XVIII. from his presence; for just at the close of the session of CHAPTER Congress, under pretense of some inadmissible demands said to have been made by him, which might perhaps 1806. end in war, Congress was prevailed upon to continue the Mediterranean duties; and thus the whole scheme of the administration, as originally suggested by Bidwell in secret session, was carried out. These sittings with closed doors, of which there had been several during the session, did not fail greatly to pique the public curiosity. The Federal prints triumphantly reminded the Democrats of the clamor they had been accustomed to raise about secrecy in public transactions; and they asserted, not without reason, that, ever since Jefferson's accession to office, a mystery had enshrouded the foreign relations of the country such as never had existed during the two preceding administrations. The secret gradually leaked out, and finally the journal of the secret session, though without any removal of the injunction upon the members, was directed to be published. Randolph complained, however, that the published journal was garbled; and from his statement, first made in one of the sittings with closed doors toward the end of the session, of the confidential communications to him by Madison and Gallatin, the idea sprung up that the two millions voted in secret session was wanted as a bribe to France, thereby to induce her to compel Spain to come to a reasonable arrangement as to the boundaries of Louisiana. Such a perfect counterpart to Monroe's old scheme of hiring France to compel Spain and Great Britain to do us justice, found at once very ready credence with the Federalists. What served to confirm this opinion was the carrying through of Logan's bill, rejected by the last Congress, for prohibiting all intercourse with Dessalines and his empire of Hayti—a law, CHAPTER however, which it was easier to pass than to enforce. XVIII. Turreau and Talleyrand, with very little ceremony, had 1806. threatened war if such an act were not passed. Jackson and some other of the Southern members were inclined to put its passage on the ground of the general duty of discountenancing negro insurrection. Near the close of the session another subject was brought to the attention of Congress, curious in itself, closely connected with some other singular events, and involving, also, the honor and good faith of the govern ment. The successful revolt of the United States of America had not failed early to inspire, in some enthusiastic and scheming minds, the idea of a Spanish American revolution. Of this character was Francis Miranda, a native of Spanish America, formerly an officer in the Spanish army. Shortly after the close of the American Revolution, being detected in, or at least accused of, certain plots against the Spanish authority, he had made his escape to Europe, and had presented to the courts of England and Russia, not entirely without encouragement, as it was said, plans for revolutionizing the Spanish colonies. Finally, he went to Paris about the time of the establishment of the Republic, connected himself with the Girondists, and on the breaking out of the war had been appointed a general of division. But his conduct at the siege of Maestricht and at the battle of Nerwinde did not do him credit, and he was presently imprisoned by the triumphant Jacobins. He was liberated in 1794, but was soon after ordered to quit France. Having returned again, and being accused of political intrigues, he was again sent away in 1797. Again he returned to Paris in 1804, but, being accused of intrigues against Bonaparte's government, he was again sent away. About the beginning XVIII. of the current year, bringing letters of introduction to Mr. CHAPTER Jefferson, he had arrived in the United States, with the purpose of fitting out an expedition having for its object 1806. the revolutionizing of the Spanish province of Caraccas, now constituting the republic of Venezuela. Even apart from a natural feeling of sympathy for Miranda's political principles and objects, as things then stood between Spain and the United States, any such embarrassment to Spain was not likely to be disagreeable to the American government. Miranda used, indeed, a certain degree of reserve, and carried on his preparations with secrecy. But, while those preparations were making at New York, he resided for some time at Washington, in habits of intimacy with Jefferson and Madison; and it was afterward believed that the act prohibiting the exportation of arms had been dropped for his special convenience. It is certain, at least, that a Mr. Ogden, of New York, whose ship, the Leander, was chartered by Miranda, and that William S. Smith, John Adams's sonin-law, who held at this time the lucrative post of surveyor of that port, and who was engaged in furthering Miranda's preparations, both believed that he was secretly countenanced by the government. Presently the Leander sailed from New York, having on board Miranda, February. a supply of arms, and some two or three hundred men enlisted for the enterprise. Soon after her departure the matter began to be talked of in the newspapers; and the government, alarmed lest they might be compromitted with Spain, ordered prosecutions to be commenced March. against Ogden and Smith. They presented memorials April. to Congress, setting forth that they had entered into the enterprise having every reason to believe, from the representations of Miranda, that he was secretly supported and encouraged by the government. The House re CHAPTER solved, by a very large majority, a few of the Federalists XVIII. in the negative, that there was no reason to give credit 1806. to the imputations attempted to be cast on the adminisApril 21. tration by these memorials, and that they appeared to have been presented with insidious designs. Another resolution, that it would be highly improper in the House to take any step that might influence or prejudice a cause pending before a legal tribunal, was agreed to unanimous. ly. Yet, when the case came on for trial, Ogden and July. Smith were acquitted by the jury on this very ground that the government had countenanced the enterprise; and the circumstance that the president interposed his authority to prevent the attendance of his cabinet ministers, who had been summoned as witnesses by the defendants, alleging that he needed their services at Washington, served to assure the public that the verdict was correct. In consequence of this affair, Smith lost his office, as did also Swartwout, the marshal, Burr's friend, whose selection of a jury, and whose testimony in the case, were by no means satisfactory to the president. The expedition itself ended, two or three months after, in a complete failure. Miranda obtained some assistance from the English, and took possession of two or three towns on the coast of Caraccas. But the inhabitants would not listen to his proffers of liberty. Two transports, with some sixty Americans on board, were taken by the Spaniards. The rest returned to Trinidad, where the expedition dispersed and broke up. Jefferson's views of the state of foreign affairs, of the proceedings of Congress, and of the defection of Ran dolph, are apparent from letters written during the sesMarch 22. sion. He assured Duane, of the Aurora, that the point of difference with Randolph was, that the administration "were not disposed to join in league with Britain under XVIII. any belief that she is fighting for the liberties of man- CHAPTER kind, and to enter into war with Spain, and, consequently, with France." This was a very artful appeal to Du- 1806. ane's strong anti-British antipathies-which feeling, indeed, joined to a panic terror of the power of France, seemed to form the key-stone of Jefferson's foreign policy. The battle of Trafalgar, by its destruction of the French marine, had completely disabled Bonaparte from mischief, so far as America was concerned. But, dazzled by the overthrow of Austria at Austerlitz, soon followed by the dissolution of the German Empire, and by the battle of Jena and the dismemberment of Prussia, Jefferson and his cabinet still continued to look to France with a fear little short of abject. "A last effort at friendly settlement with Spain is proposed to be made at Paris, and under the auspices of France;" so wrote Jefferson to his confidential friend March 24. Wilson C. Nicholas. "For this purpose, General Armstrong and Mr. Bowdoin (both now at Paris) have been appointed joint commissioners; but such a cloud of dissatisfaction rests on General Armstrong in the minds of many persons, on account of a late occurrence stated in the public papers, that we have in contemplation to add a third commissioner, in order to give the necessary measure of public confidence to the commission." Nicholas was accordingly asked if he would accept the place. Bowdoin, a son of the late James Bowdoin, but in no respect equal to his father, had been rewarded for his adherence to Jeffersonian politics by the mission to Spain, from which Charles Pinckney-the ruinous state of whose private pecuniary affairs demanded his presence at home, where he was soon again chosen governor-had asked his recall. The feeling against Armstrong grew out of his interference, irregular and unauthorized, as it was main |