of men of so respectable talents, 
 untainted honor and pure patriotism, as Generals 
 Pinckney and Marshall, and in whom their govern 
 ment and their country reposed entire confidence ; 
 and especially when the real object of that dis 
 tinction was to enable the French government, 
 
254 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 trampling on the authority and dignity of our 
 own, to designate an envoy with whom they would 
 condescend to negociate. It is therefore to be re 
 gretted that you did not concur with your col 
 leagues in demanding passports to quit the territo 
 ries of the French Republic some time before they 
 left Paris." Mr. Pickering also adds, that t( the 
 President will never send another minister to France 
 without assurances that he will be received, res 
 pected and honored, as the representative of a great, 
 free, powerful and independent nation." 
 
 Mr. Gerry, in answer to the Secretary of State,, 
 justifies his conduct upon the following grounds : 
 
 " In consequence of his letter, (the Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs) to the envoys, of the 18th of 
 March, he renewed his proposition to me to treat 
 separately ; and again received a negative answer. 
 He then proposed that I should remain at Paris, un 
 til the sense of the government could be obtained ; 
 declaring, as before, that an immediate rupture 
 would be the consequence of my departure. To 
 have left France under such circumstances was a 
 measure which I could not justify. The power of 
 declaring war was not intrusted with the Supreme 
 Executive of the United States, much less with a 
 minister; and to have thus provoked it, would, 
 in my mind, have been tantamount to a declaration 
 thereof. Indeed, to have plunged the nation into a 
 war suddenly, even if it was inevitable, appeared to 
 me in other respects unwarrantable. Congress, who 
 alone had the right to adopt this measure, might^ 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 255 
 
 "by such a premature step, have been defeated in 
 their previous arrangements, and subjected toother 
 manifest inconveniences, and the Executive might 
 have been placed on grounds less advantageous for 
 forming alliances, &c. whereas, my detention at 
 Paris gained time, if this was requisite, and could 
 not procrastinate a declaration of war, if the United 
 States were prepared for it. Other considerations 
 had their weight. 
 
 " France, at that time, was making very formida 
 ble preparations, with a professed design to over 
 throw the British Government ; and such were the 
 exertions and enthusiasm of her citizens, armies 
 and administration, as to spread a general alarm 
 throughout Great Britain. It was evident then, to 
 common observation, that should France succeed, 
 she would acquire by the powerful navy and re 
 sources of Britain, such strength as ro be able to 
 give law to Europe, and to regions more remote ; 
 and it was rational to suppose that a coalition 
 would be formed of such European powers as 
 were not in the interest or under the influence of 
 France, to put an end to the war, by offering their 
 mediation, and declaring their intention to oppose 
 the power which should refuse it. ...the temporizing 
 negociations at Rastadt had this aspect ; moreover, 
 the internal affairs of France were in an agitated 
 state, and threatened civil commotions. If then, 
 on the one hand, a new coalition against France, 
 a change in her government, or even a successful 
 resistance en the part of Great Britain had happen- 
 
*30 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ed, a favorable opportunity would have presented 
 itself to the United States for obtaining of her a 
 just and advantageous treaty ; and this would have 
 been lost by a previous rupture in consequence of 
 rny departure. If, on the other hand, Great Bri 
 tain, unaided, had fallen, the United States would 
 have been in a much better condition at peace than 
 in war with the most formidable power the world 
 had exhibited. In such an event they could have 
 but small hopes of resisting France, and it might 
 have been deemed madness in them even to have 
 attempted it. For these reasons I thought it my 
 indispensable duty to remain a short time at Paris." 
 
 Mr. Gerry, in this letter, informs the Secretary 
 of State, that w r hen he left Paris, from the best in 
 formation he could obtain, the Executive Directo 
 ry were very desirous of a reconciliation between 
 the two countries. " Every impediment," he says, 
 * c was adopted by the French Minister to prevent 
 my departure." 
 
 The displeasure of the French at Mr. Gerry s 
 departure, evidently appears from the correspon 
 dence that took place between Mr. Talleyrand and 
 Mr. Gerry. , 
 
 The first of Talleyrand s letters to Mr. Gerry, 
 after the departure of the other Envoys, is couched 
 in the most friendly and pacific terms ; it is dated 
 the 3d of April, 1798. 
 " To Mr. Gerry, Envoy Extraordinary of the United 
 
 States of America, to the French Republic. 
 " I suppose, Sir, that Messrs. Pinckney and 
 Marshall have thought it useful and proper, in 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS* 257 
 
 consequence of the intimations, which the end of 
 my note of the 18th of March, 1798, presents, and 
 the obstacles which their known opinions have in 
 duced to the desired reconciliation, to quit the ter 
 ritories of the Republic. . In this supposition, I 
 have the honor to point out to you the 5th or the 
 7th of this decade, to resume our reciprocal com 
 munications upon the interests of the French Re 
 public and the United States of America. 
 
 "Receive, I pray you, the assurance 
 of my perfect consideration, 
 
 CH. MAU. TALLEYRAND." 
 From the following letters of Talleyrand, it 
 would also seem that he was entirely unacquainted 
 with the mysterious interviews that took place be 
 tween our envoys and the gentlemen whom they 
 were pleased to designate by W. X. Y. Z. 
 
 "MAY 30, 1799. 
 " To Mr. Gerry, 
 
 " I communicate to you, Sir, a London Gazette 
 of the 15th of May last j you will there find a very 
 strange publication. I cannot observe, without 
 surprise, that intriguers have profited of the insula 
 ted condition in which the envoys of the United 
 States had kept themselves, to make proposals and 
 to hold conversations, the object of which was 
 evidently to deceive you, 
 
 "I pray you to make known to me immedi 
 ately the names denoted by the initials W. X. Y. 
 and Z. and that of the woman who is described as 
 having had conversations with Mr, Pinckney upon 
 
 K k 
 
258 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the interests of America ; if you are averse to 
 sending them to me in writing, be pleased to com 
 municate them confidentially to the bearer. 
 
 " I must rely upon your eagerness to enable 
 the government to fathom those practices, of which 
 I felicitate you on not having been the dupe, and 
 which you must wish to see cleared up." 
 
 "JUNE 1, 1798. 
 " To Mr. Gerry, 
 
 C( I have received, Sir, your letter of yesterday; 
 you inform me 1st. That the Gazette presented., 
 contains all the informal negociations communica 
 ted by the envoys to their government. 2d. That 
 the persons referred to have not produced to your 
 knowledge any authority, any document of any 
 kind whatever to accredit themselves. 3d. That 
 three of the individuals mentioned, (that is to say, 
 in the order in which I have placed them) W. X. 
 Y. are foreigners ; and the fourth, (that is to say) Z, 
 acted only as messenger and interpreter, 
 
 " Although I perceive your repugnance to 
 naming those individuals, I must earnestly request 
 you to yield it to the importance of the object. 
 Be pleased therefore, 1st. Either to give me their 
 names in writing, or communicate them confiden 
 tially to the bearer. 2d. To name the woman whom 
 Mr. Pinckney mentions. 3d. To tell me whether 
 any of the citizens attached to my service and au 
 thorized by me to see the envoys, told them a word 
 which had the least relation to the disgusting pro- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 259 
 
 position which was made by X. and Y. to give any 
 sum, whatever, for corrupt distribution." 
 
 " JUNE 4, 1798. 
 " To Mr. Gerry, 
 
 " Your letter of yesterday, Sir, has just been 
 handed to me. You may render to me in perfect 
 confidence, the names you mention to me under 
 your hand and seal.,., I assure you, that they shall 
 not be published as coming from you." 
 Mr. Gerry s answer. 
 
 <c The names of the persons designed in the 
 communications of the Envoys Extraordinary of the 
 United States, to their government, (published in 
 the Commercial Advertiser of the llth of April 
 last,) are as follows: 
 
 "X. is M. . Y. is Mr. Bellamy. Z. is 
 
 Mr. Houtval." 
 
 Mr. Gerry has inserted the proper name of X. 
 in this document, as given to Mr. Talleyrand : but 
 the person designated by X. not having (like Y.) 
 avowed himself, the promise made by the envoys to 
 him and Y. " that their names should, in no event, 
 be made public," is still obligatory on the Execu 
 tive, in respect to X. and therefore his name has 
 never been made known. 
 
 No political negociation ever engaged or per 
 plexed public curiosity, more than this still myste 
 rious correspondence of X. Y, and Z. Whether 
 the roguery of the business is to be placed with the 
 Directory, with Talleyrand, with the American en 
 voys or with the concealed persons, is a point upon 
 
260 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 "which no satisfactory proofs can yet be obtained. 
 To form any probable opinion respecting it, we 
 must, as in every other intricate transaction, exam 
 ine the characters and views of the parties concern 
 ed, and by comparing them together endeavor to 
 discover upon which side the villainy lies. 
 
 No three persons could have been sent by Mr. 
 Adams, less acceptable to the Directory of France, 
 than Pinckney, Marshall and Gerry. Pinckney, 
 it is well known, was refused before, and had, on 
 that account, in his letters to Pickering, which were 
 published, and which the French must have seen, 
 represented that people in the worst point of view. 
 Sending such a character to Paris in order to ne- 
 gociate a peace, was nearly an equal insult as if 
 Mr. Pitt had sent to America the traitor Arnold 
 in order to represent the court of Britain. John Mar 
 shall was an improper character in several respects; 
 his principles of aristocracy were well known. 
 Talleyrand, when in America, knew that this man 
 was regarded as a royalist, and not as a republican, 
 and that he was abhorred by most honest charac 
 ters. Mr. Gerry was the least exceptionable of 
 the three ; but Gerry was never by nature intended 
 fora diplomatic character, no more than Mr.Adams^ 
 they were both natives of that soil cc in which no 
 salutary plant takes root." In short, if Mr. Adams 
 had wished to declare war against France, he could 
 not have adopted a more explicit mode of making 
 known his sentiments, than by sending this trium- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, 1261 
 
 virate to treat for a peace. The French, notwith 
 standing, appeared to manifest every desire to ne- 
 gociate ; the Directory, it is true, did not admit the 
 envoys to an audience; but the Minister for Foreign 
 Affairs was empowered to treat with them, and 
 every effort was used on his part to effect a nego- 
 ciation....but they neither would condescend to 
 wait upon him together, or separately ; their time 
 was otherwise occupied, either in chatting with 
 X.Y. and Z. or in composing elaborate epistles to 
 Mr. Pickering, complaining of the insolence of Mr. 
 Talleyrand and the roguery of the Directory. 
 
 Two of them, Pinckney and Marshall, at length 
 departed, but not in the most honorable manner. 
 An unhappy female of a respectable family in Paris, 
 lost her reputation in their company : Her pa 
 rents, to screen themselves from the odium of in 
 triguing with the ambassadors of a foreign country, 
 turned her out of doors. She applied to Pinckney 
 for leave to accompany him to America, which, it is 
 said, he granted, and fixed a day for their depar-, 
 ture, but went off without either giving her notice, 
 or a compensation for the loss of her virtue. The 
 helpless lady was obliged to solicit the chanty of 
 Mr. Gerry, who also promised, she said, to conduct 
 her to America, but afterwards left her as Mr. 
 Pinckney. When all the embassy were fled, she 
 applied to the Captain of an American vessel, who, 
 on the faith of her story, gave her a passage to 
 Charleston ; but she had no sooner arrived, than 
 she was apprehended as a female spy. A few ten-. 
 
262 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 der and affectionate cards, which had been address 
 ed to her by her lovers, and which she carried along 
 with her as passports, were twisted into bills of 
 treason ; two or three small trunks containing wear 
 ing apparel, which constituted all her property, 
 were, with the same facility, framed into tubs of 
 seditious papers, for the purpose of distribution 
 among the slaves of the southern States. What 
 afterwards became of the unfortunate lady^ we know 
 not ; whether Pinckney and Marshall recognized 
 her, or whether she was drove to the hard necessity 
 of working for her own support and that of a help 
 less infant, the only known benefit procured to the 
 United States from the embassy of Pinckney, Mar 
 shall and Gerry. 
 
 To return from this digression, let us observe the 
 conduct of Mr. Gerry : This gentleman often insi 
 nuates and sometimes even asserts, that Talleyrand 
 told him he might rely on any information given by 
 Mr. Y. ; but from the correspondence between 
 him and Talleyrand respecting their names, it evi 
 dently appears that the latter was totally igno 
 rant of any offers ever made by him. As Mr. 
 Gerry has never attempted to contradict Talleyrand 
 in this matter, but seems to acquiesce in it, we 
 must infer that the whole story of ,.50,000 sterling, 
 as a douceur, and 16 millions of Dutch rescrip- 
 tions by way of loan, was either a fabrication of 
 X.Y. andZ. or of our own envoys, or perhaps 
 of both. If there was any reality in the said 
 bribe, it proceeded from a very different quarter 
 
.OF JOHN ADAMS. 263 
 
 than either Talleyrand or the Directory.... X. and 
 Y. were most probably agents for the privateers- 
 men, and the <. 50,000 was intended for their 
 pockets, and not for that of the French minister. 
 Some words dropped by Mr. X. and related by the 
 envoys in their dispatches, appear to confirm this 
 supposition. " He said that all the members of the 
 Directory were not disposed to receive our money; 
 that Merlin, for instance, was paid from another 
 quarter, and would touch no part of the douceur 
 which was to come from us." We replied, " that 
 we had understood that Merlin was paid by the 
 owners of the privateers ; and he nodded an assent 
 to the fact." A late publication published in Paris, 
 in vindication of the conduct of Talleyrand, even 
 insinuates that Pinckney was leagued with the pri 
 vateer merchants ; and that most of the privateers 
 fitted out in the French ports, were the property of 
 Americans. We trust that neither Mr. Pinckney 
 nor any of our consuls were engaged in such a 
 nefarious trade, although it must be allowed, there 
 were several citizens of the United States who en 
 riched themselves upon the spoils of their country 
 men. The same publication affirms, that X. and 
 Y. were the proprietors of several privateers at 
 Bourdeaux and Dunkirk. If this be true, it is not 
 surprising that they should have exerted every 
 scheme to prevent a reconciliation. At all events, 
 our envoys deserve the greatest censure for having 
 been duped by such swindlers. 
 
261- THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The following were the Acts passed this Session? 
 of Congress : 
 
 1 . An act for the punishment of certain crimes 
 therein specified. 
 
 2. An act respecting ballances reported against 
 certain States, by the commissioners appointed to 
 settle the accounts between the United States and 
 the several States. 
 
 3. An act to alter the stamp duties imposed 
 upon foreign bills of exchange and bills of lading > 
 by an act, intitled, " An act laying duties upon 
 stamped vellum, parchment and paper/* and further 
 to amend the same. 
 
 4. An act further to suspend the commercial 
 intercourse between the United States and France, 
 and the dependencies thereof. 
 
 5. An act for the relief of Jonathan HaskilL 
 
 6. An act to authorize the reimbursements of 
 monies expended in rendering aid to sick and 
 destitute American seamen in foreign countries. 
 
 7. An act for the relief of Gazzan, Taylor and 
 Jones, and of Samuel Watt of the city of Phila 
 delphia. 
 
 8. An act appropriating a certain sum of mo 
 ney to defray the expence of holding a treaty or 
 treaties with the Indians. 
 
 9. An act for the augmentation of the navy. 
 
 10. An act authorising the establishment of 
 docks. 
 
 1 1 . An act authorizing the purchase of timber 
 for naval purposes. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 265 
 
 1 2. An act respecting quarantine and health 
 laws. f 
 
 13. An act fixing the pay of the captains and 
 commanders of ships and vessels of war of the 
 United States. 
 
 14. An act to amend the act, intitled, (< An act 
 to provide for the valuation of lands and dwelling 
 houses, and the enumeration of slaves within the 
 United States." 
 
 15. An act providing compensation for the 
 marshals, clerks, attornies, jurors and witnesses in 
 the courts of the United States, and to repeal cer 
 tain parts of the acts therein mentioned, and for 
 other purposes. 
 
 16. An act for the relief of Thomas Lewis. 
 
 17. An act to amend an act, intitled, " An act 
 giving effect to the laws of the United States with 
 in the district of Tennessee." 
 
 18. An act making appropriations for defray 
 ing the expences which may arise in carrying into 
 effect certain treaties between the United States 
 and several tribes or nations of Indians. 
 
 19. An act allowing James Mathers compensa 
 tion for services done for the United States, and 
 expences incurred in rendering said services, as 
 serjeant at arms to the Senate. 
 
 20. An act altering the time of holding the Dis 
 trict Court in Vermont. 
 
 21. An act concerning French citizens that 
 have been cr may be captured, and brought into 
 the United States. 
 
 LI 
 
266 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 22. An act giving eventual authority to the 
 President of the United States to augment the 
 ar.i 
 
 23. An act to provide for the security of bail in 
 certain cases. 
 
 24. An act to augment the salaries of the offi 
 cers therein mentioned. 
 
 25. An act to regulate the medical establish 
 ment. 
 
 26. An act to grant an additional compensation 
 for the year 1799, to certain officers of the Senate 
 and House of Representatives of the United States: 
 
 27. An act for the government of the navy of 
 the United States. 
 
 28. An act to establish the compensations of the 
 officers employed in the collection of the duties on 
 imposts and tonnage, and for other purposes. 
 
 29. An act authorizing the augmentation of 
 the marine corps. 
 
 30. An act to erect a beacon on Boon Island. 
 
 31. An act to regulate and fix the compensa 
 tion of clerks. 
 
 32. An act to establish the Post-Office of the 
 United States. 
 
 33. An act to amend the act, intitled, cc Anact 
 regulating the grant of lands appropriated for mili 
 tary services, and for the society of the United 
 Brethren for propogating the gospel among the 
 heathens." 
 
 34. An act making appropriations for the sup- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 267 
 
 port of government for the year one thousand seven 
 hundred and ninety-nine. 
 
 35. An act to regulate trade and intercourse 
 with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on 
 the frontiers. 
 
 36. An act in addition to an act for the more 
 general promulgation of the laws, 
 
 37. An act authorizing the President of the 
 United States to fill certain vacancies in the army 
 and navy. 
 
 38. An act making additional appropriations 
 for the year 1799. 
 
 39. An act vesting the power of retaliation In 
 the President in certain cases. 
 
 40. An act respecting the distillers of Geneva. 
 
 41. An act for the relief and support of A.neri- 
 ean seamen. 
 
 42. An act to alter and discontinue certain 
 post-roads and to establish others. 
 
 .43. An act for the better organizing of the 
 troops of the United States. 
 
 44. An ,act authorizing the sale of lands be 
 tween the great and little rivers Miami ia the 
 United States Territory, N. W. of the river Ohio, 
 and for giving pre-emption to certa : n persn.v;. 
 
 45. An act for the relief of Comfort Sands and 
 others. 
 
 46. An act to establish the salary of the Deputy 
 Post-Master-General. 
 
 47. An act to regulate the collection of duties 
 sn imposts and tonnage. 
 
268 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 48. An act for the support of the naval establish 
 ment for the year 1799. 
 
 49. An act for the support of the military estab 
 lishment for the year 1799. 
 
 50. An act in addition to the act for the relief 
 and protection of American seamen, and further to 
 amend the same. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Dr. Logan.... Capture of rinsurgente.... Murder of 
 Neale Harvey. ...Trial of Dr. Reynolds, Duanc 
 and others.... At tack upon the Aurora Office..., Case 
 of Ebenezer Giles. 
 
 IN Summer., 1798, soon after the publication of 
 our envoy s dispatches, a transaction occurred, that 
 unveiled the designs and wishes of the conspira 
 tors for a French war. Dr. George Logan, a native 
 of Pennsylvania, and a citizen of independent for 
 tune, set out from Philadelphia on a voyage to 
 Europe. 
 
 Having landed at Hamburgh, he met with Gene 
 ral la Fayette, who procured him the means of pur 
 suing his journey to Paris, where he arrived on the 
 7th of August, 1798. Upon enquiry of the Con 
 sul-General of the United States, he was informed 
 our Commissioners had left that city, without hav 
 ing accomplished the object of their mission, and 
 
OP JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 that all negcciation was at an end.... Further, that an 
 embargo had been laid on all American shipping / 
 in the ports of France, and that many of our sea 
 men were confined as prisoners. 
 
 Dr. Logan justly supposing that there was no 
 law, moral or political, which could prevent him 
 from benefiting his country, availed himself of 
 every legal means to procure an interview with 
 influential characters. Through the politeness of 
 a foreigner of distinguished talents, whose name is 
 not mentioned, Dr. Logan was introduced to citi 
 zen Merlin. ...This Director and.. man of science, 
 Dr. Logan frequently visited afterwards on the 
 footing of a private friend. On one of these occa 
 sions Merlin informed him, that France had not 
 the least intention to interfere in the public af 
 fairs of the United States, that his country had ac 
 quired great reputation in having assisted America 
 to become a free republic, and that they never 
 would disgrace their own revolution by attempting 
 the destruction of the United States. He observ 
 ed, that with respect to the violation of our flag, 
 it was common with all neutrals, and was pro 
 voked by the example of England, and intended to 
 place France on an equal ground with her, so long 
 as she should be permitted, by the neutral powers, 
 to avail herself of their resources. ...but that the 
 government of France, averse to such a competition, 
 were contemplating measures to make their laws 
 more favorable towards neutral nations. In con 
 firmation ot this declaration. Dr. Logan received, 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 whilst at Bourdeaux, a letter from the Consul-Gen 
 eral of the United States, dated Paris, August 30th, 
 in which the Consul informed him that the report of 
 France adopting a more liberal system in regard 
 to the flag and property of neutrals, was gaining 
 ground every hour. 
 
 Dr. Logan, believing that this manifestation of 
 friendship on the part of the Republic of France, 
 would be highly acceptable to his country, he of 
 fered his services to Mr. Skipwith,the Consul-Gen 
 eral, to be the bearer of his dispatches to the Presi 
 dent of the United States. A duplicate of the same 
 dispatches had been forwarded by some other chan 
 nel. When Doctor Logan, therefore, after his ar 
 rival, presented them to Mr. Pickering, in place of 
 being cordially received or thanked for his trouble, 
 he was simply informed that they were of no im 
 portance, as their contents had been already re 
 ceived. Insinuations of treason were thrown out 
 against him, and agreeable to the federal custom, 
 Mrs* Logan was also reviled, a lady, in whose 
 character, the utmost diligence of malice has not 
 been able, more than in that of her husband, to 
 discover a single stain. 
 
 To these slanderous accusations, Dr. Logan can 
 oppose the blessings of hundreds of his country 
 men, whom he has saved from the risk of ruin. 
 At Bourdeaux he received, upon September 8th, 
 1798, an address subscribed by fourteen masters of 
 ships, and other persons, whose property he had 
 preserved from confiscation. He also procured 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 271 
 
 freedom for a considerable number of seamen. For 
 these services, at the sitting down of Congress, in 
 December, 1798, the \yhole federal faction broke 
 loose upon him. Thatcher, Harper and Otis, at 
 tacked him with all their fury. As a vindication 
 of his character, he published the following letter, 
 dated Bourdeaux, September 8th, 1798 : 
 
 "SlR, 
 
 " A habit of trade of many years standing with 
 the United States of America, has, in the late diffi 
 culties between the two countries, enabled us to 
 feel how much we are indebted to your laudable 
 endeavors to prevent this country from acting hos- 
 tilely, after the late occurrences in America ; and 
 how much we are beholden to you in particular, 
 for the convincing proof of the good intentions of 
 this government, in taking off the embargo they had 
 laid on all American vessels. Pray excuse this 
 abrupt manner of delivering our sentiments ; but 
 as acting for our friends in America, we find our 
 selves more particularly obliged. ...we feel ourselves 
 gratified in thus assuring you of our esteem ; we 
 wish you a successful passage over to America, and 
 remain, Sir, your cordial friends, 
 
 SKINNER, FENWICK Sf BROWN. 
 "To Dr. LOGAN, of) 
 
 Philadelphia." } 
 
 In the beginning of this year, (1799) hostilities 
 were openly commenced between the Republic of 
 France and the United States. The first engage- / 
 ment of any importance, between the two powers, 
 was fought on the 9th of February, by ITnsur- 
 
272 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 gente of 40 guns, Captain Bureaut, and the Con 
 stellation of 38 guns, Commodore Truxton. Vic 
 tory proved favorable to us, and 1 Insurgente was 
 captured ; but the glory of the day was cloud 
 ed by an unfortunate accident, the death of one 
 of the seamen on board of Truxton s vessel, occa 
 sioned by a stab, received from the 3d Lieutenant 
 of the Constellation. Neale Harvey, was the name 
 of this unfortunate young man, and Andrew Sterret, 
 that of the officer. Whether Harvey actually de 
 serted his station during the action, is a matter not 
 ascertained : but humanity must incline us to be 
 lieve that Sterret thought so, before he plunged 
 a sword into the bowels of a fellow-citizen. The 
 affair, however, might have been buried in obli 
 vion, had not Sterret s imprudence urged him to 
 publish it to the world, in a letter to his father.... 
 " One fellow (says Sterret) I was obliged to run 
 through the body, and so put an end to a cow 
 ard. You must not think this strange, for we 
 would put a man to death for even looking pale 
 on board this ship." On this occasion we must 
 certainly blame both the silence of Truxton and that 
 of our administration. The duty which they owed 
 to their country, ought certainly to have compelled 
 a public investigation of the affair, which it is to be 
 hoped would have turned out, notwithstanding its 
 untoward aspect, to Sterret s honor ; and removed 
 from the character of that brave officer, a stain 
 which will ever blot the most praise-worthy action 
 he can perform. But Mr. Adams received the intel- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 273 
 
 Jigence with equal indifference as Truxton beheld 
 it ; and without any investigation which we know 
 of, promoted Mr. Sterret with the other officers. 
 
 The day of Truxton s victory, which was on Sun 
 day, is remarkable on another account. A motion 
 was to have been made in Congress the Monday fol 
 lowing, for a repeal of the Alien law of 1798, ...In 
 order to promote this repeal, Dr. Reynolds, Mr. 
 Duane, and several other gentlemen of Philadel 
 phia, went to St. Mary s Church and placed upon 
 the doors, petitions to Congress for that purpose, 
 with the intention of receiving the signatures of 
 those of the Congregation who were Aliens. No 
 proceeding could have been more harmless, and 
 unexceptionable than this ; but the appellation of 
 Alien was synonymous with Jacobin in the under 
 standing of the tory Christians. The alarm of sedi 
 tion and treason was sounded in the church ; the 
 pious priest dropped the bible, and out rushed 
 the federal mob. A desperado, of the name of 
 Gallagher, at the head of several ruffians, attacked 
 Reynolds, knocked him down, then kicked him, 
 and mal-treated his friends in the same manner. 
 The petitions were torn from the door, and a flam 
 ing report of the suppression of the Alien Riot, 
 as it was called, appeared in the federal papers 
 next morning. 
 
 The federalists, not satisfied with their victory, 
 were determined, if possible, to accomplish the 
 ruin of Reynolds and his companions. They there 
 fore accused the former of an intention to murder 
 
 Mm 
 
274 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Gallagher, and the latter of a riot and assault at St. 
 Mary s Church, Their trial was brought forward 
 the 22d of the same month, and, most probably, had 
 it not been for several republicans who fortunately 
 were upon the jury, they would all have been found 
 guilty, and received the punishment which a par 
 tial court might award ; but the sound judgment of 
 the few prevailed over the bigotted prejudice of 
 the many, and a verdict of acquittal was in conse 
 quence given, 
 
 Enraged at this verdict, the enemies of liberty 
 and order resolved no longer to be trifled with the 
 * forms of law and the caprice of a jury. A band of 
 upwards of thirty took the oath of vengeance. The 
 names of the leaders of this conspiracy were, John 
 Dunlap, J. B. M Kean, Peter Mierckin, George 
 Willing, Joshua B. Bond, Owen Foulke, Jonathan 
 Robeson, Edward Shoemaker, John Singer, Wil 
 liam Lewis and James Simmons. On the 15th of 
 May they entered the office of the Aurora ; one 
 party with pistols in their hands, acted as centinels 
 upon the compositors and pressmen, while an 
 other party kept at bay several strangers who were 
 in the office. Peter Mierckin, with several of his 
 followers, then attacked Mr. Duane, the object of 
 their malice. The former knocked him down, 
 while the latter ruffians held his hands. Bleeding 
 and senseless, they dragged him down stairs into 
 Franklin court, and there satiated their vengeance 
 by repeating their blows upon Mr. Duane and his 
 affectionate son, a boy of sixteen, who threw him- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 275 
 
 self Across the body of his father, to screen him frorrr- 
 the blood-thirsty barbarians. 
 
 They would have proceeded to have demolish 
 ed the whole building, had not the republicans by 
 this time received notice of the savage scene, . 
 and proceeded to the relief of their patriot. 
 
 Notwithstanding this most unprovoked and 
 unwarrantable assault, Mr. Duane found it imprac 
 ticable during the administration of Mr. Adams, to 
 obtain the smallest redress for the injuries which 
 his person and property had sustained ; it was 
 not until the month of April last, two years after 
 wards, that their trial could be brought forward. 
 The only compensation he then received, did not 
 exceed two hundred dollars. 
 
 Among the various insults which the American 
 flag had suffered during this and the preceding 
 year, from the cruisers of his Britannic Majesty, the 
 treatment of Ebenezer Giles, commander of the 
 schooner Betsey, of Beverley, in Massachusetts, me 
 rits particular attention, both on account of the sin 
 gular barbarity, which disgraced the British on that 
 occasion, and the tame conduct of the President, 
 and Mr. Pickering, when they heard of the out 
 rage which the honor of their country had sustain 
 ed. The protest of Captain Giles and his crew, 
 give the fullest account and are the best proofs of 
 this unprovoked attack from a British ship of war. 
 " Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
 
 "By this public instrument, be itmade known 
 and manifest, that on the 2 1 st of May, 1799, befo re 
 
276 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 me, Joseph Ward, Esq. Notary Public, by legal au 
 thority admitted and sworn, and practising in Bev 
 erly, in said county of Essex, personally came 
 and appeared, Ebenezer Giles, Commander of the 
 schooner Betsey, of said Beverly, and James Wil 
 son, Mate, and Allen Stickland and Joseph Patch, 
 seamen, belonging to the said schooner, who after 
 being severally sworn to declare the truth., declared 
 on oath, that they were on the twenty-seventh day 
 of April, 1799, at the Island of St. Vincent, at a 
 place called La You Bay, on board said schooner, 
 there waiting for his British Majesty s ship of war 
 called the Daphne, to pass by, who was previously 
 engaged to convoy a fleet of merchantmen from 
 that island to St. Christopher s ; and on Saturday the 
 27th day of April aforesaid, about twelve o clock 
 at noon, the convoy hove in sight, and about three 
 o clock, P. M. we came to sail, and stood out of the 
 bay j and about twenty minutes past three, P. M, 
 the ship Daphne stood athwart our stern, and hailed 
 us, and requested to know if we had instructions 
 from their ship, which we answered in the affirmative. 
 They ordered the Betsey to bring too ; we then be 
 ing by the wind close hauled, hove the main-top 
 sail to the mast, and put the helm a-lee ; the Daph 
 ne still continued her course close by the land ; 
 the schooner Betsey lay too until about half the fleet 
 convoyed, had passed by them, then made sail and 
 stood on with the fleet ; at about 4 o clock P. M. 
 observed the Daphne s boat coming towards us ; 
 they called to us to heave the main-top-sail to the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 277 
 
 mast, which was immediately done, and the boat 
 came under our lee-stem, or forward our main 
 chains; we hove a rope to the boat, which they 
 caught in midship of her, which boat lay stem on 
 the schooner, and neglecting to pass the rope into 
 the bows to catch a turn to wind her, as Captain 
 Giles wished him to do in a polite and respectful 
 manner, and after a short time, they slip t their hold 
 and dropped a-stern. We then hove the fore-top 
 sail to the mast, dropped the fore and main peaks, 
 and let fly the jib sheets, to wait for the boat to 
 come up with us, which she did in four or five min 
 utes ; as she came along side, Captain Giles said to 
 the officer on board the boat, " my friend, I was very 
 sorry to have seen you drop a-stern." He answered, 
 " you damned rascal, do not call me your friend." 
 The Captain of the Betsey then told him, that he 
 hoped he should not find him to be his enemy, and 
 particularly the ship Daphne. The officer then placed 
 one of his men from the boat, on board the schoon 
 er to the helm, and ordered all our sails set, which 
 was immediately done, and stood for the Daphne, 
 and still continuing to treat the Captain of the Betsey 
 with insulting and abusive language, and demand 
 ed of said Giles his instructions which were receiv 
 ed from the Daphne, which were delivered up to 
 him. As we came a-breast of the ship, the officer 
 returned on board the ship, taking the said instruc 
 tions with him. After a few minutes, some per 
 son on board of the ship informed us that they 
 should send their boat on board of us again. The 
 
278 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 boat soon came along side of us, and commanded 
 Captain Giles on board of the ship immediately, 
 He instantly complied, and went with the officer on 
 board of the ship. Immediately after he arrived on 
 board, the said James Wilson, Allen Stickland and 
 Joseph Patch, on their oath, testify and swear, that 
 they saw two men on board of the said ship violent 
 ly beating Captain Giles, one of them with a large 
 piece of rope, and the other with his fist, and con 
 tinued to do so for the space of more than thirty 
 minutes, to the best of their judgment, and some 
 times by the violence of the blows received, he 
 was struck down ; and they soon after sent Captain 
 Giles. on board the Betsey, who, when he came 
 along side, was not able to stand or walk, by reason 
 of the barbarous treatment he had received on 
 board the said ship.... And they further testify, and 
 say that they took Captain Giles on board his schoon 
 er in the cabin, and took off his jacket, (as he was 
 not able to take it off himself) and found it much 
 striptand torn by force of the blows of the rope s 
 end ; also with great surprise saw blood issuing 
 from his mouth and nose, occasioned by the force 
 of the blows of the fist, or the falls on the said ship s 
 deck (to them uncertain which) whilst he was on 
 board ; and on further examination found his back 
 and arms unmercifully bruised, and turned black 
 with large wales on the same, occasioned by the 
 cruel and most unnatural treatment he receive d on 
 board the said ship ; and further say, that Captain 
 Giles was not able for the term of four days at 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 279 
 
 least, to come on deck, or do his duty, neither has 
 he fully recovered his health, as before enjoyed^ to 
 this clay. 
 
 " In further confirmation of the above written, 
 we have hereunto set our names, after being first 
 sworn to the truth of the foregoing protest : 
 
 EBENEZER GILES, Master. 
 
 JAMES WILSON , Mate. 
 
 JOSEPH PATCH. 
 
 ALLEN STICKLAND. 
 
 " And the aforesaid affidavit, Ebenezer Giles, at 
 the above said time and place, in addition to the 
 foregoing, by himself further testifieth on oath, and 
 doth declare, that he received his instructions from 
 the ship Daphne on the twenty-fifth day of April, 
 1799 ; and informed the commander of the ship, that 
 his schooner lay at a place called La You Bay, about 
 two leagues to leeward of the port of Kingston, at 
 which place the Daphne lay ; and that on the 27th 
 day of the same month, he joined the fleet as be 
 fore expressed ; and was commanded to go oa 
 board the ship as aforesaid, and when he came 
 alongside of the said ship, and was passing over 
 the side, the deponent on oath declares, that the 
 Captain of the said ship called to him, and told him 
 he would let him know what it was to pay a dis 
 respect to a man of war, and immediately called 
 for a boatswain s mate. That he then asked the 
 Captain what he designed by his disrespect; the 
 answer was, " you damn d rascal, not a word." He 
 asked the Captain if he was not allowed to speak 
 
280 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 in his own behalf, which was answered," what, by 
 you a damned rascal !" and much more abusive lan 
 guage ; and ordered the boatswain s mate to take 
 a rope s end to the damn d rascal ; who, very readi 
 ly, began to beat him, the said deponent, with a 
 rope of 2 4 inches, (and the Captain followed the 
 the same, with blows of his fist) until the rope was 
 fagged out eight or nine inches in length ; then one 
 other boatswain s mate was called by the Captain, 
 who immediately appeared, and the Captain of the 
 ship ordered him to find a rope that was pointed, 
 and to lay it on well to the damn d. rascal, and then 
 he began to beat the deponent accordingly, agree 
 able to the instructions from his inhuman comman 
 der. The deponent begged of the Captain not to 
 murder him in that manner, in God s name ; the 
 return was a blow with the Captain s fist, which 
 brought the deponent down. The Boatswain still 
 continued to strike the deponent until he received 
 about forty-seven stripes, and then he quitted the 
 deponent, and the Captain of the ship ordered the 
 officer, who brought him on board, saying, " Mr. 
 Mettinay, put this damned rascal on board of his 
 vessel, and return with the boat immediately." In 
 further confirmation of the truth of the foregoing 
 protest, I do hereunto set my hand, 
 
 EBENEZER GILES, Master. 
 
 " The deponents do, therefore, protest, and I the 
 
 said Notary Public, at their instance and request, 
 
 do by these presents, solemnly protest against the 
 
 Captain of the said ship Daphne, and the British 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 281 
 
 government for the aforesaid cruel and barbarous 
 
 treatment, and for all losses, costs, suits, expences 
 
 and damages that have arisen, or may rise thereon, 
 
 " In testimony whereof, I, the said Notary, 
 
 have hereunto set my hand, and affixed 
 
 my Notarial Seal this twenty-first day 
 
 of May, 1799. 
 
 " JOSEPH WARD, N. P." 
 Several letters passed between the Secretary of 
 State and Captain Giles, respecting this business, 
 but without any satisfaction to the latter ; for no 
 proper explanation was ever demanded from the 
 English Government for the conduct of the com 
 mander of the British frigate. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Trial of John Fries , for High Treason. 
 
 JOHN FRIES of the county of Northampton, in 
 Pennsylvania, was, on the 1st of May, 1799, indict 
 ed in the Circuit Court, held at Philadelphia, for 
 levying war against the United States, by opposing 
 the assessors for the direct tax. 
 
 Judge Iredell delivered his charge to the 
 Grand Jury, on the llth of April. Of all the 
 charges which had hitherto been given by the 
 Federal Judges, this charge of Judge Iredell ap 
 peared to be the greatest insult offered to the feel- 
 
 N n 
 
282 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ings of a free people. Liberty he compared to the 
 religion of Mahomet, which was propagated by 
 the sword : Nations, who became free, he said? 
 were placed under French guardianship.... French 
 arsenals were the repository of their arms ; French 
 treasuries of their money ; and the city of Paris 
 of their curiosities. After this display of metaphy 
 sical jargon, he proceeded to an investigation of the 
 Alien and Sedition bills, which he attempted to 
 vindicate, and to prove their consistency with the 
 constitution of the United States. He then enter 
 ed upon a labored disquisition of treason, gave 
 quotations from Judge Hale and Blackstone, and 
 concluded by praying that God might preserve all 
 lovers of subordination from being trampled under 
 the feet of Jacobins. 
 
 On Wednesday the 1 st of May, the prisoner, 
 John Fries, was brought to the bar. Upon the in 
 dictment being read, charging him with having 
 unlawfully, maliciously and traitorously compas 
 sed and levied war, insurrection and rebellion, 
 against the United States, he pleaded not guilty. 
 The several particulars of thes-e charges are narra 
 ted in the following address of Mr. Sitgreaves, who 
 opened the trial, on the part of the government: 
 " Gentlemen of the Jury, 
 
 " By the indictment which has been just read 
 to you, you perceive that John Fries, the prisoner 
 at the bar, has put himself on trial before you on 
 an accusation of having committed the greatest of 
 fence which can be perpetrated in this or any 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 283 
 
 other country ; and it will devolve on you to de 
 termine, according to the evidence which will be 
 produced to you, on the important question of life 
 or death. It is the duty of those that prosecute, 
 to open to you, as clear as they are able,. those prin 
 ciples of law which apply to the offender; and 
 then to state to you the testimony with which the 
 accusation is supported. This duty has devolved 
 upon me, and I hope, while I regard my duty as 
 accuser, I shall do it in such a way as shall do no 
 injustice to the prisoner. However, if I should be 
 incorrect, there are sufficient opportunities for me 
 to be corrected, by the vigilance which the coun 
 sel engaged on behalf of the prisoner will use, and 
 the order which the court will observe. These 
 are sufficient to correct any mis-statements, but I 
 will use my utmost endeavors to be guilty of none. 
 
 "The prisoner is indicted of the crime of treason. 
 Treason is defined in the constitution of the Uni 
 ted States, Sections, Art. 3, in the words following: 
 " Treason against the United States, shall consist 
 only in levying war against them, or in adhering to 
 their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." 
 
 " This crime appears to be limited to two descrip 
 tions : the one levying war against the United States, 
 and the other adhering to its enemies. With re 
 spect to the latter branch of the description, there 
 will be no occasion for any explanation, or to call 
 your attention in the least to it, because it is not 
 charged upon the prisoner ; he is charged with 
 having committed treason in levying war, 
 
284 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ee This expression, phraseology or description, as 
 adopted by our constitution, is borrowed from a 
 statute of Great Britain, passed in the reign of Ed 
 ward III. which has, ever since it passed, com 
 manded the veneration and respect of that nation, 
 almost equal with their great charter; it is consi 
 dered as a great security to their liberties. Indeed, 
 the uniform and unanimous consent given to this 
 statute, through a great lapse of time, by the most 
 able writers on law, its never having undergone the 
 least alteration amidst the most severe scrutinies, 
 and its adoption into the constitution of the United 
 States, without the least amendment, are sufficient 
 encomiums to prove its worth. I shall state to you, 
 as far as is necessary to the present application of 
 that statute, the most able and judicious exposi 
 tions, but without recuring to a variety of authori 
 ties which might be quoted. 
 
 cc The crime of treason, as it has been laid down 
 by those writers generally allowed to be the most 
 able on law, whose accuracy is unquestionable, is 
 the highest crime that can possibly be committed 
 against the good government of a nation, and a con 
 siderable inroadinto theliberties of a subject. In dis 
 cussing thiscrime,Ishallonlyrecurtothenoteswhick 
 I have taken, and my own knowledge of the law ; 
 if that statement should be inaccurate, there are suf^ 
 ficient opportunities for amendment in the course 
 of this trial. Treason consists in levying war 
 against the government of the United States : it may 
 confidently be said not only to consist in joining 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 285 
 
 or aiding the hostile intentions of a foreign enemy, 
 nor is it confined to rebellion, in the broad sense 
 in which that word is generally understood, or in 
 the utter subversion of the government, and its 
 fundamental institutions; but it also consists 
 in the raising a military force, from among the 
 people, for the purpose of attaining any object with 
 a design of opposing the lawful authority of the 
 government, by dint of arms, in some matter of 
 public concern, in which the insurgents have no 
 particular interest, distinct from the rest of the 
 community. This is the best description of the 
 erime of treason, as it relates to the matter before 
 you, which I am able to give. A tumultuously 
 raising the people with force, for the purpose of 
 subverting or opposing the lawful authority of the 
 government, in which those insurgents have no par 
 ticular interest distinct from the people at large. 
 
