July 26, 2025 • 21 mins
Volume 5 of John Marshalls riveting biography takes us on a journey through Washingtons second presidential term. This ends with the election of John Adams and Washingtons well-deserved rest in Mount Vernon. As America sails through tumultuous times of complicated foreign and domestic affairs, Washingtons astute leadership steers the nation with confidence and wisdom. This volume continues the engaging in-depth analysis of its predecessors, shedding light on the young, burgeoning nations struggles and triumphs.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter three, Part five of the Life of Washington, Volume
five by John Marshall. This LibriVox recording is in the
public domain. As therefore it is perfectly clear to my
understanding that the ascent of the House of Representatives is
(00:23):
not necessary to the validity of a treaty, as the
Treaty with Great Britain exhibits in itself all the objects
requiring legislative provision, and on these the papers called for
can throw no light. And as it is essential to
the due administration of the government that the boundaries fixed
(00:48):
by the Constitution between the different departments should be preserved,
a just regard to the Constitution and to the duty
of my office under all the circle circumstances of this case,
for bitter compliance with your request, the terms in which
this decided, and it would seem unexpected negative to the
(01:12):
call for papers was conveyed, appeared to break the last
chord of that attachment which had theretofore bound some of
the active leaders of the opposition to the person of
the President. Amidst all the agitations and irritations of party.
(01:33):
A sincere respect and real affection for the Chief Magistrate,
the remnant of former friendship had still lingered in the
bosoms of some who had engaged with ardor in the
political contests of the day. But if the last spark
of this affection was not now extinguished, it was at
(01:55):
least concealed under the more active passions of the moment
debates upon the treaty making power. A motion to refer
the message of the President to a committee of the
whole House was carried by a large majority. In committee,
resolutions were moved by mister Blunt of North Carolina, declaratory
(02:21):
of the sense of the House respecting its own power
on the subject of treaties. These resolutions take a position
less untenable than had been maintained in argument, and rather
inexplicit on an essential part of the question, disclaiming a
(02:42):
power to interfere in making treaties. They assert the right
of the House of Representatives, whenever stipulations are made on
subjects committed by the Constitution to Congress, to deliberate on
the expediency of carrying them into effect, without deciding what
degree of obligation the treaty possesses on the nation, so
(03:05):
far as respects those points previous to such deliberation. After
a debate in which the message was freely criticized. The
resolutions were carried fifty seven voting in the affirmative and
thirty five in the negative. In the course of the
month of March, the treaties with His Catholic Majesty and
(03:27):
with the Day of Algiers had been ratified by the
President and were laid before Congress. On the thirteenth of April.
In a Committee of the Whole House on the State
of the Union, the instant the chairman was seated. Mister
Sedgwick moved that provision ought to be made by law
(03:48):
for gearing into effect with good faith the treaties lately
concluded with the Day and Regency of Algiers, the King
of Great Britain, the King of Spain, and certain Indian
tribes northwest of the Ohio. This motion produced a warm altercation.
The members of the majority complained loudly of the celerity
(04:09):
with which it had been made, and resented the attempt
to blend together four treaties in the same resolution. After
the solemn vote, entered upon their journals declaratory of their
right to exercise a free discretion over the subject, as
an indignity to the opinions and feelings of the House.
(04:30):
After a discussion manifesting the irritation which existed, the resolution
was amended by changing the word treaties from the pearl
to the singular number, and by striking out the words
day and regency of Algiers, the King of Great Britain,
and certain Indian tribes northwest of the River Ohio, so
(04:51):
that only the treaty with the King of Spain remained
to be considered. Mister Gallatin then objected to the words
prove division ought to be made by law, as the
expression seemed to imply a negative of the principle laid
down in their resolution that the House was at perfect
(05:12):
liberty to pass or not to pass any law for
giving effect to a treaty in lieu of them. He
wished to introduce words declaring the expediency of passing the
necessary laws. This amendment was objected to as an innovation
on the forms which had been invariably observed, but it
(05:34):
was carried, after which the words with good faith were
also discarded. The resolution, thus amended, was agreed to without
a dissenting voice, and then similar resolutions were passed respecting
the treaties with al Jeers and with the Indians northwest
of the Ohio. Upon the Bill for making appropriations to
(05:55):
carry into execution the Treaty with Great Britain, business being dispatched.
