LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS JHtmoir of George iLogan of ^teuton TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES PRINTED FROM TYPE MEI^ OF Br tenton A^P ^*P v *^ BY HIS WIDOW DEBORAH NORRIS LOGAN Selection* from ftts Corre^pontience EDITED BY THEIR GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER FRANCES A. LOGAN WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHARLES J. STILLE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY C. S. BRADFORD PHILADELPHIA SMtoriral J^octete of MDCCCXCIX LIBRARY yNIVERSITY OF CALIFORIjflA COPYRIGHT, 1899 BY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA Printed by . B. Lippincott Company Philadelphia Contents *** PAGB INTRODUCTION / ^ - . . . . -9 CHAPTER I His EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION _. . .-, 31 CHAPTER II RETURNS HOME AND ESTABLISHES HIMSELF AT STENTON . . .42 CHAPTER III DR. LOGAN'S POLITICAL VIEWS HE EMBARKS ON A MISSION TO FRANCE 50 CHAPTER IV THE RESULTS OF THE MISSION TO FRANCE . . . > .61 CHAPTER V DOMESTIC CARES AND ANXIETY 72 CHAPTER VI GUESTS AT STENTON DR. LOGAN'S RETURN . , . . .78 CHAPTER VII RECEPTION BY THE GOVERNMENT LOGAN ACT ADDRESSES . . 86 CHAPTER VIII RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE 94 CHAPTER IX ELECTION AS UNITED STATES SENATOR THE LOGAN LAW ENACTED . 97 CHAPTER X His RELATIONS WITH JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION . . . .104 5 Contenta CHAPTER XI PAGE CORRESPONDENCE WITH JEFFERSON , - . . , .109 CHAPTER XII DR. LOGAN'S PEACE MISSION TO ENGLAND 115 CHAPTER XIII DR. LOGAN'S DEATH AND A SKETCH OF HIS CHARACTER . . .120 APPENDIX I GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF the DESCENDANTS OF JAMES LOGAN . .127 APPENDIX II LETTERS FROM DR. LOGAN TO MESSRS. MERLIN, LEPEAUX, AND SCHIM- MELPENNINCK I2p APPENDIX III CORRESPONDENCE IN REGARD TO JEFFERSON'S OPINIONS CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1812 135 APPENDIX IV THE LETTERS OF JOHN DICKINSON 145 x. APPENDIX V CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN DR. LOGAN AND MR. MADISON . . 165 APPENDIX VI LETTERS REFERRING TO DR. LOGAN'S EFFORTS TO AVOID WAR WITH ENGLAND . . ; % ; . 175 APPENDIX VII COPIES OF THREE LETTERS FROM COLONEL TIMOTHY PICKERING TO DR. GEORGE LOGAN . . . . . > . . .189 UUustratfons PAGB DR. GEORGE LOGAN . . . " . . . Frontispiece. From a portrait by Gilbert Stuart. STENTON. FRONT VIEW . .40 Built 1728. STENTON. DOORWAY 83 STENTON. BACK VIEW 98 SONNET. BY MRS. LOGAN 114 Fac-simile. DEBORAH NORRIS LOGAN . 122 Untrobuctfon HE late Miss Frances Armat Logan by her Will be- queathed to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania a certain sum to be applied "to the completion of The Life of Dr. George Logan, of Stenton." The life of Dr. Logan to which Miss Logan refers is that written by her grandmother, Mrs. Deborah Norris Logan, his widow. For many years the existence of this " Life" has been known to students of Pennsylvania history. The intimate personal knowledge possessed by Mrs. Logan of the events of the first half-century of the life of the nation, the fidelity and literary skill with which she describes the impression made upon her by constant intercourse with the eminent men who then guided the national policy, the knowledge which she possessed of the secret motives which roused the fierce and unreasoning passions of party spirit in those days, as well as the valuable contributions which in former days she has made to Pennsylvania provincial history, all combine to make her memoir of Dr. Logan a singularly important record of the history of the formative condition of the coun- try. Mrs. Logan, of course, was in full sympathy with the opinions and acts of her husband, who was largely engaged in public affairs during these trying times, having been one of the leaders of the anti-Federal party and a Senator from Pennsylvania. The reader must expect and allow for such 2 9 IFntrotwction a bias. Still, the immense value of the personal recollec- tions of a gifted woman who writes of contemporaneous events cannot be set aside nor overlooked as having a special historical value. Shortly after Dr. Logan's death in 1821 Mrs. Logan be- gan her biographical work, which in one sense is the record of her own life as well as that of her husband. The manu- script finally came into the hands of Miss Logan, the grand- daughter of Dr. Logan. Herself an enthusiastic student of Pennsylvania history, or, at least, of that portion of it in which her immediate ancestors had been such conspicuous actors, she determined to place within the reach of fellow- students the important information it contained. She spent many years in revising and copying the manuscript and preparing it for publication. Unfortunately for her, she lost that reward for her labor of love which she had hoped for, having died in May, 1898, in England, whither she had gone on a visit to her sister. She was always, however, so much in earnest lest the lessons taught by the life of her grandfather should be denied to the public or should be forgotten, and that the precious memorial of his deeds pre- pared by her grandmother should be kept only as a family relic, that she appointed by her Will, as has been said, the Historical Society, in case of her death, her agent to carry out her wishes and superintend its publication. In this way and under this trust this manuscript comes into the hands of the Society. It seems necessary in order to explain the part taken by Dr. Logan in the political events of his time that a few words should be said concern- ing his environment or the very peculiar condition of society 10 (Introduction here towards the close of the last century. Mrs. Logan, it is true, gives us a life-like picture of the career of her hus- band, but it must be remembered that since 1821, when her memoir was begun, much light has been thrown upon the policy of public transactions, in which Dr. Logan and his friends were conspicuous actors, by the publication of the lives and letters of many prominent statesmen who were his friends or opponents, and that we must take account of the information thus given us in reaching a conclusion con- cerning their acts and motives. Mrs. Logan was the daughter of Charles N orris, and was married to Dr. Logan in 1781. This lady occupied during her whole life a peculiar position in Pennsylvania society, her family, from its wealth, position, and influence, having always held the foremost rank. It is now hard to say whether she is best remembered by the generous and graceful hospitality which she dispensed for so many years at Stenton, her husband's seat, or by the charming account she has given us of the life there, and of her husband's ac- tive share in it, or by the contributions she made to Penn- sylvania provincial history, especially by her preparation of the " Penn-Logan Correspondence" at the request of this Society. She lived to a very advanced age, the object of the affection and reverence of all her relatives and friends, and contributing very much to keep up the reputation of Stenton as the most interesting historic dwelling-place in Pennsylvania. Dr. Logan lived in stirring times, new and untried prob- lems constantly presenting themselves, calling forth all the energy of his active and thoroughly trained mind for de- ii Untrofcuction cision. During a large portion of the Revolution he was a young man living in Europe, pursuing for a time his medi- cal education, and afterwards travelling on the continent, so that his views of life were moulded by careful observa- tion of a society so different from his own. He seems to have devoted much time to scientific inquiries concerning improvements in agriculture, a subject which had a pecu- liar attraction for him, as he looked forward to passing his life as a farmer. He returned to his home in 1779, and found everything in apparently hopeless confusion, his beau- tiful estate of Stenton, which he had inherited from his father, and upon the returns of which he depended largely for his income, sadly dilapidated by neglect and by the re- cent inroads of the enemy. One of his first public acts after his return illustrates the benevolence of his character. A large number of the peo- ple of Charleston, who had been expelled from that town after its surrender to Sir Henry Clinton in 1780, had taken refuge in Philadelphia, and were afterwards joined by their families. These people, numbering at least one thousand persons, were dependent for a considerable period on the liberality of the inhabitants of the city. They were gen- erously entertained, especially by the Quakers, and, as we shall discover, the families of Governor Rutledge, of Charles C. Pinckney, and of Thomas Pinckney resided as guests of Dr. Logan at Stenton for six months, and were there lib- erally provided for. He, however, set to work bravely to repair the damage from which his estate had suffered. The knowledge which he had acquired of scientific agriculture enabled him very 12 flntrotMction soon to restore his estate to the condition which it had oc- cupied previous to the Revolution, that of a model farm. His character and his skill as a farmer soon became known to his neighbors, and he was forced to become their repre- sentative in the Assembly, where for four years (1785-1789) he strove with a discredited State constitution to bring about changes in the laws which would transform the prov- ince into an independent sovereign commonwealth. He seems to have been very much in earnest in this work of political reform. He studied carefully books on political and social science, the celebrated work of Adam Smith on the "Wealth of Nations," then recently published, being his favorite text-book. For matters of local interest, such as the treatment of the Indians, the lawfulness of defensive warfare, the sacredness of the rights of conscience, indeed, in all those respects in which Pennsylvania, previous to the Revolution, held a proud pre-eminence among her sister colonies, he followed, as far as it was practicable, the ex- ample or advocated the policy of his illustrious grandfather, James Logan. His grandfather had concerned himself, more particularly in early life, with studies in physical rather than with those of political or social science, in which de- partments of knowledge he was recognized as the fore- most scholar of the American colonies. We have only to glance over the catalogue of books once forming his private library, and now the Loganian Library, to discover that his grandson, surrounded by such a library, had, with perhaps an hereditary tendency, not only abundant opportunity of studying the application of science to the arts as then un- derstood, but also of gaining information concerning the '3 flntrofcuctton true means of developing generally the resources of a coun- try and of promoting the welfare of its inhabitants. Dr. Logan was no doubt led in his speculations on government to a certain extent by the benevolence of his disposition and by the fashion of the time for the new French philoso- phy of the encyclopaedists and by the brilliant denunciations of the existing order of society by Rousseau to take a some- what optimistic view of human nature, which regards man as essentially good and looks upon all the evil in him as the result of the corrupt and tyrannical power of the society of which he is a member. This sympathy with man as a suf- ferer under such conditions and his anxiety to relieve him were characteristic of Dr. Logan's acts and writings through- out life. He shared these opinions with some of the most illustrious Americans of the time, among others, with Jef- ferson, with Dickinson, and, to a certain extent, with Frank- lin. It perhaps may be said, looking at his whole career, as was said of Jefferson, " He hoped to make his country forever pure and free ; to abolish war with its train of debt, extravagance, corruption, and tyranny ; to build up a gov- ernment devoted only to useful and moral objects, and to bring forth on earth a new era of peace and good will among men." With opinions such as these it is not to be wondered at that to him, in common with the large numbers of those to whom the crowning work of the American Revolution was its successful vindication of popular rights, the French Revo- lution seemed a new birth in the political world. We had at that time many reasons for loving France. Whatever may have been her motives, we could not but be grateful 14 IFntrofcuction for the invaluable assistance which she had given us during the war. We forgot for a moment that it was monarchical France that had aided us, and the early acts of the revolu- tionary leaders in that country and the formal announce- ment of her political principles in the new constitution, "The Rights of Man," excited unbounded enthusiasm on all sides. For a time the English common law, which had governed us during the colonial era and which was the basis of our civilization generally, and which had grown up with it, seemed in danger of being supplanted by the French theories, which had become fashionable. The ardor of this sympathy with the revolutionary doctrinaires of France was, however, soon much cooled in the minds of many by the arbitrary and despotic cruelty by which the French republic was maintained and by the anti-social doctrines generally which it proclaimed. The two parties which contended for supremacy for so many years in this country, if not origi- nally born out of the controversy concerning the progress of the French Revolution, owed much of the vigor and bit- terness which marked their history to a difference of opinion concerning the acts which grew out of it. The vastly im- portant questions concerning our newly-framed Constitution were for a time subordinated to heated rhetoric concerning the new era which had dawned in France. The first open act of the government declaring its relations with the new French republic was the proclamation of neutrality issued by President Washington in April, 1793, France having entered upon a war with England and Spain, and Mr. Genet, the first French minister, having arrived, and show- ing himself disposed to appeal to those he called "the peo- 15 Untrofcuction pie," when the government refused to permit or sanction the course he pursued. The love of the French republican principles, gratitude towards France, the alliance with that country offensive and defensive which we had made with it in 1778, not to speak of a deep-seated hatred of England, perhaps not unnatural, drove the opponents of the adminis- tration, then called Republicans, into a most violent attack against the policy of the government, which was blamed because it did not look leniently upon the efforts made by the French republic to force us to live up to the provisions of the treaty of alliance of 1778, but was disposed, in the execution of its policy of neutrality, to look favorably upon English claims. To this Republican party Dr. Logan, in common with many conspicuous men, belonged, and he advocated their doctrines of sympathy with France with great earnestness. The era was one of violent abuse and controversy which did not spare the character and conduct and motives of Washington himself. There is perhaps no chapter in our history more characterized by vulgar abuse and mendacious statements than this, in which Freneau, Bache, and Duane were the champions on the one side and Cobbett on the other. Dr. Logan, with all the ardor of his attachment to republican principles, never showed any sym- pathy with this low form of party warfare. He was not only an independent in his politics, but also a gentleman in his feelings. Many of his personal friends were Federalists, Washington at their head, men who were received at Stenton, as will be seen from reading Mrs. Logan's memoir, with the same gracious hospitality as that which marked the intercourse of the hosts with their warmest party adherents. 16 flntrofcucticm It is true that as time went on party spirit became more and more virulent, and there grew up a disposition not perhaps so much to malign openly the acts as to denounce the motives of those who differed in political opinions. Hamilton, as is well known, was openly charged with a design to establish a monarchy ; and even Washington was not spared. From the time in which Jay's treaty was confirmed to the end of the century all who took an active part in politics on both sides were called by their antagonists all the vile names and said to be governed by all the unworthy motives con- ceivable. Nothing seems more curious in Mrs. Logan's memoir than the statement that her husband, desirous of going to France on his peace mission in 1798, was closely watched by a committee of the opposite party, appointed expressly to prevent his departure, unless it be the state- ment of the owner of the vessel that, had he known Dr. Logan intended to be a passenger, he would have pre- vented his going. We should not forget that in those days the most exag- gerated language was employed in the newspapers in abusing politicians not of their own party. Much of this was in the nature of a threat and was little heeded ; yet there seemed at times a disposition to introduce here meas- ures which were suggested by that formidable engine of cruelty and tyranny which had condemned so many in France, "la lot des suspects" Those who escaped from the penalties of the alien and sedition acts, but who were prominent as anti-Federal politicians, lived for a time under threats of the vengeance of their opponents. We some- times think that nothing could be more bitter than the at- 17 Untrofcuction tacks we now witness upon candidates for public office, but we have not yet reached the depths of degradation when our fathers were accustomed every day to hear Washing- ton, Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Dickinson, McKean, and Logan, the true fathers of the Republic, spoken of either as confirmed aristocrats or as designing traitors. It seems difficult to explain this outbreak of party feeling at the close of the last century. Perhaps one cause may have been the loosely jointed system by which the federal power was exerted over the vast regions subject to it and the want of true national force arising out of the difficulties of commu- nication between the different parts of the country. These observations are made with the view of reminding those who look to the newspapers of the day for the motives which induced Dr. Logan to embark for Europe in the hope of averting the threatened hostilities between France and this country that these sources of information are not trust- worthy. To the one class he is an angel of peace, to the other a wily intriguer ready to sacrifice the interests and honor of his own country if he could help his own party at home to gain the ascendancy. Neither of these judgments is well formed, and we are fortunate in possessing " the plain unvarnished tale" of Mrs. Logan, which bears the stamp of truth on its very face and is confirmed by all that has since been told us by disinter- ested witnesses. In 1798 the settlement of our relations with France en- gaged the earnest attention of the government. Our for- eign commerce had been nearly destroyed by the capture of the vessels engaged in it by the cruisers of France and 18 Introduction of England. This injury we alleged had been done in clear violation of our rights as a neutral power and with full knowledge of the declaration we had made of those rights by the proclamation of 1793. Our object was, if possible, to avoid war, but to accomplish our purpose by yielding, for the time at least, some of the numerous claims which we then had against both powers. On this basis we had suc- ceeded, in 1794, in making a treaty, commonly known as "Jay's treaty," the provisions of which, although very dis- tasteful to the party opposed to the administration as well as to France, was then the law of the land. The govern- ment then undertook negotiations with France in order to settle the question of neutral rights and to protect our com- merce from the depredations of that power, and the result was looked for with great anxiety, as by the acts of the French government we had been drawn perilously near war. Messrs. Marshall, Pinckney, and Gerry were sent to France as commissioners to carry on these negotiations. These gentlemen were not received by the foreign minister, and they soon found that neither they nor any other minister would be recognized as representing the United States. The principal cause assigned by the French authorities was the conclusion of Jay's treaty, which was claimed to be hos- tile to France. It was suggested, however, that this hostility might be atoned for by a bribe of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars on our part to the members of the execu- tive directory. Such was the sort of diplomacy which the French government then ventured, in its contempt of our weakness, to indulge in. Such a proposition, which was rightly regarded by Messrs. Marshall and Pinckney as a 19 Introduction personal and national insult, drove them out of France, leaving Mr. Gerry, who was of the opposition to the admin- istration, to try and see what he could do alone. His for- giveness of the insult was unavailing, and no treaty was made nor negotiations resumed. Such was the condition of affairs when Dr. George Logan, thinking that he might assist Gerry in the negotiation, determined to go to France, earnestly hoping that he might aid in averting the war which seemed to him immi- nent. Possibly he may have thought, from certain hints dropped by the official subordinates with whom the commis- sioners were allowed to confer, that his membership of the anti-federal party might give him some special influence in his intercourse with the French authorities. He had, of course, no official relation with the commissioners, French or American, or any one of them. Still he was disposed to try, and afterwards did try, what effect the arguments which as a private gentleman he might use would have with the French ministers. Whether this course of action was a wise or judicious one, or ever promised any good result, is not the question. Everything about the life of Dr. Logan pro- claimed that he was an enthusiast, certainly not less in the display of his love of country than in regard to all subjects which excited his interest and sympathy. He was to the last degree hopeful and self-reliant. It seems strange that a man with these well-known characteristics, leaving home to accomplish what was apparently a most benevolent pur- pose, even if it was hopeless, should be branded as a traitor and a spy, who sought to compromise the true interests and dignity of his country for the sake of party advantage. Yet 20 Untrotwctton such was his fate, and the full story is told by Mrs. Logan in this volume. Dr. Logan embarked at Philadelphia for Hamburg (that being the best route then open for his jour- ney to Paris) in June, 1798. After meeting with many dif- ficulties in his efforts to reach Paris, fully detailed by Mrs. Logan in her memoir, he arrived there only to find that Mr. Gerry had taken his departure. This, of course, took away what little authority his volun- teer mission might have had. In some way, not very dis- tinctly explained, he was brought into quite intimate relations with members of the executive directory, Merlin, the chief, Le Peaux, Talleyrand, and others. How he availed himself of the opportunities of presenting the position of his country towards France is best seen in the letters in which he sought to explain his conduct. We can hardly understand the abuse which was heaped upon him by some of his country- men, unless we suppose that his opponents thought that he was dealing with the same men who had offered to sell what they supposed to be the interests of their country to our regular agents for a large bribe. " No sensible man," ac- cording to the newspapers, " can hesitate to suspect that his infernal design can be anything less than the introduc- tion of a French army to teach us the value of true and essential liberty by reorganizing our government through the blessed operation of the bayonet and the guillotine. Let every American now gird on his sword. The dema- gogue is gone to the Directory for purposes destructive of your lives, property, liberty, and holy religion." But the letters speak for themselves, and will be found in the Ap- pendix. 21 Untrotwction How any one, even among the most malignant opponents of Dr. Logan's general political views, could have believed that any corrupt motive or secret design to aid the Demo- cratic party by favoring peaceful relations with France could exist in his mind it is hard to understand. His enemies represented that he had been received " coolly" by Presi- dent Adams and General Washington on his return. As to the latter he had sent to the President a letter from Mr. Barlow, an American resident in Paris, urging that a treaty of peace should be made, in which the general stated that he was willing to enter into correspondence with its writer, Mr. Barlow, " a private gentleman without any visible cre- dentials or public character or responsibility to either gov- ernment, in order to bring about a public negotiation." So a short time afterwards Mr. Adams, after stating that he had favorably received overtures for peace from private citizens in France like Mr. Codman, Mr. Cutting, and Mr. Barlow, wrote as follows : " Mr. Logan, of Philadelphia, a gentleman of fortune and education, and certainly not destitute of abilities, who had for several years been a member of the Legislature of Penn- sylvania, and has since been a Senator of the United States, though I knew that he had been one of the old constitu- tional party in that State and a zealous disciple of that democratical school which has propagated many errors in America, and perhaps many tragical catastrophes in Europe, went to France either with the pretext or real design of im- proving his knowledge of agriculture and seeing the practice of it in that country. I had no reason to believe him a cor- rupt character or deficient in memory or veracity. After 22 Untrofcuction his return he called on me and in a polite manner informed me that he had been honoured with conversations with Tal- leyrand, who had been well acquainted with me and re- peatedly been entertained at my house, and now visited me at his request to express to me the desire of the Di- rectory, as well as his own, to accommodate all disputes with America and to forget all that was past. I knew the magical words Democrat and Jacobin were enough to de- stroy the credibility of any witness with some people, but not so with me. I saw marks of candour and sincerity in this relation that convinced me of its truth." * The only public recognition which this self-imposed task of Dr. Logan, by which the French embargo was lifted and hundreds of American sailors were released from French prisons, to say nothing of opening the way to peace, ever received was the passage by Congress of an act which stamped as a crime, punishable with fine and imprisonment, acts such as those which Dr. Logan had committed. Dr. Logan returned to Stenton in the autumn of 1798 with his attachment to popular and democratic principles as then held by Mr. Jefferson and the anti-Federal party much strengthened. He was spoken of by his political friends as something of a martyr, besides being in their opinion a suc- cessful negotiator. He was soon selected by them as the fittest man to represent them in the State Legislature. In those days that body was composed of men of character well known to their constituents by their capacity and in- tegrity in the communities to which they belonged. There * See vol. ii. pp. 192, 193, of Gibbs's Administration of Washington and Adams. 23 Untrotwctton was then, of course, independence of mere party bonds to an extent now unknown on the part of the members, and the influence of men who had proved themselves capable of the higher form of legislation was encouraged. Dr. Logan was no doubt in this body a party leader, but where his opinions were fixed by study and reflection it was impossi- ble to divert him from his course. It is not easy at this time to point out the measures he advocated. He had views on certain subjects which seem now strange and pe- culiar. He strongly opposed the grant of the franchise for constructing a turnpike road between Philadelphia and Lan- caster, but it was because of the liberty granted by it to strangers to enter upon the land needed for the road, even if the owner was assured of payment for it. He was opposed to allowing soldiers under arms to vote, doubtless because of some chimerical fear of the dangers of a standing army ; he was not in favor of encouraging manufactures in this country, although he favored domestic manufactures in every household, because he had been deeply impressed with the horrors of what was called the factory system, as carried on in Europe. He was the enlightened and per- sistent advocate of public education at a time when the re- ligious sect to which he belonged the Quakers hesitated for a long time to accept the munificent gift of John Dick- inson and his wife for the support of a seminary of learning, lest while knowledge might come religion would linger. Whatever may be thought of Dr. Logan's idiosyncrasies now, it is very certain that they did not weaken the confi- dence of his party adherents in him at that time. He was elected in 1802 by the Legislature a Senator of the United 24 Introduction States as successor of General Muhlenberg, who had re- signed the office. He remained in the Senate for six years, and took part in all the exciting controversies of the time. Notwithstanding his very decided views in regard to the construction of the Constitution, he supported Mr. Jefferson in his measures for the acquisition of Louisiana, for the set- tlement of its boundaries, and a form of government which for a time disfranchised the inhabitants of that territory. He helped the administration to overcome the thorny diffi- culties which stood in the way of settling our rights as a neutral power against their constant violation by France and England, and he, like Jefferson, was accused of sacri- ficing to a love of peace our well-founded claims for redress. He shared, too, with the administration the policy which was adopted when some of the States, especially in New England, driven nearly to madness by the embargo and non-intercourse acts, were discussing, in grave earnest, pro- jects of secession. We never hear of any factious appeals from Dr. Logan while he was a member of the Senate, and when his term of office expired he went to England, in 1810, hoping by his intercourse with people of influence there to avert the war with this country which he regarded as immi- nent. He was brought into pleasant relations in England with many eminent men of both parties, all professing a sincere desire for peace ; but after all his efforts the gov- ernment, strongly intrenched in the belief that their existing policy was the one best suited to maintain their maritime supremacy, declined to revoke those Orders of Council which were ruining our commerce. In his efforts to prevent war with England he was not unmindful of the increasing power 3 25 flntrotwction of France and the danger of its rendering null that treaty by which her unscrupulous emperor had ceded Louisiana to us should such a course be found necessary for carrying out his ambitious schemes. Jealousy of Napoleon and alarm at the dangers to be apprehended from him should his am- bition lead him to undertake conquests on this continent became cardinal doctrines of the leaders of a large sec- tion of the Democratic party during the wars of the Em- pire, and nowhere will he be found more severely judged or his course condemned than in the letters of Jefferson, Dickinson, Dallas, and Logan. When we were at last forced into a war with England both powers had nearly reached the period of utter exhaustion. Still Dr. Logan and his friends opposed with the greatest zeal our entering upon hostilities, feeling that the objects we aimed at could be better reached by friendly negotiation. The letters to and from Dr. Logan clearly illustrate the opinions of him- self and his political friends (of the highest position and influence) concerning the war of 1812 and their efforts to avert it. After the war of 1812 Dr. Logan retired wholly from public life. He had never been an active partisan, or what in these days is called a "machine politician," making use of his influence with his party to advance his personal inter- ests and those of his adherents. He was surrounded by many whose conduct was governed by lofty motives. It may be mentioned here, perhaps, to the high honor of two of the most active and distinguished of our early Pennsyl- vania politicians, John Dickinson and George Logan, that the reputation of both of them has come down to us unspot- 26 Untrofcuctton ted by any taint of selfish or private advantage. The public measures they advocated and the political theories upon which some of them were based may now seem unwise or inexpedient, but they were always the result of painstaking and conscientious investigation. They both lived long enough to find their principles discarded by the party with which they had acted, but their convictions were so strong and so well intrenched that they never wavered in main- taining them. They both remained to their lives' end stu- dents of the highest form of self-government, and in the quiet of a country life, that "classic diversion of a states- man's care," they sought to discover the true principle which should rule a modern society such as ours. Dr. Logan's retirement did not diminish his interest in public men and public affairs. Stenton became a most attractive place of resort not merely for those of his neigh- bors who shared the views of its owner, but for many well- known strangers who came there to enjoy the cultivated society which gathered around Dr. Logan and his highly accomplished wife. As Stenton is so closely identified with Dr. Logan's career, and was in itself one of the most famous of the colonial mansions, we borrow from Mr. Westcott's book the following account of the place and its historic asso- ciations : " About the year 1728 James Logan commenced the building of a house upon a piece of ground which belonged to him on the Germantown Road south of the village. This property was composed of several pieces which had been acquired by various titles. It was a large tract which touched on the east side of Germantown Road above Nicetown at the intersection of the Township Line Road and running over to the Old York Road. 27 flntrofcuction Through the grounds ran the Wingohocking, a branch of Tacony or Frankford Creek, afterwards known as "Logan's Run." The house was a plain two-story brick, with a pent roof and attics, sufficiently spacious to insure ease and elegance. The house is believed to have been finished in 1728. Mrs. Sarah Butler Wister, in the sketch of Deborah Logan in 'Worthy Women of Our First Century,' describes Stenton with a loving minuteness which fills out a perfect picture. ' Round the house there was the quiet stir and movement of a country place, with its large gardens full of old-fashioned flowers and fruits, its poultry-yard, and stables. The latter were connected with the house by an underground passage which led to a concealed staircase and a door under the roof, like the "priest's escape' ' in some old English country-seats. . . . The offices surrounded the main building, and were connnected with it by brick courts and cov- ered ways. They were all at the back, and so disposed as to enhance the picturesque and dignified air of the old mansion, the interior of which is as curious to modern eyes as it is imposing. One enters by a brick hall, opposite to which is the magnificent double staircase, while right and left are lofty rooms covered with fine old-fashioned wood-work, in some of them the wainscot being carried up to the ceiling above the chimney- place, which in all the apartments was a vast opening set round with blue and white sculptured tiles of the most grotesque devices. There are corner cupboards, and in some of the rooms cupboards in arched niches over the mantel-pieces, capital showcases for the rare china and magnificent old silver which adorned the dinner-table on state occasions. Half of the front of the house in the second story was taken up by one large finely lighted room, the library of the book-loving masters of the place. " ' The grounds were adorned with fine old trees. A splendid avenue of hemlocks, which legend would only be satisfied with declaring were planted by William Penn (although he, poor man ! was dead years before Stenton was built), led up to the house. The Wingohocking meandered through the plantation, lighting up the landscape with brightness wherever its placid surface was seen. Stenton was a house for the living, but the affection which the owners had for it made the estate in time a last resting- place for the dead. The family graveyard is romantically situated, sur- 28 flntrofcuction rounded with old trees and with all accessories of a spot to be picked out as a beautiful garden of the dead.' " After Stenton was built it was first occupied as a summer residence, but in time it became Logan's permanent dwelling. In deeds made in 1730 he describes himself as 'James Logan of Philadelphia,' but in 1732 he begins to call himself 'James Logan of Stenton.' Here, in conse- quence of his sickness, many affairs of state were transacted. From August, 1736, to August, 1738, James Logan was President of the Coun- cil, and many consultations were held at Stenton. Deputations of Indians who visited Philadelphia found it convenient to seek the seat near Ger- mantown, and accommodations which might be called permanent were made for their reception on the grounds. On some occasions there were three or four hundred sons of the forest at Stenton, and the deputations would remain for days enjoying the hospitality of the plantation. Can- nassetego, chief of the Onondagas, in a treaty made with the Six Nations at Philadelphia in July, 1742, by Governor George Thomas and council, thus expressed himself in relation to Logan : ' Brethren, we called at our friend James Logan's on our way to this city, and to our grief found him hid in the bushes and retired through infirmities from public business. We pressed him to leave his retirement, and prevailed with him to assist once more on our account at your council. He is a wise man and a fast friend to the Indians, and we desire when his soul goes to God you may choose in his room just such another person of the same prudence and ability in counselling, and of the same tender disposition and affection for the Indians.' Between 1731 and 1739 Logan was chief justice of the province, and when he was not able to come to the city the consultations of himself and associates were held at Stenton." At different times Peter S. Duponceau, the aide-de-camp of Steuben and President of the Historical Society, was a guest; at others, Robert Walsh, who was regarded as the most eminent publicist (not a politician) of his day, was welcomed; then Dupont de Nemours, one of the purest of the French revolutionary patriots, charmed every one 29 * Introfcuctton with the reminiscences of his stormy career. And John Randolph of Roanoke added a charm peculiarly his own to the attractions of the place ; and last and strangest of all, Colonel Pickering, once the violent opponent of Dr. Logan, became in later years an honored guest and one of his warmest friends. Dr. Logan kept up, too, his correspond- ence with many conspicuous persons he had known during his service as a Senator. As an independent thinker he spoke his mind pretty freely in his letters to Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Randolph, as the reader will find by turning to his letters. As to Dr. Logan's character in private life, our best guide is the language of his disconsolate widow : " We had lived together," she says, " nearly forty years, and the most affec- tionate love and entire confidence always subsisted between us, from which I had reason to believe that I perfectly knew his character, and a more kind and humane heart or more upright and just emotions I am sure no man could possess. . . . He was constant in his attachments, a most tender husband, a kind father, a just and good landlord and mas- ter, and a steady and efficient friend." After a languishing illness of many months he died at Stenton, April 9, 1821, at the age of sixty-seven years, and his body was interred in the family burial-ground there. C. J. S. HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA, January, 1899. CHAPTER I Mis Earls %tfe ano Education f^^*r*H.E infinitely wise and good God having been \jl pleased in the course of His overruling provi- dence to take out of this transitory life my hon- oured and beloved husband, I have thought it to be my duty for the information of his family and posterity, but without any view whatever to the publication of the present work, to attempt some biographical notices of his life and char- acter, imperfect and unsatisfactory as I fear they will prove both from my conscious inability to undertake such a task and the scantiness of the materials from which it must be compiled. I know and feel that the only claim to attention which I can urge will be the uncommon dis- interestedness, patriotism, and integrity of the character whose delineation I am about to attempt and the strict regard to veracity which shall guide my pen in this un- dertaking. Dr. George Logan was born at Stenton, the seat of [his] ancestors, in the county of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the gth day of the ninth month (September), 1753. His father, William Logan, was eldest surviving son of the cele- 31 flDemoit of Dr. 0eor$e brated James Logan, one of the most excellent as well as learned men of whom our country has had to boast. Wil- liam Logan was likewise a virtuous and respectable man, a good citizen, upright, and public-spirited. He married Hannah Emlen, daughter of George Emlen, of Philadel- phia, a beautiful and pious woman. Dr. Logan was their third son, and was sent at an early age with a brother a year younger than himself to England for his education.