XV. dent, in the chief justice or some other high officer, by CHAPTER threats on the part of the opposition that the Middle States would rise in arms, and call a convention for fram- 1801. ing a new Constitution. Had Congress been sitting in Philadelphia instead of Washington, it would have run no small risk of being invaded by a mob. Thinking that the time had arrived for terminating the struggle in the exercise of a discretion intrusted to him by the other three Federalists with whom he co-operated-Bayard called a general meeting of the Federal Feb. 16. members; and, though some were still very reluctant to yield, it was finally agreed that Burr had no chance, and that Jefferson must be chosen. But the Federalists did not surrender entirely at discretion, nor without something like an approach to terms. Application had been made by Dayton and Parker to Smith of Maryland, who was intimate with Jefferson, and lived in the same house with him, to ascertain his intentions as to the public debt, commerce, and the navy. Bayard had also applied to Smith, not only as to these points, but also touching removals from office. As to the public debt, commerce, and the navy, Smith, so he said, had frequently heard Jefferson express his opinion, and he gave satisfactory assurances that no serious changes of policy would be attempted. As to the mat. ter of removals from office, he promised to make inquiries, and the next day reported to Bayard that Jefferson coincided in the opinion already expressed by himself, that meritorious subordinate officers ought not to be removed merely on account of their political opinions. The thirty-fifth ballot, taken at noon the day after Feb. 17. the Federal caucus, the seventh day of the protracted sitting, resulted like the former ones. After an hour's interval, on the thirty-sixth ballot, Morris, of Vermont, eight that had CHAPTER was absent, and the two Maryland Federalists, Craik XV. and Baer, put in blank ballots, thus giving two more 1801. states to Jefferson, which, added to the always voted for him, made a majority. dency, of course, devolved on Burr. The vice-presiCommittees were appointed to inform the Senate and the president elect. To this notification Jefferson made a short reply, in which his satisfaction at the result and his entire devotion to the proper discharge of his important trust were emphatically expressed. The obnoxious Sedition Act would expire, by its own Jan. 26. limitation, at the close of the present Congress. A bill, ordered to be brought in by the casting vote of the speaker, for continuing that law in force, would seem to prove that its friends had been influenced in its original enactment by other motives than a mere desire to silence their opponents. Fortunately, however, for the Federalists, Feb. 21. this bill failed, on its third reading, by a considerable majority. Even the first section of it, aimed against combinations to impede the execution of the laws, however theoretically unexceptionable, might have proved, in the hands of a violent and tyrannical government, backed by an unscrupulous majority, and in the case of unjust laws, a terrible instrument of tyranny. Feb. 27. The District of Columbia, erected into two counties, as divided by the Potomac, was placed under the jurisdiction of a circuit court, composed of a chief justice and two assessors; the judgment of this court to be final in criminal cases, but in civil cases, where the amount in dispute exceeded one hundred dollars in valuesince increased to one thousand dollars-a writ of error to lie to the Supreme Court of the United States. By a subsequent enactment, the chief justice of the Circuit Court was made sole judge of the District Court, hav XV. ing a jurisdiction like that of the other Federal Dis- CHAPTER trict Courts. All matters relating to probate of wills, administration of intestate estates, and guardianships, 1801. were made cognizable in the first instance by an Orphan's Court, composed of a single judge, with a registrar. Justices of the peace were to be appointed at the discretion of the president. Instead of providing a homogeneous code for the district, the laws of Maryland and Virginia, as they stood at that moment, were continued in force on the north and south sides of the Potomac respectively. As there was now every prospect of a peace with France, there seemed no longer the same necessity for keeping so many public vessels afloat. Several of those vessels, purchased for immediate use or built of unseasoned materials, were hardly proper for the service, and, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy, the president was authorized to sell all of them except March 3. thirteen of the largest and best, six of which were to be kept constantly in commission. All the officers were to be discharged except nine captains, thirty-six lieutenants, and a hundred and fifty midshipmen; and those retained were to receive only half pay except when in active service. It appeared from the report of the Secretary of the Navy that materials had been collected for the construction of the six seventy-fours, and grounds purchased or contracted for on which to build them-the sites of the present navy yards at Portsmouth, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Norfolk. The secretary pressed with great earnestness the policy of annual appropriations toward a naval force of twelve seventy-fours and twice as many heavy frigates; or, at least, of providing the materials, so that the vessels might be set up at any time. The Navy Bill, as passed, appropriated CHAPTER half a million toward the completion of the six seventyfours. XV. 1801. A collision in the course of the session between the speaker and the reporters of Congressional debates is not ers. Per The XV. thought exorbitant, and was not carried. After the re- CHAPTER moval to Washington, application was made to the speaker by two reporters for seats on the floor, which he re- 1801. fused on the plea that no such seats could be assigned consistently with the convenience of the House. haps, however, the fact that one of these applicants was editor of the National Intelligencer, and that the reports of both were intended for that new organ of the opposi tion, might have influenced Sedgwick's decision. The reporters then applied to the House by memorial; but the speaker's decision was sustained by his own casting vote, and they were obliged to accommodate themselves in the area outside the bar. Not long after, the editor of the Intelligencer took the opportunity to report some proceedings on a question of order in a way not very complimentary to Sedgwick's knowledge or fairness. speaker denounced this report from his place as grossly incorrect; but the Intelligencer, notwithstanding, still insisted on its correctness; in consequence of which, the speaker instructed the sergeant-at-arms to expel the editor of that paper first from the area outside the bar, and then from the gallery, to which he had retired. Though the same course had been taken with Duane, in 1797, for alleged misrepresentations which he refused to retract, it was brought before the House as a usurpation of authority. It was contended that the speaker had no right to exclude any citizen from the gallery except for disorderly conduct, and a vote of censure was moved. But this motion was decided to be out of order, and so was got rid of. Gallatin then moved an amendment to the rules, the effect of which would have been to restore the reporter to the gallery, and to deprive the speaker of the power to remove him; but upon this motion, also, a direct vote was avoided, and it received the go-by by |