The Treaty with Great Britain was brought before the House.
The friends of that instrument urged an immediate decision of
the question on a subject which had so long agitated
the whole community. The judgment of every member, they believed,
(06:19):
was completely formed, and the hope to make converts by
argument was desperate. In fact, they appeared to have entertained
the opinion that the majority would not dare to encounter
the immense responsibility of breaking that treaty without previously ascertaining
that the great body of the people were willing to
(06:39):
meet the consequences of the measure. But the members of
the opposition, though confident of their power to reject the resolution,
called for its discussion. The expectation might not unreasonably have
been entertained that the passions belonging to the subject would
be so inflamed by debate as to reduce the expression
(07:01):
of a public sentiment favorable to their wishes. And if
in this they should be disappointed, it would be certainly unwise,
either as a party or as a branch of the legislature,
to plunge the nation into embarrassments in which it was
not disposed to entangle itself, and from which the means
of extricating it could not be distinctly perceived. The minority
(07:26):
soon desisted from urging an immediate decision of the question,
and the spacious field which was opened by their propositions
before the House seemed to be entered with equal avidity
and confidence by both parties. At no time, perhaps, have
the members of the National Legislature been stimulated to great
(07:51):
exertions by stronger feelings than impel them on this occasion.
Never has a greater display been made of argument of
elocution coincident of passion, And never has a subject been
discussed in which all classes of their fellow citizens took
a deeper interest. To those motives which a doubtful contest
(08:12):
for power and for victory cannot fail to furnish, were
added others a vast influence on the human mind. Those
who supported the resolution declaring the expediency of carrying the
treaty into effect firmly believed that the faith of the
nation was pledged, and that its honor, its character, and
its constitution depended on the vote about to be given.
(08:36):
They also believed that the best interests of the United
States required an observance of the compact as formed in itself.
It was thought as favorable as the situation of the
contracting parties and of the world entitled them to expect.
But its chief merit consisted in the adjustment of ancient
differences and an its tendency to produce future Amico dispositions
(09:01):
and friendly intercourse. If Congress should refuse to perform this
treaty on the part of the United States, a compliance
on the part of Great Britain could not be expected.
The post on the Great Lakes was still be occupied
by their garrisons. No compensation would be made for American
vessels illegally captured. The hostile dispositions which have been excited
(09:25):
would be restored with increased aggravation, and that these dispositions
must lead infallibly to war was implicitly believed. They also
believed that the political subjugation of their country would be
the inevitable consequence of a war with Britain. During the
existing impassioned devotion of the United States to France. The
(09:46):
opposite party was undoubtedly of opinion that the treaty contains
stipulations really injurious to the United States. Several favorite principles
to which they attached much importance, were relinquished by some
of the articles relative to karmerce were believed to be
unequal in their operation. Nor ought the sincerity with which
(10:07):
their opinion on the constitutional powers of the House had
been advanced to be questioned in the fervor of political discussion.
That construction, which, without incurring the imputation of violating the
national faith, would enable the popular branch of the legislature
to control the President and Senate in making treaties, may
(10:27):
have been thought the safe and the correct construction. But
no consideration appears to have had more influence than the
apprehension that the amicable arrangements made with Great Britain would
seriously affect the future relations of the United States with France.
Might a conjecture on this subject be hazarded, it would
be that, in the opinion of many intelligent men, the
(10:50):
preservation of that honest and real neutrality between the belligerent
powers at which the executive had aimed was in practice
the goblet, that America would probably be forced into the war,
and that the possibility of our rupture with France was
a calamity too tremendous not to be avoided at every hazard.
(11:13):
As had been foreseen. This animated debate was on a
subject too deeply and immediately interesting to the people not
to draw forth their real sentiments. The whole country was agitated.
Meetings were again held throughout the United States, and that
strength of parties was once more tried. The fallacy of
many of the objections to the treaty had been exposed.
(11:36):
The odium originally excited against it had been diminished to
belief that its violation would infallibly precipitate the nation into
a war, if not universal was extensive. These considerations brought
reflecting men into action, and the voice of the nation
was pronounced unequivocally with a minority in the House of Representatives.
