BOOK V.
AGE. 1830-1849.
[Sidenote 1830]
Whatever Mr. Gallatin may have thought or said of his physical or intellectual powers, he was from 1830 to 1840 in the prime of life. Never had his mind been more clear, his judgment more keen, or his experience and knowledge so valuable as when the United States government dispensed with his further services at the close of the year 1829. Intellectually, the next fifteen years were the most fruitful of his whole long and laborious career. His case was a singular illustration of the intellectual movement of his time. Had he now been entering instead of quitting the world, he would have found himself drawn, both by temperament, by cast of mind, and by education, into science or business or literature; for the United States of 1830 was no longer the same country as the United States of 1790; it had found a solution of its most serious political problems, and its more active intellectual life was turning to the study of social and economical principles, to purely scientific methods and objects, to practical commerce and the means of obtaining wealth. Old though Mr. Gallatin might think himself, it was to this new society that he and his mental processes belonged, and he found it a pleasure rather than a pain to turn away from that public life which no longer represented a single great political conception, and to grapple with the ideas and methods of the coming generation. In fact, the politics of the United States from 1830 to 1849 offered as melancholy a spectacle as satirists ever held up to derision. Of all the parties that have existed in the United States, the famous Whig party was the most feeble in ideas and the most blundering in management; the Jacksonian Democracy was corrupt in its methods; and both, as well as society itself, were deeply cankered with two desperate sores: the enormous increase of easily acquired wealth, and the terribly rapid growth of slavery and the slave power. In such a spectacle there was to Mr. Gallatin no pleasure and deep pain. He did not, like his old colleague J. Q. Adams, return into public life to offer a violent protest against the degradation of the time, and he did not, like Mr. Adams, pour out his contempt and indignation in the bitterest and most savage comments on men and measures; but he felt quite as strongly, and his thoughts were expressed, whenever they were expressed at all, in language that meant as much. Few Americans can now look back upon that time and remember how the whole country writhed with pain and rage under the lash of Charles Dickens's satire, without feeling that this satire was in the main deserved. Indeed, there can be no philosophy of history that would not require some vast derangement of the national health to account for the mortal convulsion with which that health was at last in part restored.
Although Mr. Gallatin was no longer in office, he was still deeply interested in public affairs. Members of the Cabinet, Senators, and members of Congress, incessantly applied to him for information and advice. Like Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison in their retirement, he was consulted as an oracle. His replies were oracular neither in brevity nor in doubtfulness of meaning. He never refused to assist persons, though quite unknown to him, who asked for such counsel. For a considerable time, so long as financial and economical legislation was especially prominent, in the days of tariffs, nullification, national bank, and sub-treasury, he was still a political power and made his influence deeply felt.
[Sidenote 1830]
The first occasion for his active interference in politics under the new régime was somewhat accidental. In the early part of General Jackson's Administration the question of renewing the charter of the Bank of the United States was not yet a prominent party issue; that the President would make a bitter personal contest for the destruction of the bank was not suspected, and the tendency of public opinion seemed to favor a renewal of the charter. In April, 1830, soon after the argument on the North-East boundary was disposed of, Mr. Gallatin received a letter from Robert Walsh, Jr., editor of the American Quarterly Review in Philadelphia, requesting an article on currency, in connection with Mr. McDuffie's recent Congressional report on the Bank of the United States. Mr. Gallatin replied that he would be disposed to comply if he thought he could add anything to what had been done by others. He described himself as an "ultra-bullionist," favoring the restriction of paper issues to notes of $100, to be issued only by the Bank of the United States, and a bi-metallic currency of gold and silver. This was essentially the French system, and Mr. Gallatin had, during his residence in France, become prepossessed in its favor. In reply to his request for statistical information, Mr. Walsh put him in communication with Nicholas Biddle, President of the United States Bank, and an animated correspondence was carried on for some months between the two gentlemen. Early in August, Mr. Gallatin was called upon for his paper, and wrote to say that he was not ready. He excused his apparent sluggishness by describing his method of work: "I can lay no claim to either originality of thinking or felicity of expression. If I have met with any success either in public bodies, as an executive officer, or in foreign negotiations, it has been exclusively through a patient and most thorough investigation of all the attainable facts, and a cautious application of these to the questions under discussion.... Long habit has given me great facility in collating, digesting, and extracting complex documents, but I am not hasty in drawing inferences; the arrangement of the facts and arguments is always to me a work of considerable labor; and though aiming at nothing more than perspicuity and brevity, I am a very slow writer." This assertion must probably be received with some qualifications; at least it is clear that much of Mr. Gallatin's diplomatic work must have been done with rapidity and ease.
[Sidenote 1831]
In his correspondence with Mr. Biddle he gave the reasons which had produced his strong faith in a bi-metallic currency, and since these reasons are interesting as a part of his experience, they are worth quoting here: "The most skilfully administered bank can only be prepared to meet ordinary commercial fluctuations. But when a real and severe crisis occurs, you are perfectly aware that moral causes may increase the pressure to an extent which will baffle every calculation, for the very reason that those causes are beyond the reach of calculation. On the other hand, the example of France under the united pressure of a double invasion, a failure of crops, large indemnities to foreign countries, a vast portion of which was paid by the exportation of specie, an unsettled government, and wild stock speculations, is decisive to prove with what facility a crisis is met with an abundant circulating metallic currency. We were, Mr. Baring and myself, spectators of the crisis, of which I could only see the external appearances and results, whilst he was behind the scenes and deeply interested in the event. We conferred often on the subject, and came to the same conclusions. He has ever since been an advocate in England of the simultaneous use of the two metals for the sole purpose of enlarging the basis of the metallic currency."
The "Considerations on the Currency and Banking System of the United States" appeared in December, 1830, and was republished in a separate form, with some further changes and tabular statements, in 1831.[166] As a model for clearness of statement and thorough investigation it then stood alone among American works, and even in Europe it might be difficult to find anything much superior. Nearly half a century has elapsed since this essay was written; finance has made great progress, particularly in the United States, where, under peculiar circumstances, a succession of violent convulsions ended in building up a completely new system of currency and banking; yet even to-day Mr. Gallatin's essay is indispensable to the American student of finance. There is no other work which will guide him so surely through the intricacies of our early financial history.
[Sidenote: 1831.]
The essay had, however, one effect which its author did not foresee. He wrote as an economist and financier, whereas the bank charter was a political question. As a matter of finance he argued, as every man who was not a politician and who knew anything of finance then argued, in favor of the bank. That he was perfectly right can hardly be made a matter of question; the value of the bank as a financial instrument was very great; the consequences of destroying it were disastrous in the extreme, and were acutely felt during at least five-and-twenty years. The popular fear of its hostility to our liberties was one of those delusions which characterize ignorant stages of society, and which would have had no importance unless politicians had found it a convenient ally. The kindred theory of its unconstitutionality was even then untenable, and is now ridiculous. The people of the United States have learned since that time many lessons in regard to their Constitution, and they have also learned that they hold all corporations at their mercy, and that if there is any danger to liberty it is quite as likely to be the liberties of corporations as those of the people which suffer. All this was even then plain enough to a man like Mr. Gallatin, who had in forty years of experience studied these subjects from every point of view; but there was another question, the answer to which was not so clear. Supposing the bank to be destroyed, was it worth while to attempt its reconstruction? Setting aside the financial question, was it not better to accept the pecuniary loss, even indefinitely, until some new remedy should be found, rather than convulse all economical interests with this perpetually recurring political contest? Most men would now agree with Mr. Gallatin that, under those circumstances, it was better to abandon the struggle and to seek new means for answering the same ends; but this was not the opinion of the Whig party.
[Sidenote: 1832.]