* The brothers did not stay long in Europe, but, returning to this country, George perfected himself in the Latin lan- guage under the celebrated Robert Proud, and was after- wards apprenticed to a merchant of Philadelphia (the ven- erable John Reynell), notwithstanding he had manifested the most marked predilection for the study of medicine. * One circumstance respecting the early part of my husband's life I wish to preserve, and think I can do it better in a note than interrupting the thread of my little narrative. It strongly tends to illustrate the remark of our great poet that " The childhood shows the man." MlLTON. During the time he was first in England, when he was scarce ten years old, his sister had knit two purses and sent them to her absent brothers, each containing a piece of gold, the largest sum of which at that time they had ever had the disposal. George had become acquainted with a lame boy, whose mother, an industrious, indigent woman with a family to maintain, lived in the neighbourhood. He carried his little treasure to this poor widow and desired it might be expended in putting her lame son to school, which he had the pleasure to see accomplished. And the reflection which my beloved husband made when he related this little in- cident to me was, How would it have been possible so to have expended the money as to have procured for him equal gratification ? It lasted through life. 3 2 flDcmotr of 2>r. (Beorge His father's objection to gratifying him in this particular arose from the circumstance of his eldest surviving son having settled in Philadelphia in the practice of that pro- fession. But at length the intercession of this brother,* joined to his own earnest remonstrances, prevailed with the father, and after he had served out the term of his apprenticeship his father permitted him to return to Eng- land in order to qualify himself for the practice of physic, the strong inclination which he felt for this science having been fostered and indulged from infancy. At an early age he had innoculated himself, his parents being irreso- lute or contradictory on the propriety of inflicting the dis- ease on their children, and he passed through it in the most favourable manner. During his apprenticeship he had much leisure. The opulence of the merchant with whom he was placed enabling him to retire from business, he suffered it to decline, and his apprentice eagerly seized this opportunity to read medical books, of which he found an ample supply in his father's library, at that period very much enlarged by a collection of the best authors which had belonged to his deceased uncle, Dr. William Logan, Sr., who had been a successful practitioner in the city of Bristol, England, two thousand volumes of which were afterwards devised as legacies to the Loganian and Philadelphia Libraries. William Logan did not long survive his son's departure for Europe, but previous to his death he had witnessed the * Dr. William Logan, Jr. He was an amiable young man of distin- guished abilities, and had entered upon the practice of his profession with every prospect of success, but was suddenly cut off in the flower of his age. 33 flDemotr of 3Dr* (Beorge Xogan sorrowful decease of his eldest son, and was now well pleased that another was desirous to qualify himself forthe practice of medicine, and he earnestly recommended him to the care of his worthy friends David Barclay and the cele- brated Dr. Fothergill, with whom he had long been in the habit of intimate correspondence. Dr. Logan always ac- knowledged in the most grateful manner the attentions which he received from these good men. By Dr. Fothergill's advice he boarded himself in the family of Dr. Simms, in Essex, father of the present Dr. Simms, one of the physi- cians to the royal family. To this gentleman he gave a pre- mium for his instruction and undertook to compound all his prescriptions, for, unlike the usual practice in that country, he furnished the medicines himself to his patients, who were very numerous ; and Dr. Logan often attended them with him, and otherwise pursued his studies with such diligence that he scarcely allowed himself time for necessary recrea- tion, or even for the refreshment of sufficient sleep. After passing a twelvemonth in this manner, and having obtained a good knowledge of pharmacy, he repaired to Edinburgh, where his diligent attention to the means of improvement, his eager desire of knowledge, the temperance of his habits, and his gentlemanly deportment secured for him universal esteem. The professors regarded him as one of their dis- tinguished pupils, and he ranked the most amiable of the students as his friends. I have heard him particularly men- tion Dr. Parry, Dr. Currie, of Liverpool ; Dr. Fox, of Fal- mouth ; Dr. Fowler, and a very promising young physician, a son of the celebrated Dr. Darwin, with whom he was very intimate. The last died during the period of his studies at 34 flllcmoir of S>r, (Bcorge Xogan Edinburgh of a putrid fever contracted by dissecting a mor- bid body. His father was sent for during his illness, but did not arrive until after his death. He was distressed, no doubt, at finding that event had taken place which deprived him of an excellent and accomplished son and the profession of an expected ornament; but after viewing the lifeless corpse he immediately left Edinburgh without staying to witness its interment. A mode of conduct so different from our own usages on such occasions, and which at least ap- peared unfeeling, filled the mind of Dr. Logan, who had been very attentive to his friend through the whole of his fatal illness, with astonishment and disgust. There is perhaps no sensation so gratifying and delight- ful to the human mind as the consciousness of its improve- ment ; and it is this which makes the recollection of time spent in the acquisition of knowledge so full of pleasing images. Dr. Logan delighted to dwell on the satisfaction which his residence in Scotland had afforded to him, and he left it after three years' residence with 'the friendship and respect of all those to whom he had been known, which in- cluded the names of those great men in literature and the sciences who were then laying the foundation of those schools of proficiency which have since dignified their capi- tal with the appellation of the Athens of the North. He had during his stay been elected president of the medical society, an institution founded by the students to further their attainments in the profession, and which has been found greatly to facilitate the end proposed. Dr. Logan obtained his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1779, and left Edinburgh, as I have before remarked, intent upon gaining 35 HDemotr of 2)r. <3eor$e Xogan for himself some other advantages in the schools of London and Paris.* There is still remaining in the possession of his family at Stenton a copy-book of letters addressed to his younger brother in Philadelphia, written at this period, which shows how intent was his mind on information and improvement, and likewise is a demonstration of the goodness of his heart, fraught with sentiments of honour and benevolence, and breathing that true fraternal affection which endeavoured to incite his brother both by precept and example to a life of virtue and usefulness to mankind. After he left Scotland he visited several parts of England and Ireland, and, crossing over to the continent, travelled through Holland, to France, Germany, and Italy. He made the longest stay in France, where he attended the anatomi- cal lectures. Dr. Franklin was then resident at the French Court and was extremely kind and friendly to his young countryman, saying that he was happy to have it in his power to return the obligation which he himself had received in his young and inexperienced years from the friendship and wisdom of Dr. Logan's grandfather. At Passy, in the company of the sage, Dr. Logan spent many delightful hours ; he was on terms of the greatest intimacy, admitted into his study, and frequently breakfasted and spent the morning with him, and it seemed impossible to be in Frank- lin's company without feeling yourself to advance in the * When Dr. Logan returned to America in 1779 he brought letters of warm recommendation from Dr. Franklin to several influential characters stating the correctness of his conduct and principles with respect to his own country whilst abroad. 36 flilemotr of Dr. <5eor$e Slogan scale of improvement, his various knowledge, his clear com- mon sense, wit, and intelligence diffusing itself through his easy and unaffected conversation like the corruscations of his own brilliant discoveries from a highly charged object. An occurrence took place about this time, connected with one of these visits to Passy, which Dr. Logan used in after- life to mention as what had given him a strong distaste to arbitrary power, and placing in contrast the blessings and benefits of a free constitution where the rights of every in- dividual are placed under the protection of the laws, and the meanest criminal cannot be imprisoned without knowing for what crime it is inflicted and who are his accusers. Dining one day at Passy with other company, a Mr. Adair was introduced by Dr. Franklin as an American gentleman, but from what State I do not recollect. During the enter- tainment the difficulty of procuring Madeira wine at that time in France was mentioned by Dr. Franklin, when Mr. Adair said he had some very fine and would do himself the pleasure of sending the doctor a few dozen. In the even- ing, when the company broke up, Dr. Logan asked Mr. Adair to take a seat in his post-chaise, as that gentleman was without a conveyance of his own. He accepted the offer, and it produced an interchange of visits. Shortly after, Dr. Logan, calling at his lodging, was informed by his servant that Mr. Adair had disappeared in an unaccountable manner ; his effects were all left behind, his money in his banker's hands, but no intelligence of him had transpired. At length it was known that he had been confined by a lettre de cachet in the Bastille upon a suspicion that the wine he had presented to Dr. Franklin was poisoned. The arrest 37 flUemotr of Br. <5eor$e Xo$an was officially made without the knowledge of our minister, and I believe the liberation was in consequence of his inter- ference. Dr. Logan continued his attentions to this great man after his return to his native country, and had the pleasure of being ranked among the friends of his declining years. A remarkable trait in his character was that, even in his early youth, he sought the company of his seniors, who were distinguished for their wisdom and virtue. I have often thought that Dr. Franklin must have sensi- bly felt the difference between the eclat which he enjoyed at the Court of France and the reception which he met with upon his final return to his native country. The elements of two parties were then fermenting them- selves into the form which they afterwards assumed. The mass of the population of Pennsylvania was, as it has been ever since (and may I not say ever was ?), decidedly demo- cratic ; but there was a contrary spirit then dominant and thinly diffused over the surface of society which rejected the philosopher because they thought he was too much of that popular stamp. The first constitution of our State after the Revolution, which was his work, though adopted by the great body of the people, was disliked ; and I well remember the remark of a fool, though a fashionable party-man at the time, that it was by no means " fashionable" to visit Dr. Franklin. No doubt he was saved from much impertinence by the company of such being withheld ; but it may justly be ques- tioned whether those were not greatly the losers who with- held from themselves the entertainment and advantages of 38 fniemoir of Dr. (Beorse Xogan his rich and varied conversation. Foreigners of the first distinction thought themselves happy in obtaining such a privilege, and a few of his old and tried friends yet remained to cheer the evening of his eventful life. One of these (the venerable Charles Thomson) was very often with him, and he has told me that, visiting the doctor on his sick-bed a short time before he died, he, in an allusion to a conversa- tion that had formerly passed between them, said, "It is best to believe." * My husband was in the habit of visiting him very often, and in his last illness frequently watched with him and spent many hours at his bedside, and finally was one of those who, in compliance with our ancient usages, assisted to bear the corpse of this eminent man to the place of interment, the city watchmen who were in attendance being set aside in favour of a still more primitive custom and their places sup- plied by some of the most distinguished citizens. I have already mentioned that Dr. Logan had the misfor- * I have myself had the pleasure of being a few times in Dr. Franklin's society. His conversation was easy, and appeared to grow entirely out of the circumstances that presented themselves to the company, yet I observed that if you did not find you had acquired something by being with him it must be placed to the account of your own want of attention. His familiar letters give you a good idea of his conversation, a natural and good- humoured (not sarcastic) wit played cheerfully along and beguiled you into maxims of prudence and wisdom. The man who could make the sayings of "Poor Richard" fashionable in France must have had no ordinary powers of conversation. What a pity there should have been any " errata" in his moral conduct ! What a pity that he should have stooped to dis- honour his pen by the false statements and glosses of " The Critical Review of the Government of Pennsylvania" ! 39 (TDemotr of Dr George ILooan tune to lose his father soon after he embarked for England. The death of his mother followed in a few months ; and when, after his return, he received possession of his pater- nal estate, he found it little better than a wreck. His house at Stenton had, indeed, been more fortunate than many others in the neighbourhood, for it had escaped being burned by the British army at the time that they fired Fairhill and sixteen other seats and houses in its vicinity, and it seemed to owe its preservation to the presence of mind of an old domestic, who had remained in it through all the vicissitudes of its serving for head-quarters for both armies. On the unfortunately memorable day (November 22, 1777) that they committed these wanton depredations two British soldiers came to the house and, as an act of special favour, desired the old woman, if she possessed a bed or any furniture of her own, to take it out directly, as they intended to fire the house. She remonstrated, but they were deaf to her oratory, and went to the barn for straw wherewith to effect their design. Happily, at that moment an officer with a drawn sword in his hand galloped down the lane and inquired of the woman if she could give him any informa- tion respecting deserters. SJie quickly replied that two such had seen him coming and were gone to the barn to secrete themselves. He was there in a moment, and drove them before him, notwithstanding their protestations that they belonged to Colonel Twisleton's* party sent to fire the rebels' houses. * Afterwards Lord Say and Sele. A person who was present at head- quarters heard him exultingly tell General Howe that he had burned that d d rebel Dickinson's house, meaning " Fairhill," a seat of uncommon 40 of Dr. $eor0c Xooari ij-j few n. and cived possession of his p rter than a wreck. His house fortunate than many ^tntt ? J being burned rhill and cial ->ssessed a bed or any y intended i, but tliey were deaf n ; d seen him coming and were gone to the barn to hr. (5eorge Xoaan ment to those who composed it. Domestic manufactures, rightly so called from being indeed the production of the farmers' families, were a favourite object of their encourage- ment ; and this gave scope to the ingenuity and industry of their wives and introduced us in a social and pleasant man- ner to one another's acquaintance. I have not forgotten the agreeable interchange of visits, the beneficial emulation, and the harmless pride with which we exhibited specimens of our industry and good management to each other. The spinning-wheel was going in every house, and it was a high object of our ambition to see our husbands and their fami- lies clothed in our own manufactures (a good practice which my honoured husband never relinquished), and to produce at our social dinner parties the finest ale of our own brew- ing, the best home-made wines, cheese, and other articles which we thought ought to be made among ourselves rather than imported from abroad. But this useful and pleasant harmony was destined to be interrupted by that baneful spirit of party which soon afterwards nearly destroyed the comfort of all social society. It was about this time that his reputation as a skilful agriculturalist procured for him the grateful favour of a visit from the " Father of his Country," then in Philadelphia, officiating as President of the Federal convention. He came with his friend Daniel Jennifer, Esq., of Maryland, who had often before been with us, and passed a day at Stenton in the most social and friendly manner imaginable, delighted with the fine grass-land and beautiful experi- ments with gypsum, some of which plainly showed initials and words traced with it upon the sod of a far richer hue 44 (memoir of Dr. (Beorse OLogan and thickness than the surrounding grass, and other sub- jects of rural economy which Dr. Logan then had to show. His praise conferred distinction. Nor did he make me less happy by his pleasing attention to myself and his kind notice of my children, whom he caressed in the most en- dearing manner, placing my little boy on his knee, and taking my infant in his arms with commendations that made their way immediately to a mother's heart. I had always looked up to General Washington from the first time that I ever heard his auspicious name as a rare and perfect pattern of the dignity to which man might attain by living up to the laws of virtue and honour, and now that I beheld the colossal greatness at nearer view, I perceived it polished and adorned with all the amenity and gentleness which delights and endears in domestic society.* * When General Washington was passing down with his army in August, 1777 (then suffering under almost every privation), to intercept the British armament who were on the coast, and about this time had landed at the head of Elk in Maryland, the General with his staff (about twenty officers and their servants) stopped at Stenton, then unoccupied by the family, where his guards and an aide-de-camp had arrived before him and where they all took up their quarters for that night. The Gen- eral arrived about noon, and at three they dined on a sheep they had bought of the tenant and killed and prepared immediately. One of the family who was accidentally there remarked that they were all exceed- ingly civil and very quiet, and that the General himself appeared ex- tremely grave and thoughtful, and was very silent. He remembered this day's gloom and uncertainty when he was after- wards here at the time he was President of the Federal convention, at a period when, with the blessing of heaven, he and his compatriots in arms had driven the cruel invader from our land, and had obtained for its 45 flDemotr of Dr. (Beorge Xogan When Dr. Logan was selected by his fellow-citizens to represent them in the Legislature of the State he was exceedingly desirous to discharge his duty to them in the most honest and conscientious manner, and with this in- tention he devoted all his leisure to the reading of such authors as he thought had thrown most light upon political science. I remember among these a quarto volume of Cumberland, Bishop of Peterborough, and in French the works of Turgot, and, I think, Du Trone and Riviere. He read Neckar, but saw vanity and ambition strongly linked with his good qualities. In reading "The Wealth of Nations,'- which he justly ap- preciated without approving of all which the author has advanced, he told me of what Dr. Franklin had related to him of Adam Smith, with whom he was well acquainted. When writing that celebrated work, he was in the habit of taking the chapters as he composed them to his literary friends, and submitting the work to their inspection and criticism. He often availed himself of the benefit of their remarks, so as to rewrite chapters and reverse proposi- inhabitants liberty and independence. The' temple of Janus shut and their swords and spears (except those sacred ones laid on the altar for "self-defence") converted into ploughshares and pruning-hooks (beauti- fully exemplified in this being an agricultural visit), for here he saw the rescued fields verdant with cultivation and the inhabitants resting under their own vines and fig-trees. Still this truly great and good man's mind was labouring to fix and make permanent the liberty and blessings which they had achieved by wise institutions and wholesome laws. With the purest halo of unsullied glory he lived and moved through the rest of his mortal career, and descended to the tomb a blessing and a consecrated ex- ample to the latest posterity. Could such a man have been calumniated ? 46 flllcmotr of E)r. (Beorge Xogan tions. Dr. Franklin said he frequently brought it to him- self and Dr. Price. He always was in the habit of marking the passages which he thought best or most remarkable in the books which he read. And such were his principles that, although he was regarded as one of the most zealous of the Repub- lican party, they always led him to an honest advocacy and avowal of every act which tended to insure the public good, let it originate where it might : his own side of the house could never count upon his vote for a merely party pur- pose, and the numbers of their opponents were not un- frequently augmented by his name when the sanction of an advantage to the Commonwealth was clearly discernible in their measures. There are a few now living, as well as myself, who can remember with what earnestness he en- deavoured to discharge his duty to the public in every way. He was exceedingly desirous that the best system of public education should be adopted in the State, and took great pains at different sessions of the Legislature to secure this desirable object, and I never saw him more displeased and mortified when, from the wish to oppose what was assumed to be a party object in some and parsimony in others, he found his well-meant intentions frustrated. And in private life he was most benevolent and humane, seeking to do good wherever he had an opportunity, one instance of which, just occurring to my recollection, I will insert. He had taken into his service as a labourer a young man, who boarded in the family but was to lodge with some of his own relations, who, as well as himself, had recently 47 flUemoir of Br. (Beorge Xogan come into the neighbourhood. He was consequently a stranger to us, and without recommendations, but of a modest and prepossessing appearance. He worked very satisfactorily to my husband for a week, and then absented himself. Upon inquiry, it was found he was sick. Dr. Logan visited him, and found him ill of a fever of no common virulence. He questioned him, and, after a little reflection, asked him if he had ever had the small-pox. The young man answered in the negative. And, upon Dr. Logan saying that he believed he was sick of that disease, his relations, extremely alarmed, rushed out of the house, for they, also, were subject to its malignant attack. Dr. Logan saw there was but one course to take to give the poor young fellow a chance of recovery. He immedi- ately sent for him to Stenton, where every attention and kindness were shown to him until he ultimately recovered, Dr. Logan remaining altogether at home to watch the prog- ress of the disease and to oppose its direful influence with his best skill and ability. It was altogether of a most dele- terious and confluent kind, but, by the blessing of God on his anxious and judicious attentions, the patient, after a severe struggle with the pest, recovered, and this "good Samaritan" had the satisfaction of delivering him conva- lescent to his father, a respectable inhabitant of one of the remote counties of the State, whose paternal roof he had left in a moment of inconsiderate vexation, and who, ap- prised of his son's danger by their relations, had come down, on his account, with a fine team of horses and every appearance of substantial circumstances. We did not suffer his departure until his restoration to 48 nDemoit of 5>r. (Beorge Slogan health and the danger of his communicating the disease to others was removed. The old man seemed quite over- whelmed with a sense of the kindness and generosity with which his son had been treated.* * It was remarkable that the young man had never seen any person in the disease, nor ever had been, to his knowledge, where it was, so that he must have received it from some latent infection. The disease was not in our neighbourhood, and was thought to be extinct in Philadelphia, being the spring after the great yellow fever of 1793, when inoculation had been omitted on account of the situation of the city. A great many medical gentlemen came to Stenton to obtain the variolous matter from this patient. Charles Norris was inoculated from it, and had the disease very favourably. 49 CHAPTER III 2>r. Slogan's political Diews Me Embarfes on a {mission to ftance Y husband's friendship with Thomas Jefferson be- gan soon after the formation of the federal gov- ernment. When that gentleman was Secretary of State he used frequently to visit us in a social and inti- mate manner, sometimes with small parties whose company was agreeable to one another and sometimes alone. His conversation was very pleasing. He had resided at the Court of France, and upon his re- turn appeared in somewhat of its costume, and wore a suit of silk, ruffles, and an elegant topaz ring ; but he soon adopted a more republican garb, and was reproached with going to the other extreme as a bait for popularity. He abounded in anecdotes of great interest, and it appeared to me that he did not often suffer political prejudice or party spirit to warp his judgment and cause him to misrepresent men and things ; yet I saw that he wanted sincerity towards General Washington, whom I had always revered, and could not bear to hear mentioned in terms that implied the smallest diminution of his character or qualities, though aware that it is not among contemporaries that the most exalted persons can hope for this exemption. I could not bear that any suspi- cion whatever should be attached to the purity of his motives, and I well remember how I was shocked when I first discov- ered the disaffection which was manifesting itself against him. 50 nnemoit of Dr. 0eor$e Jefferson told us of the surprise and displeasure which the President evinced upon the first abuse of his measures in Freneau's paper. He said that the cabinet was to have been convened, but that the President was too much agitated to meet them that evening; that he found him walking the room in a disturbed manner with the paper in his hand, which he presented to the Secretary with ex- pressions of surprise and indignation. Jefferson knew but too well who had caused it to appear. But even when party spirit was at its greatest height my husband preserved a high respect for the President, and I believe never either said or wrote anything derogatory to this truly great man. The breaking out of the French Revolution caused an excitement commensurate with its importance, and was doubtless the cause of that violent effervescence in the pub- lic mind which, operating on the prejudices and passions of men not yet subdued after our own contest for indepen- dence, produced a degree of party spirit which seemed at one period to threaten the safety of the Commonwealth. The arrival of Citizen Genet was the signal for every one to arrange himself according to the principles he advocated. That France had great claims on the sympathy of the peo- ple of the United States none will attempt to deny, nor as little that at the time we are speaking of there still existed at least a part of that generation who had, prior to our own Revolution, regarded France as a common enemy, and con- nected with her national character that of craft, cruelty, and perfidiousness, which had been formed in their minds from the conduct of the French themselves to these colonies flRemotr of Br. (Beorge Xogan during former wars when we dreaded her plans of aggres- sion and aggrandizement, and regarded her people as only fit to be the willing slaves of despotism. Persons who enter- tained these sentiments seemed astonished and even angry that the people of France should wish to be partakers of the blessings of liberty and aim at establishing a free con- stitution. That the revolution of France grew out of that of America cannot be controverted. Their statesmen and philosophers were at first eager auditors of the speeches and appeals which had been given to the world during the contest, and when the light which these elicited threw its beams also upon foreign despotism their animosity towards England, which made them exult in the prospect of weaken- ing her by the separation of her colonies, blinded them at the same time to the latent energies of the infant Hercules and the certainty that its adolescence would strangle other serpents than those which sought its destruction in the cradle. And yet methinks they might have augured from its first aspirations the strength of that power which in time would free the earth from all the monsters of misrule and op- pression. But I only mean to represent facts and to let speculations upon them alone. Dr. Logan was accused of enthusiasm in this cause, and I shall not, do not, attempt to say that he did not feel enthusiasm, for who has ever effected anything great or noble on the theatre of human affairs without some portion of this commanding passion ? Yet to show how prejudice perverts and misrepresents 52 flflemotr of Dr. (Beorse Xogan men and things, I may just say that at the very time when the heads of the Republican party were accused by their op- ponents of being ready to sacrifice the best interests of the community to France, I have myself been present at some of their confidential conversations * and can witness that although they were greatly mistaken in their opinion of the fitness of France to assume the cap and the mantle of liberty, yet they never wished to put it in her power to arbitrate upon the least right appertaining to their own country. On the contrary, I have heard Jefferson remon- * I have often had to regret that I did not at the time so fully appre- ciate the advantages which I have frequently enjoyed of listening to the conversation of very eminent and highly gifted men, and noticing the pro- found and instructive remarks which have often been made in my hearing, which, however, soon fade from the memory unless committed to writing. But I have not forgotten the force and expansion of Jefferson's arguments, delivered in a beautiful simplicity of language and a politeness of manner that disarmed offence, yet with a strength that defied refutation when rea- son was admitted to sit as judge. One of these conversations, I remember, ended with Genet's rising from his chair, where he had been seated under the venerable trees that surround our dwelling, and, baffled in argument, but retaining his good humour and gentlemanly demeanour, he exclaimed in his (then) imperfect English, "Well, gentlemen, if my country were once happily settled in peace and the enjoyment of her rights as yours is now I would sit under my own vine and trees as you do ; but I would disclaim political disquisitions alto- gether. I would never suffer a gazette to enter my house. ' ' Genet was very pleasing in his address and manners, but the political offences which he committed against the government and people of these States cannot be palliated, nor ought I to omit that my husband saw the presumption of his conduct towards the government of this country in the same light that her best citizens beheld it. 53 flUemotr of E>r. (Beorge Slogan strate with Genet on the rashness and impropriety of his conduct, and insist upon the inviolability of those eternal principles of justice to other nations and respect for their rights, to which it had been well for France and the world had she adhered. A state of society followed destructive of the ties which in ordinary times bind one class of citizens to another, and nourishing every bad passion of our nature. Malignity and detraction, hatred, cruelty, and revenge showed much more of their hideous aspects than the quiet inhabitants of these States had been accustomed to contemplate. The dominant party scorned any longer to affect even the appearance of moderation towards their opponents. Not only the public acts of the Legislature were framed to keep them in awe, but in the common offices and affairs of life they were proscribed. Friendships were dissolved, trades- men dismissed, and custom withdrawn from the Republican party, the heads of which, as objects of the most injurious suspicion, were recommended to be closely watched, and committees of Federalists were appointed for that purpose. Many gentlemen went armed that they might be ready to resent any personal aggression. In the midst of this state of things my husband formed the project of his visit to France, with what then appeared to me the romantic idea of persuad- ing the rulers of that arrogant government to alter the tone of their conduct towards the United States. He thought they were not aware of our growing importance, and that the rashness and injustice of their measures towards us would be the means of uniting us with Great Britain and forwarding the views of the enemies of all republics. 54 flflemoir of Dr. 0eorge The recollection is still vivid of the slanders and obloquy that were heaped upon all those professing the political opinions which he held, and perhaps no individual except Jefferson himself (and he was thought less daring) was re- garded with such jealous suspicion. It seemed as if the crimes and horrors which the infuriated demons in France had committed under the abused name of Liberty were at- tributed to the assertors of her cause in every country. No one could more sincerely deplore these excesses than did Dr. Logan ; but he still hoped when those ferocious monsters were put down that their successors in the gov- ernment would act with wisdom and moderation ; and such an expectation, or even such a wish, approached, in the esti- mation of their enemies, to a participation of the guilt which they thought the whole nation had incurred by the excesses committed, never to be enough deplored. And though he was thus put under surveillance, and a committee appointed to watch and report his actions, yet they seemed, by the stir and surprise which his departure occasioned, to have had no idea of the step he was about to take, although part of his preparation was the selling of property for funds to undertake the voyage. He was fully aware of the misrepresentations to which his conduct would be liable, and, from the violence with which federalism at that period assailed its opponents, could hope for no quarter in case of a deviation from the most perfect prudence. He thought it best, therefore, by a solemn legal act to empower me to dispose of his estate in such a manner as to secure it from confiscation ; and going to the chief justice of Pennsylvania in order to acknowledge 55 flllemotr of Br* George Xogan the power of attorney, informed him of his views and in- tentions. "Thank God," exclaimed the venerable magis- trate, " that we possess one man who is capable and devoted enough to undertake this task ! You have my best wishes in the enterprise." And, filling out the wine, he drank to its success, furnishing Dr. Logan at the same time with the fol- lowing simple certificate of citizenship : "STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. " To all whom it may concern, the underwritten Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania certifies, that George Logan, of the county of Philadelphia, farmer, is a native-born citizen of the United States of America, has for several years been a worthy Representative for the said county of Philadelphia in the Legis- lature of the State of Pennsylvania, and is well known to him. Given under the hand and seal of the said Chief Justice, at Philadelphia, the eleventh day of June, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety- eight. "THO M: KEAN." And I likewise here subjoin a copy of that which was given to him by his friend Thomas Jefferson upon the same occasion : " I, Thomas Jefferson, do hereby certify that George Logan, the bearer hereof, who is about to visit Europe on matters of business, is a citizen of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and United States of America, of one of the most antient and respectable families of the said common- wealth, of independent fortune, good morals, irreproachable conduct, and true civism ; and as such he is recommended to the attention of all those who, from principles of humanity, or a desire to attach to their country the respect of others, could interest themselves in seeing the pro- tection and hospitality of their laws extended to a worthy and unoffend- ing stranger placed under their safeguard. Given under my hand and seal, at Philadelphia, this 4th day of June, 1798. "TH: JEFFERSON." 56 flRemoir of 2>r. (5eor$e Xogan I never could tell how it came to be publicly known that Dr. Logan had obtained these credentials (for from our- selves it assuredly never was), yet it was so, and the gen- tlemen who had given them became objects of the most furious obloquy. Among other things, it was said in the Federal prints that it was believed to be " the first instance where the chief judge of any place had furnished creden- tials to a traitor." At length, after having disposed of two parcels of real estate very cheaply in order to obtain funds to undertake the voyage, and previous to his departure to pay off all his debts, on the 1 2th of June, 1798, he left me and his children, and his pleasant home at Stenton, and embarked on board the " Iris," a neutral vessel bound for Hamburg. He took with him but two letters from Citizen Le Tomb, the French consul, one addressed to Merlin, at that time chief of the Directory of the French Republic, and the other to the celebrated Talleyrand Perigord, a character who has seemed to be possessed of a political life-boat with which he has in safety ridden on the tremendous surges of the Revolution, and whom Dr. Logan did not know during his retreat in this country.* * Talleyrand followed the example of one of the courtiers of Henry VIII. of England, who, upon being questioned how he had kept his place through so many changes, replied, " By imitating the willow, not the oak." He had bent to circumstances, and presented the first address from Paris to the restored Bourbons. When he was in this country, some years ago, he spent a week at the seat of a gentleman from whose family I had the account ; he spent much of his time in his own chamber, and apologized to the family for his 5 57 flUetnoir of 2>r. (Bcoroe Slogan Were it proper here to speak of myself, I could say a great deal, with the strictest truth, of the infinite anxiety of mind which I underwent at this period. I knew the full ex- tent of the enmity which his opposition to the views of gov- ernment had excited, and though buoyed above certain fears by a knowlege of the purity of his motives and his inflexible patriotism, yet I could scarcely have dared to hope that his conduct would have been altogether so guarded that those who were on the watch for his failure could find nothing to take hold of. I would not wish to revive in my own breast, or in those who read my narrative, any sparks of that inflammable and deleterious party spirit that mounted triumphant over every other consideration, in the times of which I now treat, but I think, notwithstanding all the efficient causes which ex- isted, great pains had been taken somewhere to exalt it to the height which it had then gained, among which the in- trigues and insinuations of that arch-intriguer Listen (the British minister) were none of the least. He was a master in such business, none sent from that court to this country having ever equalled him in those qualities. Although, as I have said, I knew the purity of my hus- band's principles, and could appreciate the motives upon which he acted, yet when the time drew near that he was to leave me, I could not help being appalled with a sense of the difficulties which he would have to surmount, and the frequent absences by observing that this time was dedicated to his private devotion. There is no doubt that his fame will go down to posterity in its true colours. 58 flilemoir of S>r. (Beorge Xogan clamour which would be raised upon his departure ; so that, when he left me indeed, I was as completely miserable as I could be whilst innocent myself and united to a man whose honour I knew to be without a stain. But I found it neces- sary, by a strong effort, to control my feelings. As soon as his committee of surveillance missed their charge there was a prodigious stir in the city ; * they looked upon each * I was credibly informed by a friendly Federalist that it was contem- plated by government to search our house for treasonable papers, and ad- vised, if I knew of anything that would implicate my husband, to destroy it. I thanked the gentleman for his kindness, but assured him, in case of a search, they would only have to regret that they had insulted a man of honour in his absence. I had nothing to secrete. One of the consignees of the "Iris" in Philadelphia, Isaac Hazlehurst, Esq., said that if he had known of Dr. Logan's intention of going in that vessel he would have prevented it, so great was the excitement of the times. Some idea may be formed of the temper of the times, when I add, that the late Dr. Rush (a worthy man, but often erroneous in his conclusions) suffered himself to be one of this committee, as he afterwards acknowledged to Dr. Logan himself with some circumstances that I suppress because they might look as if I remembered what is best forgotten, and also by the fol- lowing article, copied out of Brown's Philadelphia Gazette of the date of this time : " COMMUNICATION. " We are assured from the best authority, that Doctor Logan (a noted and violent democrat) departed from this city on Wednesday or Thursday last, in the ship ' Iris,' for Hamburgh, on his route to Paris. There can- not be the least question but the Doctor, from his inordinate love of French liberty, and hatred to the sacred constitution of the United States, has gone to the French directory, fraught with intelligence of the most dangerous tendency to this country. The secrecy of his intention (for his very linen was made up out of his own house) and his visit by daybreak on the day of his departure to Le Tomb, the late French consul, announce that, his 59 {memoir of H)r. (Beorge other with blank faces, as having suffered an adroit enemy to escape their vigilance. I shall not make any comment on this, nor the subsequent attacks that were made upon my husband's character, but trust that his own statement of the motives which induced him to undertake this novel and perilous business, as ex- pressed in an exposition of his conduct soon after his return, will be more satisfactory than any defence which it would be in my power to offer, and shall be given in its proper place. abandonment of wife, children, relatives and country, is a species of con- spiracy, most fatal to freedom, and abhorrent to humanity. For can any sensible man hesitate to suspect that his infernal design can be anything less, than the introduction of a French army, to teach us the genuine value of true 6 essential liberty by re-organizing our government, through the brutal operation of the bayonet and guillotine. Let every American now gird on his sword. The times are not only critical, but the secret of the Junto is out. Their demagogue is gone to the directory, for purposes destructive of your lives, property, liberty and holy religion" 60 CHAPTER IV 4^ I 'HE "Iris" had a safe passage, but she was a dull 111 sailer, and the captain (a phlegmatic Dutchman) very cautious of availing himself of a favourable breeze, if it happened to blow in the night. They left Phila- delphia on the 1 3th of June and arrived at Hamburg on the 23d of July. Nothing very remarkable occurred during the passage until they reached the English Channel ; they did not meet an armed vessel of any kind, and the channel itself they found full of Danes, Swedes, and other neutrals, profit- ing by their neutrality and peaceably navigating the seas, which made Dr. Logan exceedingly regret the mistaken policy of our own government in suffering a sequestration of her national rights by Great Britain, thereby rendering the navigation of her vessels insecure. Dr. Logan went on shore and dined at Dover; he re- marked that the coast seemed to be lined with soldiers, and above three thousand were garrisoned in the castle. Had Mr. Pitt known the character of his guest, and what he was about to effect, it is not to be doubted but that he would have violated the laws of hospitality in his person, as he had before done those of the neutrality of his country. Immediately upon his arrival in Hamburg, Dr. Logan waited on the French charge d'affaires to request a pass- port to go to Paris, when he was informed that he had received the most pointed instructions from their govern- 61 flflemoir of 2>r. <5eor$e ment not to permit any citizen of the United States to enter the French territory. It was in vain that he urged the necessity of his errand, and that he had letters to Mer- lin and Talleyrand from the French consul in Philadelphia, interesting not only to America, but to France herself. They said, in reply, that the utmost that they could do in this case was to forward his letters to the Directory of Foreign Relations, and that they did not doubt a favourable result. In the mean time, being informed that General de Lafayette was in Hamburg, Dr. Logan visited him, and gave him a true account of the situation of the United States, the rage of party spirit, and the danger to be apprehended to republican principles if a rupture with France as a republic, and a coalition with England, as leagued against her, should take place. He also candidly told the general the object of his pres- ent visit to Europe, which was to try if he could influence the government of France to defeat the machinations of their enemies by adopting a just and liberal policy towards the United States. To this Lafayette replied that he was most sincerely attached to the United States, that he had for some time viewed with great anxiety the misunderstanding which had taken place between the two countries, and that he considered the crisis as so pressing that he would use all his influence to procure a passport which would enable Dr. Logan immediately to pursue his journey to Paris.