 " Agreeable to the division made in the definition 
 of treason by Lord Hale, it must consist both in 
 levying war, and in levying war against the gov 
 ernment of the United States. Respecting levying 
 war, it is to be understood, agreeable to the most 
 approved authorities, that there must be an actual 
 military array. I mention this, because I think it 
 proper to be particular in so essential and important 
 an enquiry; and because I think we shall prove to 
 you that this was actually done by the prisoner. 
 Another thing I wish you to bear in mind is, that 
 war may be sufficiently levyed against the United 
 States, although no violence be used, and although 
 
286 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 no battle be fought. It is not necessary that actual 
 violence should take place, to prove the actual 
 waging of war. If the arrangements are made, 
 and the numbers of armed men actually appear, so 
 as to procure the object which they have in view, 
 by intimidation as well as by actual force, that will 
 constitute the offence. 
 
 "It must be war waged against the United States : 
 This is an important distinction. A large assembly 
 of people may come together, in whatever num 
 bers, however they may be armed or arrayed, or 
 whatever degree of violence they may commit, yet 
 that alone would not constitute treason : the trea 
 son must be known ; it must be for a public and 
 not a private revenge ; it must be avowedly levying 
 war against the United States. If people assemble 
 in this hostile manner, not only to gratify revenge 
 or any other purpose independent of war against 
 the United States, it will only amount to a riot ; but 
 if it is an object in which the person has no particu 
 lar interest, this constitutes the offence of treason. 
 There are a variety of instances, which might be 
 produced in order to illustrate this definition of the 
 law; but it is not necessary to turn to them. Suffice 
 it to say, that it is the intention, or end, for which 
 an insurrection is raised, which constitutes the 
 crime. This, of course, you will have in mind when 
 the testimony is gone into. I will just observe, as 
 applicable to this case, that one instance, which is 
 defined, of the crime of treason is, to defeat the ope 
 ration of the laws of government; any insurrection, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 287 
 
 I will be bold to say, to defeat the execution of the 
 public laws, amounts to treason. Having given 
 you this explanation of treason, so far as I suppose 
 is connected with the present awful occasion, I shall 
 now proceed to state the amount of evidence we 
 mean to produce, in order to prove that the unhap 
 py prisoner was guilty of that high crime. 
 
 "It will appear, gentlemen, from the testimony 
 which will be presented to you, that during the 
 latter months of the year 1798, discords prevailed 
 to an enormous extent throughout a large portion 
 of the counties of Bucks, Northampton and Mont 
 gomery, and that considerable difficulties attend 
 ed the assessors for the direct tax in the execution 
 of the duties of their assessment. It is not in the 
 nature of this enquiry to explain for what purpose or 
 by what means the opposition was made ; it is not 
 necessary to say, w r hether the complaints urged, 
 were well or ill founded, because it is a settled 
 point, that any insurrection for removing public 
 grievances, whether the complaints be real or pre 
 tended, amounts to treason, because it is not the 
 mode pointed out by law for obtaining redress. It 
 will then be sufficient to shew you, that discontents 
 did exist, and that in various townships of those 
 counties ; that in several townships, associations 
 of the people were actually formed, in order to 
 prevent the persons charged with the execution of 
 those laws of the United States, from performing 
 their duty upon them, and more particulary to pre 
 vent the assessors from measuring their houses. 
 
288 HIE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 This opposition was made at many public town 
 ship meetings, called for the purpose; in many in* 
 stances, resolutions were entered into and reduced 
 to writing, solemnly forwarning the officers, whose 
 duty it was to execute the laws, and these many 
 times accompanied with threats, if they should per 
 form that duty. Not only so, but discontents pre 
 vailed to such an height, that even the friends of 
 the government in that part were completely sup 
 pressed, by menaces against any who should assist 
 those officers in their duty ; repeated declarations 
 were made both at public as well asprivate meetings, 
 that if any person should be arrested by the civil 
 authority, such arrest would be followed by the ris 
 ing of the people, in opposition to that authority, 
 for the purpose of rescuing such arrested prison 
 ers : it \vill appear to you farther, gentlemen, in the 
 course of evidence, that during those discontents, 
 indefatigable pains were taken by those who were 
 charged with the execution of the laws, to calm 
 the fears and to remove the misapprehensions of 
 the infatuated people ; for this purpose, they read 
 and explained the law to them, and informed them, 
 that they were misled into the idea, that the law 
 was not in force, for that it actually was; at the 
 same time warning them of the consequences 
 which would flow from opposition, and this was 
 accompanied with promises, that even their most 
 capricious wishes would be gratified on their obe 
 dience. The favor was in many instances granted, 
 that where any opposition was made to any certain 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 289 
 
 person executing the office of assessor, in some- 
 townships proposals were made for the people to 
 choose for themselves, but notwithstanding this 
 accommodating offer, the opposition continued. 
 
 " After having showed to you the general extent 
 of this combination and dangerous conspiracy, 
 which existed in all the latitude I have opened to 
 your view, we shall next give in evidence full proof 
 that the consequences were actual opposition and 
 resistance : in some parts violence was actually used, 
 and the assessors were taken and imprisoned by 
 armed parties, and in other, mobs assembled to com 
 pel them either to deliver up their papers or to resign 
 their commissions; that in some instances they were 
 threatened with bodily harm, so that in those parts, 
 the obnoxious law did remain unexecuted in con 
 sequence of this alarm. Seeing the state of the 
 insurrection and rebellion had arisen to such a 
 height, it became necessary ^ in order to support the 
 dignity, and indeed the very existence of the go 
 vernment, that some means should be adopted to 
 compel the execution of those laws, and warrants 
 were in consequence issued against certain per 
 sons, who had so opposed the laws ; these pro 
 cesses being put into the hands of the marshal of 
 the district, were served upon some of them : in 
 ?ome instances during the execution of that duty, 
 the marshal met with insult, and almost with vio 
 lence ; having, however, got nearly the whole of the 
 warrants served, he appointed head-quarters hi 
 these prisoners to rendezvous at Betheleni, where 
 
 Oo 
 
v 
 
 TH*E ADMINISTRATION 
 
 some of them were to enter bail for their appear 
 ance in the city, and others were to come to the 
 city in custody for trial. It -will appear to you, 
 that on the day thus appointed for the prisoners to 
 "meet, and when <a number of them had actually 
 assembled agreeable to appointment, that a num 
 ber of parties in arms, both horse and foot, more 
 than one hundred men accoutred with all their mi 
 litary apparatus, commanded in some instances by 
 their proper officers, marched to Bethlehem, col-, 
 leered before the house in which were the marshal 
 and prisoners, whom they demanded to be delivered 
 up to them, and in consequence of refusal, they 
 proceeded to act very little short of actual hostility, 
 so that the marshal deemed it prudent to accede to 
 their demands, and the prisoners were liberated. 
 
 " This, gentlemen, is the general history of the 
 insurrection : I shall now state to you the part which 
 the unfortunate prisoner at the bar took in those hos 
 tile transactions. It will appear that the prisoner is 
 an inhabitant of the township of lower Milford, in 
 the county of Bucks ; that some time in February 
 last, a public meeting was held at the house of one 
 John Kline in that township, to consider, in rela 
 tion to this house-tax, what was to be done ; that at 
 that meeting, certain resolutionswere entered into, 
 and a paper signed, (we have endeavored to trace 
 this paper so as to produce it to the court and jury, 
 but have failed ;) this paper was signed by fifty-two 
 persons, and committed to the hands of one of their 
 number : John Fries was present at this meeting, 
 
G F JOHN ADAMS. 291 
 
 and assisted in drawing up the paper, at which 
 time his expressions against this law were ex 
 tremely violent, and he threatened to shoot one of 
 the assessors, Mr. Foulke, through the legs, if he 
 did proceed to assess the houses. Again, the pri 
 soner at a vendue threatened another of the asses 
 sors, Mr. S. Clarke, that if he attempted to go on 
 with the assessments, he should be committed to an 
 old stable, and there fed on rotten corn. We shall 
 further prove, that upon its being intimated by some 
 of them to Mr. Chapman, principal assessor, that 
 if they might choose their own assessors, things 
 would go on quietly ; he directed that they should 3 
 do so ; but still they continued in opposition to the 
 law, and would not choose an officer at all. A ge 
 neral meeting was called to read and explain the 
 law to the people, and thus remove any wrong im 
 pressions and misapprehensions ; the principal 
 assessor was at that meeting ; but the rudeness, 
 opposition and violence used by the people pre 
 vented him from doing so, which was an evident 
 proof that they did not want to hear the law, and 
 that they understood enough of it to- oppose it. 
 Thus the benevolent intentions of that meeting 
 was frustrated. We shall further show you, that 
 the assessor of lower Milford was intimidated so 
 as to decline making the assessments, and that the 
 principal assessor, together with three other asses 
 sors, were obliged to go into that township to exe 
 cute the law ; that they proceeded in the execu 
 tion of their duty, during a part of the day of the 
 
292 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 5th of March last, without any impediment; that 
 at eleven o clock in the morning, Mr. Chapman 
 met at the house of Jacob Fries, in lower Milford, 
 with the prisoner, when he, the prisoner, declared 
 his determination not to submit, but to oppose the 
 law, and that by the next morning he could raise 
 700 men in opposition to it : that upon Mr. Chap 
 man telling him, that many houses were assessed, 
 the prisoner flew into a violent passion, absolutely 
 declaring, that it should soon be in. this country as 
 it was in France. We shall farther shew you, that 
 at another time during the same day, the prison 
 er met with two of the assessors, Mr, Roderick 
 and Mr. Foulke, whom he warned not to proceed 
 in the execution of their duty, accompanied with 
 threats, that if they did they would be hurt, and 
 left them in a great rage. Farther, he proceeded 
 to collect parties, with whom he went in search 
 *)f those men, and attacked them in executing 
 their duty. ...one of them escaped, but the other 
 he took, but not having got Mr. Roderick, who 
 appeared to be a particular object of resent 
 ment, he let Mr. Foulke go, telling him he would 
 have them again the next day. He told Mr. 
 Clarke, that if he had met with Roderick, he 
 would not have let him go so easy, and declared 
 to him solemnly and repeatedly, that it was his 
 determination to oppose the laws. We shall far 
 ther shew you, that after having discharged Foulke, 
 he proceeded to collect a large party in the town* 
 ship, in order to take the assessors the next day. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS, <J93 
 
 Accordingly on the day following a numerous party, 
 to wit, about 50 or 60, the greatest part of whom 
 were in arms, collected together and pursued the 
 assessors, and not finding them in that township, 
 pursued them into another, in order not only to 
 chace them out of the township, but generally to 
 prevent them executing their duty. This party 
 collected, not only many of them in arms, but in 
 military array, with drum and fife, and commanded 
 by this Captain Fries, and one Kuyder : Fries him 
 self was armed with a large horse pistol. Thus 
 equipped they went to Quaker-town, in order to 
 accomplish their purpose, where they found the as 
 sessors; two of whom they took, but Roderick fled. 
 Fries ordered his men to fire at the man who fled, 
 and the piece was snapped, but did not go off. 
 Fries did then compel Foulke to deliver up to them 
 his papers, but not finding in them what they expect 
 ed, they were returned, but at the same time exact 
 ing a promise, that he, the assessor, should not pro 
 ceed in the valuation of the houses in lower Mil- 
 ford. Fries was, in many instances, extremely vio 
 lent against this law, and peremptory in his deter 
 mination not to submit to it, as will appear by the 
 evidence. 
 
 " When they left Quaker-town, they met with 
 a travelling man, who expressed some good will to 
 wards the government, and for that expression 
 they maltreated him very much, and expressed their 
 general dislike to all who supported the same prin 
 ciple. During the time they were at Quaker-town, 
 
294 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 intimation was received that the marshal had taken 
 a number of persons prisoners, in consequence of 
 opposing the execution of this law, whereupon a 
 determination was formed amongst those people, 
 to go and effect their rescue, and the people of 
 Miiford were generally invited to assist in this bu 
 siness. When they were going, the party halted at 
 the house of John Fries, and then a paper was 
 signed, by which they bound themselves volunteers 
 to go upon the execution of this design : this pa 
 per was written by the prisoner at the bar, and sign 
 ed by him and the rest ; therein they engaged to 
 go and rescue the prisoners who had been arrested 
 by the marshal. On the morning of the next day 
 20 or more of them met at the house of Conrod 
 Marks, in arms, to go on with their design. John 
 Fries was armed with a sword, and had a feather 
 in his hat. On the road as they went forward 
 they were met by young Marks, who told them that 
 they might as well turn about, for that the North 
 ampton people were strong enough to do the busi 
 ness without those from Buck s county ; some 
 were so inclined to do, but at the instance of Fries 
 and some others, they did go forward, and actually 
 proceeded to Bethlehem. Before the arrival of these 
 troops, a party going on the same business had stop 
 ped at the bridge, a small distance from Bethlehem, 
 when they had been met by a deputation from the 
 marshal, whom he had prevailed on to go and 
 meet them, in order to advise them to return home ; 
 they agreed to halt there, and to send three of their 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 295 
 
 number to declare to the marshal what was their 
 demand. It was during this period that Fries and 
 his party came up, but it appears that when they 
 came, Fries took the party actually over the bridge, 
 and that he arranged the toll with the man and or 
 dered them to proceed. With respect to proof of 
 the proceedings at Bethlehem, it cannot be mis 
 taken ; he was there the leading man, and he ap 
 pears to enjoy the command. With the con 
 sent of his people he demanded the prisoners of 
 the marshal, and when that officer told him that he 
 could not surrender them, except they were taken 
 from him by force, and produced his warrant for 
 taking them, the prisoner then harrangued his party 
 out of the house, and explained to them the neces 
 sity of using force ; and that you should not mistake 
 his design, we will prove to you that he declared, 
 "that was the third day which he had been out on 
 this expedition, that he had had a skirmish the day 
 before, and that if the prisoners were not released 
 he should have another that day. Now you observe," 
 resumed he, <c that force is necessary, but you must 
 obey my orders, we will not go without taking 
 the prisoners ; but take my orders, you must not fire 
 first ; must be first fired upon, and when I am gone 
 then you must do as well as you can, as I expect to 
 be the first man that falls." He farther declared to 
 the marshal, that they " would fire till a cloud of 
 smoke prevented them from seeing one another ;" 
 and executing the office of commander of the 
 troops, which at that time overawed the marshal 
 
296 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 and his attendants,, harranguecl the troops to obey 
 his orders, which they accordingly did, and the 
 marshal was really intimidated to liberate the pri 
 soners ; and then the object was accomplished, 
 and the party dispersed amidst the huzzas of 
 the insurgents. After this affair at Bethlehem, 
 it will be given you in evidence that the prisoner 
 frequently avowed his opposition to the laws and 
 justified that outrage ; and when a meeting was 
 afterwards held at lower Milford to choose asses 
 sors, the prisoner refused his assent to the accom 
 modating object of the meeting, and appeared as 
 violent as ever." 
 
 William Henry, William Barnett, John Barnett, 
 Christian Winters, Christian Boths, Colonel Ni 
 chols, Philip Sehlaugh, Josseph Horsefield, John 
 Mopollan, and several others, were called on the 
 part of the prosecutor, whose evidence went to 
 confirm the several charges stated by Mr. Sitgreaves. 
 Mr. Dallas, as counsel for the prisoner, endea 
 vored to prove that the crime of which Fries was 
 guilty, did not amount to treason. He challeng 
 ed the prosecuting counsel to say, in what part of 
 the evidence it had appeared, that the insurgents 
 went further than to declare that the law did not 
 please them ; that though they did not mean to 
 compel Congress to repeal it, they had some 
 doubts and wished to ascertain whether it existed 
 or not ; to know whether the country in general 
 had submitted to it ; to know whether General 
 Washington was not dissatisfied with it, and to see 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 297 
 
 whether they could not get the assessors appointed 
 by themselves. Under these impression* many ir 
 regularities occurred;, but he asked the adverse 
 counsel to point out if they had discovered through 
 the whole course of the business, any insurrec 
 tion existing, any traiterous design, till the meet 
 ing at Bethlehem ; or whether, till that moment, 
 the inhabitants of Northampton could be said to 
 have been guilty of any crime: Fie requested the 
 gentlemen of the jury to view for a moment the mo 
 tives of the people in the lawless scene at Beth 
 lehem. What did they do ? They rescued the 
 marshal s prisoners ; and when they effected the 
 rescue, they dispersed : their whole object then 
 was consummated ; for he presumed they con 
 templated nothing further, as he saw them attempt 
 nothing more ; and yet the time was very favor 
 able to accomplish a more extensive design, if it 
 had ever been meditated. 
 
 There was another circumstance, Mr. Dallas 
 said, to which he wished to lead the attention of the 
 jury. He found there was an indisposition to allow 
 a particular class of officers to make the assess 
 ments j and the people urged, that if it was to be 
 done, it should be done by their own assessors. 
 In this important point, therefore, the particular 
 officers, and not the law, formed the object of 
 resentment and opposition on this distinction. 
 He had the respected authority of Mr. Bradford, 
 the late Attorney-General of the United States, for 
 asserting that the offence was riot, and not treason. 
 
 PP 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The acts committed during that scene of tumult, 
 ought to be punished, and he hoped would be pun 
 ished > but as acts of riot and sedition, not as acts 
 of treason. 
 
 He was sensible it was possible tadraw distinc 
 tions, to refine upon the meaning and pervert the 
 language of the act; but, on principles of human- 
 ity, he was confident the prosecutor would abstain 
 from a mere exercise of ingenuity and eloquence, 
 while he, who contended in favour of life, had a 
 claim to every indulgence ; a right to the benefit 
 of every shade of discrimination. 
 
 Mr. Dallas concluded, by pointing out the dif 
 ferences in the nature, progress and turpitude of 
 the Northampton insurrection and of the western 
 insurrection : he also analysed the case of Lord 
 George Gordon, and contended, that upon this au 
 thority alone, the prisoner ought to be acquitted. 
 In the case of Lord Gordon, the direct, the avowed 
 object, was to obtain the repeal of a law ; and as 
 petitions and remonstrances were unavailing, a 
 body of 40,000 men were convened, and mar 
 shalled to surround, intimidate and coerce the par 
 liament. Riot, arson, murder, and every species 
 of the most daring outrage and devastation ensued ; 
 and yet the only prosecution for high treason was 
 instituted against the leader of the association ; 
 and that prosecution terminated in an acquittal.. 
 " View then, the riots of Lord George Gordon," 
 (exclaimed Mr. Dallas) " estimate their guilt by 
 the avowed object > aggravate the scene with the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 29,9 
 
 contemporaneous insults and violence offered to 
 the persons of peers and commoners, and close the 
 retrospect with the horrors which the British me 
 tropolis endured for more than eight days> and then 
 say what was the guilt of John Fries, compared 
 with the guilt of Lord George Gordon ? what is 
 there in the English doctrine of treason, that has 
 justified an acquittal of the latter? what is there 
 in the American doctrine of treason, that will justi 
 fy a conviction of the former ? 
 
 " Gentlemen, I can proceed no longer.. ..the life 
 of the prisoner is left with great confidence in your 
 hands. There are attempts to make him respon 
 sible, under the notion of a general conspiracy, for 
 all the actions, and all the wards of meetings, which 
 he never attended, and of persons whom he neve>r 
 saw. But this is too, too harsh, in case of blood: 
 it is inconsistent with the humanity, the tenderness 
 of life, which are characteristics of the American 
 people^ and especially of the people of Pennsylva 
 nia. Nor is it called for by the policy or practice 
 of those who administer our government. I believe 
 that to the chief magistrate, to every public officer* 
 to every candid citizen, it will be a matter of gra 
 tification if> after so fair, so full a scrutiny, you 
 should be of opinion, that treason has not been 
 committed. Such an event will by po means en 
 sure impunity to the delinquent; for though he has 
 not committed treason, though the punishment of 
 death is not to be inflicted, the violation of the 
 laws may be amply avenged upon an indictment 
 
300 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 of a different nature. The only question, how 
 ever, now to be decided is, whether the offence 
 proved is, like the offence charged, treason against 
 the United States. The affirmation must be incon- 
 testably established, as to the fact and the intention, 
 by the testimony of two witnesses to the same 
 overt act ; but remember, I pray you, what the 
 venerable Lord Mansfield stated to the jury on 
 Lord Gordon s trial : for if you doubt (it is the 
 principle of law as well as humanity) you must 
 acquit." 
 
 Air. Dallas then called several witnesses, in 
 order to prove that the crime with which Fries 
 was charged, only amounted to a riot. 
 
 Mr. Ewing, after the evidence on the part of 
 the prisoner was closed, addressed the jury in a 
 very pathetic and ingenious speech. He said he 
 was sensible that Fries had been guilty of a flagrant 
 violation of the law, an offence for which he de 
 served to suffer, and which the good of society 
 required should be punished ; but he contended 
 and asserted with confidence, because he thought 
 the law would bear him out, that no act the prison 
 er had committed, could be construed treason by 
 the most rigid or strained construction of law. 
 
 Mr. Sitgreaves spoke in reply.... after which 
 Mr. Lewis addressed the jury in behalf of Fries in 
 a speech of several hours in which he brought 
 forward every argument in defence of the prisoner 
 which legal knowledge or ingenuity could suggest. 
 
 Mr. Rawle closed the prosecution ; after which 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 301 
 
 Judge Iredell summoned up the evidence on both 
 sides, but not with that candor the case required. 
 An evident bias against the prisoner was display 
 ed both in his speech, in his looks and his gestures. 
 
 The jury withdrew for about three hours, and 
 then returned with a verdict.. ..GUILTY. 
 
 This trial occupied the unremitted attention of 
 tfie court and jury from April 3oth until May 9th, 
 inclusive, during which time the jury never sepa 
 rated. 
 
 The court having met on the llth of May, to 
 pronounce sentence, Mr. Lewis read several de 
 positions, which imported, that John Rhead, one 
 of the jury-men, had declared a prejudice against 
 the prisoner, after he was summoned as a juror on 
 the trial. He said he found that he could procure 
 other affidavits to the same fact, on the ground of 
 which he moved a rule when the court last met, to 
 show cause why there ought not to be a new trial. 
 He expressed himself aware of the lateness of the 
 period, a verdict having been given, but the impos 
 sibility of proving the fact earlier, was a sufficient 
 apology. He should forbear to enter into the me 
 rits of the motion at that time. 
 
 Several witnesses were examined, who depo 
 sed that Rhead had used several harsh expressions 
 respecting Fries, after he had been summoned as 
 a juror. This fact having been proved to the satis 
 faction of the court, a new trial was granted : 
 the particulars of which will be given in another 
 chapter. 
 
302 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Trials of Jonathan Robbins, Isaac Williams and 
 Willia in Froth ing ham . 
 
 1 HE fate of Jonathan Robbins, and the story 
 of this unfortunate seaman, are too well known and 
 too deeply impressed on the hearts of Americans to 
 require any comment or introductory remarks pre 
 vious to the narration of the mock trial which the 
 clemency of a Southern Judge granted him. 
 
 On the 25th of July, 1799, he was brought be 
 fore Judge Bee, of the district court of South-Caro 
 lina, in virtue of a demand made by his Britannic 
 Majesty s consul, (on suspicion of his having been 
 concerned in a mutiny on board the British frigate 
 Hermione, in 1797) that he might be delivered up, 
 (to be sent to Jamaica for trial) in virtue of the 
 27th article of the treaty between the United States 
 and Great-Britain, which article runs thus 
 
 " It is further agreed, that his Majesty and 
 the United States on mutual requisitions, by them 
 respectively, or by their respective ministers or offi 
 cers, authorized to make the same, will deliver 
 up to justice all persons who, being charged with 
 murder or forgery committed within the jurisdiction 
 of either, shall seek an assylum within any of the 
 countries of the other : provided that this shall on 
 ly be done on such evidence of criminality, as ac 
 cording to the laws of the place where the fugi- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 303 
 
 tive or person so charged shall be found, would jus 
 tify his apprehension, and a commitment for trial, 
 if the offence had been committed. The expence 
 of such apprehension and delivery shall be borne 
 and defrayed by those who make the requisition 
 and receive the fugitive." 
 
 The commitment of the prisoner was ground 
 ed on the two following affidavits : 
 " South-Carolina District. 
 
 " William Portlock, a native of Portsmouth, in 
 the State of Virginia, upwards of eighteen years 
 old, appeared before me, and being duly sworn, 
 made oath, that he was one of the crew before the 
 mast in the schooner Tanner s Delight, which was 
 commanded by Captain White, who arrived here 
 about three weeks ago ; that a person who answer- 
 by the name of Nathan Robbins, came also in the 
 said vessel, before the mast, with him ; that he, 
 said Robbins, is a tall man, middle size, had long 
 black hair, dark complexion, with a scar on one of 
 his lips ; that on and about last Christmas night, he 
 was present, and heard the said Robbins talking in 
 the harbor of the city of St. Domingo to some French 
 privateers-men > who were on board the Tanner s 
 Delight, when and where he informed them, in his 
 hearing, that he, the said Robbins, was boatswain s 
 mate of his Majesty s frigate Hermione, when she 
 was carried into the port Cavilla ; and added, that 
 they had no occasion to take notice of that. And 
 after the above time, sometimes when he was drunk, 
 he, the said Robbins, would mention the name of 
 
3O4 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the I lermione, and say bad luck to her, and clench 
 his fist. 
 
 his 
 " WILLIAM X PORTLOCK 
 
 mark. 
 "Sworn before me, this 20th February, 1799, 
 
 THOMAS HALL, /. p. & u." 
 " United States of America, South-Carolina District. 
 " Personally came and appeared before me 
 Lieutenant John Forbes, who being duly sworn, 
 deposeth, that a person confined in the gaol of this 
 district, who calls himself Nathan Robbins, but 
 whose real name this deponent believes to be Tho 
 mas Nash, was a seaman on board the Hermi- 
 one, British frigate, in which the deponent was a 
 midshipman from the 8th of February, 1797, until 
 the 30th of August following; during which time 
 the said Nash was personally known to this depo 
 nent ; that this deponent was removed from the said 
 .frigate to the sloop of war Diligence, on the said 
 30th day of August, 1797. This deponent further 
 deposeth, that on the 19th of September following, 
 he was sent on board of the said British frigate, at 
 which time he saw and left the said Nash in the 
 same station, on board that vessel, as he was at the 
 time of this deponent s being a midshipman therein. 
 That on the 22d of the said month, the crew mu 
 tinied on board the said frigate, killed the princi 
 pal officers, piratically possessed themselves of her, 
 carried her into Laguira, and there disposed of her 
 to certain subjects of his Catholic Majesty. That 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 305 
 
 the said Thomas Nash was one of the principals 
 in the commission of the said acts of murder and 
 piracy ; whose conduct in that transaction has be 
 come known to this deponent by depositions made, 
 and testimony given in court-martial, where some 
 of the said crew have been tried. 
 
 JOHN FORBES. 
 " Sworn before me this 18th April, 1799, 
 
 THOMAS BEE, 
 <c District Judge, South-Carolina." 
 
 Upon a candid review of these depositions, 
 there does not appear to have existed the slightest 
 cause for even a commitment of Jonathan Robbins. 
 The testimony on the part of Portlock is trifling in 
 the extreme, and that of lieutenant Forbes entirely 
 verbal report. In the. article of the British treaty 
 there is not a word said of any fugitive that may be 
 found within their dominions, charged with hav 
 ing committed offences at sea on board of Amer 
 ican vessels. It is entirely confined to cases within 
 the jurisdiction of each, that is territorial jurisdic 
 tion ; for had the minister of Britain considered 
 ships as the territory specified in the treaty, he cer 
 tainly would, by a particular clause, have provided 
 for cases arising at sea. 
 
 That the British government considered the 
 word territory, as not applying to ships, is evident 
 from a circumstance which occurred soon after. 
 The crew of an American vessel rose upon their 
 Captain, whose name was Little, murdered him 
 and his mate, and then carried the vessel irtn Bri- 
 
 Qq 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 tain. The mutineers, in place of being sent back 
 to America, were tried and executed in England. 
 
 Judge Bee, some days before the court met, 
 received a letter from the Secretary of State, men 
 tioning that an application had been made by the 
 British minister, Mr. Listen, to the President, for 
 the delivery of the prisoner, under the 27th article 
 of Jay s treaty, and containing these words : the 
 President " advises and requests you to deliver him 
 up. " 
 
 This letter was not read in court, though it was 
 shewn to the counsel on both sides, but the follow 
 ing certificate and affidavit were produced in be 
 half of the prisoner, by his counsel, Messrs. Moul- 
 trie and Ker : 
 " United States of America, State of New-York. 
 
 " By this public instrument, be it known, &c. 
 that I, John Keese, a public Notary, &c. do hereby 
 certify, that Jonathan Robbins, who had subscri 
 bed these presents, personally appeared before me, 
 and being by me duly sworn according to law, de 
 posed : that he is a citizen of the United States of 
 America, and liable to be called into the service of 
 his country, and is to be respected accordingly at 
 all times by sea and land. 
 
 " Whereof an attestation being required, I have 
 granted this under my notarial hand and seal. 
 
 " Done at the City of New-York, in the State 
 of New- York, the 20th day of May, 1795. 
 " Quod attestor, 
 "JOHN KEESE, Notary Public." 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 307 
 
 " Jonathan Robbins, mariner, a prisoner now 
 in the custody of the marshal of the district court of 
 the United States, for South-Carolina, being duly 
 sworn, saith he is a native of the State of Connecti 
 cut, and born in Danbury, in that State ; that he has 
 never changed his allegiance to his native country ; 
 and that about two years ago, he was pressed from 
 on board the brig Betsey, of New- York, commanded 
 by Captain White, and was detained there contrary 
 to his will, into the service of the British nation, 
 until the said vessel was captured by those of her 
 crew, who took her into a Spanish port by force ; 
 and that he gave no assistance in such capture. 
 JONATHAN ROBBINS. 
 
 < Sworn this 25th July, 1799, before me, 
 
 THOMAS HALL. 
 Federal Clerk, and J. P. &. U." 
 
 The signature made by the prisoner to this affi 
 davit in court, appeared to be in the same hand 
 writing as the signature made to the one in 1 795, 
 from which circumstance it may be presumed, that 
 Jonathan Robbins is the prisoners real name. The 
 body of the affidavit made in New-York in 1795, 
 was printed; the names, dates, signatures, &c. 
 were filled up in writing ; it had the notarial seal of 
 John Keese, Esq. affixed, and had the appear 
 ance of being a genuine paper, used by seamen at 
 that day as a protection. 
 
 These affidavits, and the question whether the 
 prisoner was an American, and an impressed sea 
 man or notj were in the opinion of the court alto- 
 
308 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 gether immaterial ; and Judge Bee, without any he 
 sitation pronounced the decree for delivering up 
 a fellow-citizen into the hands of a foreign execu 
 tioner. Poor Robbins was then immediately con 
 veyed on board a British sloop of war, which car 
 ried him to Jamaica, where he received the igno 
 minious death of a traiterous assassin. 
 
 On the 28th of September a trial of the most 
 momentous nature came on before the circuit court 
 at Hartford, in Connecticut. An indictment was 
 laid against one Isaac Williams, for having, on the 
 27th of February, at Guadaloupe, accepted from the 
 French Republic a commission and instructions 
 against the king of Great Britain and his subjects, 
 contrary to the twenty-first article of the treaty with 
 the United States. 
 
 It was admitted on the part of Williams, that he 
 had committed the facts alledged against him in the 
 indictment; but in his defence, he offered to prove 
 that in the year 1792, he received from the Consul- 
 General of the French Republic a warrant appoint 
 ing him a 3d lieutenant on board the Jupiter, a 
 French 74 gun ship ; that pursuant to the appoint 
 ment, he went on board the Jupiter, took the com 
 mand to which he was appointed, which vessel soon 
 after sailed for France, and arrived at Rochfort in 
 in the autumn of the same year. That at Rochfort, 
 he was duly naturalized in the various Bureaus in 
 that port, renouncing his allegiance to all other 
 countries, particularly to America, and taking a 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 309 
 
 solemn oath of allegiance to the Republic of 
 France, who appointed him a second lieutenant 
 on board a French frigate, called the Charont, and 
 that before the ratification of the treaty of amity 
 and commerce between the United States and 
 Great Britain, he was duly commissioned a second 
 lieutenant on board a seventy-four gun ship, in the 
 service of the said Republic -, and that he had ever 
 since continued under the government of that 
 nation, most of the time actually resided in the 
 dominions of the French Republic ; that during 
 the said period, he was not resident in the United 
 States more than six months, which was in the 
 year 1796, when he came to this country for the 
 purpose merely of visiting his relations and friends; 
 that for about the three last years of his life, he had 
 been domiciliated in the island of Guadaloupe, 
 within the dominions of the French Republic, and 
 had made that place his fixed habitation, without 
 any design of again returning to the United States 
 for permanent residence. 
 
 The attorney for the district agreed that the 
 above statement was true ; but objected, that it 
 ought not to be admitted as evidence to the jury ; 
 because it could have no operation in law to jus 
 tify the prisoner for committing the facts alledged 
 against him in the indictment. 
 
 The question was then argued on both sides, by 
 the counsel for the United States, and by the coun 
 sel for the prisoner. 
 
310 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Mr. Law, District Judge, expressed doubts as 
 to the legal operation of the evidence ; and gave 
 it as his opinion, that the evidence and the opera 
 tion of law thereon, be left to the consideration of 
 the jury. 
 
 Mr. Elsworth, Chie<f JLustice of the United 
 States, gave his opinion on the question nearly to 
 the following effect : 
 
 " The common law of this country remains the 
 same as it was before the revolution. The present 
 question is to be decided by two great principles ; 
 one is, that all the members of civil community are 
 bound to each other by compact ; the other is, that 
 one of the parties to this compact cannot dissolve 
 it by his own act. The compact between our com 
 munity and its members is, that the community 
 will protect its members, and on the part of the 
 members, that they will at all times be obedient to 
 the laws of the community, and faithful in its de 
 fence. This compact distinguishes our govern 
 ment from those which are founded in violence or 
 fraud. It necessarily results, that the member can 
 not dissolve this compact, without the consent or 
 default of the community. There has been no con 
 sent. ...no defaults. ...default is not pretended 
 
 express consent is not claimed ; but it has been 
 argued, that the consent of the community is im 
 plied by its policy, its condition and its acts. In 
 countries so crowded with inhabitants, that the 
 means of subsistence are difficult to be obtained, 
 it is reason and policy to permit emigration* But 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 31 I 
 
 our policy is different, for our country is but sparely 
 settled, and we have no inhabitants to spare. 
 
 " Consent has been argued from the condition of 
 the country, because we were in a state of peace ; 
 the war had commenced in Europe. We wished 
 to have nothing to do with the war ; but the war 
 would have something to do with us. It has been 
 extremely difficult for us to keep out of this war; 
 the progress of it has threatened to involve us. It 
 has been necessary for our government to be vigi 
 lant in restraining our own citizens from those acts 
 which would involve us in hostilities. The most 
 visionary writers on this subject, do not contend for 
 the principle in the unlimited extent, that a citizen 
 may at any and all times, renounce his own, and 
 join himself to a foreign country. 
 
 "Consent has been argued, from the acts of our 
 own government, permitting the naturalization of 
 foreigners. When a foreigner presents himself here, 
 and proves himself to be of a good moral character, 
 well affected to the constitution and government of 
 the United States, and a friend to the good order 
 and happiness of civil society ; if he has resided 
 here the time prescribed by law, we grant him the 
 privileges of a citizen. We do not enquire what 
 his relation is to his own country ; we have not the 
 means of knowing, and the enquiry would be inde 
 licate -, we leave him to judge of that. If he em 
 braces himself by contracting contradictory obliga 
 tions, the faults and the folly are his own. But this 
 
312 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 implies no consent of the government, that our own 
 citizens should expatriate themselves. 
 
 " Therefore, it is my opinion, that these facts 
 which the prisoner offers to prove in his defence, 
 are totally irrevelant ; they can have no operation 
 in law, and the jury ought not to be embarrassed 
 or troubled with them ; but by the constitution of 
 the court the evidence must go to the jury." 
 
 The cause and the evidence were accordingly 
 committed to the jury, who returned a verdict find 
 ing the prisoner guilty. 
 
 The court sentenced him to pay a fine of 1000 
 dollars, and to suffer four months imprisonment. 
 
 Isaac Williams was also indicted before the 
 same court, for having on the 22d of September, 
 1799, in a hostile manner, with a privateer com 
 missioned by the French Republic, attacked and 
 captured a British ship and crew on the high seas. 
 Williams s defence on the first indictment being of 
 no avail, and having no other defence but this, he 
 pleaded guilty. 
 
 The court sentenced him to pay a fine of 1000 
 dollars, and to suffer a further imprisonment of four 
 months. 
 
 This decision called loudly for the examination 
 not only of individual citizens, but of each State 
 Legislature, and of Congress itself. The opinion of 
 Judge Elsworth, respecting the validity of the 
 common law, was both dangerous and absurd. 
 The grounds upon which he denied an American 
 citizen the right of expatriation, were equally un- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 313 
 
 founded. The merits, therefore, of these questions 
 were immediately taken up and fully discussed by- 
 several writers of the first legal abilities. Two let 
 ters in particular appeared in the Examiner, under- 
 the signature of Aristogeton, which treated this 
 subject to its very foundation $ and exposed com 
 pletely the fallacy of the arguments adduced by the 
 Chief Justice. 
 
 " What are the naturalization laws of the Uni 
 ted States ?" exclaims this writer. " They are laws 
 authorizing the subjects and citizens of foreign 
 nations to become citizens of this country ; and 
 they point out the particular mode in which they 
 may become citizens.. ..that these laws do admit 
 that the members of other communities have a 
 right to throw off their allegiance to their own coun 
 try, is evident from the language. He (the Alien) 
 shall at the time of his application to be admitted, 
 declare on oath or affirmation, that he will support 
 the constitution of the United States ; and that he 
 doth absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure 
 all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, 
 potentate, state or sovereignty whatever ; and par 
 ticularly to name the prince, potentate, state or 
 sovereignty, whereof he was before a citizen or 
 subject. 
 
 " The Alien, who visits our country for the 
 purpose of becoming a citizen, either had a right 
 to throw off his allegiance to his former sovereign 
 without obtaining the consent of that sovereign, 
 or he has not such right. If he has such right it 
 
 R r 
 
314" THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 must be a natural one, because no code of munici 
 pal laws in Europe grants the right ; nay some of 
 them expressly take it away. If it is a natural right, 
 it belongs equally to all mankind ; the citizens of 
 America, therefore, are equally entitled to it with 
 the rest of mankind. But of natural rights, men 
 cannot be fairly and properly deprived. No Con 
 gress, therefore, can properly deprive an American 
 citizen of this right. Great God ! what must have 
 been the feelings of Judge Elsworth when he was 
 depriving Williams of this natural right ? But I 
 will suppress the emotions which beat in my bo 
 som, upon the recollection of this hideous sentence, 
 and I will proceed to examine cooly and dispas 
 sionately the question. If the Alien had not a right 
 to throw off his allegiance to his own country, then 
 Congress, by making the law, have deprived foreign 
 governments of one of their most essential rights, 
 and have been moreover guilty of a crime which 
 approaches very nearly to that of man-stealing. 
 Yes ! if an individual has not a right to throw off 
 the allegiance of his country, if his sovereign s 
 consent is necessary, and if our laws do not require 
 that that consent should be given, we have cer 
 tainly violated the rights of all the sovereigns in the 
 world. We have decoyed and spirited away from 
 their own homes the members of all the sovereign 
 ties of Europe ; we have decoyed them by the most 
 extensive promises ; by the promise that they shall 
 after a short time become the citizens of a free 
 Republic - 9 that they shall enjoy here all the boun- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 315 
 
 ties of nature, and possess in security all the pro 
 ducts of their labor. This promise has been unac 
 companied with any requisition of their sovereigns 
 consent, and if we had not a right to make such an 
 unqualified promise, we have (I aver again) been 
 guilty of man-stealing.. ..And as the punishment of 
 man-stealing is death, so, when nations are guilty 
 of it, a just foundation is laid for war. Now, what 
 ever right an individual may have to think that the 
 people and the Congress of the United States have 
 violated the rights of other sovereigns, certainly a, 
 Judge can have no right to make such declaration 
 from the Bench of Justice. Such is the dilemma. 
 in which Judge Elsworth has placed himself.. ..He 
 must either admit that, according to the principles 
 of our naturalization laws, our citizens have a right 
 to expatriate themselves, or that the legislature of 
 the United States, that body whose laws (when they 
 are constituted) he is bound to expound and en 
 force, have been guilty of the most horrible of all 
 crimes, and have given a sufficient cause of war 
 to all the nations in the world." 
 
 On Thursday the 21st. of November, at New- 
 York, David Frothingham was indicted for a libel 
 against Alexander Hamilton, Esq. Major-General 
 in the service of the United States. 
 
 The publication which gave rise to the indict 
 ment was copied into the Argus of the 6th instant,. 
 from the Constitutional Telegraph, and is as fol^ 
 lows * 
 
316 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 "Extract of a letter from Philadelphia, September 2Q. 
 
 " An effort was recently made to suppress the 
 Aurora, and Alexander Hamilton was at the bottom 
 of it. Mrs. Bachewas offered 6000 dollars down, in 
 the presence of several persons, in part payment, 
 the valuation to be left to two impartial persons, 
 and the remainder paid immediately on her giving 
 up the paper; but she pointedly refused it, and 
 declared she would not dishonor her husband s me 
 mory, nor her children s future fame, by such base 
 ness : when she parted with the paper it should 
 be to Republicans only. 
 