(12:00):
This manifestation of the public sentiment was decisive with Congress
on the twenty ninth of April. The question was taken
in the Committee of the Whole and was determined by
the casting vote of the Chairman in favor of the
expediency of making the necessary laws. Their resolution was finally
(12:21):
carried fifty one voting in the affirmative and forty eight
in the negative. That necessity to which a part of
the majority in the House of Representatives had reluctantly yielded,
operated on no other subject, Nor did it affect the
strength of parties their opinion respecting that system of policy
(12:42):
which ought to be observed in their external relations remained
the same in their partialities, and prejudices for and against
foreign nations sustained no diminution with regard to internal affairs. Also,
the same spirit was retained. So excessive had been the
jealousy entertained by the opposition against the military force of
(13:05):
any kind, that even under the pressure of the Algerine War,
the bill providing a naval armament could not be carried
through the House without the insertion of a section suspending
all proceedings under the Act should that war be terminated,
the event which was to arrest the executive in the
prosecution of this work having occurred, not a single frigate
(13:28):
could be completed without further authority from the legislature. This
circumstance was the more important as a peace had not
been concluded with Tunis or Tripoli and of consequence, the
Mediterranean could not yet be safely navigated by the vessels
of the United States. The President called the attention of
(13:49):
Congress to this subject, and stated the loss which would
accrue from the sudden interruption of the work and dispersion
of the workmen. A bill to enable him to complete
three instead of six frigates was with difficulty carried through
the House, But except the Treaty with Great Britain, no
subject was brought forward in which parties felt a deeper
(14:11):
interest than on those questions which related to the revenue.
Notwithstanding the increasing productiveness of the duties on external commerce,
this resource had not yet become entirely adequate to the
exigencies of the nation. To secure the complete execution of
the system for gradually redeeming the public debt without disregarding
(14:35):
those casualties to which all nations are exposed, it was
believed that some additional aids to the treasury would be required.
Upon the nature of these aids, much contrarity of opinion prevailed.
The friends of the administration were in favor of extending
the system of indirect internal taxation, but constituting the minority
(14:56):
in one branch of the legislature, they could carry no
proposition on which the opposition was united, and the party
which had become the majority in the House of Representatives
had been generally hostile to that mode of obtaining revenue,
from an opinion that direct taxes were recommended by intrinsic advantages,
(15:16):
or that the people would become more attentive to the
charges against the administration should there money be drawn from
them by visible means. Those who wish power to change
hands had generally manifested a disposition to oblige those who
exercised it to resort to a system of revenue by
which a great degree of sensibility will always be excited.
(15:38):
The indirect taxes proposed in the Committee of Ways and
Means were strongly resisted, and only that which proposed an
augmentation of the duty on carriages for pleasure was passed
into a law. Congress adjourns on the first day of June.
This long and interesting session was terminated. No preceding legislature
had been engaged into questions by which their own passions
(16:02):
or those of their constituents were more strongly excited, nor
on subjects more vitally important to the United States. From
this view of the angry contests of party, it may
not be unacceptable to turn aside for a moment and
to look back to a transaction in which the movements
of a feeling heart discover themselves not the less visibly
(16:24):
for being engaged in a struggle with the stern duties
of a public station. The President endeavors to procure the
liberation of Lafayette. No one of those foreigners who, during
the War of the Revolution had engaged in the service
of the United States, had embraced their costs with so
much enthusiasm, or had held so distinguished a place in
(16:47):
the affections of General Washington as the Marquis de la Fayette.
The attachment of these illustrious personages to each other had
been openly expressed, and had yielded neither to time nor
to the remarkable vicissities of fortune with which the destinies
of one of them had been checkered. For his friend,
while guiding the course of a revolution which fixed the
(17:10):
anxious attention of the world, or while a prisoner in
Prussia or in the dungeon of all moots, the President
manifested the same esteem and felt the same solicitude The
extreme jealousy, however, with which the persons who administered the
government of France, as well as a large party in America,
watched his deportment towards all those whom the ferocious despotism
(17:34):
of the Jacobins had exiled from their country, imposed upon
him the painful necessity of observing great circumspection in his
official conduct on this delicate subject. A formal interposition in
favor of the virtuous and unfortunate victim of their furious
passions would have been unavailing without benefiting the person whom
(17:59):
it would be designed to aid in my produced serious
political mischief. But the American ministers employed at foreign courts
were instructed to seize every fair occasion to express unofficially
the interest taken by the President in the fate of Lafayette,
and to employ the most eligible means in their power
to obtain his liberty or to meliorate his situation. A
(18:23):
confidential person had been sent to Berlin to solicit his discharge,
But before this messenger had reached his destination, the King
of Prussia had delivered over his illustrious prisoner to the
Emperor of Germany. Mister Pinkney had been instructed not only
to indicate the wishes of the President to the Austrian
Minister at London, but to endeavor unofficially to obtain the
(18:47):
powerful mediation of Britain, and had at one time flattered
himself that the Cabinet of Saint James would take an
interest in the case, but this hope was soon dissipated.