* * The Marquis de Lafayette lived at that time a few miles from Ham- burg. Dr. Logan visited him at his residence, and was delighted with the kindness of his domestic character and that of his whole family. The health of Madame de Lafayette had suffered much from her voluntary confinement with her excellent husband at Olmiitz, but she appeared to 62 flDemotr of Dr. <5eor$e Xoaan The Marquis was as good as his word, and succeeded in convincing the Secretary of the French Legation that he would be justified by the government in violating its general instructions by the importance of the occasion. The necessary passports were accordingly made out, and Dr. Logan left Hamburg on the 28th of July, and arrived in Paris (not without considerable fatigue) on the yth of August, 1798. Upon his arrival, he found that Elbridge Gerry, Esq., the last of our commissioners, had left that city, and probably was on his voyage to the United States. It will be recol- lected that he had prolonged his stay beyond that of his colleagues, and that they had been separately as well as jointly vested with the power of making a treaty ; to exer- cise which power he had been urged by the French govern- ment itself, as well as by all his own countrymen in Paris, who represented him as having been such a prey to anxiety of mind from feelings of his own responsibility and the necessity of doing something to avert so great an evil as war, and the fear of losing his popularity at home by dis- senting from the other ministers and effecting what they had failed to do, so that his health had suffered severely ; and they thought if he had prolonged his stay, with such inde- cision of mind, that he would have found a tomb in France. be a most amiable, affectionate woman, and her children very pleasing characters. It has often been a satisfaction to me to reflect that this good man and ardent lover of liberty, amidst all the vicissitudes of his eventful life and the sufferings so unjustifiably inflicted upon him by the Emperor of Austria, had yet the consolation and enjoyment of domestic felicity. 63 fftemoir of Br. (Beoroe Xogan The Consul-General of the United States still further informed Dr. Logan that an embargo had been recently laid upon all our shipping in French ports, and that many hundreds of our seamen were confined as prisoners ; that all negotiation was at an end, and that no opening at present was to be discerned which would admit of even a distant prospect of a better scene of things. Barlow and all the Americans at Paris joined in making the like statement. Notwithstanding these discouragements, Dr. Logan now waited on Talleyrand, the Minister of the Exterior, with the letter which Le Tomb had given him, and which he knew to be friendly to a restoration of peace between the two countries. Citizen Talleyrand (as he was then called) re- ceived him with great politeness, but he soon found this was all the benefaction which he meant to bestow, and that the object of his mission, upon which he was now more than ever intent, would not be at all advanced by repeated communications with him. He was also aware that Adet, who had been minister to the United States, and another French gentleman of higher position, were sent by Talleyrand to interrogate him in order to know his views and obtain all the information which they could draw from such conferences. They were also very anxious to get his letter for Merlin into their hands, which they repeatedly offered to present, but he declined giving it up ; and, upon Adet's disap- pointing him from time to time of the promised intro- duction to Merlin, which he saw Talleyrand did not wish should take place, he resolved to find another usher to the presence of the chief Director, and accordingly he intro- 6 4 fIDcmotr of Br, George duced himself to M. Schimmelpenninck, the Batavian min- ister resident at Paris, who received him with a great deal of friendly courtesy; said he had heard of his arrival in Europe, and wished much to see him ; that his own govern- ment was exceedingly desirous that amity between France and the United States should be fully restored, and (I think) he said he was empowered to offer their mediation for that purpose. He asked Dr. Logan to dine with him on that day, and appointed the next for his introduction to Merlin, who, it will be recollected, was at that time First Di- rector of the French Republic, and resided in one of the regal palaces in great state, but not without a mixture of what was in their idea republican simplicity. Merlin re- ceived them very well. Dr. Logan presented him with Le Tomb's letter, which he read, and said he should be glad to have some conversation with him, when Schimmelpenninck withdrew and left them together. At the close of their con- ference he invited Dr. Logan to dine with him with a select company the next day.* It may well be imagined that the patriot of whom I write saw with great satisfaction the points which he had gained whilst he laboured to convince Merlin, and through him the government of France, that all the enmity they showed * Among the foreigners of distinction whom Dr. Logan saw at Paris was the celebrated Kosciusko, whom he had known in America. This brave man received him with the most distinguished kindness, warmly appreciated his motives, and approved of his design, which he promised to support with all his interest, but cautioned him at the same time not to repose any confidence in the promises of the French government of what they would do in future unless they would immediately give a pledge of their sincerity by a removal of the embargo. 65 nDemoit of 2>r, (Beorge towards the United States was exactly furthering the de- signs of their grand enemy, the prime minister of England, who on his part had co-workers with him in the United States endeavouring to alienate the minds of the people en- tirely from France and widening the breach between the two republics in such a manner that war, the great object that Mr. Pitt wished to promote, appeared to be inevitable and would finally enlist us on the British side. Among the guests at dinner the next day at the " palace of the director" was Schimmelpenninck, an envoy lately ar- rived from the cisalpine republic, some of the heads of departments, etc., who, with the family of Merlin, made about twenty persons who sat down to table. When the dessert was removed a few toasts were drunk previous to the introduction of coffee, which in France soon follows. " The Republic of France," that " of Holland," the new-made " Cisalpine Republic," were all given ; but the United States of America were not mentioned. Dr. Logan noticed the omission, and, addressing himself to Merlin, requested that he too might give a toast, which should be " The United States of America, and a speedy restoration of amity be- tween them and France." "Sir," said Merlin in reply, "I wished myself to give that toast, and will now do it in your words, The Republic of the United States of America, and a speedy restoration of amity between them and France." Dr. Logan, as might be expected, was much gratified. The company looked upon each other with surprise and pleasure, and, joining their glasses, drank the toast with the utmost hilarity and enthusiasm. 66 flDemotr of S>r, (Beoroe Xogan After this he had frequent conferences with the Directors. They desired him to state explicitly what he thought would be considered by the government and people of the United States as conduct on the part of France sufficiently indica- tive of a desire to renew the former relations of friendly intercourse between the two countries, and he told them that it must consist of the fullest assurances on their part that a minister from the United States would be received in France as one from the most favoured people would be, and, as a proof of the sincerity of this declaration, they must di- rectly issue an arret which should raise the embargo on our vessels in the ports of France and liberate our seamen con- fined in their prisons. "Sir," said the Director to him, in reply, "that is more than we would do for the most favoured nation in Europe." " But, nevertheless," returned Dr. Logan, " it is what you must do, if you wish to conciliate my country." Merlin afterwards said that he would give the subject some further consideration ; yet he urged Dr. Logan to de- part for the United States with assurances of their favour- able disposition towards a negotiation and intended good reception of a minister from them. But this he declared to be useless unless they would give the proof required. The consul, Barlow, and other Ameri- cans at Paris told him that they expected all this would end as other things of a like nature had done before, in decla- mation. Yet in a short time the secretary of the Director waited upon Dr. Logan with a copy of the desired arret, which had been sent to the proper authorities, and which 67 flDemott of 2>r. (Scorse Xo$an entirely changed the aspect of affairs as regarded our coun- trymen in France. According to the express desire of Dr. Logan, the de- spatches designed for government were committed to the care of another gentleman, who sailed in the first vessel that could be got ready for sea. Dr. Logan himself took his passage in the " Perseverance," Captain Gideon Gardner, of Nantucket, who was the last that cleared the port of Bordeaux. On his journey from Paris to that city he had been made uneasy by witnessing the clamours of French- men who had just returned from the United States, where they had been imprisoned and harshly treated.* The stages which they met on their way to Bordeaux were filled with these men going to Paris, and he feared that their clamours would reach the ears of the Directory, and perhaps might alter the measures of a government to whom popularity was so essential as to that of France at the time of which we now write.f * Some of these prisoners were treated in the United States with a de- gree of barbarity which we should be now ashamed of, and which would not have happened in times of less extraordinary excitement. The gov- ernment, or at least its officers, were justly blamable for the severity. Those at Newcastle, it was said, would have suffered severely but for the attention of the inhabitants. Many were sent home to France in a cartel this year (I believe the same whose return to their native country Dr. Logan had witnessed), the vessel being small, not well supplied with stores, and crowded with pas- sengers, so that numbers died on the passage. I give the popular reports at the time, for I have no means of ascertaining the truth, yet hope, for the honour of our country, the reports were exaggerated. f The official documents explaining Dr. Logan's position in France will be found in the Appendix. 68 flDcmotr of S>r. (Bcoroe Xogan The captains of the liberated vessels and all the other American citizens at Bordeaux were so sensible of the value of Dr. Logan's services on this occasion that the former presented to him the following address : " BORDEAUX, September 8th, 1798. "To DOCTOR GEORGE LOGAN: " FELLOW CITIZEN, At an awful crisis when two great sister Republics appeared to be on the eve of war you have stepped forward the friend of both countries like a true patriot the friend of humanity to prevent if pos- sible that worst of all calamities, and at your own private expense to undertake the arduous task of reconciling those who once were friends. We are fully convinced that your exertions and manly remonstrances have already raised the embargo from all the American vessels, and set at lib- erty all their prisoners, and will probably have a considerable influence in restoring captured vessels and property to their legal owners. We sin- cerely hope that peace and a happy reconciliation may crown your labors for the public good. Your disinterested conduct merits the approbation and friendship of all your fellow citizens. We earnestly pray that you may be blessed with a short and pleasant passage to your native country, and be received with open arms by every true friend to the peace hap- piness and independence of America and meet the just reward of your honest endeavours and unremitting exertions for their welfare. And that the United States of America may be preserved a great powerful and free Republic the sure and safe asylum for the oppressed people of all nations is our sincere desire and ardent prayer. JAMES WOLFE. RICHARD STEVENS. T. WALKER. PRIAM PEASE. GIDEON GARDNER. GEORGE DUNHAM. WHITE MATLACK. SAM. BARNES. THO. RANDALL. BENJAMIN RICE. ISAAC WHIPPLE. OLIVER SMITH. JAMES MONTGOMERY. THOMAS NORTON. MARSH CLARK. To this address he returned a short and modest answer, arrogating no merit to himself, but asserting the principle 69 flDemoir of 2>r, (Beorge Xogan that, as a citizen of a free republic, it was his duty, and he considered it as his right, to benefit his country in every way in his power. ANSWER TO THE ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN MERCHANTS AND CAPTAINS AT BORDEAUX. " September Qth, 1798. " FELLOW CITIZENS, The favourable point of view in which you are pleased to consider my conduct since my arrival in France I assure you is highly acceptable. As a citizen of a free independent Republic it is my right and I have ever considered it as my duty to promote the good of my country under all circumstances and in every situation in which my exertions could be useful. Under this impression I have made some efforts to promote the late favourable measures of the Government of France towards our country. But permit me to assure you that these measures which must afford the most sincere pleasure to every friend to the U. S. are in justice more to be attributed to the magnanimity & sound policy of this enlightened Nation than to the influence of any private individual. It is devoutly to be wished that the Government of the U. S. may be fully sensible of ye importance of ye present moment to restore peace harmony & prosperity to our Country. Accept my sincere & grateful thanks for your kind wishes for my safe return to my Country and future happiness. GEO. LOGAN." In answer to the memorial which Citizen Schimmelpen- ninck presented to the Directory of France, offering the mediation of the Batavian Republic between the French and American Republics, he was informed by the Minister of the Exterior, Talleyrand, that the government of France re- ceived the offer with satisfaction, at the same time adding that the Directory were about to give such testimonies of their conciliatory disposition towards the United States that they expected would produce the like good disposition on 70 flfeemotr of H)r. George Xogan the part of the government of the United States. Should this not be the case they would be obliged to Holland for her friendly offer and would accept of it. The following letter was written to his wife from Ham- burg, giving a sketch of his plans and hopes : " HAMBURG July 26th 1798 " MY BEST FRIEND, I wrote a few lines to you two days since merely to give you an account of my safe arrival at this place. I waited on the French minister in order to procure a passport to Paris his secretary in- formed me that they had received positive orders from the Government of France not to give a passport to any American to go into the French territory, this difficulty was obviated by the kind assistance of our good friend Citizen Lafayette who is now in this neighbourhood with his ami- able family. I am to spend this day with him. He is very anxious that harmony may be preserved between America and France. I shall write to you fully after this interview. Every effort will be made by the real friends of both Countries in Europe to procure a spirit of accommodation on the part of France ; inform our friends Dickinson, Jefferson and other real patriots of this circumstance, and that they should use every means in their power to promote the same friendly disposition on the part of the United States. I am informed that General Koskiuszko is arrived in Paris he will co-operate with us in this valuable measure. I do not think it will be in my power to return to America this winter if not you may expect to see me in the month of April next. Pray take care of your own health and I charge you to make use of the power I placed in your hands to ren- der your situation during my absence as comfortable as possible. Re- member me affectionately to our dear children. Tell them that I am every day more and more convinced of the great advantages to be gained by a cultivated mind, they must therefore as they value their own hap- piness give every attention to their improvements. I expect A ... to assist you in every thing. "I am yours "GEo. LOGAN." CHAPTER V Domestic Cares ano Bnifetg I MUST now crave permission to relate what was my own situation, and what were the events which occurred to me during the perilous time of my husband's absence. His departure and the clamours which were immediately raised upon it filled the minds of our par- ticular friends with dismay. My own honoured and most respectable mother left her home at Chester and came to me in a state of the utmost anxiety, but I soon succeeded in calming her apprehensions by convincing her of my hus- band's perfect innocence of the nefarious intentions with which his enemies had charged him, yet was I frequently myself a prey to the most harrowing inquietude. I saw those enemies dominant, and knew from the spirit of the times that the least departure from the most rigid prudence would be stigmatized as treason, to the con- struction of which the Alien and Sedition Act, then just passed, would afford very effectual aid, for it appeared to me as if rendering the most common offices of humanity to a Frenchman in distress would be liable, under this severe law, to be considered as aiding the enemies of the republic. I wanted to apprise my husband of the passage of this law, and of my apprehensions concerning it, but knew not in what manner to convey a letter in safety to his hands until a friendly Englishman suggested to me the mode of inclosing my letter in one directed to Thomas Mullett, Esq., 72 flDemott of 2>r, <3eor$e Xogan a merchant of London, who, he assured me, would acquit himself of the trust to my satisfaction. I accordingly wrote and the answer which I received from this gentleman (who was entirely unknown to me) was as follows : {Thomas Mullett to Mrs. Logan.') "LONDON loth of September 1798. "MADAM, Your Letter of the zpth of June, I received on the 1 4th of August. On that day I forwarded the letter you inclosed to my corre- spondent at Hambro'. On the 24th he informed me that the Gentleman had safely arrived, but had left Hambro' about 14 days, the person to whom the Ship was consigned had no knowledge of him, but it was un- derstood, Paris was his destination. He had been with M. De La Fay- ette, and from that Gentleman my correspondent expected to obtain a proper direction. " If not, he would forward it to his ffriend there to make the necessary enquiry, which I presume could not fail of success. I have thus Madam, endeavoured to accomplish your wish, and now give you the earliest proof in my power that your confidence has not been misplaced. "Not recollecting that I ever had the pleasure of an introduction to yourself or any of your respectable family when I was in America, I may possibly remain ignorant of the source from whence you derived a testi- mony of character honourable to me and inducing so much of your confi- dence. Be this as it may, you will have the goodness to inform the par- ties, that their recommendation of character and cases like yours, and in times like the present, as far as it relates to my own powers, will not in- volve them in much disappointment. " The motives to which you appealed, have ever had their influence on my mind. If I have rendered you a service it will afford me a pleasure to know it. In attempting it I have discharged one of the duties of hu- manity ; a consciousness of which as you justly observe, is always reward. Sentiments like those you have expressed cannot fail of exciting the esteem of Madam, "your friend and servant "Tnos MULLETT. 6 73 flUemotr of Dr. (Beoroe Xogan "p.s. 1 3th September. "I have just received another letter for the same Gentleman, enclosed in a few lines without signature dated igih of July and sent by the two Friends, but which does not appear to be your hand writing. " This Letter I have sent thro' the same channel as the former, and entertain no doubt of its being properly attended to. "The Embargo on American Vessels in France is taken off by an arrtt of the Directory and every pacific disposition is discovered by the Government towards America. If a Friend of yours has been instrumental in this he deserves well of his country. " T. M. "MRS. D. LOGAN, STENTON, NEAR PHILADELPHIA" At this period I experienced what it was to lay under the ban of political excommunication myself; for it was said that those would be marked who should be seen to enter our gates. Yet let me do justice to those of our Federal friends who still kindly visited and cared for me; among whom the late worthy Frederick Augustus Smyth, Esq., and his excellent lady, and the benevolent John Vaughan, who still lives and may he long do so ! for his life is a benefit and blessing to society. These, and some others, will always be remembered by me with gratitude. Nor ought I to omit the kindnesses re- ceived from my Republican friends and neighbours, who strove all in their power to cheer and console me, and of whom Dr. Samuel Betton, Sr., and his truly amiable and lovely wife deserved my grateful acknowledgments for their many affectionate attentions. My husband's family, his worthy brother-in-law, Thomas Fisher, my own good mother and brothers, and, indeed, all our friends, including our much respected cousin J. Dickinson at Wilmington, all 74 flDemotr of 2>r. (Beorge Xo$an evinced the most lively interest in my welfare, sincerely sympathizing with me in my anxieties, and rejoicing with me in the most happy result which shortly followed. Soon after the departure of my husband I received a visit from Thomas Jefferson, then Vice-President of the United States, who told me that he had been greatly concerned for me on account of the obloquy and abuse which had been so freely bestowed on Dr. Logan's character, and advised me to evince my thorough consciousness of his innocence and honour by showing myself in Philadelphia as one not afraid nor ashamed to meet the public eye. He said he could not have believed it possible that the utmost bitterness of party spirit could have invented, or have given credit to, such unfounded calumnies. That he was himself dogged and watched in the most extraordinary manner ; and he apolo- gized for the lateness of his visit (for we were at tea when he arrived) by saying that, in order to elude the curiosity of his spies, he had not taken the direct road, but had come by a circuitous route by the Falls of Schuylkill, along one of the lanes to Germantown, and passing by the house and gate, had come in by the entrance on the York Road (an excess of caution which seemed to me to be quite unavail- ing, for his Federal inspectors did not impute an iota less of evil designs to him, for all his care to avoid suspicion).* He * He also mentioned that it had been his intention to have set out for Virginia the next week, but that he had prolonged his stay in order to see what Mr. Harper could make out with his conspiracy. He likewise told me that Mr. Marshall, the envoy, had said in his hearing that when he arrived in New York he was astonished to see the preparations for war. The people of France, he believed, had no idea of entering into one with these States. 75 flDemoir of 2>r. <5eor$e OLogan spoke of the temper of the times and of the late acts of the Legislature with a sort of despair, but said he thought even the shadow of our liberties must be gone if they attempted anything that would injure me. This was the only time I saw him during my husband's absence. In a few days I put in [practice] the advice which Jefferson gave me, and went to the city, where some even told me they were surprised to see me ! And many that did not notice it in this rude manner to myself, expressed to others their astonishment that I could look thus gay and cheerful in the circumstances in which I was placed. The autumn of this year was marked by one of the most desolating pestilences with which we were ever visited.* It did not confine its ravages to the city, as those before it had mostly done, but spread itself over many of the neigh- bouring towns and villages. The little borough of Chester, where my mother resided, was awfully swept of its inhabi- tants by it. She had returned home, but left it again and came to me as to a place of greater safety, together with my elder brother and a faithful attendant who had lived with her for many years. * The summer had been unusually warm. I find by memorandums written at the time that in the month of August the thermometer was frequently at 90, and sometimes above. It was on the 6th of that month that I first heard of the fever being in Philadelphia, brought, it was said, in Captain Yard's sloop, from Jeremie. It soon spread with frightful rapidity, and carried off many of the citizens. The villages in the neighbourhood were filled with people fleeing from the disease ; but safety was not, as heretofore, the certain result of leaving the city, for numbers died in its neighbourhood. In Germantown many were carried off. It became a period of very general distress and anxiety. 76 flDemotr of Br. (Beorge Slogan The fever at Chester was said at the time to have been received there from the passage of a hearse through the town, which was reconveying to the city for interment in consecrated ground the corpse of one who had fled from its ravages with the fatal contagion in her veins. In cross- ing the bridge one of the inhabitants was unfortunately so near as to be much affected with the noisome effluvia ; he sickened and died in a few days, and the disease rapidly spread from him. Its effects in Chester were truly de- plorable. My brother was taken ill directly after his arrival with my mother at Stenton, and his physicians pronounced his disorder to be the yellow fever. He was extremely ill for some time, and our alarm and anxiety were very great ; but, by the kindness of Providence, we were spared the trial of losing him at this distressing period. 77 CD CHAPTER VI Ouests at Stenton 2Dr* Slogan's IReturn Y family was at this time augmented by the com- pany of our uncle James Logan, Esq., of Phila- delphia, his nephew, and servants, so that, with my guests and our own domestics, I had above twenty persons under our roof daily to provide for ; but this was better for me than to be left in solitude. At length the kindly frosts of autumn dissipated the seeds of contagion and purified our cities from disease. My be- loved guests left me, but not before public rumour and the letters which I had received short, indeed, but comprehen- sive led me to hope the return of my husband, and ban- ished all care but for his safety and for what might be his reception in his own country. Whilst I was thus situated I went one afternoon to visit at Roxborough, the seat of our worthy friend, the ex-Chief Justice Smyth. He was an Englishman and a Tory who had held an office under the Crown during the colonial government, but he was a man of great honour, candour, and good sense, and, though they differed in politics, had a sincere friendship for my husband. Here I found, as was usual, a large circle of company, among whom was George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimmons, and several other Federal gentlemen. I observed they talked together with much earnestness, and at length one of them (Fitzsimmons) came to me and 78 flfiemoir of Dr. (Seorse 1lo$an inquired if he might ask me had I received letters from Dr. Logan, and, if so, what was the state of things in France ? I told him briefly and modestly what I had heard, "that the embargo was raised, our seamen liberated and return- ing in our vessels, and a disposition for peace manifested on the part of France." (But I imputed nothing to the exertions of my husband.) He replied that it was extraor- dinary news, indeed, and that he sincerely congratulated me upon it ; and our kind neighbour, the judge, exultingly exclaimed, "You know, gentlemen, I have always said that Dr. Logan would never disgrace himself nor injure his coun- try!" I had been advised by some of my Republican friends to publish an extract from one of the letters which I had re- ceived,* and which I here subjoin with the very illiberal comment which the editor annexed to its publication, writ- ten in the spirit of that persecuting period : EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM DOCTOR LOGAN, DATED BOR- DEAUX, SEPTEMBER 9, 1 798, TO HIS WIFE. " I have the pleasure to inform you that I embark this day on board the ship Perseverance for Philadelphia, and shall bring with me dis- patches for our government, calculated to restore that harmony, the loss of which has been so sensibly felt by both countries. All American ves- sels in the harbours of France have been released, all American prisoners have been set at liberty ; and the most positive assurances have been made that France is ready to enter on a treaty for the amicable accommodation * This letter was brought to New York in one of the first vessels that arrived from France, and was sent to me immediately, inclosed in one from Governor Clinton. 79 flRemotr of 2>r. (Beorge Xogan of all matters in dispute. American citizens are treated with respect in every part of France, and the appearance of a reconciliation between the two republics affords the highest satisfaction to all classes of citizens in this country, ect., ect. "GEORGE LOGAN." "ENVOY LOGAN.* " The letter from the above gentleman affords the best comment on the character of \hxy&z patriots, who are willing to sacrifice the liberty of their country, to the insidious designs of an unprincipled foreign foe, and to barter, in the very face of their countrymen, the honour of their govern- ment the security of their most invaluable rights, for the delusive hopes of French justice. As we cannot permit ourselves to doubt its authenticity, the citizen envoy, with his whole train of French diplomatic paraphernalia, may be hourly expected." Whoever will take the trouble to look over the public prints of this period will be astonished at the evidences of illiberality and party spirit which they exhibit. On one occasion it was recommended by Cobbett, in case of Dr. Logan's return, to put him in the pillory, in which I was to have the honour to accompany him. They likewise said the Directory had quarrelled with him and ordered his departure from Paris. Bache and Fenno, printers of the opposite parties, both died this autumn. I am conscious that I have ample materials in the circum- stance of the return of my honoured husband to his native country, after having rendered her so important a service, to produce a picture (if the master's hand were not want- ing) which, true to nature, and to the strong emotions which characterized that period, should still, whilst it transmitted a memorial of those emotions, convey likewise an idea of the * Comment by the editor of the Philadelphia Gazette. 80 flnemoir of S>r. (Beorge "weight and pressure" of the times over which it was the reward of his patriotism to triumph. It was the reign of addresses, as well as of terror. It had been for some time the custom for party to express its sentiments to the public by means of addresses to the President (Mr. Jefferson) ; and he also made use of the oc- casion of his answering them as a suitable vehicle to convey his opinions and fulminate his anathemas. His character is (for he is yet living *) a very singular combination of opposite qualities and sentiments. No one could seriously question his honesty or patriotism, or deny that he had performed many and great services to his country ; but he was at this period so inflated with an extraordinary conceit of his own talents, chiefly, I think, produced by the flattery which had been poured out for him by unsparing hands, that he seemed to believe nothing was wanting to his reputation but a war, that it might be seen by the world how skilfully he could sit at the helm and steer the vessel of the republic through its rocks and shoals. He had declared, in an answer to one of the addresses which were then most frequently presented, that "The Finger of Heaven pointed to War." That is, in other words, that he had determined on it, and the public mind, at that time swayed by the dominant party and incited by various passions, had hitherto borne him company. But calmer thoughts had happily succeeded. The suffer- ings of many in the loss of their friends and families by the pestilence had considerably allayed the fierce spirit with * 1821. 81 flUemotr of Dr. (Beorge which citizens of opposite parties regarded each other, and they paused upon the prospect of adding war to the cata- logue of evils wherewith they were afflicted. I was early sensible myself of the change which public opinion was about to undergo by the kind inquiries and lively interest which the lower ranks of citizens expressed for my husband, for now, almost every day, wishes for his safety and speedy return greeted my ears. The change in the measures of the President, which after- wards took place, may perhaps be partly attributable to his perception of this alteration of the sentiments of the people to a conviction that war would be injurious, and to a lure, not inartificially held out to him, of a re-election to the Presidency upon condition of his concluding a peace with France, and the further terms of the dismissal from the office of Secretary of State of one of the most honest and upright men in the whole community, and I have been confirmed in this latter imputation by a conversation which I have lately had with this gentleman ; but I forbear to say any more on this head. The feelings which now agitated my mind (I suppose from something comparable to condensation) became so intense that I could scarcely control myself. I expected, and had been led to do so from what many told me, that the government would imprison Dr. Logan upon his return, and I hardly dared to hope that he, " who certain of the weight" often disregarded "the impress" of what he said and did, had been so cautious that spies and enemies would not be able to pick out something to accuse him of which they would deem criminal. 82 STENTON. DOORWAY and ct of adding war to the ca ta- il they were afflicted. I was ear of the change which public opinion wa lie kind inquiries and lively in citizens expressed for my bus ban wishes for his safety and sp< The chan^ wards took pla< ie to his ptioa of ti to a conviction that war v >ut. aiv not inartifu Presidency upon conr! ^ a pt France, and thr ms of t ae office e of one of the most honest and upright .>mmunity, and I have been confirmed in latter imputat i conversation which I have lately had. The feelings which now agitated : ; >y mind (I 5 from something comparable to sation) became so intense that I could scarcely control myself. I expected, and had been led to do so from what many told me, that the govern? >rison Dr. Logan upon his return, and I 1 DC that he, "who certain of the often dis? uie /knpress" of what he said and did, had be spies and enentr-^ - :>ld not be able to % to accuse him they would deem criminal. 8a flilcmotr of Br. George I had also learned (for circumstances calculated to create alarm seldom remain a secret to the anxiously interested) that there were two vessels called the " Perseverance" to sail from Bordeaux, one of which was tight and new, the other a bad sailer, old, and scarcely seaworthy ; the latter, my fears suggested, was the one in which my husband had embarked, for I knew he would stay till the last ; and it was remarkable that both these ships arrived in our river on the same day. At length messages from many of my friends greeted me with the expectation of his arrival, and two emigrant French gentlemen who lived upon our Wakefield farm and who had been in Philadelphia called, on their return, to tell me what they had heard on this head, so that I was ap- prised of his near approach, but did not look for his arrival before the next day. My sons, who were young mountain- eers in their fearless habits and love of the chase, had that morning taken out their father's favourite spaniel, and by accident had wounded her. She was brought to me to be nursed, and was accommodated with a cushion near the fire. My youngest boy was put to bed, and the others were reading with me in the dining-room, when a step was heard on the piazza. The wounded animal raised herself, and, instinctively knowing the sound, strove to get to the door. It opened, and in a moment the restored husband, father, friend, and master found himself in the bosom of his happy family, for our affectionate old Dinah (who had likewise taken care of him in infancy), hearing the joyful exclamation, had brought Algernon from his bed to share in his father's 83 flnemotr of Dr. (Beorge Xogan caresses, and, herself embracing his knees, blessed God that she had lived to witness his return. We all shed tears of the purest joy. And never shall I forget the happiness of that hour, for there was an honest security in his manner that at once banished all my fears from the machinations of his enemies, whom he now had completely under his feet; and never did one from their upright and virtuous conduct more entirely live down calumny or more innocently triumph over base and un- founded aspersions. Oh, memory of my lost but ever honoured husband! would I had it in my gift to place an imperishable garland on thy tomb ! that the envied talent was given me so to portray the patriot flame that warmed thy heart and guided thy conduct that posterity should do thy character justice, and in after-times view the spot where thine ashes rest with the veneration ever due to the benefactors of mankind ! Immediately after this interview with his family he thought it his duty to wait upon the President and the Secretary of State with his despatches, informing them of the state of things in France and to offer to them the inspection of all his papers if they chose to examine them. It was in the month of November; Congress was about to assemble, and, in consequence of Philadelphia having been visited by the yellow fever, the President and heads of departments were at Trenton. At Bristol, on his way thither, Dr. Logan joined General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, his lady, and family, who as old acquaintances were extremely glad to see him, and they breakfasted together with a cordiality that surprised 84 flncmott of 2>r. (Beorge Slogan many who observed it at the inn. He overheard some of their remarks, which were very amusing.* He waited on the President, was admitted (it had been rumoured that the President would not receive him), and had a long conference alone with him. The President asked him many questions, all of which he answered with his usual candour. Nor did the President show to him any of that irritability of temper with which he has been charged, for he was very polite and had the usual refreshments brought for his guest ; only a little sally escaped him when the as- surances of the Directory that they would receive a minister were repeated to him. He arose from his chair, and, with a characteristic action used when in earnest, "Yes," said he, " I suppose if I were to send Mr. Madison or Mr. Giles or Dr. Logan they would receive either of them. But I'll do no such thing; I'll send whom I please." " And whoever you do please to send will be received," replied Dr. Logan. * In passing through Philadelphia on his return home he had stopped at the coffee house and at the hotel to look for lodgings for Captain Gard- ner, who was a stranger in the city. The utmost surprise was expressed upon seeing him at large. But the people all greeted him with joy. The innkeeper, who furnished him with a horse and gig to return home, would take no hire for it, saying he was too happy to have it in his power to oblige him. CHAPTER VII Reception b$ tbe 6o\>ernment Xooan Bet Bfcoresses . LOGAN, previous to this reception by the President, had an interview with Colonel Picker- ing, then Secretary of State, in which these two gentlemen, of politics diametrically opposed to each other, became so convinced of each other's honesty of purpose and love of their country, that it laid the foundation of a sincere and lasting esteem and friendship between them.* He thought it proper in like manner to wait on General Washington and inform him of what had passed in France ; and I remember that at this interview the general asked him what was the reason the Directors had treated him [Logan] so well, when the government of France had assumed so different a tone to our commissioners ? * Since writing the above I have found a paper in Dr. Logan's hand- writing giving an account of this interview, which I shall here transcribe. " After a conversation of considerable length with Mr. Pickering, dur- ing which he at times manifested a great degree of irritation against the French, I took my leave : he waited on me to the door, on the threshold of which, with a voice altered by the agitation of his mind, he stammered out these words, too singular not to be related : " ' Sir, it is my duty to inform you that the government does not thank you for what you have done. ' " Considering Mr. Pickering as Secretary of State and the public organ of the executive, I was astonished at his folly. In this the most important transaction of my life I had the approbation of my conscience. I never experienced a more perfect satisfaction than what arose from the reflection of having done my country so considerable a service." 86 (memoir of Br. George Xooan Doctor Logan replied that his own conduct, and not theirs, was all he could account for. Congress, directly after it assembled, passed what was then denominated " Logan's Law," providing for such a case in future ; but I believe none have ever been arraigned un- der it ; * neither did it prevent him from going some years afterwards on the same kind of mission to England. The Legislature of Pennsylvania, and the President of the United States, in their address, and in his answer (so much the fashion of that day), complained that he had interfered to make peace ; but their censure fell innoxious on him, whilst the rebound made themselves (so much disappointed in not having a war on their hands) appear extremely ridicu- lous. But the difference in public opinion was soon so manifest that Dr. Logan enjoyed a complete but guiltless triumph over his adversaries. The most sanguine could not have promised themselves such entire success as had attended his enterprise. He very soon went to Chester to pay his dutiful respects to my mother. I accompanied him, and we afterwards ex- tended our ride to Wilmington, the residence of our valued Cousin Dickinson, and I greatly enjoyed the attention and respect with which he was everywhere received, so different from the fear and shyness which was visible but a few months before, when many, who were otherwise friendly, appeared afraid to be seen speaking to him in the street. But now, when we met the stages, there was a general burst of welcome and congratulation ; yet I know that he * See Appendix. 87 flDemoir of 2>r, George Slogan repressed any public expression towards himself which he thought might tend to exasperate the opposite party. The full approbation of so enlightened and virtuous a citizen as John Dickinson weighed much more in his esti- mation than the vain breath of popular applause, which often can give but poor reasons for its praise or blame, and is frequently swayed by circumstances, fortunate in themselves but out of the control of the individual whom they praise, or the contrary, the result of which is equally out of his power.