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CHAPTER piration of his senatorial term, having been again re-elected to the House; Dana, Chauncey Goodrich, and Gris1799. wold, of Connecticut; Livingston, of New York; Gallatin, Hartley, Kittera, Smilie, and Peter Muhlenburg, of Pennsylvania; Bayard, of Delaware; Smith, of Maryland; John Nicholas, and Parker, of Virginia, of whom the former had carried his election only by a few votes, while the latter had gone over to the Federalists; Macon, of North Carolina; Harper, Rutledge, Thomas Pinckney, and Sumter, of South Carolina. The most remarkable of the new members were Dr. Michael Leib, already known to us as a very furious Democrat, from Pennsyl vania; Joseph H. Nicholson, of similar politics, from Maryland; John Marshall, Henry Lee, and the eccentric. and afterward celebrated John Randolph, from Virginia. William Henry Harrison, afterward president of the United States, appeared as a delegate from the Territory northwest of the Ohio, the sole representative of that extensive region, counting now, at the end of only fifty years, five states, and near five millions of inhabitants. Sedgwick was elected speaker over Macon by forty-four votes to thirty-eight.

Dec.

The president's speech, after noticing the Northampton insurrection (Fries's), the revival of trade with St. Domingo, the departure of the envoys for France, and the suspension of the commissions under the British treaty, devoted itself principally to two topics: first, a reorganization of the Federal judiciary, already more than once suggested by the judges, and repeatedly brought by Washington to the notice of Congress; and, secondly, a steady perseverance in a system of national defense, commensurate with the resources, and corresponding with the situation of the country. The president expressed his decided opinion that, in the present disturbed state of

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the world, remote as the United States were from the CHAPTER seat of war, and desirous as they might be, by doing justice to all, to avoid offense to any, nothing short of the 1799. power and means of repelling aggressions would secure a rational prospect of escaping war, or national degradation, or both.

New

Though the Federalists had a decided majority in the House, that majority was by no means homogeneous. "The following may be considered," so Wolcott wrote to Dec. 29. Ames, "as a tolerably correct outline of the state of the public councils. The Federal party is composed of old members who were generally re-elected in the Northern, with new members from the Southern States. York has sent an anti-Federal majority, Pennsylvania has done the same. Opposition principles are gaining ground in New Jersey and Maryland, and in the present Congress the votes of these states will be fluctuating and undecided. A number of distinguished men appear from the southward, who are not pledged by any act to support the system of the late Congress. These men will pay great respect to the opinions of Marshall. is doubtless a man of virtue and distinguished talents, but he will think much of the State of Virginia, and is too much disposed to govern the world according to rules. of logic. He will read and expound the Constitution as though it were a penal statute, and will sometimes be embarrassed with doubts of which his friends will not perceive the importance.

He

"The Northern members can do nothing of themselves, and circumstances have imposed upon them the necessity of reserve. The president will be supported by many from personal considerations; some believe he has acted wisely, others consider it impolitic and unjust to withdraw their support, though they admit that he has com

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CHAPTER mitted a mistake. The president's mind is in a state which renders it difficult to determine what prudence 1799. and duty require from those about him. He considers Colonel Pickering, Mr. M'Henry, and myself as his enemies; his resentments against General Hamilton are excessive; he declares his belief of the existence of a British faction in the United States. In some unguarded moment he wrote a letter to Tench Coxe, attributing the appointment of Mr. Pinckney, as minister to London, to British influence, and suggesting that, if he (Mr. Adams) were in an executive office, he should watch the progress of that influence. Coxe has perfidiously disclosed this letter, and copies are circulating among the suspicious and malignant. This state of things has greatly impaired the confidence which subsisted among men of a certain class in society. No one knows how soon his own character may be assailed. Spies and informers carry tales to the president with the hope of producing changes in the administration. Mr. Otis, your successor, is suspected of aspiring to the office of Secretary of State. Cunning half Jacobins assure the president that he can combine the virtuous and moderate men of both parties, and that all our difficulties are owing to an oligarchy which it is in his power to crush, and thus acquire the general support of the nation. I believe that I am not mistaken in any of the facts which I have stated. It is certain that confidence is impaired. But no man can be certain that, when many are interested in promoting dissension, he may not himself be the dupe of artifice, and possibly this is my own case."

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Considering the state of the House," says this same lively, candid, and sagacious letter, "it was necessary answer to the speech should be pre

and proper that the
pared by Marshall.

He has had a hard task to perform,

and you will see how it has been executed.

The object CHAPTER

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was to meet all opinions, at least of the Federalists. It was, of course, necessary to appear to approve the mis- 1799. sion, and yet to express the approbation in such terms as, when critically analyzed, should amount to no approbation at all. No one individual was really satisfied, but all were unwilling to encounter the danger and heat which a debate would produce, and the address passed with silent dissent. The president doubtless understood the intention, and in his response has expressed his sense of the dubious compliment in terms inimitably obscure."

The standing committees had been appointed, and some commencement of business had been made, when the proceedings of Congress were interrupted, and the whole nation was shocked by the sudden death of General Washington; carried off, after a few days' sick. ness, by an inflammation of the windpipe, brought on by exposure to wet in a ride about his farm, and of which the fatal effect, it is to be feared, was hastened, if not, indeed, produced, by the excessive bleeding to which, according to the fashionable practice of that time, he was subjected by his attendant physicians.

His sudden death almost entirely swept away, at least for the moment, those feelings of suspicion with which a portion of the Republican party, especially of the leaders, had begun to regard him. Now that he was dead, all zealously united to do him honor.

Rare man indeed he was among actors on the military and political stage, possessing in the highest degree the most imposing qualities of a great leader-deliberate and cautious wisdom in judging, promptitude and energy in acting, a steady, firm, indomitable spirit, such as men love to cling to and rely upon; more than all, an unsullied integrity, and a sincere and disinterest

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rene.

CHAPTER ed devotion to his country's cause, such, indeed, as many public men, or their followers for them, pretend to, but 1799. the credit of which very few get and still fewer deserve. History records many names that dazzle the imagination with a greater brilliancy, but few, indeed, that shine with a light so pure, steady, permanent, penetrating, and seWashington's character and reputation, as contrasted with those of many other famous men, seem to resemble in effect the Doric in architecture as compared with the Gothic and Oriental styles. Those styles often excite, especially in minds peculiarly liable to vivid impressions, the most enthusiastic pitch of admiration, appealing, as they do, not alone nor chiefly to the sentiment of the beautiful, but to the powerful emotions, also, of surprise and wonder, growing out of novelty, variety, complication, and vastness. But these are emotions, especially if we take into account the mass of men and succeeding generations, liable to great fluctuations, often subsiding into indifference, sometimes sinking into contempt; while the serener sentiments, always and every where inspired by majesty, order, proportion, grace, and fitness, are not less steady, universal, and enduring than the perceptions from which they spring.

The loss of this great man, especially at this critical moment, was a terrible blow to the Federal party, of which he had always been the main pillar and support. The confidence so almost universally reposed in his virtue and his wisdom had been a tower of strength against which the furious waves of the opposition had dashed harmless; and in the present unhappy divisions among the Federal leaders, many eyes had begun to turn again toward him, as called upon for further labors and sacrifices. As he had consented again to gird on his sword to repel the foreign enemies of his country, many had

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