Mr. Gallatin's pamphlet was circulated as a campaign document by the bank. He became by this means its spokesman and one of its most influential allies, subjected to suspicion and attack on its account, although it need hardly be said that he not only received no compensation from the bank, but declined the ordinary pay of contributors to the Review. This attitude he was probably prepared to maintain so long as the bank charter was undecided; but after President Jackson had carried his point and the bank perished, after the independent Treasury was organized, and the Whig party was setting everything at stake upon success in effecting a counter-revolution and restoring the bank, there was naturally some irritation against Mr. Gallatin because he took very cautious ground and preferred to accept the situation.
The bank charter was, however, a subordinate and comparatively uninteresting question in the politics of 1831. Another and a more serious political issue was threatening the existence of the Union and entering into all the most earnest discussions of the Presidential election of 1832. This was the protective system, the American system of Mr. Clay, who, always true to his deep feeling for nationality, was himself the best product of the war of 1812, in its character of national self-assertion. All Mr. Gallatin's feelings and education were opposed to protection; his voice had been, as he took pride in thinking, the first in America to make a public assertion of free-trade principles, and now, in 1831, his advocacy of tariff reduction was stimulated by the threatening attitude of South Carolina. That political theory which he had always made his cardinal principle, and which, in its practical form, consisted simply in avoiding issues that were likely to endanger the Union, led him now to urge timely concession. In September, 1831, a convention of the friends of free trade was held in Philadelphia, and delegated to a committee, of which Mr. Gallatin was chairman, the task of preparing a memorial to be presented to both Houses of Congress. This memorial forms a pamphlet of nearly ninety pages, and was such a document as he might have sent to Congress had he been still Secretary of the Treasury; it was, in fact, a Secretary's report, and it probably had as much effect, for it became the text-book of the free-traders of that day.
The memorial began by ascertaining the annual expenditure of the government and the annual value of imports; from these data it concluded that an average duty of 25 per cent. ad valorem on the taxed imports would answer all requirements and should be assumed as the normal standard of taxation; after an argument on the general theory of free trade, the paper went on to examine and criticise the existing tariff and to show the propriety of the proposed reform.
When the memorial was presented to Congress, it called down upon Mr. Gallatin's head a storm of denunciation. For this he was of course prepared, and he could not have expected to escape blows when, at a time of intense excitement, he voluntarily placed himself in the thickest of the mêlée. It was then, on the 2d February, 1832, that Mr. Clay made a famous speech in the Senate in defence of his American system, and into this carefully prepared oration he introduced the following remarks upon Mr. Gallatin:
"The gentleman to whom I am about to allude, although long a resident of this country, has no feelings, no attachments, no sympathies, no principles in common with our people. Near fifty years ago Pennsylvania took him to her bosom, and warmed and cherished and honored him; and how does he manifest his gratitude? By aiming a vital blow at a system endeared to her by a thorough conviction that it is indispensable to her prosperity. He has filled, at home and abroad, some of the highest offices under this government during thirty years, and he is still at heart an alien. The authority of his name has been invoked, and the labors of his pen, in the form of a memorial to Congress, have been engaged, to overthrow the American system and to substitute the foreign. Go home to your native Europe, and there inculcate upon her sovereigns your Utopian doctrines of free trade, and when you have prevailed upon them to unseal their ports and freely admit the produce of Pennsylvania and other States, come back, and we shall be prepared to become converts and to adopt your faith!"
Mr. Clay, in the course of his career, uttered a vast number of rhetorical periods as defective as this in logic, taste, and judgment; but he very rarely succeeded in accumulating so many blunders as in this attack on Mr. Gallatin. The bad taste of vilifying an old associate, in a place where he cannot reply; the bad logic of answering arguments on the proper rates of impost duties by remarks on the birthplace of any given individual; the bad temper of raising mean and bitter local prejudices against an honorable and candid opponent, who had never, under any provocation, condescended to use such weapons against others; all these faults are excusable, or, at least, are so common among orators and debaters as to pass almost unnoticed and unreproved. It is not these rhetorical flourishes which raise a smile in reading Mr. Clay's remarks, nor even the adjuration to "Go home to your native Europe," although this has a startling resemblance to the rhetoric which Charles Dickens, at about this time, attributed to Elijah Pogram. All these are faults, but this paragraph on Mr. Gallatin was worse than a fault: it contained two gross political blunders. One was the pledge that if Europe would adopt free trade America would be prepared to imitate her; a pledge which no sound or well-informed protectionist could, even by inadvertence, have let slip. The other was still more fatal. One principal motive that influenced Mr. Gallatin in pressing at this time his proposition of reducing duties below a maximum of 25 per cent. ad valorem, was the hope that by such a compromise the disunionist propaganda of South Carolina might be paralyzed and the national government might escape with dignity from its embarrassments, without really sacrificing Northern industry. The policy was wise and statesmanlike; in fact, the only solid ground, short of armed compulsion, which could claim logical coherence. Mr. Clay, however, characterized it in terms that cut him entirely away from all consistent recourse to it; yet within twelve months Mr. Clay actually assumed this same ground and went beyond Mr. Gallatin in his abandonment of the protective system. In fact, the difficulty with Gallatin's scheme was that it did not go far enough to please South Carolina, as appears very clearly in a letter written by Gallatin on the 7th April, 1832, to William Drayton, one of the South Carolina representatives, in reply to his request for the sketch of a bill which should reduce the duties to an average of 10 per cent.[167] Mr. Clay's compromise conceded everything, and that too in a worse form and with deplorable consequences. His reputation suffered, and deservedly suffered, in proportion to his previous dogmatism.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gallatin had at last fairly adopted a new career. Certain persons had obtained from the New York Legislature in April, 1829, the charter for a new bank, and finding themselves, after three successive attempts, unable to induce capitalists to subscribe for the stock, they applied to Mr. J. J. Astor for assistance, and Mr. Astor agreed to furnish the necessary capital on condition that Mr. Gallatin should be president of the bank. Thus the National (afterwards the Gallatin) Bank came into existence; a small corporation with a capital of only $750,000, and certainly not an institution calculated to inspire or gratify any ambitious thoughts or hopes. Mr. Gallatin drew from it the very modest compensation of $2000 a year, that being the sum which he considered necessary, in addition to his own income, to enable him to live in New York. He never wanted wealth, and was, to his dying day, perfectly consistent on this point with his early declarations. Indeed, his views were far more ambitious when he was surveying the Ohio wilderness with Savary than when he returned to America after nearly fifteen years passed at the most magnificent capitals and courts of the world. What he aimed at and enjoyed was the respect and consideration of his fellow-citizens. In this he was fully gratified. His acquaintance was sought by almost every person of any prominence who visited the city. He was exempted more and more from hostile attack and criticism, and his occupations were such as to keep him always agreeably employed and to bring him in contact with numbers of intelligent and educated men. One by one his old associates passed from the stage,--Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, La Fayette, Badollet,--but a younger generation had already supplied their places. His conversation was, perhaps, freer than when he was forced to weigh his words. His domestic relations were peculiarly happy, and in this respect his good fortune lasted till his death.
Under these pleasant conditions, Mr. Gallatin's active mind turned to those scientific pursuits for which it was so well fitted and in which it took most delight. Perhaps one might not wander very far from the truth if one added that these pursuits were, on the whole, his most permanent claim to distinction. The first debater and parliamentarian of his day, his fame as a leader of Congress has long since ceased to give an echo, and his most brilliant speeches are hardly known even by name to the orators of the present generation. The first of all American financiers, his theories, his methods, and his achievements as Secretary of the Treasury are as completely forgotten by politicians as his speeches in Congress. First among the diplomatists of his time, his reputation as a diplomate has passed out of men's minds. First as a writer and an authority on political economy in America, very few economists can now remember the titles of his writings or the consequences of his action. But he was the father of American ethnology, and there has been no time since his death when the little band of his followers have forgotten him; there never can come a time when students of that subject can venture to discard his work.