After being pointed in obtaining the mediation of the British Cabinet,
the President adjust the following letter to the Emperor of Germany.
(19:08):
It will readily occur to your Majesty that occasions may
sometimes exist on which official considerations would constrain the chief
of a nation to be silent and passive in relation
even to objects which affect his sensibility, and claim his
interposition as a man. Finding myself precisely in this situation
(19:30):
at present, I take the liberty of writing this private
letter to your Majesty, being persuaded that my motives will
also be my apology for it. In common with the
people of this country, I retain a strong and cordial
sense of the services rendered to them by the Marquis
de la Fayette, and my friendship for him has been
(19:51):
constant and sincere. It is natural therefore that I should
sympathize with him and his family in their misfortunes, and
ever to mitigate the calamities they experience, among which his
present confinement is not the least distressing. I forbear to
enlarge on this delicate subject. Permit me only to submit
(20:12):
to your Majesty's consideration, whether his long imprisonment and the
confiscation of his estate, and the indigence and dispersion of
his family, and the painful anxieties incident to all these
circumstances do not form an assemblage of sufferings which recommend
him to the mediation of humanity. Allow me so, on
(20:34):
this occasion, to be its organ, and to entreat that
he may be permitted to come to this country on
such conditions and under such restrictions as your Majesty may
think it expedient to prescribe. As it is a maxim
with me not to ask what under similar circumstances I
would not grant. Your Majesty will do me the justice
(20:57):
to believe that this request appears to me to course
bound with those great principles of magnanimity and wisdom which
form the basis of sound policy and durable glory. This
letter was transmitted to mister Pinkney, to be conveyed to
the Emperor through his minister at London. How far it
operated in mitigating immediately the rigor of Lafayette's confinement or
(21:20):
in obtaining his liberation, remains unascertained. End of Chapter three,
Part five,
Chapter three, Part five of the Life of Washington, Volume
five by John Marshall. This LibriVox recording is in the
public domain. As therefore it is perfectly clear to my
understanding that the ascent of the House of Representatives is
(00:23):
not necessary to the validity of a treaty, as the
Treaty with Great Britain exhibits in itself all the objects
requiring legislative provision, and on these the papers called for
can throw no light. And as it is essential to
the due administration of the government that the boundaries fixed
(00:48):
by the Constitution between the different departments should be preserved,
a just regard to the Constitution and to the duty
of my office under all the circle circumstances of this case,
for bitter compliance with your request, the terms in which
this decided, and it would seem unexpected negative to the
(01:12):
call for papers was conveyed, appeared to break the last
chord of that attachment which had theretofore bound some of
the active leaders of the opposition to the person of
the President. Amidst all the agitations and irritations of party.
(01:33):
A sincere respect and real affection for the Chief Magistrate,
the remnant of former friendship had still lingered in the
bosoms of some who had engaged with ardor in the
political contests of the day. But if the last spark
of this affection was not now extinguished, it was at
(01:55):
least concealed under the more active passions of the moment
debates upon the treaty making power. A motion to refer
the message of the President to a committee of the
whole House was carried by a large majority. In committee,
resolutions were moved by mister Blunt of North Carolina, declaratory
(02:21):
of the sense of the House respecting its own power
on the subject of treaties. These resolutions take a position
less untenable than had been maintained in argument, and rather
inexplicit on an essential part of the question, disclaiming a
(02:42):
power to interfere in making treaties. They assert the right
of the House of Representatives, whenever stipulations are made on
subjects committed by the Constitution to Congress, to deliberate on
the expediency of carrying them into effect, without deciding what
degree of obligation the treaty possesses on the nation, so
(03:05):
far as respects those points previous to such deliberation. After
a debate in which the message was freely criticized. The
resolutions were carried fifty seven voting in the affirmative and
thirty five in the negative. In the course of the
month of March, the treaties with His Catholic Majesty and
(03:27):
with the Day of Algiers had been ratified by the
President and were laid before Congress. On the thirteenth of April.