* Whoever will take the trouble to look into the United States Gazette of December 28, 1798, will find the address from the Legislature of Pennsylvania f and the equally wise answer of the President of the United States. There is likewise a notice of Dr. Logan's visit to Wilmington in the same paper, entirely false and malicious. But I should trespass too far on my readers' patience were I to notice all the calumnies with which he was assailed. Suffice it to say that they fell innoxious on him. The Gazette likewise contained part of the debate in Congress preparatory to the passage of the law before mentioned. However, after a short time Dr. Logan thought it incum- bent upon himself, in refutation of the suggestions of his enemies and in defence of his own character, to publish the following address to his fellow-citizens : * See Mr. Dickinson's letter in Appendix. f This is an address from the Senate. In the Gazette of the 2ist of the same month is one from the House of Representatives, with its an- swer, all touching on the like chord, and very angry that an unauthorized individual should have dared to interpose (and successfully, too) in avert- ing the horrors and atrocities of war from his own country. flllcmotr of 2>r. (Seorse "To THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES: " Whilst insinuations injurious to my character were confined to a few public prints which disgrace our country by ye too general abuse of re- publican citizens and virtuous strangers, I considered them as unworthy of notice, confident that none but minds totally devoid of every principle of honour and truth would credit or propagate them. But as persons high in office have become ye agents of private slander, it becomes my duty to vindicate myself by a short statement of facts, leaving to my slanderers ye full benefit of invention, surmise, and falsehood. " To defend and support ye rights of our country as an independent commonwealth is certainly ye first duty of every good citizen. But a state of war is inevitably attended with so many calamities that an en- lightened nation will seek every honourable means to avoid it. With France ye situation of ye United States appears to me peculiarly deli- cate, having received from that nation ye most essential services during our arduous struggle against ye wanton injuries and oppressions of ye British government. " Under these impressions I embarked for Europe. On my arrival at Hamburg I met with that distinguished friend to our country, General La- fayette. He procured me ye means of pursuing my journey to Paris. Regarding himself equally ye citizen of ye United States as of France, he views with particular anxiety ye existing difficulties between ye two re- publics, and has written to General Washington on this important subject. " I arrived in Paris on ye 7th of August, when I received ye first cer- tain intelligence that our commissioners had left that city without having accomplished ye object of their mission, and that all negotiation was at an end. The consul-general of ye United States informed me that an embargo had been recently laid on our shipping in ye ports of France, and that many of our seamen were confined as prisoners. " Unacquainted with any law, moral or political, by which I was pro- hibited from benefiting my country, I availed myself of every legal means to procure an interview with influential characters, when, as a private citizen of ye United States, I gave it as my opinion that it was in ye power of France, by acts of justice and magnanimity worthy of her elevated situation, to restore harmony between ye two republics. I suggested ye 7 89 flDemoir of 2>r, (Beorge Slogan propriety of releasing our seamen, confined as prisoners, and raising ye embargo on our shipping, detained in their ports.* I stated that acts of this kind, taking place immediately after ye late declarations of friend- ship made by ye Directory to Mr. Gerry, might become ye basis of a happy reconciliation. " In my conversations with ye citizens of France, or with strangers whom I met in Paris, I spoke of ye situation of my country as I felt, but at all times with respect. I represented that ye idea of a party in ye United States ready to sacrifice ye government of their own country to that of any other was totally without foundation ; that ye people, constituting ye sovereign authority and enjoying all ye advantages of a representa- tive government, had it always in their power to alter ye constitution and laws of their country. I observed that ye French, not being so much attached to commerce as to agriculture and to ye arts, it was un- doubtedly their true interest to place ye neutral flag on ye most respect- able footing, by which means a competition would take place in their own ports for ye produce of their agriculture and manufactures in exchange for ye productions of ye United States, to ye advantage of France ; that no people were so well calculated to afford these advantages to France as ye citizens of ye United States, and therefore ye commerce of ye United States in a peculiar manner merited her attention ; that it would not only promote ye immediate interest of France, but it would redound to her reputation, to recur to ye original principles of her own glorious revolution, respecting ye neutral flag, and secure by this measure ye first step towards a perfect freedom of commerce among all nations. * Dr. Logan was in England at the beginning of our Revolutionary War. Being at one of the towns on the seaboard, he learned that an American captain was confined in the jail of the place as a prisoner of war, one of the first in the contest that had been so committed. He (Dr. Logan) visited him, and, learning the particulars of his case, lost no time in reporting it to Dr. Fothergill and David Barclay (men who to great humanity joined a strong attachment to our country). They interested themselves in his behalf, and he was very soon liberated on his parole. Many years afterwards, when with Dr. Logan on Rhode Island, I heard Captain Almy express his grateful sense of the kind office which had been done for him. No restrictive law would have prevented Dr. Logan from trying to release, by any legal means in his power, prisoners of this description, or in endeavouring to make peace. 90 flDcmoir of Dr. George Slogan ' ' Ye politeness of a foreigner of distinguished talents, whom I met with in Paris, procured me an interview with Citizen Merlin. My visits to him were those of a private friend in his own family. On one of these oc- casions he informed me that France had not ye least intention to interfere in ye public affairs of ye United States ; that his country had acquired great reputation in having assisted ye United States to become a free re- public ; they would not disgrace their own revolution by attempting its destruction. He observed that, with respect to ye violation of our flag, it was common with all neutrals, and was provoked by ye example of England, and intended to place France on an equal ground with her, so long as she should be permitted by ye neutral powers to avail herself of their resources. But that ye Government of France, averse to such a competition, were contemplating measures to make their laws more favour- able towards neutral nations. In confirmation of this declaration I re- ceived whilst at Bourdeaux a letter from ye consul-general of ye United States dated Paris, August 30, in which he says, ' Ye opinion which cir- culated when you left us, of this government adopting a liberal system in regard to ye flag and property of neutrals, gains ground every hour.' When I left Paris ye ministers from ye northern neutral powers were earnestly engaged in promoting this event by friendly negotiation. "These governments are jealous of ye commerce of ye United States, and if an accommodation should not take place with ye French republic, they will seize ye opportunity to procure for themselves advantages which it may not afterwards be in ye power of ye United States to command, and by which means they may become ye carriers even of our own produce. "Whilst I was in Paris, Mr. Skipwith, ye consul-general of ye United States, received officially from ye government of France an arret, by which ye embargo was removed from all American vessels in ye ports of France, accompanied by another directing ye release and kind treatment of all our seamen. He was also at ye same time informed that ye Di- rectory were pursuing measures to promote in ye legislative bodies an alteration in their laws more favourable to ye rights of ye neutral flag. " Believing that this manifestation on ye part of ye republic of France would be highly acceptable to my country, I offered my service to ye con- sul-general to be ye bearer of his despatches to ye President of ye 9 1 flUemotr of Dr. (Beorge Xogan United States. I understand duplicates were forwarded at ye same time by Major Woodward by ye way of Boston. On my arrival in Philadel- phia I embraced ye earliest opportunity of waiting on ye Secretary of State with ye public despatches intrusted to my care. I had a long con- versation with him. What I knew of ye situation of France I expressed freely ; everything relative to my own conduct which I thought important I communicated, and I offered voluntarily to answer any interrogatories he might think proper to put, and to communicate any papers in my pos- session. It was then in ye power of government to have substituted facts for insinuations. From what motives they have rejected ye one and chosen ye other they best know. I also waited on ye President of ye United States soon after his arrival at ye seat of government ; he received me with politeness, and we conversed for some time respecting ye relative situation of France and ye United States. "As some of ye most respectable citizens of ye United States are im- plicated with myself respecting my late journey to Europe, I think it necessary more particularly on their accounts in ye most pointed manner to state ye following facts : " I did not go to France at ye direction, at ye request, or on ye ad- vice of any person whatever. I went for my own pleasure, with my own views, and at my own expense. " I did not go or act as ye agent, official or unofficial, of any man or set of men whatever. I did not carry any message, letter, or introduction from any citizen of America whatever addressed to any citizen or public body in France ; ye two certificates of citizenship which I carried with me were addressed to no one, they were not taken or ever used for ye purpose of procuring an interview with any citizen or public body in France, but such as I thought might be necessary in my passage through Germany and Holland. I never conversed with any person in France in their official capacity, or as being in any public capacity myself, nor did I associate with any person whose name I am afraid or ashamed to avow. " If after these declarations, which I aver to be true, any person shall think fit without proof to assert or insinuate to ye contrary, I shall regard or rather consider him as a contemptible propagator of falsehood and calumny; convinced that, upon the strictest examination, my conduct 92 flllemotr of Br, (Seorse Xo$an whilst in Europe will be found neither dishonourable to myself nor injurious to my country. " GEO. LOGAN. " STENTON, January 12, 1799." NOTE TO THE ADDRESS. " This Paper was first published in the Aurora, and so great was the demand for it that it was republished the next day and copied into many other papers (Republican ones, for the Federalists as a party were not generous enemies). I now copy from the manu- script, which perhaps may differ from the printed copy in a few words, but I am not con- scious that it does so. The following introductory notice, which was afterwards affixed to some of the copies by some other hand, I subjoin because of the fact which it contains : (From the Aurora.} " No people on earth have reserved to themselves a greater proportion of power in their form of government than the citizens of the United States, yet an apathy has pre- vailed among them for several years respecting the conduct of public men dangerous to the liberties of their country. We must except from this general charge the conduct of an individual citizen who, at a critical period when the administration, urged on by a des- perate faction, were on the point of involving the United States in the bloody contest of Europe, procured interviews with the government of France, and by his private in* dividual efforts laid the foundation of peace between the two nations, for which on his sailing from Bordeaux, he received the public thanks of the American captains and other citizens of the United States detained there. Dr. Logan, aware that his negotiation with the Directory might be considered by the President of the United States as unofficial, and as such might be neglected, made an arrangement with Mr. Schimmelpenninck, am- bassador from the Batavian republic to the republic of France, that a copy of the docu- ments taken by him to the government of the United States should be officially commu- nicated by Mr. Vans Murray at The Hague. The measure thus supported was attended with success, owing to the magnanimity and sound policy of President Adams, who re- newed his negotiation by the mission of three respectable Federal characters, by whom every difficulty subsisting between the two nations was immediately adjusted. (In the former negotiation the Directory refused to negotiate with Generals Pinckney and Mar- shall because they were of the Federal party, or the English party as they termed it.)" 93 CHAPTER VIII IReturn to public OLite y"" " SHORT time after his (Dr. Logan's) return he f j^ M was visited, one evening, by a gentleman whom he had met with abroad, and who was then also about returning to the United States. This gentleman was a Republican in politics, and after the ascendency of that party in the government has been more than once em- ployed by it in missions to foreign courts. He related to us that during his passage at sea their vessel was chased by one which they suspected was an English man-of-war, and that a person on board of their ship who was charged with despatches from Vans Murray, our minister at The Hague, became excessively frightened, and wished some of the other passengers to take posses- sion of his papers, which they refused to do. He then broke open the packet and scattered its con- tents about the berths and under the furniture of the cabin. The vessel in view did not prove what they suspected, and they had no domiciliary visit from an enemy. The fool, then, not knowing what to do with his violated de- spatches, did not offer to collect its contents, but suffered them to be thrown about with broken seals or taken up by the other passengers as they pleased to satisfy their own curiosity. Our visitor produced several of these letters, directed to Colonel Pickering, then Secretary of State, from the min- 94 flHemotr of 2>r, (Beorge ister at The Hague, and observed to Dr. Logan that himself and his visit to France formed part of their contents. Dr. Logan refused to look at them, and requested that his guest would not leave them; but he threw them on the table, declaring that he knew not how to dispose of them himself. When he was gone my husband remarked to me that he cared not what they said of him, and if he did, would not stoop to gain information from such a clan- destine source. But that the letters might be useful on other accounts to the government, and so desired me to seal them up and, directing them to Colonel Pickering, have them put into the post-office. I did so, and, some years after, relating this adventure to that gentleman, he told me that he had been very much at a loss at the time he received those letters to account for the way in which these solitary remains of the despatches had reached him. He never heard anything more of the rest. I believe that I have elsewhere remarked that the candour and dis- interestedness which my husband's conduct had so dis- played in his visit to France had impressed the Secretary with sentiments very different from those which he had at one time entertained towards him, and was the foundation of a friendship improved by their being afterwards in public life together, when, however they might differ in politics, they found abundant reason to esteem each other for those qualities which united them as patriots possessing one common love of their country, and all those ties of virtue and honour which bind the loftiest and best of men to such as are like themselves. 95 HDcmotr of Dr, (Beoroe Xogan This little incident had no consequence that I know of, and I hardly can tell how I came to insert it here ; but it may serve to show the habitual respect which he constantly paid to what was right in all his actions. 96 CHAPTER IX Election as "dniteo States Senator Ube Xooan Enacteo R. MONROE (now (1821) President of the United States), when he arrived after his mission to France, was most coldly received by the party then in power. But in general Dr. Logan was not fond of these ceremonies, and always excused himself from attend- ing them if he could do it without giving offence. Speaking of the return of Colonel Monroe from France reminds me of a difference which he had at that time with General Hamilton, which Dr. Logan and all his other friends feared would eventuate in a duel. Happily it went over without producing this barbarous consequence. I do not recollect enough of the occasion to give it, but the explana- tion satisfied without producing any cordiality between the parties. A vacancy occurring just at this period (1798) in the House of Representatives of this State for the county of Philadelphia, his (Dr. Logan's) fellow-citizens elected him by a large majority over the most popular candidate that his adversaries could oppose to him. He knew nothing of this election himself until his return from Jersey, for he was absent at the time a deputation had waited on him to know if he would serve if elected, and, finding him from home, had interrogated me upon the subject. The Republicans rejoiced exceedingly at this election, as 97 flllemotr of Br. (Beorge deeming it an unequivocal sign that the balance was turning in their favour. In fact, it was their first triumph. The disagreeable fracas which occurred during one of the sittings of the Assembly was produced by the ranklings of party spirit, and may serve to show how strong and diffusive were its effects. But in this he (Dr. Logan) was not the aggressor, nor shall it be further noticed by me than to say that I lived to witness all this bitterness between the parties removed, and to see cherished in its place sentiments of re- spect and Christian kindness, for such was the disposition in which Dr. Logan and his antagonist, many years after- wards, met and regarded each other as friends.* At Lancaster, where the Assembly then sat, he (Dr. Logan) formed many acquaintances and some friendships which were then, and afterwards, productive of much pleas- ure to him, and among them I must place in the foremost rank his friendship with the venerable Henry Muhlen- berg, who to a disposition fraught with humanity and be- nevolence to his fellow-men added the interest of a knowl- edge of literature and science, and in whom he found a fellow-labourer in whatever promised to promote the public good. By their exertions an agricultural society for the county of Lancaster was organized, and met. Dr. Logan also in- troduced to the Legislature a bill preparatory to the Act for the Encouragement and Promotion of Agriculture, Manu- factures, and the Useful Arts, and he published about the * This refers to a personal altercation between Dr. Logan and a highly respected member of the Legislature from Philadelphia. It is not easy to say which of these gentlemen was the aggressor. 98 4^r**mg tt m unequi vocal sig ct, it was their first triumph. tble fracas which occurred during one of the he Assembly was produced by the ranklings of ' irit, and m; ;how how strong and diffusive its eft r. Logan) was not the aggress* me than to say i een the parties r re- vearv a&ar- SB 5 x gp 3 D -oductive of much pleas- P3 n I must place in the foremost . good. By their exertions an agricultural society for the county of Lancaster was organized, and met. Dr. Logan also in- troduced to the Legi : ; itvir.: a bill preparatory to the Act for the notion of Agriculture, Manu- 3f* and H;$ hly of t beat gMffctaVwa '-- tibe agfMvar \ flRemoit of Dr. (Beetle OLogan same time a letter addressed to the citizens of Pennsylvania on the necessity of promoting these objects. Here I must explain m what manner he wished manufac- tures to be encouraged. It was such as the farmer sees car- ried on in the bosom of his own family by the industry of his wife and daughters, or the ingenious mechanic perfects in his own shop for his own emolument, untarnished by the profligacy of manners which too frequently attends collect- ing people to work in large manufacturing establishments. He constantly himself dressed in homespun clothes, and was delighted to see me furnish employment to our poor neighbours in giving out flax and wool to be spun by them. My heart whilst I write is sensibly touched with the recol- lection of these minor but most endearing traits of patriotism and regard to the welfare and comfort of all classes of his fellow-citizens, and well would it be for Pennsylvania if her councils were to be directed and her laws made by those who could claim at least some resemblance to this most up- right and useful citizen. The first business of Congress at their session after his return seemed to have been the enacting of a short law to prevent in future that interference with foreign governments which in the present instance had forced a peace upon our own. It was the ebullition of party vexation, and was at the time denominated " Logan's Law." I do not particularly know whether he transgressed against the letter of it when he afterwards went to England (though during another administration) with the same anti-warlike intent, but I am sure he thought it was to be " More honoured in the breach than in the observance." 99 flRemotr of 2>r. (Beorge Xo$an Much was said by the Federal gentlemen in Congress, especially by Robert Goodloe Harper, Esq., in attempting to criminate Dr. Logan's conduct, which tended only to produce in the public mind a more thorough conviction that neither by word nor action had he rendered himself amen- able to the censure of his country, for this was the termina- tion to which all the clues of his enemies finally conducted. In the twelfth month, 1799, I lost my honoured and most worthy mother, and in her a friend who had tenderly sym- pathized with me in all the difficulties and anxieties of my situation during my husband's absence, and who was greatly esteemed by him. And in the following year, about eight months after this event, it pleased Divine Providence to re- move also by death our second son, Gustavus, in the four- teenth year of his age (born at Stenton October 6, 1786; died August 20, 1800), a boy of so uncommon a character that were I here to attempt its portraiture my pen might be thought to be transformed by a parent's partiality into a flattering pencil, for he had the very best and ripest judg- ment which I had ever seen in such early years, united to a strict regard to truth, presence of mind, and great courage and generosity of soul, joined to a heart the most tender and affectionate, which fully returned our ardent attachment and secured to its amiable possessor the love of all who knew him. In person, too, he exactly resembled his father. What the loss of such a child must have been a parent alone can estimate. In 1 80 1 Dr. Logan was appointed a senator of the United States for the State of Pennsylvania in the room of General IOO flDemoir of Br* r. (Beorge attributed but their political opinions, and bestowed the places which they had held upon their clamorous and exult- ing rivals. It was not amusing, but mortifying to us, who had indulged in a kind of chivalrous expectation of patriotism and disinterestedness, to mark the avidity with which offices of emolument were sought. At one time the numbers who waited on Dr. Logan to ask him to use his interest with the President on their be- half quite surprised me. But he soon gave them to under- stand that he would recommend none unless their characters and abilities fitted them for the places which they aspired to fill. I remember one person who brought a petition in his own favour for an office which he wished to obtain, and requested Dr. Logan to sign it. "Sir," replied Dr. Logan, "I have not the pleasure of knowing you, and therefore cannot sign your recommenda- tion." "Oh, sir," was the answer, "that is of no consequence. You know the gentlemen who have already signed." "True, sir, but I do not know you, and therefore you must excuse me." The petitioner went away in a very bad humour at his fastidiousness in being determined to recommend none that he did not know. As might be expected, the President was very much harassed with these applicants, each of whom made a merit of the services which they had rendered as having been essential to his elevation. So that it seemed as if a general principle established in the beginning might have saved him much importunity and 8 105 fincmotr of Dr. <5eor$e trouble, for the declaration already cited was received at the time with general satisfaction. We were all then ready to inquire with the poet, " When shall our hated deadly faction cease? When shall our long divided land have rest ?' ' If it be true that power is the great corrupter of the human heart; that power changes moral character; that " great power or a long possession of power changes a man's moral nature," then, instead of wondering at some little aberrations from the straight and plain path of recti- tude wherein our Presidents ought to walk, we may bless ourselves at the salutary check provided by the Constitu- tion in the certainty of a return to private life ; that they have given us no greater reason to complain than has as yet occurred. Yet I own I should dread to see in that station a man who should unite to the popularity which Jefferson pos- sessed a bold and daring character, especially if he were a successful military chief. May a good Providence defend my country from this danger ! The President was soon sensible of the disunion which about this time took place in the Republican party, for he said to Dr. Logan that he foresaw what would ensue. Men of the best and most disinterested principles would dissent from the less scrupulous and more violent measures of others, who would possess on their side the greatest physi- cal force and, consequently, would be dominant ; and my husband could not hold him free from blame with this dis- tinction in his mind in that he too much gave his weight to 106 ORcmoir of H)r, (Beorge Xogan the latter. Yet candour must acknowledge that his situa- tion was one of great difficulty on many accounts. One of Jefferson's own letters will best tell what he thought on the emancipation of the blacks and the aboli- tion of the slave-trade. He writes to Dr. Logan under date of May u, 1805. (Mr. Jefferson to Dr. Logan.*) "WASHINGTON, May ii. 1805. " DEAR SIR, I received last night a letter from Mr Thomas Brannagan 163. S. Water street Philadelphia, asking my subscription to the work an- nounced in the inclosed paper.* the cause in which he embarks is so holy, the sentiments he expresses in his letter so friendly that it is highly painful to me to hesitate on a compliance which appears so small, but that is not it's true character, and it would be injurious, even to his views, for me to commit myself on paper by answering his letter. I have most carefully avoided every public act or manifestation on that subject, should an occasion ever occur in which I can interpose with decisive effect, I shall certainly know & do my duty with promptitude and zeal, but in the mean time it would only be disarming myself of influence to be taking small means, the subscription to a book on this subject is one of those little irritating measures which, without advancing it's end at all, would by lessening the confidence & good will of a description of friends composing a large body, only lessen my powers of doing them good in the other great relations in which I stand to the publick. yet I cannot be easy in not answering Mr Brannagan's letter unless he can be made sen- * Branagan's work was chiefly among the Methodists and others, but I believe the work here meant was a poem entitled " Avenia." He was an itinerant preacher who had been an overseer in the West India Islands, very sincere, a little fanatical, and a good Democrat. Dr. Logan executed the commission and was ever after friendly to the good man, who on his part returned it with high respect. The subject of the poem is the evils and horrors of slavery and the slave-trade. Branagan had witnessed many of the scenes which he describes. 107 flDemoir of E)r. (Beorge sible that it is better I should not answer it ; & I do not know how to effect this, unless you would have the goodness, the first time you go to Philadelphia, to see him and to enter into an explanation with him. ..." I think it is hardly in my power to render a more accept- able service to posterity (if this little book shall be re- served for their inspection) than to insert some original letters from distinguished men with whom my husband was in habits of friendship.* * These letters will be found in the Appendix. 1 08 CHAPTER XI Corresponfcence witb Sefterson I AM now come, in the order of dates, to a letter written by Dr. Logan to President Jefferson at a time when his best friends in Congress had be- come uneasy and dissatisfied with some of the measures which he was then pursuing, and I insert it with the greater pleasure because of the answer, which I likewise have it in my power to give, a model, I think, to future times, of admonition given and received by men in such exalted stations. (Dr. Logan to Mr. Jefferson.*) " WASHINGTON, March I2th 1806. " MY DEAR SIR, A Friendship of many years standing, founded on your many personal virtues, may excuse, and the paramount duty I owe my country will Justify, the freedom of this address. " Your Errors in conducting the Exterior relations of our country op- press the minds of your best Friends with the most anxious solicitude. You may yet retrieve your character and preserve the confidence of your fellow Citizens. " Call together your too long-neglected council, take the state of the Union into consideration ; Submit every subject with frankness to discus- sion, and unite with them, determine on such measures as may preserve the Peace and honour of our Country. " Your own Reputation demands that you should recede from pre- tentions that are demonstratively groundless and unjust. " No Truth is more thoroughly established than that ' there exists in the Affairs of Nations an indissoluble union between the generous maxims 109 flQemoir of Dr. (Beorge Xooan of an honest and magnanimous Policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity. ' " I am with sentiments of Respect " your Friend " GEO : LOGAN "THOMAS JEFFERSON ESQR" Dr. Logan had a peculiar talent of speaking the plainest truths without hesitation or fear to others whenever he thought the public good, the good of an individual, or the duties of friendship demanded such a proof of candour. He had been at this time frequently importuned by Bald- win (who was himself a very honest man) and other Repub- licans to tell the President of faults in the conduct of affairs which they thought needed correction, with which he fre- quently complied. But on the present occasion he had suffered much uneasiness of mind and had passed a sleep- less night before he wrote the above letter, to which the following answer was soon returned : " March I2th 1806. " DEAR SIR, I received your Letter as a proof of your Friendship. I have been for some time suspicious, there was something on your mind unknown to me, and of which I thought I had a right to expect an ex- planation. We may differ in our opinion of measures : but on matters of fact we cannot differ on due explanation. My present malady keeps me through the whole day incapable of business or conversation, and obliges me therefore to ask an interview any evening that suits you on the subject of your Letter. "Accept affectionate Salutations, "Tn: JEFFERSON."* * The interview took place soon after. The heads of departments were convened, and some projects respecting the occupation of Florida were abandoned. But previous to this time the affairs of state had worn a threatening aspect. A war with Spain appeared to be at hand, for the no HDemoir of Br. <5eorge Xo$an The note alluded to in this letter was one which the French minister presented to our government by order of his master, Napoleon, complaining of our trade with St. Domingo as furnishing the blacks with arms and ammuni- tion. The effect of which note was very perceptible, for those members of the Senate who had previously voted against Dr. Logan's bill became its advocates. On this occasion the minister of France, overtaking Dr. Logan in the street at Washington, got out of [his] carriage to thank him for the exertion he had made to have the trade prohibited. He pressed Dr. Logan to take a seat in his carriage, which he declining, the minister at length said, " I believe, sir, you are ashamed to be seen with Mr. Tur- reau ;" and the doctor did not take any pains to deny the supposition, for it was the truth. The minister having been a ferocious general in the revo- lutionary army, became the willing tool of some of those sanguinary monsters who deluged their unfortunate country in innocent blood. He could not be acceptable to any vir- tuous citizen. The reader will see from the sentiments expressed in this correspondence with what hope and confidence the truly honest and patriotic of the Republican party looked up to Jefferson to realize the fond expectation they had enter- tained of advantages to accrue to their country from his administration. President, displeased with the Spanish minister (De Casa Yrujo), either for being a spy upon his actions or for remonstrating with too much plain- ness, had notified him to leave Washington immediately, and the United States as soon as the season would permit. in flOcmotr of Dr. (Beorge Olooan And if upon an impartial view of his acts we perceive that many of these expectations were not fulfilled, and that the glimpses of a pure and honest policy with which their imaginations had been delighted were still among those bless- ings to be desired, rather than to those which were attain- able, yet candour, I think, must allow that he did many things well, and that his situation was one of great difficulty from the almost unexampled situation of the civilized world. He is now a very old man, and, having attained the sum- mit of human life with a mind and faculties unimpared with the length or fatigues of his journey, methinks it might be matter of great instruction to mankind to see him review his own conduct with the impartiality of a philosopher and the frankness of a lover of truth who was about to leave the transitory scene in which he had been so distinguished an actor. We should then, perhaps, have his experience added to so many who have preceded him. That to gain the highest point of our ambition is but to obtain the certainty that we have followed a delusive light which has conducted us to care and anxiety, but not to en- joyment, and that there is a void in the human mind which popular applauses can never fill. But I check myself, for I do not belong to the class of his calumniators. I can readily believe that he has loved his country, and that her welfare has at all times been an object paramount to his heart. If he has at times erred, or mistaken the means, let them who are without political sins throw the first stone. Time, which is the great corrector of party prejudices, enables us now to see those characters who have in their 112 flllemoir of Dr. <5eoroe turn given place to others, in their true light, unaccompanied either by the false glare of popular admiration or the malign vapours of party rancour and hatred. And of this I think we may be certain, that if the eminent individual we have been speaking of had been guilty of half the vices and sinister views which (not to say the public organs of defamation, but the highest) Federal authority has sometimes attributed to him he would not, it is probable, now be receiving proofs of their kindness and regard, such as we have lately been favoured to see in the octogenarian correspondence with his predecessor, who, with his usual frankness, but perhaps without thinking of the rebound, has been pleased to admit that " the ass has kicked in vain," for he adds, "All men say that the dull animal has missed the mark." Jefferson, no doubt, smiled at the confession.* He has another no less extraordinary correspondence with that very honest and upright, but prejudiced Federalist, Colonel Pickering, who told me of the occasion of his writing, and of the kind and pleasing answer which he had received (and several other communications passed between them). This is as it should be, for the evening of life ought to * This is to be understood as alluding to former attacks upon the third President, like that in the present instance, also the base one which had then been recently made on his character by a " native Virginian." Nor could I help regretting, as I read this correspondence, that these vener- able sages were not favoured with some glimpses of a brighter day to succeed our being here, for surely, " One Eye on Earth and one fast fixed on Heaven, Becomes a Mortal and Immortal Man." "3 nDemoir of 2>r, (Seorae advance unobscured by the clouds of hatred and animosity, and its sun be seen to descend irradiated by a glory of love and charity, promising the renewal of a brighter day. And it is truly consolatory to behold such men parting in the spirit of peace and kindness with each other. That he was a favourite of fame rather than fortune, and that the plans not only of his aggrandizement, but also of that of the two " pillars of his age" proving his successors being realized, show that he had laid those plans warily and deep, and that he has, indeed, "wielded at will" the "fierce democratic" of his day. But whether the means made use of have been at all times such as a good man would be justified in adopting, or such as a Washington would have used, is a question which the reader must resolve for him- self. But I have no scruple in saying that neither that il- lustrious character nor Dickinson nor Logan would have resorted to the agents which he sometimes employed. It would be an act of injustice, even in this unfinished sketch of his character, not to notice the brilliancy of his talents, variously and beautifully cultivated, his love of let- ters, the charms of his rich yet easy and unaffected conver- sation, the urbanity of his manners, proceeding not so much from studied politeness as from a humane and benevolent heart, which made him at all times desirous to soften the language of refusal. In short, he had it in his power to have been of the most certain and extensive benefit to his country and to human kind. He would have been so entirely if he had acted up to the principles and professions inculcated and declared in his beautiful inaugural address. 114 SONNET. BY MRS. LOGAX F'ac-simile ttftrtr of I >uds of hatred i be seen to descend irradiated by a glor and charity, promising the renewal of a brighter day. And it is truly consolatory to behold such men parting in the spirit of peace and kindness with each other. That he was a favourite of fame rather than fortune, and that the plaos not o' aggrandizement, but also of his successors hose plans warily and used, is: i st resolve for self. But I have no scruple in saying that neither that il- in would have rtwct* -Joyed. lied - id beautifully cultivated his the charms of his rich yet easy and urn-. sation, the urbanity of his manners, proceeding not so much from studied politeness as from a humane and benevolent heart, which made him at all times desirous to soften the language of refusal. In - been of t man -.-i acted up ared in fro ftt St -tl. ft}~VU eHA.tVLHM.lJ feu . A < ffcw 6 * o I . .c i&'d CHAPTER XII >r Xogan's peace emission to JEnglano I HAVE now faithfully related, as far as my recol- lection and the documents in our possession would serve me, the events of that part of my husband's life in which he was engaged in public business. He de- clined a re-election to the Senate, which he might have ob- tained, and which I had reason to regret he had not ac- cepted, as it furnished reflection and employment to a mind so devoted to the best interests of his country and of so- ciety that they appeared peculiarly his province, and that mind seemed to refuse to occupy itself with interest in less important concerns. In the beginning of 1808 he lost his valued friend and connection John Dickinson,* who died, after a short illness, at a time when the attention of the whole civilized world seemed to be fearfully arrested by the portentous display of inordinate ambition wielded with ease and energy by one of the most extraordinary characters that has ever appeared on the theatre of human affairs, and whose decisions seemed to form a political maelstrom from whose destructive vortex it required the utmost skill of our pilots at the helm to keep the vessel of the Republic. The state of affairs at this juncture made Dr. Logan ex- ceedingly desirous of visiting England, in the hope that his * See Appendix for correspondence with John Dickinson. flDemotr of S>r, (Beorae Slogan philanthropic exertions in the cause of peace might have some effect with persons in power in that country ; and the kindness and cordiality with which his representations were received would have warranted the supposition in minds less sanguine than his own that good might have met corre- sponding good dispositions, and a war have been prevented, which (not to count the treasure expended) has cost the lives of many brave and faithful citizens, and destroyed the hopes of many families, besides leaving the bloody foot- prints of hatred and revenge, which it will take years of peace and philanthropy, to obliterate. But in this good work he met with counter-action from a source whence only assistance was looked for, not from the government at home, for President Madison afforded him every facility, and wrote greatly in his commendation and favour to our minister at the court of St. James, desiring him to confer with Dr. Logan and to aid his benevolent views all in his power ; but in this instance the minister did not at all scruple to act in opposition to the President's recommendation, for he let in a mean unfounded jealousy of Dr. Logan's object, heightened, perhaps, by seeing him treated by the most distinguished characters with the greatest consideration and respect, and obtaining admission into circles from which his own want of moral principles excluded him, notwithstanding the advantages of his mission and his brilliant talents. So that, although Dr. Logan had not the happiness of seeing the war averted, his visit to England was otherwise productive of a great deal of pleasure to him in the renewal and cultivation of various friendships with excellent indi- 116 HDemoir of Dr. (Beorge Xogan viduals, as the many letters remaining in my possession amply testify. Perhaps no private gentleman whatever that has visited that country from this ever received such distinguished notice and respect as he did from men in the highest esti- mation, among whom were the venerable and excellent bishop of Norwich, T. W. Coke, Esq., of Norfolk, the Duke of Bedford, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir Samuel Romilly, Lord Lansdown, Lord Teignmouth, Lord Barham, Sir John Sinclair, Robert Barclay, Thomas Clarkson, Wilberforce, Vansittart, and many others, of whose kind attentions to him memorials still remain among his papers, so that he was in all respects (to use the words of one of his English friends in speaking of his reception) " received in a most suitable manner by the first men both in and out of power." * And he thought that his ardent wishes that peace might be preserved between the two countries met with correspond- ing sentiments in almost all with whom he conversed ; in- deed, I believe I might safely exclude the almost, for the war was wickedly and unnecessarily brought about against the expressed general wish of both nations.