 " I am proud to hear of your honorable State s 
 republicanism. ...The change in men s minds here 
 is truly astonishing." 
 
 The business was opened by Mr. Hoffman, as 
 Attorney-General. The bench consisted of Judge 
 Raddiff, Richard Harrison, Recorder, and the 
 Mayor of the city. No evidences were sworn on 
 either side, except Mr. C. Golden, Assistant- 
 Attorney, and General Hamilton himself. 
 
 Mr. Golden stated, that at the instance of a let 
 ter from Major-General Hamilton, he had called at 
 the office of the Argus, and was introduced to Mr. 
 Frothingham, as conductor of the business ; that 
 after some conversation, Mr. Frothingham said, he 
 expected that he was liable for any publications 
 which appeared in the Argus, but repeatedly 
 observed, that he saw no criminality in the present 
 instance as it respected him ; the plea in dispute 
 having been copied from another paper: Mr. 
 
6F JOHN ADAMS. 317 
 
 Colden added, that in pursuance of this declaration 
 Mr. Frothingham was arrested. 
 
 Major-General Hamilton was called upon, on 
 the part of the State, to prove that he was inno*- 
 cent of the charge alledged against him. This 
 was objected to by Mr. B. Livingston counsel for 
 the defendant ; and the objection admitted by the 
 court. The General was then asked to explain cer 
 tain innuendoes in the indictment, respecting specu 
 lation, &c. This having been done, he was inter 
 rogated what was generally understood by secret ser 
 vice money? being very well versed in the vernacular 
 tongue, he found some difficulty in the explana 
 tion ; but gave it as his opinion, that it meant mo 
 ney appropriated by a government, generally for 
 corrupt purposes, as it respected the country and 
 government in which it was to be distributed ; 
 but in support of the government which gave it ! 
 He was then asked, whether he considered the 
 Aurora as hostile to the government of the United 
 States ? and he replied in the affirmative ! This 
 dosed the testimony. 
 
 Mr. Brockholst Livingston then attempted to 
 prove that Mr. Frothingham was not responsible ; 
 that his declaration to Mr. Colden should not be 
 admitted as proof against him, and that the Attor 
 ney ought to have arrested the Editor. In reply to 
 this, Mr. Hoffman contended, that every journey 
 man and apprentice in the printing-office was lia 
 ble to a prosecution, as having been accessary to 
 the publication of the libel, and consequently MV. 
 
318 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Frothingham, as foreman of the office, was particu 
 larly so. To this extravagant and infamous doc 
 trine, Mr. Livingston replied with his usual perti- 
 nancy and eloquence. Mr. Livingston offered to 
 adduce proofs of the situation in which Mr. Froth- 
 ingham was placed in the office of the Argus ; but 
 this was overruled by the Court. He then went 
 into an examination of the publication, and hav 
 ing dissected it in a masterly manner, concluded 
 his defence with a few general observations. 
 
 The Jury found a verdict of guilty, but recon> 
 mended Mr. Frothingham to the mercy of the 
 Court. The latter fined him in 100 dollars, and 
 sentenced him to four months confinement in bride 
 well. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 319 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Remarks upon an Aristocratical form of Govern 
 ment. ...The Administration of Mr. Adams com 
 pared to an Aristocracy.... Quarrel at Trenton, be 
 tween Mr. Adams and his Ministers.. ..Hamil 
 ton s letter respecting their difference. ...Appoint 
 ment of an Embassy to Francc....Characters of 
 the Envoys. ...Anecdotes of Adams and Franklin.... 
 Adams s jealousy and dislike to Fra?iklin.... Adams 
 endeavors to calumniate Franklin... .Vindication 
 of Franklin....Memoirs of Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 has proved, that of the various 
 forms of Government which have prevailed in the 
 world, an Aristocracy is one of the weakest, and 
 least favorable to the happiness of mankind. ...The 
 hereditary monarch may transmit through several 
 generations, an unlimited authority with consider 
 able profit, both to art and science. ...The acknow 
 ledged right which he enjoys by birth, extinguishes 
 the spirit of faction, and renders him less cruel and 
 more attentive to the wants of the subject than an 
 host of tyrants, who, after having sported with the 
 liberties of the people, are under the necessity, in 
 order to retain the power they have unjustly seized, 
 to trample to the ground every species of honesty 
 and worth. This was the case with our late Pre 
 sident and his associates : after having wrested 
 from their fellow-citizens the liberty of speech, 
 
S20 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 they established, under the mask of freedom, an 
 Aristocracy more powerful in its nature, than either 
 the Senate of Berne, the Nobility of Venice, or the 
 Directory of France. But mutual jealousy, which, 
 sooner or later, overthrows the fabrics of the wicked, 
 overturned their schemes and ended their intentions. 
 
 In the town of Trenton, the capital of Jersey, 
 the first public schism in the Federal Cabinet took 
 place. 
 
 The particular expressions which passed on this 
 occasion, between the President and his Ministers, 
 never transpired ; but from the printed letter ad 
 dressed to Mr. Adams, by General Hamilton, we 
 are informed of the principal cause of their differ 
 ence. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton asserts, that after the failure of 
 the Pinckney Embassy to France, Mr. Adams 
 arrived at Philadelphia, from his seat at Quincy, 
 and that " the tone of his mind seemed to have 
 been raised ratherthan depressed." That his coun- 
 s^llors suggested to him, it might be expedient 
 to insert in his speech to Congress, a sentiment 
 of this import : " That after the repeatedly rejected 
 advances of this country, its dignity required that 
 it should be left with France in future to make the 
 first overture ; that if desirous of reconciliation, 
 she should evince the dispositon by sending a minis 
 ter to this government, he would be received with 
 the respect due to his character, and treated with 
 the frankness of a sincere desire of accommodati 
 on. " Mr. Adams received this suggestion in a man 
 ner both indignant and intemperate, and declared, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 321 
 
 * e That if France should send a minister to-nwrrozv, 
 he would order him back the day after." But in less 
 (says Mr. Hamilton) than forty-eight hours from 
 this extraordinary sally, the mind of Mr. Adams 
 underwent a total revolution. " He resolved not 
 only to insert in his speech the sentiment which 
 had been proposed to him, but to go farther, and 
 to declare, that if France would give explicit as 
 surances of receiving a minister from this country 
 with due respect, he would send one. * 
 
 In vain did Pinckney and M c Henry oppose this 
 resolution. Mr. Adams obstinately persisted, and 
 the declaration was introduced. 
 
 Mr. Adams appears afterwards to have nomi 
 nated Mr. Murray as envoy to the French Repub 
 lic, without previous communication with any of 
 his ministers. Shortly after he nominated two 
 more, Judge Elsworth and Mr. Davie. 
 
 Mr. Elsworth s talents were no doubt great, 
 but his opinions respecting law were formed upon 
 the Mansfield system. His decision in the case of 
 Captain Williams, was directly opposed to the law 
 of nations, and to the former practice of the Ameri 
 can courts. His knowledge of European affairs 
 was also very limited in theory as well as practice. 
 
 George Davie was better calculated for the 
 mission. This gentleman was about 40 years of 
 age ; possessed of engaging manners and an easy 
 address ; he had been educated at Princeton Col 
 lege 5 served with reputation in the revolutionarv 
 war; afterwards studied the profession of the Iaw 3 
 
 Ss 
 
322 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 and previous to bis appointment, was made a 
 General in the Provisional Army, and elected 
 Governor of North-Carolina. 
 
 When the news of the revolution in the Direc 
 tory arrived, Mr. Hamilton says, that Mr. Adams 
 was then at his seat in Massachusetts, and that his 
 ministers addressed to him a joint letter, commu 
 nicating the intelligence, ?nd submitting to his con 
 sideration, whether that event ought not to suspend 
 the projected mission. Mr. Adams, in reply, 
 directed the preparation of a draft of instructions 
 for the envoys, and intimated that their departure 
 should be suspended for some time. 
 
 Mr. Adams arrived soon after at Trenton, about 
 the 17th of October, where he held a council with 
 his ministers. Judge Elsworth and General Ham 
 ilton were also present, though not at the desire of 
 Mr. Adams. Mr. Hamilton says m his letter, that 
 he arrived at Trenton a short time before the Presi 
 dent, and Chief Justice Elsworth a short time after 
 him ; that the object of his own journey was to 
 concert with the Secretary of War, certain arrange 
 ments for the future disposition of the western 
 army, and that the cause of Judge Elsworth s ar 
 rival, was to meet his colleague. Governor Davie, 
 at the seat of government. " Yet these simple and 
 accidental occurrences," says Mr. Hamilton, " were 
 to the jealous mind of Mr. Adams, confirmations 
 strong of some mischievous plot against his inde 
 pendence." 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 323 
 
 Mr. Adams is said, at this memorable meeting, 
 to have observed a profound silence on the question, 
 whether or not it was expedient that the mission 
 should proceed. His secretaries, Pickering and 
 M Henry, as also General Hamilton, disapproved 
 of the propriety of the embassy, and endeavored to 
 bring the President over to their opinion, but their 
 arts were of no avail. The morning after the in 
 structions were settled, he signified to Mr. Picker 
 ing, that the envoys were ready to depart. 
 
 This resolution of the President was, by the 
 Hamiltonian party, regarded as bad policy, and 
 incompatible with the dignity of Americans. By 
 the anti-federalists, it was, on the contrary, esteem 
 ed a promising sentiment of repentance. ...but if 
 we examine carefully the character and motives of 
 Mr. Adams, it will appear that he was induced to 
 this conciliatory measure, neither from a disrespect 
 to his country, nor from the commendable desire 
 of promoting republicanism; but most probably 
 with the base design of rendering odious the 
 measures of his secretaries, the power of whom his 
 jealousy began to dread. 
 
 The vain and weak judgment of Mr. Adams 
 easily figured, that if Pinckney, Hamilton and 
 Pickering were removed from the road to power, 
 he might, by courting popular applause, rise on the 
 shoulders of the people to an imperial throne, from 
 whence he and his posterity might dictate to the 
 inhabitants of half the globe. 
 
 No man s vanity can reasonably be supposed to 
 exceed that of Mr. Adams. Weakness in intellect? 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 which is generally the attendant of pride, is the 
 predominant mark in his character. These causes 
 render his temper unsufferable to his most inti 
 mate friends. On many occasions, Mr. Hamil 
 ton says, " he is liable to paroxisms of anger, 
 which deprive him of self-command, and pro 
 duce very outrageous behavior to those who ap 
 proach him. But the eternal rancor which Mr. 
 Adams always evinced against the great and 
 good Franklin, is the mo?>t convincing proof, both 
 of his vanity and the weakness of his understand 
 ing ; several well attested anecdotes confirm the 
 truth of this assertion. 
 
 During the embassy of Franklin, Adams and 
 Lee at Paris, a fete was given in honor of America, 
 by a Mrs. Bertand, the Lady of a Nobleman, who 
 acted in capacity of Lord in waiting to the King. 
 Mrs. Bertand was one of those celebrated female po 
 liticians, who used to be in the employ of the Court, 
 for the purpose of discovering, by her intrigues, the 
 secret springs and intentions of foreign cabinets.... 
 she was also a lady of science, and the principal 
 patroness of the arts in Paris. Her veneration for 
 Franklin was equal to her contempt for Mr. 
 Adams ; but Adams and Lee, with almost every 
 American of education then at Paris, were of course 
 invited to partake of the pleasures of an entertain 
 ment, intended as a compliment to their country. 
 During the performance of a theatrical piece, the 
 portrait of Franklin was introduced on the stage.... 
 an universal burst of applause ensued, which wound- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMSr 325 
 
 ed the feelings of Adams to such a degree, that he 
 feigned sickness and left the performance.* 
 
 Mr. Adams soon after, in a letter to a friend in 
 this country, complained, " we are all here mere 
 satellites, revolving in the orbit of the planet Frank 
 lin, borrowing all our light from him, and unable 
 to diffuse any of our own through his superior in 
 fluence." 
 
 During his administration Mr. Adams gave 
 countenance to every calumny which reflected upon 
 the memory of that great philosopher; he enjoyed 
 with secret triumph, the vulgar and slanderous abuse 
 which was darted by the miscreant Porcupine, ai: 
 Franklin s discoveries. He was even fond and 
 sedulous, when occasion offered, to cast a shade 
 over his moral and political reputation ; but the 
 most daring and villainous scheme in which it is 
 reported Mr. Adams assisted to blacken the cha 
 racter of that illustrious man, and wound the feel 
 ings of his relations, was an attempt to accuse him 
 of public peculation. 
 
 In the early part of the American Revolution, 
 a million of livres was lent us by the French go 
 vernment. After Franklin s death, the enemies of 
 liberty spread abroad insinuations, that Dr. Frank 
 lin had appropriated this money to himself; they 
 contrived also to possess themselves of all the pub- 
 lie papers by which his defendants could vindicate 
 his reputation. This was done in the most artful 
 
 * Dr. James Smith, now in New-York, was present, and 
 seated near Mr. Adams at the above fete.. 
 
326 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 manner. The sum of ^.1 5,000 sterling, was 
 given to Mr. Charles Dilly, a book-seller in Lon 
 don, (who had contracted to publish a history of his 
 life) to purchase all the documents which he had re 
 ceived from the family of Dr. Franklin. The only 
 remaining channel of truth were the papers in pos 
 session of administration. These were applied for, 
 but refused in the most contemptuous manner, 
 " Mr. Adams was not to be disturbed, or the offi 
 ces of the Treasury ransacked, to please the whims 
 of a few individuals," was the answer reported to 
 be given. When, however, the recent change in 
 the executive took place, and the records of State 
 were brought forth from the cells of Federal fraud, 
 to blush at public inspection, the facts appeared to 
 be, viz. that the American government was charged 
 with the sum in question, and it had been allowed 
 in the general liquidation of the French debt, though 
 it had been objected to, under General Washington. 
 When Gouverneur Morris was at Paris, as our min 
 ister, he took advantage of the passions of the re 
 volutionary period, and addressed a letter to the 
 committee of Public Safety, wherein he observed, 
 " that it was time indeed to throw off that secrecy 
 which involved in obscurity the transactions of ca 
 binets, and the counsels of despots. The American 
 and French republics could have no secrets, their 
 acts were to be regulated by principles, not actua 
 ted by sordid or personal interests." He, therefore, 
 solicited an enquiry into the mode by which the 
 million in question had been bestowed, an<$ to 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 327 
 
 whom. The political fanatacism of the day, was 
 caught by the Jesuitical address of the wooden 
 legged envoy, and an account was rendered as it 
 appeared on the public record of the royal depart 
 ment of foreign affairs. 
 
 The friends of Mr. Adams had insinuated the 
 money was given to Dr. Franklin : Gouverneur 
 Morris was, therefore, instructed to carry the enqui 
 ry up to the source. After examination, he discov 
 ered that the sum had been appropriated and lent 
 to America before Dr. Franklin left this country. 
 The suspicion was, therefore, transferred to Silas 
 Deane; and it was concluded, that Deane could 
 not have -the money without Dr. Franklin parta 
 king of the spoil or conniving at the robbery. Up 
 on farther investigation, it was found that the money 
 was given even before Deane arrived in France. 
 This was a dilemma which had not been foreseen ; 
 but having proceeded so far, it was necessary to 
 go the whole length ; and upon application by 
 Mr. Morris, an official copy of the receipt was 
 given, which is now on the records of government, 
 which shows that the money was procured from the 
 Count of Vergennes, by Caron Beaumarchais ; and 
 a M. Chevalier, who acted as agent for this banker, 
 and Hves in the city of Richmond, has been de 
 bited in his account with the United States for that 
 million.* 
 
 * This circumstance I have from a near relative of Dr. Frank 
 lin, upon whose veracity I can place the greatest reliance. 
 
328 THE ADMINISTRATION* 
 
 All these facts must have been known to the 
 late administration ; but John Adams felt neither 
 the generosity nor the justice due to the memory of 
 Franklin 5 or the honor of his country, to reveal the 
 truth. 
 
 That Mr. Adams had a disposition both cruel 
 and ungenerous, is evident from a letter he v\rote 
 when in Holland to the governor of Massachusetts. 
 This letter, which was intercepted by the English 
 and published in the Annual Register for 1781, con- 
 tains the following paragraph : " It is true, I be 
 lieve, what you suggest, that Lord North shewed 
 a disposition to give up the contest, but was divert 
 ed from it, not unlikely, by the representation of the 
 Americans in London, who, in conjunction with 
 their coadjutors in America, have been thorns to us 
 indeed on both sides of the water ; but I think their 
 career might have been stopt on your side if the ex 
 ecutive officers had not been too timid in a point 
 which I so strenuously recommended at first, namely, 
 to fine, imprison and hang all inimical to the cause, 
 without favor or affection. I foresaw the evil that 
 would arise from that quarter^ and wished to have 
 timely stopt it. I would have hanged my own bro 
 ther if he had took apart with our enemy in this con 
 test: 
 
 In the course of this history, the secret con 
 nexion which existed between Mr. Adams and the 
 British minister, Mr. Liston, has been repeatedly 
 mentioned. The truth of that connexion, and the 
 influence of Great Britain upon the executive of 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 329 
 
 America, cannot be better substantiated than by an 
 intercepted correspondence between Mr. Liston 
 and President Russel, at Teranto, in UpperCanada. 
 The manner in which the letters of this correspon 
 dence were detected, is truly singular ; they were 
 seized in the custody of a notorious horse-stealer of 
 the name of Sweezy, in Bucks County, in the State 
 of Pennsylvania. Sweezy had been one of a gang 
 connected with Dones and Sinclair, two robbers, 
 who were hanged, the one in Pennsylvania, and the 
 other in New-Jersey, Sweezy himself was out 
 lawed, and fled into Canada, by the government of 
 which he was esteemed a proper person to be en 
 trusted with the dispatches of British intrigue. He 
 performed dutifully the object of his mission ; but 
 on his return his person being recognized, he was 
 pursued under the former outlawry. In the hurry 
 of escape, he left behind a small parcel, in which 
 several documents of the greatest importance to 
 the interest of this country were found. They 
 were immediately forwarded to the President of 
 the United States ; but the two following letters 
 were the only ones made public. They are, how- 
 ver, sufficient proof of the secret schemes then car 
 rying on between the government of the United 
 States and that of Great Britain : 
 
 "Philadelphia, 6th May, 1799. 
 
 "SlR, 
 
 " The government of the United States appears 
 to be nearly in the same situation with regard to 
 the Shaweneese Indians, as that of Canada is with 
 
 Tt 
 
330 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 respect to the Mohawks. The Shaweneese wisTi 
 the United States to make some alteration of their 
 limits, as fixed by the treaty of Grenville ; and at 
 the same time to confirm the sales of lands they 
 have already made, and authorize future altera 
 tions. The American ministers., on the other hand, 
 are determined not to grant this favor, and are em 
 barrassed by the persevering importunity of the 
 Indians. Advices lately arrived from Fort Wayne, 
 inform the administration, that the Shaweneese in* 
 tend this spring to call a general council of the na 
 tion, (composed of representatives from several 
 tribes) with a view to take such measures as may 
 be thought best calculated to obtain some modifica 
 tions of the Grenville treaty. ...and the information 
 adds, that this idea was first suggested by the late 
 Colonel M fr Kee, deputy-superintendant of Indian 
 affairs. 
 
 " The government consider this interference as- 
 unfriendly, and injurious to their interests ; and a 
 complaint has been made to me on the subject, by 
 the Secretary of State, with a request, that I would 
 make such representation of the matter to you, as 
 might produce a defeat of the project at present, 
 and prevent all intervention of a similar nature in 
 future. 
 
 " I informed the Secretary of State, that I could 
 scarcely bring myself to credit the report respecting 
 Colonel M Kee ; that at all events I could not con 
 ceive that any thing unfavorable to the United 
 States could have been contemplated by a public 
 
OF JOHN ADAMSS. 331 
 
 officer in the service of Great Britain ; but that I 
 would of course make the representation requested - y 
 that I made no doubt of its having the desired ef 
 fect, because I was confident that you were sin 
 cerely disposed to ward ofFevery incident that could 
 give just cause of misunderstanding between the 
 two nations. 
 
 " The situation of public affairs in this country- 
 continues the same as at the date of rny last letter, 
 unless it be that the government has given a new 
 subject of provocation to France , by encouraging 
 (in conjunction with us) the negro chief Toussaint, 
 in measures which appear ultimately to tend to a 
 separation of the island of St. Domingo from the 
 mother country. Whether this affront will be pock 
 eted by the Directory, I do not pretend to decide ; 
 but I cannot persuade myself that it is probable. 
 ** I have the honor to be, 
 
 " with great truth and respect, 
 e Sir, your most obedient, 
 " humble servant, 
 
 ROBE11T LISTON, 
 The Honorable \ 
 " President Russel." > 
 
 " Philadelphia, 23d May, 1799. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " My last letter being entrusted to a person who 
 was not going directly to Upper Canada, I am un 
 certain whether it may yet have reached yourhands, 
 and therefore take an opportunity of transmitting 
 a duplicate. 
 
332 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " On public affairs I have scarcely any thing to 
 add.... one step further on the road to a formal war 
 between France and the United States, has been ta 
 ken by the Governor of Gaudaloupe, who, in conse 
 quence of the capture of the I nsurgente frigate, has 
 authorized French ships of war to capture all Amer 
 ican vessels, whether belonging to the government 
 or to individuals. ...But the resolution of the Direc 
 tory in the great question of peace or war is not yet 
 known ; perhaps the new explosion on the conti 
 nent of Europe, may give them a degree of em 
 ployment that may retard their decision. 
 
 " In the interior of this country, the declama 
 tions of the democratic faction, on the constitution 
 ality and nullity of certain acts of the Legislature, 
 have misled a number of poor ignorant wretches 
 into a resistance to the laws and a formal insurrec 
 tion. This frivolous rebellion has been quelled by a 
 spirited effort of certain volunteer corps lately embo 
 died, who deserve every degree of praise.... \>ut the 
 conduct of these gentlemen having been shameful 
 ly calumniated by some of the popular newspapers, 
 they have ventured to take the law into their own 
 hands and to punish one or two of the printers (by 
 a smart flogging) ; a circumstance which has given 
 rise to much animosity, to threats, and to a com 
 mencement of armed associations on the side of the 
 democrats, (particularly the United Irishmen) and 
 some apprehend that the affair may lead to a partial 
 civil war. The portion, however, of the Jacobinic 
 party who could carry matters to this extremity, is 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 333 
 
 but small : tlie government is on its guard > and is 
 determined to act with vigor : and I do not ap 
 prehend any serious danger. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, 
 
 " with great truth and respect, 
 " Sir, your most obedient, 
 " humble servant, 
 
 " ROBERT LISTON." 
 
 There was a third letter from Mr. Listen, but 
 our executive would not permit a copy of it to go 
 into the hands of the public : it stated too circum 
 stantially the nature of its policy. Among other 
 promises from America to Great Britain, it was 
 mentioned that if Canada were attacked by a fo 
 reign power, the government of the United States 
 stood pledged to supply a military force adequate to 
 the exigency, to defend that colony, and to preserve 
 it to the British government. Any comment upon 
 these letters is unnecessary ; they shew in the ful 
 lest manner the practices of Listen, the intention 
 of his country, and the corruptible heart of Mr. 
 Adams, who, if he had any regard for the honor of 
 Americans, would have immediately ordered the 
 removal of that most execrable ambassador.* 
 
 * Robert Listen, now Sir Robert Listen, is well known to 
 be a native of Scotland. He received his education at the Uni 
 versity of Edinburgh, and was principally under the care of Pro 
 fessor George Stuart, father to the celebrated Gilbert Stuart. 
 To the interest, advice and recommendation of George Stuart, 
 Listen was indebted to his first success in life ; but he repaid the 
 friendship of his patron and benefactor, by the basest ingratitude. 
 
334 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 As General Hamilton acted a conspicuous part 
 during the late administration, in promoting the 
 views of the federal interest, in combating the ene 
 mies of the British treaty, and opposing what was 
 unjustly termed jacobin influence, it is proper 
 that some account of the life of that able officer and 
 intelligent lawyer, should appear in this volume. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton was born about the year 
 1753, in the island of St. Croix. His father was a 
 merchant of some eminence, and he himself was 
 educated to the same profession. He acted for 
 several years as clerk to a counting-house in that 
 island, and acquired by an active diligence, the fa 
 vor and esteem of all with whom he had connec 
 tion. At the age of eighteen he was sent in the 
 same capacity to New- York, in which sphere of life 
 he continued until the commencement of the revo 
 lutionary war. 
 
 This was the theatre for which nature had des 
 tined young Hamilton ; he entered into the Ameri 
 can army, and soon distinguished himself by un 
 common enterprise and valor. His reputation 
 procured him the appointment of an aid-de-camp 
 to General Washington. In the year 1780, he was 
 
 Dr. Gilbert Stuart, like many other men of talents, was imprudent 
 -and rather embarrassed in his circumstances ; he applied to Lis- 
 ton, as his college companion and friend in youth, for assistance.... 
 and suffered not only the refusal of a few guineas, which was 
 the humble request, but was deprived, through Listen s interfer 
 ence, who represented him as a party writer, of employment 
 from an oppulent Book-seller in London. This anecdote I had 
 personally from Professor Stuart, soon after his son s death* 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 promoted to the rank cf Colonel, and at the siege 
 of York-town commanded the attack on one of the 
 redoubts, the capture of which decided the fate of 
 Lord Cornwallis and his army. The conduct of 
 Mr. Hamilton on this occasion was truly honor 
 able, and in the history of his life, oughr to weigh 
 against several of those scars that have since stain 
 ed his character. Previous to the assault, the 
 Marquis de La Fayette proposed to General Wash 
 ington, to put to death all the British troops that 
 should be found in the redoubts, as a retaliation 
 for several acts of barbarity committed by the roy 
 al army. The steady and nervous mind of Wash 
 ington, which was never known to yield to the vir 
 tuous prejudice of compassion, gave his assent 
 to the bloody order. But Mr. Hamilton, (the ten 
 derness of whose feelings has led him into error) 
 after the redoubts were subdued, took the conquer 
 ed under his protection, and proved to his enemies 
 that Americans knew how to fight but not to mur 
 der. 
 
 When the war was at an end, and the army 
 disbanded, Mr. Hamilton betook himself to the stu 
 dy of the law. For this purpose he retired to Al 
 bany, where he secluded himself for several months, 
 at the end of which he appeared at the bar of New- 
 York, where in a short time he acquired the repu 
 tation of an able advocate in point of legal know 
 ledge and rhetorical talents. At this period the 
 political sentiments of Mr. Hamilton were ob 
 served to change. From being a zealous republi- 
 
336 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 can and the defendant of the rights of America, he 
 gradually imbibed the tenets of aristocracy, until at 
 length he became the admirer and advocate of 
 every measure allied with monarchy. 
 
 This change in Mr. Hamilton s principles, 
 which at first proceeded from conviction, and has 
 since been strengthened by views of interest, is easy 
 to be accounted for. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, unfortunately, was a native of 
 that part of the civilized world where tyranny and 
 slavery prevail in a manner even unknown to the 
 despots of Europe ; it was utterly impossible, that 
 the habits and prejudices he contracted in infancy, 
 could ever have been eradicated. The desire of 
 ambition and power, which poisoned the first drop 
 of blood that flowed in his veins, could only have 
 been suppressed by a more powerful passion : this 
 was the passion of war. Mr. Hamilton panted 
 after fame and glory, and joined the republican 
 standard as the most promising field fora display of 
 those powers he possessed. He fought for liberty 
 with the same zeal as a Briton would engage in the 
 support of the Grand Turk or Dey of Algiers. To 
 acquire the applause of his commander and the 
 respect of his fellow soldiers, was his pride and am 
 bition. In this he was successful : and while liber 
 ty was the object of his struggle, he was a republi 
 can. ...but when America procured her independ 
 ence and the horrors of a civil war were at an end, 
 Mr. Hamilton had no longer a scope for his ambi 
 tion in the theatre of arms. In his studv of law he 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 perceived another path to power ; his copious ima 
 gination took a rapid survey of the civil code, the 
 facinating structure upon which the feudal system 
 is raised, and the combined policy of English juris 
 prudence. In these fabrics of human knowledge,, 
 the production of ages, Mr. Hamilton perceived 
 something more lofty and splendid, than those sim 
 ple forms which modern republicanism cultivates. 
 The grandeur attendant on hereditary titles pleased 
 his mind and flattered his vanitj. The American 
 tory against whom he had fought, he now began to 
 defend, his cause he espoused, and in every suit 
 where a loyalist was concerned, Mr. Hamilton 
 was the royal pleader. It is a certain fact that a great 
 majority of the loyalists in the State of New-York 
 owe the restoration of their property solejy to the 
 exertions of this able orator. 
 
 Before the federal government was established, 
 in the year 1788, Mr. Hamilton proposed a new 
 constitution, to be composed of the following arti 
 cles : 
 
 ff 1. The supreme legislative power of the Uni 
 ted States of America, to be vested in two differ 
 ent bodies of men ; the one to be called the Assem 
 bly, the other the Senate, who together shall form 
 the Legislature of the United States, with power 
 to pass all laws whatsoever ; subject to the nega 
 tive hereafter mentioned. 2. The Assembly to 
 consist of persons elected by the people, to serve 
 for three years. 3. The Senate to consist of per 
 sons elected to serve during good behavior : their 
 
 U u 
 
338 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 election to be made by electors chosen for that 
 purpose by the people. ...in order to this, the States 
 to be divided into election districts. On the 
 death, removal or resignation of any Senator, his 
 place to be filled out of the district from which 
 he came. 4. The supreme Executive authority 
 of the United States to be vested in a governor^ 
 to be elected during good behavior ; the elec 
 tion to be made by electors chosen by the people, 
 in the election districts aforesaid ; the authorities 
 and functions to be as follows : To have a nega 
 tive upon all laws about to be passed, and the 
 execution of all laws passed ; to have the direc 
 tion of war, when authorized or begun ; to have, 
 with the advice and consent of the Senate, the pow 
 er of making all treaties ; to have the sole ap 
 pointment of the heads or chief officers of finance 
 and foreign affairs ; to have the nomination of all 
 other officers, ambassadors to foreign nations in 
 cluded, subject to the approbation or rejection of 
 the Senate ; to have power of pardoning all offen 
 ces except treason, which he shall not pardon with 
 out the approbation of the Senate. 5. On the 
 death, resignation or removal of the governor, his 
 authorities to be exercised by the President of the 
 Senate, till a successor be appointed. 6. The Sen 
 ate to have the sole power of declaring war, the 
 power of advising and approving all treaties, the 
 power of approving and rejecting all appointments 
 of officers, except the heads or chiefs of the depart 
 ment of finance, war and foreign affairs. 7. The 
 supreme judicial authority of the United States, to 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 339 
 
 foe vested in Judges, to hold their offices during 
 good behavior, with adequate and permanent sa 
 laries ; the court to have original jurisdiction in all 
 cases of capture, and an appellate jurisdiction in aH 
 causes on which the revenues of the general govern 
 ment or the citizens of foreign nations are concern 
 ed. 8. The legislature of the United States to 
 have power to institute courts in each State, for the 
 determination of all matters of general concern. 
 9. The Governors, Senators, and all officers of the 
 United States, to be liable to impeachment for mal 
 and corrupt conduct ; and, upon conviction, to be 
 removed from office, and disqualified for holding any 
 place of trust and profit ; and all impeachments to 
 be tried by a court, to consist of the chief 
 or judge of the superior court of law of each State, 
 provided such judge hold his place during good be 
 havior and have a permanent salary. 10. All laws 
 of the particular States, contrary to the constitution 
 or laws of the United. States, to be utterly void ; 
 and the better to prevent such laws being passed, 
 the Governor or President of each State shall be ap 
 pointed by the general government, and shall have 
 a negative upon the laws about to be passed in the 
 State of which he is Governor or President. 11. No 
 State to have any force, land or naval, and the 
 militia to be under the sole and exclusive direction 
 of the United States, the officers of which to be ap 
 pointed and commissioned by them." 
 
 Such a constitution as this, sketched out by Mr. 
 Hamilton, would have been a direct extirpation 
 
340 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 of the rights of Americans. Experience has proved, 
 that the number of Senators is so small, that a Pre 
 sident may always command the acquiescence of a 
 majority in any measure he thinks proper. If, 
 therefore, the President and the Senate were to hold 
 their places for life, nothing could be expected but 
 tyranny and corruption. With the powers confer 
 red by Mr. Hamilton, the President of the United 
 States would only require the title of monarch to 
 fit him for the company of the despots of Europe. 
 
 In the year 1738, Mr. Hamilton was appointed 
 Secretary of the Treasury; while in this department 
 a circumstance occurred, which will ever place his 
 character in a suspicious point of view. This is 
 his celebrated avowed intrigue with Mrs. Reynolds, 
 the wife of a Mr. Reynolds, whoise father had been 
 in the commissary department during the revoluti 
 onary war. Reynolds and one Jacob Clingham, a 
 clerk in the employment of Mr. Muhlenberg, were 
 arrested towards the close of 1792, at the instance 
 of Mr. Wolcott, the comptroller of the treasury, on 
 a charge for subornation of perjury Clingham 
 procured bail, but Reynolds did not. ...when the 
 latter was in custody, Clingham applied to Mr. 
 Muhlenbergh for his aid in behalf of himself and 
 Reynolds, ar<d repeatedly dropped hints, that Rey 
 nolds knew several very improper transactions of 
 Mr. Hamilton, signifying that he was deeply con 
 cerned in speculation, and that he had it in his 
 power even to hang him. This information created 
 such uneasiness in the mind of Mr. Muhlenberg, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 341 
 
 that he consulted with two of his friends, Mr. Mon 
 roe and Mr. Venable, on the subject. They waited 
 on Reynolds, who appeared to confirm the report 
 made by Clingham, and added he could not com 
 municate the particulars, as he was apprehensive it 
 might prevent his discharge, but that he would dis 
 close the whole when liberated. ...he procured his 
 discharge through the interest of Hamilton, the 
 morning after the visit of Monroe and Venable, 
 and immediately absconded. 
 
 The sudden enlargement and flight of Rey 
 nolds, were additional proofs of the truth of what 
 Clingham had suggested. Messrs. Muhlenberg, 
 Monroe and Venable, in order to obtain some in 
 formation respecting this singular story, waited 
 upon Mrs. Reynolds, the wife of the runaway.... 
 they found her alone and- in a state extremely agi 
 tated ; after some difficulty they obtained the fol 
 lowing particulars : That Colonel Hamilton and 
 her husband had been for some time in the habit of 
 correspondence, but at the request of the former 
 and in the absence of the latter, she had burned 
 almost all the letters ; that Colonel Hamilton offered 
 her his assistance to go to her friends ; and he also 
 advised that her husband should leave this country, 
 not to be seen again, in which case he would give 
 her something clever. 
 
 Mrs. Reynolds also told Clingham that her 
 husband received of Colonel Hamilton at one time, 
 eleven hundred dollars.. ..Reynolds himself said 
 that Colonel Hamilton had made thirty thousand 
 
o!2 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 dollars by speculation, and had supplied him with 
 money to speculate. 
 
 Clingham reported, that after Reynolds was 
 discharged, which was about eight or nine o clock 
 in the evening, he (Reynolds) sent a letter about 
 twelve o clock at night to Colonel Hamilton by a 
 girl, whom Reynolds followed to the door. When 
 the girl returned, he informed Clingham that he 
 need not go out of town that night, but would call 
 upon Colonel Hamilton next morning. 
 
 These are the general particulars respecting this 
 intricate correspondence, contained in the reports 
 of Messrs. Muhlenberg, Monroe and Venable, 
 which were made public by Mr. Callender in the 
 year 1796. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton immediately came forward w T ith 
 his defence, or rather a confession of a crime, even 
 of a more heinous complexion than a pecuniary spe 
 culation. He avowed himself to the world to have 
 been the seducer of an amiable, though unfortunate 
 woman. 
 
 No words can paint the baseness of this action 
 more forcibly than the language of Mr. Hamilton. 
 " The charge against me is a connection with one 
 James Reynolds, for purposes of improper pecunia 
 ry speculation. ...my real crime is an amorous con 
 nection with his wife, for a considerable time, with 
 his privity and connivance. 
 
 " This confession is not made without a blush.... 
 I cannot be the apologist of any vice, because the 
 ardor of passion may have made it mine.... I can 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 343 
 
 never cease to condemn myself for the pang which 
 it may inflict in a bosom eminently entitled to all 
 my gratitude, fidelity and love. ...but that bosom will 
 approve, that even at so great an expence, I would 
 effectually wipe away a more serious stain from a 
 name which it cherishes with no less elevation than 
 tenderness. The public too, will, I trust, excuse 
 the confession ; the necessity of it to my defence, 
 against a more heinous charge, could alone have 
 extorted from me so painful an indecorum. " 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, by his own account, became ac 
 quainted with Mrs. Reynolds in the following man 
 ner : some time in the summer of 1791, a woman 
 called, at his house in the city of Philadelphia, and 
 asked to speak with him in private, he of course at 
 tended her into a room apart from the family, with 
 a seeming air of affliction, she informed him that she 
 was a daughter of a Mr. Lewis, sister to a Mr. G. 
 Livingston of the state of New-York, and wife to 
 Mr. Reynolds, whose father was in the commissa 
 ry department during the war with Great Britain ; 
 that her husband, who for a long time had treated 
 her very cruelly, had lately left her to live with 
 another woman; and in so destitute a condition, 
 that though desirous of returning to her friends she 
 had not the means. ...that knowing Colonel Ham- 
 
 o 
 
 ilton was a citizen of New-York, and a generous 
 man, she had taken the liberty to apply to his hu 
 manity for assistance. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton says that he was disposed upon 
 hearing her story to afford her assistance, but it not 
 
34 ! THE ADMIN 1 3TR ATION 
 
 being convenient for him at the moment, he re 
 quested the place of her residence. She very rea 
 dily relieved his anxiety, and gave him the street 
 and the number of the house where she lodg 
 ed. Towards evening he put a bank bill in his 
 pocket, and making some apology to Mrs. Ham 
 ilton, went off to administer comfort to the distressed 
 female. He enquired for Mrs. Reynolds, and was 
 shewn up stairs, at the head of which the lady met 
 him, and conducted him into her be-d room. He 
 took the bill out of his pocket and slipped it into her 
 hand ; some tender conversation then ensued, from 
 which it was quickly apparent, (says Mr. Hamilton) 
 " that other than pecuniary consolation would be 
 acceptable." 
 
 Such was the nature, according to Mr. Hamil 
 ton, of his connection with Reynolds and his wife. 
 He rambled for eighteen months in this scene of 
 pollution, and squandered, by all accounts, above 
 twelve hundred dollars, to conceal the intrigue 
 from his loving spouse. Those who experience the 
 same tender feelings with Mr. Hamilton, may give 
 credit to his tale of shame; but the cold hearted en 
 quirer will more probably assign his profligacy to a 
 different cause ; at any rate he will allow that a 
 person of such amorous habits, was by no means 
 qualified to fill the office of Secretary to the Trea 
 sury. 
 
 The next important incident in the history of 
 Mr. Hamilton, is his defence of the British treaty. 
 He appointed a day to meet its opponents, and con- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 345 
 
 vince them by argument of the benefits arising 
 to the United States from the articles it contained. 
 
 No place is more unfit for a display of logical 
 reason than the assembly of a tumultuous mob.... 
 The rhetoric of Mr. Hamilton was soon overpower 
 ed by hisses and shouts of reproach. When he 
 was thus prevented from advocating its cause by 
 the force of oratory, he had recourse to the elo 
 quence of the pen, and published a series of letter;* 
 under the signature of Camillus, in defence of the 
 British treaty. 
 
 These letters, though the sentiments they con 
 tain are inimical to the interest of this country, 
 ought, notwithstanding, to be held in the highest 
 veneration, by every lover of literature. The cor 
 rect style of language which they exhibit will be 
 long a model of perfection to Americans ; and with 
 out laying claim to the gift of prophecy, I may safe 
 ly assert, that the pages of Camillus will be read 
 when the British treaty and the name of Governor 
 Jay will be otherwise buried in oblivion. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton has been severely censured, and 
 perhaps with justice, as being the author of the 
 funding system, the promoter of the snuff excise 
 law, that passed the 5th of June 1791, and the 
 cause of the war of 1790 with the North-western 
 Indians. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton was, in 1798, appointed inspec 
 tor-general and commander in chief next to Wash 
 ington, of the army of the United States. This 
 promotion the merits of Mr. Hamilton certainly 
 
 Xx 
 
346 TH ADMINISTRATION 
 
 deserved. His abilities in this respect dare not be 
 doubted. ...and if ever it should be the misfortune 
 of America to be involved in a war, while Mr. 
 Hamilton lives, it would be both imprudent and 
 unjust, were he deprived of a principal command. 
 
 The literary fame of General Washington is 
 said to have been raised on the talents of Alexan 
 der Hamilton ; and report even whispers, that 
 Hamilton himself claims the merit of Washington s 
 letters, and that he has boasted of receiving letters 
 from General Washington, with the word private 
 wrote on the back of them, and a cross drawn over 
 the seal. After opening such a parcel, the contents 
 were, " Dear Hamilton, put this into style for me" 
 prefixed to some speech or letter inclosed. The let 
 ters of Washington are, however, much inferior to 
 those of Hamilton, and differ remarkably in point 
 of style. Most probably they no more received 
 the nice correction of Hamilton, than the lectures 
 of Sir Joshua Reynolds did the finishing strokes 
 of Edmund Burke. 
 
 Such are the general outlines of the life and 
 character of Alexander Hamilton. As a soldier and 
 scholar, he has rendered most eminent services to 
 the United States, but as a political character, he 
 has been the greatest misfortune. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 347 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Meeting of the sixth Congress.. ..Presidents Speech 
 .... Death of General Washington.... Proceedings 
 of Congress.. .John Randolph insulted at the Thea 
 tre of Philadelphia... .Acts passed by Congress. 
 
 Monday the 2d of December, both houses 
 of the sixth Congress met in their first session. 
 