The reason of this steadiness in the estimate of his scientific reputation is simply that his method was sound and his execution accurate; having set to himself the task of constructing a large system of American ethnology, he laid its foundations broadly and firmly in an adequate study of comparative philology. Abstaining with his usual caution from all hazardous speculation and unripe theorizing, he devoted immense labor and many years of life to the routine work of collecting and sifting vocabularies, studying the grammatical structure of languages, and classifying the groups and families of our American Indians on the principles thus worked out. Thus it was he who first established the linguistic groups of the North American Indians on a large scale, and made the first ethnographical map of North America which had real merit.
[Sidenote: 1833.]
Geography was always one of his favorite studies; but the influence which decided the bent of his mind towards ethnological investigation seems to have come chiefly from Alexander von Humboldt, at whose request he made, in 1823, a first attempt in the shape of an essay, which was not printed, but was quoted with praise in the Introduction to the "Atlas Ethnographique" of M. Balbi. Following up the line of inquiry, he set himself actively to work in the winter of 1825-26 to obtain Indian vocabularies, and the presence of a numerous delegation of Southern Indians at Washington in the course of that winter enabled him to make rapid progress. He was further aided by the War Department, which circulated, at his request, printed forms of a vocabulary containing six hundred words. He then published a table of all the existing tribes in the United States. In 1835, at the request of the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Massachusetts, he prepared an essay, which was printed the following year in the second volume of the Society's Transactions, under the title, "A Synopsis of the Indian Tribes within the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and in the British and Russian Possessions in North America." This paper was accompanied by an ethnological map and numerous vocabularies. It was successful in its main object of giving a solid structure to the science, and it was received with applause by American and European ethnologists. Mr. Gallatin was encouraged to go on, and under his influence the American Ethnological Society of New York was organized, which held its first meeting on the 19th November, 1842, and in 1845 published its first volume of Transactions, three hundred pages of which are devoted to Mr. Gallatin's "Notes on the Semi-Civilized Nations of Mexico, Yucatan, and Central America." The second volume appeared in 1848, and contained another essay by Mr. Gallatin on the geography, philology, and civilization of the Indians, printed as an Introduction to a republication of Hale's "Indians of Northwest America."
These three essays, with their vocabularies and maps, may be said to have created the science of American ethnology, which had until that time existed only in a fragmentary shape. So far as they were philological they still form the groundwork of whatever progress is made in the study, and the men who have rendered and are now rendering the highest services in this science are, of all Americans, those who have the keenest sense and speak in the warmest terms of Gallatin's greatness. So far as the papers were general and descriptive, although forty years of investigation have greatly increased our knowledge and modified our opinions, they are still held in high esteem, and show in numerous places the touch of careful and discreet investigation.
GALLATIN TO JOHN BADOLLET.
NEW YORK, February 7, 1833.
I am deeply and most sadly affected by your letter of 20th ult. It has indeed, my dearest friend, been a source of constant regret and the embittering circumstance of my life that not only we should have been separated during the greater part of our existence, but that your lot should have been cast in the comparatively unhealthy climate to which your repeated bilious attacks and their sad consequences must be ascribed. But what else could be done? The necessity of bringing up a family and of an independent existence is imposed upon us. And although I should have been contented to live and die amongst the Monongahela hills, it must be acknowledged that, beyond the invaluable advantage of health, they afforded either to you or me but few intellectual or physical resources. Indeed, I must say that I do not know in the United States any spot which afforded less means to earn a bare subsistence for those who could not live by manual labor than the sequestered corner in which accident had first placed us. We can but resign ourselves to what was unavoidable. And yet I have often thought that we boasted too much of the immense extent of our territory, which, if it makes us more powerful as a nation and offers so large a field for enterprise, carries within itself the seeds of dissolution, by expanding weakens the bonds of union and the devotedness of genuine patriotism, and in the mean while destroys the charm of local attachment, separates friends and disperses to most distant quarters the members of the same family. In your remote situation, thrown at the age of forty-five amongst entire strangers, and amidst the afflictions by which you have been visited, two great comforts have still been left to you,--the excellent wife with which you have been blessed, that bosom friend for whom there are no secrets, that faithful partner of all your joys and sorrows, that being who had your and gave you her undivided affections with tender feelings, without the least affectation, gentle and prudent, such, indeed, as seems to have been a special gift of Heaven intended for you. Add to this the consciousness not only of a life of integrity, but of a pure life, of one which either as private or public should satisfy you and has gained you general consideration and the respect of all that have simply known you. And as to those who have been more intimately acquainted with you, who has been more generally beloved and could always count more sincere friends than yourself?
My dear friend, you judge yourself with too much severity. For want of greater offences you seek for specks, and your extreme susceptibility magnifies them into unpardonable errors. I tell you the truth, Badollet, when I assure you that in the course of a life which has brought me in contact with men of all ranks and of many nations, I have not known a more virtuous and pure man than yourself. Your education, that of a student, and your simplicity and your unsuspecting integrity, unfitted you for that active life of enterprise which is the characteristic of this nation, and made you unable to cope with the shrewdness of those by whom you were surrounded. Still, you have to the last resisted every temptation and struggled for existence by honorable means. Yet it is true that both you and I, during the years of youthful hopes and those which succeeded of arduous labors, identified with our new country and surrounded by new and dearest objects of domestic affection, it is true that we both neglected to correspond with the friends of our youth and to preserve ties which could not be replaced. The penalty for that offence we have paid, and have been the greatest sufferers. I have been far more to blame in that respect; and yet please to God that I had nothing worse to reproach myself with.
We all went to Greenfield, Connecticut, during the cholera and escaped that calamity; but during our absence we lost Mrs. Nicholson, who died in August of old age (88). It was principally on her account that Mrs. Gallatin wished, on our return from England, to settle here. I found after a while that my income was not sufficient for this conspicuous and expensive city, and this induced me to accept the place of president of a new bank (the National Bank of New York), which I have now filled for near two years, with a salary of 2000 dollars. I might now give it up so far as concerns myself, as the additional income derived from my wife's property is sufficient for us; but whilst my health permits I may remain in it, as it gives me opportunities of introducing my sons in business. Although I neither suffer pain or can complain of serious illness, I grow gradually weaker, thinner, and more and more liable to severe colds and derangement of the bowels. My faculties, memory of recent events or reading excepted, are wonderfully preserved, and my two last essays on Currency and on the Tariff have received the approbation of the best judges here and in Europe. I had another favorite object in view, in which I have failed. My wish was to devote what may remain of life to the establishment, in this immense and fast-growing city, of a general system of rational and practical education fitted for all and gratuitously opened to all. For it appeared to me impossible to preserve our democratic institutions and the right of universal suffrage unless we could raise the standard of _general_ education and the mind of the laboring classes nearer to a level with those born under more favorable circumstances. I became accordingly the president of the council of a new university, originally established on the most liberal principles. But finding that the object was no longer the same, that a certain portion of the clergy had obtained the control, and that their object, though laudable, was special and quite distinct from mine, I resigned at the end of one year rather than to struggle, probably in vain, for what was nearly unattainable.
The present aspect of our national politics is extremely discouraging; yet, having heretofore always seen the good sense of this nation ultimately prevailing against the excesses of party spirit and the still more dangerous efforts of disappointed ambition, I do not despair. But although I hope the dangers which threaten us may for the present be averted, the discussions and the acts which have already taken place have revealed the secret of our vulnerable points, dissolved the charm which made our Constitution and our Union a sacred object, and will render the preservation of both much more difficult than heretofore. I have always thought that the dangerous questions arising from the conflicting and, in our complex, half-consolidated, half-federative form of government, doubtful rights of individual States and United States should, if possible, be avoided; that the bond of union, if made too tight, would snap; and that great moderation in the exercise even of its most legitimate powers was, in our extensive country, with all its diversified and often opposite interests, absolutely necessary on the part of the general government.