^ * See Letters in Appendix. f I will here mention a circumstance which occasioned a great deal of feeling in the outset of this unhappy contest. One of our vessels (I have forgotten names, but of the fact am certain) very soon after the procla- mation of war met with an English ship at sea, very friendly and unap- prised of that circumstance with which ours was acquainted. But they fought, and, after a severe action, the American was victor, and the English captain, mortally wounded, was brought to Philadelphia and placed in the Pennsylvania Hospital, where, if universal sympathy and the most prompt and skilful surgical aid could have aught availed, his life would have been 117 flllcmoir of Br. George Dr. Logan wrote to the President from London, giving him an account of the earnest disposition which was mani- fested to him that peace might be preserved between the two countries. He said that the United States renew- ing their commerce with the belligerents had powerfully strengthened their friends in Great Britain, and that what- ever might be the feelings of the administration, both in and out of Parliament, they expressed a wish to avoid war. He mentioned the different annual meetings of agricultural societies which he had attended, to which the best and highest classes of men in the several counties belonged, who had done him the honour to join his name with the ardent wishes they expressed to see a complete harmony restored between Great Britain and the United States. This was the case at a large agricultural meeting in Surrey, likewise at Woburn Abbey, the seat of the Duke of Bed- ford, and at Holkham, the seat of T. W. Coke, Esq., in Norfolk, where three hundred and forty gentlemen, par- taking of the hospitality of its liberal owner, expressed with enthusiasm the same sentiment. And the same sentiment is reiterated in every possible way in the numerous letters and notes which are now before me, received by this be- nevolent and patriotic man during his stay in England from some of the best and wisest men of that time. There is likewise a polite note from the Marquis of spared ; but his wounds were incurable. He bore ample testimony to the humanity and tenderness with which he was treated, but lamented for his wife and family, to whom he was fondly attached, in a way that pained every heart. Everybody was affected at his melancholy fate, and deplored the fatal cause of such private misfortune. 118 micinoir of H)r. (Beorae Wellesley requesting an interview, which took place soon afterwards, and which gave to Dr. Logan an opportunity he had much wished for. But on all these occasions he did, as he had constantly done when on the like errand in France, declare himself an unauthorized individual, and that he stood in no relation to the government of his own country but that of a private citizen. Dr. Logan returned to his own home at Stenton, after his last visit to England, on the 5th of the eleventh month, 1810. My remaining notices of his life must be brief, as he was not engaged afterwards in any public business, and his health declined considerably for several years before his decease. He made many journeys to Washington, and exerted himself both by writings and conversation in en- deavouring to avert war, which afterwards unhappily took place, and which gave him the most poignant uneasiness. Those who can remember minutely the various circum- stances which took place at that time will not wonder at his anxiety, the national happiness being suspended and its prosperity put to extreme hazard. The consequent anxiety of the public mind can only be compared to the fearful state of watching and distress which we feel when we see a beloved individual struggling through the severe par- oxysm of a fever. So that the inhabitants of these States had great reason to rejoice when the account was received of the termination of the war by the successful negotiation at Ghent, which truly pleasing intelligence reached us Feb- ruary 12, 1815. 119 CHAPTER XIII 2>r. OLoaan's Deatb an& a Sfeetcb ot bis Cbaracter I cannot conclude this account of my be- loved and honoured husband better than by an extract made from a character which I drew of him soon after his decease. That lamented event took place after a languishing illness of many months, borne with a tranquillity and resignation truly exemplary, on the Qth of the fourth month, 1821, aged sixty-seven years and seven months. He died at his paternal seat of Stenton, where also his remains are deposited. This little memoir is sacred to the virtues of his heart and to his domestic worth. We had lived together nearly forty years, and the most affectionate love and entire confidence had always subsisted between us, from which I had reason to believe that I per- fectly knew his character, and a more kind and humane heart or more upright and just intentions I am sure no man could possess. He spurned the idea of being in any shape benefited by another's loss, and in all his dealings with his fellow-men most conscientiously governed himself by the golden rule of doing to others as he would they should do unto him, so that in this age of cupidity he never specu- lated, but was most honest and direct in all his actions. The Roman who wished he had a window in his breast that all men might see his intentions could not have been con- scious of greater rectitude of heart. I2O flnemotr of Dr. 0corge Xogan He never feigned what he did not feel ; he had no affec- tation whatever in his character. He was constant in his attachments, a most tender husband, a kind father, a just and good landlord and master, and a steady and efficient friend. His honour was in all points unblemished, and his love of truth so remarkable that he could not bear that kind of exaggeration in conversation which passes unreproved be- cause it is too common. All ostentation he despised, but both loved and practised simplicity, in his latter years, especially, it seemed as if a departure from it in those with whom he lived or was inti- mate was extremely wounding to his feelings. He had none of that selfish and uncandid spirit which refuses to acknowledge itself in error, nor of that pride which seeks to distinguish itself by external appearances. He had lived a life of great temperance, and was exceed- ingly domestic in all his habits, delighting to return to his home, and enjoying its quiet comforts with the most heart- felt satisfaction. Alas ! the only reflection that now cheers me is the thought that as it was my duty, so it was my pleasure to make that home happy and delightful to him, and where while life remains I shall never cease to miss the affection and kindness which doubly repaid me for every tender assiduity. His person was formed with exact symmetry. He was about the middle size, erect and graceful in his demeanour. His countenance would not be easily forgotten by any person who had once seen him ; it had an expression of thought, benignity, and of open, unsuspecting honesty that was very Q 121 flUemotr of Br. (Beorge Slogan remarkable. He walked and rode extremely well ; indeed, when on horseback his air and appearance were noble, and in his youth he was remarkably active. His mind was wholly unpolluted by avarice. His heart was tender, and he was often led to sympathize with others in their dis- tresses and difficulties. Yet he had a quickness of temper, and could show on occasion the utmost spirit and reso- lution, for his personal courage was very great. He was a most true republican, contemning luxury and despising false glory. I may be asked for the reverse of this picture. To me he had no reverse, but was exactly the kind and good and upright man which I have here represented him. He was most willing to die, often saying that his only re- gret was in parting from me. In his latter years he had it much at heart that, laying aside sectarian prejudices, the good of all religious societies should unite to promote the great designs of Christianity, having in his own mind real- ized that happy state in which he could call every country his country, and every man his brother. Several years have now elapsed since the foregoing bio- graphical sketches of my dear and honoured husband have been written. I have here carefully copied them out, and have made some additions to the original, both of letters and of what I have thought might serve as illustrations, with a view to their preservation in the Loganian Library, a circumstance which I very much desire, both from my own certainty of the facts which I have related and the earnest wish, that I cannot help forming, that however inadequate to the task the relator may have proved herself, yet that a 122 DEBORAH NORRIS LOGAN flkmoir of Dr. 6cei \w He wall rode extreme when on horseback his air and appearance were noble, and in his youth he was remarkably active. His mind was wholly unpolluted by avarice. His heart was tender, and he was often led to sympathize with others in their dis- tresses and difficulties. Yet he had a quickness of temper, and could show on occasion the utmost spirit and reso- lution r great. He was a much at heart that, laying aside sectarian prejudices, the good of all religious s should unite to promote the great i\ having in his own mind real- call every country Several _- graphical sketches of my dear and honoured husband have been written. I have here carefully copied them out, and . .. . MAOCXI aiMHOVi .HA>oaag have made some additions to the original, both of letters and of what I have thought might serve as illustrations, with a view to their preservation in the Ix>ganian Library, a circumstance which I very rmrh Vv >, trorr :- >'r- of ilu- ;.-- I have &' earnest ?n,Hi"Huate to tne i&sK th^' ^ yet that a flDemoir of S>r. <5eor$e knowledge of them by the public may [be] the means of securing to his (by me) cherished memory at least some portion of "that lasting fame and perpetuity of praise which God and good men have consented shall be the re- ward of those whose public labours advance the good of mankind." Recollections written in 1820 and inscribed to my hus- band. Beings ! who soaring far above Beyond this narrow vale of tears, Say, if your essences are love, If you regard our hopes and fears ; Oh say, whence this perpetual strife, Whilst years like waves oblivious roll, The future veil'd the present life, Not worth enjoyment or delight, The Past, a treasure to the soul? For see how memory decks the scene : To me she brings my cherub Boy, And wisdom like a Ray serene And soft affections, waken joy; The influence radiates o'er my heart, My Mother's honoured voice I hear From such illusions can I part And stoop to feel the present smart, Or drop for this the silent tear? However wayward fortune frown, Whate'er the fate she weave for me Still memory keep thy wonted throne, Thy wakenings still my Dreams shall be: 123 flllemolr of Dr. George ILoaan Thy magic wreaths of many a flower Faded perchance to other eyes, Still bloom for me, and deck a bower Sheenie with Iris-coloured dyes, And wafting sweets of Paradise. For scenes of life's primeval morn Dawned like an Eden here below, A Brother's love those scenes adorn An early Laurel graced his brow : Still memory gives th' enchanting sound My Lycid's Lyre again I hear, Or with him tread o'er Classic ground Elate with hope, or pale with fear, As erst the mighty masters steer. I claim not ought at Beauty's shrine, What are her Triumphs now to me? Short lived illusions were you mine, Not worth one note of minstrelsy; But never from my mind be torn Of good and great the cheering gleam, High Talents lodged in graceful form Such as in Dickinson were seen Wisdom and Eloquence serene. The lowliest, loveliest child of spring, Whose fragrance scents the vernal gale Borne on the fairest Zephyr's wing, Is sought for in the humble vale. Modest, beneath the verdant shade Appears its flowers of royal hue, And such an emblem just pourtrayed, Pious to God to ffriendship true, His Mary's virtues meet my view. 124 flRcmotr of Dr, (Beorge logan But lo ! as in the Enchanter's Glass, Rais'd by some potent Fairy's wand, What heroic ages seem to pass, What wondrous destinies expand ! For I have marked an Empire's birth, Have seen its Constellation rise With radiance glancing o'er the Earth. Daring the Sun with steady eyes I saw her Eaglet mount the skies. And yet what threatning tempest lowered How was thy Bark Columbia, driven When British wrath around thee pour'd Her lurid shafts, like those of Heaven? Dread was the storm, the ocean wide, The distant Port ah who could see? But He* the Helmsman God supplied, Struggling thro' clouds thy Pole star eyed And steer' d thee thro' the dangerous tide : That leading star was Liberty. Oh scorn not ! tho' no minstrel's fire Breathes in my dull unlettered lay. The heroic muse shall Bards inspire To sing the Perils of that day : Unarmed, yet strong in freedom, see The ''Gathering" spread thro'out the land, Her Plains, one vast Thermopylae, Her People, all a Spartan Band ! For these to latest ages borne Fame shall delight her Trump to raise, For these, the sad lament shall mourn Destined to these, the historic Page. * Washington. "5 flHcmoir of 2>r. (Beorge Slogan Yet not the Trump, nor yet the Page Confine to Deeds of arms alone, But tell, "Peace has her victories" Great to achieve, and hardly won, Her Triumphs and her Civic Crown. A Triumph, where no weeping slave Follows the Conqueror's blood-stained Car; But when the Patriot dared the wave To arrest the dread array of war; Steadfast of heart, in counsel wise, His virtue over art prevailed, And gained of Peace the glorious prize ! Whilst Calumny and Faction fail'd To injure, where they most assail' d. Cheer thee my love ! and let the Past Gleam brightly o'er the Present hour: With sails unfurled thy own the last And safe from Gallia's vengeful power, 'Twas thine to Triumph, when their Prows Dashed gaily thro' the circling brine : Its Fleet releas'd, thy Country knows The brave Resolve, the pure design, The Counsel and the Deed were TJiine. Alone, a stranger to Parnassian clime Charmed with its sweets along its Dells I rove, Nor dare attempt its glittering heights sublime, Nor pluck the Laurels of its sacred grove, Yet still I linger, for I fain would weave As memory opes her ready stores to me. (But be the verse and be the Garland brief) Only the foliage of Minerva's Tree, Symbol of Peace, that Peace obtained by Thee. D. L. 126 a ?>- o I a ?. CO IF . 3 p I 1 &~ 21 | O -t B re _ o re o ut' 3 &B 3 a M Q o o o B sa c 5 "0 W 2 a x tp sa to x 127 APPENDIX II Xetters from 2>r. Xoaan to HUessrs. nuerlfn, OLepeau*, ano Scbimmelpenntncfe [The following letters were written by Dr. Logan to Merlin and Le- peaux, members of the Directory, and to Mr. Schimmelpenninck, Batavian minister, in regard to the relations between France and the United States, just before he embarked on his voyage home.] {Dr. Logan to Citizen Merlin.} " BORDEAUX Sepr gth 1798 " RESPECTED CITIZEN, I embark this day for Philadelphia, and as the dispatches entrusted to my care, by the Consul general of the United States, manifest the most unequivocal evidence of the desire which the Government of France has to preserve peace between the two Republics, they will afford sincere pleasure to my fellow Citizens, & I have no doubt but that the most effectual measures will be immediately adopted by the government of the United States to meet the friendly disposition of your Country. " My object in coming to France was to state such circumstances to Mr Gerry respecting the situation of our Country, as might have induced him to conclude a Peace before his return to the United States ; but as that object had been frustrated by his departure. I considered it my duty as a private Citizen of a free independent Commonwealth, to suggest to you as well as to other officers of the french government that it was for the honour & interest of France to act with justice & magnanimity towards the United States. " It is not my business to justify the conduct of the government of my own Country, or to accuse that of France. I consider the unhappy diffi- culties which have taken place between the two Republics to be attributed more to the intrigues of the British Court than to any disposition to injury on the part of either People. " My Country retains a grateful sense of the eminent services rendered by France during our revolutionary war. And that the People of the 129 HppenMi United States sincerely rejoiced in the french revolution by which the rights of Man have been restored to Millions of our fellow creatures has been manifested by the animated reception given to Citizen Genet, the first ambassador of the Republic to the United States, & by the declara- tions which Citizen Monro on his coming to France communicated from the President & both houses of Congress. "In all points of this great question between the privileged orders & Republicanism, the inhabitants of the United States are not united in opinion, but this diversity of sentiment produced no bad effects until blown into a flame by the intrigues of the British Cabinet. "When the Government of England acknowledged the sovereignty of the United States, it did not arise from a conviction of the justice of the claim of the People of the United States to live under a Government of their own choice, but was owing to the deranged situation of her finances,* by which she was rendered incapable of continuing the war. This fact will be known whenever Temple Franklin publishes the life of Dr. Frank- lin, who entrusted him with the publication & who was one of the Com- missioners who assisted in making the treaty of peace at the conclusion of our revolutionary war. "The ambition of Mr Pitt which has engaged him to sacrifice the in- terest of all the world to the agrandizement of England, & which ever since his being placed at ye head of the administration has also inspired him with the desire of reinstating the influence & authority of Britain over the Citizens of the United States, which had been lost by the miserable contracted policy of his predecessors. Convinced that this object could not be obtained by military force, he has had recourse to that base intrigue & artifice by which all his measures are so strongly marked. A Man f has been sent by him to the United States perfectly qualified to accomplish his views : this person has under his direction a Newspaper, published by an acknowledged British Subject at the seat of Government. The atroci- * Dr. Logan was possessed of some curious information on this subject, derived from Dr. Franklin himself, who read the passage in manuscript to him. Whether it is re- tained in his works as now about to be given to the public I cannot say, but Dr. Logan was of opinion that many things originally contained in the work were suppressed. f Listen. 130 Hppenbtr ties of the French revolution, altho' the authors of them have been pun- ished by the Nation, yet they are made use of to wean the affections of the American People from France. The violation of our flag, contrary to the treaty & the repeated abuses & outrages of Corsairs under the flag of the French Republic, are made use of to stigmatize every friend to France, & republican principles as an enemy to the United States ; insinuating that the Citizens of the United States, who are admirers of the french Revolution & the advocates of Republican principles, would sacrifice even their own government to that of France, when on the contrary, however attached the great body of the Citizens of the United States may be to France, they are only so, as far as the Government of France acts with justice & consistent with the enlightened principles of her own revolution. Should she lose sight of these, & not only continue her depredations on our Commerce ; but violate the territory of the United States, every Citi- zen of our Country will become her enemy. The same spirit of indepen- dence which influenced the Citizens of the United States to oppose the armies of Britain in 1775 will engage them at all times to oppose the hos- tile attacks of any other Government. " France not being a mercantile nation, but more attached to the manly pursuit of Agriculture : it is undoubtedly her true interest to place the neutral flag on the most respectable footing, by which means a competi- tion will take place in her own ports for an exchange of the surplus pro- duce of her agriculture & manufactures, for those of foreign Countries, highly advantageous to France. No people are so well calculated to as- sure these advantages to France, as the Citizens of the United States & therefore the Commerce of the United States in a peculiar manner demands her protection Would it not redound to the honour of France, to return to the original principle of her revolution respecting the freedom of Com- merce ? Would not an act of this kind contribute to bring about & es- tablish the new law of Nations respecting neutral Ships ? A violation of it by Britain would bring down the resentment of all neutral Powers on that Nation. "Believe me " your obliged Friend "GEO: LOGAN" *$* HppenMi (Dr. Logan to Schimmelpenninck.*) " BOURDEAUX Sepr 9th "RESPECTED CITIZEN, I embark to-morrow for Philadelphia with dis- patches for the Government of the United States, which manifest such a spirit of accommodation on the part of France as I am confident will be the means of restoring harmony between the two Republics. As an in- dividual Citizen interested in the happiness of my Country permit me to return to you my sincere thanks for the friendly part you have taken in promoting this good disposition. " In some conversations with you the Constitution of the United States appeared to be an object respecting which you were desirous of receiving some information. I lament that the shortness of my stay in Paris pre- vented me from enjoying more of your interesting company. When we might have conversed on this subject as well as others highly interesting to the present revolutionary state of Europe. " I think the Constitution of the United States defective as it affords an opportunity to the President to acquire Legislative influence by the numerous offices within his gift, which may be made use to corrupt the public voice. An Executive Magistrate should be invested with all the power of Community to put the laws in prompt & full execution, but should never be placed in a situation to influence the conduct of the Legislature by the unrestrained use of Public Money, or by a right to nominate to lucrative office. nor in any case should his voice be suffered like a Monarch to negative the will of the Legislature. These are evils in the Constitution of the United States ; but they may & will be altered or removed when the People by a little experience become sen- sible of the danger of them. The Form of Government of the United States is absolutely permanent on Republican principles ; yet admits of great alterations : the means of obtaining which, is pointed out by the Constitution. "A Government will be tranquil & happy in the inverse ratio to the expense of its administration, and in proportion to the weight & influence which individual Citizens may possess in every part of the State. Public offices should be considered honourable not lucrative, when the latter takes 132 BppenMi place it gives occasion to intrigue & cabal among the wealthy for the plunder of ye industrious Citizens obtained from them in ye form of taxes under pretence of supporting ye Government. And the private municipal regulations of the State will be better managed under the direction of the Citizens immediately to be effected by their administration, than by the general will of the whole government. " I feel anxious for the present State of Europe and my own Country. Much is to be done by the Philosophers & the real friends to mankind. The public mind at no period has had greater occasion for instruction than the present moment. " Pray remember my best respects to your amiable family & believe me. " your Friend " GEO. LOGAN. " To CITIZEN SCHEMMELPENNINCK Charge des Affaires" (Dr. Logan to Citizen Lepeaux.} " BOURDEAUX Sepr loth 1798. " RESPECTED CITIZEN, I lament that my short stay at Paris, prevented me from enjoying more of your interesting company. I wished to have conversed with you respecting the relative situation of the Sister Repub- lics ; and on the present state of France. Respecting the first, I have written fully to Citizen Merlin, which Letter I wish you to see. However alarming the appearance of actual hostility. If the Government of France acts with a magnanimity worthy of its present elevated situation harmony will be restored between France, and the United States, greatly to the ad- vantage of both Countries ; & the dark schemes of the British Minister will be frustrated by the wisdom and sound policy of your Government. " The unauthorised severities of interested Corsairs under the french flag; & of some of your inferior Courts, have been very prejudicial to many of the best friends to France in the United States. Some cases of this kind are now in the ports of France. An instance of which may be recognised in the case of the Columbus Captain Skinner now at Rochelle. It is with pleasure that I hear the Directory are sensible of these evils, and 133 Hppenfcii are about to have them rectified. I wish as a real friend to the Revo- lution of France, that the new order of things established by it, may not be defaced by the horrid system of Privateering. I believe on strict enquiry it will be found, that it has been much more injurious to the moral character of individuals than advantageous to the Nation. " How far Nations may be destroyed by their own unjust & impolitic Laws, deserves the attention of the Philosophic Statesman, who studies the human mind, & who is not influenced in his conduct by temporary expedients. "Sincerely attached to the principles of Republican Government I cannot help regarding the progress of them in France with anxiety, properly conducted they will eminently contribute to the happiness of her Citizens, but much is to be done by the real friends of the Revolution to frustrate the dark designs of the disaffected. " I admire your plan of affording instruction to the People. I wish you may be enabled to carry it into full execution. I find the most desti- tute Citizens in the Villages, regret the loss of their Parochial Curees, they were certainly the most useful & benevolent part of the Clergy your system will replace their loss. " Health & Fraternity " GEO. LOGAN "auCrroYEN J: M: REVEILLERE LEPEAUX " du Directoire Executif a Paris" APPENDIX III Correspondence in TRegaro to Jefferson's pinions Concerning tbe TKHar of 1T81I2 (Thomas Jefferson to George Logan.*) " MONTICELLO Oct. 3d 13. " DEAR SIR, I have duly received your favor of Sep. 18 and I perceive in it the same spirit of Peace, which I know you have ever breathed, and to preserve which I know you have made many personal sacrifices, that your efforts did much towards preventing declared war with France, I am satisfied, of those with England I am not equally informed. I have ever cherished the same spirit with all nations from a consciousness that Peace, Prosperity, Liberty and Morals have an intimate connection. During the eight years of my administration there was not a year that England did not give us such cause as would have provoked a war with any European government, but I always hoped that time and friendly remonstrances would bring her to a sounder view of her own interests, and convince her that these would be promoted by a return to Justice and Friendship towards us. Continued impressments of our seamen by her naval com- manders, whose interest it was to mistake them for theirs, her innovations on the law of nations to cover real piracies, could illy be borne; and perhaps would not have been borne, had not contraventions of the same law by France, fewer in number but equally illegal, rendered it difficult to single the object of war. England, at length singled herself and took up the gauntlet, when the unlawful decrees of France being revoked as to us, she by the Proclaimation of her Prince-Regent, protested to the world that she would never revoke hers, untill those of France should be removed as to all nations. Her minister too, about the same time, in an official conver- sation with our Charge^ rejected our substitute for her practice of impress- ment ; proposed no other ; and declared explicitly that no admissible one could be proposed. Negotiation being thus cut short, no alternative re- 135 Hppenfcir mained but war, or the abandonment of the persons and property of our Citizens on the ocean, the last one I presume no American would have preferred. War was therefore declared and justly declared ; but accom- panied with immediate offers of Peace on simply doing us justice, these offers were made thro' Russel, thro' Admiral Warren, and thro' the gov- ernment of Canada, and the mediation proposed by her best friend Alex- ander, and the greatest enemy of Bonaparte, was accepted without hesi- tation. An entire confidence in the abilities and integrity of those now administering the government, has kept me from the inclination as well as the occasion, of intermedling in the public affairs, even as a private citi- zen may justly do. Yet if you can suggest any conditions which we ought to accept, and which have not been repeatedly offered and rejected, I would not hesitate to become the channel of their communication to the administration. The revocation of the Orders of Council, and discon- tinuance of impressment appear to me indispensable, and I think a thou- sand ships taken unjustifiably in a time of peace, and thousands of our Citizens impressed, warrant expectations of indemnification ; such a west- ern frontier perhaps given to Canada as may put it out of their power hereafter to employ the tomahawk and scalping knife of the Indians on our women and children ; or what would be nearly equivalent, the ex- clusive right to the lakes. The modification however of this indemnifica- tion must be affected by the events of the war. No man on earth has a stronger detestation than myself of the unprincipled tyrant who is del- uging the continent of Europe with blood. No one was more gratified by his disasters of the last campaign ; nor wished, more sincerely, success to the efforts of the virtuous Alexander, but the desire of seeing England forced to just terms of peace with us, makes me equally solicitous for her entire exclusion from intercourse with the rest of the world. Until, by this peaceable engine of constraint, she can be made to renounce her views of dominion over the Ocean, of permitting no other nation to navi- gate it, but with her license, and on tribute to her ; and her aggressions on the persons of our citizens who may chuse to exercise their right of pass- ing over that element. Should the continent at armistice issue in closing Europe against her, she may become willing to accede to just terms with us ; which I should certainly be disposed to meet, whatever consequences 136 BppenMr it might produce on our intercourse with the continental nations. My principle is to do whatever is right, and leave consequences to him who has the disposal of them. I repeat therefore that if you can suggest what may lead to a just peace, I will willingly communicate it to the proper functionaries, in the mean time its objects will be but promoted by a vig- orous and unanimous prosecution of the wax. "I am happy in this occasion of renewing the interchange of senti- ments between us, which has formerly been a source of much satisfaction to me ; and with the homage of my affectionate attachment and Respect to Mrs. Logan, I pray you to accept assurances of my continued Friend- ship and esteem for yourself, "TH: JEFFERSON." {Dr. Logan to Thomas Jefferson.} STENTON, Deer, gth 1813. " DEAR SIR, Accept my thanks for your late friendly and interesting Letter. Your approbation of my visit to France in 1798 is highly satis- factory. Influenced by similar motives, I visited England in 1810. To a person so thoroughly acquainted with the spirit of the constitution of the United States as you are, it is not necessary for me to say any thing in Justification of the acts of any private Citizen to promote the pros- perity and happiness of his Country. " During a residence of five months in England, I travelled one thou- sand miles thro' that country; I visited the principal commercial and manufacturing cities, and became acquainted with the agricultural in- terest I had a fair opportunity of ascertaining the sentiments of men in every situation of life, respecting the unhappy contest between the United States and Great Britain. I found a general anxiety prevail, that harmony and peace should be restored, equally beneficial to both countries. "An erronious opinion is entertained by some few men in the United States of the decline and fall of the British Empire. That Country at no period of its history was more powerful, free, and respectable than at this moment. The successful stand she has made against the Tyrant of Europe, has occasioned the Continental powers to regard her with venera- tion. 10 137 HppenMi " Knowing (as they must know) that the liberty and weal of their country depends on the correct habits and information of the people; The Princes, Nobility and patriotic Citizens of every religious and politi- cal opinion, are uniting in distinct societies for the purpose of educating, and by a general distribution of the holy scriptures giving moral instruc- tion to the destitute part of the community. This is the most honourable and beneficial measure ever adopted by the Citizens of that nation, and will secure its liberty and prosperity. " The sordid views of British merchants, under the falacious name of British Interest, has less influence over the Cabinet of St. James than formerly. The landed agricultural interest is becoming more powerful It is a great but quiescent interest, on whose collective knowledge and integrity, the freedom and fate of that country depends. Such is the present favourable aspect of the British nation the Reverse is First, The immense issue and circulation of Bank notes, beyond their intrinsic value. " ad. The extent of her manufacturing system has in an alarming degree, increased mendicity in her manufacturing towns : and has brutal ized the manufacturing population particularly since the introduction of machinery. Children from the tenderest infancy, as soon as their fingers are capable of twisting a thread, or feeding a carding machine : are by the misery or cupidity of their parents immured in great manufacturing establishments, without the benefit of education or moral instruction However monstrous this is, it is not the only evil. The working manu- facturers are united into Jacobinical clubs against their employers, and in opposition to the laws of the land ; frequently occasioning such tumults as to render a military force necessary to suppress them. An ignorant debauched population is the most unstable support upon which a Govern- ment can depend. The strength of a nation is in the moral character of its people; when that principle is debilitated the country is fast ap- proaching to ruin. " 3d. The extent of her Colonial establishments is contemplated with anxiety by the best Patriots in Great Britain not only on account of the immense taxes necessary to support and protect them, but as a great political evil. Those distant colonies affording lucrative offices to be 138 appcnbti bestowed on the creatures of the minister for the purpose of creating a parliamentary influence, repugnant to the spirit of the British constitu- tion. "Notwithstanding these evils, the miserable, contracted, and unjust Policy towards Ireland, and the deprivations of the People of many of the comforts of life, owing to enormous taxes to support an annual ex- penditure of more than one hundred millions sterling, yet the energies of the nation appear to increase in proportion to the difficulties with which she has to encounter, and her resources are still unquestionably great. " The Orders in Council of the British Cabinet as a measure of retalli- ation on France for her Berlin and Milan Decrees, is the strongest evi- dence of the want of foresight and political wisdom in her Councils. Had the British Government instead of uniting with the Tyrant of Europe, to annihilate the commerce of neutral nations, indignantly pro- tested against the decrees of France as a violation of the laws of nations ; and declared herself the Friend and Protector of neutral Rights, she would by such an act of magnanimity, have united every neutral in her interest. In my conversation with members of the British Government, I urged this measure, as founded on principles of the soundest policy, and in my Letter to Mr Percival I observe ' The bickerings and semi state of Warfare, which has existed for several years between our nations have been viewed with deep affliction by the best men in both countries Since my arrival in England I have had oppertunities of conversing with many of your most eminent characters, as well as with respectable men in every situation in life. I have not met with one person who does not wish a reconcilliation with the United States. My public and private situation in my own country, afforded me an opportunity of becoming fully acquainted with the sentiments of my fellow Citizens I know they anxiously desire to preserve peace with Great Britain. And as a mani- festation of their sincerity, they have renewed their commerce with this country ; and have removed every obstacle to an amicable negotiation Let Great Britain with the same laudable intent, remove her Orders in Council Let her declare herself the advocate of Neutral Rights, such as she claimed for herself and conceded to others, before she adopted the 139 BppenMJt execrable commercial warfare of the Tyrant of Europe A system of Warfare which will be depicted by the faithful Pen of the Historian, in the blackest colours a warfare by "Decrees, and Orders in Council," dastardly attacking, the humble Cottage the Comforts the subsistance of unoffending women and children, instead of meeting in an open and honourable conflict the armed Battalions of your enemy in the field. Let her return to the safe and honourable course of public law, which she has abandoned, and treat with the United States on terms of reciprocity, equally honourable and beneficial to both countries. A Treaty of Peace between the two nations, founded on such principles, will concilliate the Citizens of the United States and they will consider Great Britain as their real Friend. " ' My dear Sir, for Heaven's sake pause and from the elevated situa- tion on which your Sovereign has placed you, contemplate agonising nations at the feet of a Military Despot ; and say, if it is not necessary, that Great Britain and the United States, at this momentous crisis of the world, should lay aside unfounded Jealousies, and mutual bickerings, not only to protect their own existance as independant nations but to pre- serve the civil and political liberties of mankind. I may appeal to your own superior information and understanding. If you are acquainted with any truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the affairs of Nations, an indissoluble union between the generous maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and happiness.' " This nefarious and profligate system of the Orders in Council as con- nected with the licence trade, must however be attributed to the Min- ister, not to the nation. In the first enactment of these Orders, the measure was opposed by many of the best informed men in and out of Parliament; and when I was in London in 1810, I did not meet with one man, even among the Friends of the Minister, who could defend the Act on principles of Justice and sound policy in fact, such was the clamour against the Minister on account of the orders in Council, that himself contemplated having them revoked before the meeting of Parliament. And that such was actually his intention is confirmed by the last Letter of Mr Foster to Mr Monroe previous to our unfortunate declaration of war, 140 HppenMx in which he observes, ' It was France and afterwards America that con- nected the question relative to the Right of blockade with that arising out of the Orders in Council. You well know, that if these two questions had not been connected together the Orders in Council would have been in 1810 revoked.' Unfortunately for the Peace of our country, not content with the revocation of the Orders in Council as dictated by the law of Congress of May 1810 Mr Pinkney in his letter to Lord Welles- ley of Sepr 21 1 8 10 demands a Repeal not only of the Blockade from Elbe to Brest, but of those of Zealand, and of the Isles of Mauritius and Bourbon, and in his letter of January i4th 1811 to the Same Minister, he speaks also of other blockades, (including that of the Island of Zealand) which the United States expected to see Recalled, besides the blockade of May. In this Letter he suggests an idea, directly calculated, and per- haps designed to allarm the British Ministry, as to the ulterior views of our Government, on the subject of Blockade in general, and to discourage them from a compliance with our demands concerning the blockade of May. He observes, ' It is by no means clear, that it may not be fairly contended that a maratime blockade is incomplete with regard to States at peace, unless the Place which it would affect, is invested by land as well as by sea.' Apprehensive that some shuffling conduct of this kind would be the result of an official communication with Mr Pinkney, I urged in my letter to Sir John Sinclair, and to other gentlemen in London with whom I conversed ; that the King & Council should voluntarily, and immediately remove, or suspend the Orders in Council, not only as an act of Justice to the United States, but as a measure of sound Policy with regard to the British nation ; as tending to silence the Jealous, and strengthen the well disposed real American Citizens in the United States. "When I contemplate the Jealousies, and mutual acts of irritation, which for some years have taken place between the United States and Great Britain, and which have finally terminated in a war equally injuri- ous to both nations : I consider both in the wrong. "A genuine history of the Errors and Follies of the American and British Cabinets towards each other, would form an important and in- structive work. Governments would discover, that cupidity, cunning, 141 Hppenfcii and vindictive retalliation, have always been attended by the most per- nicious effects. Let those Statesmen who have conceived such notions of governing, go to the School of common sense, and abandoning the odious maxims of Machiavelian politics, take as their guide the pure and open principles of Him who preached the Doctrine of Peace and Good Will towards man. To be sensible of misconduct is the first step towards amendment : but this will be looked for in vain, from men despising the admonitions of experience, and who appear ignorant that the strongest evidence of a magnanimous mind is, the acknowledgment of error. " The Present is an aweful Period : the Judgments of the Almighty are abroad on the earth, to recall its thoughtless inhabitants to a sense of their duty, whoever has marked the progress and seriously reflected on the consequences of the events which have convulsed every part of Europe, must be blinded with more than common scepticism to doubt this truth. The miseries under which the European world is groaning have been but partially extended to the United States Let us hope therefore that we shall be wise before it is too late, and that our councils may be guided by prudence, and their decrees founded in justice Let the present calamities we experience, and the blot which this miserable war has thrown athwart our prospects, induce the President to use his best efforts to restore peace to our country. Should he continue the un- necessary war in which we are engaged, even to the conquest of Canada from the British, and Florida from Spain, at the expence of millions of money, and the loss of thousands of our fellow Citizens, will such evils be balanced by the acquisition of new territories, the possession of which will remain as baneful monuments of our ambition and injustice : and will cherish and keep alive those seeds of envy, hatred and distrust which sooner or later will produce the same miseries with which the United States are now impeded. " It may be generally observed that the larger the extent of Republics, the more they have been subjected to Revolutions and misfortunes. Already the Citizens of the United States inhabiting the Southern and Northern portions of the Republic, regard each other with jealousy and suspicion. What then of Concord, can be expected in our Councils from the heterogenous population of Canada & Florida ? On this ac- 142 HppenMi count I am not afraid to say, that in the present situation of the United States, it is almost equally unhappy for its Government to succeed, or miscarry in its enterprises of Conquest. The tranquillity of our Repub- lican government depends upon preserving it within its present limits. We enjoy every advantage of extent of territory, climate and soil to make us completely independent and happy, therefore the true Interest of the United States is, to render its own interior condition such as may make it not only independent of, but respected by other nations ; This is only difficult to Statesmen, who can conceive no other method to effect it, than war and violence methods that ought never to be pursued, with- out the most absolute necessity. " In your Friendly Letter, you observe, ' I repeat therefore that if you can suggest what may lead to a just peace, I will willingly communicate it to the proper functionaries.' Let the Government of the United States adopt a candid and just as well as magnanimous conduct to allay the storm which its own imprudence in hastily declaring war has occa- sioned. Let the President immediately propose an armistice, as a pre- lude to Negotiation. Let him nominate three Citizens of honourable minds, unbiased by personal or party feelings, as Commissioners to re- store peace and harmony between the two Governments. I am perfectly satisfied from personal communications with many of the most respect- able, and best informed men in England, that if such a measure is adopted, Peace will be obtained, honourable and beneficial to all parties. The rashness of the United States has silenced our friends in Great Britain but has not destroyed them They will again appear to support our just claims consistent with the honour and vital interest of that nation. "Whatever may be the corruption of the British parliament, or the influence of the Crown, the weight of public opinion is Friendly to the United States, and that opinion when steadily, firmly, and temperately sustained, ultimately prevails over the projects of the most obstinate and conceited Minister. I wish the President to act like an able States- man, whose views are not confined within the narrow circle of those short sighted politicians by whom he is surrounded Let him employ his influence and power to restore the blessings of Peace to our distracted Hppenbti country. No other enterprise can be to him so truly honourable and successful. " Some of my observations may appear to you severe but those are the best Friends to their Country, who have firmness of mind to point out errors, when there is a possibility of their being removed. "Accept assurances " of my Friend-ship "GEO: LOGAN. "THOMAS JEFFERSON ESQR." 144 APPENDIX IV Ube Xetters ot 3obn Httcfetnson THE personal relations between Dr. Logan and Mr. Dickinson were very close and intimate, and their political opinions were evidently formed on the same model. While Dr. Logan was a Senator of the United States he was in the habit of submitting every measure of impor- tance which came before that body to the judgment of Mr. Dickinson. The letters which follow are valuable as indicating Mr. Dickinson's views upon many questions of historical importance, and they acquire a special interest from the evident eagerness of Dr. Logan to be instructed by the wise, enlightened patriotism of such a man as John Dickinson. They seem to form part of the political education of Dr. Logan, and are given here with a view of illustrating that subject. (From John Dickinson, Esq., to Dr. George Logan.