 Mr. Sedgwick was chosen Speaker, and oh the 
 3d of December the President delivered the follow 
 ing speech : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Senate, and 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 
 " It is with peculiar satisfaction, that I meet 
 the sixth Congress of the United States of Ameri 
 ca. Coming from all parts of the union at this cri 
 tical and interesting period, the members must be 
 fully possessed of the sentiments and wishes of our 
 constituents. 
 
 " The flattering prospects of abundance from 
 the labors of the people by land and by sea ; the 
 prosperity of our extended commerce, notwith 
 standing interruptions occasioned by the bellige 
 rent state of a great part of the world ; the return 
 of health, industry and trade to those cities which 
 have been lately afflicted with disease, and the va 
 rious and inestimable advantages, civil and religious, 
 which, secured under our happy frame of govern 
 ment, are continued to us unimpaired, demand of 
 the whole American people sincere thanks to a 
 
318 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 benevolent Deity for the merciful dispensations of his 
 Providence. But while these numerous blessingsarc 
 recollected, it is a painful duty to advert to the un 
 grateful return which has been made for them* by 
 some of the people in certain counties of Pennsyl 
 vania, who were seduced by the arts and misrepre- 
 sentationsof designing men : they have openly re 
 sisted the law directing the valuation of houses and 
 lands.. ..such defiance was given to the civil authori 
 ty as rendered hopeless all further attempts by judi 
 cial process, to enforce the execution of the law, and 
 it became necessary to direct a military force to be 
 employed consisting of some companies of regular 
 troops, volunteers and militia, by whose zeal and 
 activity, in co-operation with the judicial power, 
 order and submission were restored, and many of 
 the offenders arrested. Of these, some have been 
 convicted of misdemeanors, and others charged 
 with various crimes, remain to be tried. 
 
 " To give due effect to the civil administra 
 tion of government, and to insure a just execution 
 of the laws, a revision and amendment of the judi 
 ciary system is indispensably necessary. In this 
 extensive country, it cannot but happen that nume 
 rous questions respecting the interpretation of the 
 laws, and the rights and duties of officers and citi 
 zens must arise. ...on the one hand the laws should 
 be executed , on the other individuals should be 
 guarded from oppression. Neither of these objects 
 is sufficiently assured under the present organiza 
 tion of the judicial department: I therefore ear- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 349 
 
 netsly recommend the subject to your serious con 
 sideration. 
 
 Persevering in the pacific and humane policy 
 which had been invariably professed, and sincerely 
 pursued by the executive authority of the United 
 States, when indications were made on the part of 
 the French Republic, of a disposition to accom 
 modate the existing differences between the two 
 countries, I felt it to be my duty, to prepare for 
 meeting their advances by a nomination of minis 
 ters upon certain conditions which the honor of our 
 country dictated, and which its moderation had 
 given it a right to prescribe. The assurances which 
 were required of the French government previous 
 to the departure of our envoys, have been given 
 through their minister of foreign relations; and I 
 have directed them to proceed on their mission to 
 Paris. ...they have full power to conclude a treaty, 
 subject to the constitutional advice and consent of 
 the Senate. The characters of these gentlemen are 
 sure pledges to their country, that nothing incom 
 patible with its honor or interest, nothing incon 
 sistent with our obligations of good faith or friend 
 ship to any other nation, will be stipulated. 
 
 " It appearing probable, from the information 
 I received, that our commercial intercourse with 
 some ports in the island of St. Domingo, might safe 
 ly be renewed, I took such steps as seemed to me 
 expedient to ascertain that point : the result being 
 satisfactory, I then, in conformity to the act of Con 
 gress on the subject, directed the restraints and 
 
350 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 prohibitions of that intercourse to be discontinued, 
 on terms which were made known by proclama 
 tion. Since the renewal of this intercourse, our 
 citizens, trading in those ports with their property, 
 have been duly respected, and privateering from 
 those ports has ceased. 
 
 "In examining the claims of British subjects 
 by the commissioners at Philadelphia, under the 
 sixth article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and 
 Navigation with Great Britain, a difference of opin 
 ion on points deemed essential in the interpretation 
 of that article, has arisen between the commission 
 ers appointed by the United States and the other 
 members of that board, from which the former have 
 thought it their duty to withdraw. It is sincerely 
 to be regretted that the execution of an article pro 
 duced by a mutual spirit of amity and justice, 
 should have been thus unavoidably interrupted.... 
 it is, however, confidently expected, that the same 
 spirit of amity, and the same sense of justice in 
 which it originated, will lead to satisfactory expla 
 nations. In consequence of the obstacles to the 
 progress of the commission in Philadelphia, his 
 Britannic Majesty has directed the commissioners 
 appointed by him, under the 7th article of the trea 
 ty relating to British captures of American vessels^ 
 to withdraw from the board sitting in London, but 
 with the express declaration of his determination 
 to fulfil with punctuality and good faith, the en 
 gagements which his Majesty has contracted by 
 his treaty with the United States, and that they will 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 351 
 
 be instructed to resume their transactions, whenever 
 the obstacles which impede the progress of the 
 Commission at Philadelphia shall be removed. 
 
 " It being in like manner, my sincere determin 
 ation, so far as the same depends on me, with that 
 equal punctuality and good faith, the engagement 
 contracted by the United States in their treaties with 
 his Britannic Majesty, shall be fulfilled, I shall im 
 mediately instruct our Minister at London, to en 
 deavor to obtain the explanations necessary, to a 
 just performance of those engagements on the part 
 of the United States. ...with such dispositions on 
 both sides I cannot entertain a doubt, that all diffi 
 culties will soon be removed, and that the two 
 boards will then proceed and bring the business 
 committed to them respectively, to a satisfactory 
 conclusion. 
 
 cc The act of congress relative to the seat of the 
 government of the United States, requiring that on 
 the first Monday of December next, it should be 
 transferred from Philadelphia to the district cho 
 sen for its permanent seat; it is proper for me to 
 inform you, that the commissioners appointed to 
 provide suitable buildings for the accommodation 
 of Congress and the President, and for the public 
 officers of the government, have made a report of 
 the state of the buildings designed for these pur 
 poses in the city of Washington, from whkh they 
 conclude, that the removal of the seat of govern 
 ment to that place at the time required will be 
 practicable, and the accommodation satisfactory.,.. 
 Their report will be laid before you, 
 
352 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 " I shall direct the estimates of the appropria 
 tions necessary for the service of the ensuing year, 
 together with an account of the revenue and ex 
 penditure to be laid before you. During a period 
 in which a great portion of the civilized world has 
 been involved in war, unusually calamitous and 
 destructive, it was not to be expected that the Uni 
 ted States could be exempted from extraordinary 
 burthens. 
 
 <c Although the period is not arrived when the 
 measures adopted to secure our country against fo 
 reign attack, can be renounced ; yet it is alike ne 
 cessary to the honor of the government, and the 
 satisfaction of the community, that an exact ceco- 
 nomy should be maintained. I invite you, gentle 
 men, to investigate the different branches of the 
 public expenditure. ...the examination will lead to 
 beneficial intrenchments, or produce a conviction 
 of the wisdom of the measure to which the expen 
 diture relates. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Senate, and 
 
 "Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 " At a period like the present, when momentous 
 changes are occurring, and every hour is preparing 
 new and great events in the political world.... when 
 a spirit of war is prevalent in almost every nation 
 with whose affairs the interests of the United States 
 have any connection; unsafe and precarious would 
 be our situation, were we to neglect the means of 
 maintaining our just rights. The result of the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 353 
 
 mission to France is uncertain , but however it may 
 terminate, a steady perseverance in a system of na 
 tional defence, commensurate with our resources 
 and the situation of our country, is an obvious dic 
 tate of wisdom. For remotely as we are placed 
 from the belligerent nations, and desirous as we 
 are by doing justice to all to avoid offence to any, 
 nothing short of the power of repelling aggressions 
 will secure our country a rational prospect of escap 
 ing the calamities of war or national degradation. 
 As to myself, it is my anxious desire so to execute 
 the trust reposed in me, as to render the people 
 of the United States prosperous and happy. I rely 
 with entire confidence on your co-operation in ob 
 jects equally your care, and that our mutual labors 
 will serv 7 e to increase and confirm union among our 
 fellow-citizens, and an unshaken attachment to our 
 government." 
 
 On the motion of Mr. Bayard, the President s 
 speech was referred to a committee of the whole 
 house, on the state of the union. On Monday the 
 9th of December, both houses of Congress waited 
 separately upon the President with their respective 
 addresses. 
 
 On Wednesday the ilth of December, Mr. 
 Harper, by the direction of the committee of ways 
 and means, brought in a bill to amend the act, en 
 titled, " An act to provide for the valuation of 
 lands and dwelling houses, and the enumeration of 
 slaves within the United States/ which was grant 
 ed. 
 
 Yv 
 
354 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Monday, December 16, Mr. H. Lee moved, 
 that a committee be appointed to report whether 
 any, and if any, what alterations were necessary to 
 be made in the militia law of the United States. 
 
 In prefacing his motion, General Lee said "he 
 wished to call the attention of the house to a sub 
 ject highly interesting to the citizens of the United 
 States, and deserving the serious attention of its 
 legislature. He thought the system heretofore 
 pursued was radically wrong, and viewed every 
 measure which was not predicated on the wishes 
 of the people, as answering but little effect. He 
 wished to see that system of defence which, grow 
 ing out of nature, should enable all men to serve 
 without injuring their families. ...the youth of our 
 country should alone be called upon, who would 
 be found sufficiently adequate for its defence. Se 
 venteen and twenty-six, were the age of which the 
 defenders of our country should consist. When 
 father arid son are arrayed in the same ranks, a wa 
 vering must take place, and present an opportunity 
 for an impression from the enemy." 
 
 During the same sitting, a report was made by 
 the commissioners of the sinking fund, inclosing 
 a report to them from the secretary of the treasury, 
 and sundry official statements of the accounting of 
 ficers of the treasury department, relative to the 
 measures which had been authorized by the com 
 missioners, for purchasing the public debt subse 
 quent to their report of the 15th December, 1798. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 355 
 
 By the secretary s report, it appeared that the 
 sum of 1,034,938-2 dollars had been applied to 
 wards the discharge of the principal debt of the 
 United States. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 1 1 8th of December, congress 
 received the afflicting intelligence of the death of 
 General Washington. 
 
 General Marshall came into the House of Re 
 presentatives, after the journal was read, apparent 
 ly much agitated, and addressed the Speaker in the 
 following words: 
 
 o 
 
 " Information, Sir, has just been received, that 
 our illustrious fellow-citizen, the commander in 
 chief of the American army, and the late President 
 of the United States, is no more." 
 
 The House of Representatives, as well as the 
 Senate, in consequence of a national calamity so 
 heavy and distressing, immediately adjourned. 
 
 Some account of this great and virtuous soldier 
 may, perhaps, be here expected; but this is a task 
 of too important a nature to be discussed in the 
 trifling compass of a few pages. The life of Wash 
 ington is a subject which ought not to be polluted 
 by a transient sketch, or connected with the vices 
 of a corrupted administration. Whatever might be 
 the errors which the weakness of age induced 
 Washington to commit in the latter period of life, 
 his former actions ought to screen them from the 
 virulence of calumny, and protect his memory from 
 the reproach of party spirit. A certain republican 
 writer has indulged too freely in the abuse of this 
 great patriot. Perhaps even the compiler of this 
 
356 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 volume may be censured for the same reason ; but 
 whenever any unwarranted expressions are drop 
 ped, they ought to be regarded as the effect of a 
 survey of his politics abstracted from the man. 
 When we separate the latter from the former, w r e 
 view only a monument of virtue and wisdom, but 
 when we blend them together, we are forced to 
 regret the tarnish and incrustation of prejudice, 
 which time had inflicted. 
 
 The House of Representatives, at their next 
 meeting, exhibited a pleasing, though mournful 
 evidence of the respect which was felt for the cha 
 racter of General Washington. The Speaker s 
 chair and table, and the tables on each side, were 
 entirely shrouded in black ; the casement in the 
 rear of the Speaker s chair, and the recess, were also 
 elegantly ornamented with mourning ; the prints 
 presented to the house by Mr. Trumbull, the histo 
 rical painter, were overhung with curtains of black. 
 Between these, and in the centre of the house, -<\ 
 striking likeness of the illustrious Hero was added, 
 which acted as a feeling index of the weeping 
 emblems that surrounded it. 
 
 On January the 2d, a petition was presented 
 to the House of Representatives, by Mr. Wain, 
 from the free blacks of the city and county of Phi 
 ladelphia, prating fora revision of the laws of the 
 United States, relative to the slave trade ; of the 
 act relative to fugitives from justice, and for the 
 adoption of such measures as should in due time 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 357 
 
 emancipate the whole of their brethren from their 
 disagreeable situation. 
 
 Mr. Rutledge opposed the petition with the 
 abusive insolence so natural to this southern legis 
 lator. " The gentlemen who formerly (said Rut- 
 ledge) used to advocate liberty, have retreated from 
 their post and committed the important trust to the 
 care oi black patriots ; they tell the house they are 
 in s]avery....fhankGod they are. They say they arc 
 not re presented.. ..certainly they are not ; and I trust 
 the day will never arrive zvhen the Congress of the 
 United States will display a parly colored assembly. 
 Too much of this new-fangled French philosophy of 
 liberty and equality has found its way among these 
 gentlemen of our plantations, for which nothing will 
 do but liberty" 
 
 Harrison G. Otis brought forward his usual 
 eloquence on this occasion : he said that though 
 he possessed no slaves he saw no reason why 
 others might not, and that the proprietors of 
 them were the fittest persons, and not Congress, to 
 regulate that species of property. 
 
 Mr. Thatcher, to the surprise of many, differed 
 from his countryman ; and thought the petitions of 
 black men deserved equal consideration with those 
 of whites. 
 
 Mr. Brown, of Rhode-Island, argued that the 
 petition was not the production of the negroes, but 
 the contrivance of a combination of jacobins, who 
 had troubled Congress for many vears past, and he 
 feared never would cease. lie begged, therefore. 
 
358 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 that the gentleman who put the petition on the ta 
 ble, might be desired to take it back again. He 
 was truly sorry to see such a dangerous paper sup 
 ported by such a worthy member of the house and 
 good federalist as Mr. Thatcher. 
 
 Messrs. Gallatin, Smilie, Dana, Bird and Ed- 
 mond, supported the motion ; but when the yeas 
 and nays were agreed to be taken, Mr. Wain with 
 drew his motion and substituted another ; which 
 went to say, that certain parts of the petition should 
 be reserved, so as to obviate the most particular 
 objection urged against a reference. 
 
 A resolution by Mr. Nicholas, for reducing the 
 army establishment, was taken into consideration 
 upon the 10th of January, but negatived, there be 
 ing 39 in favor of it, and 59 against it. 
 
 The debates upon this resolution gave rise to 
 an affair which reflected considerable disgrace both 
 upon the President and the military of the United 
 States ; viz. the unwarrantable assault upon Mr. 
 John Randolph, a Representative from the State 
 of Virginia, 
 
 Mr. Randolph had in the course of his speech 
 on that occasion, unfortunately used the term Rag- 
 gamiiffins, in speaking of the army. A phrase so 
 degrading was certainly improper, but Mr. Ran 
 dolph had been warmed by debate, and the con 
 duct of Truxton, the panegyrist of Sterret, was 
 fresh in his memory. At any rate Mr. Ran 
 dolph was protected by an express clause of the 
 constitution, however insulting his censures on 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 359 
 
 the conduct of the army or navy officers might ap 
 pear. 
 
 On the evening of the 10th of January, Mr. 
 Randolph went to the theatre in Philadelphia. 
 During the representation, one Captain M Knight 
 and a Lieutenant Reynolds, of the marines, took 
 frequent opportunities of peeping into the box 
 where Mr. Randolph was, and of whispering to 
 each other. At length they entered into it, and re 
 peated several times in an elevated tone of voice, 
 the word raggamuffins ; with some other expres 
 sions which could not be mistaken. Mr. Randolph 
 took not the smallest notice of their rudeness. Rey 
 nolds, in order to provoke a quarrel, leaped upon 
 the seat where he was sitting ; and though the seat 
 was crouded, squeezed himself into it close to Ran 
 dolph s side. The latter made as much room as 
 possible for the marine bravado, who perceiving 
 his attempts were in vain, rose and came away. 
 Captain M Knight then came forward, and acted 
 over the same scene of disgusting rudeness ; an 
 other officer of the name of Taylor, who also bore 
 the rank of captain, performed the part of prompt 
 er, but had not the effrontery to take part in the 
 assault himself. 
 
 At the close of the performance, when Mr. 
 Randolph was coming down the stair-case, one of 
 the officers came behind and pulled him backwards 
 by the neck of his coat, while the other two severe 
 ly justled him, but Mr. Randolph having quickly 
 
360 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 extricated himself, all the three scampered off.... No 
 farther disturbance took place. 
 
 Next day Mr. Randolph addressed the follow 
 ing letter to the President : 
 
 "SlR, 
 
 " Known to you only as holding, in common 
 with yourself, the honorable station of servant to 
 the same sovereign people, and disclaiming all 
 pretensions to make to you any application which^ 
 in the general estimation of men, requires the pre 
 face of apology, I shall, without the circumlocution 
 of compliment, proceed to state the cause which 
 induces this address. 
 
 " For words of a general nature, uttered on the 
 floor of the house, and addressed in my official ca 
 pacity, to the chairman of the committee of the 
 whole, and urged with a view to effect the reduction 
 of a military establishment, I have been grossly 
 and publicly insulted by two officers of the army, 
 (or navy, I know not which) with evident intention 
 to provoke me to a conduct which, in some sort, 
 might justify the hostile designs which they mani 
 festly entertained towards me, and from the execu 
 tion of which I believe they were only deterred by 
 the presence of several of my friends, (members of 
 this house) who felt themselves implicated in an in 
 sult which, although more particularly offered to 
 one, was certainly levelled at all. 
 
 "I am acquainted with the name of one only of 
 these unfortunate young men, who appear to have 
 made so false an estimate of true dignity of charac- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 361 
 
 ter ; who seem to have mistaken brutality for spirit, 
 and an armed combination against an individual, 
 for an indication of courage. 
 
 " He was called, I think, M c Knight.... rank un 
 known, and, to my best recollection, of the navy. 
 Mr. Christie, a member of this house, appeared to 
 know him ; and that gentleman, with captain 
 Campbell Smith, who, as I understood, endeavored 
 to deter those rash youths from their scheme, and 
 whose conduct would evince, if indeed there were 
 any need of proof, that the character of the man 
 and the citizen is not incompatible with the pro 
 fession of the soldier, can give an account of the 
 various instances of misconduct which were exhi 
 bited by the same parties. Mr. Van Rensselaer 
 the Lieutenant -Governor of New-York, Mr. Ni 
 cholas, Mr. Glen, and Mr. Macon, of the House of 
 Representatives, were likewise present at the trans 
 actions. 
 
 " Having stated the fact, it would be deroga 
 tory to your character, Sir, for me to point out the 
 remedy, which it is your province to provide, nor 
 shall I descend from the respect which I owe my 
 self to declare what are not the considerations 
 which govern my conduct on this occasion ; so far 
 as they relate to this application addressed to you 
 in a public capacity, they can only be supposed by 
 you to be of a public nature ; and it is enough for 
 me to state that the independence of the legislature 
 has been attacked, the majesty of the people, of 
 which you are the principal representative, insulted, 
 
 
362 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 and your authority contemned. In their name I 
 demand that a provision commensurate with the evil 
 be made, and which will be calculated to deter 
 others from any future attempt to introduce the 
 reign of terror into our country. In addressing you 
 in the plain language of man, I give you, Sir, the 
 best proof that I can afford, of the estimation in 
 which I hold your office, and your understanding - 9 
 and I assure you with truth, that I am, with respect, 
 your fellow-citizen, 
 
 "JOHN RANDOLPH, JUN. 
 " To the President of the ) 
 " United States." ) 
 
 Mr. Adams, upon receiving the above, inclo 
 sed it with the following message to the House of 
 Representatives : 
 
 f( Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 
 " As the inclosed letter, from a member of your 
 house, received by me in the night of Saturday the 
 llth instant, relates to the privileges of the house, 
 which, in my opinion, ought to be enquired into in 
 the house itself, if any where, I have thought pro 
 per to submit the whole letter, and its tendencies, to 
 your consideration, without any other comments 
 on its matter or style. 
 
 " But as no gross impropriety of conduct, on 
 the part of persons holding commissions in the army 
 or navy of the United States, ought to pass without 
 due animadversion, I have directed the Secretary 
 of War, and the Secretary of the Navy, to investi 
 gate the conduct complained of, and to report to 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 363 
 
 me, without delay, such a statement of facts as 
 will enable me to decide on the course, which 
 duty andjustice shall appear to prescribe. 
 
 "JOHN ADAMS. 
 " United States, \ 
 " 14th Jan. 1800." } 
 
 Mr. Kittera moved, when the message was re 
 ceived, that it, and the letter accompanying it, be 
 referred to a select committee. 
 
 Mr. Randolph hoped it would not. It was far 
 from his expectations, he said, when he addressed the 
 letter now before the house, to the President, that 
 it would have been made the subject of a commu 
 nication. Had he thought the house could have re 
 medied the abuse complained of, he would have 
 entered his complaint here ; but he did not conceive 
 it within their jurisdiction ; and he was opposed to 
 it as being a bad precedent, which might, at some 
 future period, be prostituted to purposes injurious 
 to the country. The power of the commander in 
 chief of the army, in his opinion, was sufficient to 
 afford a remedy, and to restrain men under his com 
 mand from giving personal abuse and insult; and 
 he, therefore, disclaimed any wish that the house 
 should take measures for his protection. 
 
 The voice of the house appeared to be unani 
 mous for the commitment, and several members 
 expressed an opinion, that the President, in sub 
 mitting the subject to the house, had acted judici 
 ously, it being a question on which he could not, dare 
 not decide. ...it was a constitutional prerogative 
 
364- THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 vested in that house alone, and that house, after 
 having a statement of facts, were to be the sole 
 judges of them. The wish of the complainant to 
 suspend enquiry, ought not to have any weight, for 
 if a member was to be insulted for language made 
 use of in debate, there was an end to all legislation, 
 and they might as well return to their homes at once. 
 
 The question for commitment was put and car 
 ried, and Mr. C. Goodrich, Mr, Macon, Mr. Kit- 
 tera, Mr. Sewall, Mr. Robert Williams, and Mr. 
 Bayard were appointed. 
 
 This committee, upon a review of the evidence 
 produced before t lem, found that sufficient cause 
 did not appear for the interposition of the house, on 
 the grounds of a breach of privilege. 
 
 Thus was a most unwarranted insult offered to 
 a representative, passed over with impunity. The 
 conduct of Mr. Adams on this occasion, was high 
 ly censurable. In him properly was vested the 
 power of checking the arrogant insolence of mili 
 tary puppies, who dare to assume, in a free country, 
 that authority which is only suffered in the domin 
 ions of despotism. 
 
 No cause hastended more to reflect disgrace on 
 the profession of arms, than the modern practice of 
 investing with command a beardless boy, without 
 either education or experience, and whose only 
 pursuits in life have been passed in the bed-chain- 
 ber of an indulgent mother. This practice is 
 more prevalent in Britain than in any country of 
 Europe. One half of the officers who command the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 365 
 
 armies of George, are drawn at the age of twelve 
 and thirteen, from the mountains of Caledonia, ig 
 norant of every art in life, but that of procuring the 
 food which their barren vallies afford, and of paying 
 an implicit obedience to a tyrant chieftain equally 
 destitute of understanding as the soil which gave 
 him birth. 
 
 Among many other absurd usages, this is one 
 which America has borrowed from her mother 
 country ; for of all the classes of citizens in the Uni 
 ted States, the officers of the navy appear in 
 general to be most removed from the state of 
 science and literature....! make not this remark to 
 detract from their bravery. This qualification they 
 certainly possess in an equal degree with any nation 
 of the world ; but it ought to be remembered, that 
 courage, though an essential, constitutes but a 
 small part of the requisite education of a modern 
 soldier. In a republic, in particular, the study of 
 military and naval tactics ought to be cultivated 
 with the greatest zeal, and the morals of the young 
 soldier guarded with the strict eye of virtue and re 
 ligion. No man is to be so much respected as the 
 soldier who understands his profession, defends the 
 rights of his country, and adores his creator ; while 
 no miscreant ought to be held in such contempt 
 as the livery bravado, who knows neither the re 
 spect due to his country or to his God. 
 
 Both Houses of Congress rose upon the 4th of 
 May, after passing the following acts : 
 
366 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 1. An act for reviving and continuing suits and 
 proceedings in the circuit court for the district of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 2. An act extending the privilege of franking 
 to William Henry Harrison, the delegate from the 
 Territory of the United States, North West of the 
 Ohio ; and making provision for his compensa 
 tion. 
 
 3. An act supplementary to the act, intitled, 
 " An act to provide for the valuation of lands and 
 dwelling houses, and the enumeration of slaves, 
 within the United States." 
 
 4. An act for the relief of persons imprisoned 
 for debt. 
 
 5. An act for the preservation of peace with the 
 Indian tribes. 
 
 6. An act to repeal part of an act, intitled, 
 " An act to provide for mitigating or remitting the 
 forfeitures, penalties and disabilities, accruing in 
 certain cases therein mentioned, and to continue in 
 force the residue of the same. * 
 
 7. An act for the relief of John Vaughan. 
 
 8. An act giving further time to the holders of 
 military warrants, to register and locate the same. 
 
 9. An act to suspend in part an act, intitled, 
 " An act to augment the army of the United States, 
 
 and for other purposes. " 
 
 10. An act further to suspend the commercial 
 intercourse between the United States and France, 
 and the dependencies thereof. 
 
 1 1 . An act for the relief of James Yard. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 367 
 
 12. An act providing for the second census, or 
 en umeration of the inhabitants of the United States. 
 
 13. An act in addition: to the act, intitled, " An 
 act regulating the grants of land appropriated for 
 military services, and for the Society of the United 
 Brethren, for propagating the gospel among the 
 Heathen." 
 
 14. An act to provide for salvage in cases of 
 re-capture. 
 
 15. An act declaring the assent of Congress to 
 certain acts of the States of Maryland and Georgia. 
 
 16. An act to alter the times of holding the dis 
 trict court in North-Carolina. 
 
 17. An act for the relief of Campbell Smith. 
 
 18. An act to extend the privilege of franking 
 letters and packages to Martha Washington. 
 
 19. An act to establish an universal system of 
 bankruptcy throughout the United States. 
 
 20. An act to discharge Robert Sturgeon from 
 his imprisonment. 
 
 21. An act to allow a drawback of duties on 
 goods exported to New-Orleans, and thereby to 
 amend the act, intitled, ec An act to regulate the 
 collection of duties on imports and tonnage." 
 
 22. An act to continue in force Cf An act con 
 cerning certain fisheries of the United States, and 
 for the regulation and government of the fishermen 
 employed therein," and for other purposes as there 
 in mentioned. 
 
 23. An act to alter the form of certain oaths 
 and affirmations, directed to be taken by the act, 
 
S68 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 intitled, " An act providing for the second census, 
 or enumeration of the inhabitants of the United 
 States. 
 
 24. An act for the relief of the Corporation of 
 Rhode-Island College. 
 
 25. An act to extend the privilege of obtaining 
 patents for useful discoveries and inventions, to 
 certain persons therein mentioned, and to enlarge 
 and define the penalties for violating the rights of 
 patentee. 
 
 26. An act to fix the compensation of the Pay 
 master-General, and assistants to the Adjutant-Ge 
 neral. 
 
 27. An act to continue in force, the act, inti 
 tled, "An act to authorise the defence of the mer 
 chant vessels of the United States, against French 
 depredations." 
 
 28. An act to continue in force, for a limited 
 time, an act, intitled, "An act to prescribe the 
 mode of taking evidence in cases of contested elec 
 tions for members of the House of Representatives 
 of the United States, and to compel the attendance 
 of witnesses. * 
 
 29. An act fixing the rank and pay of the com 
 manding officer of the corps of marines. 
 
 30. An act supplementary to the act to regu 
 late trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, 
 and to preserve peac e on the frontiers. 
 
 31. An act to establish a general stamp-office. 
 
 32. An act to alter and to establish sundry post 
 roads. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 369 
 
 S3. An act for the better government of the 
 navy of the United States. 
 
 34. An act respecting the mint. 
 
 35. An act to continue in force the act, in ad 
 dition to the act for the punishment of certain 
 crimes against the United States. 
 
 36. An act to repeal the act laying duties on 
 mills and implements employed in the manufacture 
 of snuff. 
 
 37. An act to make further provision for the 
 removal and accommodation of the government of 
 the United States. 
 
 38. An act to authorise the President of the U- 
 nited States to accept for the United States, a ces 
 sion of jurisdiction of the territory west of Penn 
 sylvania, commonly called the western reserve of 
 Connecticut. 
 
 39. An act to provide for re-building the light 
 house at New-London ; for the support of a light 
 house at Clark s Point ; for the erection and sup 
 port of a light-house at Wigwam Point ; and for 
 other purposes. 
 
 40. An act supplementary to the laws now in 
 force, fixing the compensation of the officers of the 
 Senate and House of Representatives. 
 
 41. An act to divide the territory of the United 
 States north-west of the Ohio, into two separate 
 governments. 
 
 42. An act to enable the President of the Uni 
 ted States to borrow money for the public service. 
 
 A a a 
 
37O THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 43. An act to continue in force an act laying 
 an additional duty on salt imported into the United 
 States, and for other purposes. 
 
 44. An act to authorise the allowance of a cre 
 dit to William Tazewell. 
 
 45. An act to authorise the sale and convey 
 ance of lands, in certain cases, by the marshals of 
 the United States, and to confirm former sales. 
 
 46. An act for the regulation of the public ar 
 senals and magazines. 
 
 47. An act making appropriation for the support 
 of government, for the year one thousand eight 
 hundred. 
 
 48. An act making appropriations for the mili 
 tary establishment of the United States, for the year 
 one thousand eight hundred. 
 
 49. An act to establish the district of Kennc- 
 bunk, and to annex Lyme to New-London, to alter 
 the district of Bermuda-Hundred and City-Point, 
 and further to amend the act regulating the collec 
 tion of duties on imports and tonnage. 
 
 50. An act supplemental to the act, intltled, 
 " An act for an amicable settlement of limits with 
 the state of Georgia, and authorising the establish 
 ment of a government in the Missisippi territory." 
 
 5 1 . An act in addition to the act, intitled, " An 
 act to prohibit the carrying on the slave trade from 
 the United States to any foreign place or country." 
 
 52. An act for the relief of Ithamar Canfield. 
 
 53. An act to provide for equalizing the valua 
 tion of unseated lands. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 371 
 
 54. An act supplementary to an act, intitled, 
 " An act to establish the compensation of the officers 
 employed in the collection of the duties on impost 
 and tonnage. " 
 
 55. An act to amend an act, intitled, "An act 
 for the sale of the lands of the United States in the 
 territory north-west of the river Ohio., and above 
 the mouth of Kentucky river/ 
 
 56. An act to make appropriations for the navy 
 of the United States during the year 1800. 
 
 57. An act to ascertain the compensation O f 
 public ministers. 
 
 58. An act supplementary to the act, intitled, 
 " An act to establish the treasury department. 
 
 59. An act to authorise the issuing of certain 
 patents. 
 
 60. An act directing the payment of adetatch- 
 ment of the militia under the command of Major 
 Thomas Johnson, in the year 1794. 
 
 6 1 . An act to retain a further sum on drawbacks 
 for the expences incident to the allowance and pay 
 ment thereof, and in lieu of stamp duties on deben 
 tures. 
 
 62. An act to make provisions relative to rations 
 for Indians, and for their visits to the seat of go 
 vernment. 
 
 63. An act to authorise certain expenditures, 
 and to make certain additional appropriations for 
 the year 1800. 
 
 64. An act to lay additional duties on certain 
 articles imported. 
 
572 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 65. An act enlarging the powers of surveyors 
 of the revenue, 
 
 66. An act to appropriate a certain sum of mo 
 ney to defray the expences of holding treaty or trea 
 ties with the Indiar^. 
 
 67. An act to malce further provisions for the 
 children of colonel John Harding and major Alex 
 ander Trueman, deceased. 
 
 68. An act supplementary to the act establish 
 ing the mint, and regulating the coins of the United 
 States. 
 
 69. An act supplementary to the act to suspend 
 part of an act, intitled, " An act to augment the 
 army of the United States/ and for other purposes. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Remarks on the Constitution oj Connecticut.... Trials 
 of Cooper* Fries > Calknder and Holt.... General 
 observations. 
 
 those States which were the abettors of 
 John Adams and his party, and the opposers of the 
 rights of American citizens, none, not even Massa 
 chusetts, the cradle of aristocracy, made such a con 
 spicuous figure as the small State of Connecticut. 
 This naturally excites our wonder and astonish 
 ment, as the inhabitants of this State are principal- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 373 
 
 ly employed in the peaceful occupation of husband- 
 jy. But the surprise of the reader will vanish 
 when he is informed that in no part of the world 
 the bigotry of priesthood reigns so triumphant, or 
 that the dark shades of superstition no where cloud 
 the understanding of man in such a degree, as 
 among the unhappy natives of Connecticut. 
 
 This State has not formed any constitution since 
 the revolution, but ancient superstition and the 
 prejudice of custom have established an hierarchy, 
 which is directed by a sovereign pontiff, twelve 
 cardinals, a civil council of nine, and about four 
 hundred parochial bishops. 
 
 The present priest, who may be honored with 
 the appellation of Pope, is Timothy Dwight, Presi 
 dent of Yale college. The corporation of this col 
 lege, which seems to be the main spring and vital 
 part of the State government, is composed of the 
 President, twelve clergymen, and seven senior 
 members of the first branch of the State Legislature. 
 The clerical part are all denominated Congregation- 
 alists, which is the prevailing and principal religi 
 ous order in Connecticut. 
 
 The Legislature sits twice each year. The re 
 presentative branch is chosen for each session ; the 
 other branch and chief officers of government, are 
 chosen annually. The people qualified to vote in 
 elections, assemble in their several districts in the 
 month of September, annually, and elect their re 
 presentatives ; they also vote for a certain number 
 of persons who are to be candidates, or to stand in 
 
374 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 nomination for election into the first branch of the 
 Legislature at the next annual election. In April, 
 the people qualified to vote, assemble again, choose 
 their representatives, vote for governor, lieutenant- 
 governor, and some other officers of government 
 for the year ensuing ; and also from the list or no 
 mination made at the preceding meeting in Sep 
 tember, they at that time elect the persons who are 
 to compose the first branch of the Legislature. In 
 May the Legislatures convene, when the votes for 
 governor, &c. are canvassed, and the result of the 
 election proclaimed. ...This is called the general 
 election. The representatives in Congress are 
 elected from a previous nomination, made once in 
 two years, in the form already mentioned. 
 
 The annual commencement at Yale college 
 takes place in September, a short time previous to 
 the election of the Legislature. At this time the pre 
 sident is attended by his twelve cardinal members 
 of the corporation, the governor, lieutenant-gov 
 ernor, and seven other senior members of the first 
 legislative house (which compose the lay part) and 
 the greatest part of the clergy. On this occasion, 
 the governor and other civilians are subordinate to 
 the president, and they feel deeply impressed with 
 a sense of their subordination, knowing that he can 
 kill or make alive at the next annual election ; that 
 he emphatically holds the keys which command 
 their political damnation or salvation. 
 
 The Pope, being thus surrounded by his cardi 
 nals, his civil councils and his parochial bishops, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 375 
 
 determines the order and detail of the ensuing elec 
 tion. Each one returns home with a perfect un 
 derstanding of the part he is to act. The clergy 
 apply themselves to such persons in their respec 
 tive parishes as can most effectually influence the 
 representatives in Congress; and the members of the 
 first legislative branch being chosen from the State 
 at large, and not from particular election districts, 
 the people can have but little personal knowledge 
 of the candidates, and must necessarily act through 
 information received from others. The parochial 
 bishop claims to know who are the fittest and best 
 men to be entrusted with the public concerns of 
 the nation. ...all who are of a different religious de 
 nomination from himself, or who deny or doubt 
 the Pope s supremacy, or infallibility, are denoun- 
 .ced as anti-christian, anti-federal, jacobinicai, dis 
 organizing scoundrels. The Sunday previous to 
 the day on which the people meet to deliver in their 
 suffrages, is devoted to political harrangues from 
 the political desk. On these occasions, in the heat 
 of political zeal, the preacher will name the indivi 
 duals who are to receive or be excluded from po 
 pular approbation, and with a holy fervor, instruct 
 the people of his charge how they are to bestow 
 their suffrages, threatening divine vengeance on aJl 
 who disregard his pious admonitions. 
 
 The influence which has been described does 
 not stop at this point. The newspapers which cir 
 culate in every parish, village or neighborhood, are 
 either patronized or discountenanced by the clergy- 
 
376 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 man, according as they promote or oppose his de 
 signs. ...his efforts are seconded by all persons seek 
 ing offices by clerical aid, or who hold any offices 
 under that speciesof influence. Hence the editors 
 of newspapers in Connecticut, are compelled to 
 take the current, and the press is employed to de 
 stroy or bring into contempt those republican prin 
 ciples and sentiments, which led Americans through 
 the revolutionary war, and secured the indepen 
 dence of their country. 
 
 The characters of the governor, lieutenant-gov 
 ernor and most of the legislators in Connecticut, 
 are highly federal.* 
 
 Mr. Trumbull, the governor, is possessed of 
 principles that even border upon monarchy.. ..like 
 Mr. Adams, he approves of the British Constitution 
 as the most rational and stable of political govern 
 ments. 
 
 Mr. John Treadwell, the lieutenant-governor, 
 in his public conduct, has never evinced talents 
 of a superior order. As a scholar, he has small 
 claims to distinction. As a judge of a country court, 
 he does not understand even the terms which the 
 lawyers make use of in addressing him. As a poli 
 tician, he is familiar with the intrigues and cabals 
 which have existed in Connecticut since he has 
 had a share in her councils, but his views extend 
 no further. He is unacquainted with the various 
 
 * For the characters of the Legislators of Connecticut, the 
 reader is indebted to a writer in the Aurora of April last, upon 
 whose information he may place Hiance. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 377 
 
 systems of policy, which have been adopted by dif 
 ferent nations at successive periods of time, and 
 he knows nothing of the great principles of legis 
 lation. 
 
 His conduct, since he came into office, has, on 
 many occasions, evinced a dark destitution of prin 
 ciple, and, though he makes great professions of 
 Christian piety, he has not scrupled to use his ut 
 most exertion to injure the reputation of any one 
 whose station or talents impeded his elevation. His 
 conduct towards Mr. Lawrence, formerly the trea 
 surer of the State, displays the real character of the 
 man.,.. Tread well, anxious to remove that gentle 
 man from office, to make place for one whom it 
 was his interest to promote, by artful insinuations 
 and false representations, induced the council to be 
 lieve that there had been misconduct in office, and 
 caused the treasurer to be removed. But even this 
 did not satisfy him, for he commenced a prosecu 
 tion at law, where, at a solemn trial before the Su 
 preme Court, it was proved, beyond the possibility 
 of a doubt, that the treasurer had conducted himself 
 with singular fidelity and ability, and his reputation 
 was vindicated to the satisfaction of a court and 
 jury. ...but this did not avail, for his office had been 
 given to another, and he found at last that there was 
 no refuge from the persecution of his antagonist 
 but in the grave. 
 
 Mr. Treadwell s elevation has been effected 
 rather by what was deemed an attachment to the 
 Hopkintoniap system of divinity, than by any con- 
 
 Bbb 
 
378 TiiE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 formity to the principles of the Christian. He is. 
 austere in his deportment; his opinions upon any 
 subject are cautiously reserved, until he is informed 
 of those of his companions ; the distresses of his 
 fellow mortals excite no emotion of pity or com 
 passion in his breast, and his hand is not open for 
 the relief of the poor and indigent. The flames 
 of his passion are never known to burst suddenly 
 forth, but remain stifled within, until the fit mo 
 ment of revenge arrives, and he obtains his antago 
 nist within his power ; he then works his mischief 
 with composure. The arts of dissimulation have 
 become so familiar to him, that they influence his 
 conduct in all the transactions of life $ he knows not 
 how to appreciate the virtues and talents of others, 
 and is not heard to acknowledge them when not 
 exerted for the promotion of his interest. Pie 
 considers himself as the first and best of God s 
 creatures ; that he is above all, and that he was 
 made to direct and govern all. 
 
 Among the leading characters in the upper 
 house, are Thomas Grosvenor, Thomas Seymour, 
 Aaron Austin and David Dagget. 
 
 Grosvenor was brought into place, like many 
 others in the same house, no one knows why, and 
 has been retained, because he has taken good care 
 to have his name put on the nomination list. His 
 talents and virtues have never been manifested, ex 
 cept by his exertions to destroy the ecclesiastical 
 society in the town to which he belongs. But his 
 views not being answered, he commenced an action 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 379 
 
 at law against the society, which terminated in the 
 defeat and disgrace of himself and his partizans. 
 He is scarcely known except in his own town, and 
 there he is considered to be destitute of sound prin 
 ciples, and can obtain no votes for any office. But 
 his name is always put on the list, by agreement, and 
 he receives the votes of hundreds, who never knew 
 him, saw him, or even heard of him. 
 
 Seymour was educated for the profession of the 
 law, and by the influence of great family connec 
 tions, obtained a large share of business, though he 
 never enjoyed the reputation of being a great law 
 yer, A few years since he was honored with a seat 
 on the bench of a country court, and with a place 
 at the council board. ...from that moment his char 
 acter has languished and gradually declined. As, 
 to principles and sentiments, he has displayed none 
 f his own, for he uniformly agrees with every per 
 son he meets, however different their opinions. No 
 system of measures is ever proposed, but it receives 
 his support or opposition, according to its tendency 
 to increase or diminish his popularity. He has on 
 some occasions, as a magistrate^ appeared very 
 much disposed to a strict execution of the laws; but 
 these instances were so different from the general 
 tenor of his conduct, that his best friends laughed., 
 and attributed to a sportive sally, what from a 
 consistent man, would have appeared an act of se 
 rious duty. 
 