[Sidenote: 1834.]
This is a general observation, and more applicable to futurity than to the present. The acts of South Carolina are outrageous and unjustifiable. The difficult part for our government is how to nullify nullification and yet to avoid a civil war. A difficult task, but, in my humble opinion, not impossible to perform.
Do not write to me long letters which tire you; but now and then drop me three or four lines. All my family unite in affectionate remembrance and sympathy. Give my love to your wife and tell her that, whilst I live, she has a friend to whom she may apply under any circumstances. Farewell, my dear friend. May God throw comfort on your last years!
Ever your own faithful friend.
GALLATIN TO BADOLLET.
NEW YORK, 3d February, 1834.
MY DEAR FRIEND,--...I sympathized most truly and deeply with you in the irreparable loss with which you have been afflicted. I had no consolation to offer you, and felt so painfully, that very wrongfully and shamefully I postponed and postponed writing to you. Even now what can I say but what must renew and embitter your grief? For no one knew more thoroughly, appreciated more highly than I did, the merits of your beloved partner. She was the solace of your checkered and in many respects troubled life, a singular blessing bestowed on you and long preserved. With heartfelt thanks to Him who gave it, resignation to his will is a duty, but this does not lessen the loss or the pain. May-be it was best that of the two you should have been the survivor. Do you now live with any of your children, and with which of them? I hardly dare ask how your health stands.
I have no other infirmities but a derangement of the functions of the stomach, which I manage without medicine, and an annually increasing debility which none could cure. It is only within the last year that I have discovered a sensible diminution in the facility of thinking and committing thoughts to writing. But this and other symptoms advise me that my active career is at an end, and that I cannot continue to vegetate very long.... My daughter has already three children, who engross the attention of my wife. Mine has for some time been turned, and will be still more devoted, to the education of James's son, who has tolerable talents and a most engaging disposition. He is the only young male of my name, and I have hesitated whether, with a view to his happiness, I had not better take him to live and die quietly at Geneva, rather than to leave him to struggle in this most energetic country, where the strong in mind and character overset everybody else, and where consideration and respectability are not at all in proportion to virtue and modest merit. Yet I am so identified with the country which I served so long that I cannot detach myself from it. I find no one who suffers in mind as I do at the corruption and degeneracy of our government. But I do not despair, and cannot believe that we have lived under a perpetual delusion, and that the people will not themselves ultimately cure the evils under which we labor. There is something more wanted than improved forms of government. There is something wrong in the social state. Moral still more than intellectual education and habits are wanted. Had I another life before me, my faculties would be turned towards that object much rather than to political pursuits. But all this is for our posterity. Farewell, my dear friend.
Ever most affectionately yours.
The only specimen of Mr. Gallatin's conversation which seems to claim a place in his biography is that recorded by Miss Martineau in her journal. Concise as it is, it has the merits of both the speaker and the listener.
MISS MARTINEAU'S JOURNAL. 1834.
New York, 24th September.--Mr. Gallatin called. Old man. Began his career in 1787. Has been three times in England. Twice as minister. Found George IV. a cipher. Louis Philippe very different. Will manage all himself and _keep_ what he has. William IV. silly as Duke of Clarence. Gallatin would have the President a cipher too, if he could,--_i.e._, would have him _annual_, so that all would be done by the ministry. As this cannot yet be, he prefers four years' term without renewal to the present plan, or to six years. The office was made for the man,--Washington, who was _wanted_ (as well as fit) to reconcile all parties. Bad office, but well filled till now. Too much power for one man; therefore it fills all men's thoughts to the detriment of better things. Jackson "a pugnacious animal." This the reason (in the absence of interested motives) of his present bad conduct.
New Englanders the best people, perhaps, in the world. Prejudiced, but able, honest and homogeneous. Compounds elsewhere. In Pennsylvania the German settlers the most ignorant, but the best political economists. Give any price for the best land and hold it all. Compound in New York. Emigrants a sad drawback. Slaves and gentry in the South. In Gallatin's recollection, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana had not a white, except a French station or two; now a million and a half of flourishing whites. _Maize_ the cause of rapid accumulation, and makes a white a capitalist between February and November, while the Indian remains _in statu quo_, and when accumulation begins, government cannot reserve land. The people are the government and will have all the lands. Drew up a plan for selling lands. Would have sold at two dollars. Was soon brought down to one dollar and a quarter with credit. Then, as it is bad for subjects to be debtors to a democratic government, reduction supplied the place of credit, and the price was brought down to one-quarter of a dollar.
All great changes have been effected by the Democratic party, from the first up to the universal suffrage which practically exists.
Aristocracy must arise. Traders rise. Some few fail, but most retain with pains their elevation. Bad trait here, fraudulent bankruptcies, though dealing is generally fair. Reason, that enterprise must be encouraged, must exist to such a degree as to be liable to be carried too far.
[Sidenote: 1836.]
Would have no United States Bank. Would have free banking as soon as practicable. It cannot be yet. Thinks Jackson all wrong about the bank, but has changed his opinion as to its powers. It has no political powers, but prodigious commercial. If the bank be not necessary, better avoid allowing this power. Bank has not overpapered the country.
Gallatin is tall, bald, toothless, speaks with burr, looks venerable and courteous. Opened out and apologized for his full communication. Kissed my hand.
GALLATIN TO BADOLLET.
NEW YORK, 3d September, 1836.
MY DEAR FRIEND,--Your grandson Gillem arrived here safely, and with great propriety remained but two days and proceeded at once to West Point.... I had intended to go myself to West Point, but chronical infirmities, always aggravated by travelling, have kept me the whole summer in the city.
It is not that I have any right to complain, ... feeling sensibly the gradual and lately rapid decay of strength both of body and mind. The last affects me most; memory is greatly impaired, and that great facility of labor with which I was blessed has disappeared. It takes me a day to write a letter of any length, and unfortunately the excessive increase of expenses in this city and a heavy loss by last winter's fire (in fire insurance stock) compel me, for the sake of the salary, to continue the irksome and mechanical labors of president of a bank.... Neither I nor my children have the talent of making money any more than yourself, though the Genevese are rather celebrated for it. Mrs. Gallatin enjoys excellent health, and so does the family generally. Your grandson gave me a more favorable account of yours than I had hoped to hear. And I was also much gratified by the appointment of your son as your successor in the land office.
[Sidenote: 1836.]
My last work, written in 1835, at the request of the Antiquarian Society of Massachusetts, is a synopsis of the Indian tribes of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and of those of British and Russian America north of the United States. It will contain, besides an explanatory map, about two hundred pages of text and three hundred of comparative vocabularies and grammatical notices. I had expected to have sent you a copy before now, but the printing has been unaccountably delayed by the publisher employed by the society. I have materials for supplementary considerations on banking and currency, but I have not courage to reduce them to order, and, though they might perhaps be of some use, the bank-paper mania has extended itself so widely that I despair of its being corrected otherwise than by a catastrophe. The energy of this nation is not to be controlled; it is at present exclusively applied to the acquisition of wealth and to improvements of stupendous magnitude. Whatever has that tendency, and of course an immoderate expansion of credit, receives favor. The apparent prosperity and the progress of cultivation, population, commerce, and improvement are beyond expectation. But it seems to me as if general demoralization was the consequence; I doubt whether general happiness is increased; and I would have preferred a gradual, slower, and more secure progress. I am, however, an old man, and the young generation has a right to govern itself....
I had expected to write only a few lines, and have fallen into digressions of little personal interest to you. The fact is that as I grow less capable of thinking, I have become quite garrulous. I only wish I could enjoy once more the pleasure of practising in that respect with my old friend, as talking is not at all and writing is quite a labor to me. Fare you well, and, whether silent or writing, believe me, ever, whilst I still breathe,
Your old and faithful friend.
