will probably withdraw with little solicitude as to what is said, or done; believed or discredited, after he is gone. At the close of the year 1794, General Knox resigned his place as Secretary at War, and came to Boston. His successor was Timothy Pickering, who was at that time Postmaster General. When Hamilton returned from the western expedition towards the close of the year, he gave notice that he should resign on the 31st of January following. His successor was Oliver Wolcott. The last important public act of Hamilton, and perhaps not inferior to any one, was a report on the means of sustaining the public credit, embracing a comprehensive view of the system which he had pursued. The present unexpected reduction of the public debt, is entirely the consequence of Hamilton's measures. He may safely rest his fame, as a statesman, on his labor and success in placing the public credit, so essential in war and peace, on a firm foundation. It is perfectly in keeping, that anti-federal rulers should assume to have won the plumes which they found in the seats of their predecessors, and should wear them with the insolence, which is the privilege of plunderers. LETTER XVI. MARCH 11, 1833. MR. JAY arrived in England in June, 1794. In November a treaty was signed. It arrived in the United States on the 7th of March following. The President, to prevent the preoccupation of the public mind did not allow its provisions to be known by any person but Mr. Randolph. Yet within two days, a series of essays was commenced in a newspaper in Philadelphia, condemning the treaty in the most opprobrious terms. The treaty had not been published in England; and no copy had been received by the British Minister. The President was astonished at the publication, and had no suspicion of the channel through which it occurred. The Senate was convened on the 9th of June. Pending the discussion in the Senate, one of the opposition members, Mr. Mason, of Virginia, took a copy and caused it to be published in a Philadelphia paper. The whole country was immediately inflamed. Not only the opposition, but a large portion of those who had supported the administration, were against the ratification. The former now attacked the President personally, through the public papers. They de nied to him all qualifications of a statesman or even of a soldier. They charged him with being the tool of England, and with having fraudulently drawn money from the Treasury. Addresses were sent in from nearly all the seaports, and from many interior towns, stating the reasons why the treaty should not be ratified. In Boston, at a town-meeting, there was but one man who raised his voice in favor of it. But the chamber of commerce, composed of all the respectable merchants, sent almost unanimously, their address of approbation. Amidst all this ferment Washington stood as firm and undisturbed as he had ever done, relying on the consciousness of performing his duty, with all the intelligence which could apply to the subject. His letter to the Selectmen of Boston, is worth transcribing, to show the serenity of a great and good mind, under as trying circumstances as can occur to any man. Gentlemen: UNITED STATES, 28th July, 1795. In every act of my administration, I have sought the happiness of my fellow-citizens. My system, for the attainment of this object, has been, to overlook all personal, local and partial considerations; to contemplate the United States as one great whole; to confide, that sudden impressions, when erroneous, would yield to candid reflection; and to consult only the permanent, and substantial interests of our country. Nor have I departed from this line of conduct, on the occasion which has produced the resolutions contained in your letter of the 13th inst. Without a predilection for my own judgment, I have weighed, with attention, every argument which has at any time been brought into view. But the constitution is the guide which I never can abandon. It has assigned to the President the power of making treaties, with the advice and consent of the Senate. It was doubtless supposed, that these two branches would combine, without passion, and with the best means of information, those facts and principles on which the success of our foreign relations will always depend; that they ought not to substitute, for their own convictions, the opinions of others; or to seek truth through any channel, but that of a temperate and well informed investigation. Under this persuasion I have resolved on the manner of executing the duty before me. To the high responsibility attached to it, I freely submit; and you, gentlemen, are at liberty to make these sentiments known, as the grounds of my procedure. While I feel the most lively gratitude for the many instances of approbation from my country, I can no otherwise deserve it, than by obeying the dictates of my conscience. With due respect, I am, Gentlemen, Your Ob't. The treaty was ratified on the 24th of June, by precisely the constitutional majority, (two thirds) after an investigation continued from the 9th of the same month. At the very time when these addresses were pouring upon whole country. the President from all quarters, an incident occurred of deep interest to him, to his Secretary Mr. Randolph, and to the It also disclosed the character of French diplomacy, under the new republic, in a very unexpected manner. The unfortunate French nation, had voted down the only rational support of public and private morals. They had raised a deity, whom they called Nature, and to whom they rendered their worship. With such creed, worship, and their national enthusiasm, they had become a terrible people to the civilized world. They were so thought of, by the considerate people of the United States. But not by the opposition to Washington, and his measures. Clearly, not by Mr. Jefferson. He, on the contrary, beheld in the success of French power, diplomatic and martial, the overthrow of "monarchists, Anglomen, and federalism;" the downfall of England, and the fruition of all the blessings, which he and his associates had to bestow on his country, as soon as the opportunity should arrive. LETTER XVII. MARCH 17, 1833. MR. FAUCHET's instructions and authority, appear to have been much of the same import with those of Genet, but he was much more of a diplomatist. In October he framed a despatch, giving his views of the state of the country, and of parties, and an account of his intercourse with the friends of France in the United States. His communication was sent by the Jean Bart, a French privateer, which was captured by a British frigate. As the frigate's boat approached the privateer, Fauchet's despatches were thrown overboard. There was an English captain on board the privateer, whose ship the privateer had taken. This captain followed the despatches, seized them, and kept afloat till the frigate's boat came to him. These were sent to Mr. Hammond, British minister at Philadelphia, and by him delivered to Mr. Wolcott, who carried them to the President as soon as he returned from Mount Vernon, the 11th of August. Mr. Wolcott had received them the 28th of July. Every one who remembers any thing of the political events of that day cannot have forgotten "the precious confessions" of Edmund Randolph, then Secretary of State. Whether Fauchet told the truth or not, this is his language: "Two or three days before the proclamation" (of the President on the western insurrection) " was pub"lished, and of course before the cabinet had resolved on "its measures, the Secretary of State came to my house. "All his countenance was grief. He requested of me a "private conversation. It is all over, he said to me; a "civil war is about to ravage our unhappy country. Four "men, by their talents, their influence, and their energy, "may save it. But, debtors of English merchants, they "will be deprived of their liberty if they take the smallest "step. Could you lend them instantaneously funds suffi"cient to shelter them from English prosecution? This "inquiry astonished me much. It was impossible for me "to make a satisfactory answer. You know my want of 'power and deficiency in pecuniary means." "Thus with some thousands of dollars the Republic could have decided "on civil war or peace. Thus the consciences of the pre"tended patriots of America have already their prices." "What will be the old age of this government, if it is thus "already decrepit!" When the despatches of Fauchet were made known to him, the President was still deliberating on the ratification of the treaty. The causes of Mr. Randolph's determined opposition, and of the advice which Randolph had so often given in his official station, were now fully disclosed. On |