 Sometimes he has pretended to be a firm 
 triead to the liberties of the people, and at othej 
 
380 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 times he has avowed himself the undaunted sup 
 porter of Hamilton s energetic government. But 
 he has been so long laboring and always unable to 
 discover which party would ultimately obtain the 
 ascendency, and he has shifted his ground so fre 
 quently, that neither party will own him , therefore, 
 which ever succeeds, as they can derive no cre 
 dit from his talents, will, it is presumed, dispense 
 with his services. 
 
 Aaron Austin is distinguished by the possession 
 of much common sense, and as the advantage of a 
 liberal education was not afforded him, he de 
 serves much credit for the acquisitions which he has 
 made. His talents are not great, but his industry 
 and attention to business, render him a much bet 
 ter counsellor than many of his associates. 
 
 Mr. David Dagget lays great claims to supe 
 riority of talents and virtue, but a survey of his 
 conduct, since he came into public life, will show 
 the grounds upon which these claims are founded. 
 
 As soon as he had initiated himself into the 
 favor of Pierpont Edwards, by an unwearied exer 
 tion of all the arts of pleasing, he directly pro 
 ceeded with the utmost assiduity to improve that 
 liking into an important confidence.. ..he watch 
 ed his every action, word and look, till he dis 
 covered the peculiar train of his mind, to which 
 he accommodated his conduct so implicitly, that 
 the very faculties of his soul seemed only to move 
 by the other s will ; that self-love, which is insepa 
 rable from humanity, was imposed upon by such 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 381 
 
 art. Mr. Edwards liked himself in him, and In 
 sensibly came to think all reserve unnecessary with 
 one whose words and actions were wholly at his 
 controul. He used his utmost exertion to bring 
 his pupil into notice, gave him much business in his 
 profession, and by his influence and unceasing la 
 bor, raised him to the station which he now holds ; 
 but his establishment in the business of his profes 
 sion being effected, and a seat at the council board 
 being obtained, he immediately manifested that self 
 was the centre of all his action; and, because he can 
 not forget the favors bestowed, he meanly seeks to 
 destroy the patron, abuse the friend, and laugh at 
 the obligation. As soon as he found himself so 
 firmly established, that the exertions of his patrou 
 could do him no further good, he immediately 
 abandoned him, and with unwearied diligence, 
 but in a dark and covert manner, labored for the 
 downfall of his reputation. 
 
 His progress in life, and his elevation to th 
 office of Chancellor, has been marked by a series 
 of numberless little artifices to delude the people. 
 When he became a candidate to represent the towri 
 to which he belongs in the legislature, he found it 
 would be necessary to obtain the votes of the 
 Episcopalians, and for this purpose, though he be 
 longed to a Presbyterian Meeting, purchased a 
 pew and frequently read prayers in the Episcopal 
 Church. His object was answered, but being soon 
 promoted to the council, he found this office would 
 be more secure by his being altogether a Presby- 
 
$82 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 terian ; he therefore sold his pew, forgot the tenets 
 and neglected the worship of the Church of Eng 
 land. While a candidate for promotion he never 
 scrupled to visit the honest tradesman and me 
 chanic, and, seated on the bench of the shoe-maker, 
 or the anvil of the black-smith, would flatter each 
 one that he was the best of the craft ; and more 
 than that, could, by the ability of his discourse and 
 the lying of his lips, convince them that he was the 
 people s friend, and should manage national affairs 
 with singular skill and ability. When a represen 
 tative in the legislature, he apparently manifested 
 a strong regard for the interest of the lower classes 
 of society.. ..the abolition of slavery was the favo 
 rite object of his talk, and all the powers and faculties 
 of his mind were brought into operation to display 
 the tender sensibilities of his nature ; and so anxious 
 was he to be distinguished for his nice-feeling at 
 the unfortunate situation of the blacks, that he 
 turned biographer to a negro that was hung fora 
 rape. Having now obtained his object, he becomes 
 desirous of concealing that submission which he 
 heretofore practised, by the exercise of insolence 
 and arrogance, to all whom fortune has placed in a 
 subordinate station. ...the praise of him whom pub 
 lic delusion idolized, flowed freely from his lips, but 
 always from the motive of encreasing his own po 
 pularity rather than from a conviction of the justice 
 of the praise. 
 
 As a public speaker, Mr. Bagget has been 
 distinguished by these qualities : invincible assu- 
 
OF JOHN APAMS. 383 
 
 ranee, inflexible obstinacy, and a talent for quibble- 
 In a debate he mistakes pomposity for learning,, 
 confidence for genius, buffoonery for wit, and sophis 
 try for argument, The vulgarity of his language, 
 his low attempts at humor, and the abuse which 
 he never fails to bestow upon witnesses, are sure 
 indications of the meaness of his early habits and 
 connections, which were formed in obscure and 
 menial employments. He has, however, a very 
 handsome share of business, and, by a quickness of 
 thought and fluency of speech, has acquired some 
 reputation. By a station for several years at the 
 bar, and a tolerable retentive memory, he has be 
 come well acquainted with the practice of the 
 courts of Connecticut, and is possessed of the most 
 obvious principles of the common law ; but his 
 warmest admirers have never imputed to him an 
 accurate acquaintance with the English system of 
 jurisprudence. 
 
 As a writer, he possessed every advantage from 
 the assistance and communication of men of sense 
 and learning, but he has not after all made a figure 
 in the fields of literature. His Pindaric oration, 
 in which his object was to cast contempt upon ma 
 ny important discoveries and improvements of the 
 present age, launched him forth as one of the most 
 daring aristocratic adventurers on the ocean of po 
 litical controversy : but the boldness of the attempt 
 is more to be admired than the execution to be 
 praised , and whatever defects may appear in the 
 systems which He has attacked, he has clearly 
 
584 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 manifested that the principles upon which they are 
 founded, are infinitely above his comprehension. 
 It attracted the attention of the public for a few 
 days, rather from its scurrility than its severity ; but 
 it has been since consigned to oblivion; to the same 
 oblivion to which the three letters which he wrote 
 some time ago to Abraham Bishop, are rapidly 
 hastening. 
 
 From the foregoing observations it would seem, 
 that in the early part of his public life, virtue and 
 principle were sacrificed to fame ; yet it will be ob 
 served, that among good men he still possesses an 
 attachment to good things. The sincerity of such 
 professions, however, cannot be relied on, when it 
 is known, that being a magistrate, sworn to ob 
 serve and enforce the laws of his country, he not 
 unfrequently spends whole nights in a tavern, and 
 at the gaming table. 
 
 Though from this view of the character of Mr. 
 Dagget, it might be concluded, that he is not en 
 dowed with great and solid talents, yet his under 
 standing would have rendered him a useful man, 
 ifhehadbeen a real Christian. ...but it must be a mira 
 cle, if he, who is ambitious of power, and without 
 the restraint of principle, is not transferred from a 
 man to a demon. As he is, he will be remember 
 ed only to be execrated by those whose admiration 
 is praise. 
 
 Such were the characters w r ho swayed the politi 
 cal sceptre of Connecticut ; a State which may be 
 regarded, notwithstanding its smallness, to be the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 385 
 
 most formidable in the federal league. From 
 thence issued the most labored and best composed 
 defences of federalism ; thence the satire which 
 lashed republicanism and the rights of the people, 
 and there the expiring host of aristocracy still find 
 an asylum for their venom and malice. 
 
 On Saturday, the 19th of April, 1800, the cause 
 of the United States against Mr. Thomas Cooper, 
 of Northumberland, came on before the Circuit 
 Court of the United States, sitting at Philadelphia. 
 The attorney-general, Mr. Rawle, opened the 
 cause, by stating the nature of the offence for which 
 the defendant was indicted, and read the indict 
 ment, which charged the defendant, Thomas Coop 
 er, with having printed, uttered and published a 
 false, scandalous and malicious libel against the 
 President of the United States, intending to injure 
 the official character of the said President, and to 
 bring on him, the said President, the hatred and 
 contempt of the good people of the United States. 
 The papers on which the indictment was founded, 
 was a handbill, an address to the people of North 
 umberland county, stating, that under the auspices 
 of the President, a permanent navy, a standing 
 army, a loan of 3 per cent, in time of peace had 
 been resolved on ; that he, the President, by the 
 violence of his official expressions, might have pro 
 voked a just war against this country ; that he had 
 projected embassies to Russia, Prussia, and the 
 Sublime Porte ; that he had interfered with the ju 
 diciary, contrary to all law, precedent and mercy, 
 C c c 
 
386 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 and delivered up Jonathan Robbins, an American 
 citizen, or native American, forcibly impressed by 
 a British ship of war, to the mock-trial of a British 
 court martial,, a stretch of power at which the mon 
 arch of Great Britain would have shrunk from 
 with horror. 
 
 Mr. Cooper (protesting against the insinuations 
 and constructions in the above indictment) pleaded 
 Not Guilty, and gave the following facts in evi 
 dence on the trial, in justification of the supposed 
 libel : 
 
 J st. Mr. Adams, either by himself, or officers 
 of state acting under his authority, has given the 
 public to understand, that he would bestow no of 
 fice but on persons who conformed to his political 
 opinions. 
 
 2d. Mr. Adams has declared, that a republican 
 government may mean any thing. 
 
 3d. Mr. Adams did sanction the Alien law, and 
 thereby the abolition of the trial by jury, in the 
 cases that fall under that law. 
 
 4th. Mr, Adams did sanction the Sedition law, 
 and thereby entrenched his public character be 
 hind the legal provision of that law, 
 
 5th. Under the auspices of Mr. Adams, the ex- 
 pence of a permanent navy is saddled on the peo- 
 pie. 
 
 6th. Under the auspices of Mr. Adams, we are 
 threatened with the existence of a standing army. 
 
 7th. The government of the United States has 
 borrowed monev at 8 Der cent, in time of peace. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 387 
 
 8th. The unnecessary violence of official ex 
 pressions used by Mr. Adams, and those in autho 
 rity under him, and his adherents, might justly have 
 provoked a war. 
 
 9th. Political acrimony has been fostered by 
 those who call themselves his friendly adherents. 
 
 10th. Mr. Humphries, after being convicted 
 of an assault and battery on Benjamin Franklin 
 Bache, the printer of the Aurora, merely from po 
 litical motives, was, before his sentence was ex 
 pired, promoted by Mr. Adams to a public office. 
 viz. to carry dispatches to France. 
 
 llth. Mr. Adams did project and put in execu 
 tion, embassies to Prussia, Russia and the Sublime 
 Porte. 
 
 12th. Mr. Adams, in the case of Jonathan Rob- 
 bins, alias Nash, did interfere to influence the de 
 cision of a court of justice. 
 
 He then informed the court that he had appli 
 ed to Mr. Rawle, the attorney of the United States 
 for the district, to know whether he would admit 
 the Gazette of the United States to be read in evi 
 dence ; that Mr. Rawle replied, he did consider 
 newspapers as legal testimony ; and that inconse 
 quence of this reply, he had applied to Mr. Pick 
 ering, the Secretary of State, for copies of certain 
 -addresses and answers, from and to the President 
 of the United States ; and to this application, Mr. 
 Pickering replied, that these papers were not de 
 posited in his office. The defendant observed, that 
 he considered he had a right to copies of those pa- 
 
388 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 pers, from the officers of the government, and read 
 the case of Rex vs. Holt, in support of his right.... 
 and upon this he applied to the President of the 
 United States, for copies of the papers. He in 
 formed the court that he had made application to 
 the President by a letter, which he read. This let 
 ter stated, that being indicted for a supposed libel, 
 he found it necessary to apply to the President for 
 official copies of certain addresses to him, (the Pre 
 sident) and his answers to them ; and requested 
 the President to consider his letter as a legal written 
 application for copies of the papers required by him. 
 r -f o this letter, the defendant observed, he had re 
 ceived no answer ; in consequence of his not re 
 ceiving an answer, he purchased a volume, pur 
 porting to be addresses to the President, and his an 
 swers, published in Boston ; that he sent his son 
 with the volume to Mr. Shaw, the secretary of the 
 President, with a note, requesting Mr. Shaw to 
 examine the publications in the volume with the 
 originals, and inform him if they were correct; to 
 this Mr. Shaw made the following answer : " Mr. 
 Shaw informs Mr. Cooper, that he will not receive 
 any information concerning answers to addresses 
 from this house." The defendant then observed, 
 that he regarded this as an official answer from the 
 President of the United States, and he did not see 
 how he could proceed when that testimony which 
 was necessary to his defence was withheld from 
 him, " by the person who may be considered as his 
 accuser or prosecutor." 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 389 
 
 Mr. Rawle opened the case by animadverting 
 on the select passages in the indictment, and called 
 Mr. Buyers, a justice of the peace of the country, 
 to prove Mr. Cooper the author ; who said, that 
 Mr. Cooper had called at his house with the paper; 
 said that it was his name, pointing to it in the pa 
 per, and that he was the author of the piece. 
 
 Mr. Cooper then addressed the jury in a speech 
 of about three hours and an half, in which he aN 
 tempted to justify the publication, by endeavoring 
 to shew that it was true in all its parts, and the con 
 duct of the President of the United States merited 
 the censures which were passed upon it. Mr. 
 Cooper continued his speech until exhausted with 
 fatigue, and the indulgence of the court, which 
 manifested itself through the whole trial, was here 
 conspicuous. Judge Chase declared he would pa- 
 tiently wait until the defendant refreshed himself, 
 and was able to resume his defence. This very 
 liberal proposition of the judge, the defendant de 
 clined. Mr. Rawle addressed the jury, after which 
 judge Chase summed up the evidence, and the 
 jury in about twenty minutes returned their verdict, 
 G in L T Y . 
 
 Judge Chase then addressed Mr. Cooper in the 
 following words : "As the jury have found you guil 
 ty, we wish to hear any circumstances you have to 
 offer in point of the mitigation of the fine the court 
 may think proper to impose on you, and also in ex 
 tenuation of your punishment. We should, there 
 fore, wish to know your situation in life in regard 
 
39O THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 to your circumstances.... it will be proper for you to 
 consider of this. As you are under recognizance? 
 you will attend the court some time the latter end 
 of the week ." 
 
 The court met again on Wednesday, for the 
 purpose of passing sentence, when Mr. Cooper 
 addressed them as follows : "The court having de 
 sired me to offer any thing relating to my circum 
 stances in mitigation of the fine, or any observations 
 that occurs to me in extenuation of the offence, 
 I have thought it my duty, (not for the purpose of 
 deprecating any punishment which the court may 
 deem it proper to inflict, but) to prevent any acci 
 dental or apparent harshness of punishment on part 
 of the court, for want of that information which it 
 is in my power to give. For this reason, therefore, 
 and that the court may not be misled, I think it 
 right to say that my property in this country is mo 
 derate. That some resources I had in England, 
 commercial failures there have lately cut off: that I 
 depend principally on my practice : that practice 
 imprisonment will annihilate. Be it so. I have 
 been accustomed to make sacrifices to opinion, and 
 I can make this. As to circumstances in extenua 
 tion, not being conscious that I have set down 
 aught in malice, I have nothing to extenuate." 
 
 Judge Chase. I have heard what you have to 
 say. I am sorry you did not think proper to make 
 an affidavit in regard to your circumstances ; you 
 are a perfect stranger to the court, to me at least. 
 I do not know you personally....! know nothing of 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 391 
 
 you more, than having lately heard your name men 
 tioned in some publication. Every person knows 
 the political disputes which have existed amongst 
 us. It is notorious, that there are two parties in the 
 country. ...you have stated this yourself.... you have 
 taken one side ; we do not pretend to say that you 
 have not a right to express your sentiments, only 
 taking care not to injure the characters of those to 
 whom you are opposed. 
 
 Your circumstances ought to have been dis 
 closed on affidavit, that the court might have judged 
 as to the amount of the offence ; nor did we want 
 to hurt you by this open disclosure. 
 
 Mr. Cooper. I have nothing to disclose that 
 I am ashamed of. 
 
 Judge Chase. If we were to indulge our own 
 ideas, there is room to suspect that in cases of this 
 kind, where one party is against the govern ment r 
 gentlemen who write for that party would be in 
 demnified against any pecuniary loss ; and that the 
 party would pay any fine which might be imposed 
 on the person convicted. You must know, I sup 
 pose, before you make any publication of this kind, 
 whether you were to be supported by a party or 
 not, and whether you would not be indemnified 
 against any pecuniary loss. ...if the fine were only to 
 fall on yourself, I would consider your circumstan 
 ces, but if I could believe you were supported by a 
 party inimical to the government, and that they were 
 to pay the fine, not you, I would go to the utmost 
 extent of the nower of the court. I understand "ou 
 
392 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 have a family, but you have not thought proper to 
 state that to the court. From what I can gather 
 from you, it appears, that you depend on your pro 
 fession for support.. ..we do not wish to impose so 
 rigorous a fine as to be beyond a person s abilities 
 to support, but the government must be secured 
 against these malicious attacks. You say that you 
 are not conscious of having acted from malicious 
 motives. It may be so ; saying so, we must be 
 lieve you., .but the jury have found otherwise : you 
 are a gentleman of the profession, of such capacity 
 and knowledge as to have it more in your power to 
 mislead the ignorant. I do not want to oppress, 
 but I will restrain, as far as I can, all such licentious 
 attacks on the government of the country. 
 
 Mr. Cooper. I have been asked by the court 
 whether, in case of fine being imposed upon me, I 
 should be supported by a party. Sir, I solemnly 
 aver, that throughout my life, here and elsewhere, 
 among all the political questions in which I have 
 been concerned, I have never so far demeaned my 
 self as to be a party writer. I never was in the pay, 
 or under the support, of any party. ...there is no party 
 in this or any other country, that can offer me a 
 temptation to prostitute my pen. If there are any 
 persons here who are acquainted with what I have 
 published, they must feel and be satisfied that I 
 have had higher and better motives, than a party 
 could suggest. I have written to the best of my 
 ability, what I have seriously thought would con 
 duce to the general good of mankind. The exer- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 393 
 
 tions of my talents, such as they are, have been un* 
 bought, and so they shall continue. ...they have in* 
 deed been paid for, but they have been paid for by 
 myself, and by myself only, and sometimes dearly. 
 The public is my debtor, and what I have paid or 
 suffered for them, if my duty should again call upon 
 me to write or to act, I shall again most readily 
 submit to. I do not pretend to have no party 
 opinions, to have no predilection for particular de 
 scriptions of men or of measures ; but I do not act 
 upon minor considerations : I belong here, as in 
 my former country, to the great party of mankind. 
 With regard to any offers which may have been 
 made to me to enable me to discharge the fine 
 which may be imposed, I will state candidly to the 
 court what has passed, for I wish not to conceal 
 the truth : I have had no previous communication 
 or promise whatever ; I have since had no specific 
 promises of money or any thing else. I wrote from 
 my own suggestions. But many of my friends have, 
 in the expectation of a verdict against me, come 
 forward with general offers of pecuniary assistance : 
 these offers I have hitherto neither accepted or re 
 jected. If the court should impose a fine beyond 
 my ability to pay, I shall accept them without he 
 sitation, but if the fine be w r ithin my circumstances 
 to discharge, I shall pay it myself: but the insinu 
 ations of the court are ill founded, and if you, sir, 
 from misapprehension or misinformation have been 
 tempted to make them, your mistake should be 
 corrected. 
 
 Ddd 
 
394 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Judge Peters. I think we have nothing to da 
 with parties.. ..we are only to consider the subject 
 before us. I wish you had thought proper to make 
 an affidavit of your property.,.. I have nothing to 
 do, sitting here, to enquire whether a party in whose 
 favor you may be, or you, are to pay the fine. I 
 shall only consider your circumstances, and impose 
 a fine which I think adequate ; we ought to avoid 
 any oppression. It appears that you depend chief 
 ly upon your profession for support. Imprison 
 ment for any time would tend to increase the fine, 
 as your family would be deprived of your profes 
 sional abilities to maintain them. 
 
 Judge Chase. We will take time to consider 
 this. Mr Cooper, you may^attend here again. 
 
 Thursday. Mr. Cooper attended, and the court 
 sentenced him to pay a fine of four hundred dol 
 lars; to be imprisoned for six months, and at the 
 end of that period to find surety for his good beha 
 vior, himself in a thousand, and two sureties in five 
 hundred dollars each. 
 
 The second trial of John Fries was brought on 
 at Philadelphia on the 30th of April ; the former 
 witnesses were examined, and a verdict was re 
 turned by the jury as before, finding the prisoner 
 guilty of high treason. Judge Chase then address 
 ed Fries in the following words : 
 
 " John Fries.. ..You have already been informed 
 that you stood convicted of the treason, charged 
 upon you by the indictment on which you have 
 been arraigned, of levying war against the United 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. S95 
 
 States. You had a legal, fair and impartial trial, 
 with every indulgence that the law would permit. 
 Of the whole pannel, you peremptorily challenged 
 thirty-four, and, with truth I may say, that the jury 
 who tried you were of your own selection and 
 choice. Not one of them before had ever formed 
 and delivered any opinion respecting your guilt 
 or innocence. The verdict of the jury againstyou 
 was founded on the testimony of many creditable 
 and unexceptionable witnesses. It was apparent 
 from the conduct of the jury, when they delivered 
 their verdict, that if innocent they would have ac 
 quitted you with pleasure, and that they pronounced 
 their verdict against you with great concern and 
 reluctance, from a sense of duty to their country,, 
 and a full conviction of your guilt 
 
 ^The crime of which you have been found guil 
 ty is treason ; a crime, considered in the most ci 
 vilized and the most free countries in the world, 
 as the greatest that any man can commit. It is a 
 crime of so great a dye, and attended with such a 
 train of fatal consequences, that it can receive no 
 Aggravation ; yet the duty of my station requires 
 that I should explain to you the nature of the crime 
 of which you are convicted ; to shew the necessity 
 of that justice, which is this day to be administer 
 ed ; and to awaken your mind to proper reflections 
 and a due sense of your own condition, which I 
 imagine you must have reflected upon during your 
 long confinement. 
 
396 IKE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 "You arc a native of this country. You live under 
 a constitution or form of government framed by the 
 people themselves ; and under laws made by your 
 representatives., faithfully executed by independent 
 and impartial judges. Your government secures 
 to every member of the community, equal liberty 
 and equal rights ; by which equality of liberty and 
 rights, I mean that every person, without regard 
 to wealth, rank or station, may enjoy an equal 
 share of civil liberty, on equal protection of law, 
 and an equal security for his person and property. 
 You enjoyed, in common with your fellow citizens, 
 all these rights. 
 
 " If experience should prove that the constitu 
 tion is defective, it provides a mode to change or 
 amend it, without any danger to public order, or any 
 injury to social rights. 
 
 " If Congress, from inattention, error in judg 
 ment, or want of information, should pass any Jaw 
 in violation of the constitution, or burthensome or 
 oppressive to the people, a peaceable, safe and ample 
 remedy is provided by the constitution. The peo 
 ple themselves have established the mode by which 
 such grievances are to be redressed ; and no other 
 mode can be adopted without a violation of the con 
 stitution, and of the laws. If Congress should pass 
 a law contrary to the constitution, such law would 
 be void, and the courts of the United States pos 
 sess complete authority, and are the only tribunal 
 to decide, whether any law is contrary to the con 
 stitution. If Congress should pass burthensome 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 397 
 
 or oppressive laws, the remedy is with their con 
 stituents, from whom they derive their existence 
 and authority. If any law is made, repugnant to 
 the voice of a majority of their constituents, it is in 
 their power to make choice of persons to repeal it ; 
 but until it is repealed, it is the duty of every citi 
 zen to submit to it, and to give up his private senti 
 ments to the public will. If a law, burthensome, 
 or even oppressive in its nature or execution, is to 
 be opposed by force, and obedience cannot be com 
 pelled, there must soon be an end to all government 
 in this country. It cannot be credited by dispas 
 sionate men of any information, that Congress will 
 intentionally make laws in violation of the constitu 
 tion, contrary to their sacred trust and solemn obli 
 gation to support it. None can believe that Con 
 gress will wilfully or intentionally impose unreason 
 able and unjust burthens on their constituents, in 
 which they must participate. The most ignorant 
 man must know, that Congress can make no law, 
 that will not affect them equally, in every respect, 
 with their constituents. Every law that is detri 
 mental to their constituents, must prove hurtful to 
 themselves. From these considerations, every one 
 may see, that Congress can have no interest in op 
 pressing their fellow citizens. 
 
 " It -is almost incredible, that a people, living un 
 der the best and mildest government in the whole 
 world, should not only be dissatisfied and discon 
 tented, but should breakout in open resistance and 
 opposition to its laws. 
 
398 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 "The insurrection in 1794, in the four western 
 counties of this State, particularly in Washington, 
 to oppose the execution of the laws of the United 
 States, which laid duties on stills, and spirits dis 
 tilled within the United States, is still fresh in 
 memory. It originated from prejudices and mis 
 representations, industriously disseminated and dif 
 fused against those laws. Either persons disaffected 
 to our government, or wishing to aggrandize them 
 selves, deceived and misled the ignorant and unin 
 formed class of the people. The opposition com 
 menced in meetings of the people, with threats 
 against the officers, which ripened into acts of out 
 rage against them, and were extended to private 
 citizens. Committees were formed to systematize 
 and inflame the spirit of opposition. Violence 
 succeeded to violence, and the collector of Fayette 
 county w r as compelled to surrender his commission 
 and official books ; the dwelling-house of the in 
 spector, (in the vicinity of Pittsburg) was attacked 
 and burnt ; and the marshal was seized, and obtain 
 ed his liberty on a promise to serve no process on 
 the west side of the Alleghany mountain. To 
 compel submission to the laws, the government 
 were obliged to march an army against the insur 
 gents, and the expence was above one million one 
 hundred thousand dollars. Of the whole number 
 of insurgents, (many hundreds) only a few were 
 brought to trial, and of them only two were sen 
 tenced to die, (Vigol and Mitchell) and they were 
 pardoned by the late President. Although the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 399 
 
 insurgents made no resistance to the army sent 
 against them, yet not a few of our troops lost their 
 lives inconsequence of their great fatigue, and ex 
 posure to the severity of the season. 
 
 " This great and remarkable clemency of the go 
 vernment had no effect upon you, and the deluded 
 people in your neighborhood. The rise, progress 
 and termination of the late insurrection, bear a 
 strong and striking analogy to the former; and it 
 may be remembered, that it has cost the United 
 States 80,000 dollars. It cannot escape observa 
 tion, that the ignorant and uninformed are taught 
 to complain of taxes which are necessary for the 
 support of government, and yet they permit them 
 selves to be seduced into insurrections, which have 
 so enormously increased the public burthens, to 
 which their contribution can scarcely be calculated, 
 
 " When citizens combine and assemble, with 
 intent to prevent, by threats, intimidation and vio 
 lence, the execution of the laws, and they actually 
 carry such traiterous designs into execution, they 
 reduce the government to the alternative of pros 
 trating the laws before the insurgents, or of taking 
 necessary measures to compel submission. No go 
 vernment can hesitate. The expence, and all the 
 consequences, therefore, are not imputable to the 
 government, but to the insurgents.. ..the mildness 
 and lenity of our government areas striking on the 
 late as on the former insurrection : of nearly 130 
 persons, who might have been put on their trial for 
 
40O THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 treason, only five have been prosecuted, and tried 
 for that crime. 
 
 "In the late insurrection,, you, John Fries, bore a 
 conspicuous and leading part. If you had reflect 
 ed, you would have seen that your attempt was as 
 weak as it was wicked. It was the height of folly 
 in you to suppose that the great body of our citi 
 zens, blest in the enjoyment of a free republican 
 government of their own choice, and of all rights 
 civil and religious ; secure in their persons and pro 
 perty, and conscious that the laws are the only se 
 curity for their preservation from violence, would 
 not rise up as one man to oppose and crush so ill- 
 founded, so unprovoked an attempt to disturb the 
 public peace and tranquillity. If you could see in a 
 proper light your own folly and wickedness, you 
 ought now to bless God that your insurrection was 
 so happily and speedily quelled, by the vigilance 
 and energy of our government, aided by the patri 
 otism and activity of your fellow citizens, who left 
 their homes and business, and embodied themselves 
 in the support of its laws. 
 
 " The annual necessary expenditures for the sup 
 port of an extensive government like ours, must 
 be great, and the sum required can only be obtain 
 ed by taxes or loans. In all countries the levying 
 taxes is unpopular, and a subject of complaint. It 
 appears to me that there was not the least pretence 
 of complaint against, much less of opposition and 
 violence to the law for levying taxes on dwelling- 
 houses, and it becomes you to recollect, that the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 401 
 
 time you chose to rise up in arms to oppose the laws 
 of our country, was when it stood in a very critical 
 situation with regard to France, and on the eve of 
 a rupture with that country. 
 
 " I cannot omit to remind you of another matter 
 worthy of your consideration. If the marshal, or 
 any of the posse, or any of the four friends of gov 
 ernment who were with him, had been killed by 
 you, or any of your deluded followers, the crime of 
 murder would have been added to the crime of 
 treason. 
 
 " In your serious hours of reflection, you ought 
 to consider the consequences that would have flow 
 ed from the insurrection, which you excited, en 
 couraged, and promoted in the character of a cap 
 tain of militia, whose incumbent duty it is to stand 
 ready (whenever required) to assist and defend 
 the government and its laws, if it had not been 
 immediately quelled. Violence, oppression and 
 rapine, destruction, waste and murder, always at 
 tend the progress of insurrection and rebellion ; 
 the arm of the father would have been raised against 
 the son ; that of the son against the father; a bro 
 ther s hand would have been stained with brother s 
 blood ; the sacred bands of friendship would have 
 been broken, and the ties of natural affection would 
 have been dissolved. 
 
 "The end of all punishment is example; and 
 the enormity of your crime requires that a severe 
 example should be made to deter others from the 
 commission of like crimes in future. You have 
 
 Eee 
 
102 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 forfeited your life to justice. ...let me therefore ear 
 nestly recommend to you, most seriously to consi 
 der your situation ; to take a review of your past 
 life, and to employ the very little time you are to 
 continue in this world, in endeavors to make your 
 peace with that God, whose mercy is equal to his 
 justice. I expect that you are a Christian, and as 
 such I address you. Be assured, my guilty and un 
 happy fellow citizen, that without serious repen 
 tance of all your sins, you cannot expect happiness 
 in the world to come ; and to your repentance you 
 must add faith and hope in the merits and media 
 tion of Jesus Christ. These are the only terms 
 upon which pardon and forgiveness are promised to 
 those who profess the Christian religion. Let me 
 therefore again entreat you to apply every moment 
 you have left, in contrition, sorrow and repentance. 
 Your day of life is almost spent, and the night of 
 death fast approaches. Look up to the father of 
 mercies, and God of comfort. You have a great 
 and an immense work to perform, and but little 
 time in which you must finish it. There is no 
 repentance in the grave ; for after death comes 
 judgment ; and as you die so you must be judg 
 ed. By repentance and faith, you are the object 
 of God s mercy ; but if you will not repent, and 
 have faith and dependance upon the merits of the 
 death of Christ, but die a hardened and impeni 
 tent sinner, you will be the object of God s justice 
 and vengeance. If you will sincerely repent and 
 believe, God hath pronounced his forgiveness ; and 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 403 
 
 there is no crime too great for his mercy and par 
 don. 
 
 " Although you must be strictly confined for the 
 very short remainder of your life, yet the mild go 
 vernment and laws, which you have endeavored to 
 destroy, permit you (if you please) to converse and 
 commune with ministers of the gospel ; to whose 
 pious care and consolation, in fervent prayers and 
 devotion, I most cordially recommend you. 
 
 " What remains forme-is a very painful but a 
 very necessary part of my duty. It is to pronounce 
 that judgment which the law has appointed for 
 crimes of this magnitude. The judgment of the law 
 is, and this court doth award, cc that you be hanged 
 by the neck until dead ;" and I pray God Almighty 
 to be merciful to your soul." 
 
 On the 28th of May the trial of James Thom 
 son Callender, for a libel against the President of the 
 United States, came before the circuit court, at 
 Richmond, in Virginia, in which Judge Chase pre 
 sided. Mr. Hay, as counsel for Mr. Callender, 
 moved the court to postpone the trial till the next 
 term. 
 
 Judge Chase observed, that it would be first 
 proper to read the indictment. 
 
 Mr. Hay said it could not be necessary to read 
 the indictment. In prosecutions for misdemeanors 
 in the State courts, the defendant was not arraign 
 ed. The party accused was in court, and both he 
 and his counsel were willing to admit, that they had 
 
404 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 been furnished with a copy of the indictment, and 
 that they were prepared to put in their plea. 
 
 The Judge, however, instantly ordered the in 
 dictment to be read, declaring if this was not done, 
 it would be said that the traverser had not been 
 made acquainted with the nature of his offence, 
 and consequently could not be prepared to answer 
 to the various charges alledged against him. 
 
 Some observations w r ere then made by the At 
 torney-General and Mr. Hay, respecting the mode 
 of practice observed in the courts of this common 
 wealth, when by the direction of the court, the clerk 
 proceeded to read the indictment, to the different 
 charges of which Mr. Callender pleaded Not Guilty. 
 
 Mr. Hay then renewed his motion for a conti 
 nuance, and offered to the court two affidavits 
 sworn to by Mr. Callender. One of the affidavits 
 was in the usual form of those for similar purposes 
 in the courts of Virginia ; that is, stating generally 
 the names of persons whose testimony was essen 
 tial to a fair trial. The other not only contained a 
 similar statement, but also went to explain the dif 
 ferent facts which it was believed each witness 
 could substantiate. 
 
 Mr. Hay observed, that he had procured the 
 last affidavit, because he had been informed, that 
 such an one would be required by the court ; but 
 that he presumed he might first offer the general 
 affidavit, and if that was insufficient, he should con 
 sider himself at liberty to offer the special affidavit. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 405 
 
 The Judge said that he might act as he thought 
 proper, but that a material difference would be 
 made, where the traverser was provided with coun 
 sel, and when he defended himself ; in the latter 
 case, if an affidavit was offered, the substance of 
 which was insufficient to procure a continuance, an 
 amendment would be consented to, because it 
 might be presumed that the party was ignorant ot 
 the law : but in the last instance it could only be 
 done with the consent of the Attorney of the Uni 
 ted States. 
 
 Mr. Hay applied then to the Attorney for the 
 United States, who observed, that the traverser had 
 better take his strongest ground. ...upon which, the 
 special affidavit was immediately read, of which 
 the following is a copy : 
 
 " City of Richmond, .ST.. ..This day, James Thom 
 son Callender, made oath before me, a magistrate 
 of the said city, that William Gardner, Tench Coxe, 
 Judge Bee, Timothy Pickering, William B. Giles, 
 Stevens Thomson Mason, and General Blackburn, 
 he believes to be material witnesses in the defence 
 against an indictment found against him during the 
 present term of the circuit court of the United 
 States, for the middle circuit, Virginia district.... 
 that William Gardner aforesaid, resides, he believes, 
 in Portsmouth, in the State of New-Hampshire.... 
 that Tench Coxe aforesaid, resides in Philadelphia, 
 in the State of Pennsylvania. ...that Judge Bee re 
 sides, thedeponenthath understood, in South-Caro 
 lina, but in what part of the State he knows not.... 
 
406 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 that Timothy Pickering aforesaid, resided of late 
 in Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, but 
 where he resides at this time, the deponent doth not 
 know. ...that William B. Giles aforesaid, he hath 
 understood, since he hath been furnished with a 
 copy of the indictment, and since the said Giles 
 hath left town, resides in the county of Amelia.... 
 and that General Blackburn resides in the county of 
 Bath. 
 
 cc The said James Thomson Callender, further 
 declareth, that he expects to prove by the said Wil 
 liam Gardner, and that he verily believes that he 
 shall prove by the said William Gardner, that the 
 said William Gardner was commissioner of loans, 
 for the State of New-Hampshire, under tr^e go 
 vernment of the United States, and that he was 
 turned out of the said office of commissioner of 
 loans, because he, the said Gardner, refused to sub 
 scribe an address, circulated in the town of Ports 
 mouth in New-Hampshire, and presented to the 
 President of the United States, in the year 1798, 
 at the instance of several of the inhabitants of the 
 said town, in which address unequivocal appro 
 bation of the conduct of the said President, in the 
 administration of the affairs of the United States, 
 is expressed. 
 
 " The said James Thomson Callender, also de 
 clares on oath, that he verily believes, that he shall 
 prove by the evidence of Tench Coxe, aforesaid, 
 that he, the said Tench Coxe, held in the year 1798, 
 an important office under the government of the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 407 
 
 United States, to wit, commissioner of the revenue, 
 from which office, the said Coxe was ejected, by 
 the present President of the United States, because 
 he did not approve the measures of the said Presi 
 dent s administration, or the principles on which it 
 was conducted. 
 
 " That he verily believes that he shall be able to 
 prove by the evidence of Judge Bee, that he did 
 receive from the President of the United States, in 
 the year 1799, a letter in which he, the said Presi 
 dent, did advise and request the said Judge Bee, 
 then acting in his judicial^character, to deliver to 
 the consul of the British nation in Charleston, Jo 
 nathan Robbins, alias, Thomas Nash, who had been 
 apprehended and carried before the said judge, on 
 a charge of murder committed on the high seas, on 
 board the British frigate Hermione. 
 
 "He further deposes on oath, that he verily be 
 lieves, that he shall be able to prove by the evi 
 dence of Timothy Pickering, that the President of 
 the United States was in possession of dispatches 
 from Mr. Vans Murray, American minister of 
 Holland, containing assurances on the part of the 
 French Republic, that ambassadors from the Uni 
 ted States would be received in a way satisfactory 
 to the people and government of the United States, 
 many weeks, while Congress was in session, before 
 he communicated the same to Congress. 
 
 " The deponent further saith, he verily believ- 
 eth, that he shall be able to prove, by the evidence 
 of Stevens Thomson Mason, and William i. 
 
408 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Giles, that John Adams, President of the United 
 States, has unequivocally avowed in conversation 
 with them, principles utterly incompatible with 
 the principles of the present Constitution of the 
 United States, principles which could not be car 
 ried into operation under any political institution, 
 without the establishment of a direct, powerful and 
 dangerous aristocracy ; that he declared in express 
 terms to the said Stevens T. Mason, that he had 
 no more idea the present federal constitution could, 
 for any length of time, controul the people of the 
 United States, than that it could controul the mo 
 tion of the planets ; that he also declared to the 
 said Stevens T. Mason, that he had no more idea 
 that a political society could exist without a dis 
 tinction of ranks, than that an army could exist 
 without officers : and also, that he can prove by the 
 said William B. Giles, that the President of the 
 United States has avowed in conversation with him, 
 a sentiment to this effect. ...that he thought that the 
 Executive Department of the United States ought to 
 be vested with power to direct and controul the 
 public will. 
 
 " That this deponent verily believes that he 
 shall be able to prove by General Blackburn, that 
 he did, on the day of in the 
 
 year 1798, receive an address from John Adams, 
 President of the United States, in answer to the 
 field officers of Bath County, in which the said 
 President does avow, that there was a party in 
 Virginia, which deserved to be humbled in dust 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 409 
 
 and ashes, before the indignant frowns of their in 
 jured, insulted and offended country. 
 
 " And this deponent further saith, that he is 
 advised, and believes that it is material to his defence 
 against the indictment aforesaid, that he should 
 procure authentic copies of sundry answers made 
 by the President of the United States, in various 
 parts thereof; which authentic copies he cannot 
 procure so as to be in readiness for trial during the 
 present term. 
 
 "He also saith, that he, is advised, and that he 
 doth believe that a certain book, intitled, " An es 
 say on canon and feudal law," or intitled in words 
 to that purport, ascribed to the present President 
 of the United States, and of which he believes the 
 President is the author, is material to his defence, 
 and that he cannot procure a copy of the same, and 
 evidence to prove that the said President is the au 
 thor thereof, without being allowed several weeks, 
 or perhaps months, for the purpose. 
 
 (i He further saith, that he is told by the coun 
 sel who mean to appear for him, that they cannot 
 possibly be prepared to investigate the evidence 
 relating to the several charges in the indictment, 
 even if all the persons and documents wanted were 
 on the spot." 
 
 The jury being called, Mr. Nicholas stated 
 to the court, that he conceived there was legal 
 ground of challenge to the array. In support of 
 this, he read the passage from trials per pais. Mr. 
 Nicholas then added, that he believed there was 
 
 Fff 
 
410 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 testimony in court to shew that the sheriff had re 
 turned a juror who avowed his sentiments extreme 
 ly hostile to the traverser. 
 
 Judge Chase. Why, sir, how is this business 
 done in your country ? I have always seen triors 
 sworn to decide these questions... .J suppose there 
 must be triors sworn. 
 
 Mr. Nicholas. I believe the books lay down 
 this distinction : Challenges to the array are either 
 principal challenges, or challenges for favor. 
 Causes of principal challenge are always tried by 
 the court. Challenges for favor are always deci 
 ded by triors. 
 
 Judg Chase. Well, sir, your challenge is for favor. 
 
 Mr. Nicholas. The book in my hand states it a 
 cause of principal challenge. 
 
 Judge Chase. Let me see that book ; it is not 
 the best authority.. .if I had Coke upon Lyttleton we 
 should see the whole doctrine at once. I am per 
 suaded that the oath of triors is laid down there. 
 
 Coke upon Lytileton was brought, and the 
 judge having run over the passage which is copied 
 into the trial per pais, observed that the case was 
 clear, that principal challenges to the array were 
 for partiality in the sheriff, not in the juror. 
 
 Mr. Nicholas admitted it, but enquired whe 
 ther the law might not consider the return of a 
 partial juror as a sufficient proof of partiality on the 
 part of the sheriff to ground a challenge to the array. 
 
 Juclge Chase. No, sir, no : you must proceed 
 regularly. 1*11 tell you what you may do : You 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 may bring in proof if you can that any juror has de 
 livered his opinion upon the case hitherto, or you 
 may examine the juror himself on oath to this ef 
 fect.... you may do either, but not both ; and you 
 are to consider this as a favor and not a right. The 
 counsel having chosen to rely on the jurors them 
 selves, a juror was sworn to answer questions, and 
 the judge put the following question to him : 
 
 " Have you ever formed and delivered an opin 
 ion upon the charges in the indictment?" The juror 
 answered that he had never seen the indictment or 
 heard it read. 
 