... I was rather astonished to hear that Harrison had a majority in Indiana. In the Presidential election I will take no part....
GALLATIN TO MADAME DE BUDÉ, NÉE ROLAZ.
NEW YORK, 1st May, 1845.
[Sidenote: 1835.]
... Rappelez-moi au souvenir de vos fils et de votre frère.... J'espère qu'il laisse faire les gouvernements et qu'il ne se mêle plus de politique; ce qui est, comme je le sais, fort inutile lorsqu'on n'a point d'influence. Et je puis ajouter que mes quatorze dernières années, c'est-à-dire depuis que j'ai été étranger aux affaires publiques, out été, à tout prendre, les plus heureuses de ma vie. Mes plus belles années avaient été dévouées, je puis dire, exclusivement au service de ma patrie d'adoption; celles-ci l'ont été à mes enfants et aux affections domestiques. De plus, n'étant plus sur la route de personne, l'envie a disparu. On ne m'écoute pas du tout, mais on me considère et personne ne dit du mal de moi....
* * * * *
His opinions on the practical working of our government, especially with reference to taxation, were given at considerable length in a letter written to La Fayette in the year 1833. One portion of this letter is worth quoting, coming as it does from an original Republican of the Jeffersonian school:
"The local taxes in the country, at least where I am acquainted, amount to at least one-sixth of the income, and that on houses here [in New York City] to not more than one-twelfth part. This, merely for local disbursements, is certainly a heavy charge, particularly in the country, and arises partly from local wants, which for some objects, such as roads, are very great in proportion to our wealth. But it is also due in a great degree to our democratic institutions; and the burden, which was extremely light, especially in the country, fifty years ago, has been gradually and is still increasing. The reason appears to me obvious enough. Government is in the hands of the people at large. They are an excellent check against high salaries, extravagant establishments, and every species of expenditure which they do not see or in which they do not participate. But they receive an immediate benefit from the money expended amongst themselves, either as being employed in opening roads, the erection of buildings, &c., or as being more interested in the application of public money to schools, the payment of jurors and other petty offices, and even prospectively in the provision for the poor. They, in fact, pay little or no portion of the direct tax (occasionally enough in towns, but indirectly, by the increase of rents), and receive the greater part of its proceeds. You perceive that I do not disguise what I think to be the defects, and I know no other of any importance, in our system of taxation. I do not know any remedy for it here but in the exertions to obtain the best men we can for our municipal officers. But where institutions are yet to be formed, I may say that I have not discovered any evil to arise from universal suffrage in the choice of representatives to our legislative bodies; but that for municipal officers, who have no power over persons, but only that of applying the proceeds of taxes, those who contribute to such payment ought alone to have the privilege of being electors."
The threatened rupture with France in 1835, when President Jackson nearly brought on a war on account of the failure of the French Chambers to appropriate money in pursuance of a treaty for the settlement of our claims, disturbed Mr. Gallatin greatly, and at the request of Edward Everett, then a member of Congress, he wrote two very elaborate letters for the use of the Committee of Foreign Relations.[168] The following acknowledgment has a certain characteristic interest:
JOHN C. CALHOUN TO GALLATIN.
WASHINGTON, 23d February, 1835.
DEAR SIR,--I am obliged to you for putting me in possession of your views on a French war. They are such as I entertain. I know of no greater calamity that could befall the country at this time than a French war. I do not believe the Union would survive it. My course is taken. So long as France abstains from force I shall be opposed to war, and I am of the impression that such will prove to be the sentiment of the entire South....
* * * * *
The time was now coming for one more great effort on the part of Mr. Gallatin to control the course of public events, an effort which, considering all the circumstances, was as remarkable as any struggle of his life. It was his last prolonged attempt, and singularly characteristic.
[Sidenote: 1836.]
Time had at length brought the realization of his most ardent hopes as Secretary of the Treasury, and the national debt was paid; all the advantages of that millennium were attained, whatever they might be, and Mr. Gallatin could esteem himself happy that he had lived to see his vision made fact. It was not to be denied that the establishment of republicanism, and even of democracy, had been long antecedent to the discharge of the debt; had proved to be noways dependent on the debt; had, indeed, been most rapid and most irresistible under the influence of a war which his own party had made, and under the burden of a heavy additional debt which he had himself helped to accumulate. This, however, was of little consequence; the results were gained, and the time had long passed when Mr. Gallatin would have been inclined to claim exclusive credit for them.
[Sidenote: 1837.]
Unfortunately, the fact became immediately obvious that, whatever were the ultimate and permanent advantages gained by the extinction of the debt, the immediate consequences were disastrous and alarming in the extreme. Nullification and imminent civil war were at the head of the list, but were neither the most serious nor the most corrupting. Perhaps a worse result than civil war was the rapid decline in public economy and morality; the shameless scramble for public money; the wild mania for speculation; the outburst of every one of the least creditable passions of American character. At this revelation of the consequences of his own favorite political dogma, Mr. Gallatin stood positively appalled. "I find no one who suffers in mind as I do at the corruption and degeneracy of our government. But I do not despair, and cannot believe that we have lived under a perpetual delusion." So he wrote to his oldest friend. To his alarm he found that extinction of the national debt was a signal for an astonishing increase in the indebtedness of the community at large, one significant sign of which was that the individual States contracted, between 1830 and 1838, new debts to the amount of nearly one hundred and fifty millions, that is to say, very nearly as much as had been discharged by the national government since 1789. Under any circumstances this tendency to extravagance would have been dangerous, but when the President seized this moment for his attack upon the bank, he immensely aggravated the evil. From 1830 to 1837, in anticipation of the failure to renew the bank charter, three hundred new banks were created, with a capital of one hundred and forty-five millions of dollars, precisely doubling the banking capital of the country. Meanwhile, after the discharge of the last instalment of national debt, an alarming surplus rapidly accumulated in the hands of the Treasury officials, until forty millions had been deposited by them in State banks and had become the means of an excessive expansion of credit, acting as a violent stimulus to the wild extravagance of the time.
All these causes produced five or six years of intoxication, during which the public morality was permanently lowered and the seeds of future defalcations, public and private, rapidly matured. Then the tide turned; England stopped lending money and called for payment; the President and Congress attacked the resources and credit of the State banks as earnestly as they had previously helped to create and extend both; the New York banks stopped discounting; a terrible crisis came on; and on the 10th May, 1837, the New York banks suspended specie payments. The universal suspension of all banks throughout the country instantly followed.
Mr. Gallatin's bank suspended with the rest, not because it was obliged to do so, for it might perhaps have held out, but this would have answered no special object and would have produced considerable inconvenience. Mr. Gallatin himself, therefore, was personally involved in, and partially responsible for, an act of bankruptcy which was to him the substance of everything most galling and reproachful. He could not but remember how, in 1815, he had urged on the government the necessity of specie payments after the war, and how there had arisen almost a coldness between him and his friend Dallas, then Secretary of the Treasury, on the subject; how he had remonstrated against waiting for the restoration of the bank, and had pressed the Treasury to resume at once, by funding the excess of Treasury notes, and rejecting the notes of suspended banks when offered in payments to the government. That he should himself now belie his old teachings and become in practice if not in theory an advocate and supporter of an irredeemable paper currency, was intolerable. He had made every effort to prevent the necessity of suspension. He was now called upon by every feeling of self-respect to bring about resumption.
The State law required that a suspended bank, which did not resume its payments before the expiration of one year from the date of suspension, should be deemed to have surrendered its rights, and should be adjudged to be dissolved. This was the principal lever with which Mr. Gallatin could work. He represented an institution which of itself had very little weight; but, although his only means of interfering at all was in the character of president of a new and unimportant bank, his real authority was wholly personal, and it was fortunate for him that the want of capital behind him was supplied by the active and able co-operation of other bank officers, especially by Mr. George Newbold, of the Bank of America, and by Mr. Cornelius W. Lawrence, of the Bank of the State of New York.