In a Committee of the Whole House on the State
of the Union, the instant the chairman was seated. Mister
Sedgwick moved that provision ought to be made by law
(03:48):
for gearing into effect with good faith the treaties lately
concluded with the Day and Regency of Algiers, the King
of Great Britain, the King of Spain, and certain Indian
tribes northwest of the Ohio. This motion produced a warm altercation.
The members of the majority complained loudly of the celerity
(04:09):
with which it had been made, and resented the attempt
to blend together four treaties in the same resolution. After
the solemn vote, entered upon their journals declaratory of their
right to exercise a free discretion over the subject, as
an indignity to the opinions and feelings of the House.
(04:30):
After a discussion manifesting the irritation which existed, the resolution
was amended by changing the word treaties from the pearl
to the singular number, and by striking out the words
day and regency of Algiers, the King of Great Britain,
and certain Indian tribes northwest of the River Ohio, so
(04:51):
that only the treaty with the King of Spain remained
to be considered. Mister Gallatin then objected to the words
prove division ought to be made by law, as the
expression seemed to imply a negative of the principle laid
down in their resolution that the House was at perfect
(05:12):
liberty to pass or not to pass any law for
giving effect to a treaty in lieu of them. He
wished to introduce words declaring the expediency of passing the
necessary laws. This amendment was objected to as an innovation
on the forms which had been invariably observed, but it
(05:34):
was carried, after which the words with good faith were
also discarded. The resolution, thus amended, was agreed to without
a dissenting voice, and then similar resolutions were passed respecting
the treaties with al Jeers and with the Indians northwest
of the Ohio. Upon the Bill for making appropriations to
(05:55):
carry into execution the Treaty with Great Britain, business being dispatched.
The Treaty with Great Britain was brought before the House.
The friends of that instrument urged an immediate decision of
the question on a subject which had so long agitated
the whole community. The judgment of every member, they believed,
(06:19):
was completely formed, and the hope to make converts by
argument was desperate. In fact, they appeared to have entertained
the opinion that the majority would not dare to encounter
the immense responsibility of breaking that treaty without previously ascertaining
that the great body of the people were willing to
(06:39):
meet the consequences of the measure. But the members of
the opposition, though confident of their power to reject the resolution,
called for its discussion. The expectation might not unreasonably have
been entertained that the passions belonging to the subject would
be so inflamed by debate as to reduce the expression
(07:01):
of a public sentiment favorable to their wishes. And if
in this they should be disappointed, it would be certainly unwise,
either as a party or as a branch of the legislature,
to plunge the nation into embarrassments in which it was
not disposed to entangle itself, and from which the means
of extricating it could not be distinctly perceived. The minority
(07:26):
soon desisted from urging an immediate decision of the question,
and the spacious field which was opened by their propositions
before the House seemed to be entered with equal avidity
and confidence by both parties. At no time, perhaps, have
the members of the National Legislature been stimulated to great
(07:51):
exertions by stronger feelings than impel them on this occasion.
Never has a greater display been made of argument of
elocution coincident of passion, And never has a subject been
discussed in which all classes of their fellow citizens took
a deeper interest. To those motives which a doubtful contest
(08:12):
for power and for victory cannot fail to furnish, were
added others a vast influence on the human mind. Those
who supported the resolution declaring the expediency of carrying the
treaty into effect firmly believed that the faith of the
nation was pledged, and that its honor, its character, and
its constitution depended on the vote about to be given.
(08:36):
They also believed that the best interests of the United
States required an observance of the compact as formed in itself.
It was thought as favorable as the situation of the
contracting parties and of the world entitled them to expect.
But its chief merit consisted in the adjustment of ancient
differences and an its tendency to produce future Amico dispositions
(09:01):
and friendly intercourse. If Congress should refuse to perform this
treaty on the part of the United States, a compliance
on the part of Great Britain could not be expected.
