sidered it inconsistent with the honor and dignity of the nation, to make any such attempt; and that proposals to treat should come from France. Mr. Adams did not consult his cabinet on this occasion. When Mr. Pickering, and Mr. McHenry, (Secretary at War,) were informed that he intended a new mission, they remonstrated, and this made the breach, which had long been widening, irreparable. On the 26th of February, 1799, the President appointed Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut, Patrick Henry, of Virginia, and William Vans Murray, of Maryland, (then minister at the Netherlands,) Envoys Extraordinary, and drew up his own instructions. Mr. Henry declined, and William Richardson Davie, of North Carolina, was substituted.

France was surprised by the hostility of America; more so that their influence in the United States was incompetent to prevent it. War was not her object. It could do her no good, and there was, undoubtedly, a disposition on her part to recede. The President, probably, took this view of the case, though it had not the approbation of his most intelligent supporters. Hamilton was much opposed to it, and is said to have written to the President to dissuade him from sending Envoys. This dissent only made the President more determined to persevere. The breach occasioned by this measure, between the President and his two ministers, Pickering and McHenry, (and some other opinions, as it is said, expressed by the latter favorably to Washington,) made the cabinet relation of these persons too unpleasant to be endured; and, in April or May, 1800, the President abruptly dismissed both these ministers. This event excited much sensation. It probably had some influence in reducing the federalists to a minority. But another measure, then thought to be highly impolitic, was a letter written by, and in the name of Alexander Hamilton, and published in 1800,"concerning the public conduct and character of John Adams." This letter, disclosing, as

it did, and from an eminent man, a determined aversion from the continuance of Mr. Adams's official power, may be considered as among the operative causes of Mr. Adams's failure, at the ensuing election. This publication, whatever may be thought of it as to the time in which it appeared, as to motives, and manner, may have hastened the fall of federalism. Nothing, it is believed, would have prevented it, in no very distant time. There was not then, and never has been since, a majority who were disposed to administer the government according to the true standard established by Washington, and conformed to by Mr. Adams, so far as his circumstances permitted; although, when pressed by necessity, subsequent administrations have always returned to it.

The first subject of complaint against Mr. Adams, among the friends of the government, resulted favorably to the country. It prevented, for that time, the continuance of the United States in a war, for which they were unprepared, and in which they had much to lose, and nothing to gain. So far as mere interest was concerned, one would think Mr. Adams's policy was right. So far as honor and dignity were involved, there seem to have been different opinions. When the Envoys arrived, the Directory had disappeared, and Napoleon Bonaparte was First Consul. They were respectfully received; a satisfactory," convention," or treaty, was framed, and duly ratified by both parties. Thus Mr. Adams had the honor and satisfaction, of bringing the long continued controversy with France to a conclusion, within his four years: - at least, until new

difficulties arose.

Besides the mission to France, and the letter of Mr. Hamilton, there were other circumstances, in his four years, which were turned to account against Mr. Adams, with great success. Among these were certain legislative measures, severely reprobated by those whom they were

intended to affect. They furnished materials for abundant invective, as they were thought to be adverse to personal liberty, and freedom of speech. That they may be judged of, with the calmness which comes with the lapse of time, as to past events, it is worth while to speak of them more fully.

Among the legislative movements, intended to affect the official reputation of Mr. Adams, was the motion of Edward Livingston, made, originally, in February, 1800, in the House of Representatives, to call on the President for his reasons, for having delivered up to the British, Jonathan Robbins, a native, and impressed American. The call having been answered, the motion was extended, February 20th, and made to inculpate the President, for a dangerous. interference of the executive power, with judicial decisions; that the compliance of the Judge (Bee, of South Carolina,) was a sacrifice of the constitutional independence of the judiciary, and exposed the administration thereof to suspicion and reproach. Mr. Livingston supported his motion, in a speech of three hours; Mr. Gallatin and Mr. Nicholas did their best to sustain him.

On the other side Mr. Bayard, Mr. Harper, Mr. Otis, Mr. Dana, and others, resisted the motion. On the 6th of March, John Marshall made his masterly and conclusive speech against the motion, which has been deemed equivalent to a judicial authority, and has been bound up in booksof reports, and is referred to as such. The motion was finally rejected by a vote of about sixty-four to thirty-eight. This was a mere party effort, whether the mover, and his political friends, so intended it to be or not. The unquestionable facts are, that this Jonathan Robbins was born at Waterford in Ireland; that his name was Thomas Nash; that he shipped on board the British frigate Hermoine; that in September, 1797, he, with others, murdered one or more of the officers, and among others Lieutenant Foreshaw; that he escaped, and got to Charleston, and was there July

1st, 1799. He pretended that he was born in Danbury, (Connecticut) but the selectmen certified, that they knew of no such person, nor any one of the name of Robbins, in the town. Admiral Parker applied to Mr. Liston, the British minister, to request of the President to deliver up Nash, pursuant to the 27th article of the British treaty with the United States. The President wrote to Judge Bee to deliver him up, he then being in custody. Proper evidence of his identity, and of his crime, being presented to the judge, he was delivered up, tried, and executed. He confessed (it is said) at the time of execution, that he was Thomas Nash, born in Ireland.

Mr. Marshall's speech (now Chief Justice) went to prove, that this was a proper exercise of executive power under the treaty, as the crime was committed within the jurisdiction of Great Britain. His speech was a most satisfactory answer to the position taken on the other side, that Nash was punishable in the United States, if punishable at all, as a pirate. The cause for demanding Nash was, that he had committed murder; an offence against British, and not against American law; that whether he had also committed piracy, or not, (which crime, wheresoever committed, may be punished by any nation, among whom the culprit may be found,) he was a proper subject for delivery under the 27th article of the treaty, as a murderer. So the house decided.

This incident is strongly illustrative of the times. It is well remembered, that the impression sought to be made on the public mind, was, that the President had delivered up one of his own countrymen, in obedience to British requisition, to be hung; notwithstanding, the accused citizen, had done no more than he lawfully might do, to escape from the tyrannical impressment of the mistress of the seas. It is not surprising that any administration should be overthrown, when such calumnies were easily received as truths.

LETTER XXIX.

MAY 7, 1833.

OTHER legislative measures referred to, were the alien and sedition laws. In 1797, there were computed to be thirty thousand Frenchmen in the United States, all of whom were devoted to their native country, and all of whom were, in some way, associated, through clubs, or otherwise, and who had a strong fellow feeling. This number does not refer to the emigrants who had fled on the commencement of the revolution; but to men of very different order, who had left France, (after the monarchy had fallen) from necessity or choice. Besides these, there were computed to be fifty thousand who had been subjects of Great Britain, and some of whom had found it unsafe to remain at home. They fled to a country, as they understood it, where they should be free to do any thing which they thought fit to do, in the name of "liberty," and where its enemies might be encountered, whether in office, or not. A combination was formed, and organized with more detail than is common in military usage, and prepared to act with union and effect, in any "emergency." Philadelphia, at that time the seat of government, was the head-quarters of this combination.

"The American Society of United Irishmen," was at this time, a very formidable body. In the troubles in Ireland, the United Irishmen there, had revived their associations under the impulse of the French Revolution, and the British government encountered them with civil and military force. Some eminent men had joined the Union, and entertained the hope of securing an independent governThomas Addis Emmett engaged in this enterprise, which was wholly, and disastrously unsuccessful. After a long imprisonment, that gentleman came to the United

ment.