On the 15th August a general meeting was held by the officers of the city banks. A resolution was adopted appointing a committee to correspond with the leading State banks throughout the Union, for the purpose of agreeing on the time and the measures for resumption. This committee consisted of Mr. Gallatin, Mr. Newbold, and Mr. Lawrence, and proceeded almost immediately to carry out its instructions. Three days afterwards, on August 18, a circular-letter was despatched, inviting the other banks to a conference, and laying down in very energetic language the rules which should guide their action: "By accepting their charters the banks contracted the obligation of redeeming their issues at all times and under any circumstances whatever; they have not been able to perform that engagement; and a depreciated paper, differing in value at different places and subject to daily fluctuations in the same place, has thus been substituted for the currency, equivalent to gold or silver, which, and no other, they were authorized and had the exclusive right to issue. Such a state of things cannot and ought not to be tolerated any longer than an absolute necessity requires it.... As relates to the banks of this city, we are of opinion that, provided the co-operation of the other banks is obtained, they may and ought to, we should perhaps say that they must, resume specie payments before next spring."
This circular had one immediate effect: it developed the force and character of the opposition; it brought out the fact that the real point of resistance was to be in Pennsylvania, and that of this resistance the old Bank of the United States was to be the main stay; it showed that politics had been dragged into alliance with the less solvent banking institutions, and that the party opposed to President Van Buren's Administration had hopes of forcing the re-establishment of a national bank by making this the condition of resumption. Mr. Gallatin had no great sympathy with the Administration and no favors to ask from it, but he was not at all disposed to allow his ideas of public duty to be subordinated to the political purposes of the opposition.
On the expiration of the bank charter in March, 1836, the old Bank of the United States had accepted a new charter from the State of Pennsylvania, and had attempted to carry on its business. Bad management, want of confidence, and the universal financial pressure soon reduced it to such a condition that the general suspension of specie payments alone concealed its insolvency; yet its controlling influence over the other Pennsylvania banks was such that they still followed its lead, and all united in replying to Mr. Gallatin's circular, that they deemed it inexpedient to appoint delegates to the proposed meeting of bank officers, for the reason that general resumption depended mainly, if not exclusively, on the action of Congress; thereby implying that no permanent resumption was possible without the adoption of their policy of renewing the charter of the United States Bank. The Baltimore banks followed their example, and those of Boston returned no positive answer.
Unsatisfactory as this result was, the New York banks, with Mr. Gallatin at their head, resolutely pursued their object. On the 20th October the committee issued another circular, in pursuance of a resolution passed at a general meeting on the 10th, and formally invited the other State banks over the whole Union to meet in convention at New York on November 27. This step compelled both Philadelphia and Boston to accede, for fear of the consequences in case New York should act alone. The convention met, and Mr. Gallatin acted in it the prominent part which naturally fell to his share as chairman of the New York committee. His opponents did not, however, press the political argument, but rested their case principally on the injury that would be caused by a premature resumption. Mr. Gallatin met this objection with that direct assertion of moral obligation always so fatal as an argument, raising disputes, as it does, above the ordinary level of expediency, and throwing opposition into an apologetic defensive. He said it was monstrous to suppose that, if the banks were able to resume and to sustain specie payments, they should have any discretionary right to discuss the question whether a more or less protracted suspension was consistent with their views of "the condition and circumstances of the country." There would be no limit to such supposed discretion. The evidence was irresistible that the banks were able to resume. Exchange was favorable. No known cause existed which could prevent a general resumption. The arguments and objections of the United States Bank of Pennsylvania were neither more nor less than excuses for an intended protracted suspension for an indefinite period of time, which was shown by the fact that this bank had actually put in circulation, since the suspension, a large amount of the notes of the dead and irresponsible Bank of the United States.
[Sidenote: 1838.]
The situation was thus narrowed down to a local contest between the New York banks, represented by Mr. Gallatin, and the United States Bank of Pennsylvania, directed by Mr. Biddle. The influence of party sympathy led the Boston banks to sustain Mr. Biddle to the last against Mr. Gallatin; Baltimore followed the same course; outside of New York Mr. Gallatin found support only in the North-West and South. Yet, although the convention was nearly equally divided and nothing more than general professions could be obtained from it, the contest was really unequal, and there could be no question that Mr. Gallatin was master of the situation. The New York banks, actively supported by the comptroller and the State government, proceeded to take such measures as would enable them to resume at almost any moment, but they waited still some length of time in the hope of obtaining co-operation. The convention had adjourned to meet again on the 11th April, 1838. Mr. Gallatin and his colleagues, who represented the New York banks in the convention, made a report on the 15th December, 1837, representing in strong language the evils of the situation and pressing for combined action. On the 28th February the same gentlemen made another report on measures, "in contemplation of the resumption of specie payments by the banks of the city of New York, on or before the 10th day of May next." Nothing was omitted that could tend to secure the banks from accident or designed attack, and even the popular feeling was enlisted on their side.
When the adjourned convention met on the 11th April, a letter was presented from the Philadelphia banks declining to attend, on the ground that the banks and citizens of New York had already acted independently in announcing their intention to resume on the 10th May, and that the banks of Philadelphia "do not wish to give any advice in regard to the course which the banks of the city of New York have resolved to pursue; they do not wish to receive any from those banks touching their own course." One might have supposed that after this defection of Pennsylvania there would have been no difficulty in controlling the action of the adjourned convention when it met on the 11th April; but this proved no easier matter than before. Mr. Gallatin's object was to fix the earliest possible day for general resumption, since New York placed herself in a very critical position so long as she stood alone. But the convention could not even be persuaded to fix the first Monday in October for the day. The utmost that could be got from New England was to name the 1st January, 1839.
[Sidenote: 1839.]
Left thus isolated, Mr. Gallatin and his associates went directly on their course alone. The New York banks resumed specie payments on the 10th May, as they had pledged themselves to do. They resumed in good faith and in full; the resumption was effected without the slightest difficulty; and it is but just to add that the other banks made no attempt to impede it. Then came the inevitable struggle between the solvent and the insolvent institutions. Boston acted better than she talked, and all New England resumed in July. Public opinion, operating first on the Governor of Pennsylvania, compelled the United States Bank to resume in the course of the same month. The South and West followed the example. For something more than a year the insolvent banks managed to crawl on, and then at last, in October, 1839, the United States Bank went to pieces in one tremendous ruin, and carried the South and West with it to the ground. A long and miserable period of liquidation generally followed, but New England and New York maintained payments, and Mr. Gallatin had once more, almost by the sheer force of his own will and character, guided the country back to safe and solid ground.
In the year following, on June 7, 1839, he at length resigned his post as president of the National Bank of New York, and retired from all forms of business. His last considerable effort as a financier and economist was the publication of a pamphlet supplementary to his "Considerations on Currency." This essay of one hundred pages, entitled "Suggestions on the Banks and Currency of the several United States," was printed in 1841. Its value is principally that of continuing the history of our financial condition, more particularly as respects currency and banks; and, taken in connection with the earlier essay, it forms a hand-book of American finance down to the year 1840.[169]
Doubtless the students of to-day, who turn their attention to these papers upon which the reputation of Mr. Gallatin, as an author and theorist in finance, principally rests, will find that the point of view has considerably changed, and that a wider treatment of the subject has become necessary. Not less the circumstances than the thought of that generation naturally tended to attribute peculiar and intrinsic powers to currency; a tendency quite as prominent among the English as among the American economists. Mr. Gallatin's writings dealt mainly and avowedly with the currency, because he believed that the condition of the currency was the responsible cause of much if not most of the moral degradation of his time, and that a return to a sound metallic medium of exchange was a means of purifying society. The later school of economists would perhaps lay somewhat less stress upon currency as in itself an active cause, and they would rather treat it as a symptom, an instrument operating mechanically and incapable in itself of producing either all the evil or all the good then attributed to it. The following letter, at all events, shows Mr. Gallatin's opinions on the subject:
[Sidenote: 1841.]