The post on the Great Lakes was still be occupied
by their garrisons. No compensation would be made for American
vessels illegally captured. The hostile dispositions which have been excited
(09:25):
would be restored with increased aggravation, and that these dispositions
must lead infallibly to war was implicitly believed. They also
believed that the political subjugation of their country would be
the inevitable consequence of a war with Britain. During the
existing impassioned devotion of the United States to France. The
(09:46):
opposite party was undoubtedly of opinion that the treaty contains
stipulations really injurious to the United States. Several favorite principles
to which they attached much importance, were relinquished by some
of the articles relative to karmerce were believed to be
unequal in their operation. Nor ought the sincerity with which
(10:07):
their opinion on the constitutional powers of the House had
been advanced to be questioned in the fervor of political discussion.
That construction, which, without incurring the imputation of violating the
national faith, would enable the popular branch of the legislature
to control the President and Senate in making treaties, may
(10:27):
have been thought the safe and the correct construction. But
no consideration appears to have had more influence than the
apprehension that the amicable arrangements made with Great Britain would
seriously affect the future relations of the United States with France.
Might a conjecture on this subject be hazarded, it would
be that, in the opinion of many intelligent men, the
(10:50):
preservation of that honest and real neutrality between the belligerent
powers at which the executive had aimed was in practice
the goblet, that America would probably be forced into the war,
and that the possibility of our rupture with France was
a calamity too tremendous not to be avoided at every hazard.
(11:13):
As had been foreseen. This animated debate was on a
subject too deeply and immediately interesting to the people not
to draw forth their real sentiments. The whole country was agitated.
Meetings were again held throughout the United States, and that
strength of parties was once more tried. The fallacy of
many of the objections to the treaty had been exposed.
(11:36):
The odium originally excited against it had been diminished to
belief that its violation would infallibly precipitate the nation into
a war, if not universal was extensive. These considerations brought
reflecting men into action, and the voice of the nation
was pronounced unequivocally with a minority in the House of Representatives.
(12:00):
This manifestation of the public sentiment was decisive with Congress
on the twenty ninth of April. The question was taken
in the Committee of the Whole and was determined by
the casting vote of the Chairman in favor of the
expediency of making the necessary laws. Their resolution was finally
(12:21):
carried fifty one voting in the affirmative and forty eight
in the negative. That necessity to which a part of
the majority in the House of Representatives had reluctantly yielded,
operated on no other subject, Nor did it affect the
strength of parties their opinion respecting that system of policy
(12:42):
which ought to be observed in their external relations remained
the same in their partialities, and prejudices for and against
foreign nations sustained no diminution with regard to internal affairs. Also,
the same spirit was retained. So excessive had been the
jealousy entertained by the opposition against the military force of
(13:05):
any kind, that even under the pressure of the Algerine War,
the bill providing a naval armament could not be carried
through the House without the insertion of a section suspending
all proceedings under the Act should that war be terminated,
the event which was to arrest the executive in the
prosecution of this work having occurred, not a single frigate
(13:28):
could be completed without further authority from the legislature. This
circumstance was the more important as a peace had not
been concluded with Tunis or Tripoli and of consequence, the
Mediterranean could not yet be safely navigated by the vessels
of the United States. The President called the attention of
(13:49):
Congress to this subject, and stated the loss which would
accrue from the sudden interruption of the work and dispersion
of the workmen. A bill to enable him to complete
three instead of six frigates was with difficulty carried through
the House, But except the Treaty with Great Britain, no
subject was brought forward in which parties felt a deeper
(14:11):
interest than on those questions which related to the revenue.
Notwithstanding the increasing productiveness of the duties on external commerce,
this resource had not yet become entirely adequate to the
exigencies of the nation. To secure the complete execution of
the system for gradually redeeming the public debt without disregarding
(14:35):
those casualties to which all nations are exposed, it was
believed that some additional aids to the treasury would be required.
Upon the nature of these aids, much contrarity of opinion prevailed.
The friends of the administration were in favor of extending
the system of indirect internal taxation, but constituting the minority
(14:56):
in one branch of the legislature, they could carry no
proposition on which the opposition was united, and the party
which had become the majority in the House of Representatives
had been generally hostile to that mode of obtaining revenue,
from an opinion that direct taxes were recommended by intrinsic advantages,
(15:16):
or that the people would become more attentive to the
charges against the administration should there money be drawn from
them by visible means. Those who wish power to change
hands had generally manifested a disposition to oblige those who
exercised it to resort to a system of revenue by
which a great degree of sensibility will always be excited.
