their sanction to the mission. In this event, the nomination would on his part have proved a sop to Cerberus, an act which might conciliate for himself the good will of those among the opposition whom he sought to please, and would render the federal senators the scape-goats of what unpopularity would arise from its defeat. The unsettled state of his mind upon the subject was perceptible at the time. In the language of a gentleman, high in standing at the seat of government, as contained in a letter to a friend, of February 21st, "the President was suffering the torments of the damned at the consequences of his nomination."

To show that the opposition to this measure did not, as Mr. Adams has asserted, originate in the factiousness of the Senate, or in the ambition of Hamilton, and the subserviency of his friends, it will be sufficient to quote the authority of one whom he has cited as in his own favor, Gen. Washington.

"The unexpectedness of the event communicated in your letter of the 21st ultimo, did, as you may suppose, surprise me not a little. But far, very far, indeed, was this surprise short of what I experienced the next day, when, by a very intelligent gentleman, inmediately from Philadelphia, I was informed that there had been no direct overture from the government of France to that of the United States for a negotiation; on the contrary, that M. Talleyrand was playing the same loose and roundabout game he had attempted the year before with our envoys, and which, as in that case, might mean anything or nothing as would subserve his purposes best.

Had we approached the ante-chamber of this gentleman when he opened the door to us, and there waited for a formal invitation into the interior, the governments would have met upon equal ground, and we might have advanced or receded according to circumstances without commitment. In plainer words, had we said to M. Talleyrand through the channel of his communication, 'We still are, as we always have been, ready to settle by fair negotiation all differences between the two nations upon open, just, and honourable terms; and it rests with the Directory (after the indignities with which our attempts to effect this have been treated) if they are equally sincere, to come forward in an unequivocal manner and prove it by their acts;' such conduct would have shown a dignified willingness on our part to negotiate, and would have proved their sincerity on the other. Under my present view of the subject, this would have been

the course I should have pursued; keeping equally in view the horrors of war and the dignity of the government."

Mr. Hamilton's account of what took place at the cabinet council at the beginning of the session has been given. That of Mr. Adams should also be noticed. On this subject, he says:

"There is something in the 24th page of a graver complexion. It is said that the session which ensued the promulgation of the despatches of our commissioners was about to commence. This was the session of 1798. 'Mr. Adams arrived at Philadelphia. The tone of his mind seemed to be raised.'

Let me ask a candid public, how did Mr. Hamilton know anything of the tone of Mr. Adams' mind, either before or at that conference? To make the comparison he must have known the state of Mr. Adams' mind at both these periods. He had never conversed with Mr. Adams before, nor was he present at that conference. Who was the musician that took the pitch of Mr. Adams' mind at the two moments here compared together? and what was the musical instrument, or whose exquisite ear was it that asertained so nicely the vibrations of the air and Mr. Adams' sensibility to them? Had Mr. Hamilton a spy in the cabinet, who transmitted to him from day to day the confidential communications between the President and the heads of department. If there existed such a spy, why might he not communicate these conferences to Mr. Liston or the Marquis d'Yrujo, as well as to Mr. Hamilton? He had as clear a right. I believe that all the privy councillors in the world, but our own, are under an oath of secrecy; and ours ought to be; but as they are not, their own honour and sense of propriety ought, with them, to be obligations as sacred as an oath. The truth is, that I had arrived at Philadelphia from a long journey, which had been delayed longer than I intended, very much fatigued; and as no time was to be lost, I sent to the heads of departments to consult, in the evening, upon the points to be inserted in the speech to Congress, who were soon to meet.

My intention was, in the language of the lawyers, merely to break the questions, or meet the points necessary for us to consider; not intending to express any opinion of my own, or to request any opinion of theirs on any point; but merely to take the questions into their consideration, and give me their advice upon all of them at a future meeting.

I observed, that I found by various sources of information, and particularly by some of the newspapers in Boston and New York, that there was a party who expected an unqualified declaration of war against France.

These paragraphs, I was well satisfied, were written by gentlemen who were in the confidence of Hamilton, and one of the heads of departments at least, though I gave them no intimation of this.

I said to the gentlemen, that I supposed it would be expected of

us,

that we

A To Timothy Pickering, March 3d, 1799. Sparks, XI. 402,

should consider this question, and be able to give our reasons for the determination, whatever it might be.

The conduct of the gentlemen upon this question, was such as I wished it to be upon all others; not one of them gave an opinion either for, or against a declaration of war. There was something, however, in the total silence and reserve of them all, and in the countenances of some, that appeared to me to be the effect of disappointment. It seemed to me that they expected I should have proposed a declaration of war, and only asked their advice to sanction it; however, not a word was said.

That there was a disappointment, however, in Hamilton and his friends, is apparent enough from this consideration: that when it was known that a declaration of war was not to be recommended in the President's speech, a caucus was called of members of Congress, to see if they could not get a vote for a declaration of war, without any recommendation from the President, as they had voted the alien and sedition law, and the army. What passed in that caucus, and how much zeal there was in some, and who they were, Judge Sewall can tell better than I. All that I shall say, is, that Mr. Hamilton's friends could not carry the

vote.

My second proposition to the heads of departments was, to consider, in case we should determine against a declaration of war, what was the state of our relations with France; and whether any further attempt at negotiation should be made. Instead of the silence and reserve with which my first question was received, Mr. Hamilton shall relate what was said.

