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of them and confidence in their patriotic intentions, and as he foresaw the fatal consequences, which might result from a heated strife between men, whose talents and political consideration gave them so commanding an influence over the public will.*

The letters of Hamilton and Jefferson on this subject, and the merits of their controversy as explained by themselves, may be seen in Volume X. p. 515, Appendix.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Washington is elected President for a Second Term. - Takes the Oath

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of Office. Relations between the United States and France. - Opinions of the Cabinet. - Proclamation of Neutrality. - Party Divisions and Excitements. Genet received as Minister from France. - His extraordinary Conduct. · Democratic Societies. Washington's Opin

ion of these Societies, and on the Subject of instructing Representatives. Relations with England. — British Orders in Violation of Neutral Rights. Meeting of Congress. The President recommends Measures of Defence. - Character of Washington by Mr. Fox. - Letter from Lord Erskine. - Commercial Affairs. Mr. Madison's Commercial Resolutions. Mr. Jay appointed Envoy Extraordinary to negotiate a Treaty with England. - Military Preparations. — Insurrection in Pennsylvania. Measures adopted by the President for suppressing it. Plan for redeeming the Public Debt.

WHEN the President's term of office, as prescribed by the Constitution, was drawing to a close, no little anxiety was felt and expressed, as to his willingness again to receive the suffrages of the people. The reluctance with which he had consented to the first election was so great, that it was feared he could not be prevailed upon to remain longer in public life. From his friends in different parts of the country he received early communications on the subject, urging him not to decide hastily, and, if possible, to reconcile himself to a second election. Three members of the cabinet, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Randolph, each wrote to him a long letter, containing reasons why it was of the utmost importance to his own reputation and to the public interests, that, for the present at least, he should not retire.

Each of these gentlemen drew a picture of the condition of the country, its future prospects, and the state of parties; and, although they differed radically concerning some of the principal measures of the adminis

tration, they agreed in opinion, that the character, influence, and steady hand of Washington were necessary to secure the stability of government, if not to preserve the nation from anarchy. Their language is strong, and shows the anxious concern with which the crisis was viewed by men of all parties.

"The confidence of the whole Union," said Jefferson, "is centred in you. Your being at the helm will be more than an answer to every argument, which can be used to alarm and lead the people in any quarter into violence or secession. North and south will hang together, if they have you to hang on; and, if the first corrective of a numerous representation should fail in its effect, your presence will give time for trying others not inconsistent with the union and peace of the States. I am perfectly aware of the oppression under which your present office lays your mind, and of the ardor with which you pant for retirement to domestic life. But there is sometimes an eminence of character on which society have such peculiar claims, as to control the predilection of the individual for a particular walk of happiness, and restrain him to that alone arising from the present and future benedictions of mankind. This seems to be your condition, and the law imposed on you by Providence, in forming your character, and fashioning the events on which it was to operate; and it is to motives like these, and not to personal anxieties of mine or others, who have no right to call on you for sacrifices, that I appeal from your former determination and urge a revisal of it, on the ground of change in the aspect of things. Should an honest majority result from the new and enlarged representation, should those acquiesce, whose principles or interests they may control, your wishes for retirement would be gratified with less danger, as soon as that shall be manifest,

without awaiting the completion of the second period of four years. One or two sessions will determine the crisis; and I cannot but hope, that you can resolve to add one or two more to the many years you have already sacrificed to the good of mankind."

Hamilton was equally strenuous and decided. "It is clear," said he, "that if you continue in office, nothing materially mischievous is to be apprehended; if you quit, much is to be dreaded; that the same motives, which induced you to accept originally, ought to decide you to continue till matters have assumed a more determinate aspect; that indeed it would have been better, as it regards your own character, that you had never consented to come forward, than now to leave the business unfinished and in danger of being undone; that, in the event of storms arising, there would be an imputation either of want of foresight or want of firmness; and, in fine, that on public and personal accounts, on patriotic and prudential considerations, the clear path to be pursued by you will be again to obey the voice. of your country. I trust, and I pray God, that you will determine to make a further sacrifice of your tranquillity and happiness to the public good." Randolph spoke with the same urgency. "The fuel, which has been already gathered for combustion," he observed, "wants no addition. But how awfully might it be increased, were the violence, which is now suspended by a universal submission to your pretensions, let loose by your resignation. The constitution would never have been adopted, but from a knowledge that you had once sanctioned it, and an expectation that you would execute it. It is in a state of probation. The most inauspicious struggles are past, but the public deliberations need stability. You alone can give them stability. You suffered yourself to yield when

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the voice of your country summoned you to the administration. Should a civil war arise, you cannot stay at home. And how much easier will it be to disperse the factions, which are rushing to this catastrophe, than to subdue them after they shall appear in arms? It is the fixed opinion of the world, that you surrender nothing incomplete."

Sentiments like these, uttered by his confidential advisers, whose political opinions he knew were at variance with each other, could not fail to make a deep impression, and the more so as they were reiterated from every quarter. He seems to have resolved at one time to follow his inclination, and retire at the end of his first term of service. This is evident from his having prepared a farewell address to the people, designed for the occasion of his taking leave of them. But he never made a public declaration to that effect, and he was finally chosen for a second period of four years by the unanimous vote of the electors. On the 4th of March, 1793, he took the oath of office in the senate-chamber, in presence of the members of the cabinet, various public officers, foreign ministers, and such other persons as could be accommodated.

In addition to the Indian war, the contests of parties, and other internal troubles with which the administration was embarrassed, the foreign relations of the United States were every day becoming peculiarly delicate and inauspicious. Scarcely had the President entered upon his new term of office, when the intelligence was received, that France had declared war against England and Holland. The French revolution, in its earliest stages, was hailed by almost every one in the United States as a joyful event, and as affording a presage of the happiest results to the cause of freedom and the welfare of mankind. Such would

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