 Judge Chase. Very well. ...swear him in chief. 
 
 Mr. Hay, Will the court permit me to put a 
 question to the juror before he is sworn in chief? 
 
 Judge Chase. What sort of a question do you 
 want to put? I must hear the question ; and then 
 if I choose, you may put it. Come, what is your 
 question ? 
 
 Mr. Hay. The question which, with the per 
 mission of the court, I meant to have asked is this : 
 " Have you ever formed an opinion on the book in- 
 titled * The Prospect before Us," from which the 
 charges in the indictment are extracted r" 
 
 Judge Chase. You shall ask no such question. 
 I ll tell you what the only proper question is: " Have 
 you ever formed and delivered an opinion upon this 
 particular charge ?" I say formed and delivered, for 
 he must have delivered the opinion as well as form 
 ed it. ...he has answered that he never saw the in 
 dictment or heard it read. 
 
412 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Mr. Hay. Will the court suffer him to hear 
 the indictment read now $ because, perhaps, when 
 _he understands what the charge is, he will an 
 swer that he has formed and delivered an opinion 
 upon it. 
 
 Judge Chase. No, sir, no : the court cannot 
 indulge you so far ; they have gone as far as they 
 can, and you ought to be satisfied. 
 
 The jury were then sworn, and the prosecu 
 tor proceeded to prove the fact of publication. The 
 evidence introduced on the part of the U. States 
 was unquestionably sufficient to prove that the tra- 
 verser was the author of the " Prospect." This 
 point was ascertained by the testimony of W. A. 
 Rind, the editor of the " Federalist," who had 
 printed the book by contract, and had retained 
 a part of the original manuscript. This he produ 
 ced in court, and swore to the handwriting ofCal- 
 lender. In this stage of the proceeding, the judge 
 put frequent and pointed questions to the witness, 
 and was at the trouble of comparing the manuscript 
 with the corresponding passages in the book, 
 which it required some time to find. Before Mr. 
 Rind was sworn, the counsel for the traverser, Mr. 
 Hay, observed, that he understood the witness then 
 about to be introduced to prove the guilt of the ac 
 cused, was himself, in the estimation of the law, e- 
 qually guilty ; because he had printed, though he 
 had not written the libel in question ; and he would 
 therefore take leave to make known to the wit 
 nesses, who were in any degree implicated in the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 413 
 
 transactions, that they were not bound to accuse 
 themselves, and might, if they pleased, withhold 
 every part of their testimony which has a tendency 
 to their own crimination. The judge remarked, 
 with his usual promptitude, that though the princi 
 ple advanced by the counsel for the traverser was 
 true, it was of no consequence, because the wit 
 nesses, whose evidence was called for by the Uni 
 ted States, might rest assured that they were not to 
 be molested. Mr. Rind, between whom and Cal- 
 lender great animosity had subsisted, did not choose 
 to avail himself of the right to withdraw, thus ac 
 knowledged by the court, as some me?i, perhaps, 
 from erroneous sentiments of delicacy and honor, 
 would have done ; nor had he the weakness even to 
 hesitate in making his choice. He went to the 
 book with a promptitude at least equal to that with 
 which the judge had told him he might do it with 
 safety. 
 
 The evidence on the part of the prosecution 
 being finished, the counsel for the traverser desired 
 that Colonel Taylor, of Caroline, might be sworn.,, 
 he was sworn. At the moment when the oath was 
 administered, the judge called on the counsel for 
 the traverser, and desired to know what they in 
 tended to prove by the witness. He was told that 
 they intended to examine Colonel Taylor, to prove 
 that Mr. Adams had avowed, in his presence, prin 
 ciples in hostility with a republican government ; 
 that he had voted against the sequestration law, and 
 
414 THfc ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the resolution concerning commercial intercourse 
 with Great Britain. 
 
 The judge demanded a statement in writing of 
 the questions he meant to be put to the witness. 
 Mr. Nicholas remarked, that this requisition was 
 not conformable to the usages of the State, and had 
 not been made when the Attorney for the United 
 States introduced witnesses on the part of the pro 
 secution. The truth is, that I do not know what 
 the witness can prove. I wish him to state all that 
 he knows which can apply to the defence of the tra- 
 verser on this charge. My interrogatories will be 
 suggested by the facts which he may state. But if 
 the court insist upon it, I will furnish a statement 
 of the questions which I shall propound in the first 
 instance , requesting, at the same time, that I may 
 not be considered as being confined in the exami 
 nation of the witnesses to the questions so stated. 
 
 The judge said in reply, that the demand 
 which he had made was legal and proper, and that 
 the Attorney for the United States, in opening the 
 cause, had stated the purpose for which he intro 
 duced the witnesses ; but, continued he, though 
 this was done, we were not bound to do so. 
 
 The judge having received a statement of the 
 questions,* declared Colonel Taylor s evidence to 
 be inadmissible. No evidence can be received, said 
 
 * Questions alluded to, which were propounded by Mr. 
 Nicholas ; 
 
 Qj._ i . Did you ever hear Mr. Adams express any opinions 
 favorable to monarchy and aristocracy, and what were they ? 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 415 
 
 he, that does not go to justify the whole charge. 
 The charge is, that the traverser has said that " the 
 President is a professed aristocrat. He had prov 
 ed faithful and serviceable to the British interest." 
 Now you must prove both of these points or you 
 prove nothing ; and as your evidence relates to one 
 only, it cannot be received. This is the law ; and 
 I pronounce it to be so. You have all along mis 
 taken this business, and you keep pressing your 
 mistakes upon the court. I tell you that you can 
 not prove part of a charge. ...you must prove the 
 whole or none. Mr. Nicholas said, can we not 
 prove one part of the charge by one witness and 
 another part by another ; and by that means make 
 out the proof of the whole charge ? 
 
 Understand me, sir, said the judge. If your 
 witness can prove the whole of any one charge, let 
 him do it. If he cannot, you must not examine 
 him. 
 
 The counsel for the traverser again desired to 
 be heard on this subject. Mr. Hay said they meant 
 to justify the whole charge ; that they meant to 
 prove by Colonel Taylor, that the President of the 
 United States had in conversation avowed anti-re 
 publican principles, and that he had proved faithful 
 and serviceable to the British interest, at least in 
 
 0^2. Did you ever hear Mr. Adams, whilst Vice President, 
 express his disapprobation of the funding system ? 
 
 Q^3 Do you know whether Mr. Adams did not, in the 
 year 1798, vote against the sequestration law, and the bill for 
 stopping all intercourse with England ? 
 
416 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the sense in which the assertion was made by the 
 traverser, by giving the votes before mentioned. 
 
 The judge instantly repeated his decision. My 
 country, said he, has made me a judge, and it is my 
 business to pronounce the law. The evidence of 
 fered is inadmissible. The counsel for the traver- 
 ser knows it be so ; but they want to deceive and 
 mislead the populace. I take upon myself the re 
 sponsibility of this decision, and I say, that the tes 
 timony of this witness cannot be received. 
 
 When it was thus finally decided, that the 
 trial should progress without any evidence in sup 
 port of the defence, though the traverserhad sworn, 
 and truly sworn, that much could be adduced ; the 
 Attorney for the United States rose, for the pur 
 pose of pointing out to the jury the passages in the 
 <c Prospect/ corresponding with those in the in 
 dictment. He was interrupted by Mr. Hay, who 
 informed him that he meant to object to the intro 
 duction of the book which he held in his hand, as 
 evidence in support of the indictment. 
 
 What ? vociferated the judge. Mr. Hay re 
 peated what he had said. Upon what ground ? 
 said the judge. I will state it, said Mr. H. if the 
 court will hear me. Let us have it then, said the 
 judge. 
 
 Mr. H. began by saying, that he addressed 
 the court with great diffidence on the point which 
 he was about to mention. It was a subject which 
 he did not thoroughly understand, and which cir 
 cumstances had not allowed him leisure to investi- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 417 
 
 gate. It had been the pleasure of the court to ob 
 serve that the defence had begun and continued 
 in error. What he was about to say, would not, 
 perhaps, induce the court to change that opinion ; 
 but if he was mistaken in the position which he 
 meant to advance, the severity of the censure which 
 the court might pronounce, ought to be mitigated, 
 when it was remembered that the trial was brought 
 
 o 
 
 on with a rapidity which precluded the possibility 
 of a full examination of the case. 
 
 Mr. H. proceeded to observe that the specific 
 proposition for which he commenced was, that the 
 book in the hands of the Attorney for the United 
 States, which was intitled, " The Prospect before 
 Us," was not evidence in support of the indictment. 
 
 In prosecutions for libels, said Mr. H. in the 
 English courts, great strictness is observed ; if there 
 be a difference of a single letter, between the li 
 bellous words charged in the indictment, and the 
 printed or written paper adduced in evidence, the 
 variance is fatal. It is the duty of the prosecutor 
 to give " the tenor" of the libel, and it has been 
 frequently determined that this word imposes on 
 him the necessity of giving an exact and liberal co 
 py. The omission or addition of a letter, or the 
 substitution of one letter for another, where a differ 
 ent word was produced, was an incurable defect. 
 Mr. Hay, in support of this opinion, quoted 
 Salkeld s Reports, page 417, and Hawkin s pleas 
 of the crown. Here Judge Chase interrupt- 
 
418 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ed Mr. H. to tell him that he was mistaken m 
 the law. That the words " tenor and effect," 
 which were used in the indictment, justified the 
 prosecutor in giving only the substance of the libel 
 if he thought proper. It is contended, said he, 
 that the original must be copied in the indictment, 
 verbatim el literatim. I wonder they do not con- 
 farm punctuatiui too. The law is not so. 
 
 Mr. H. observed that he did not know what 
 the decisions in the courts of the United States had 
 been ; but the English authorities supported the 
 doctrine which he advanced. 
 
 The principle, continued Mr. H. which renders 
 this strictness necessary and proper, applies with 
 full force to the case before the court. The traver- 
 ser is charged with a libellous writing of the follow 
 ing tenor : " The reign of Mr. Adams, &c." In 
 support of this charge a book is introduced, which 
 is not named in the indictment, which begins with 
 different words, and which contains not the precise 
 words recited in the indictment, but many passages 
 and pages besides. Mr. H. conceived that the 
 " Prospect" could not therefore be offered in evi 
 dence, unless the indictment had charged the tra- 
 verser with a false, scandalous and malicious wri 
 ting, intitled, " The Prospect before Us," contain 
 ing among other things, the passages which occa 
 sioned the prosecution. 
 
 Mr. H. said that he had examined many ad 
 judged cases, and in every instance the title of the 
 
OT JOHN ADAMS. 419 
 
 writing charged to be libellous, was recited, and 
 called on the Attorney of the United States to pro 
 duce a single instance to the contrary. If then the 
 variable practice was as he stated it to be ; if the 
 ablest lawyers had uniformly adhered to it, the ob 
 servation of Coke, (Co. Lyt. 115, b.) that the forms 
 of pleading are the best evidence of law, seemed 
 to be conclusive, that the title of the libel ought to 
 have been stated in the indictment. 
 
 Mr. H. said that from about twenty cases which 
 he had examined, he would select three, which 
 seemed best calculated to shew that the description 
 of the libellous writing, by the title given to it by 
 the author, was essentially necessary. The first case 
 was, where the title was very long ; the second 
 was, where the paper containing the libel had a 
 number as well as a title ; in which case the num 
 ber as well as the title was recited ; and the third 
 was, where the libel was published in the French 
 language, in which case the title, though very 
 lengthy, was recited in French, and then in 
 English. 
 
 Here Judge Chase interrupted Mr. Hay, to 
 tell him that he was mistaken, I pronounce the 
 law to be otherwise, said he. I know that cases 
 can be produced where the title of a libel is recited 
 in the indictment. I remember, continued he, 
 with an increased elevation of voice, one case par 
 ticularly. A man was indicted for publishing a libel 
 
420 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 called " Nun in her smock," but it was not neces 
 sary to mention the title of the libel in that case, 
 nor is it necessary in any case. 
 
 Mr. H. observed that if he could be permitted 
 to proceed, he would go on to state to the court 
 the reasons which impressed his mind with a belief 
 that the omission was fatal, and precluded the pro 
 secutor from the right to introduce as evidence 
 " The Prospect before Us." 
 
 The practice was, he said, as he had stated it 
 to be. It appeared to him, that the reasons which 
 might be urged in vindication of the practice, could 
 not readily be answered. 
 
 It is a principle of universal law, said Air. H. 
 as well as of common sense and justice, that if a 
 man s words, spoken or written, are made the 
 foundation of a charge against him, they are all to 
 be taken together. If the title of the " Prospect" 
 had been inserted, and the whole book thus brought 
 before the jury, the traverser might resort to any 
 part of it for an explanation of the passages charg 
 ed to be libellous. But if passages of this descrip 
 tion are taken from a bool^or writing without nam 
 ing or describing it, and cHtged in the indictment 
 as constituting a libel, the rnily questions before the 
 jury would be 1st. Did the traverser write, print, 
 orpublish the words charged; and 2d. Are these 
 words false, scandalous and malicious. If this rea 
 soning were correct, the traverser would be exclu 
 ded from the benefit held out to him by the prin- 
 
I OF JOHN ADAMS. 421 
 
 ciple which has been just stated, and which was 
 deemed incontrovertible. 
 
 Here the judge again interrupted Mr.H. 
 is no doubt, said he, but that the traverser, under 
 the present indictment, will have the benefit from 
 which you seem to fear he is excluded. I say he 
 will have that benefit. ...you know that he will. 
 
 Mr. H. said, that he did not know it before ; 
 but as the court meant to allow the traverser the 
 privilege which he conceived belonged to him, he 
 would say no more on that point. 
 
 But, continued Mr. H. another reason presents 
 itself in vindication of the practice so uniformly 
 maintained in England, which perhaps may merit 
 a more serious consideration from the court. 
 
 It is doctrine hitherto unquestioned, that in all 
 criminal prosecutions, the offence shall be descri 
 bed with all possible certainty. 
 
 In larceny, it is necessary to mention not only 
 the specific articles alledged to be stolen, but the 
 name of the person to whom they belonged. The 
 same principle was extended to every description of 
 criminal prosecutions, and had a very considerable 
 operation even in questions of a private nature. If 
 an action of debt were brought upon a bond, the 
 declaration must describe precisely such a bond as 
 that adduced in evidence. 
 
 Two reasons were furnished by the books why 
 this precision was deemed necessary : the first was, 
 that the party accused might know exactly how to 
 
422 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 defend himself; the second, that he might plead his 
 conviction or acquittal in bar of a subsequent pro 
 secution for the same offence. Hawk. 322. 
 
 The first reason seemed to be as consonant to 
 humanity as to law : and if it was a good reason, it 
 operated with fatal force against the attempt of the 
 Attorney of the United States, to produce the " Pros 
 pect * as evidence. If the title of the book had 
 been mentioned in the indictment, Mr. Callender 
 would have been fully apprised, by the copy with 
 which he has been furnished, of the crime with 
 which he was charged. But as it was not men 
 tioned, he could not ascertain from the indictment 
 itself, against which, and against which only, he 
 was to make his defence, whether the recited pas 
 sages were taken from the " Prospect," or from 
 some gazette in which they had been republished, 
 but in the publication of which he had no concern. 
 In support of the charges contained in this indict 
 ment, facts of a very different nature might be 
 stated, with a view to be proved : and the traverser 
 therefore could not know with that certainty with 
 which accusations ought always to be made, whe 
 ther he was to be at the trouble of justifying what 
 he had said, or whether he could safely rest his de 
 fence on the insufficiency of the evidence brought 
 against him to prove the act of publication only. 
 
 The second reason appeared to Mr. H. to be 
 conclusive. He contended, that one writing a 
 gainst the President, containing fifty libellous pas- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 425 
 
 sages, if published at the same time, was only one 
 act for which one prosecution only could be main 
 tained. 
 
 If the present indictment had mentioned the 
 title of the book now introduced, the decision 
 about to be pronounced, whatever it might be, 
 might be pleaded in bar of a subsequent prosecu 
 tion for the same, or for any other passages in the 
 same book. In support of this plea, the traverser 
 would have nothing to do but to produce the re 
 cord. This alone would protect him. But if the 
 title of the book is not to be recited, the produc 
 tion of the record would not be sufficient to sup 
 port his plea of " formerly acquitted or formerly 
 convicted. " In addition to the record, he must 
 bring forward witnesses to prove that the " Pros 
 pect" had been given in evidence against him at 
 the former trial. Such witnesses, perhaps* might 
 be procured, but it was not certain ; and when pro 
 cured, their evidence might not be sufficiently ex 
 plicit to establish the point relied on by the tra 
 verser. He did not stand therefore in a state of 
 security, in which a man ought to be placed who 
 once answered a charge made against him by his 
 country, and in which he would be placed if the 
 doctrine contended for by his counsel were correct. 
 Here the judge observed to Mr. Hay, in HI? 
 WAY, that it was certain that the traverser might 
 plead the present prosecution in bar of any other. 
 It was clear law, and Mr. H. must know it to be 
 
424- TPIE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 so. Mr. Hay said that he was not completely un 
 derstood. The present prosecution might be plead 
 ed in bar of another prosecution for the same offence, 
 and would, according to his doctrine, appear on 
 the record ; but according to the doctrine to which 
 the court seemed to incline, the evidence of this 
 fact, resting on memory only, might perish for 
 ever. 
 
 Here the Attorney for the United States was 
 about to rise ; but the judge stopped him. Really, 
 Mr. Attorney, said he, it is not worth your while 
 to take up the time of the court in making a reply. 
 There can be no good reason for excluding the book 
 as evidence. The traverser is charged with having 
 written, printed or published a certain libellous 
 writing ; all that is to be done on the part of the 
 United States, is to prove this charge to be true, 
 and the book called the "Prospect," is good evi 
 dence to support it. 
 
 This point being disposed of, the Attorney for 
 the United States rose and commented at great 
 length on every charge contained in the indict 
 ment. 
 
 The jury then retired and returned a verdict of 
 Guilty. 
 
 The sentence of the court was, that James 
 Thomson Callender be fined two hundred dollars, 
 and be imprisoned nine months ; and find security 
 for his good behavior during the same period from 
 the date of his sentence. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 425 
 
 The trials of Cooper and Callender furnish the 
 strongest proofs of the partiality which prevailed in 
 the American courts during the administration of 
 Mr. Adams. The conduct of Judge Chase to Mr. 
 Cooper must be reprobated by every lover of jus 
 tice and liberty. In Callender s trial, after the ju 
 ry delivered their verdict, Chase observed that it 
 was pleasing to him, because it shewed that the 
 laws of the United States could be enforced in Vir 
 ginia, the principal object of Callender s prosecu 
 tion. In charging the jury, he spoke of Mr. Cal 
 lender in the most contemptuous manner: he call 
 ed upon their honest indignation : he declared that 
 he did not think there was so bad a man in the Uni 
 ted States. This language might have been tole 
 rated from the prosecutor, but coming from a judge, 
 it is censurable in the highest degree. 
 
 Before we proceed with an account of the elec 
 tions for President in the different States it is pro 
 per to give an account of the lives and characters 
 of the different Candidates. This will constitute 
 the subject of the next chapter. 
 
 Hhh 
 
426 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Lives and Characters of Thomas Jefferson, Aaron 
 Burr, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON was born in the year 
 1743, at Monticello, in the county of Albemarle, 
 in Virginia. He was the eldest son of his father, 
 who was a respectable land holder, and joint com 
 missioner appointed with Colonel Fry for settling 
 and extending the boundary line between Virginia 
 and North-Carolina, in 1749. 
 
 About the age of fourteen he was sent to the 
 University of William and Mary, in the city of Wil- 
 liamsburgh, a seminary, though not equal to the 
 European schools, has yet produced several cha 
 racters that, in classical knowledge and legal abili 
 ties, would do honor either to Cambridge or Ox- 
 ford. 
 
 The progress which young Jefferson made in 
 the different departments of science and literature 
 was rapid ; and he obtained the degrees of the 
 College with honor to himself and credit to his in 
 structors. At the desire and advice of his relations, 
 he commenced a course of law under the direction 
 of George Wythe, now the venerable judge and 
 sole chancellor of Virginia. Being naturally fond 
 of philosophic pursuits, and accustomed to acute 
 discrimination and logical discussion with his fel 
 low students, he greatly facilitated the acquire- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 427 
 
 ment of legal knowledge, which he now studied as 
 a profession. 
 
 In J766 he came to the bar of the Supreme 
 Court of his native State, and on his first appear 
 ance gave indication of talents that would rise to 
 high eminence. Here he continued to practice 
 with success and reputation until the commence 
 ment of the American Revolution, in 1775, when 
 he was called forward to support the rights of his 
 country, and for those important ends which have 
 been so conspicuously realised in the various ca 
 pacities in which he has acted. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson is in his person tall and slender, 
 of a fresh complexion, clear, penetrating eyes, his 
 hair inclining to red, and of a deportment modest, 
 affable and engaging. In early youth, the only pe 
 riod which fortune seems to have allotted him for a 
 social intercourse with the world, he was in every 
 circle its ornament, instructor and pride. A close 
 application, aided by an uncommon strength of 
 mind, supplied the want of many European advan 
 tages. Without neglecting the particular study 
 which was the primary object of his employment, 
 Mr. Jefferson found sufficient time to attend to the 
 polite acquirements. He relieved the tedious fa 
 tigue of law by improving the knowledge of Ge 
 ometry, Astronomy, and Natural Philosophy which 
 he had acquired at the University ; and the research 
 of science he occasionally blended with the light 
 er an-d perhaps more agreeable amusements of draw 
 ing and music. In the latter art he not only arv- 
 
428 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ed at that degree of mediocrity which serves to 
 soften the passions and refine the tender feelings, 
 but was considered among amateurs as a consider 
 able proficient. 
 
 In 1774, when the inhabitants of America 
 were roused into action by the tyranny and accu 
 mulated wrongs of the British government, Mr. 
 Jefferson published his celebrated pamphlet, " Sum 
 mary view of the rights of British America," ad 
 dressed to the king, which brought forward against 
 the author threats of prosecution from the Earl of 
 Dunmore, then Governor of Virginia. Mr. Jef 
 ferson was obnoxious to this nobleman on another 
 account : Dunmore was, in his own country, con 
 sidered as one of the most intemperate and dissolute 
 young men of his age. The climate of Virginia, 
 with the unlimited authority of a British Governor, 
 served to inflame his passions, and heighten his li 
 centious habits. His hours, in place of being spent 
 in redressing the wrongs and listening to the griev 
 ances of the Virginia planters, were devoted to the 
 gambling table, and the indulging of the sensual 
 appetites. When the arts of seduction proved in 
 effectual the brutal peer even had recourse to vi 
 olence. A young lady of the name of Campbell, 
 the daughter of a respectable merchant in Rich 
 mond, became the victim of his unbounded amours. 
 Her brother, an officer in the king s service, called 
 Dunmore to account for his injured sister. The 
 haughty Governor, in place of giving the satisfac 
 tion which justice required, had him arrested and 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 429 
 
 sent to England, where, by the sentence of a 
 court-martial, he was deprived of his commission. 
 A well wrote and accurate statement of this unwar 
 rantable outrage appeared soon after in the public 
 papers of Virginia ; the author. I am informed, 
 was a lawyerof the name of Foster, but the Earl of 
 Dunmore supposed it, from the ability it displayed, 
 to have been the production of Mr. Jefferson. His 
 threats, however, produced no other effect than to 
 cause Mr. Jefferson publicly to avow himself the 
 author of the Rights of British America. 
 
 About this time he married an amiable woman, 
 the daughter of Mr. Wayles, an eminent counsellor 
 in Virginia : that affectionate partner, unfortunate 
 ly no longer exists. The death of this lady, in 1780, 
 devolved on him a more weighty care, the edu 
 cation of two lovely daughters, their surviving 
 issue : these have been reared under his immedi 
 ate inspection, and have accompanied his diplo 
 matic functions whithersoever they have been di 
 rected. 
 
 It was not to be expected that a man of such 
 conspicuous qualifications could be suffered long 
 to remain in the shade of philosophic retirement. 
 In the year 1775, he was elected a member of the 
 Virginia convention, and on the 4th of August, in 
 the same year, one of the members to represent 
 that State, then colony of Virginia, in Congress. 
 In this Legislature, he became a distinguished and 
 useful members and has left many traces of suffi- 
 
430 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 cient importance to display his knowledge of legal 
 jurisprudence. 
 
 In the memorable year of 1776, which separa 
 ted the United States from their mother country,, 
 and gave the example of freedom to the monar 
 chies of Europe, we find Mr. Jefferson advancing 
 to a still more dignified station. He was chosen? 
 along with Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Ro 
 ger Sherman and R. R. Livingston, to draw up the 
 declaration of our independence, an instrument 
 which will ever be considered as the magna charta 
 of American liberty. It was from the elegant pen 
 and enlightened mind of Mr. Jefferson, who was 
 first named on the committee, that this instrument 
 proceeded; which, so long as the records of time 
 shall endure, will perpetuate the fame of its author. 
 He was also honored with the public confidence, 
 by being appointed a member of the first Congress, 
 where he sat two years, supporting a character 
 highly respectable, and which will stand dignified 
 in the judgment of our remotest posterity. 
 
 In the year 1778, Mr. Jefferson, being then a 
 member of the Virginia Legislature, presented to 
 that body the act " to prevent the importation of 
 slaves," which was enacted into a law in the month 
 of October of the same year ; and was shortl} fol 
 lowed by another act, " to authorise manumis 
 sions," being the commencement of a system of 
 general emancipation, also proposed by him. 
 
 The first critical period in Mr. Jefferson s civil 
 administration was when he received the appoint- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 431 
 
 ment of Governor of Virginia, in the year 1779, in 
 the room of Patrick Henry, who was the first gov 
 ernor under the renovated constitution, and the suc 
 cessor of the Earl of Dunmore. Mr. Jefferson con 
 tinued in this office until June, 1781. 
 
 During these years, Mr. Jefferson had much to 
 contend with. The State experienced three inva 
 sions, and he had not only to combat an open ene 
 my in the field, but to encounter the insidious 
 snares of a secret faction, who assailed his reputa 
 tion and stabbed him in the dark. They insinua 
 ted that he had abandoned the government of Vir 
 ginia to its enemies, and sought personal safety by 
 flight to the mountains, and that he likewise had 
 refused to pay military claims in preference to those 
 of the civil list. 
 
 Against these slanderous falsehoods, I shall 
 transcribe the arguments of Mr. Jefferson s biogra 
 pher, in an English publication intitled, " Public 
 Characters of 1801." 
 
 " If the first of these loose insinuations (says 
 this writer) be supposed to apply to the evacuation 
 of the Virginia metropolis, an American officer, now 
 present, was with him on the occasion, and contra 
 dicts the fact : if to the second visit which Gene 
 ral Tarlton did himself the honor of paying to the 
 deliberating councils of that country, the whole 
 Legislature must be implicated : Dum armes, silent 
 leges ! The propriety of his pecuniary appropria 
 tions are, perhaps, easily to be justified, 
 
432 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ec In regard to the first point of view, facts au 
 thorise the bold assertion, that the government de 
 serted Mr. Jefferson, not that Mr. Jefferson desert 
 ed the government, on this occasion of unpa 
 ralleled risk and difficulty. The gentleman present, 
 and now ready to testify, was at that period an 
 officer, in the confidence of the commanding Ge 
 neral in that part of the country, and was on this 
 particular occasion, sent to Mr. Jefferson with dis 
 patches of an important nature, (being choicely 
 mounted, by the General s particular order, on the 
 most noted running horse which the whole country 
 afforded ;) he found Mr. Jefferson in the town of 
 Manchester, opposite to Richmond, which is the 
 metropolis spoken of, and then about fourteen miles 
 from the rear of General Arnold, who was retiring 
 from his predatory incursion. He learnt from the 
 few confidential friends who surrounded the gov 
 ernor, that his Excellency had been busily engaged, 
 even in personal labor, to secure those very arms 
 in a place of safety which were abandoned by his 
 citizens to the mercy of the enemy ; while some 
 indeed, were as industriously employer! in circula 
 ting falsehoods to his prejudice. 
 
 " In the respect of his pecuniary appropriations, 
 before alluded to, gentlemen of the army seem to 
 have been a little premature, in imbibing a preju 
 dice against a public character, whose office de 
 manded of him an independent exercise of his judg 
 ment. This might in part, perhaps, proceed from 
 the imperfect knowledge to which military life in 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 433 
 
 general attains in the affairs of civil government, 
 and partly from those false suggestions which are 
 wont to arise from the malice of faction. It is true 
 that a part of the army were discontented with Mr. 
 Jefferson, and it is equally so, that their jealousy of 
 pecuniary partialities was the chief cause ; but it 
 remains to be determined, whether this was a rea 
 sonable dissatisfaction. It was a prevalent com 
 plaint, that the civil list was paid while the claims 
 of the military were unattended to. In canvassing 
 this murmur, let us take a view of the premises: 
 Every one knows the situation of Virginia at that 
 time; her credit was sunk, her strength exhausted 
 by the marching and counter-marching of her troops, 
 invaded by a powerful enemy, and her contingent 
 fund at a very low ebb. ...certainly the propriety of 
 supporting her civil government through such dis 
 asters, will be viewed as a primary object by all 
 sound politicians. Without that supreme head, the 
 very cause which called for a defence would have 
 been annihilated, and the dissatisfied military would 
 have been disorganized, and no longer necessary. 
 With regard to the component individuals who were 
 included in the civil list, it was necessary to support 
 them ; for to do this was essential to the existence 
 of jurisprudence, and indispensably necessary for 
 the support of good order in the community. The 
 people of the metropolis, (Richmond) were nei 
 ther willing nor aHe to take the whole burden of 
 government upon their own shoulders ; nor were 
 
 thev, on any account, bound to submit to itj 
 
 I ii 
 
434 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 yet the departments of administration must ne 
 cessarily reside there, and the inhabitants must 
 as necessarily be paid for accommodating men 
 who have sacrificed the convenience of life to 
 the duties of public service, and were unavoidably 
 dependent on the national fund. Had the trea 
 sury of the State been adequate to the whole de 
 mand, it is presumed no man would have felt great 
 er pleasure than Mr. Jefferson in the accommoda 
 tion of all their wants, for benevolence is a trait in 
 his constitution which has more than once placed 
 his private credulity in the hands of the swindler. 
 It is moreover to be considered, that the civil list 
 contained but a small number of individuals ; the 
 military roll comprised a very large one. Of two 
 evils it was certainly proper to choose the least; 
 besides the military had one resource which was 
 beyond the immediate power of the civil authority : 
 their arms and the laws of war, empowered and 
 justified them in taking needful supplies, (otherwise 
 than in waste) from those to whom Providence had 
 been most bountiful ; for such had been made the 
 common lot of the war, the whole property of the 
 people being voluntarily pledged for its defence 
 at the period of its commencement. ...some of the 
 military, however, had a different sense of these 
 matters, and preferred to quarter upon the chief 
 magistrate, those whom rank and military pride 
 should have better instructed in the rules of deco 
 rum and common civility. 1 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 435 
 
 ln the } 7 ear 1781, under the pressure of public 
 business and family affliction, Mr. Jefferson pre 
 pared his celebrated work, afterward published in 
 Europe, intitled, " Notes on Virginia/ 
 
 In the year 1783, Mr. Jefferson was appointed 
 to a seat in Congress, from whence he was nomina 
 ted as ambassador to the court of Spain, but the ap 
 proach of peace, it is presumed, rendered his voy 
 age unnecessary. In the following year, on the 7th 
 of May, he was nominated by that honorable body 
 minister plenipotentiary of the United States, to 
 the court of France, as the successor of the venera 
 ble Franklin. From thence he communicated his ne - 
 gociations concerning the freedom of the tobacco 
 trade, and the powerful opposition of the farmers- 
 general, &c. to Mr. Jay, then our minister offoreign 
 affairs, in a letter dated 27th of May, 1786 : in this 
 letter he evinces considerable diplomatic talents 
 and success, having gained the approbation of Mr. 
 de Vergennes and the acquiescence of Mr. de Ca- 
 lonne. He has also recommended to the people 
 of Carolina, an improvement in preparing their 
 staple commodity, rice, in order to lead the Medi 
 terranean market. In another letter to Dr. Stiles, 
 President of Yale College, dated Paris, September 
 1st, 1786, he displays a fund of sentiment and in 
 formation sufficient to entitle him to the confidence 
 of his country and the admiration of society. 
 
 On the 22d of October, 1786, Mr. de Calonne 
 announced to Mr. Jefferson, by letter from Fon- 
 tainbkau, the intention of the kincr of France to 
 
436 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 favor the commerce of the United States as much 
 as possible -, to double the number of their free 
 ports ; to reduce the duties which were prejudicial 
 to the commerce with America ; that after the ex 
 piration of a contract made by the farmers-general 
 with Mr. Morris, (concerning tobacco) no similar 
 one should be permitted ; and that during the ex 
 istence of the term of Mr. Morris s contract, the 
 farmers-general should be compelled to purchase 
 annually about fifteen thousand hogsheads of Ame 
 rican tobacco. This regulation of the tobacco 
 trade, (though not wholly in conformity to the prin 
 ciples proposed by Mr. Jefferson in his letter to the 
 Count de Vergennes) appears to have been the re 
 sult of Mr. Jefferson s negociation, which had first 
 in view to eradicate that monopoly entirely. 
 
 In the arguments used by Mr. Jefferson for the 
 abolishing of French duties upon the oil trade, he 
 appears to have carried equal conviction ; for al 
 though France could not consent to a total aboli 
 tion, she puts the United States on a footing with 
 the Hanse towns, and Mr. de Calonne assigns the 
 pre-existing treaties with other powers as a reason 
 for her doing no more : his most Christian majesty, 
 moreover, thought fit to abolish the duties of fabri 
 cation upon this article. 
 
 About the same period, Mr. Jefferson, in con 
 junction with Franklin, negociated with a minis 
 ter from the court of Prussia, then at the Hague, 
 the treaty known by the name of the " Prussian 
 Treatv," in which an astonished world has, for 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 437 
 
 the first time, seen a public avowal, and positive 
 provision by treaty between two sovereign and in 
 dependent nations, for the establishment of those 
 two great and glorious principles, promotiveof uni 
 versal peace and happiness, to wit: 1st. That free 
 ships shall make free goods ; and 2d. That privateer 
 ing in time of war be abolished ; principles which it 
 were to be wished could be rendered universal. 
 Mr. Adams was one of the commissioners for nego- 
 ciating this treaty, and on its completion it was sent 
 over to London, where Mr. Adams then resided as 
 minister of the United States, for his signature. It is 
 greatly to be regretted that Mr. Adams could not 
 be content to retain to himself a share of the glory 
 which reflects on the authors of this celebrated 
 treaty ; but, unhappily for our country, while he 
 was President of the United States, we have seen 
 him nominate his son, John Quincy Adams, as 
 minister to the court of Prussia, for the express 
 purpose, as declared, of renewing the treaty with 
 that nation, which having been limited to continue 
 in force for ten years only, had expired. Accord 
 ingly, another treaty has been made by his son 
 with Prussia, which has been approved by a ma 
 jority of the Senate, and ratified by Mr. Adams ; but 
 which, instead of renewing and continuing the old 
 treaty, is in itself a new one, expressly abandoning 
 and renouncing the two inestimable principles ; 
 1st, That free 1 ships shall make free goods ; and 2d. 
 That privateering in time of war be abolished-, prin- 
 
438 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 ciples, which it appears from the correspondence 
 accompanying the negociation, laid before the Sen 
 ate of the United States by the late President, the 
 wise and enlightened ministers of the Prussian 
 monarch were brought, with great difficulty and 
 reluctance, to abandon on the earnest solicitation 
 and reiterated demand of the American negociator, 
 under the suggestion that the maritime powers, 
 pcwticularly Great Britain, would never sanction 
 or permit them. 
 
 In the year 1789, Mr. Jefferson being return 
 ed to the United States, and appointed by Presi 
 dent Washington Secretary to the department of 
 State, immediately entered on the arduous duties 
 of that important station, having previously stipu 
 lated with the President, that in consideration of 
 the many years absence from his family and estate, 
 he might be permitted, at the expiration of the 
 constitutional term for which the President was 
 elected, to retire from the public service. 
 
 The first result of the labors of Mr. Jefferson in 
 the department of State, were exhibited to Con 
 gress in the following reports, to wit : 
 
 1st. A report on the fisheries of the United 
 States. 
 
 2d. A report on coins, weights and measures. 
 
 3d. A report on the waste and unappropriated 
 lands of the United States. 
 
 4th. A report on the privileges and restrictions 
 on the commerce of the United States in foreign 
 countries. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 439 
 
 Each of these reports displayed the usual accu 
 racy, information and intelligence of the writer. 
 
 But it was reserved for a more critical and deli 
 cate period in the affairs of the United States, that 
 the pre-eminent talents of the American Secretary 
 should become most conspicuous, and interestingly 
 useful to his country. The non-execution of the 
 treaty of peace with the United States, on the part 
 of Great Britain ; her detention of our Western 
 Posts, and the attendant spoliations on our com 
 merce, both by Great Britain and France, then at 
 war with each other, added to the intrigues of the 
 minister of the latter, Genet, all conduced to a 
 situation difficult and perplexing. Besides which, 
 Spain continued to withhold from us the free navi 
 gation of the Missisippi, so essential to all wes 
 tern America. In this state of things, the just con 
 fidence which the discriminating mind of Washing 
 ton had reposed in Mr. Jefferson, was amply re 
 paid by that promptness, zeal and ability with 
 which the American Secretary contributed by his 
 labors to relieve the Executive from embarrass 
 ment. 
 
 Through a series of masterly and unequalled di 
 plomatic correspondence, which he maintained at 
 the same time with the respective ministers of 
 Great Britain and France, namely, Hammond and 
 Genet, he traversed and rebutted their respective 
 causes of charge and complaint against the United 
 States, and having fully proved the various aggres 
 sions and infractions of treaty en the part of their 
 
440 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 respective governments, pointed to the means for 
 preserving the honor and maintaining the rights of 
 his own country, whilst alike superior to the in 
 trigues of Great Britain or of France, he fully mani 
 fested that he held no particular attachment to any 
 foreign nation, but was equally prepared, with the 
 decision, firmness and intelligence of a true Ame 
 rican, to oppose and resist the aggressions of all. 
 The recal of Genet, and appointment of his suc 
 cessor, with the subsequent proceedings between 
 the United States and France ; the appointment of 
 Mr. Jay, his treaty with Great Britain, and the re 
 cal of Mr. Hammond, appointment of Mr. Liston, 
 and subsequent proceedings with Great Britain, 
 are all well known. In respect to Spain, the labors 
 of Mr. Jefferson w r ere more immediately effective 
 and corn pie at. 
 
 Having possessed the commissioners of the Uni 
 ted States, then at Madrid, negociating a treaty 
 with the court of Spain, with the most ample and 
 pointed instructions, and also of the form and pro 
 visions of a treaty predicated on the basis of the free 
 navigation of the Missisippi, it remained only for 
 Mr. Thomas Pinckncy, then minister from the 
 United States at London, under special instruction 
 from the President, and appointed envoy for that 
 purpose, to repair to Madrid, and seeing the favor 
 able moment for effecting it, to accomplish this de 
 sirable work. 
 
 This was accordingly done with equal prompt 
 ness and decision on his part, and jointly to that, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 441 
 
 and the labors of the American Secretary in the 
 cabinet, are the United States indebted for the 
 most liberal, honorable and beneficial treaty they 
 ever yet entered into with a foreign nation. 
 
 It is the fate of every man whom virtue and 
 talents have elevated, to excite the envy and ha 
 tred of many. Previous to Mr. Jefferson s elec 
 tion, a great clamor was raised through the Uni 
 ted States respecting debts due from him to British 
 merchants. This subject, however, when examined, 
 in place of detracting, will add considerably to 
 the lustre of his character. 
 
 In the year 1774, before a shilling of paper 
 money had been issued, Mr. Jefferson sold about 
 five thousand acres of land in Cumberland and 
 Bedford counties, to pay his proportion of a debt 
 due from the estate of Mr. Wayles to Farrel and 
 Jones. Fie offered the bonds to their agent imme 
 diately, who refused to take them. The money 
 was paid to Mr. Jefferson in 1779 and 1780, and 
 he carried it to the treasury of Virginia, as the Jaws 
 pressed on all to do who owed money to British 
 subjects, declaring that the public would pay 
 dollar for dollar. This delusion soon passed 
 away, and it became evident that the public nei 
 ther could, nor ought to pay according to the nom 
 inal value. The reader w r ill perceive the loss 
 which Mr. Jefferson sustained, and that if he had 
 been disposed to quibble, no event could have af 
 forded him a more plausible pretext. But it ap 
 pears that Mr, Jefferson considered himself still 
 
 Kkk 
 
442 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 answerable to Farrel and Jones, and therefore set 
 tled with their agent otherwise. 
 
 The next debt in succession was one due to 
 Kippen and company, for whom Mr. Lyle, of Man 
 chester, was agent. Mr. Jefferson s conduct in the 
 settlement of this claim was strictly honorable. As 
 soon as he returned from his mission to France, he 
 waited upon Mr. Lyle, and made immediate ar 
 rangements for payment, deducting the eight years 
 war interest. 
 
 Respecting the war interest, the following let 
 ter from Mr. Jefferson is quite satisfactory. ...it was 
 produced in court by Jones s agent, and afterwards 
 published in the Aurora :* 
 
 "Paris, Januarys, 1787. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " When I had the pleasure of seeing you in Lon 
 don, I mentioned to you that the affairs of Mr. 
 Wayles s estate were left to be ultimately settled by 
 Mr. Eppis, the only acting executor ; that I have left 
 in his hands also, and in those of a Mr. Lewis, the 
 part of Mr. Wayles s estate which came to me to 
 gether with my own ; that they were first to clear 
 off some debts which had been necessarily con 
 tracted during the war, and would after that apply 
 the whole profits to the payment of my part of 
 Mr. Wayles s debt to you, and to a debt of mine 
 to Kippen and company, of Glasgow. Being anx 
 ious to begin the payment of these two debts, and 
 finding that it would be too long postponed if the 
 residuary ones were to be paid merely from the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 443 
 
 annual profits of the estate, a number of slaves have 
 been sold, and I have lately received information 
 from Messrs. Eppis and Lewis, that the proceeds 
 of that sale, with the profits of the estate to the 
 end of 1781, would pay off the whole of the resi 
 duary debts. As we are now, therefore, clear of 
 embarrassments, to pursue our principal object, I 
 am desirous of arranging with you such just and 
 practicable conditions, as will ascertain to you the 
 terms at which you will receive my part of your 
 debt, and give me the satisfaction of knowing that 
 you are contented : What the laws of Virginia are 
 or may be, will in no wise influence my conduct ; 
 substantial justice is my object, as decided by rea 
 son, not by authority or compulsion. 
 