Mr. Hamilton says: It was suggested to him (Mr. Adams) that it might be expedient to insert in the speech a sentiment of this import; that after the repeatedly rejected advances of this country, its dignity required that it should be left with France in future, to make the first overture; that if desirous of reconciliation, she should evince the disposition, by sending a minister to this government; he would be received with the respect due to his character, and treated with in the frankness of a sincere desire of accommodation. The suggestion was received in a manner both indignant and intemperate.'

I demand again, how did Mr. Hamilton obtain this information? Had he a spy in the Cabinet? If he had, I own I had rather that all the courts in Europe should have had spies there; for they could have done no harm by any true information they could have obtained there; whereas, Hamilton has been able to do a great deal of mischief, by the pretended information he has published.

It is very true, that I thought this proposition intended to close the avenues to peace, and to ensure a war with France; for I did believe that some of the heads of departments were confident in their own minds, that France would not send a minister here.

From the intimate intercourse between Hamilton and some of the heads of departments, which is demonstrated to the world, and to posterity, by this pamphlet, I now appeal to every candid and impartial man, whether there is not reason to suspect and believe; whether there is not a presumption, a violent presumption, that Hamilton himself had furnished this machine to his correspondent in the Cabinet, for the very purpose of ensnaring me at unawares; of ensuring

a war with France, and enabling him to mount his hobby-horse, the command of an army of fifty thousand men-ten of them to be horse.

Hamilton says, 'the suggestion was received in a manner both indignant and intemperate.' This is false. It is true, it was urged with so much obstinacy, perseverance, and indecency, not to say intemperance, that at last, I declared I would not adopt it, in clear and strong terms.

Mr. Hamilton says, Mr. Adams declared, as a sentiment he had adopted on mature reflection, that if France should send a minister here to-morrow, he would order him back the day after.'

Here I ask again, where, how, and from whom did he get this information? Was it from his spy in the Cabinet? Or was it the fabrication of his own 'sublimated, eccentric,' and intemperate imagination? In either case, it is an entire misrepresentation.

I said, that when in retirement at Quincy, the idea of the French government sending a minister here, had sometimes occurred to me; my first thoughts were, that I would send him back the next day after his arrival, as a retaliation for their sending ours back; and because the affront offered to us had been at Paris, publicly, in the face of all Europe; the atonement ought to be upon the same theatre; and because, as the French government had publicly, and officially declared that they would receive no minister plenipotentiary from the United States, until the President had made apologies for his speeches, and answers to addresses, they ought to be made to retract and take back that rash declaration on the same spot where it had been made. They might send a minister here, consistently with that offensive declaration. This was my first thought; but upon mature reflection, I saw that this would not be justifiable; for, to retaliate one breach of principle by another breach of principle, was neither the morality nor the policy that had been taught me by my father and my tutors.

One principle was, that the right of embassy was sacred. I would therefore, sacredly respect it, if they sent a minister here. But I would not foreclose myself from sending a minister to France, if I saw an opening for it, consistent with our honour; in short, that I would have both doors, and all doors wide open for a negotiation. All this refutation came from myself, not from the heads of departments.

All that he says in this place, and in the beginning of the next page, of my wavering, is false. My mind never underwent any revolution, or alteration at all, after I left Quincy. I inserted no declaration in my speech, that I would not send a minister to France; nor any declaration, that if France would give assurances of receiving a minister from this country, I would send one. Nothing like that declaration was ever made, except in my message to Congress, of the 21st June, 1798, in these words: 'I will never send another minister to France, without assurances that he will be received, respected, and honoured as the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent nation.' This declararation, finally effected the peace.

Both the doors of negotiation were left open. The French might send a minister here without conditions-we might send one to France upon condition of a certainty that he would be received in character.

What conduct did the French government hold, in consequence of his declaration? They retracted their solemn and official declaration, that they would receive no minister plenipotentiary in future from the United States, without apologies from the President for his speeches, and answers to addresses. They withdrew, and expressly disavowed all claims of loans and douceurs, which had been held up in a very high tone. They even gave encouragement-I might say they promised, to make provision for an equitable compensation for spoliations. They promised to receive our ministers, and they did receive them, and made a peace with them-a peace that completely accomplished a predominant wish of my heart for five and twenty years before; which was to place our relations with France and Great Britain upon a footing of equality and impartiality; that we might be able to preserve in future, an everlasting neutrality in all the wars of Europe."

Whether Col. Pickering, Mr. McHenry, or Wolcott, was intended as the "spy in the cabinet" is not known, and is of little consequence. They all lay under the ban of being friends of Mr. Hamilton, and two of them at least were in correspondence with other friends of his in Boston. It is proper to mention, however, that the pamphlet from which his account is extracted was submitted to Wolcott before publication, and that in his written remarks upon it there is no dissent expressed to these assertions. It is therefore to be understood that it was corroborated, even if not originally communicated by him. Now what were the facts as to a breach of official decorum and secresy?

Mr. Adams had already incurred the suspicion of his political friends and supporters by his intemperate conduct, by his inconsistency, by his ill-concealed animosities. He had exhibited a jealousy and want of confidence in his secretaries. He had absented himself from the seat of government during the recess of Congress, to the detriment of public business, at times when constant personal attention and free communication with the officers was necessary. He had thrown additional responsibility on their shoulders at the same time that he manifested a distrust of them. He had buried himself in retirement, accessible only to men either hostile to his party, or whom interested

a Boston Patriot, Letter XVIII.