GALLATIN TO JONATHAN ROBERTS.
NEW YORK, 3d June, 1841.
RESPECTED FRIEND,--I received your welcome letter of the 27th May, and return in answer my essay on currency.
I sometimes flatter myself that we old men labor under the disease incident to our age, and that we think that the world has grown worse than it was in former days, because, when young, the vices of the times had become familiar to us, and that we are shocked by those of new growth. Thus, for instance, though you and I were temperate, we were less severe towards drunkards than the present generation.
Yet so far at least as respects political corruption, it is impossible that we should be mistaken. I was twelve years a member either of the Legislature of Pennsylvania or of Congress, the greater part of those in hot party times and conflicts. And I may safely affirm that, without distinction of party, a purer assemblage, in both bodies, of men honest, honorable, and inaccessible to corruption could not be found. I never was tempted; for during my forty years of public life a corrupt offer never approached me.
Now, although I am not so happy as Mr. Calhoun in always finding a cause for every effect, I will venture to assign two reasons for the deterioration we lament.
The American Independence was an event of immense magnitude, and, though not altogether irreproachable in that respect, yet comparatively unsullied by those convulsions, excesses, and crimes which have almost always attended similar revolutions. The greater part of the men employed in the public service during the thirty following years had taken an active part in that event. The objects to which our faculties are applied have a necessary influence over our minds. How diminutive, nay, pitiful, those appear which now engross public attention and for which parties contend, when compared with those for which the founders of the republic staked their fortunes and their lives!--the creation of a great independent nation and the organization of a national yet restricted government. I do believe that the minds, the moral feeling of those thus engaged, were raised above the ordinary standard and elevated to one somewhat proportionate to the magnitude of the objects which they did accomplish.
And those men had been educated at a time when the American people, blessed with an abundant supply of all the necessaries of life, were still frugal and had preserved a great simplicity of manners. Here is the other cause which may be assigned for the present depraved state of public opinion and feeling. We have rioted in liberty and revel in luxury. As we have increased in wealth and power the sense of integrity and justice has been weakened. The love of power, for the sake of its petty present enjoyments, has been substituted for that of country and of permanent fame, and the thirst of gold for the honest endeavors to acquire by industry and frugality a modest independence.
Where is the remedy? We cannot and ought not to restrain by legislative enactments the marvellous energy of this nation and the natural course of things; but we ought not to administer an artificial stimulus. This stimulus is the paper currency; and you will perceive by my letter of 1830 to Mr. Walsh, which I have published for that purpose in the Appendix, that my ultimate object has been, as [it] still is, to annihilate almost altogether that dangerous instrument. I admit its utility and convenience when used with great sobriety. But its irresistible tendency to degenerate into a depreciated and irredeemable currency, and the lamentable effect this produces, not as a mere matter of dollars and cents, but on the moral feeling and habits of the whole community, are such that I am quite convinced that it is far preferable to do without it.
But we must take men and things as they are; a sudden transition would cause great injury and is impracticable. And without ever losing sight of the ultimate object, I formerly proposed, and now suggest, that only such measures [be adopted] as may, it seems to me, be easily carried into effect; as would greatly lessen present evils; and as have a tendency to improve and elevate public opinion, and may assist in gradually preparing a better state of things. With that explanation you will understand more clearly the object of my essay.
In the mean while, as individuals and each in our sphere, we have only to perform our appropriate duties and sustain our precepts by our example. You may be annoyed in your new office;[170] but there is this advantage in an executive office: that it imposes certain specific and clearly-defined duties, to be performed day after day, with unremitted industry and constant respect for law and justice; and this honestly done affords the consciousness of being a useful member of society.
We would indeed be much gratified by your contemplated visit to New York. Left almost alone of my contemporaries, the meeting with an old friend is highly refreshing to me. And you may see, by the general tenor of this letter, that I consider you as one, and one of those I most respect. Mrs. G. requests to be kindly remembered to you, and I pray you to rely on my constant attachment I am altogether unacquainted with our new President. He has made some sad appointments in this city. That of marshal is too bad.
Respectfully, your friend and servant.
GALLATIN TO JOHN M. BOTTS, M.C.
NEW YORK, 14th June, 1841.
SIR,--I had duly received the letter you addressed to me last winter, and had hoped that my declining to answer it would satisfy you that I had an insurmountable objection to any use whatever being made of any conversation that may have taken place between Mr. Jefferson and myself on the subject of the Bank of the United States. I will only say that the report which reached you was imperfect and incorrect, and that he lived and died a decided enemy to our banking system generally, and specially to a bank of the United States.
[Sidenote: 1843.]
My last essay, the receipt of which you do me the honor to acknowledge, was written without reference not only to parties, but even to any general political views, other than the restoration and maintenance of a sound currency. Except in its character of fiscal agent of the general government, I attach much less importance to a national bank than several of those who are in favor of it; and perhaps on that account it is a matter of regret to me that it should continue to be, as it has been since General Jackson's accession to the Presidency and not before, a subject of warm contention and the pivot on which the politics of the country are to turn. I am quite sure that if this take place and the issue before the people be bank or no bank, those who shall have succeeded in establishing that institution will be crushed. I do not doubt your sincerity and bravery, but the cause is really not worth dying for. Did I believe that a bank of the United States would effectually secure us a sound currency, I would think it a duty at all hazards to promote the object. As the question now stands, I would at least wait till the wishes of the people were better ascertained. So far as I know, the opponents are most active, virulent, and extremely desirous that the great contest should turn on that point: the friends, speculators and bankrupts excepted, are disinterested and not over-zealous.
I have the honor, &c.
Before dismissing the subject of finance, the following curious correspondence may properly find a place here. Albert Davy was United States consul at Leeds, England, and happened to be now in Washington obtaining a renewal of his commission:
ALBERT DAVY TO JAMES GALLATIN.
Very _confidential_.
WASHINGTON, 25th December, 1843.
MY DEAR SIR,--I am induced to write you a few lines this evening very confidentially to state that Mr. Robert Tyler has just called on me to ask if I thought Mr. Gallatin would accept the Secretaryship of the Treasury for the remaining Presidential term, or, rather, whether his health would permit him to change his residence. He told me the President mentioned Mr. Gallatin's name the first to fill that important post, which, I dare say, would be made very easy to him. This movement is of course in anticipation of Mr. Spencer's leaving. As no one as yet is aware of it out of the President's immediate circle but myself, I am sure you will see the necessity of not communicating this to any one but to Mr. Gallatin....
[Sidenote: 1844.]
GALLATIN TO ALBERT DAVY.
NEW YORK, 28th December, 1843.
DEAR SIR,--My son James has shown to me your letter to him of 25th of this month, received yesterday. It seems hardly necessary to make a serious answer to it. Yet, as silence might be misconstrued, I have only to say that I want no office, and that to accept at my age that of Secretary of the Treasury would be an act of insanity. I cannot indeed believe that this has been seriously contemplated by anybody: you must have misunderstood the person who spoke to you. I might give conclusive reasons why, even if I was young and able, I would not at this time be fit for the office, nor the office at all suit me; but this is not called for.
I remain, with great regard, dear sir,
Your obedient servant.
JOHN BARNEY TO ALBERT GALLATIN.
WASHINGTON, January 24, 1844.
MY DEAR SIR,--I have been applied to by one of the President's family to know if you would accept the Treasury Department. If you would, I am assured that it will be tendered to you so soon as vacated by the confirmation of Mr. Spencer.