} " WILMINGTON the igth of the I2th mo 1801 " MY DEAR KINSMAN, Thy several letters with their inclosures are re- ceived, and I am much obliged by thy kind attentions. "At last I have the high satisfaction of congratulating thee on thy Election by the legislature of Pennsylvania, and in so honourable manner. "Almost at the same instant that I received thy pleasing intelligence, thy letter arrived announcing the Election of General Sumter as Senator from South Carolina. "It would be difficult to describe the sensations which the two joyful concurrent events produced in my mind. "I have not the desired pleasure of knowing the General, but his eminently gallant services during the revolutionary War, and his excel- lent speech in Congress in 1 798 in favour of militia, have filled my mind with exceedingly great esteem for him. " I hope and trust, that there is such a collection of sound heads and good hearts in those to whom the ' ardua negotia' of our country are now US HppenMi committed, that their proceedings will be reputable to themselves and beneficial to their fellow citizens. There is nothing to be apprehended but from too much ardour and too much haste. " {From John Dickinson, Esq., to Dr. George Logan.*) " MY DEAR KINSMAN, I have received three letters from thee with inclosures, for which I am much obliged to thee. "Our sentiments entirely agree on the subjects mentioned. " Long since I communicated to the President my ideas, respecting the cultivation of a most Friendly connection with Russia as well as with the other Northern powers. "As to that panacea for all political evils, an effectual militia, I cannot say anything stronger than those Reflections that have been already published. " The expressions ' high degree of Security weakness, Jealousy, Con- fusion, Misfortune attendant &c' excite alarm. " If the circumstances thus alluded to, are to prevent our becoming an Armed Nation, We had better break up our constitutional compact and acknowledge to the world, that we want wisdom and virtue enough to continue a free people. " I am now past seventy, so that I may expect in a short time to be re- moved from the scenes that are to take place on this Globe : but, I have Relations and Friends, that bind Me to it by the Tenderest Strongest ties. "All these, in defiance of every danger apprehended from 'Jealousy' and suspicion of every kind, I would cheerfully commit for their safety to Me an object of unutterable value to a well prepared militia.* " The-propriety of keeping up a small army is denied by none. As to that nation so loved by thee and myself, they seem to have given them- selves up with a wild infatuation to be the Tools of inordinate ambition in their present Leader Esteemed People ! Thy Blood and the earnings of thy honest Labours are again to be poured out, that thy unfeeling masters may revel in Pride and voluptuousness. * " After having seen what the Militia of a free Country, when aroused in its defence can accomplish, I shall never dread an invasion when I see our own in arms." General Burgoyne in the House of Commons. 146 Hppenfctr "I do not recollect any late event that gives me so much pleasure as the diplomatic appointment of that great and good man Monroe, tho' I am not personally acquainted with him. Thou knows how well disposed I have always been towards aliens emigrating to this country ; but, I must confess, that the present application hurts Me. " Five years form a period short enough, in general, for establishing a due attachment to the Interests of these States. " I am thy truly affectionate Cousin "JOHN DICKINSON. " WILMINGTON "the nth of the ad month 1803." (Letter of Mr. Dickinson.') [Without a date, but supposed to have been written in 1804.] " Would it not be reasonable, and very advantageous to the United States to retain, at least during the present war, larger sums than they now do, on the amount of the Drawback on all goods exported ? " Are there not among us great Numbers of European Merchants, who avail themselves of the Benefit of our Neutrality without rendering due compensation for the same to these States ? " Ought not these compensations to be made ? " Does not a vast Mass of property continually travel in this manner, to and from Europe and these States, and between these states, and the East Indias? Is not a prodigious portion of this Commerce carried on by European Merchants, with very little actual change of property ? " Would not the Reservation of larger sums as above mentioned, be equitable with respect to real Citizens of these States, especially consid- ering what large profits are thrown into their Hands by the position of Neutrality which this Country has taken, and how superior those advan- tages thus vested in them are, to any in which their fellow Citizens par- ticipate ? " If the inclosed observations are approved by thee, I wish them to be communicated to the Secretary of the Treasury, or so diposed of by thee as shall be judged most proper. " I am thy affectionate Cousin." 147 (From the same to the same.~) " MY DEAR KINSMAN, I am much obliged to thee for thy Letter of the a6th of last month, and the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury. "I contemplate with delight the Regularity, the consistancy, and the power, with which our affairs seem to be advancing towards a well ordered and firmly established commonwealth, and with gratitude the exertions of Virtues and Talents from which under Providence so many benefits have been and are likely to be derived. How much public and private happiness does such a combination of excellent qualities, embrace and cherish ! I have used the words ' seem to be' and ' likely' because in my opinion founded on the History of Mankind in all ages and all countries, a free people cannot preserve their Liberty unless they are an armed People ; and when I consider the present and probable state of our Militia, a thick gloom spreads over my mind. If we continue so inactive as we now are, to this Paladium of our Rights and Interests, and so en- chanted with the delusions of ease and money, the time will come ' How my Heart trembles while my Tongue relates,' when our temporary defence will depend on a standing army, which finally will be the death of Freedom. Then the dreadful truth will be acknowledged by our betrayed posterity that a Jefferson, a Madison, and a Gallatin, have lived and laboured in vain. " My Principles, I hope are recollected. With all my abhorresce for War, I hold it to be guilt of the deepest dye not to defend to the ' ultima conata' the Blessings which our adorable Creator has bestowed upon us. It is part of a Freeman's Religion. " ... I am glad to hear of his studies. I hope he will aspire to the best and greatest things. Such a Resolution strengthens the Mind, and in a manner insures success. ' I call that' says Milton ' a complete and generous education, which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously, all the offices, both public and private, of Peace and War.' "Attending to the formation of such a character, I would recommend 148 HppenMi to every young gentleman an intimate acquaintance with these Books Locke's Works, Tillotson's Sermons, Isaac Barrow's Treatises, Burnet's History of the Reformation and of his own Time, Paley's Natural Theol- ogy, Evidences of the Christian Religion and Moral Philosophy Tully's Offices Grotious de Veritate Rapin's History of England and Tindal's continuation, to these should be added Milton's Poems, and a course of experimental Philosophy. " With the warmest wishes for the happiness of thyself and those who are justly precious to thee, I am " thy affectionate cousin "JOHN DICKINSON " WILMINGTON the " Ijth of the I2th mo 1804." (From the same to the same.} " MY DEAR KINSMAN, It appears to me from the 4th and 6th articles of our federal Constitution, and from a combination of relative cir- cumstances, that Louisiana may be admitted into the Union as a State without an Amendment of the Constitution, and without receiving the Consent of the individual States, originally forming the compact. "But I trust in the wisdom and firmness of Congress, that in the exertion of this power, it will not be hurried or Driven into any meas- ures, which it would not have deliberately and calmly adopted, if it had not been threatened. " My opinion is desired on the other question. " If Congress has not ' a power to prevent the sailing of private armed ships out of the ports of the United States,' I don't see how it can have a power to prevent ' Piracies' which the Constitution gives it ' power to de- fine and punish.' To what consequences does an opposite Doctrine lead ? To sacrifice our Peace to the inordinate love of Money in some individuals ; and what is much worse, to dishonour our character in the estimation of other nations. "I am sensible of my own weakness and want of information, and therefore wh ?n I differ from Congressional proceedings, to which so many Virtues and Talents have been parties, My Dissent is mingled with respect. 149 HppenMi "But how shall I express the conflict in my mind between that Dissent and that Respect, when I think that venerable Body adopts a conduct highly disgraceful to our Country ? " What is the true meaning of Congress as to the Trade complain'd of? Is it intended to put a stop to it? No It is profitable to some indi- viduals. Is it admitted that the Trade is contrary to the Law of Nations ? No for then to be sure, we must forbid it. Is it acknowledged that the Revolters against France are an Independant People ? No not in words, but in Fact we will deal with them as such. Does not this Trade furnish them with the Means of resisting France ? Yes. If the Blacks of Jamaica or any other Island, should renounce obedience to the Government of the Island, and seize strong grounds would not the citizens of these States be as Justifiable in supplying them with arms, ammunition &c as in supplying the Revolters against France with these Articles? To be sure. Will Congress make such a Declaration ? No : But they will assume it as a Principle of conduct for their country. " Let us candidly enquire, if there is not an appearance of Duplicity in the proceedings of Congress on this subject. The language of their Acts ought to be clear, so that there may be no ambiguity : that, in the present Instance, under a thin outside of provisions is concealed an actual arma- ment of her Enemies against France. To conclude this disagreeable Tragicomedy of errors, let it only be added, that the ' Clearance Bill' is a real sanction of the Trade in its worst aspects Forms only being observed. "As to the Judge, however I may have been hurt by his Behaviour on the Bench, I cannot decide on his guilt, untill all the Evidence shall appear. " WILMINGTON the 2jd of the First month 1805." (Extracts of Letters of the ?th and nth of February, iSoj. .) "I am very glad that in my late letter to thee, before I knew of the Documents that had been presented to our Government, I expressed myself so fully and earnestly respecting our behaviour as a neutral nation. Do let us speak the language of candid men, and act as a People who believe that ' Honesty is the best Policy.' HppenMi "It is too much, that the dignity, the Peace, the Prosperity of these States should be sacrificed to the cupidity of Individuals. "We shall be justly scorned by mankind, if we persevere any longer in Duplicity of conduct. We have worn the Mask too long. The Busi- ness is before the Senate and I rely on their Integrity, Wisdom and Patri- otism to vindicate the cause of our country. ' ' I rejoice to hear of the safe arrival of the young folks, after the alarming adventure at Principio Creek. Ought not the Post Roads to be made less dangerous than they now are ? " I thank thee for thy Letter of the 7th and the Packets. "As the Historian has engaged in his Letter to thee to 'render me the Justice to which I am entitled' Respect for his character demands my Reliance on his Honour for the performance of his Promise. "The Mode of proceeding as to the Trade complained of, ought undoubtedly to be clear and decisive. The President's message certainly intended such a mode ; and the Legislature ought to act up to his fair and just Ideas. I want words to express my feelings on the conduct of others in departing from them. "The Trade ought according to thy Plan to be utterly prohibited under heavy Penalties, to any part of the Island held by the Blacks who have Revolted from France. Our Measures seem to be calculated for rendering us detestable to the French and despicable to other nations. " Must the Happiness of these States be surrendered to the rapacious discretion of one class of Citizens ? Some Hope yet remains of better Things." {From the same.) " MY DEAR KINSMAN, I am much obliged to thee for thy Letter of the thirteenth Instant. The disposition of the Chief Justice is such as I expected from him ; and I trust the error will be rectified in such a manner that the correction will accompany it by being inserted in the Work. " From some words in thy letter^I apprehend that one of mine has mis- carried. In that I expressed my wish that all trade with the revolted Blacks might be prohibited. " I observe in the Papers a Statement made to which I do not accede. BppenMr It is therein supposed, that the Blacks are an independent, belligerent power, and that we have a Right to supply them with any article not being contraband. " Considering the Title of France to the Island, our past and present Relations to her, and a variety of other highly important circumstances, this assertion seems to me to be dictated by the eagerness of a commercial Spirit degenerating into an all-confounding Rapacity. View the position in all its bearings and then be pleased to consider to what deductions, and to what outrages, Injuries and sufferings it will lead, and how much our Reputation must be affected. " If our Counsels are to be warped from a Strait Course by the violence of peculation, we are a lost people. " I am thy very affectionate Cousin, "JOHN DICKINSON " WILMINGTON, i8th of the 2d mo 1805." {Extract of a Letter of the 6th of the Eighth Month, 1805.*) "All circumstances here and in Europe point out the conduct, we ought at present to observe. Time and a more correct estimate of Interest as well as of character, will produce the Justice we are bound to expect. " I should therefore wish that our President might be requested by the Senate to continue his negotiations with Spain, for the purpose of termi- nating, if possible, the differances between us and her in an amicable manner." "WILMINGTON, igth 1 2th mo 1805. " MY DEAR KINSMAN, I have read the Message again and again, and the more I study it the less I like the most important sections of it. Perhaps future communications may throw light on the dark parts. At present they are obscured by a very portentous Gloom. Particulars are not brought into view ; but they must be outrageous indeed to correspond with the Language that has been used in referring to them. Surely, we are not to be plunged into a war, on account of such characters as the Kempfers. "The Idea that occurs to me is this that our Government has com- 152 HppenMx mitted moraentuous Errors in the Negotiation with Spain, which cannot well be retracted, and now endeavour to cover them by an excitement of national passion. I have not the least doubt, but that we have im- properly alarmed and provoked her. " The Western Limits of Louisiana have never been ascertained by any Treaties, antient maps, or Documents, that have come to my hands : yet, I have reason to believe, that our late claims extend to the Rio Brave, otherwise called the River of the North. "Then again to the North Westward, our claims as far as I am in- formed, are founded on Arbitary Inferences from equivocal Premises Whether Becoming a great, just, and generous Nation, I trust, will be most solemnly considered. "Perhaps, without deciding on the property of that vast Country, or even in allowing the property of the greater part of it to be in Spain, the only Benefit that for ages can be derived from it, that is a Right of trading with the Indian Tribes that inhabit it, might be secured to these states. "As to our Eastern boundary, if it cannot be now finally established, it seems to me, that at least a Convention might be made for quieting the possessions of both parties, untill it can be established. This measure has frequently been adopted by nations differing about their boundaries. " Devoted as I am to the Executive, it is painful to Me to feel myself compelled to think as I do, on the present State of our affairs. " To rush into war at this time for Wildernesses beyond the River Mexicano, or on the remote waters of the Missouri, would be, in my opinion, madness. We want them not. We can hereafter have as much Territory as we ought to desire. Nothing is so likely to prevent such acquisitions as the seeking them too eagerly, unreasonably, and con- temptuously. In the natural course of things, we shall, if wise gradually become irresistable, and the people will rise into our population. Let us patiently wait for this inevitable Progression ; and not deprive ourselves of the golden Eggs that will be laid for us, by destroying in a con- temptuous and cruel Frenzy the Bird, that if left to itself will from Day to Day supply them. "If thy sentiment on this subject accords with mine, let me most " 153 HppenMi ardently entreat thee to make the strongest and most incessant exertions, to bring over others to approve and act upon them. Not a moment is to be lost. "I have been looking over some parts of Fabius's Letters, in which a just value for the Blessings of Peace is contrasted with the blind Rage for War, and the superior advantage of Negotiation over Arms is stated, and if the Republication of them at this period, appears to thee as seasonable as they do to me, I shall be exceedingly obliged to thee for having these portions published again in some newspaper at Washington. Vol. 2d p. 271. from these words ' It is a mournful but" &c. to the end of page 272 and then Letter i5th from its beginning page 273, to these words in page 280, ' or any other had." "Before I close this Letter, I must recall thy attention to the impolitic and dishonourable Trade to St Domingo. Renew, I beseech thee, in due season, thy motion to prohibit that Trade entirely. Our Rapacity in that Respect, and our ambition in acquiring Territory, will destroy our Peace, our wellfare, our Reputation. " Let us never forget how Essential a character for Moderation is to the Happiness of a Republic, nor the dreadful Comment made upon it by the league of Cambray. " I am very truly &c &c. " JOHN DICKINSON. " Thy second Letter with the Documents is received. Is my late Letter to thee received ?' ' * (From the same to the same.} " WILMINGTON, the ist ist mo 1806. " MY DEAR KINSMAN, I thank thee for the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, and for thy Letter of the 26th of last month. Nothing that has occurred has surprised me. Long since I perceived symptoms of Errors tending to confusion. "Let us still Hope. " I wish the Author (Chief Justice Marshall) to be informed that I am very sensible of the candour, with which he has been pleased to rectify the Note in the second volume of his work. * This letter does not appear. 154 HppenMi " What I thought were Errors in General Washingtons Conduct as a Commander and as a Statesman, I never imputed to a want of abilities, but for want of that Information which a more extensive acquaintance with History would have afforded. " However, I always considered him as a truly great and good man. " His Honesty and Firmness throughout our severe Contest, establish his Character in a most endearing Light. "I had a strong conviction of the Difficulties he had to encounter; but, yet I had not such a knowledge of his Merits in the services he ren- dered to his country, as I have had since. I read the second volume of the History now publishing. His Memory must be affectionately cher- ished by every true American, by every Friend to Liberty. "Among the Elegancies of Grecian Literature, their funeral Inscrip- tions were remarkable for Brevity, Simplicity and Tenderness of sen- timent. "As a sample, I will only refer to the Inscription on the Monument erected to the Spartans who fell at Thermopylae ' Traveller ! Tell at Sparta, that we lye here in Obedience to her Laws. ' "Animated by the subject, I endeavoured to imitate such compositions in the following Lines " Stay Passenger ! The Dust that rests below Was once named Washington. Reflect, now go?' " WILMINGTON 30th of the 1st month 1806. "My DEAR KINSMAN, I thank thee for thy Letter of the 25th the In- closures, and the Pamphlet, and shall be obliged to thee for presenting my thanks to the Vice President. "I have great Reliance on the Prudence and Justice of Congress. " It would pierce my heart with grief, if we should give other nations any cause to believe us a rapacious captious People. " Several things have hurt my mind : But our country has not yet de- cided. Of this important point we may be assured, that France is bound by Treaties, to guarantee the Possession and claims of Spain. " Clear and straight as is the path pointed out to us by Policy and honour, yet when I consider our Conduct respecting the infamous San 155 Hppenfcii Domingo Trade, I tremble. I rejoice that the advocates for thy Bill are increasing. Among the arguments of its opposers, I could not forbear smiling at the acuteness which discovered how pitiably ignorant the French are of their own Interests, for that it was really for their benefit that we should supply the Blacks with Powder and Ball to knock them on the Head. How sophisticated are the Doctrines of Vice ! How simple the Precepts of Truth ! " Permit me to call thy attention to the Militia Bill. Some Friends here are apprehensive, that it may in its present form bear hard upon their society. " Thou knows, how Strong is the obligation to preserve from all needless suffering, such a respectable, peaceable and useful class of Citizens. " I am thy truly affectionate Cousin, "JOHN DICKINSON. " GEORGE LOGAN ' ' Senator in Congress. ' ' (Another letter of nearly the same date.} " This is my second Letter of this week. In my last I intended to en- quire of thee, whether thy Bill was Strong enough to make a total prohi- bition of the infamous traffic it was designed to prevent. " Suppose the thirst of gain should tempt men to carry it on without clearances, what Laws of these States would they thereby violate, and to what penalties would they be liable ? " If any further provisions are necessary to compleat thy just and poli- tic plan, can they not be introduced in the House of Representatives as Amendments ? "There plays sometimes before my Mind an Image of Policy so pure, so wise, so benignant, that I am charmed by its beauties. "Britain falsely ambitious, and foolishly rapacious, Britain once had it in her power to render it the Palladium of her Happiness. She spurned the heavenly present from her. Let the calamities that, since her impious conduct, have been incessantly worrying her, be a warning to other nations. 156 " We now have it in our own power, to practise this glorious Policy, and to become Blessings to Mankind. Yet my Hope that we shall em- brace it, is almost hopeless Perhaps, there are more than I know of, that possess thy Uprightness. " I am thy affectionate Cousin, " JOHN DICKINSON " GEORGE LOGAN " Washington." {From the same.} " 6th of the 2d mo 1806. " I have read the Examination of the British Doctrine, which in my opinion displays Genius and Information, tho' the Interpolation of the sentiments of Jurists, and the construction of Public Documents seem sometimes to be overstrained. "We have distressing difficulties to encounter; and I dread our committing ourselves in some rash act, prompted by a partial view of things. " What Patriotism will there be in adopting the dictates of Passion, for securing, if thereby they can be secured, the short-lived profits of a sickly Policy ? " Let us look at the State of the World. Every advantage we bestow on France, is a weakening of Britain, already tottering under the mighty contest. Her calculations of aid are all failing. Her Resources appear to be withering to the very roots. " Will it be wise in us to increase her Burthens, and accelerate her Fall ? Will not her Ruin inevitably draw down others with her in the tremendous Crash ? " Does the Happiness of the great Body of American Citizens depend on our carrying on a Trade in War, which we have not been permitted, and never shall be permitted to carry on in peace ? No. " Our business is to treat, and strive to agree upon some Plan of Ac- commodation. " I perceive Tempers of various kinds so prevailing in Hostility to what I have been taught to regard as Wisdom, that my Hopes of national Prosperity are considerably diminished But I will not despair. 157 HppenMr " May Heaven Bless our Representatives with soundness of Under- standing. " I am thy truly affectionate Cousin "JOHN DICKINSON. "GEO: LOGAN " Senator in Congress. ' ' (From the same.} " 1 2th of the 2d mo 1806. "My DEAR KINSMAN, T am perplexed by thy Question on the third Resolution, on every side, not only difficulties but distresses present themselves. We have to contend with a high-spirited, afflicted People. Their situation will render them more than usually obstinate. They seem likely for a while to stand at Bay with the World. " We may easily advance upon them with Boldness, but if Retreat becomes necessary, 'hie Labor, hoc opus Est.' " Should they obstinately persist in a Claim and a Conduct founded on it, which we think unjust and hostile, the Resistance } to be made by ' Boots, shoes, Glass, Ribbons, &c,' promise no very successful achieve- ment. The Enumeration seems to be dictated by cool mercantile calcu- lation, and not by the generous warm burst of national Indignation. That would prompt a total prohibition to commence at a reasonable dis- tance of Time. But this measure will not, I suppose, be adopted. " I do not like temporary provisions. Cannot some Principle be dis- covered that will be permanent and beneficial. If such a Principle can- not be discovered, I should incline to nothing more at present but to treat. This can be done in so firm a manner as to convince our adver- saries, that our negotiation is but the forerunner of more effectual meas- ures, for which in the mean time we shall be preparing. And that the vigor of our exertion will be proportioned to the patience of our en- durance. So they found it in our Revolution. " Be pleased to present my respects to Joel Barlowe, and my thanks for his Pamphlet. " I am &c &c. " JOHN DICKINSON. " GEO : LOGAN Senator in Congress 11 158 HppenMi {From the same.} " 26th 2d mo 1806. " MY DEAR KINSMAN, I am obliged to thee for thy Letter of the 24th and the Inclosures. The addition of the two last Paragraphs appear to me to be improper "Of the diplomatic character of the person mentioned, I never had any high opinion. He seems very desirous of doing something in the learned way without knowing what to do " The Bill concerning Coins * leads directly to the Remedy of a growing evil. Go on, my dear Friend, and do all the good thou can. "lam&c." {Extract of a Letter from the same, dated 7 th of Third Month, 1806.) "I am exceedingly pleased with the purity and Prudence of thy poli- tics ; and am amazed at the Errors that have been committed by men of eminent Talents and great Integrity. "In the course of my life, I have frequently had occasion to remark that men of splendid Talents have been deficient in Soundness of Judg- ment ; and as often in a knowledge of mankind. These defects are not seldom felt by Nations. " I hope thy Son will emulate his Father." {Part of a Letter from John Dickinson, Esq., to Dr. Logan.} " 3ist of the 3d mo 1806. " As far as I am capable of Judging, there has been an Overstraining in our affairs, and to such a degree, that the greatest prudence will be re- quired, for relaxing with honour & safety. " As to our disputes with Britain I think, that the death of Pitt, and * This relates to a bill which Dr. Logan introduced into the Senate, entitled " A Bill for the Punishment of Persons counterfeiting the Current Coin of the United States, and for other purposes," one of which purposes was the suppression of a regular mint which some rapacious individuals had established in Baltimore for the coinage of Portuguese money. This they in some way made conducive to their own profit. And it was upon this occasion that a Senator from Maryland told Dr. Logan that he was too honest a man to be in public life. 159 HppenMi the appointment of a new Ministry, open to us such prospects of accomo- dation, that all Resolutions respecting a stoppage of commercial inter- courses should be suspended ; and that it should be perfectly understood, that suspension takes place in consequence of the hopes we entertain of a truly Friendly disposition of the present Ministry towards us ; more es- pecially as we observe among them men, whose generous and uniform exertions in favour of Liberty and the Happiness of Mankind, have long endeared them to the People of these States. As to our controversies with Spain they appear to have proceeded from our mistakes and im- periousness. We have unnecessarily and imprudently irritated and alarmed her. "We might almost as reasonably quarrel with her for Lands in the Moon, as for the Wildernesses beyond the Mississipi. " The Spaniards are a Nation who value Honour very highly. It is a Temper that ought to be highly Respected by others. To wound them in this respect is cruel and unwise. In our negotiations with them a par- ticular attention should be paid to this part of their character. " It was my wish in the commencement of these negotiations. We should have frankly told them, that for the establishment of our western boundaries upon Principles of mutual Respect and benefit, we would con- tent ourselves with the River Mexicano, laid down in several maps as the Boundary of Louisiana up to the 3oth degree of Latitude, and thence with a strait line to the source of the Missisippi, with the priviledge of trading with the Indian nations on the western side of the Boundaries so to be established or with some such limits. In this manner, if the proposition should be adopted, we should gain a large Territory which we do not want, and to which any addition would be superfluous. "As to our Eastern Boundaries, the best thing that can be done, I pre- sume will be by liberal Cessions on the Western side of the Missisippi, and by a liberal Price to bargain for all the Floridas. If they cannot be thus obtained, then to get as much as we can of those parts that would be most convenient to us. "If in their turn they should choose to behave too haughtily, they ought most solemnly to be warned against measures that may drive us into a connection with Great Britain. A Policy that would strike directly at 1 60 HppenMi the heart of their Colonies. (A defaced sentence follows, which seems to urge the necessity of possessing the Floridas, and glances at the probable Independence of Spanish America.)" (From John Dickinson to Dr. Logan.} " WILMINGTON I7th I2th mo 1806. " MY DEAR COUSIN, Accept my thanks for thy kind attentions. I am waiting for explanations that are to determine, whether we have reason to rejoice or to mourn for the situation of our affairs. " The perseverance in the non-importation act after advice received of the favourable change in the British Ministry, appeared to me on several accounts an improper measure. Now we are to tack about. "So it was as to the Saint Domingo Trade. We persisted in it weakly and wickedly, till a little Note enlightened us. We then were obliged to tack about. " So it was as to our unjustifiable claims on Spain. She resented them, with perhaps unexpected spirit : and accordingly we have tacked about again. '' In the Present State of affairs, I should approve a suspension rather than a Repeal. " I am thy truly affectionate Kinsman " JOHN DICKINSON " WILMINGTON " the I7th of the I2th "month 1806." (Part of a Letter from John Dickinson without date ; but written at a time when the House of Representatives had made a call on the President for Papers and Documents the disclosure of which was judged to be wholly improper at that period.} "The proceedings of the House of Representatives gives me great pain of Mind. There is a wildness in them prognosticating evil to Re- publican forms of Government. " It appears to me that disappointed passion in some, and an abject courtship of popular favour in others, have superceded a regard for public faith and national dignity. 161 HppenMi "What sacrifices of honor and Prudence have been made to gratify a precocious Curiosity ! And what Pity it is that a Man who might emulate Demosthenes, should be so infatuated as to act the part of a Zoilus. " I read his speeches, to borrow an expression from Tacitus ( Plaudens ac mcerens.' "Negotiations in progression, but not yet completed, for the manage- ment of which constitutional authorities are established and are competent, must now be published to the world, 'tho' the publication cannot possibly do any Good, but on the contrary, may do much Harm by provoking other powers. I shall not be surprised if they refuse to treat with us at all, and ' manage their own affairs in their own way' Surely, if we were to be influenced by Reason and Love of Country, we might rely on the Virtues and Talents of our President, for ably and honestly discharging the duties of his office ; and if, mortal as he is, he should in any point happen to be mistaken, certainly the two legislative Bodies might check the Error, before it could do mischief. " But, it seems, that this regular and Safe Mode of going on will not satisfy some political Newlights. "Their violence will overwhelm us with confusion if it is not re- strained. " To the Senate I look for Relief. "In the Convention at Philadelphia in 1787, I proposed that Branch, with an equal Representation therein of every State assenting, in con- sideration of such a provision, to the Establishment of the other Branch, on another Principle. "Be firm Ye Depositaries of delegated Sovereignties ' Fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus.' "If a Frenzy agitates a portion of your Country, remain steady Time will assuredly come to your aid Truth will vindicate you and enlight- ened Gratitude succeed to blind Resentment." (From John Dickinson, Esq., to Dr. Logan.*) " MY DEAR COUSIN, I thank thee for the Letter and Inclosures ; and I hope the President's Conduct will meet with universal approbation. To Me it appears to have been exactly what it ought to have been. 162 HppenMr "Upon this alarm, how all-important ts a general Militia thoroughly prepared for Action proved to be. " Unless such a Militia shall be soon established, our Liberties will be unstable as the clouds. This must be, and this alone under Providence can be, a solid foundation for them. " However, I observe this salutary Truth so little attended to by my fellow Citizens, that my expectation of happiness for these States is some- times almost extinguished. Let me entreat thee, to excite our sleeping Countrymen to an indispensably necessary Vigilence. " I am thy sincerely affectionate Kinsman, "JOHN DICKINSON." (From John Dickinson, Esq., to Dr. Logan.*) "My DEAR COUSIN, Has thou ever seen a more appropriate public Paper, than the Presidents last Proclaimation ? For sentiment, Temper and Language, to Me it appears truly admirable. The Inhabitants of our Town feel as they ought to do on the horrible outrage committed against humanity and our Country. " Tho' I partake of the sensations, I judged it to be suitable to my Age and Infirmities, to take no share in the public Expressions of Prin- ciple and Resentment ; but, my presence at a Town meeting was requested so earnestly and respectfully that I could not without pain, resist the Invi- tation. "I had no share in drafting the Resolutions. They ought to have re- sponded more than they do, with the Presidents firm, calm and dignified Manner. " I am thy affectionate Kinsman, "JOHN DICKINSON. "WILMINGTON " the 7th of the 7th month 1807." Bppenfcii ACTS OF THE FIFTH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. STATUTE COMMONLY CALLED THE "LOGAN ACT." AN ACT FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF CERTAIN CRIMES THEREIN SPECIFIED. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That if any person, being a citizen of the United States, whether he be actually resident, or abiding within the United States, or in any foreign country, shall, without the permission or authority of the government of the United States, directly or indirectly, commence, or carry on, any verbal or written correspond- ence or intercourse with any foreign government, or any officer or agent thereof, with an intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government, or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or defeat the measures of the government of the United States ; or if any person, being a citizen of, or resident within the. United States, and not duly authorized, shall counsel, advise, aid or assist in any such correspondence, with intent, as aforesaid, he or they shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and on con- viction before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and by imprisonment during a term not less than six months, nor exceeding three years : Provided always, that nothing in this act contained shall be con- strued to abridge the right of individual citizens of the United States to apply, by themselves, or their lawful agents, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for the redress of any injuries in relation to person or property which such individuals may have sustained from such govern- ment, or any of its agents, citizens or subjects. Approved, January 30, 1799. 164 APPENDIX V Correspondence between E>r. OLogan ano flilr. fifeaoison [The following letters passed between Dr. Logan and the President previous to Dr. Logan's embarkation for England.] " STENTON Jany roth 1810. " MY DEAR FRIEND, As a Citizen of the United States, I have for several years viewed with considerable anxiety the future destinies of my country. " Every reflecting and candid mind must be sensible of the weakness of a Government deriving its power from popular opinion rather than from Physical force. Such being the situation of the United States, would it not be sound Policy in our Government, not merely to act with strict Justice, but with liberality and even forbearance towards other nations. " During the federal administration under Mr. Adams, a desperate fac- tion were anxious to involve our Country in a war with France. The people viewing the calamities of war with horror, intrusted the fate of their country in the hands of men, who professed maxims of Peace, as the best Policy to promote the happiness and Prosperity of the United States. This desirable situation of our country is like to be jeopardised by our Republican administration giving up their sound Judgment founded on deliberate reflection, to the temporary feelings of popular Resentments roused into energy by the clamours of Unprincipled Demagogues. The superficial legal education of too many of our young men in Congress ; and their habits of quibble and sophistry in our inferior courts, so debase their faculties as to extinguish that generosity of sentiment and candour necessary in the character of a national Legislator. " Our demands on Spain respecting French spoilations out of Spanish Ports, and on account of our claim to West Florida, have been long since declared by the Emperor of France as totally without foundation and we 165 HppenMi have reason to believe they never will be granted, whether we have to negotiate for them with the Spanish or with the French Governments. " Our Prospects with Great Britain, owing to the enflamed state of the public mind is more serious and yet I do not despair if either, or both nations would substitute a just and magnanimous Policy, to suspicion, Jealousy, and cupidity. " In the present aweful crisis of Europe, with the acts, and the ambi- tious views of Buonaparte before us, no man in his senses can doubt of the necessity of the United States preserving Peace with Britain. " I was not satisfied with the rejection of Monroe's Treaty on account of its not having an article stipulating generally for the protection under the American Mercantile Flag, of French Property, and British Deserters. The two federal administrations gave up these points as inconsistent with the Law of Nations. The first, universally acknowledged by the best writers on the law of nations The latter, altho' not particularly ex- pressed, yet consistent with the spirit and intent of that law, as founded on the immutable principle of doing unto others as you would expect others to do to you; is equally binding. Those great national laws, which regard the great Republic of mankind cannot justify such acts as may promote wickedness and lessen the general confidence and security in which all have an equal interest, and which all are therefore bound to maintain. For this reason, no nation has a Right to erect a Sanctuary for fugitives j or give protection to such as have forfeited their lives by crimes against the Law of common morallity or Justice equally acknowl- edged by all nations : because none can without infraction of the univer- sal league of social beings, incite by prospects of impunity and safety, those practices in another dominion, which they themselves punish in their own. According to this fundamental law of nations : What Right has the United States to protect a Deserter from the service of a foreign nation, whilst in the practice of punishing its own citizens guilty of a similar offence. " My heart mourns on account of the political insanity of my country ! Make use of your power and your influence as chief magistrate of the United States to arrest the progress of the destruction of your country. A war with Britain, at once unites us as an ally to Buonaparte, and will dissolve the Union arouse my Friend suffer your superior understanding 166 Hppenbii and Patriotism to prevail banish from our Councils that irratibility of temper and false honour which has tended to widen the breach. " When I had the pleasure of conversing with you lately at Washing- ton, you mentioned to me that you had recently given assurances to the British Government of the desire of the United States to preserve Peace between the two countries, and that you were willing to renew negotia- tions for that purpose at Washington or in London. Confirm this decla- ration by immediately sending two or three Commissioners of the most respectable character to London, for the express purpose of concluding a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce, equally necessary and beneficial to both countries You have a precedent in the Mission of Mr Jay by Gen- eral Washington and a still stronger one in the last mission to France by Mr Adams, an act of magnanimity which obliterates many of his political blunders. " No man, whatever may be his professions, is more desirous of your honour and happiness. ' ' With sentiments of Respect, " I am your Real Friend "GEO: LOGAN. "JAMES MADISON "President U: States." (f. Madison to Dr. Logan.