 " The first question which arises, is as to the 
 article of interest ; for all the time preceding the 
 war, and all subsequent to it, I think it reasonable 
 that interest should be paid, but equally unreason 
 able during the war. Interest is a compensation 
 for the use of money ; your money in my han^s is in 
 the form of lands and negroes ; from these, during 
 the war, no use, no profits could be derived : Tobac 
 co is the article they produce, that only can be turn 
 ed into money at a foreign market ; but the moment 
 it went out of our ports for that purpose, it was cap 
 tured either by the king s ships or by those of indi 
 viduals. The consequence was, that tobacco worth 
 from 20 to 30 shillings the hundred, sold generally in 
 Virginia, during the war, for 5 shillings : this price, 
 it is known, will not maintain the laborer and pay 
 
444 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 his taxes; there was no surplus of profit then to 
 pay an interest ; in the mean while we stood insu 
 rers of the Jives of the laborers, and of the ultimate 
 issue of the war. He who attempted, during the 
 war, to remit either the principal or interest, must 
 have expected to remit three times to make one 
 payment, because it is supposed that two out of 
 three parts of the shipments were taken. It was 
 not possible then for the debtor to derive any profit 
 from the money which might enable him to pay an 
 interest, nor yet to get rid of the principal by re 
 mitting it to his creditors. With respect to credit 
 ors in Great Britain, they turned their attention to 
 privateering and arming the vessels they had before 
 employed in trading with us ; they captured on the 
 seas not only the produce of the farms of their 
 debtors, but of those of the whole State. They 
 thus paid themselves by capture more than their 
 annual interest, and we lost more ; some merchants^ 
 indeed, did not engage in privateering ; these lost 
 their interest ; but tee did not gain it ; it fell into the 
 hands of their countrymen. ...it cannot, therefore, be 
 demanded of us. As between these merchants and 
 their debtor?, it is the case where a loss being in 
 curred, each party may justifiably endeavor to shift 
 it from himself; each has an equal right to avoid 
 it ; one party can never expect the other to yield a 
 thing to which he has as good a right as the de- 
 mander. We even think he has a better right than 
 the demander in the present instance ; this loss has 
 been occasioned by the fault of the nation which 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 445 
 
 was creditor ; our right to avoid it then stands on 
 less exceptionable grounds than theirs. But it 
 will be said that each party thought the other the 
 aggressor ; in these disputes there is but one umpire, 
 and that has decided the question where the world 
 in general thought the right lay. 
 
 " Besides these reasons in favor of the general 
 mass of debtors, I have some peculiar to my own case. 
 In the year 1776, before a shilling of paper money 
 was issued, I sold lands to the amount of ..4,200 
 in order to pay these two debts. I offered the 
 bonds of the purchase to your agent, Mr. Evans, 
 if he would acquit me and accept of the purchasers 
 as debtors in my place. They were as sure as my 
 self j had he done it, these debts being turned 
 over to you, would have been saved to you by the 
 treaty of peace ; but he declined it. 
 
 " Great sums of paper money was afterwards 
 issued ; this depreciated, and payment was made 
 me in this money, when it was but a shadow. Our 
 laws do not entitle their fellow citizens to require 
 repayment in these cases, though the treaty autho 
 rises the British creditor to do it. Here then I 
 lost the principal and interest once. Again, 
 Lord Cornwallis encamped ten days on an estate of 
 mine at Elk Island, having his head-quarters in my 
 house : he burned all the tobacco houses and barns 
 on the farm ; he burnedall the inclosures, and wast 
 ed the fields in which the crop of that year, was 
 growing, (it was in the month of June ;) he killed 
 or carried off every living animal, cutting the throats 
 
446 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 of those which were too young for service ; of the 
 slaves, he carried away 30. The useless and bar 
 barous injury he did me in that instance, was more 
 than would have paid your debt, principal and in 
 terest ; thus I lost it a second time. Still I will lay 
 my shoulders to the payment of it a third time ; in 
 doing this, however, I think yourself will be of 
 opinion, I am authorised in justice to clear it of 
 every article not demandable in strict right : of this 
 nature I conceive interest during the war. 
 
 " Another question is, as to the paper money I 
 deposited in the treasury of Virginia, towards the 
 discharge of this debt. I before observed, that I 
 had sold lands to the amount of <.. 4,200 sterling> 
 before a shilling of paper money was remitted.... 
 with a view to pay this debt, I received this money 
 in depreciated paper. The State was then calling 
 on those who owed money to British subjects, to 
 bring it into the treasury, engaging to pay a like 
 sum to the creditor at the end of the w r ar. I car 
 ried the identical money, therefore, to the treasury* 
 where it was applied, as all the money of the same 
 description was, to the support of the war. Sub 
 sequent events have been such, that the State can 
 not and ought not to pay the same nominal sum in 
 gold or silver, which they received in paper, nor 
 is it certain what they will do. 
 
 " My intention being, and having always been, 
 that whenever the State decides, you shall receive 
 my part of the debt fully. I am ready to remove 
 all difficulty arising from this deposit -, to take back 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 447 
 
 to myself the demand against the State, and to con 
 sider the deposit as originally made for myself, and 
 not for you. 
 
 " These two articles of interest and paper mo 
 ney being thus settled, I would propose to divide 
 the clear proceeds of the estate (in which there 
 are from 80 to a 100 laboring slaves) between your 
 self and Kippen and Co. two thirds to you and 
 one third to them ; and that a crop of this year, 
 1787, shall constitute the first payment. That crop 
 youknow, cannot be got to the warehouse complete 
 ly till May next year ; and I suppose three months 
 more will be little enough to send it to Europe, or 
 to sell it in Virginia and remit the money ; so that it 
 could not safely answer for placing the proceeds in 
 your hands till the month of August, and annually 
 every August till the debt shall be paid. ...it will 
 always be both my interest and my wish, to get 
 it to you as much sooner as possible, and prob 
 ably a part of it may always be paid some months 
 sooner. 
 
 " If the assigning the profits in general terms may 
 seem to you too vague, I am willing to fix the an 
 nual payment at a certain sum. ...but that I may not 
 fall short of my engagement, I shall name it some 
 what less than I suppose may be counted on ; I shall 
 fix your part at four hundred pounds sterling an 
 nually ; and as you know our crops of tobacco to be 
 uncertain,, I should reserve a right, if they fall 
 short one year, to make it up the ensuing one, 
 without being supposed to have failed in my en- 
 
448 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 gagement ; but every other year at least, all ar 
 rearages shall be paid up. 
 
 " My part of this debt of Mr. Wayles s estate be- 
 ing one third, I should require that in proportion 
 as I pay my third I shall stand discharged as to the 
 other two thirds, so that the payment of every one 
 hundred pounds shall discharge me as to three hun 
 dred of the undivided debt. The other gentlemen 
 having equal means of paying, equal desires and 
 more skill in affairs, their parts of the debt, there 
 fore, are at least as sure as mine, and my great ob 
 ject is, in case of any accident to myself, not to 
 leave my family involved with any matters what 
 ever. 
 
 " I do not know what the balance of this debt is ; 
 the last account current I saw was before the war, 
 making the whole balance, principal and interest, 
 somewhat about nine thousand pounds, and after 
 this there were upwards of four hundred hogsheads 
 of tobacco, and some payments in money to be 
 credited. However, this settlement can admit of 
 no difficulty, and in the mean time payments may 
 proceed without affecting the right of either party 
 to have a just settlement. 
 
 " Upon the whole, then, I propose on your part, 
 you relinquish the claim to interest during the war, 
 say from the commencement of hostilities, April 
 19, 1775, to their cessation, April 19, 1784, being 
 exactly eight years, and that in proportion as I pay 
 my third I shall be acquitted as to the other two 
 thirds. On my part, I take on myself the loss of 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 449 
 
 the paper-money, deposited in the treasury, I agree 
 to pay interest previous and subsequent to the war, 
 and oblige myself to remit to you for that and the 
 principal, four hundred pounds sterling, annually, 
 until the third of the whole debt shall be fully paid, 
 and I will begin their payments in August in next 
 year. If you think proper to accede to these pro 
 positions, be so good as to say so at the foot of a 
 copy of this letter ; on the receipt of that, I will 
 send an acknowledgment of it, which shall render 
 this present letter obligatory on me ; in which case 
 you may count on my faithful execution of this 
 undertaking. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, 
 " With great respect, Sir, 
 " Your most obedient, and 
 " Most humble servant, 
 (Signed) THOMAS JEFFERSON." 
 
 The following letter to Mr. Mazzei, a resident in 
 Tuscany, attributed to Mr. Jefferson, has been 
 handed about, and attempts made to question its 
 veracity; but as it has never been denied, it maybe 
 considered as the production of our President, and 
 it reflects considerable credit on his love of truth 
 and principles, as well as a writer. 
 
 " Our political situation is prodigiously changed 
 since you left us. ...instead of that noble love of 
 liberty, and that republican government which 
 carried us triumphantly through the dangers of the 
 war, an anglo-monarckico aristocratic party has 
 arisen. Their avowed object is to impose on us 
 
 Lll 
 
450 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the substance, as they have already given us the form 
 of the British government; nevertheless, the princi 
 pal body of our citizens remain faithful to republi 
 can principles. All our proprietors of lands are 
 friendly to those principles, as also the mass of men 
 of talents. ...we have against us the Executive pow 
 er, all the officers of government, all who are seeking 
 offices, and all timid men wbo prefer the calm of 
 despotism, to the tempestuous sea of liberty ; the 
 British merchants, and Americans who trade on 
 British capitals, the speculators, persons interested 
 in the bank and public funds. 
 
 " I should give you a fever if I should name 
 the apostates who have embraced those heresies.... 
 men who were Solomons in council and Sampsons 
 in combat, but w r hose hair has been cut off by the 
 whore, England. 
 
 " They would wrest from us that liberty which 
 we have obtained by so much labor and peril, 
 but we shall preserve it. Our mass of weight and 
 riches is so powerful, that we have nothing to fear 
 from any attempt against us by force.... it is suf- 
 Hcient that we guard ourselves, and that we break 
 the Lilliputian ties by which they have bound us, 
 in the first slumbers which succeeded our labors; 
 it suffices that we arrest the progress of that system 
 of ingratitude and injustice towards France, from 
 whom they would alienate us to bring us under 
 British influence." 
 
 This article I shall conclude with the following 
 extract from a character given of Mr. Jefferson, 
 
OP JOHN ATAMS. 451 
 
 by a celebrated counsellor in the State of New- 
 York : 
 
 cc There was no character perhaps in America, 
 more eminently calculated to fill the department of 
 State, than Mr. Jefferson. Few men who have 
 travelled at all, have travelled with more advan 
 tage ; and had a greater capacity of receiving im 
 provement from this mode of it, than him. The 
 genius of each nation, its particular customs and 
 manners, and the great relative interest which re 
 gulated the policy of courts, were subjects with 
 which he was acquainted ; and eminently fitted 
 him to fill a department, the peculiar organ of their 
 communications. Controversy, which so frequently 
 betrays the fallibility of the understanding, because 
 it begets intemperance, never makes him a victim 
 to the designs of his opponent. He listens to his 
 arguments with scrupulous attention ; draws new 
 sources of information from conflicting principles; 
 and if he is animated at all, it is with the discovery 
 of a new truth. There are, perhaps, few men bet 
 ter calculated always to triumph and always to 
 leave upon the mind, at least the most favorable 
 impressions, if not the most decisive conviction,. 
 This is not difficult to account for, when applied 
 to Mr. Jefferson ; because few men, like him, de 
 serve the application. He never hazards an opin 
 ion without the authority of experience, and the 
 conviction of reason. Travel and observation have 
 matured the one, and extensive application and re 
 flection have invigorated the other. His principles. 
 
452 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 therefore, convey the strongest impressions ; which 
 he inforcesby logical deduction, and mathematical 
 precision, drawn from an expanded intellect, that 
 separates with infinite facility, the purity of truth 
 from the grossest materials of error. 
 
 " When citizen Genet, the ex-minister of Robes- 
 perian fanatacism, appeared in America, he at- 
 temped to impose his new philosophy of light and 
 liberty upon the government. He had nothing to 
 boast of, on the score of superior diplomatic skill. 
 His communications to the Secretary of State were 
 evidently of the tampering kind. They were im 
 pressed with all the marks of that enthusiastic in 
 sanity, which regulated the councils of the faction ; 
 and which were calculated to mistake their object, 
 by disgusting their intended victims. The mind 
 of Mr. Jefferson discovered itself in an early period 
 of his correspondence with the French minister. 
 The communications of Genet were decorated 
 with all the flowers of eloquence, without the force 
 and conviction of rhetorical energy. Accustomed 
 to diplomatic calculation, and intimately combining 
 cause with effect, Mr. Jefferson apprehended the 
 subject with strength and precision. ...considered it, 
 developed it, viewed it on all sides, listened to 
 every appeal, and attended to every charge ; and 
 in every communication burst forth with a strength 
 of refutation that at once detected and embarrass 
 ed the disappointed minister of a wily and fanatic 
 nation, 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 453 
 
 " It is, in most instances, useless to oppose enthu 
 siasm with the deliberate coolness of reason and 
 argument. They are the antipodes of each other - 
 and of that imperious nature which mutually so 
 licit triumph and disdain reconciliation. The ty 
 ranny of the Robesperian principles were calculated 
 to enveigle within the vortex of European politics, 
 the American government and people. The cool 
 ness and sagacity of the Secretary of State, com 
 posed their defence and protection. The appeal 
 was mutually made to the government ; and it is 
 a fortunate circumstance, that there existed this 
 tribunal to approbate the measures of the Secre 
 tary, and to silence forever the declamatory oracle 
 of an insidious faction. Checked and defeated 
 on all sides, his doctrine stripped of its visionary 
 principles, and himself betrayed into the labyrinth 
 of diplomatic mystery, the ex-divinity shrunk into the 
 silence of contempt ; declaring with his last breath, 
 that Mr. Jefferson was the only man in America 
 whose talents he highly respected, 
 
 " The diplomatic contest with Genet was not 
 the only one which drew forth into action the 
 splendid abilities of Mr. Jefferson. The American 
 world was, for some time, amused with the com 
 munications of the English minister, Hammond.... 
 Their object is too well known to require delinea 
 tion. It was a contest between the antiquated 
 principles of a rotten monarchy, deluded by the 
 fallacious idea of effecting a triumph, and the new 
 ly acquired maxims of the republican philosophy, 
 
454 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The communications of Hammond were stamped 
 with the original dullness and stupidity of their au 
 thor. Incapable of convicting by the energy of 
 argument, the importance of the minister was main 
 tained by the length and number of his letters, and 
 by that rigid perseverance, which was calculated 
 to irritate and disgust. Tired with the correspon 
 dence, the Secretary of State appears to have col 
 lected together the united energies of his mind in 
 a single letter of considerable length, wherein he 
 combines with infinite skill, the erudition of the 
 counsellor, the wisdom of the politician, and the 
 sagacity of diplomatic ingenuity. No longer delu 
 ded by the dreams of triumph, Hammond in a 
 short time went home, to kiss the aristocratical hand 
 that made him a slave ; and Mr. Jefferson to see 
 that repose in retirement, which his laborious at 
 tention to the duties of his office seemed to de 
 mand. 
 
 " Mr. Jefferson appears, from the incomparable 
 felicity of his temper, to have arrived at the most 
 elevated height of philosophy. He has not escaped 
 the misfortune, if it is one, of having enemies to 
 depreciate his virtues and calumniate his princi 
 ples. These virtues have frequently furnished pre 
 tences for the bitterest calumny. The equanimity 
 of his temper, however, never fell a victim to the 
 unmanly provocatives, which so often disturb little 
 minds. His contempt for a just censure, his dig 
 nified reserve beneath the insolence of ministerial 
 loquacity, and his unshaken serenity, whilst the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 455 
 
 whole political world is moving around him, make 
 a soul capable of holding calamity in defiance.... 
 Viewing mankind as they really are, biassed by 
 passion, swayed by prejudice, and with ears con 
 tinually open in the invocations of individual in 
 terest, it stands aloof in the sentiment of his own 
 exalted mind, and like Jupiter from Olympus, sur 
 veys with serenity and silence, the fate of empires. 
 It is well known, however, that his enemies are 
 of that obsequious tribe of court parasites, who 
 move in the inferior circles of respectability, and 
 feel the influence of talents, which they seek to 
 decry by the arts of petulence and loquacity. He 
 has sufficient knowledge of human nature to 
 know that this is the involuntary tribute of envy ; 
 and is consoled that it is the medium of the incul 
 cation of truth, and is satisfied that he is not con 
 scious of deserving reproach, and is silent. Surely 
 the man who can preserve such an equanimity of 
 temper, who can maintain the composure of his 
 mind, and listen to unmerited reproach, without 
 deserving it ; surely such a man is intitled to the 
 first place in our esteem. They are attributes which 
 few men possess, are the productions of the most 
 difficult of all attainments, the knowledge and es 
 teem of ourselves, and flow from an elevated philo 
 sophy, that seeks tranquillity in conscious recti 
 tude ; which teaches forbearance whilst it refines 
 our knowledge of human nature, and views the 
 conflicting passions of mankind, as connected with 
 the destiny of social life. To descend from this 
 
456 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 dignified sphere of human reason, like the Pagan 
 Gods from Olympus, to participate in the conflicts 
 of an inferior order of beings, would be doing vio 
 lence to the sanctuary of philosophy. His enemies 
 may desire it ; and seek an occasion for that tri 
 umph which pertinacious mediocrity sometimes 
 acquires over the sublimity of genius. He feels 
 the most complete security in the celestial sanctua 
 ry of self applause , in the steady discharge of the 
 duties committed to his care ; in an inflexibility to 
 ill and in the obstinacy to do justice. The arts of 
 malice, and the rude voice of faction assail him in 
 vain. The senseless clamors of his enemies make 
 no impression on him. He appears invulnerable to 
 the shafts of malignity which fall every where a- 
 round him, blunted by the invincible dignity of his 
 character, and the respectability of his talents." 
 
 Aaron Burr, the Vice-President of the United 
 States, was the only son of President Burr, of New- 
 Jersey college. President Burr was born in the year 
 1714, at Fairfield, in Connecticut, in which colony 
 his forefathers, who were persons of great respect 
 ability, had been settled for several preceding gene 
 rations. The late Governor Livingston, in speak 
 ing of this gentleman, has the following words : 
 " whether we consider him in a private or public 
 view, he is still equally striking, equally distinguish 
 ed, and without exaggerated expression, some 
 thing surpassing the ordinary bounds of human na 
 ture." He married Miss Edwards, the daughter 
 of Dr. Jonathan Edwards, who was afterwards his 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 457 
 
 successor in Jersey college : by this lady he had 
 Aaron Burr, and a daughter, who married Judge 
 Tappen Reeve, of Connecticut. 
 
 President Burr died in the year 1757, when his 
 son Aaron was about three years of age ; the care 
 of Aaron s education consequently devolved on 
 Mrs. Burr, and none could have been more fit 
 for that purpose than this lady. She was, in every 
 respect, an ornament to her sex, being equally dis 
 tinguished for suavity of manners, purity of religion 
 and brilliancy in literature and science. 
 
 At the age of fourteen, Aaron Burr was sent to 
 the college oi Cambridge, where he soon display 
 ed that quickness of comprehension, blended with 
 an ease in expression and gentleness of manners, 
 though clothed with a prudent reserve, which have 
 composed the leading features of his character 
 through life. In the beginning of 1774, when the 
 standard of liberty was erected in the Eastern 
 States, Burr, then a youth of eighteen, left his aca 
 demic pursuits to share in those laurels which were 
 afterwards to constitute a new acrain the history of 
 the world, to teach kings that they had not deri 
 ved the prerogative of power from the throne of 
 heaven, and to disclose to mankind the pleasing 
 doctrine that they had only one sovereign to obey, 
 the Creator of the universe. 
 
 Aaron Burr, though of a person slender and de 
 licate, was not deterred from encountering the 
 hardships of a winter campaign. Disdaining the 
 advice and entreaties of his relations when the in- 
 Mmm 
 
458 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 terest of bis country was at stake, he joined the 
 ranks under the brave Montgomery, and continu 
 ed for several months unknown in the humble but 
 honorable capacity of a private soldier. His me 
 rit soon raised him to the active station of aid-de 
 camp to that General, with whom he continued un 
 til the unfortunate attack on Quebec, the 31st. of 
 December, 1775, deprived America of the services 
 of that illustrious officer. 
 
 After the death of General Montgomery, we 
 find Aaron Burr in the army of General Putnam, 
 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In the cam 
 paign of 1777, and autumn of that year,- Colonel 
 Burr signalized himself by the capture of a British 
 piquet without the loss of a single man, although 
 his party was inferior in number. 
 
 As this circumstance is not narrated in any of 
 the histories of the revolutionary war, the particu 
 lars of it cannot be unacceptable to the American 
 patriot. General Clinton lay across the bridge of 
 Hackensack with about 4000 British troops ; the 
 American army was stationed above : one evening 
 about dark. Colonel Burr marched down with a 
 company of twenty-four men to reconnoitre the 
 enemy. At a little distance from the new bridge, 
 he perceived the glimmering of a light, which pro 
 ceeded from the enemy s piquet.... he immediately 
 halted, and having ordered a profound silence, he 
 crossed the road to the opposite side of the way, 
 and took his quarters under a chesnut tree : leav 
 ing his party, he went alone to observe the situation 
 of the enemy, and got so near them as to obtain their 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 459 
 
 watch word. He returned a little before the break 
 of day, and led his men directly between the piquet 
 and the main body of the British troops ; then di 
 viding his small company into four divisions of six- 
 men each, he gave orders for two of them to attack 
 on the front, one on the right and the other on the left, 
 with a strict injunction not to discharge a musket. 
 Having advanced within twenty-five or thirty paces, 
 he was hailed by the centinel, whom he immedi 
 ately shot dead, then charged his enemy with fixed 
 bayonets, and obliged the whole to surrender, con 
 sisting of one officer, a Serjeant, a corporal and twen 
 ty-seven men. 
 
 A circumstance occurred on this occasion, which 
 will mark the strong enthusiastic zeal that British 
 soldiers possess for the cause of their sovereign 5 
 and will even compel a tear of compassion to drop 
 from the republican patriot. 
 
 One of the British soldiers alone attempted to 
 resist. ...in the brave effort he received three bayonet 
 thrusts, two before and one behind ; the wounds 
 however were not so mortal as to prevent his en 
 deavoring to accompany his fellow-prisoners, but 
 he had not proceeded more than a quarter of a 
 mile, when he was obliged to stop. Colonel Burr, 
 with his usual humanity, went up to him, and thus- 
 addressed him : " My good fellow proceed a little 
 farther, and we will procure a surgeon to your re 
 lief." The veteran replied, (his last words) " Dear 
 Sir, all the doctors in America can do me no service, 
 for I am a dying man ; but it grieves me sore to 
 
460 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 the heart, to think I have served my king upwards 
 of twenty years, and at length must die with a 
 charged musquet in my hand ; had I discharged my 
 piece I should not have regarded my life, but would 
 have died with satisfaction." 
 
 Colonel Burr, soon after this affair, was appoint 
 ed to a command at West-Point, where he conti 
 nued until the beginning of 1778, when indispo 
 sition interrupted, for a few months, his military 
 career. The first engagement in w r hich he acted 
 a part, after his recovery, was at the battle of Mon- 
 mouth ; but by an unlucky arrangement of Gene 
 ral Washington, he was placed in a situation where 
 he was exposed to the British artillery, without the 
 capacity either of saving the men under his com 
 mand, or of injuring the enemy. 
 
 Towards the fall of this year, he accomplished, 
 by a dexterous manoeuvre, the destruction of a 
 block-house in New-Jersey, with a party of only 
 sixty men, although the same was defended by fifty 
 British soldiers. This act ought to be regarded as 
 an exploit of the first magnitude, when it is remem 
 bered that General Wayne, with an army of 2000 
 men, nearly about the same time, made an unsuc 
 cessful attack upon another block-house, even in 
 ferior in strength. 
 
 Soon after this period, Colonel Burr, partly from 
 the bad state of his health, and other reasons of an 
 urgent nature, was under the necessity of retiring 
 from the army, to the infinite regret of all who had 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 461 
 
 witnessed his bravery, and knew the extent of his 
 military talents. 
 
 Colonel Burr, after his retirement, gave his mind 
 entirely to literary pursuits; and in the year 1789, 
 was appointed Attorney-General for the State of 
 New-York, which office he discharged with the 
 greatest zeal and impartiality. In 1791, he was 
 sent to the Senate of Congress. That the reader 
 may form some idea of the sentiments which Co 
 lonel Burr espoused, while a member of that ho 
 norable body, we have subjoined several of the 
 most important bills for which he voted : 
 
 " That the conducting of the legislative and 
 judicial powers of the Senate in public, and suffer 
 ing an account of their measures and deliberations 
 to be published in the newspapers, is the best 
 means of diffusing general information concerning 
 the principles, motives and conduct of individual 
 members ; and that by withholding this information, 
 responsibility becomes unavailing, the influence of 
 their constituents over one branch of the Legisla 
 ture, in a great measure annihilated, and the best 
 security which experience has devised against the 
 abuse of power and a mal-administration, aban 
 doned." 
 
 " That it be a standing rule, that the doors of 
 the Senate-Chamber remain open whilst the Senate 
 shall be sitting in a legislative and judicial capaci 
 ty, except on such occasions as in their judgment 
 may require secrecy ; and that this rule shall com- 
 
462 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 mence, and be in force on the first day of the next 
 session of Congress." 
 
 " The judicial power of the United States shall 
 not be construed to extend to any suit in law or 
 equity, commenced or prosecuted against one 
 of the United States, by citizens of another State, 
 or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State." 
 
 " That the President of the United States be 
 requested to lay before the Senate, the correspond 
 ence which had passed between the Minister of 
 the United States at the Republic of France, and 
 said Republic, and between said Minister and the 
 office of the Secretary of State." 
 
 " That after the end of the then session of 
 Congress, and as soon as suitable, galleries shall be 
 provided for the Senate-Chamber : the said galle 
 ries shall be permitted to be opened every morning, 
 so long as the Senate shall be engaged in their Le 
 gislative capacity, unless in such cases as may, in 
 the opinion of the Senate, require secrecy ; after 
 which the said galleries shall be closed." 
 
 (f That every printer of news-papers may send 
 one paper to each and every other printer of news 
 papers within the United States, free of postage, 
 under such regulations as the Post-master r general 
 shall provide." 
 
 " That from and after the thirtieth day of 
 September, 1794, there be levied, collected and 
 paid upon all sugars which shall be refined within 
 the United States, a duty of two cents per pound." 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 463 
 
 It is impossible to draw a character of Colonel 
 Burr in more applicable and expressive terms than 
 Governor Livingston has done of his father : 
 " Though a person of a slender and delicate make, 
 to encounter fatigue he has a heart of steel ; and 
 for the dispatch of business, the most amazing ta 
 lents joined to a constancy of mind that insure suc 
 cess in spite of every obstacle. As long as an 
 enterprize appears not absolutely impossible, he 
 knows no discouragement, but, in proportion to 
 its difficulty, augments his diligence ; and by an 
 insuperable fortitude, frequently accomplishes what 
 his friends and acquaintance conceive utterly im 
 practicable." 
 
 The ancestors of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
 were for three generations natives of South-Caro 
 lina. His father was Chief Justice of the colony 
 of Carolina, and a member of the king s council. 
 Charles Cotesworth was born in the year 1746 ; 
 he was educated at the University of Oxford, in 
 England, where he gave early proofs of conspicu 
 ous talents. After finishing his classical education, 
 he commenced and prosecuted the study of the 
 law at the temple. He then passed a year at the 
 University of Angers, in France, and made the tour 
 of Europe before his return to his native State. 
 The great length of time he had spent in accom 
 plishing himself as a scholar and lawyer, at the 
 first seminaries, enabled him to commence the 
 practice of law, at the bar of South-Carolina, with 
 considerable eclat. 
 
461 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 At the breaking out of hostilities between Ame 
 rica and Great Britain, he commanded the first vo 
 lunteer uniform corps that was raised in Charleston, 
 and encouraged the embodying of independent 
 companies throughout the State : soon after, he 
 was appointed a Major in the first State regiment, 
 of which General Gadsden was Colonel Com 
 mandant. He was afterwards promoted to the 
 command of the first regiment. After the defeat 
 at Fort Moultrie, in 1776, of the British fleet under 
 Sir Peter Parker, and of the army commanded by 
 Sir Henry Clinton, the project of making an effect 
 ive impression in the south, seemed to have been 
 abandoned, and Colonel Pinckney believing that 
 quarter would not very shortly be the theatre of 
 active war, solicited General Washington s permis 
 sion to leave his regiment, and repair wherever 
 there should be most service to be seen and per 
 formed. He was desired to join the General s 
 family, and acted for some time as his aid-de-camp. 
 As soon as it was known that the British had con- 
 tern plated a second invasion of the Southern States, 
 Colonel Pinckney repaired to his command ; head 
 ed his regiment in the assault on Savannah, and 
 was present at most actions which were fought in 
 Carolina, previous to the fall of Charleston. When 
 Charleston was a second time besieged, General 
 Lincoln, the commanding officer, selected Colonel 
 Pinckney as a fit officer to defend the important 
 pass of Fort Moultrie. The surrender of Charles 
 ton gave him a prisoner to the British, in whose 
 hands he continued until the peace. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 465 
 
 In 1794, Colonel Pinckney was appointed com 
 mander in chief of the militia of South-Carolina, 
 which station he held until his memorable embassy 
 to France : the particulars of that diplomatic expe 
 dition have been already narrated. As a soldier, 
 General Pinckney deserves every encomium of ap 
 plause ; but as a political character, although he 
 does not possess so much integrity as Hamilton, 
 yet it would be great injustice to place him on the 
 same scale with Mr. Adams, or even the most virtu 
 ous of his adherents. General Pinckney possesses at 
 least some principles of honor, and a share of judo-, 
 ment that will always prevent him from covering his 
 country with infamy and disgrace. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Meeting of Congress. ...President s Speech. ...French 
 Treaty. ...Proceedings of tJie House of Represen 
 tatives... .Anecdotes of Mr. Adams... .Election of 
 tlte President and Vice-President. ...Observations 
 on the Dismission of Pickering and M* Henry.... 
 Conclusion. 
 
 ON Monday, November the 22d, Mr. Adams 
 met both Houses of Congress in the Senate cham 
 ber, at the capitol, in Washington ; when he de 
 livered the following speech : 
 
 Nnn 
 
466 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Senate, and 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives y 
 
 " Immediately after the adjournment of Con 
 gress at their last session in Philadelphia, I gave di 
 rections, in compliance with the laws, for the re 
 moval of the public offices, records and property.... 
 these directions have been executed, and the pub 
 lic officers have since resided and conducted the 
 ordinary business of the government in this place. 
 
 " I congratulate the people of the United States 
 on the assembling of Congress at the permanent 
 seat of their government ; and I congratulate you, 
 gentlemen, on the prospect of a residence not to be 
 changed : although there is cause to apprehend 
 that accommodations are not so complete as might 
 be wished, yet there is good reason to believe that 
 this inconvenience will cease w r ith the present ses 
 sion. 
 
 "It would be unbecoming the representatives of 
 this nation, to assemble for the first time in this so 
 lemn temple, without looking up to the Supreme 
 Ruler of the Universe, and imploring his blessing. 
 
 " May this territory be the residence of virtue 
 and happiness ! In this city may that piety and vir 
 tue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy 
 and self-government, which adorned the great cha 
 racter whose name it bears, be forever held in ve 
 neration ! Here, and throughout our country, may 
 simple manners, pure morals, and true religion flou 
 rish forever. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 467 
 
 <c It is with you, gentlemen, to consider whether 
 the local powers over the district of Columbia, 
 vested by the constitution in the Congress of the 
 United States, shall be immediately exercised. If, 
 in your opinion, this important trust ought now to 
 be exercised, you cannot fail, while performing it, 
 to take into view the future probable situation of 
 the territory for the happiness of which you are 
 about to provide. 
 
 " You will consider it as the capital of a great 
 nation, advancing, with unexampled rapidity, in 
 arts, in commerce, in wealth, and in population ; 
 and possessing within itself those energies and re 
 sources which, if not thrown away, or lamentably 
 misdirected, secure to it a long course of prosperity 
 and self-government. 
 
 " In compliance with a law of the last session 
 of Congress, the officers and soldiers of the tempo 
 rary army have been discharged. It affords real 
 pleasure to recollect the honorable testimony they 
 gave of the patriotic motives which brought them 
 into the service of their country, by the readiness 
 and regularity with which they returned to the 
 station of private citizens. 
 
 " It is, in every point of view, of such primary 
 importance to carry the laws into prompt and faith 
 ful execution, and to render that part of the ad 
 ministration of justice, which the constitution and 
 laws devolve on the Federal Courts, as convenient 
 to the people as may consist with their present 
 circumstances, that I cannot omit, once more, to 
 
468 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 recommend to your serious consideration, the ju 
 diciary system of the United States. No subject 
 is more interesting than this to the public happi 
 ness, and to none can those improvements, which 
 may have been suggested by experience, be more 
 beneficially applied. 
 
 " A treaty of amity and commerce with the 
 king of Prussia has been concluded and ratified. 
 The ratification has been exchanged, and I have 
 directed the treaty to be promulgated by procla 
 mation. 
 
 ee The difficulties which suspended the execution 
 of the 6th article of our treaty of amity, com 
 merce and navigation with Great Britain, have 
 not yet been removed. The negociation on this 
 subject is still depending. As it must be for the 
 interest and honor of both nations, to adjust this 
 difference with good faith, I indulge confidently 
 the expectation that the sincere endeavors of the 
 government of the United States to bring it to an 
 amicable termination, will not be disappointed. 
 
 " The Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Ple 
 nipotentiary from the United States to France, were 
 received by the First Consul with the respect due 
 to their characters ; and three persons, with equal 
 powers, were appointed to treat with them. Al 
 though at the date of the last official intelligence 
 the negociation had not terminated, yet it is to be 
 hoped, that our efforts to effect an accommodation 
 will, at length, meet with a success proportioned 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 469 
 
 to the sincerity with which they have been so often 
 repeated. 
 
 " While our best endeavors for the preservation 
 of harmony with all nations will continue to be 
 used, the experience of the world, and our own 
 experience, admonish us of the insecurity of trust 
 ing too confidentially to their success. We cannot, 
 without committing a dangerous imprudence, aban 
 don those measures of self-protection, which 
 adopted to our situation, and to which, notwith 
 standing our pacific policy, the violence and in 
 justice of others, may compel us to resort. While 
 our vast extent of sea coast, the commercial and 
 agricultural habits of our people, the great capital 
 they will continue to trust on the ocean, suggest 
 the system of defence, which will be most benefi 
 cial to ourselves, our distance from Europe, and 
 our resources for maritime strength, will enable us 
 to employ it with effect. Seasonable and systema 
 tic arrangements, so far as our resources will jus 
 tify, for a navy adapted to defensive war, and 
 which may in case of necessity be quickly brought 
 into use, seem to be as much recommended by a 
 wise and true (Economy, as by a just regard for our 
 future tranquillity for the safety of our shores, 
 and for the protection of our property committed 
 to the ocean. 
 
 " The present navy of the United States, called 
 suddenly into existence by a great national exigen 
 cy, has raised us in our own esteem, and by the 
 protection afforded to our commerce, has effected, 
 
470 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 to the extent of our expectations, the object for 
 which it was created. 
 
 " In connection with a navy ought to be com- 
 templated the fortifications of some of our principal 
 sea-ports and harbors. A variety of considera 
 tions, which will readily suggest themselves, urged 
 an attention to this measure of precaution. To 
 give security to our principal ports, considerable 
 sums have already been expended, but the works 
 remain incomplete. It is for Congress to deter 
 mine whether additional appropriations shall be 
 made, in order to render competent to the intended 
 purposes, the fortifications which have been com 
 menced. 
 
 " The manufacture of arms within the United 
 States still invites the attention of the national Le 
 gislature. At a considerable expence to the pub 
 lic, this manufactory has been brought to such a 
 state of maturity as, with continued encourage 
 ment, will supercede the necessity of future impor 
 tations from foreign countries. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 
 " I shall direct the estimates of the appropria 
 tions necessary for the ensuing year, together with 
 an account of the public revenue and expenditure 
 to a like period, to be laid before you. 
 
 " I observe with much satisfaction, that the pro 
 duct of the revenue, during the present year, has 
 been more considerable than during any former 
 equal period. This result affords conclusive evi 
 dence of the great resources of this country, and 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 471 
 
 of the wisdom and efficiency of the measures which 
 have been adopted by Congress for the protection 
 of commerce and preservation of public credit. 
 (t Gentlemen of the Senate, and 
 
 " Gentlemen of t he House of Representatives, 
 
 " As one of the grand community of nations, 
 our attention is irresistibly drawn to the important 
 scenes which surround us. If they have exhibited 
 an uncommon portion of calamity, it is the pro 
 vince of humanity to deplore, and wisdom to avoid, 
 the causes which may have produced it. If, turn 
 ing our eyes homeward, we find reason to rejoice 
 at the prospect which presents itself; if we per 
 ceive the interior of our country prosperous, free 
 and happy; if we all enjoy in safety, under the 
 protection of laws emanating only from the gene 
 ral will, the fruits of our own labor, we ought to 
 fortify and cling to those institutions which have 
 been the source of much real felicity, and resist, 
 with unabating perseverance, the progress of those 
 dangerous innovations which may diminish their 
 influence. 
 
 "To your patriotism, gentlemen, has been con 
 fided the honorable duty of guarding the public in 
 terests ; and, while the past is to your country a sure 
 pledge that it will be faithfully discharged, permit 
 me to assure you, that your labors to promote the 
 general happiness will receive from me the most 
 zealous co-operation. 
 
 "JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 "United States, ) 
 " November 22, 1800.") 
 
472 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The business which principally occupied the 
 attention of Congress this session, was the French 
 treaty, which was signed at Paris the 3d of Septem 
 ber, 1800. As this treaty, next to the British, is the 
 most important which the United States ever con 
 tracted, we have thought proper to subjoin a copy 
 of it: 
 
 " The first Consul of the French Republic, in 
 the name of the French people, and the President, 
 of the United States of America, equally animated 
 with a desire to put an end to the differences which 
 have arisen between the two States, have respect 
 ively nominated their plenipotentiaries, and invest 
 ed them with full powers to negociate upon these 
 differences and terminate them : that is to say, the 
 first Consul of the French Republic, in the name of 
 the French people, has nominated for plenipoten 
 tiaries of the said Republic, the citizens Joseph 
 Buonaparte, ex-ambassador of the French Republic 
 at Rome, and counsellor of state ; Charles-Pierre 
 Claret-Fleurieu, member of the national institute and 
 of the office of longitude of France, counsellor of 
 state, and president of the section of marine ; and 
 Pierre-Louis Roederer, member of the national insti 
 tute, counsellor of state and president of the interior; 
 and the President of the United States of America, 
 by and with the consent of the Senate of said States, 
 has appointed for their plenipotentiaries, Oliver 
 Elsworth, chief-justice of the United States, Wil 
 liam Richardson Davie, late governor of North-Ca 
 rolina, and William Vans Murray, resident mini 
 ster of the United States at the Hague. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 473 
 
 " Who, after having exchanged their full pow 
 ers, and patiently and carefully discussed their re 
 spective interests, have agreed to the following arti 
 cles : 
 
 " I. There shall be a firm, inviolable and 
 universal peace, and true and sincere friendship 
 between the French Republic and the United 
 States of America, as well between their countries, 
 territories, cities and places, as between their citi 
 zens and inhabitants, without exception of persons 
 or places. 
 
 " II. The ministers plenipotentiary of the two 
 parties, not being empowered at present to agree 
 relative to the treaty of alliance of the 6th of Feb 
 ruary, 1778, to the treaty of friendship and com 
 merce of the same date, and to the convention of 
 the 14th of November, nor to the indemnities mu 
 tually due and claimed, the parties shall furtheo: 
 negociate upon these points at a convenient time ; 
 and until they shall be agreed upon these points, 
 the said treaties and convention shall have no effect, 
 and the relations of the two nations shall be regu 
 lated as follows : 
 
 Cf III. The ships belonging to the State, taken 
 on either side, or which may be taken before the 
 exchange of ratifications, shall be given up. 
 
 " IV. The properties captured and not yet de 
 finitively condemned, or which may be captured 
 before the exchange of ratifications, except con 
 traband merchandize destined for an enemy s port, 
 
 Ooo 
 
-174 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 shall be mutually restored upon the following proofs 
 of property, viz. 
 
 " On the one part and on the other, the proofs of 
 property, relative to merchant vessels, armed or un 
 armed, shall be a passport in the following form : 
 
 " To all those to whom these presents shall 
 come, be it known, that power and permission has 
 
 been given to , master or commander of the 
 
 vessel, called the , of the city of , of the 
 
 burthen of tons, or thereabouts, now lying in 
 
 the port or harbor of , and destined for , 
 
 iaden with , that after his ship has been visited, 
 
 and before his departure, he shall make oath before 
 officers authorised for that purpose, that the said 
 
 ship belongs to one or more citizens of ; the 
 
 execution of which form shall be annexed to these 
 presents, in order that he may observe and cause to 
 be observed by his crew the maritime ordinances 
 and regulations, and give in a list, signed and attest 
 ed, containing the names and surnames, places of 
 birth and abode, of the persons composing the 
 crew of his ship, and of all on board her, whom 
 he shall not receive on board without the know 
 ledge and permission of the officers authorised for 
 that purpose ; and in every port and harbor where 
 he shall enter with his ship, he shall shew the pre 
 sent permission to the proper officers, and make 
 to them a faithful report of all that has passed du 
 ring his said voyage, and carry the colors, arms, 
 and flags of the French Republic, or the United 
 States, during his said voyage. In testimony of 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 475 
 
 wh ich we have signed these presents, caused them 
 
 to be countersigned by , and thereunto put 
 
 the seal of our arms. 
 