(15:38):
The indirect taxes proposed in the Committee of Ways and
Means were strongly resisted, and only that which proposed an
augmentation of the duty on carriages for pleasure was passed
into a law. Congress adjourns on the first day of June.
This long and interesting session was terminated. No preceding legislature
had been engaged into questions by which their own passions
(16:02):
or those of their constituents were more strongly excited, nor
on subjects more vitally important to the United States. From
this view of the angry contests of party, it may
not be unacceptable to turn aside for a moment and
to look back to a transaction in which the movements
of a feeling heart discover themselves not the less visibly
(16:24):
for being engaged in a struggle with the stern duties
of a public station. The President endeavors to procure the
liberation of Lafayette. No one of those foreigners who, during
the War of the Revolution had engaged in the service
of the United States, had embraced their costs with so
much enthusiasm, or had held so distinguished a place in
(16:47):
the affections of General Washington as the Marquis de la Fayette.
The attachment of these illustrious personages to each other had
been openly expressed, and had yielded neither to time nor
to the remarkable vicissities of fortune with which the destinies
of one of them had been checkered. For his friend,
while guiding the course of a revolution which fixed the
(17:10):
anxious attention of the world, or while a prisoner in
Prussia or in the dungeon of all moots, the President
manifested the same esteem and felt the same solicitude The
extreme jealousy, however, with which the persons who administered the
government of France, as well as a large party in America,
watched his deportment towards all those whom the ferocious despotism
(17:34):
of the Jacobins had exiled from their country, imposed upon
him the painful necessity of observing great circumspection in his
official conduct on this delicate subject. A formal interposition in
favor of the virtuous and unfortunate victim of their furious
passions would have been unavailing without benefiting the person whom
(17:59):
it would be designed to aid in my produced serious
political mischief. But the American ministers employed at foreign courts
were instructed to seize every fair occasion to express unofficially
the interest taken by the President in the fate of Lafayette,
and to employ the most eligible means in their power
to obtain his liberty or to meliorate his situation. A
(18:23):
confidential person had been sent to Berlin to solicit his discharge,
But before this messenger had reached his destination, the King
of Prussia had delivered over his illustrious prisoner to the
Emperor of Germany. Mister Pinkney had been instructed not only
to indicate the wishes of the President to the Austrian
Minister at London, but to endeavor unofficially to obtain the
(18:47):
powerful mediation of Britain, and had at one time flattered
himself that the Cabinet of Saint James would take an
interest in the case, but this hope was soon dissipated.
After being pointed in obtaining the mediation of the British Cabinet,
the President adjust the following letter to the Emperor of Germany.
(19:08):
It will readily occur to your Majesty that occasions may
sometimes exist on which official considerations would constrain the chief
of a nation to be silent and passive in relation
even to objects which affect his sensibility, and claim his
interposition as a man. Finding myself precisely in this situation
(19:30):
at present, I take the liberty of writing this private
letter to your Majesty, being persuaded that my motives will
also be my apology for it. In common with the
people of this country, I retain a strong and cordial
sense of the services rendered to them by the Marquis
de la Fayette, and my friendship for him has been
(19:51):
constant and sincere. It is natural therefore that I should
sympathize with him and his family in their misfortunes, and
ever to mitigate the calamities they experience, among which his
present confinement is not the least distressing. I forbear to
enlarge on this delicate subject. Permit me only to submit
(20:12):
to your Majesty's consideration, whether his long imprisonment and the
confiscation of his estate, and the indigence and dispersion of
his family, and the painful anxieties incident to all these
circumstances do not form an assemblage of sufferings which recommend
him to the mediation of humanity. Allow me so, on
(20:34):
this occasion, to be its organ, and to entreat that
he may be permitted to come to this country on
such conditions and under such restrictions as your Majesty may
think it expedient to prescribe. As it is a maxim
with me not to ask what under similar circumstances I
would not grant. Your Majesty will do me the justice
(20:57):
to believe that this request appears to me to course
bound with those great principles of magnanimity and wisdom which
form the basis of sound policy and durable glory. This
letter was transmitted to mister Pinkney, to be conveyed to
the Emperor through his minister at London. How far it
operated in mitigating immediately the rigor of Lafayette's confinement or
(21:20):
in obtaining his liberation, remains unascertained. End of Chapter three,
Part five,
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