*) " WASHINGTON January lyth 1810 " DEAR SIR, I have received your favour of the loth. Your anxiety that our country may he kept out of the vortex of war, is honourable to your judgment as a patriot, and to your feeling as a man. The same anxiety is, I sincerely believe, felt by the great body of the nation, & by its public councils ; most assuredly by the Executive branch of them. But the question may be decided for us, by actual hostilities against us, or by proceedings, leaving no choice but between absolute disgrace & re- sistance by force. May not also manifestations of patience under injuries & indignities, be carried so far, as to invite this very dilemma ? " I devoutly wish that the same disposition to cultivate peace by means of justice which exists here, predominated elsewhere, particularly in G. B. But how can this be supposed, whilst she persists in proceedings, 167 Bppentni which involve the essence of hostility ; whilst she violates towards us rules, which she enforces against us in her own favour ; more particularly whilst we see her converting the late reconciliation through one of her Ministers, into a source of fresh difficulties & animosities, thro' another : For in this light must be viewed, her disavowal of Mr Erskine, & the im- pressions made thro' his successor. Had the disavowal been deemed essential to her interests, a worse plaister could not have been devised for the wound necessarily inflicted here. But was the disavowal essential to her interests? Was it material to them; taking for the test, her own spontaneous change of system, & her own official language? By the former refer to her orders of April, restricting their original orders against neutrals, to a trade with France & Holland : by the latter, to the conver- sation of Mr Canning with Mr P. [Pinkney] in which he abandons, as he could not but do, two of the conditions which had been contemplated ; & admits that a non-intercourse law here against Holland was not a sine qua non; so that the arrangement of Mr E. [Erskine] was disavowed essen- tially for want of a pledge that our non-intercourse would be continued against France & her dominions. But why disavow absolutely, why at all, on this account ? The law was known to be in force against France at the time of the arrangement. It was morally certain that if put in force against France whilst she was pleading the British orders, it would not be withdrawn, if she should persist in her devices, after being deprived of this plea. " And there could be no fair ground to suppose, that the condition would not be pledged & stipulated, if required, as soon as the requisite authorities here should be together. The disavowal is the more extraor- dinary, as the arrangement was to be respected till the 2oth of July, & therefore with the addition of four or five weeks only, would have afforded an opportunity of knowing the sense of this Govt & of supplying all that was wanted to Satisfy the British Ultimatum. This course was so obvious, & that pursued so opposite, that we are compelled to look to other motives for an explanation, & to include among these a disinclination to put an end to differences from which such advantages are extracted by British commerce & British cruisers. " Notwithstanding all these grounds of discontent & discouragement, we are ready as the B. Govt knows, to join in any new experiment, (& 1 68 HppenMi thro' either our diplomatic channel there, or hers here) for a cordial & comprehensive adjustment of matters between the two countries. " Let reparation be made for the acknowledged wrong commited in the case of the Chesapeak, a reparation so cheap to the wrongdoer, yet so material to the honour of the injured party ; & let the orders in counsil, already repealed as to the avowed object of retaliation, be repealed also as an expedient for substituting an illicit commerce in place of that to which neutrals have, as such, an incontestable right. The way will then be opened for negotiation at large ; & if the B. Govt. would bring into it the same temper as she would find in us ; & the same disposition to insist on nothing inconsistent with the rule of doing as she would, or rather as she will be done by, the result could not fail to be happy for both. " Permit me to remark, that you are under a mistake in supposing that the Treaty concluded by Messrs M & P. was rejected because it did not provide that free ships should make free goods. It never was required nor expected that such a stipulation should be inserted As to deserting seamen, you will find that G. B. practices against us the principles we assert against her, & in fact goes further ; that we have always been ready to enter into a convention on that subject, founded on reciprocity ; & that the documents long since in print show, that we are willing, on the subject of impressment, to put an end to it, by an arrangement which most certainly would be better for the British navy than that offensive re- source, & which might be so managed as to leave both parties at liberty to retain their own ideas of right. Let me add that the acceptance of that Treaty would have very little changed the actual situation of things with G. B. The orders in council would not have been prevented but rather placed on stronger ground ; the case of the Chesapeak, the same as it is ; so also the case of impressments, of fictitious blockades & all as at present, pregnant sources of contention & ill-humour. "From this view of the subject, I cannot but persuade myself, that you will concur in opinion, that if unfortunately, the calamity you so benevolently dread, should visit this hitherto favoured country, the fault will not lie where you would wish it not to lie. " Accept assurances of my esteem & friendship "JAMES MADISON." 12 169 HppenMjt "Jan 19. P. s. Since I reed, your letter of the 10 & whilst the above was undergoing a copy, Yours of the i4th has come to hand, in- forming me of your intention to embark in about 8 days for England ; an intention I presume suddenly formed as it is not alluded to in your first letter. The Secretary of State will avail himself of your polite offer to take charge of communications to our Minister in London ; tho' I fear that your departure may take place before he can be in readiness. I shall myself ask the favor of your attention to a private letter to him, which I shall forward by tomorrow's mail." {Dr. Logan to James Madison. ) " STENTON January 24th 1810, " MY DEAR FRIEND, By the mail of yesterday I received your obliging letter of the lyth. Your sentiments in favour of preserving our country in peace at this momentous crisis, do honor to you as a statesman, & have afforded me the most lively satisfaction. " The political & commercial interests of Great Britain & the United States, demands, that laying aside mutual jealousy & distrust, we should renew our negotiation with frankness candor & forbearance. No man is more sensible of the injurious acts of Britain towards our country than I am. but we have reason to believe from fatal experience, that irritating acts regulating & restricting commerce will not lead to that solid state of peace necessary to the happiness & prosperity of both countries. r " I am disgusted with the miserable policy & horrid barbarous warfare of the present day. By decrees, orders in council, & commercial restric- tions ; dastardly attacking the humble cottage, the comforts, the subsist- ance of unoffending women & children, instead of meeting in an open & honorable conflict the armed battalions of your enemy in the field I wish my country disdaining to follow this wretched system of France & Britain, would remove every obstacle to peace, and appeal to the magnanimity, sound policy & permanent interest of Great-Britain. That country must be sensible of the importance of our commerce to her, & must see the ne- cessity of sacrificing minor temporary considerations, to extensive & per- manent future objects in which both countries are so deeply interested. " Permit me in deference to your better information, to recommend 170 HppenMi Mr. Onis [M : D'Onis] to your more particular notice. The glorious cause of his country which he is sent to represent, merits the good wishes & prayers of every virtuous man. "Your despatches for our minister in London entrusted to my care, I will take charge of with pleasure I expect to take my passage in the Brit- ish packet, which will sail from New York* in about two weeks. " I am with sentiments of great respect " your ffriend " GEO. LOGAN " J.\s. MADISON ESQ., ' ' President of the United States. ' ' {Letter from Dr. Logan to Madison?) " STENTON July 4th 1813. " DEAR SIR, In that spirit of Truth which you so highly and justly appreciate, I have communicated to you my Letters to the American and British Administration, on the all-important subject of restoring Peace and Friendship between the two Governments, particularly necessary at this tremenduous crisis, when a military Despot is contemplating the subju- gation of the whole civilised world. Whilst a member of the Senate at Washington I had frequent opportunities of conversing with Mr Jefferson then President of the United States. I suggested to him the necessity of having a Treaty of commerce and Friendship with Great Britain. I do not remember the precise words made use of, but an impression was made on my mind that Mr Jefferson did not at that time wish a Treaty of Peace and Friendship with England. I perfectly recollect that he terminated a conversation on this subject' by observing that before a Treaty could be ratified with Great Britain, she might no longer exist as an independent nation. I am of opinion that Mr Jefferson declined making a Treaty with England, not from his hatred to that country, but from his fear of the overwhelming power of Buonaparte. "In some degree, the present calamity of our country may be at- tributed to the contracted Policy, and Secrecy of the Executive respecting our foreign relations. I hope the Present Congress will develope every Act of the President and of his ministers, necessary for the information of the People. 171 HppenMr " As to ' the Orders in Council' the ostensible cause of declaring War against Britain, the most objectionable part of them was removed in 1809. The remaining part was contemplated to have been repealed before the meeting of Parliament in 1810. This Information I received whilst in London from Gentlemen connected with the Government. And it is con- firmed by the last Letter of Mr Foster to Mr Monroe, dated ' Washington June i4th 1812,' in which he observes: ' It was France, and afterwards America that connected the Question relative to the right of Blockade with that arising out of the Orders in Council. You well know that if these two Questions had not been united together, the Orders in Council would have been in 1810, Revoked.' Unfortunately for the Peace of our Country, not content with the Revocation of the Orders in Council as dictated by the Law of Congress of May 1810. Mr Pinkney in his Letter to Lord Wellesley of Sep 3ist 1810 demands a Repeal not only of the Blockade from Elbe to Brest, but of those of Zealand, and of the Isles of Mauritius and Bourbon. And in his letter of Jany i4th 1811, to the same Minister, he speaks also of other Blockades (including that of the Island of Zealand) which the United States expected to see Recalled, be- sides the Blockade of May. ' In this letter he suggests an idea directly calculated, and perhaps designed, to allarm the British Minestry as to the ulterior views of our Government on the subject of Blockade in general, and to discourage them from a compliance with our demand concerning the Blockade of May. He observes ' It is by no means clear that it may not be fairly contended that a Maratime Blockade is incomplete with re- gard to States at Peace, unless the Place which it would affect is invested by land as well as by sea. The United States however have called for the recognition of no such Rule. They appear to have contented themselves with urging in substance ' That Ports not actually Blockaded by a Present adequate Stationary force &c &c.' " Apprehensive that some shuffling conduct of this kind would be the result of an official communication with Mr Pinkney, I urged in my Letter to Sir John Sinclair, and to other Gentlemen in London with whom I conversed, that the King should volantarily and immediately, remove, or suspend the ( Orders in Council :' Not only as an Act of Justice to the United States, but as a measure of sound Policy with regard to the British 172 appendix Nation, as tending to silence the jealous, and strengthen the well disposed real American Citizens in the United States. "Accept assurances of ' ' my Friendship, " GEO : LOGAN. (Letter of Dr. Logan to his Wife concerning his Life in London.*) " LONDON May zgth 1810. " I wrote to my best friend a few days since by a Ship going to New York ; but knowing your affectionate and anxious mind, I wish to em- brace every opportunity of communicating with you by Letter, particularly as your dear friend Bonaparte may capture some of the vessels going to the United States. As you may be desirous of knowing in what manner I pass my time in London, take the following sketch of the present week. On first day last (it being the time of the yearly meeting of Friends) in the morning I breakfasted with the sons of Cousin Arch, and they ac- companied me to Grace Church Street meeting. I dined with Cousin Dilwyn, and in the afternoon accompanied his family to Bishopgate meet- ing. In the evening I was at a conversazione of Sir Joseph Banks, where I met a large company of literary characters. Yesterday I breakfasted with Mr Darby, and afterwards had an interesting and satisfactory con- versation with Lord Sidmouth. In the afternoon I attended Parliament and had an interview with several members of that body, all of whom express the strongest desire to preserve peace with the United States. This morning I breakfasted with the very amiable family of Wilberforce, and am just returned to my lodgings from attending an interesting lecture on Manures, delivered at the national board of agriculture by Arthur Young. Tomorrow I attend the yearly meeting with Cousin Dillwyn. and dine at his house with the benevolent Clarkson. On fifth day I am engaged to dine with an eminent Merchant in the City to meet our charge d'affaires, just returned from Spain. "On sixth day I am to dine with Mr Thornton to meet at his house several members of Parliament ; and after dinner to attend the House on the important question of the Catholics in Ireland. On seventh day I breakfast with Sir Robert Barclay, and dine with Mr Martinent my fellow J73 appendix passenger to England, and who expects to return to America in about two weeks. I shall give him a Letter to you ; he is engaged in the mercantile line. In this manner my time has been occupied since my being in London. " The family of my valuable friend Barclay is in great distress having just lost his second daughter, who was married to a person of the name of Reynolds, she has left seven small children. My most affectionate love to Stenton fire side including S. D. Pray also remember me to cousins Pem- berton and Griffitts. " yours. "G. L." 174 APPENDIX VI Xetters IReferrina to H>r, Slogan's Efforts to Hx>oto War witb Englano {Thomas William Coke to Dr. Logan.*) " HOLKHAM Aug loth, 1810. " DEAR SIR, I assure you I felt highly gratified by your honouring my meeting by your presence & approbation, & should sooner have acknowl- edged your very obliging letter, had not my time been fully taken up by a variety of pressing business. has promised to forward the drill- ing machine, & I beg you to believe it will afford me real satisfaction to promote your wishes on every occasion in my power. " Should you prolong your stay in this country, I need not say how gratified I should be to see you here again, with any friends you might think proper to bring. " I remain, with great regard your obliged "servt "T. WM. COKE. " When you see & pray remember me to them." {Dr. Logan to the Right Hon. Spencer Perceval, M.P.} "29 LEICESTER SQUARE Aug 3, 1810. " SIR, As a citizen of the United States I am anxious for the prosperity & happiness of my country And permit me to observe that having at an early period of life, resided for several years in England & in Scotland, on account of my education, I feel a deep interest in the welfare of Great Britain These sentiments must be my apology, for intruding on your time so arduously engaged in the service of your country The bicker- ings & semi state of warfare, which have existed for several years be- tween our nations, have been viewed with deep affliction by the best men in both countries Since my arrival in England, I have had an opportunity of conversing with many of your most eminent characters, as well as with respectable men of every situation in life. I have not met with one person, who does not wish a reconciliation with the United States My public & private situation in my own country, afforded me Hppenfcti an opportunity of becoming fully acquainted with the sentiments of my fellow citizens. I know they anxiously desire to preserve peace with Great Britain. & as a manifestation of their sincerity, they have renewed their commerce with this country, & have removed every obstacle to an amicable negotiation. Let Great Britain with the same laudable intent, remove her orders in council Let her declare herself the advocate of neutral rights, Such as she claimed for herself, & conceded to others, be- fore she adopted the execrable commercial warfare of the tyrant of Europe a system of warfare which will be depicted by the faithful pen of the historian, in the blackest colours a warfare by decrees & orders in coun- cil, dastardly attacking the humble cottage, the comforts, the subsistence of unoffending women & children ; instead of meeting in an open & hon- ourable conflict the armed battalions of your enemy in the field Let her return to that safe & honourable course of publick law, which she has abandoned, & treat with the United States on terms of reciprocity; equally honourable & beneficial to both countries A treaty of peace be- tween the two nations founded on such principles, will conciliate the citizens of the United States, & they will consider Britain as their real friend My dear Sir, for heaven's sake, pause, & from the elevated & honourable situation, in which your Sovereign has placed you, contemplate agonising nations at the feet of a military despot ; & say if it is not necessary that Great Britain & the United States at this momentous crisis of the world, Should lay aside unfounded jealousies and mutual bickerings, not only to protect their own existence, as independent na- tions ; but to preserve the civil & political liberties of mankind I may appeal to your own superior information & understanding. If you are acquainted with any truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the affairs of nations an indissoluble union between the generous maxims of an honest & magnanimous policy, & the solid rewards of pub- lick prosperity & happiness. "Thinking the enclosed document from the Secretary of the treasury of the United States, on the subject of American manufactures, would be interesting to you, I beg your acceptance of it "If as a private citizen of the United States it is in my power to give you any information which you may think useful, I will do myself the 176 HppenMi pleasure of waiting on you any hour you may appoint, either this day or tomorrow I expect to leave London on Sunday on my return to Phila- P ia< accept assurances " of my esteem & friendship "GEO. LOGAN." (Dr. Logan to Thomas William Coke, M.P.~) "LIVERPOOL Sept. loth 1810. " MY DEAR SIR, Your late friendly letter was forwarded by Mr Bar- clay to meet me in this city ; from whence I shall embark tomorrow for the United States My visit to England has been satisfactory, not only on account of the hospitality I have received generally, & particularly by yourself; but also on account of the pleasing conviction of my own mind, that the most enlightened & best men in this country, as well as the Nation in general, are anxious to preserve peace with my country I in truth can see no real obstacle to a sincere reconciliation, if all questions of difference between our countries were submitted to the determination of two or three honourable & honest men, such as would consider it necessary to banish from their deliberations, every minor consideration ; & adopt a liberal policy, having in view, the permanent interests of both countries. " I beg you to receive my sincere thanks for your kind invitation. I should revisit your hospitable mansion with pleasure at this time, but my duty requires my return to my own country ; where be assured, I shall do every thing in the power of a private citizen to restore harmony & the sincerest friendship between our countries " Permit me to ask the favour of a long political letter from you, by the next British Packet to New York. " Not having had an introduction to Mr Perceval I took the liberty of writing a short letter to him before I left London ; of which the enclosed is a CODV V} "accept assurances ' ' of my esteem & gratitude " GEO. LOGAN. "HoN THOMAS WM COKE M.P. " Holkham, "Norfolk." 177 Hppenfcti (ZV. Logan to Sir John Sinclair.} ST JAMES PLACE, May i4th 1810 " DEAR SIR, A respectable citizen of the United States who left New York on the 2 2nd of March waited on me a few days since. He informs me that the intelligence brought by the British January packet of a negotiation having commenced between the Marquis Wellesley and Mr Pinkney produced the most agreeable sensations That Mr Macon's bill would not pass, & that the non intercourse act would expire by its own limitation at the end of the session of congress contemplated to be about the 1 5th of April, Every restriction being thus removed from the com- merce of the United States a few of our ships, notwithstanding past expe- rience may venture to the ports of France & Holland, subjecting them- selves to be captured by British cruisers, under the orders in council Should this event take place I am seriously apprehensive it will afford fresh cause of irritation & will essentially injure the negotiation, so hap- pily commenced. As I am fully sensible of the good wishes of this gov- ernment & of the people of Great Britain to have peace & harmony restored between our countries ; permit me to suggest to you the sound policy of this Government removing or at least suspending the orders of council during the negotiation. An act of this kind coming voluntarily & immediately from the King will have the most salutary effect its justice & magnanimity will silence the jealous & strengthen the well disposed real American citizens in the United States. At this awful & momentous crisis whilst Bonaparte in every part of Continental Europe is establishing a military despotism, it becomes abso- lutely necessary that Great Britain & the United States should banish from the present negotiation unfounded jealousies & minor considera- tions, & adopt a liberal & enlightened policy, having in view the perma- nent interests of both countries. " accept assurances " of my high "respect. "GEO LOGAN "SiR JOHN SINCLAIR" 178 appenbtx (Dr. Logan to John Nicholls, Esq., Kensington.'} " LIVERPOOL, Sept. roth 1810 " DEAR SIR, Accept my sincere thanks for your late friendly & highly interesting letter Would to God the present administration were possessed of your enlightened mind respecting the true policy of this country towards the United States In truth I can see no real obstacle to a sincere reconciliation, if all subjects of difference between our countries, were submitted to the determination of two or three honourable men such as would consider it necessary to banish from their deliberations the baneful spirit of jealousy, & every minor consideration & adopt a liberal policy, having in view the permanent interests of both countries. I embark tomorrow on my return to the United States where be assured I shall do every thing in the power of a private citizen to restore harmony, & the sincerest friendship between our countries. "I hope you have had your intended interview with your friend the Marquis Wellesley. Pray write to me by the next British Packet to New York, & inform me of the disposition & views of the administration towards my country At this tremendous crisis of Europe, you are stand- ing on the brink of a precipice & appear insensible to your danger "accept "G. L. "JOHN NICHOLLS ESQ. "Kensington." (Dr. Logan to the Marquis Wellesley.} " 37 ST JAMES'S PLACE. April 2ist 1810. "MY LORD, I arrived in the last British Packet from New York; & had the pleasure of bringing with me dispatches from the President of the United States to our minister in London of the most conciliatory nature, calculated to settle the unhappy difference, which has too long existed between Great Britain & the United States equally injurious to both "Since my being in London I find an opinion prevails with some gentlemen of high standing in the councils of this country that the Presi- dent and people of the United States, have a strong attachment to France. Having been a member of the Senate of the United States for 179 HppenMi six years, & for more than fifteen years been honoured with the friend- ship of Mr Madison, I know this charge to be without foundation. As I consider it of some importance to have your mind perfectly satisfied on this point, with the permission of your Exellency I will wait on you tomorrow at one o'clock, to have a short conversation with you on this subject. " Sensible of the importance of your time devoted to the service of your country, I should not wish to intrude on it for a moment ; But the tremendous power of Bonaparte in Europe, his activity, and future pros- pects of domination, renders it absolutely necessary that both our govern- ments in their present negotiation should substitute a spirit of confidence justice & forbearance to jealousy & petty acts of irritation. Mr. Pinkney our minister has the full confidence of the President, & is himself well disposed to promote a happy reconciliation "Accept assurances of my respect "GEO. LOGAN. "His EXCELLENCY MARQUIS WELLESLEY" John Randolph to Dr. Logan, Stenton. " Many thanks, my good Sir, for your friendly remembrance of me ; for your letter & for the accompanying pamphlet. It came in the nick of time but old maxims as well as old politicians are out of date. ' New Lords new Laws.' "I am worn out with fatigue. My best regards to Mrs L. & present me to your sons. Believe with the respect which I can feel only for a country gentleman of the old school & a consistent politician who knows no party but the Commonwealth, very truly " yours, "JOHN RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE. "GEORGETOWN Jan. 24. 1810 {John Randolph to Dr. Logan.} " BIZANE Dec 4, 1810 " DEAR DOCTOR, Permit me to congratulate you, which I do very sincerely, upon your safe return to the ' good old United States' our common country. The object of your visit to Europe ; whatever it may 1 80 Hppenfcii have been whether pleasure health, or patriotism, or all three united I trust has been happily attained ; & I promise myself that on your return among us, you will have found those alarming symptoms of febrile excitement & irregular action which prevailed in the body politic at the period of your departure, happily assuaged. I promise myself great pleasure in seeing & conversing with you this winter at Washington, where I make sure you will spend some days. The more especial pur- pose however of this letter is to introduce to your acquaintance, & to recommend to your good offices my relation, Mr Theodorick Bland Dudley, whom I trust you will FIND deserving of them. ' ' yours sincerely. "JOHN RANDOLPH "OF ROANOKE. "DR LOGAN" (Dr. Logan to James Madison, President of the United States.} " LONDON July, 1810. " DEAR SIR, The government of the United States in renewing com- merce with the belligerents, has done our country great honour, as this magnanimous act will afford to both nations, another opportunity to do us justice, & to restore our friendship It has powerfully strengthened our friends in this country, & what ever may be the feelings of the Adminis- tration : even the ministry in private conversation & in parliament, pro- fess a desire to preserve peace with the United States This sentiment is general among every class of citizens, which I have witnessed in several instances I lately attended the annual meeting of the agricultural society of Surrey, above eighty gentlemen of the first characters in the county were present at dinner the two members of parliament for the county pre- sided, when the following toast was received with great acclamation ' Doctor Logan & may harmony be restored between Great Britain & the United States equally honorable & beneficial to both' I am just returned from attending the annual agricultural meetings of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn ; & of Mr Coke at Holkham ; both attended by many of the first nobility & gentry in the kingdom At the first a universal desire was expressed to preserve peace with the United States at the latter a senti- ment of that kind was drank by 340 persons at table ; on this occasion 181 HppenMi partaking of the hospitality of Mr Coke among whom were the Duke of Bedford, Sir John Sinclair, Sir Joseph Banks, ect Mr Coke has pre- sented me with a new improved drilling machine, which he makes use of himself, & thinks its being introduced among us, it will be a benefit to the United States As to public affairs I am a stranger to what is passing between Mr Pinkney & Marquis Wellesley. As a private citizen I have not thought it proper to enquire into the negotiation But as your friend I have considered it my duty to remove some prejudices respecting your attachment to France & that you would rather make a sacrifice to France, than to seek peace with England. I have also expressed an earnest desire, that the remaining shadow of the orders in council should be removed, to ensure the success of the negotiation so auspiciously commenced between the two governments " accept assurances " of my esteem & friendship "GEO. LOGAN." (Dr. Logan to James Madison, President of the United States.} "NEW YORK, Feb.y igth 1810. " MY DEAR SIR, Since my arrival here, I have had a conversation with Mr Jackson. Whilst he regrets his being dismissed ; he assures me, that he does not consider it will be a cause of rupture with his govern- ment ; and that his representations to his court, have been to allay, not increase the present unhappy difficulties between the two countries Whilst in Philadelphia he had an opportunity of seeing the wealth, in- dustry and extensive internal commerce of that State, and I am satisfied from his observations respecting the United States, that he considers our friendship of importance to his country "I expect to embark in the morning. Accept assurances of my esteem and friendship " GEO. LOGAN." (Dr. Logan to James Madison, President of the United States.} "STENTON December I7th 1811. "DEAR SIR, Every friend of the civilized world must contemplate with deep regret the melancholy spectacle of discord & disorder which the present barbarous system of commercial warfare has introduced. 182 Hppenfcii Flourishing states in place of striving together in industry, in science & in policy are sneakingly engaged in destroying the domestic comforts of the most destitute of mankind. It is to little purpose to inquire by whose fault such a state of things has been brought about ; all that is now necessary is to impress on the citizens of the United States a just abhorrence of that spirit of revenge which has unhappily broke out & which has cast so deep a stain on the character & policy of modern times of the evils brought upon the world by this system, there can be no doubt commerce has been deranged & discouraged every sort of ob- stacle has been thrown in the way of industry & improvement, & all those who depend for a subsistence on trade have been exposed to severe suffering The merchant has been distressed in many cases ruined the farmer impoverished and the labourer deprived of employment, has been disabled from providing by his industry for himself and his de- pendent family These are the glories of this new system of hostility, which has converted war from a chivalrick and generous contest between fleets & armies into a paltry & cruel attack on the most destitute. When we see the rulers of nations the natural guardians of human happiness, so quietly acquiescing in the misery of mankind and under the pretext of great national objects playing the game of their own little passions & prejudices, is there not some reason to doubt whether any Sentiment of pity for the numerous train of helpless sufferers who are ruined by their measures, ever touches their breasts ? they are surely not ignorant that the great body of mankind live by their labour, & that in every interrup- tion to the settled course of industry, large classes of men are thrown idle & plunged into all the anxiety incident to so perplexing a situation This is itself a great evil, & a serious objection to the policy of the measure for sound policy will never be found at variance with hu- manity ; & there is no quality which is so desirable in a statesman as a quick sensibility to the sufferings of his fellow creatures, whether con- sidered with a view to its own intrinsic excellence, or as the decided mark of an exalted intellect. It is an indisputable axiom of sound policy, that where any measure is to produce evils certain immediate & extensive, we ought to be well assured that its remoter effects will far outweigh its present inconveniencies This is precisely the vulnerable 183 BppenMr point of all those schemes which have been projected for the annoyance of commerce. " It is a fact deserving the serious attention of the statesman, that the French decrees, British orders in council, & the commercial warfare of the United States, besides inflicting on these several nations the disgrace of an inhuman & dishonourable warfare are operating more to injure their own individual prosperity than to destroy their enemy. "As to the actual declaration of war against Great Britain, it is an affair that requires the most mature consideration. I trust you will not give up your own sound judgment to the clamours of a few individuals amongst us men as destitute of honour, as of genuine patriotism. If we investigate the motives of these men, we shall find them influenced by restless ambition or desperate fortune ; breathing the factious spirit of party, not the universal spirit of publick good. " The republican form of our government & the nature of our popu- lation in the southern states, should engage us as a Nation at this momentous crisis of the world to avoid a state of war, even supported by the most just resentment. But why is it necessary that we should pass thro war to arrive at peace ? The situation of the United States is by no means so desperate as to preclude the hope of an amicable settlement with Great Britain, the happy termination of which will do you honour as a statesman, & will be a blessing to your country. To these considerations permit me to add that you have an established reputation to support. The fame you so justly acquired in promoting the liberties of your country & in estab- lishing the present happy form of government of the United States, should now engage you as chief magistrate to make use of your influence to prevent war ; by which both may be endangered. " I beg you not to consider this letter as presuming to instruct but as the strongest testimony of my friendship. " accept assurances " of my sincere respect "GEO. LOGAN." 184 HppenMr {Dr. Logan to Hon. James Monroe, Secretary of State.} "STENTON Nov. 10th l8ll " MY DEAR FRIEND, Accept my thanks for your polite attention in forwarding to me the President's message The gloomy aspect it gives of the situation of the United States with respect to our foreign relations, must fill the mind of every genuine American with distress ; & par- ticularly so, as there is too much reason to believe that the national council to which the message is addressed, & to which we are to look for national prosperity ; is composed of many individuals of contracted & prejudiced minds. Such characters meet in congress not calmly to discuss the most important national subjects submitted to their consideration, but merely to act according to what they call the public opinion of the district they represent ; which in times of commotion like the present, is but a general mode of expression, which every one applies to his own private opinion, & to that of his party, without any regard to truth, justice, & the nature of things. A wise & vigorous administration does not follow but leads public opinion : & it almost always happens that the governed find in the end, that the opinion of the administration is far better than the innumer- able clashing opinions which demagogues call the general opinion This was amply verified in the decision of Genl Washington on Jays treaty. No act of the President at this alarming crisis would afford greater satis- faction to the citizens of the United States than his announcing to con- gress his determination to send a mission to England, in order to make a final effort to restore peace & harmony, on terms equally honourable & beneficial to both countries Should an attempt so honourable to the ad- ministration, fail, owing to the folly & obstinacy of the British Govern- ment ; the effort would unite our own citizens to meet future calamities with the united strength of our whole population. In any future negoti- ation with G. Britain, let both governments banish petty views, jealousy, & half way measures adopting a liberal upright policy a common in- terest will urge both nations to a sincere reconciliation ; particularly when we contemplate the fatal dissolution of Europe, at this moment Suffering under a military despot divested of all antient ties, of all reciprocal attachments & fidelity, of all natural & political relationship, & of all 13 i85 HppenMr public & national spirit Whatever measures Congress may think proper to adopt ; I hope they will relinquish the present dastardly & infamous commercial warfare, in which the disinterested patriotism of the brave soldier to defend his country, is converted into a cowardly sneeking attack on the domestic comforts of the poor manufacturer. " Mrs Logan unites with me in best respects to yourself & family. " accept assurances of my esteem GEO. LOGAN. " HON J. MONROE "Secretary of State" (Dr. Logan to James Madison.