 " Given at , in the year of our Lord, ." 
 
 " And this passport shall be sufficient without 
 any other document, notwithstanding any other 
 regulation to the contrary. 
 
 " It shall not be necessary to renew or revoke 
 this passport, whatever number of voyages the said 
 ship hhall have made, unless they shall not have 
 returned home within the space of a year. 
 
 "With respect to the cargo, the proofs shall be 
 certificates, containing an account what place the 
 ship has left, and where it is going to, so that pro 
 hibited and contraband merchandize may be dis 
 tinguished by certificates, which certificates shall 
 have been made by the officers of the place from 
 whence the ship shall have set out, agreeable to the 
 accustomed forms of the country. And if these 
 passports or certificates, or both, shall have been 
 destroyed by accident, or taken away by force, the 
 want of them shall be supplied by every other proof 
 of property, admissible according to the general 
 usage of nations. 
 
 " For other ships, besides merchant ships, the 
 proof shall be the commissions they bear. This 
 article shall take effect from the date of the signa 
 ture of the present convention ; and if by the date 
 of the said signature, property shall have been con 
 demned contrary to the spirit of the said conven 
 tion, and previous to tfye knowledge of this stipu- 
 
476 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 lation, the property so condemned shall be restored 
 or paid for. 
 
 " V. The debts contracted by either of the two 
 nations towards the individuals of each, shall be 
 acquitted, or the payment shall be in course, as if 
 there had been no misunderstanding between the 
 two States. ...but this clause shall not extend to in 
 demnities claimed for captures or condemnations. 
 (( VI. The trade between the two parties shall 
 be free. ...the ships of the two nations, and the pri 
 vateers as well as their prizes, shall be treated in 
 their respective ports as the most favored nation, 
 and in general the two parties shall enjoy in each 
 other s, with respect to commerce and navigation, 
 the same privileges as the most favored nations. 
 
 "VII. The citizens and inhabitants of the Uni 
 ted States may dispose by will, donations, or other 
 wise, of their goods, moveable or immoveable pro 
 perty, possessed in the European territory of the 
 French Republic. ...and the citizens of the French 
 Republic shall have the same power with regard to 
 the goods, moveable and immoveable property, 
 possessed in the territory of the United States, in 
 favor of such persons as they shall think proper. 
 The citizens and inhabitants of one of the two 
 States, who shall be heirs of the goods, moveable 
 and immoveable property, situate in the other, may 
 succded ab intesfat, without there being any ne 
 cessity for letters of neutrality, and without the 
 effect of this stipulation being contested or im 
 peached, under any pretence whatever.. ..and the 
 
F JOHN ADAMS. 477 
 
 said heirs, whether by private right or ab intestat, 
 shall be exempt from all right whatever of any one, 
 in either of the two nations. It is agreed, that this 
 article shall not derogate in any manner from the 
 laws which are now in force, in either of the two 
 nations, or which may be promulgated hereafter, 
 against emigration. And also, that in case the laws 
 of the two States shall limit to foreigners the ex 
 ercise of the right of imrnoveable property, such 
 immoveable property may be sold, or otherwise 
 disposed in favor of the inhabitants or citizens of 
 the country where they shall be situate ; and it 
 shall be open to the other nation to establish similar 
 laws. 
 
 " VIII. To favor the commerce of both na 
 tions, it is agreed, that if war (which God forbid) 
 should breakout between the two nations, the mer 
 chants and other citizens, or respective inhabitants, 
 shall be allowed on both sides six months after the 
 declaration of war, during which period they shall 
 have time to retire with their effects and moveables, 
 which they may carry away or sell, as they think 
 proper, without the least impeachment ; their ef 
 fects, and still less their persons, shall not, during 
 the period of six months, be seized. On the con 
 trary, they shall have passports which shall be valid 
 for the time necessary to enable them to return 
 home, and those passports shall be given for them 
 selves, as well as for their ships and effects which 
 they shall desire to take or send away. These pass 
 ports shall serve as a protection against all insults 
 
478 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 and all captures on the part of privateers, as well 
 with regard to themselves as their effects ; and if 
 within the term above-mentioned, there shall have 
 been committed by one of the parties, its citizens 
 or inhabitants, any wrong towards their person or 
 their property, they shall have complete satisfaction. 
 
 c IX. The debts due by individuals of one of 
 the two nations, to the individuals of the other, 
 shall not, in case of war or national dispute, be se 
 questered or confiscated, no more than the claims 
 or funds which shall be found in the public funds, 
 or in the public or private banks. 
 
 f( X. The two contracting parties may nomi 
 nate for the protection of trade, commercial agents, 
 who shall reside in France and in the United States- 
 Each of the parties may except such place as he 
 shall judge proper, where the residence shall be 
 fixed. Before any agent can exercise his functions, 
 he must be accepted according to the received forms 
 of the party to which he is sent, and when he shall 
 be received and provided with his cxequator, he shall 
 enjoy the rights and prerogatives which are en 
 joyed by similar agents of the most favored nations. 
 
 "XI. The citizens of the French Republic 
 shall not pay, in any ports, harbors, roads, coun 
 tries, islands, cities, and places of the United States, 
 other or greater duties or imposts, of whatever na 
 ture soever they may be, and whatever names they 
 may have, than those which the most favored na 
 tions are or shall be bound to pay ; and they shall 
 enjoy all liberties, rights, privileges, immunities and 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 479 
 
 exemptions, relating to trade, navigation and com 
 merce, whether in passing from one port of the said 
 States to another, or whether in going there or re 
 turning from some part to another part of the world, 
 that the said nations enjoy, or shall enjoy, and reci 
 procally the citizens of the United States shall enjoy 
 in the territory of the French Republic, in Europe, 
 the same privileges and immunities, as well for 
 their goods as their persons, as for what concerns 
 trade, navigation and commerce. 
 
 " XII. The citizens of the two nations may 
 conduct their vessels and their merchandizes, (al 
 ways excepting such as are contraband) from any 
 port to another belonging to the enemy of the other 
 nation. They may navigate, with full liberty and 
 security, with their ships and merchandizes, in the 
 countries, ports and places of the enemies of the 
 two parties, or of the one or the other party, with 
 out obstacles or interruption, and not only pass di 
 rectly from the places and ports of the enemy above- 
 mentioned to neutral ports and places, but from 
 every place belonging to an enemy, whether it be 
 or be not subject to the same jurisdiction, unless 
 those places or ports shall be really blockaded, 
 besieged or invested. 
 
 " And in case, as it often happens, when vessels 
 shall be sailing for places or ports belonging to an 
 enemy, ignorant that they are blockaded, besieged 
 or invested, it is agreed that every ship which shall 
 be found under such a predicament, shall be turn 
 ed from that place or port without any part of his 
 
480 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 cargo being retained or confiscated, (unless it shall 
 be contraband, or it shall be proved that the said 
 ship, after having been informed of the blockade 
 or investiture, attempted to enter the same port) 
 but it shall be allowed to go to any other port or 
 place it shall think proper. No ship of either na 
 tion, entered into a port or place before it shall have 
 been really blockaded, besieged or invested by the 
 other, shall be prevented from going out with its 
 cargo ; if it shall be there when the said place shall 
 surrender, the ship shall not be confiscated, but sent 
 away to the proprietors. 
 
 " XIII. To regulate what shall be understood 
 by contraband warlike stores, under this denomina 
 tion shall be comprised powder, saltpetre, petards, 
 matches, balls, bullets, bombs, grenades, carcasses, 
 pikes, halberts, swords, belts, pistols, scabbards, 
 saddles, cannons, mortars, with their carriages, and 
 generally all arms and ammunition ofwar and uten 
 sils for the use of troops. All the above articles, 
 whenever they shall be destined for an enemy s port, 
 are declared contraband, and justly subject to con 
 fiscation ; but the ship in which they shall be laden, 
 as well as the rest of the cargo, shall be considered 
 as free, and shall in no manner be vitiated by the 
 contraband merchandize, whether they belong to 
 the same or different proprietors. 
 
 " XIV. It is stipulated by the present treaty, 
 that the free ships shall equally insure the liberty of 
 merchandize, and that all things shall be deemed 
 free which are found on board ships belonging to 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 481 
 
 the citizens of one of the contracting parties, even 
 though the same, or part of it, shall belong to the 
 enemies of one of the two ; provided, nevertheless, 
 that contraband goods are always excepted. It is 
 likewise agreed, that this same liberty shall extend 
 to persons who may be on board the free ships, 
 though they should be enemies of the two con 
 tracting parties, and they shall not be taken from 
 the said free ships unless they are in a military ca 
 pacity, and actually in the service of the enemy. 
 
 " XV. It is on the contrary agreed, that all pro 
 perty which shall be put, by the respective citizens, 
 on board ships belonging to an enemy of either 
 party, or their subjects, shall be confiscated without 
 distinction of merchandize, prohibited or not pro 
 hibited, so and in like manner as if it belonged to 
 an enemy, with the exception always of property 
 and effects which shall have been put on board the 
 said ships before the declaration of war, or even 
 after the said declaration, if at the time of lading 
 the party were ignorant of it ; so that the merchan 
 dizes of citizens of the two parties, whether they 
 be in the number of contraband or not, which, as 
 has been already said, shall have been put on board 
 a ship belonging to an enemy before the war, or 
 even after the said declaration of war, in ignorance 
 of it, shall not be in any manner subject to confis 
 cation, but shall be faithfully and truly given up 
 without delay, to the owners claiming them : provi 
 ded, nevertheless, that they shall not be permitted 
 to carry into the enemies ports, merchandize which 
 
 PPP 
 
482 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 shall be contraband. The two contracting powero 
 agree, that after a term of two months has passed 
 from the declaration, their respective citizens, in 
 whatever part of the world they maybe, shall be at 
 liberty to plead the ignorance mentioned in this 
 article. 
 
 " XVI. Merchant vessels belonging to citizens 
 of either of the contracting powers, when they shall 
 have a mind to pass to the port of an enemy of the 
 one or the other, and that their voyage as well as 
 the nature of their cargo shall afford just cause of 
 suspicion, the said ship shall be obliged to exhibit 
 at high sea, as well as in ports and roads, not only 
 their passports, but further their certificates, prov 
 ing that these goods are not of the class of contra 
 band specified in the 13th article of the present con 
 vention. 
 
 <e XVII. And in order to prevent captures on 
 frivolous suspicions, and the damage thence result 
 ing, it is agreed that when one of the two powers 
 shall be at war, and the other neutral, the vessels 
 of the neutral party shall be provided with pass 
 ports similar to those specified in the 14th article, 
 so that it may thence appear that the parties be 
 long to a neutral power. These passports shall 
 be valid for any number of voyages whatever ; but 
 they shall be renewed every year, if the ship re 
 turns-home within the space of a year. If these 
 ships are laden, they shall be provided not only with 
 the passports above-mentioned, but also with cer- 
 tificates of the description of those mentioned in the 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 483 
 
 same article, that it may be known whether they 
 have on board any contraband goods. No other 
 papers shall be required, all usage and regulations 
 to the contrary notwithstanding : and if it should 
 appear from these certificates, that there is not con 
 traband merchandize on board, the said ships shall 
 be left to pursue their destination. If, on the con 
 trary, it should appear from these certificates, that 
 the said ships have contraband merchandize on 
 board, and the commander offers to deliver them 
 up, the offer shall be accepted, and the ship left at 
 liberty to prosecute her voyage, unless the quantity 
 of contraband goods should be too great to admit of 
 being taken on board of the ship of war or cruizers ; 
 in this case, the ships shall be carried into port for 
 the purpose of delivering the said goods. 
 
 " Should a ship be found with the passports or 
 the certificates above required, the business shall be 
 examined by competent judges or tribunals ; and 
 if it should appear from other documents or proofs 
 admissible by the laws of nations, that the ship be 
 longs to citizens of the neutral power, it shall not 
 be condemned, and it shall be set at liberty with its 
 cargo, (contraband goods excepted) and shall have 
 leave to prosecute its voyage. 
 
 "" Should the captain named in the passport 
 happen to die or be removed, and another shall have 
 been appointed in his place, the ship and cargo shall 
 be nevertheless secure, and the passport shall re 
 main in full force. 
 
484 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " XVIII. If the vessels belonging to citizens of 
 the one nation or the other shall be met along the 
 coast, or on the high seas, by any ship of war or 
 cruizer belonging to the other, to prevent all disor 
 der, the said ships or cruizers shall keep beyond the 
 reach of cannon shot, and shall send their boat on 
 board the merchant vessel so met with. They shall 
 not be allowed to send on board more than two or 
 three men to demand from the master or captain 
 of the ship the exhibition of his passport concerning 
 the property of said ship, executed agreeable to the 
 form prescribed in the 14th article, as also the cer 
 tificates above-mentioned, relative to the cargo. It 
 is expressly agreed, that the neutral captain shall not 
 be obliged to go on board the visiting ship for the 
 purpose of there shewing the papers demanded, or 
 for any other information whatever. 
 
 "XIX. Itis expressly agreed by the parties, that 
 the above stipulations relative to the conduct to be 
 observed at sea, by the cruizers of the belligerent par 
 ty towards the vessels of the neutral party, shall apply 
 only to ships sailing without convoy. ...and incases 
 when the said ships shall be convoyed, the inten 
 tion of the parties being to observe all the respect 
 due to the protection of the flag hoisted on board 
 the ships of the State, no visit shall be made. But 
 the verbal declaration of the commander of the 
 escort, that the ships under his convoy belong to 
 the nation whose flag he carries, and they have not 
 any thing contraband on board, shall be taken by 
 the respective cruizers as amply sufficient. The 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 two parties bind themselves reciprocally, not to ad 
 mit under protection of their convoys, any vessels 
 carrying contraband merchandize destined for an 
 
 enemy. 
 
 " XX. In case when the ships shall be taken or 
 stopped, underalledgedgroundsoftheircarryingany 
 contraband articles to the enemy, the captors shall 
 give a receipt of the ship s papers which he shall 
 detain, which receipt shall be subjoined to a decla 
 ratory list of the said papers. He shall not be per 
 mitted to force open the hatches, costers, chests, 
 drawers, bales, &c. found on board ships, nor to 
 carry off the smallest article of the effects, before 
 the cargo has been disembarked, in presence of 
 1 he officers competent to make an inventory of the 
 said effects. They cannot in any manner be sold, 
 exchanged, or alienated, unless, after a legal pro 
 cess, the competent judge or judges have passed 
 upon the said effects, a sentence of confiscation, 
 (excepting always the ship and the other objects 
 that it contains.) 
 
 " XXI. In order that the vessel and the car 
 go may be watched with care, and in order to pre 
 vent mistakes, it is decreed, the master, captain, or 
 supercargo of the captured ship cannot be taken 
 from on board, either while the ship is at sea, after 
 being taken, during the proceedings against it 5 its 
 cargo, or any thing relative to it. 
 
 " In case of the ship belonging to either party 
 being taken, seized and retained for judgment, its 
 officers, passengers, and crews shall be treated 
 
486 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 with humanity.. ..they- cannot be imprisoned, nor 
 deprived of their clothes nor pocket money, not ex 
 ceeding for the captain, supercargo, and second, 
 five hundred dollars each, and for the sailors and 
 passengers, one hundred dollars each. 
 
 " XXII. It is moreover agreed on, that in every 
 case the tribunals appointed in prize causes in the 
 countries whither the prizes shall be taken, shall 
 alone l>e competent to try them; and every judg 
 ment which the tribunal of either party pronounces 
 against a ship, or merchandize or property, reclaim 
 ed by the citizens of the other party, the sentence 
 or decree shall make mention of the reasons or 
 motives which have determined this judgment, of 
 which an authentic copy, as well as of all the pro 
 ceedings relative to it, shall, on their requisition, be 
 delivered without delay to the captain or agent of 
 the said ship, after paying the expences. 
 
 C XXIII. And finally, in order more effectu 
 ally to provide for the respective security of the ci 
 tizens of the two contracting parties, and to pre 
 vent the injuries to be feared from ships of war, or 
 privateers of either party, all the commanders of 
 ships of war or privateers, and all the citizens of 
 both parties, shall refrain from all violence against 
 one another, and from every personal insult. If they 
 act in a contrary manner, they shall be punished, 
 and bound over in their persons and properties to 
 give satisfaction and reparation for the damage, 
 with interest, of whatever kind the said damage 
 maybe. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 487 
 
 " To this effect all the captains of privateers, 
 before receiving their commissions, shall become 
 bound before a competent judge, to give security 
 by two responsible citizens at least, who shall have 
 no interest in the said privateer, and whom each, 
 as well as the captain, shall engage individually for 
 the sum of 7000 dollars, or 36,820 francs ; if the 
 said vessels carry more than 150 sailors or soldiers, 
 for the sum of 15000 dollars, 73,670 francs, which 
 shall serve to repair the damage that the said priva- 
 teers,their officers or crews,or any of them, shall have 
 committed during their cruize contrary to the dis 
 position of the present convention, or to the laws and 
 instructions which ought to be the rule of their con 
 duct ; besides this, the said commission shall be re 
 voked and annulled in every case where an ag 
 gression has been committed. 
 
 " XXIV. When the ships of war of the two 
 contracting parties, or those which their citizens 
 shall have armed, shall be admitted with their pri 
 zes into the ports of either of the two parties,, the 
 said public or private vessels, as well as their pri 
 zes, shall not be obliged to pay any duties, either 
 to the officers of the place, or to the judges, or to 
 any others. The said prizes entering in the har 
 bors or ports of one of the two parties, shall not 
 be arrested or seized, and the officers of the place 
 shall not take cognizance of the validity of the said 
 prizes, which are to be suffered to go out, and be con 
 ducted with full freedom and liberty to their ports, 
 by the commissions which the captains of the said 
 
488 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 vessels shall be obliged to shew. It is always under 
 stood, that the stipulations of this article shall not 
 extend beyond the privilege of the, most favored 
 nation. 
 
 " XXV. All foreign privateers having commis 
 sions from a State or Prince, at war with the one or 
 the other nation, cannot arm their vessels in the ports 
 of either nation, or dispose of the prizes there, or 
 in any manner exchange them. They shall not be 
 allowed to buy provisions further than the necessary 
 quantity to gain the nearest port of the State or 
 Prince from whom they shall have received their 
 commissions. 
 
 " XXVI. It is further agreed, that neither of 
 the two contracting parties shall receive pirates in 
 its ports, roads or cities, and shall not permit any 
 of its inhabitants to receive, protect, support or 
 conceal them in any manner, but shall deliver up 
 to due punishment such of its inhabitants as shall 
 be guilty of the like acts or crimes ; the ships of 
 thos pirates, as well as their effects and merchan 
 dize, shall be seized, wherever they shall be disco 
 vered, and restored to their proprietors, agents or 
 factors, duly authorized by them, after having prov 
 ed their right before judges competent to decide 
 respecting the property. 
 
 " If the said effects have passed by sale into 
 other hands and the purchasers were or might be 
 informed, or have suspected that the said effects 
 were carried away by pirates, they shall be equally 
 restored. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 489 
 
 "XXVII. Neither of the two nations shall in 
 terfere in the fisheries of the other upon its coasts, 
 or disturb it in the exercise of the rights which it 
 now has or may acquire on the coasts of Newfound 
 land, in the Gulph of St. Lawrence, or elsewhere on 
 the coast of America, or in the North of the United 
 States ; but the whale and seal fishery shall be free 
 for the two nations in all parts of the world. 
 
 " The convention shall be ratified on both sides 
 in due form, and the ratification exchanged in the 
 space of six months, or sooner if it be possible. In 
 faith whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have 
 signed the above articles, as well in the French as 
 in the English language, and have placed their 
 seals, declaring, nevertheless, that the signature in 
 two languages shall not be cited as an example, 
 and shall not prejudice either of the two parties. 
 
 " Done at Paris the 8th day of Vendemaire, the 
 9th year of the French Republic, and the 3d day of 
 September, 1800. 
 
 (Signed) "JOSEPH BUONAPARTE, 
 " C. P. FLURIEU, 
 " RCEDERER, 
 " OLIVER ELS WORTH, 
 " W. R. DA VIE, 
 " W. V. MURRAY. 
 " An exact copy, 
 
 "C. M. TALLEYRAND * 
 The above treaty was canvassed in the Senate 
 on the 8th of January, and agreed to, excepting 
 the 2d and 3d articles, which were rejected. The 
 
490 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 rejection of these articles on the part of America, 
 was both imprudent and impolitic ; for by the re 
 jection of the 2d article, the very intention and 
 design upon which negociation was commenced, 
 was both opposed and defeated. Indemnities were 
 not only virtually relinquished, but the proposal for 
 appointing a convenient time to negociate upon 
 them, was rejected. The rejection of the 3d ar 
 ticle necessarily followed that of the former, and 
 this article seems to have been the true pretext for 
 rejecting the preceding.. ..but the obvious inten 
 tion, in rejecting these articles, can only be traced to 
 one source : the motives which actuated the desire 
 {or a war, actuated also the opposition to negoci 
 ation ; for the same men who opposed the mission 
 to France, opposed also the adjustment of differ 
 ences upon principles of equity, 
 
 Mr. Bingham proposed the 19th article to be 
 struck out, but his motion was negatived by a 
 majority of 15. 
 
 The mode of proceeding in the election of Pre 
 sident, in the event of the President and Vice- 
 President s votes being equal, was brought before 
 the House of Representatives, on the 9th of Fe 
 bruary. Messrs. Rutledge, Nicholas, Gris wold, Ma- 
 con, Bayard, Taliaferro, Foster, Claiborne, Otis, 
 Davis, Morris, Champlin, Baer, Cooper, Linn and 
 Woods, who were appointed the committee to 
 arrange this business, presented the following re 
 solutions, which were accepted of: 
 
 " 1st. In the ^vent of its appearing, upon the 
 counting and ascertaining of the votes given for 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 491 
 
 President and Vice-President, according to the 
 mode prescribed by the constitution, that no person 
 has a constitutional majority, and the same shall 
 have been duly declared and entered on the jour 
 nals of this house, the Speaker, accompanied by the 
 members of the house, shall return to their chamber. 
 
 " 2d. Seats shall be provided in this house for 
 the President and members of the Senate ; and no 
 tification of the same shall be made to the Senate. 
 
 " 3d. The house on their return from the Se 
 nate chamber, it being ascertained that the consti 
 tutional number of States are present, shall imme 
 diately proceed to choose one of the persons from 
 whom the choice is to be made for President ; and 
 in case upon the first ballot there shall not appear 
 to be a majority of the States in favor of one of them, 
 the house shall continue to ballot for a President, 
 without interruption by other business, until it 
 shall appear that a President is duly chosen. 
 
 " 4th. After commencing the balloting for 
 President, the house shall not adjourn until a 
 choice be made. 
 
 "5th. The doors of the house shall be closed 
 during the balloting, except against the officers of 
 the house. 
 
 "6th. In balloting, the following mode shall 
 be observed, to wit : The Representatives of the 
 respective States shall be so seated, that the 
 delegation of each State shall be together. The 
 Representatives of each State shall, in the first in 
 stance., ballot among themselves, in order to as- 
 
492 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 certain the vote of that State ; and it shall be allow 
 ed, where deemed necessary by the delegation, to 
 name one or more persons of the Representation, to 
 be tellers of the ballots. After the vote of each 
 State is ascertained, duplicates thereof shall be 
 made ; and in case the vote of the State be for one 
 person, then the name of that person shall be writ 
 ten on each of the duplicates ; and in case the bal 
 lots of the State be equally divided, then the word 
 " divided" shall be written on each duplicate, and 
 the said duplicates shall be deposited in manner 
 hereafter prescribed, in boxes to be provided. That 
 for the conveniently taking the ballots of the several 
 representatives of the respective States, there be 
 sixteen ballot boxes provided for the purpose of 
 receiving the votes of the States. ...after the delega 
 tion of each State shall have ascertained the vote of 
 the State, the Serjeant at arms shall carry to the re 
 spective delegations the two ballot boxes, and the 
 delegation of each State, in the presence and subject 
 to the examination of all the members of the dele 
 gation, shall then deposit a duplicate of the vote of 
 the State in each ballot box ; and where there is 
 more than one representative of a State, the dupli 
 cates shall not both be deposited by the same per 
 son. When the votes of the States are all thus ta 
 ken in, the serjeant at arms shall carry one of the 
 general ballot boxes to one table, and the others to 
 a second and separate table. Sixteen members 
 shall be appointed as tellers of the ballots ; one of 
 whom shall be taken from each State, and be nomi- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 493 
 
 nated by the delegation of the State from which he 
 was taken. The said tellers shall be divided into 
 two equal sets according to such agreement as shall 
 be made among themselves ; and one of the said 
 sets of tellers shall proceed to count the votes in one 
 of the said boxes ; and the other set the votes in the 
 other box. ...and in the event of no appointment of 
 tellers by any delegation, the Speaker shall in such 
 case appoint. When the votes of the States are count 
 ed by the respective sets of tellers, the result shall 
 be reported to the house ; and if the reports agree, 
 the same shall be accepted as the true votes of the 
 States; but if the reports disagree, the States shall 
 immediately proceed to a new ballot in manner 
 aforesaid. 
 
 "7th. If either of the persons voted for shall 
 have a majority of the votes ot all the States, the 
 Speaker shall declare the same ; and official notice 
 thereof shall be immediately given to the President 
 of the United States and to the Senate. 
 
 " 8th. All questions which shall arise after the 
 balloting* commences, and which shall require the 
 decision of the house, shall be decided without 
 debate." 
 
 On Wednesday the llth of February, accord 
 ing to the rules of proceeding established by the 
 house, they proceeded to the Senate Chamber, 
 where (Mr. Nicholas and Mr. Rutledge, the tellers 
 on the part of the house, and Mr. Wells on the 
 part of the Senate) the votes were counted and the 
 result declared by the Vice- President to be, 
 
494 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 For Thomas Jefferson, 73 
 Aaron Burr, 73 
 
 John Adams, 65 
 
 C. C. Pinckney, 64 
 John Jay, 1 
 
 The following table represents the return of 
 votes from the different States : 
 
 Return of Votes for President and Vice-Presi 
 dent of the United States. 
 
 Jefferson. Burr. Adams. Pinck. No. Votes. 
 
 N. Hampshire, 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 Vermont, O 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Massachusetts, 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 Rhode- Island, 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 Connecticut, 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 New-York, 12 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 New- Jersey, 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 Pennsylvania, 8 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 15 
 
 Delaware, O 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 Maryland, 5 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 Virginia, 2 1 
 
 21 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 N. Carolina, 8 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 S. Carolina, 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 8 
 
 Georgia, 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 4 
 
 Tennessee, 3 
 
 3 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Kentucky, 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 Total, 73 73 65 64 
 Rhode-Island was the State which gave the 
 single vote for Mr. Jay. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 495 
 
 The tellers declared there was some informality 
 in the votes of Georgia, but believing them to be 
 true votes, reported them as such. 
 
 The Vice-President then, in pursuance of the 
 duty enjoined upon him, declared, that Thomas 
 Jefferson and Aaron Burr, being equal in the num 
 ber of votes, it remained for the House of Represen 
 tatives to determine the choice. 
 
 The two houses then separated, and the House 
 of Representatives returned to their chamber, where 
 seats had been previously prepared for the mem 
 bers of the Senate. ...a call of the members of the 
 house, arranged according to States, was then made ; 
 upon which it appeared that every member was 
 present, except General Sumpter, who was unwell 
 and unable to attend. ...Mr. Nicholson, of Maryland, 
 was also unwell, but attended, and had a bed pre 
 pared for him in one of the committee rooms, to 
 which place the ballot box was carried to him, by 
 the tellers appointed on the part of the State. 
 
 The first ballot was eight States for Mr. Jefferson, 
 six for Mr. Burr, and two divided ; which result con 
 tinued to be the same after balloting thirty-five times. 
 The thirty-sixth ballot determined the question ; 
 and rescued America from the hands of an admin- 
 istration, whose crimes will be long felt and ever 
 remembered. 
 
 This important decision took place at twelve 
 o clock on the 17th of February.. ..there appeared 
 for Mr. Jefferson ten States, for Mr. Burr fou 
 States, and the remaining two were blank ballots 
 
496 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 The States which voted for Mr. Jefferson were, 
 Georgia, North-Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vir 
 ginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, New- 
 York and Vermont. The States for Mr. Burr were, 
 New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and 
 Rhode-Island. The blank States were Delaware 
 and South-Carolina. 
 
 Such was the result of the most important elec 
 tion which America had yet witnessed. The con 
 duct of the federalists on this occasion, must be con 
 sidered by impartial men of every party, to have 
 been the most disgraceful that could have been 
 adopted ; for when disappointed by the voice of the 
 people of having Mr. Adams returned as President, 
 they used every possible means to throw their coun 
 try into confusion. ...to effect which, they voted for 
 Mr. Burr, in hopes that by this measure neither he 
 or Mr. Jefferson would be elected, and that con 
 sequently the constitution would be dissolved. 
 
 That Mr. Burr had neither any intention or 
 desire to be elected President, is evident from the 
 following extract of a letter to General Smith. ...the 
 sentiments of which do Mr. Burr the greatest credit : 
 
 " It is highly improbable that I shall have an 
 equal number of votes with Mr. Jefferson : but if 
 such should be the result, every man who knows 
 me, ought to know, that I would utterly disclaim 
 all competition. Be assured that the federal party 
 can entertain no wish for such an exchange. 
 
 " As to my friends, they would dishonor my 
 views and insult my feelings by a suspicion that I 
 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 497 
 
 would submit to be instrumental in counteracting 
 the wishes and expectations of the United States : 
 and I now constitute you my proxy to declare 
 these sentiments if the occasion shall require.* 
 
 In approaching towards the close of federalism, 
 the number of facts which display the profligacy 
 and corruption of the late administration, are so 
 many, that I have felt at a loss how to select or 
 how to conclude the few remaining pages of this 
 volume, in which I intended to have comprised the 
 principal transactions that characterised the reign 
 of Mr. Adams. Had they been of a favorable na 
 ture either to virtue or humanity, I certainly would 
 have deemed it incumbent upon me rather to have 
 sported with the patience of the reader, by extend 
 ing the limits of the work, than to have omitted 
 them ; but viewing only an ocean of folly and vice, 
 or, if I may be allowed the expression, a pandimo- 
 nian ot political baseness and intrigue, the sooner 
 I withdraw from the painful scene, I trust will be 
 more acceptable both to the liberal patriot and the 
 less candid monarchist. 
 
 Committing the fires at Washington to the 
 charge of some future historian, who may have it 
 more in his power to expose to the public eye 
 those Cataline conflagrations, I shall only glance at 
 such circumstances as appear most important in 
 the public and private history of Mr. Adams. 
 
 The dismissal of Timothy Pickering and James 
 M Henrv, the former from the office of Secretary 
 of State, and the latter from that of Secretarv of 
 
 Rrr 
 
49$ THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 War, with the appointment of General Marshall 
 and Samuel Dexter to their places, have been ge 
 nerally supposed, and not without reason, to have 
 proceeded from the political schism which took 
 place at Trenton ; but the original quarrel between 
 Mr. Adams and Mr. Pickering, I have been lately 
 informed, from the best authority, was of a longer 
 standing. It arose upon the nomination of Mr. 
 Johnson to the stamp-office.. ..Johnson was a tory> 
 and adhered to or fled with the British after our 
 revolution, and resided in England until within the 
 last three ydars, where John Quincy Adams mar 
 ried a daughter of Mr. Johnson. Upon the nomi 
 nation of this gentleman, Mr. Pickering had the 
 honesty to offer his opinion against him. 
 
 Mr. Adams has had the credit of proposing to 
 make the President s office hereditary in the fami 
 ly of Lund Washington, the General having no 
 heirs. This fact, however, is not ascertained as to 
 period or place, and it appears either contradictory 
 or a mark of additional instability of character, when 
 considered with another fact satisfactorily authen 
 ticated. At the manufactory of Seve near Paris, 
 there is made the finest porcelain in the world.... 
 the directors of that work, soon after the peace of 
 1783, had executed a miniature of General Wash 
 ington, and another of Dr. Franklin, executed in 
 porcelain, and beautifully ornamented. Over the 
 bust of General Washington the courtly fancy of 
 the artist had placed a regal crown, over that of 
 the Doctor, a cap of liberty. These miniatures 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 499 
 
 were exhibited for some time in the chamber of 
 Congress, and there Mr. Adams, with a pen-knife-, 
 mutilated the crown placed over the General s head. 
 The Doctor s miniature escaped the hand of the 
 Goth, by the accidental interposition of a member 
 of Congress. The porcelain miniature of the Ge 
 neral exists still in its mutilated state, and it is be 
 lieved in the possession of Mrs. Washington. 
 
 The enmity which Mr. Adams exhibited against 
 the memory of Dr. Franklin is also strongly mark^ 
 ed by the persecutions of Mr. Bache, the grandson 
 of Dr. Franklin. Upon the appointment of John 
 Quincy Adams to the several embassies in Europe, 
 there appeared in the news-papers, published by 
 Mr. Bache, some strictures on the Jicpotism which 
 Mr. Adams pursued in creating offices for his rela 
 tions. A letter was addressed to Mr. Bache, call 
 ing on him, as the school fellow of young John, to 
 refrain from such strictures. The letter was in a 
 female hand, and a gentleman who was acquainted 
 with the hand writing of Mrs. Adams, asserted it 
 to be from her pen, Mr. Bache not choosing to 
 comply with the request of a woman, when the 
 interest of his country was at stake, suffered after 
 wards the most rigorous treatment from the whole 
 family of our late President. 
 
 Parental affection may, in the breast of some, 
 excuse Mr. Adams for employing his son in a 
 sphere where he might acquire political knowledge 9 
 but it ought not to be forgotten, that it was at the 
 public expence. 
 
500 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Some idea of the unnecessary expences that 
 were incurred during the- administration of Mr. 
 Adams may be formed from the following account 
 of contingencies during the year 1800: 
 
 t; ^ : entkmen of the Senate, and 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 
 " I now transmit to both Houses of Congress, 
 in conformity to law, my annual account of the ap 
 plication of grants for the contingent charges of 
 government. for the year one thousand eight hun 
 dred. 
 
 " JOHN ADAMS. 
 " United States, 
 "January 16, 1801." 
 
 Dols. 
 
 "January 21 , l800....To warrant No. 497, 
 in favor of William Smith Shaw, for his 
 expences on a mission from Philadel 
 phia to Mount Vernon, on public bu 
 siness, 50 
 
 "December 31. ...To balance unexpended 
 on this day, and subject to the orders of 
 the President of the United States, 19,950 
 
 20,000 
 
 "December 31, 1799. ...By grant of twen 
 ty thousand dollars, made by " An act 
 making appropriations for the support 
 of government, for the year 1799," pass- 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 Dots. 
 
 ed on the 2d March, 1799, and which 
 remained subject to the orders of the 
 President of the United States, at the 
 close of that year, according to a state 
 ment rendered under date of January, 
 17, 1800, 20,000 
 
 "Treasury Department, Register s office, 
 January, 14, 1800. 
 : JOSEPH NOURSE, Register. 1 
 
 " TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 
 
 " December 30, 1800. 
 
 "I hereby certify, that I have examined and 
 adjusted an account between the United States 
 arid Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury, and 
 find the sum of Five Hundred and Ten Dollars and 
 eighty-four cents, is due from the United States un 
 to Edward Jones, his assignee ; being the amount 
 of expences incurred by him on his removal from 
 Philadelphia to the City of Washington, as appears 
 from the statement and vouchers herewith -transmit 
 ted for the decision of the Comptroller of the Treas 
 ury thereon. Dolls. 510 84. 
 
 " R. HARRISON, Auditor. 
 " To John Steele, Esq. Comptroller." 
 
 " COMPTROLLER S OFFICE. 
 
 <c I admit and certify the above balance this 
 thirtieth day of December, 1800. 
 
 "JOHN STEELE, Comptroller. 
 " To Joseph Nourse, Esq. Register." 
 
502 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 " Account of expences incurred by Oliver Wol- 
 cott, in consequence of the removal of the govern 
 ment, from Philadelphia to the City of Washing 
 ton : 
 
 Dols. Cts. 
 " For chests and cases, and expences of 
 
 packing furniture, 152 45 
 
 " Porterage and other small expences, 31 97 
 
 <c House-rent in Philadelphia, 66 66 
 
 cc Freight of baggage and furniture, 43 92 
 
 " Loss on the sale, of sundry articles of 
 
 furniture, (at least) 5O 00 
 
 " Extra-expences at Philadelphia, and in 
 travelling, and at the City of Washing 
 ton, 165 84 
 
 510 84 
 " December 29, 1800. 
 
 " I authorise Edward Jones, Esq. to receive 
 payment of the above account (of this statement) 
 for my use. 
 
 OLIVER WOLCOTT. 
 
 " N. B. Part of my furniture remains at Phila 
 delphia, the storage and removal of which will oc 
 casion further expence, which in my opinion, ought 
 to be borne by the United States, and will accord 
 ingly be claimed by me when the amount of said 
 expence is ascertained. 
 
 OLIVER WOLCOTT. 1 
 
OF JOHN A^AMS. 503 
 
 The silly credulity with which Mr. Adams is 
 possessed, cannot be better exemplified than by 
 the following story : 
 
 In the summer of 1799, a person waited on Mr. 
 Boudinot, director of the mint, and after soliciting 
 a private interview, produced several ingots of me 
 tal, of a dusky white color, and left them with 
 Mr. Boudinot, desiring that they might be assayed, 
 and he would call again to learn the result, and 
 make a very important discovery. The ingots were 
 found to be one half of them of pure tin, the re 
 maining half pure silver. The person on calling, 
 informed Mr. Boudinot, that he had been so fortu 
 nate as to discover a chemical process, by which 
 tin was converted into silver, and that the silver 
 ingots which he had left, were so produced. He 
 suggested to Mr. Boudinot the advantages which 
 the country would derive by having all its silver 
 bullion created at home, and that by a proper use 
 of the secret, the mint might command the uni 
 verse.. ..that it was a dangerous thing for him to 
 possess it, but that he was willing to engage with 
 the mint, to produce a given quantity exclusivelv 
 for the mint. Mr. Boudinot was in raptures, and 
 solicited the chemist to call upon him the next day. 
 The director of the American mint waited directly 
 on the President Adams, and to him communi 
 cated the secret. The whole of the conversation 
 on this momentous discovery we cannot detail, 
 but it appears that Mr. Adams was equally im 
 pressed with the importance and value of the &e- 
 
564 THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 cret, and expressed very serious apprehensions, 
 that if the secret were not confined to himself, the 
 director of the mint and the alchemist, the power 
 which it might give, would not only endanger the 
 government, but by the capacity which it gave of 
 encreasing the quantity of bullion, produce the 
 same consequences as the discovery of the Ameri 
 can mines had on the Spanish monarchy. The im 
 portance of preserving the secret, inviolate and ex 
 clusively to themselves, was forcibly impressed, 
 and the negociation for securing it entrusted to the 
 sagacity and discretion of the director. 
 
 On the next day the alchemist produced some 
 more ingots, but alarnjs of the yellow-fever were 
 then general, and he pointed out the necessity of 
 removing the furnaces, and erecting them at some 
 safe distance from the city. A situation on the Del 
 aware, in New- Jersey, was named, and after some 
 preliminaries as to the necessity of secrecy, of which 
 the chemist appeared to be equally earnest with the 
 director, there remained nothing more to be done 
 than to remove the apparatus and procure the re 
 quisite quantity of the raw material. For these 
 purposes several hundred hard dollars , of the vul 
 gar silver of South America, were advanced ; and 
 the chemist, to prevent any suspicions in the 
 rninds of those who might chance to see the in 
 gots, took the tin ingots with a view to convert 
 them into silver, and the silver ingots to pack 
 up with the quantity that was to form the first de 
 livery for public use. 
 
OF JOHN ADAMS. 505 
 
 The director left town aJong with others who 
 were apprehensive of the contagion, and the che 
 mist departed likewise. Upon the return of Mr. 
 Boudinot to Philadelphia, he made enquiries for his 
 friend the chemist, but unhappily without success ; 
 upon communicating this information to the Presi 
 dent, he drily observed, the man must have died 
 of the yellow-fever, and perhaps fortunately for 
 the world. But it appears that Mr. Boudinot dis 
 covered that the man did escape the disease, but 
 by some cause he had lost the secret so completely 
 as not to be able to return the money advanced to 
 carry on the process which was to have given Mr. 
 Adams the command of the universe. 
 
 Extravagance and folly characterised the last as 
 well as the first measures of Mr. Adams. The 
 benches of justice were rilled with men who fought 
 against American Independence, and those who 
 have been since most active to destroy it. Mr. 
 Adams determined and declared that he would 
 nominate to the last hour of his presidential exis 
 tence, and was not sparing of a species of insult 
 and indecency to his successor which no man of 
 common sense and civility could be guilty of. 
 
 There were several Senators nominated for 
 Judges under a law created by themselves, though 
 the sixth section of the constitution declared, that 
 " No Senator or Representative shall, during the 
 time for which he was elected, be appointed to 
 any civil office, under the authority of the United 
 States, which shall have been created, or the emo- 
 
 Sss 
 
506 THE ADMINISTRATION, &V 
 
 luments whereof shall have encreased during such 
 time." Yet Jacob Reed of South-Carolina, Paine 
 of Vermont, Green of Rhode-Island, were nomi 
 nated by Mr. Adams to the offices for the creation 
 of which they voted. 
 
 The manner in which Mr. Adams departed 
 from Washington after his power ceased, has even 
 received the censure of his warmest friends : in 
 place of remaining to witness the inauguration of 
 Mr. Jefferson like his illustrious predecessor, he 
 ordered his carriage ready the moment the hour of 
 twelve at night struck, and as if ashamed to wit 
 ness in a private station, the capital of that nation 
 which he had for four years insulted and oppressed, 
 he took his departure before sun rise, and bid (it is 
 to be hoped) a final adieu to the seat of American 
 government. 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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