CHAPTER XIX. The British Treaty ratified by the Senate.- Popular Excitement respecting it. The Treaty confirmed by the Signature of the President. Resignation of Mr. Randolph. - Circumstances attending it. The President refuses to furnish Papers to the House of Representatives in relation to the British Treaty.-Captivity of Lafayette, and Means used by Washington to procure his Liberation. Difficulties with France in regard to the British Treaty. - Recall of Mr. Monroe. -Washington's Farewell Address. His last Speech to Congress. Inauguration of his Successor.-Testimony of Respect shown to him by the Citizens of Philadelphia. He retires to Mount Vernon. Review of his Administration.- Remarks on Mr. Jefferson's Conduct towards Washington. - Troubles with France. - Preparations for War. -Washington appointed Commander-in-chief of the Provisional Army of the United States. — Organization and Arrangement of the Army.— His last Illness and Death. - THE treaty with Great Britain, negotiated by Mr. Jay, arrived at the seat of government in March, shortly after the session of Congress was closed. The Constitution had provided, that all treaties should be ratified by the Senate, and the President summoned that body to meet in June, for the purpose of considering it. In the interval, he examined and studied the treaty with the closest attention. It was not altogether such as he wished, perhaps not such as he had hoped. Points were left untouched, which he would gladly have seen introduced and definitively settled; others were so arranged, that he feared they would not prove a sufficient guard against future difficulties between the two nations. But he had perfect confidence in the ability, knowledge, and patriotism of Mr. Jay. He was convinced, that more favorable terms could not be obtained, and that the only alternative was this treaty or none. Some valuable privileges were secured, nothing had been sacrificed, the national honor was maintained, and a pledge of amity was held out. If the treaty was rejected, a war would certainly follow, the calamities of which, in the actual state of Europe, would be incalculable, and no one could predict when they would end, or to what they would lead. Deeply impressed with these sentiments, and believing peace the greatest blessing his country could possess, he resolved, in case the treaty should be approved by the Senate, to affix to it his signature. The Senate assembled in June, and, after two weeks' discussion, advised the ratification. One article, however, was excepted. By this article it was stipulated, that a direct trade between the United States and the British West India Islands should be allowed to American vessels not exceeding the burden of seventy tons, laden with the produce of the States or of the Islands; but that molasses, sugar, coffee, cocoa, and cotton should not be transported in American vessels, either from the United States or the Islands, to any part of the world. As cotton was then becoming a product of much importance in the southern States, and had begun to be exported, this restriction was deemed inadmissible; and the ratification of the Senate was to be valid only on condition that an article should be introduced, cancelling the one in which the restriction was contained. Nor was there a unanimity even with this limitation. A bare constitutional majority, that is, exactly two thirds of the members, voted in favor of the treaty. As this was a novel case, the President was somewhat at a loss to determine how to dispose of it. Whether the act of the Senate could be regarded as a ratification of the treaty, before this new article should be approved by the British government, and whether his signature could properly be affixed to it previously to that event, were questions which he took time to consider. A new obstacle was thrown in the way by intelligence from Europe, that the British cabinet had renewed the order for seizing provisions in vessels bound to French ports. As this order might imply a construction of the treaty, which could never be admitted in the United States, it was necessary still further to suspend his decision. Viewing the subject in all its relations, however, he inclined to the opinion, that it was best to ratify the treaty with the condition prescribed by the Senate, and at the same time to accompany it with a memorial or remonstrance to the British government against the provision order. Meantime the treaty was published. At first an imperfect abstract only appeared; but a complete copy was soon after furnished by a member of the Senate to the editor of a newspaper. It thus came clandestinely before the public, without the authority of the executive, and without any of the official documents and correspondence, by which the objects and reasons of the negotiators could be explained. It was dissected, criticized, and condemned, in a tone of passionate and violent declamation, which could scarcely have been exceeded, if the instrument had reduced the United States to their former colonial dependence on England. The merits of the treaty were studiously kept out of sight, and all its objectionable parts were thrust forward, exaggerated, and censured as disgraceful and humiliating to the nation. It was impossible that a clamor so loud and so universal should not produce a strong impression upon every class of the community. The friends of the administration rallied in its defence, but they used the weapons of reason and argument; they talked of moderation and peace, of consistency and good faith. They found few patient listeners, and fewer impartial judges. The torrent was neither to be stemmed, nor diverted from its course. Public meetings were held; and resolutions and addresses condemning the treaty, and designed to have a popular effect, and to intimidate the executive, were voted, published, and widely circulated among the people. The first resolves of this sort proceeded from a meeting in Boston. They were forwarded by an express to the President, with a letter from the selectmen of the town. He received them at Baltimore, while on his way to Mount Vernon. Ten days afterwards, having carefully reviewed the subject, and ascertained the sentiments of the cabinet, he answered the letter. It had been his aim, he said, in every act of his administration, to seek the happiness of his fellow-citizens, to discard personal, local, and partial considerations, to look upon the United States as one nation, and to consult only their substantial and permanent interests. "Without a predilection for my own judgment," he added, "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 of government would combine, without passion, and with the best means of information, those facts and principles, upon which the success of our foreign relations will always depend; that they ought not to substitute for their own conviction 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 VOL. I. 64 Q Q 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." To these sentiments he steadily adhered, and he answered many of the addresses sent to him in nearly the same language. From the excitement that prevailed, however, and from the resolves of meetings in all parts of the country, he soon perceived, that a formidable attempt was making to stir up the people, with a view of operating on the executive. To defeat this purpose, and to put an end to the disorders hourly increasing by the combined action of over-heated zeal, artifice, and party spirit, he returned to Philadelphia, summoned the cabinet, and submitted the proposition for immediately ratifying the treaty. It was approved by all the members except the Secretary of State, who, although he had before been in favor of it, now thought the step premature, till the provision order should be revoked, and the war between England and France should cease. This opinion had no effect on the President. He signed the treaty, the order was in due time repealed, and the ratification, on the terms advised by the Senate, was reciprocated by the British government. It would be impossible, within the limits of the present narrative, to sketch even an outline of the transactions relating to this treaty. No more can be said, than that the controversy, occasioned by it, increased the violence of party discord to almost an incredible extent; and that even the motives and character of Washington did not escape a full measure of the abuse, which was poured out upon all, who approved the acts of the administration. Regardless of truth and decorum, his detractors assailed him with a license and malignity, which showed an utter despair of accomplishing their ends by honorable means. |