} STENTON March 31 1812. " DEAR SIR, Altho not in public life, I feel with the deepest anguish, the progress of events passing before my eyes, and in an alarming degree threatening the peace of my country. " We appear to be approaching a crisis in our affairs, which calls for the whole wisdom of our councils I allude to the contemplated invasion of Canada a subject every rational citizen regards with horror. " Perhaps you may ask, why I trouble you who have so much important business on your hands, with my political opinions ? Because I am your friend, & because as chief magistrate, invested with immense power, re- specting our foreign relations, it rests with you to restore peace & pros- perity to our distracted country No period of time was ever more propitious than the present to preserve peace between the United States & Great Britain. The Prince of Wales has just come to the throne he is in his political principles a decided Whig his associates have always been the friends of the United States ; in opposition to the contracted views of his father A respectable mission sent to England to congratu- late him on the event ; & at the same time by amicable discussion to point out the mutual interest of both countries to preserve peace. Would en- able you at the meeting of congress in December next to submit to the consideration of Senate a treaty honourable to yourself & beneficial to your country I speak with confidence derived from personal conver- sations, when lately in England, with men of all parties & in every situation of life. 186 HppenMi " We have had sufficient experience of the total failure & ill effects of recrimination & retaliation even supported by the partiality of many of the most distinguished characters in England " Proceed to the invasion of Canada, or adopt any other hostile measure favourable to France ; & you will unite every man in Great Britain against you. " It is not my business decisively to blame or excuse the pretexts, urged by either contending party. I know that every one's own cause appears the most just. I only desire that before we involve our country in the miseries of war ; We should adopt measures of the most sincere pacifi- cation not only to Satisfy our own minds, but such as will justify us in the opinion of the present & future generations Let us remove from the path of peace every hostile act Let us negotiate with candour, frankness, & forbearance becoming the republican character. " The crisis will not admit of frivolous ceremony or procrastination I address you in the language of a friend, and in the spirit of a free citizen. I conjure you as you value your future peace of mind, and the liberties of your country over which you preside not to lose a moment in restoring the peace happiness & prosperity of our beloved country. " May God give you wisdom & firmness of mind in this day of trial. " accept assurances " of my friendship " GEO. LOGAN " HON JAS. MADISON " President L. S." (Dr. Logan to James Madison, President. .) " STENTON January i8th 1813. " DEAR SIR, An editorial notice in the National Intelligencer, ' that it was intended to introduce into the Legislature a proposition for excluding by law, foreign seamen from the public & private vessels of the United States;' gives general satisfaction to your fellow citizens. A few indi- viduals among us, influenced by the basest motives, may censure every act of the Government calculated to restore peace and prosperity to our dis- 187 HppenMx tracted country the clamours of such profligate characters, should not for a moment influence our public councils. " I consider the contemplated law consistent with justice, sound policy & national honour; and therefore wish you to have the merit of recom- mending it to the attention of Congress From my conversation with members of different political opinions, during my late visit to Washing- ton. I am satisfied, it will be supported by a great majority of both Houses, particularly if proposed by yourself, as a measure of peace, on which you may negotiate a treaty of friendship & commerce with Great Britain. Notwithstanding some unfavourable appearances ; a peace may yet be obtained between the United States & Great Britain equally honour- able & beneficial to both countries. I speak on this subject with con- fidence, founded on intimate conversations with men of all parties & in every situation of life, when last in England. Their best informed men acknowledged that it is not the interest of their country to be at war with the United States Should the war be protracted, & the American nation, after years of blood shed & devastation become conquerors, cui bono ? I appeal to your own accurate knowledge of history; What miseries were inflicted on Sweden, by the mad ambition of Charles XII. & on France by the conquests of Louis XIV. In the fatal war of 1756, France lost great part of the flower of its youth, more than half its current money of the Kingdom its navy, commerce & credit. It was believed, it was very easy to have prevented all these misfortunes, by friendly negotiation. But some ambitious persons to make themselves necessary & important, plunged France into this fatal war. "A great statesman will banish war; generally terminating in the mutual destruction of Nations miserable motives of policy, which sub- stitute vengeance, hatred, jealousy & cupidity ; to those divine precepts which constitute the true glory & happiness of nations. ' ' accept assurances "of my friendship GEO. LOGAN" 188 APPENDIX VII Copies of ZTbree OLetters from Colonel Uimotbs? flMcfcerins to 2>r. George Xogan " WASHINGTON May 26th 1813. " DEAR SIR, You will observe that the Russian mediation is a promi- nent feature in the President's message of yesterday. It is at the same time apparent that he does not entertain even a hope of its successful issue. One inference from his statement is certain that the British gov- ernment knows nothing of it. And is it credible that the Emperor of Russia would offer his mediation without first consulting that government and ascertaining that his Friendly interposition would be accepted? When he and his intelligent ministers with whom he would advise, must know that the rejection of such proffered mediation, however well founded that rejection, would furnish a new ground of clamour on the part of the American administration, against the great and friendly power united with him in most important operations against a common enemy ? And, when, too, that friend lay directly in his way, and three thousand miles nearer to him than the United States ? Yet the President says the offer of this mediation was ' formally communicated from his imperial majesty;' and that it was 'immediately accepted.' But I have witnessed so many misrepresentations and unfounded assertions of Mr Madisons, that I do not feel myself under any obligation to believe him in this instance. Your information given me last Wednesday morning, in Phila- delphia, satisfied me that DashkofFs overture, in the name of his master, originated in your ardent desire of peace, urging you to press upon him the making of that offer: and the declaration of Mr Wagner, in the Federal Republican, that the offer was in the first instance rejected, equally satisfies me that the President's assertion that ' the offer was im- mediately accepted' is not true. Now, my dear sir, I pray you to favour me, and as speedily as you can, with a plain statement of the facts in the case, as they occurred between you and Mr. Dashkoff: for above all 189 Hppenfcu things I am solicitous that my whole conduct should be guided by Truth : because it is among the highest duties, and the express injunction of our religion, that ' every man speak the truth to his neighbour : ' and because my only hope of our political reformation and consequent salvation of our country, rests on the strict adherence of its real advocates and sup- porters to Truth. "There are many reasons why Mr Madison finally seized on Dash- koffs overtures, without any expectation of the Russian mediation pro- ducing peace : Such as the increasing opposition to the war, especially in the Northern States ; the delays in the first loan, and the actual failure of the last, untill three foreigners, tempted by an usurious interest, imperti- nently interfered, and in form (I have reason to doubt the reality as to the whole deficit of nine Millions) took up the greater portion of it ; the known repugnance of the people, especially in the states eager for the war, to the payment of internal taxes, and the equal fear in their repre- sentatives to impose them ; the advantage to be derived from a rejection of the mediation by G: Britain which seems evidently to have been ap- prehended which Mr Madison would too well know how to convert into a fresh stimulus to popular resentment, and a new motive for prosecuting the war ; and, at all events, the time he would gain to wait the issue of the present Campaign, when it would be seen whether his congenial associate in the war would remain in a state of depression, or be able to drive back the Russians 'to their frightful climate,' and conformably to either issue, enable him to regulate his conduct towards Great Britain; and in the mean time the expected patience of the people soothed by this prospect of peace, still longer to bear the calamities of war : These considera- tions are abundantly sufficient to account for the Presidents finally accept- ing DashkofFs preferred mediation of Russia. "Altho' the President expressly recommends the laying of internal taxes, and the administration majority have given too many proofs of their subserviency to the wishes of the executive, to admit a doubt of their disposition to comply in this case; yet when that subserviancy would put in extreme jeopardy their own popularity, their obedience may well be questioned. I am informed that they are divided in their views, and the opinion of some of the most discerning federalists is, that 190 HppenMi notwithstanding the sole avowed object of our meeting here was to lay internal taxes, Congress will rise without imposing them ; preferring to lay, by further loans intolerable burthens on the next and succeeding generations, to the rendering themselves and their unprincipled man popular. " I am, dear Sir " faithfully yours, " TIMOTHY PICKERING " GEORGE LOGAN ESQR" " CITY OF WASHINGTON, Jany 29 1814. " DEAR SIR, When I first saw in the newspapers the extract from Mr Jefferson's letter of Oct. ;th to you, I pronounced it to be genuine : but at the same time said it gave me no evidence that he really rejoiced at the Rus- sian victories : and I added, that the sole motive for his expressing the sentiment to you was in expectation that you would publish it to repel the charge on him and his party, ' that they were under French influ- ence' and this was precisely the inference made to me a few days since by one of the majority, when the same sentiment of Mr Jeffersons was read to him from another of his letters written long before ' You see (said the Member) that Mr Jefferson is no more under French influence than you are.' " And now, my dear sir, what will you think of your former old Friend Jefferson, on reading the following which I recite from memory but sub- stantially, and I am sure nearly in the words of a letter dated the 24th Instant, written by a distinguished citizen of Virginia to his friend in the Senate, which I read but half an hour ago : " ' With in six or eight weeks past, Mr Jefferson has written a letter to a gentleman in the South of Virginia, containing sentiments directly oppo- site to those expressed in his letter to Dr Logan, I know it. " ' Many years ago I denounced Mr Jefferson as the Arch Hypocrite : and to some Clergymen with whom I was conversing I added, That I never felt the force of our Saviour's denunciation " Wo unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrites" four or five times repeated, untill I knew Mr Jefferson : for hypocrisy was a mark for every vice and crime which wicked men commit.' 191 Hppentni "I have received a letter or two from you not particularly acknowl- edged. I shall be glad on my way home to see you, and to read Jefferson's letter of Oct. 3d which you kindly offer for my perusal. " Your assured friend "TIMOTHY PICKERING "DR. LOGAN." "CiTY OF WASHINGTON, Feby 24, 1816. "DEAR SIR, Yesterday I received your letter of the igih inclosing the Copy of Yours to Mr Jefferson bearing date the 1 5th of last October. I am gratified by the frankness manifested in your repeated communica- tions to me. I have long been convinced of your ardent love of Peace, as essentially related to the best interests of your country and to man. To secure those interests it required more public virtue than belongs to the leaders who have governed the United States for the last fifteen years. All the evils which have afflicted the country during that period, and for the preceding years as far back as to the commencement of the opposition to the measures of Genl Washington's administration, may be traced to your professed Friend Thomas Jefferson, as their main source. But for him his successor might have remained, what he was once called, ' the virtuous and amiable Madison.' I once heard Mr Jefferson speak in very high terms of the late Patrick Henry of Virginia, particularly as master of the most commanding eloquence he ever knew. General Washington also entertained a high opinion of Mr Henry. It is not two weeks since, dining with some of my respected friends in Alexandria, one of them stated, that Patrick Henry said he could forgive Mr. Jefferson every thing but his corrupting Mr Madison. Meaning, certainly, that this among his misdeeds, was peculiarly mischievous and criminal. "Jefferson soon discovered the force of Hamilton's superior genius; and envy filled his breast. He perceived the weight of his opinions in the Councils of Washington and believed that Hamilton stood in the way of his ambition. Artful and unprincipled, he could select, especially in Congress, the instruments of his ambition without their perceiving that he had any other object in view than his countrys freedom and wellfare. Some others were set to work, because no Principle stood in the way of their 192 Hppenbti conforming to his views, and implicitly obeying his dictates. A part were mercenaries, and content with their wages. To others prospective but greater rewards were most alluring : all expecting honorary or lucrative offices, or to share in the exercise of the ruling power. "The Government had been organized not more than two years when Mr Jefferson set up the National Gazette, in the name of Philip Freneau. This man had some talents, and he was poor ; and pliant enough to direct those talents in the course Mr Jefferson should require. At that time George Taylor was chief Clerk in the department of State. He had been employed by the able, excellent, and upright Jay, while Secretary of for- eign affairs under the Old Congress, and was a competent translator of the French (and I believe also of the Spanish language) As such, and as a faithful Clerk, Mr Jay recommended him to Mr Jefferson, when the latter was appointed Secretary of State. Jefferson received him as a Clerk : but made Freneau translator of the French language, not large indeed, but sufficient in that day to pay his board ; $200 a year Freneau was but an indifferent translator. Besides, to perform his task effectually and at all times, would withdraw him too much from his useful labours in conducting the National Gazette. To lessen this interuption, Jefferson himself would join Taylor in performing the drudgery of translating. The direct object of the National Gazette was to undermine President Washington's Administration. Its effect however was limited. The public mind had not then been sufficiently contaminated : and the Na- tional Gazette sunk for want of the sufficient support of an adequate sub- scription. The labours of the chief miner, however were not intermitted, and the measures indispensable to retrieving the public credit and pro- viding for the sacred debt of the Revolution, which it was the duty of Hamilton to devise and propose, furnished topics enough for popular clamour, of which Jefferson and his adherents made the most mischievous use. And this was easy to accomplish : because no public acts are so odious as those which impose New Taxes. Instead of endeavouring like an honest man and good citizen, to allay the popular ferment ; Jefferson rejoiced. Of this we have the evidence under his own hand, in one of his letters to Callender, which, in Jefferson's own hand-writing I have repeat- edly read. ' Such papers," he said (he was mentioning the ' Prospect before 193 HppenMr us') ' would enlighten the public mind, and the tax-gatherers will do the rest." The appointing of Gallatin secretary of the Treasury furnishes addi- tional proof. It was an outrage on all decency as well as on the claims of native Americans, to commit the care and management of our finances to this foreigner and notorious and chief Instigator of the Whiskey Rebel- lion. The assured Repeal of the Whiskey and other internal taxes accompanied by other acts of demagogues, made Mr Jefferson the Presi- dent of the United States. "The violent and unprincipled opposition to Mr Jays Treaty cannot be forgotten by any one who lived in that day, and was at all conversant in public transactions. Few have traced it to its source. Probably most have resolved it into a popular Frenzy which sometimes agitates the mul- titude without any adequate cause. " You know that the Treaty of Peace of 1783 (for the extensive bene- fits of which we are chiefly indebted to that eminent Statesman and in- flexibly honest man Mr Jay) contained a stipulation, that there should be no legal impediment to the recovery of debts due on either side, prior to the war thereby terminated. The object of this stipulation, tho' re- ciprocal in terms, every one knows was to enable the British merchants to recover their Bona-fide debts due from our Citizens especially in the middle and Southern States, of which Virginia was the chief. But legal impediments were interposed; above all by Virginia. This caused the British Government to hold the frontier ports, and this became another topic for popular clamour, particularly as it was connected, in the public mind, with the distressing Indian War. "It is now two years since John Francis Mercer, formerly a member of the Old as well as the New Congress, told Me, That prior to the Treaty of Peace with Britain, which was negociated in the autumn of 1782, The Legislature of Virginia instructed their delegates in Congress, to consent to No Peace containing a stipulation to pay the debts due to the British merchants, which debts had been paid (tho 1 in depreciated paper) into the Treasury of Virginia. Mercer was one of those Delegates, and being a young man (such was his apology) he obeyed his Instructions ; while his Colleagues voted for the ratification. "In consequence of the Legal Impediments (that is impediments 194 HppenMr created by State Laws) the British debts remained unpaid in some of the states eminently so in Virginia. Now when in 1794 President Wash- ington and his enlightened and upright friends & Counsellors, judged it for the best Interest of the United States, as well as the demand of humanity, that in the first instance an attempt should be made to adjust all our differences (New and Old) with G. Britain, by amicable negotia- tion ; when every man of common sense and common honesty saw and felt, that at the time we should require from that country reparation for wrongs, indemnity for unwarrantable depredations on our commerce, and a surrender of the frontier posts, for ten years withheld, we should be willing and offer to do justice in return : it was plain that Great Britain would require a fresh stipulation to pay the debts due to her Merchants, as an indispensable condition of any treaty with the United States. Doubtless it was the full and certain expectation of this reciprocal demand that rendered the Virginian oppositionists particularly averse to the proposed negotiation. Monroe was then a Senator from Virginia. He said, We want no treaty : let us have war. This fact was related to me by Governor Strong, then a senator from Massachusetts : and there lives not a man of more perfect veracity. "When once General Washington was satisfied of the correctness and utility of a measure no opposition could deter him from its adoption. Mr Jay sacrificing all other considerations to his country's good, ac- cepted the Mission ; anticipating the impossibility of forming any treaty which in the actual state of things, should be universally acceptable ; expecting indeed (as I have been assured) the very unpopularity which followed the result. He was obliged to renew the stipulation relative to British debts. And because the delay of so many years giving space for numerous deaths and bankruptcies of Debtors, would certainly in numer- ous cases defeat the honest claims of the British Creditors, it was but right and just that the United States the party bound to fulfill the stipu- lations of the treaty of peace, should be responsible for all failures arising out of those unwarrantable delays. Mr Jay's treaty properly pledged this eventual responsibility. "The treaty arrived, and two thirds of the Senate (the constitutional Majority) advised its ratification. It would be too tedious nor indeed 195 Hppenfcii have I time, now to detail to you the circumstances that delayed the final ratification of the President. Suffice it to say, that it was Ratified in August 1795. The Senate gave their advice in May. The unfortunate interval was industriously employed by the opposition party (You will recollect the baseness of Stephens Thompson Mason, the Virginian Senator, in giving the substance of the Treaty to Bache to publish) in stirring up the uninformed multitude from Maine to Georgia, to clamour and vio- lently condemn the Treaty; assuredly in confident hope that General Washington might be deterred or dissuaded from its ratification. In this opposition the influence of Virginia is conspicuous. She had once resisted successfully the payment of British debts : for there was then no controul over State power and Sovereignty. Now the case was altered. The Courts of the United States would cause Justice to be done. Their authority was not to be evaded without open rebellion. It was therefore all important to prevent the ratification of the Treaty : and not succeeding in this, its execution must be prevented, by withholding the necessary legislative provisions. You will recollect the final issue. Mr Jefferson, when President, authorized Mr King to compromise the dispute respect- ing British debts, by stipulating that the United States, should pay a certain sum in full of all demands against the individual debtors. This sum was ^600,000. Sterling, or $2,664,000. and this you know was paid ; and principally by those states northward of Virginia whose Citi- zens had honestly paid their own debts to the British merchants; The Lords of the Ancient Dominion finally getting rid of the just demands upon them, by paying a small share of the whole debt. " Mr Jefferson having attained the object of his ambition the Presi- dency of the United States, He, by a constant abuse of power brought upon the Nation all the calamities which you and I have witnessed. He might have renewed Mr Jay's treaty, which had expired in consequence of the peace of Amiens. The British Government made the offer. He rejected it. He by his partisans (Madison among them) had violently opposed that treaty. Their pride was then opposed to its renewal. But mark the cunning of the man. Monroe was instructed (this appeared in the public documents laid before Congress in 1808) to propose to the British Government, that altho' he could not renew the Treaty of Mr 196 HppenMi Jay, it should nevertheless continue to regulate the intercourse between the two nations. This was to be effected by an 'Understanding!' Jefferson forbade the concluding of any treaty with Great Britain, unless it contained a formal stipulation against impressments ; because he knew with moral certainty, that the British Government would not and could not enter into such a stipulation. He knew at the same time, from their overweaning confidence in him, and the aid of his partisans, that the People would easily be made to beleive that British Pride and British injustice alone prevented the forming of an amicable treaty. So he kept up the farce of an amicable negotiation, until Monroe and Pinkney, thinking if they obtained the substance they need not stick in the form, concluded a treaty, but the former stipulation was wanting, and he sent the treaty back, without deigning to lay it before the Senate, least they (obsequious as they generally were) should, upon the whole, approve and advise its ratification. "The next fatal measure was his indefinite embargo recommended on pretences which he knew to be unfounded and false ; but which was to co-operate with Bonaparte's Continental system, and be commensurate with it. It was the completion of that system ; whose object was the ruin of the British Commerce, and with that, of British power. But tame and submissive as they had been to his oppressive measures, the People could not long endure this wanton suspension of their lawful pur- suits, which were indispensible to their ordinary support. I must correct myself: the people did long far too long, bear this act of tyranny; it was the length of fifteen months, and then it gave way to another abominably oppressive measure non Intercourse with the British Do- minions only less oppressive than the Embargo. The residue of the restrictive system I will forbear to mention. It was persevered in by his faithful Coadjutor and successor, and terminated in the late glorious war ; as they and their partisans have the folly and impudence to call it. By the way having determined on War, the invasion of Canada was a measure of absolute necessity : for base and wicked as Madison and his prime Counsellors were, they could not have stood up in view of the monstrous absurdity of volantarily declaring war, and then of acting only on the defensive. 197 HppenMi "The war has come to an end but not its mischievous effects. Be- sides the monstrous increase of corruption and a war-debt of a hundred millions, we are now saddled with an army of ten-thousand men, for a per- manent peace establishment. And as if this were not enough, the Presi- dent and his minions wish to increase it, by a corps of Invalids of two thousand more. And they are conjuring up all sorts of political Hobgob- lins to alarm Members of Congress, and the people thro' them, to favour and keep up such large army establishments. And this, (after so long a preamble) brings me to your notice of Mr Jeffersons last letter to you, in which you say ' Even he appears apprehensive of danger from the combined powers ; sensible perhaps that we have not acted towards some of them with Justice and good faith.' That our conduct has been thus abominably unjust and perfidious, they cannot fail to see : but we are too far removed from their European dominions to give them any concern for them, and as to those of them who have colonies in America, such as are insular are perfectly safe against any attempts from the United States. It is in our power to invade only the colonies of Great Britain and Spain, certainly Great Britain cannot contemplate a new war : with such a dis- position she would not have made peace : and peace at a time when she had an immense disposable force, naval and military : such a military force as she will probably never have another occasion to bring forth. And from Spain we have nothing to fear, her home dominion is but a little more populous than the United States, is miserably poor and feeble, under a weak monarch governed by a rabble of Priests, or of nobles not less contemptable. While her colonies are in all quarters in arms against her, Spain will take care not to offend us : tho' we have outrageously injured and insulted her : and this too under her deepest distress while oppressed and over-run by the armies of Bonaparte. Further, I enter- tain no doubt that the maritime powers of Europe, and particularly Great Britain, really would rejoice to see Spanish America independent of the mother country, and thus open to the introduction of their manufactures, and to their reception of its rich productions in return. "Depend upon it, my dear Sir, when such men as Jefferson and Madison, and their leading adherents, talk of danger from the combined powers ; or from Britain and Spain ; their only object is to excite an 198 HppenMi allarm among the people, and render them patient under the increased and increasing burthens of large and unnecessary military establishments and expensive projects. "To the notices of Jefferson's corruption from the commencement of the Government under the Constitution, let me add the notorious instance of his obtaining the Presidency in preference to Burr,* by the lure of offices to some members of the House of Representatives who held the Votes of States. Claiborne of Tennessee was appointed Governor of the Mississippi Territory ; Linn was made supervisor of the Revenues in New Jersey, and Livingston was appointed District Attorney of New York, in which he had an oppertunity of embezzling from seventy to a hundred thousand dollars of the public money ; which is not repaid to this day : And after Jefferson had by military violence dispossessed him of the Batture at New Orleans and he petitioned Congress to cause him to be reinstated he told Congress in his Petition or Memorial, that unless the Batture were re- stored, he should never be able to pay the money he owed to the United States ! What was to be expected from an Administration thus ' con- ceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity?' When formerly in the Senate with Mr Giles, I remember saying to him, that Mr Jefferson was the worst man (the author of the most evil) in the United States. He ascribed this opinion to my prejudice. But I judged him by his actions, which I could not mistake. For a man of Mr Giles's very superior intel- ligence and sagacity, he asked me a very shallow question ' What motive could Mr Jefferson have to act the character you impute to him?' I might ask, in reply What influenced Caesar, & Cromwell and Buona- parte, in their public acts ? Ambition with much indifference as to the * " This is uncandid : The Federalists knew themselves that the People did not vote for Burr with any other view but for the vice Presidency, tho' his majority of votes (acci- dental in most instances, and artfully given in others) opened a view to his ambition of which he would gladly have availed himself, had he seen a possibility of success. But he knew that his artful intrigues would not avail against the expressed voice of the pub- lic. A Gentleman of Congress with whom he had held a very tampering conversation, told him, after admitting some of the Premises that he had advanced to be true, ' And yet, Sir, there is one word which will undo all this.' He asked what word ? The member replied 'Usurper,' and the conversation was ended." 199 Hppenfcii means of gratifying it. What governed the actions of a Borgia and a Cataline ? and to descend from higher life, Why are there any highway- men, thieves and robbers ? How much better would all such men have consulted their ease and happiness, had they repressed their inordinate ambition and profusion, or forsaking idleness and vice, have sought, what they could not fail of obtaining, a comfortable subsistence by a course of honest industry ? " You doubtless know that many enlightened men, attentive observers of public characters, entertain the same opinion of Mr Jefferson that I have expressed. Two of my highly respectable Friends, Members of Congress, lately told me, that a year ago, or more, when John Randolph was at George-town, he said, in their presence, that Thomas (or Tom) Jefferson was one of the greatest scoundrels that remained unhung. ' "It is now past eleven oclock at night, and I am weary of writing this inordinately long letter, which imposes on you such a task to read, also to weariness. The same wearisome length likewise forbids my taking a copy, altho' it contains some details and sentiments which I never before committed to paper, and which I would willingly keep by me ; to save me the trouble of future recollection or of loss from forgetfulness. "I have many more things to say, but which I must omit. Your letter to Mr Jefferson is positively a severe satire on his whole adminis- tration. His appointments to office have been in constant violation of those just principles which you mention as proper to govern the chief magistrate; because essential to the true interests of his country. His enquiry was not, who is honest, capable and faithful; but who is most industrious and influential in supporting my measures and the interests of my party ? Hence honest and capable men, many of them heroes of the Revolution, were turned out, to make room for his devoted partisans, many of them notoriously worthless and unprincipled. And apostates were sure to be rewarded. He did not remove all federalists at once this in the beginning of his administration, would have shocked even democracy itself. This course has been dilligently followed up by his successor; until not five, perhaps not two offices of any consequence remain in the hands of federalists. I can recollect indeed but one, William Ellery of Rhode Island, who was in the old Congress with 200 Hppenfcii Jefferson, and signed the Declaration of Independence. He is Collector of Newport and was long since expected to die being now about 90 years old, tho' his mind is still vigorous. As to the Emperor Alexander's being a Republican according to la Harpe ; if he means that Alexander would wish to introduce a republican form of Government into his own dominions, the idea is ridiculous. If Alexander ever supposed that his mixed subjects of Lords and slaves, and spreading over a world, and com- prising various nations, could be usefully or even at all governed in the form of a Republic, he must be a very weak man. But that he consults, as the Father of his country, the real welfare of his subjects I am inclined to believe : And in this sense he may be a Republican, conformably to the original meaning of the word. But with the applause bestowed on 'Alexander the Deliverer' (in which I joined with my most respected Friends and fellow citizens) I could not forget his seizing the best province of Sweeden (Finland) and adding it to his boundless dominions. And this too in connection with the monster Buonaparte, after the Peace of Tilsit. It was the rich Master of a numerous flock seizing the poor mans single ewe-lamb. At the late general Peace that Province should have been restored; especially as the Sweedish arms were united with those of the great coalesced powers in reducing and expelling the tyrant, and placing them in a condition to put the injured, plundered and op- pressed nations in possession of their Rights. "Even the people of our own country, my dear sir, have not virtue enough to maintain a Republican Government. Proceeding from Jeffer- son and Madison corruption pervades every part of it, our Elections are no longer free. No man who holds an office or seeks for one, dare vote but in conformity to the views of the administration. All public offices are set up for sale to the best bidder. Let me be understood : There are two modes of traffic ; one in ready money ; one by barter. Candidates for offices praise and support the measures of the governing faction, right or wrong. They are stump-orators tavern and Beer-house orators and industrious electioneering partisans. Some barter their consciences and all their votes. The Election of the President and Vice President has become a farce. The Constitution forbids the intrusion of Members of Congress as Electors: yet these very Members make the president and 14 201 HppenMi vice president. Turn your eye too to the great state of New York, and view the recent proceedings of her house of Representatives, where cor- ruption stalked shamefully stalked, in open day. I refer to the conduct of the Administration party to secure to themselves the Council of ap- pointment. "What then is to be done? Give up the Republic in despair? No. Resist the torrent altho' you cannot stop its course. You may impede, tho' you cannot effectually stay its progress to destruction. Our first Magistrate is not the ruler of the nation, but the Chief of a Party whose interest is always preferred to that of the country. But a truce to painful animadversions. Without important reforms of which I see little pros- pect, because the defect is radical in the fountain of power the People the Republic will hardly last your day, or even mine without a public convulsion or a division of the States. While we live, however, ' let us hold fast our integrity,' and leave the rest to Providence. " Sincerely I bid you Farewell ! " TIMOTHY PICKERING. "GEORGE LOGAN ESQR." 202 IFnbe* Adair, Mr., arrested on suspicion of having given Franklin poisoned wine, 37 Adams, President, 93, 102; change of opinion regarding Dr. Logan's mission to France, 22, 23 ; mission of, to France, 167 Adams, Mrs. , Jefferson's opinion of, 103 Address of citizens of Bordeaux to Dr. Logan, with his reply, 69, 70 Address of Dr. Logan to the citizens of the United States, giving an account of his mission to France, 89-93 Adet, M., 64 Agricultural Society of Lancaster County formed, 98 ; of Philadelphia, members of, at Stenton, 43 Alien and Sedition Law passed, 72 Almy, Captain, 90 Banks, Sir Joseph, Dr. Logan meets, 173 Barclay, David, 34, 90 Barclay, Sir Robert, Dr. Logan breakfasts with, 173 Barlow, Mr., to General Washington re- garding peace treaty, 22 Betton, Dr. Samuel, Sr., 74 Blockades, repeal of, demanded, 172 Bordeaux, address of citizens of, to Dr. Logan, with his reply, 69, 70 Brannagan, Thomas, 107 British debts, payment of, 196 Burr, Aaron, 199 Canada, proposed invasion of, 186, 197 Cannassetego, Onondaga chief, quoted re- garding James Logan, 29 Canning, Mr., 168 Charleston, S. C., refugees from, entertained in Philadelphia, 1780, 12 Claibome, , Governor of Mississippi Territory, 199 Clarkson, , 173 Clinton, Sir Henry, Charleston surren- dered to, 1780, 12 Clymer, George, 78 Coin, bill introduced by Dr. Logan for punishment of persons counterfeiting, 159 Coke, Thomas William, to Dr. Logan, 175 ; Dr. Logan to, 177 Commerce in 1798, 18, 19 Commercial warfare, Dr. Logan on, 182 Commissioners sent to France to negotiate a treaty, 19 Congress, act of, to prevent individual in- terference in foreign governments, 99 ; passes Logan's law, 87, 99 Constitution of the United States, Dr. Logan's views regarding, 132 Currie, Dr., of Liverpool, 34 Darby, Mr., Dr. Logan breakfasts with, 173 Darwin, Dr., death of son of, 34, 35 Dashkoff, Mr., 189, 190 Dickinson, John, 26, 27, 74 ; and wife, gift of, for seminary, 24 ; death of, 115 ; Fair- hill, residence of, burned, 40, 41 ; letters of, 146, 147 Domestic manufactures encouraged, 44 D'Onis, Mr., 171 Dudley, Theodorick Bland, 181 Duponceau, Peter S., a guest at Stenton, 29 ; president of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 29 Education, public; Dr. Logan in favour of, 24,47 Elections ; corruption in, 201 203 Unfcer Ellery, William, 200 Embargo, Jefferson's, 197 ; on American shipping in French ports, 64, 89 ; raised, 23, 67, 91 Emlen, George, 32; Hannah, marries William Logan, 32 England, affairs in, stated by Dr. Logan, 137, 138, 139 Erskine, Mr., disavowal of, by England, 168 Fairhill burned by British army, 40, 41 Fisher, Thomas, 74 Fitzsimmons, Thomas, 78, 79 Fothergill, Dr., 34, 90 Fowler, Dr., death of, at Edinburgh, 34, 35 Fox, Dr., of Falmouth, 34 Franklin, Dr., 38, 39; criticises Smith's " Wealth of Nations," 46, 47 ; kindness of, to Dr. Logan, in Paris, 36, 37 Franklin, Temple, 130 French complain of our trade with St. Do- mingo, ill; prisoners, treatment of, in the United States, 68; Revolution, 51, 52 Freneau, Philip, Jefferson's connection with Gazette of, 193 Gallatin appointed Secretary of Treasury, 194 Galloway, Joseph, 41 Genealogical table of descendants of James Logan, 127 Genet, Mr., French Minister, arrives in America, 15 ; at Stenton, 53 ; and Jef- ferson, 53, 54 Gerry, Elbridge, Commissioner to France, 19, 20, 21 ; not at Paris when Dr. Logan arrives, 63 Ghent, Treaty at, 119 Giles, , 199 Great Britain, policy of, towards the United States, 167, 168, 170 Hamilton, General, difference of, with James Monroe, 97 Harper, Robert Goodloe, criminates Dr. Logan's conduct, 100 Henry, Patrick, quoted regarding Jefferson, 192 Indians at Stenton, 29 " Iris," Dr. Logan goes to France aboard, 57 Jay, John, mission of, 167, 195 Jay's treaty, 19, 194, 195 Jefferson, Thomas, in, 112, 113, 114, 191, 192 ; approves Dr. Logan's visit to France, 137; certificate of citizenship given to Dr. Logan by, 56 ; Congress dis- approves measures of, 109, no; con- nection of, with the National Gazette, 193; dress of, 50; embargo of, 197; feelings of, towards Washington, 50, 51 ; in favour of war, 8 1 ; intimacy of, with President Adams, 101, 102 ; John Ran- dolph's opinion of, 200 ; letter to Dr. Logan from, regarding slaves, 107 ; same to same, concerning war of 1812, 135-137 ; measures of, criticised, 197, 198, 199; not in favour of treaty with England, 171 ; public feeling towards, 75 ; receives Dr. Logan, 85 ; schemes of, to obtain Presidency, 196, 199; visits at Stenton, 50, 53 ; visits Mrs. Logan, 75 Jenifer, Daniel, accompanies Washington to Stenton, 44, 45 Kosciusko meets Dr. Logan, 65 Lafayette assists Dr. Logan to reach Paris, 63, 89; Dr. Logan visits and explains his mission to, 62 ; Madame de, 62 Lepeaux, Citizen, letter from Dr. Logan to, 133, 134 Le Tomb, 57 Linn, 199 Livingston, District Attorney of New York, money embezzled by, 199 Logan Act, The, 164 Logan, Mrs. Deborah Norris, life of Dr. George Logan by, 9, 10 ; marriage of, 1 1 Logan, Miss Frances Armatt, provides for completion of "Life of Dr. George Logan," 9 204 Logan, Dr. George, address of, to the citi- zens of the United States, giving an ac- count of his mission to France, 89-93 > apprenticed to John Reynell, merchant in Philadelphia ; 32 ; at Bristol, 84 ; at Dover, 61 ; at Edinburgh, 34, 35 ; at Hamburg, 61 ; at Lancaster, 98 ; at Paris, 89 ; at Philadelphia, 85 ; bill for punishment of persons counterfeiting current coin introduced by, 159; birth of, 31 ; certificates of citizenship given to, 56 ; death of, IO, 30, 1 20; declines a re-election to the Senate, 115 ; doings of, while in London, 1810, 173 ; early life of, in Europe, 12 ; elected to the Assembly, 13, 46, 97 ; elected Senator, 1802, 9, 24, 100 ; fondness for agriculture, 43 ; goes to England, 1810, hoping to avert war, 25, 171 ; in favour of public education, 24; interest of, in political reform, 13; interview of, with Merlin, 65, 66, 67 ; interview of, with Colonel Pickering, 86 ; leader of anti-Federal party, 9 ; leaves Paris for Bordeaux, 68 ; marriage of, 1 1 , 42; member of the Republican party 16 ; mission of, to England opposed by United States Minister, 116, 117 ; not in favour of manufactures in this country, 24 ; obtains his degree and leaves Edin- burgh for London and Paris, 35, 36 ; opposed to soldiers under arms voting, 24; opposed to turnpike road between Philadelphia and Lancaster, 24; oppo- sition to mission of, 59, 60; plan of a reconciliation with England, 143; Presi- dent Madison favours mission of, Il6; reasons of, for going to France, 1 29 ; re- ceived by distinguished men in England, 117 ; received by President Jefferson, 85 ; receives and answers an address from the citizens of Bordeaux, 69, 70; retires from public life, 26, 27 ; returns to Amer- ica, 1779 or 1780, 36, 42; returns to England to study medicine, 33 ; returns to Stenton from France, 1798, 23, 83, 84 ; returns to Stenton from England, eleventh month 5, 1810, 119, 177 ; sails for France aboard the "Iris," 57; sails for Philadelphia aboard the " Persever- ance," 79 ; sent to England to be edu- cated, 32; to his wife, 71, 79, 173; to Thomas William Coke, 177 ; to Jefier- son, 109, no; with reply, 137-144; to Citizen Lepeaux, 133, 134; to President Madison, 165, 181, 182, 186, 187 ; to Merlin, 129-131 ; to James Monroe, 185; to John Nicholls, 179; to Hon. Spencer Perceval, 1 75 ; to Schimmelpen- ninck, 132, 133; to Sir John Sinclair, 178; to Marquis Wellesley, 179 ; urges the suspension of the Orders in Coun- cil, 172; views of, regarding affairs in England, 137, 138, 139; visits Lafayette, 62; visits Merlin, 91; visits M. Schim- melpenninck, 65 ; visits Talleyrand, 64 ; volunteer mission of, to France, and abuse of, 20, 21, 54, 55 ; waits on Gen- eral Washington, 86 Logan, Gustavus, death of, 100 Logan, James, 32; at Stenton, 78; genea- logical table of descendants of, 127 ; library of, 13 ; Stenton built by, 27, 29 Logan, William, Sr., 31 ; married Hannah Emlen, 32 ; death of, 40 Logan, Dr. William, Jr., 33 Logan, Dr. William, Sr., library of, 33 Logan's Law passed by Congress, 87, 99 Louisiana, Dickinson on admission of, 149 ; our claims in, 153 McKean, Thomas, certificate of citizen- ship given to Dr. Logan by, 56 Macon's bill, 178 Madison, James, 196, 197, 198; corres- pondence between Dr. Logan and, 165 ; Dr. Logan to, 181, 182 ; same to the same, urging peace with England, 1 86, I8 7 Manufactures in homes encouraged by Dr. Logan, 98 Marshall, John, 93 ; Commissioner to France, 19; Chief Justice, 154 Martinent, Mr., Dr. Logan dines with, 173 Mason, Stephens Thompson, 196 Mercer, John Francis, 194 205 Merlin, 57 ; letter from Dr. Logan to, 129 ; receives Dr. Logan, 65, 66, 67, 91 Militia Bill, 156 Militia, John Dickinson in favor of, 146, 148, 163 Mint in Baltimore for coinage of Portuguese money, 159 Monroe, James, 196; difference of, with General Hamilton, 97 ; Dr. Logan to, 185 ; in favour of war, 195 ; reception of, on his return from France, 97 ; treaty of, 1 66 Muhlenberg, Henry, 98 Muhlenberg, General Peter, succeeded by Dr. Logan as Senator, 25, 101 Mullett, Thomas, to Mrs. Logan, 73 National Gazette, Jefferson's connection with and object of, 193 Nemours, Dnpont de, a guest at Stenton, 29 Nicholls, John, Dr. Logan to, 179 Non-intercourse Act, 178, 197 Norris, Charles, II Parliament desires peace with the United States, 173 Parry, Dr., 34 Penn-Logan Correspondence prepared by Mrs. Logan, II Perceval, Hon. Spencer, Dr. Logan to, 175 " Perseverance," Dr. Logan sails for Philadelphia aboard, 79 ; mentioned, 83 Pickering, Colonel Timothy, 113; de- spatches from Vans Murray to, 94, 95 ; guest at Stenton, 30 ; interview of Dr. Logan with, 86; opinion of Jefferson and his policy, 200, 201 Pinckney, General Charles C., 93, 168; at Stenton, 12, 42 ; Commissioner to France, 19; negotiation between Mar- quis Wellesley and, 178; receives Dr. Logan at Bristol, 84 Pinckney, Thomas, at Stenton, 12, 42 Political feeling towards the Logans, 75 Price, Dr., criticises Smith's "Wealth of Nations," 47 Privateering, Dr. Logan opposed to, 134 Proud, Robert, Historian, instructs Dr. George Logan in Latin, 32 Public opinion, change in, regarding Dr. Logan, 87 Randolph, John, of Roanoke, a guest at Stenton, 30; his opinion of Jefferson, 200 ; to Dr. Logan, 180 Republican party, disunion in, 106 Rush, Dr., 59 Russel, , 136 Russian mediation, 1813, 189 Rutledge, Governor Edward, at Stenton, 12,42 St. Domingo, French complain of our trade with, in; John Dickinson op- posed to our trade with, 154, 155, 156 Schimmelpenninck, M.,93; introduces Dr. Logan to Merlin, 65; letter from Dr. Logan to, 132, 133 Seamen, impressment of, by England, 135 Sidmouth, Lord, Dr. Logan meets, 173 Simms, Dr., of Essex, Dr. Logan boards with, 34 Sinclair, Sir John, Dr. Logan to, 172, I 7 8 Skipwith, Mr., 91 Slaves, Jefferson's views regarding, 107 Small-pox, a case of, at Stenton, 47, 49. Smith, Adam, " Wealth of Nations," by 46 Smyth, Chief Justice Frederick Augustus, 74,78 Spain, our controversies with, 160, 161. Stenton, account of, 27-29 ; condition of, in 1779, 12, 40, 41 ; notable guests at, 2 9 3O > visited by British, 40, 41 Sumter, General, senator from South Car- olina, 145 Talleyrand, 57, 62, 64 Taxes, internal, Madison in favour of, 190, 191 Taylor, George, translator for National Gazette, 193 206 Infcei Thomas, Governor George, treaty of, with Six Nations, 1742, 29 Thomson, Charles, 39 Thornton, Mr., Dr. Logan dines with, 173 Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with England, Dr. Logan favours, 167, 171 ; of 1783, 194 Turreau, Mr., Ill Twisleton, Colonel, 40 Vans Murray, minister at The Hague, 93, 94 Vaughan, John, 74 Verses in memory of Dr. Logan, 123-126 Walsh, Robert, a guest at Stenton, 29 Warren, Admiral, 136 War with Great Britain, desire to avoid, ill Washington, General, Dr. Logan visits, 86; John Dickinson's opinion of, 155 ; visits Dr. Logan at Stenton, 44, 45 Washington, President, and Jay's treaty 185, 195, 196; issues proclamation of neutrality, April, 1793, 15 Wellesley, Marquis of, Dr. Logan's inter- view with, 119; letter to, 179; negotia- tion between Mr. Pinkney and, 178 Wilberforce, Dr. Logan breakfasts with, 173 Wister, Mrs. Sarah Butler, Stenton de- scribed by, 28 Woodward, Major, brings despatches from France to the United States, 92 Yellow fever in Philadelphia and vicinity, 1798,76,77 Yrujo, De Casa, notified to leave the United States, III THE END 207 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW RENEWED BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE RECALL LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS Book Slip-35m-7 > '62(D296s4)45S Call Number: ET302.& 263157