* * * * *
This last letter is tersely endorsed by Mr. Gallatin: "Folly, of which no notice taken."
[Sidenote: 1842.]
Finance was, however, only one of the numerous subjects in which Mr. Gallatin took an active interest. Diplomacy was another. Our relations with Great Britain, though in some respects better, were in others worse than before; the postponed questions of boundary became serious, and especially that of the North-Eastern or Maine boundary assumed a very threatening aspect. The arbitration of the King of the Netherlands had proved a failure, owing perhaps to the fact that our government failed to take proper measures for supporting its case diplomatically. Had Mr. Gallatin been on the spot he would probably have brought about a different result; but Mr. Van Buren's diplomacy was not so successful in Europe as in the United States, and he had more need of it in Washington than elsewhere. The question between England and America was thus kept open until both countries became seriously anxious. In 1840, Mr. Gallatin revised and reprinted his statement of the North-Eastern boundary argument as laid before the King of the Netherlands in 1830. In 1842 the British ministry sent Lord Ashburton to negotiate a treaty at Washington, and thus Alexander Baring came again to interpose his ever-friendly and ever-generous temper between the fretful jarring of the two great nations. The time had been when the British government and people treated Mr. Baring's warning advice with such contempt as only George Canning could fully embody and express; but that time was now long passed. They had learned to lean upon him, and the American government readily met him in the same spirit
LORD ASHBURTON TO ALBERT GALLATIN.
WASHINGTON, 12th April, 1842.
DEAR MR. GALLATIN,--My first destination was to approach America through New York, but the winds decided otherwise, and I was landed at Annapolis. In one respect only this was a disappointment, and a serious one. I should have much wished to seek you out in your retreat to renew an old and highly-valued acquaintance and, I believe and hope I may add, friendship; to talk over with you the Old and the New World, their follies and their wisdom, their present and by-gone actors, all which nobody understands so well as you do, and, what is more rare, nobody that has crossed my passage in life has appeared to me to judge with the same candid impartiality. This pleasure of meeting you is, I trust, only deferred. I shall, if I live to accomplish my work here, certainly not leave the country without an attempt to find you out and to draw a little wisdom from the best well, though it may be too late for my use in the work I have in hand and very much at heart.
You will probably be surprised at my undertaking this task at my period of life, and when I am left to my own thoughts I am sometimes surprised myself at my rashness. People here stare when I tell them that I listened to the debates in Congress on Mr. Jay's treaty in 1795, and seem to think that some antediluvian has come among them out of his grave. The truth is that I was tempted by my great anxiety in the cause, and the extreme importance which I have always attached to the maintenance of peace between our countries. The latter circumstance induced my political friends to press this appointment upon me, and with much hesitation, founded solely upon my health and age, I yielded. In short, here I am. My reception has been everything I could expect or wish; but your experience will tell you that little can be inferred from this until real business is entered upon. I can only say that it shall not be my fault if we do not continue to live on better terms than we have lately done, and, if I do not misunderstand the present very anomalous state of parties here, or misinterpret public opinion generally, there appears to be no class of politicians of any respectable character indisposed to peace with us on reasonable terms. I expect and desire to obtain no other, and my present character of a diplomatist is so new to me that I know no other course but candor and plain-dealing. The most inexpert protocolist would beat me hollow at such work. I rely on your good wishes, my dear sir, though I can have nothing else, and that you will believe me unfeignedly yours.
GALLATIN TO LORD ASHBURTON.
NEW YORK, 20th April, 1842.
DEAR LORD ASHBURTON,--Your not landing here was as great disappointment to me as to you. I have survived all my early friends, all my political associates; and out of my own family no one remains for whom I have a higher regard or feel a more sincere attachment than yourself. If you cannot come here, I will make an effort and see you at Washington. Your mission is in every respect a most auspicious event. To all those who know you it affords a decisive proof of the sincere wish on the part of your government to attempt a settlement of our differences as far as practicable; at all events, to prevent an unnatural, and on both sides absurd and disgraceful, war. There are but few intrinsic difficulties of any magnitude in the way. Incautious commitments, pride, prejudices, selfish or party feelings present more serious obstacles. You have one of a peculiar kind to encounter. Our President is supported by neither of the two great political parties of the country, and is hated by that which elected him, and which has gained a temporary ascendency. He must, in fact, negotiate with the Senate before he can agree with you on any subject. It is the first time that we have been in that situation, which is somewhat similar to that of France; witness your late treaty, which the French Administration concluded and dared not ratify. It may be that under those circumstances our government may think it more eligible to make separate conventions for each of the subjects on which you may agree than to blend them in one instrument.
The greatest difficulties may be found in settling the two questions in which both parties have in my humble opinion the least personal or separate interest, viz., the right of visitation on the African seas for the purpose only of ascertaining the nationality of the vessel; and the North-Western boundary. I have no reason, however, to believe that the Administration, left to itself, will be intractable on any subject whatever; I hope that higher motives will prevail over too sensitive or local feelings, and I place the greatest reliance on your sound judgment, thorough knowledge of the subject, straightforwardness, and ardent desire to preserve peace and cement friendship between the two kindred nations. You cannot apply your faculties to a more useful or nobler purpose. I am now in my 82d year, and on taking a retrospective view of my long career I derive the greatest consolation for my many faults and errors from the consciousness that I ever was a minister of peace, from the fact that the twenty last years of my political life were almost exclusively employed in preventing the war as long as I could, in assisting in a speedy restoration of peace, and in settling subsequently as many of the points of difference as was at the time practicable. May God prosper your efforts and enable you to consummate the holy work!
* * * * *
After successfully negotiating his treaty, Lord Ashburton came to New York, and the two men met once more.
There remained the question of the North-Western boundary to fester into a sore. This did not fail to happen, and in 1846 the two nations again stood on the verge of war. On this subject, too, Mr. Gallatin published a pamphlet which took a characteristic view of the dispute.[171] He did not hesitate to concede that the American title to the contested territory was defective; that neither nation could show an indisputable right in the premises; but that America had all the chances in her favor, and that, in any possible event, war was the least effective policy; "the certain consequence, independent of all the direct calamities and miseries of war, will be a mutual increase of debt and taxation, and the ultimate fate of Oregon will be the same as if the war had not taken place." This thoroughly common-sense view was so obvious that neither government could long resist it. The Oregon question, too, was in the end peaceably settled.
There was, however, one political difficulty of far deeper consequence than currency or boundary, and offering a problem to which no such simple reasoning applied; this was the growth of slavery and the slave power. Here two great principles clashed. The practical rule of politics which had guided Mr. Gallatin through life, to avoid all issues which might endanger the Union, was here more directly applicable than elsewhere, for Mr. Gallatin knew better than most men the dangers involved in this issue. He had found even the liberal mind of Mr. Jefferson impervious to argument on the consequences of extending the slave power. Not only was he no sympathizer with slavery; he was in principle an abolitionist; he never changed that opinion, which he had incorporated so early as 1793 in a draft of an act, declaring that "slavery was inconsistent with every principle of humanity, justice, and right." In 1843, when Maria Chapman urged him to write for her anti-slavery Annual, he declined. "I would not for any consideration say anything that might injure the holy cause in which you are engaged, and yet I must tell the truth, or what appears to me to be the truth." Determined to respect the constitutional compact, he carefully abstained from taking any part in the slavery agitation. Nevertheless the time came when he could no longer be silent. On the 24th April, 1844, a popular meeting was held in New York to protest against the annexation of Texas; Mr. Gallatin was asked to preside, and one of the most courageous acts of his life was to take the chair and address this great and turbulent assembly:
SPEECH ON THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
At my advanced age and period of life, withdrawn as I am from the politics of the day, desirous of quiet, nothing could have induced me to attend this meeting but the magnitude of the subject I will simply indicate the points involved in the question which has called us together, leaving to others abler than myself to discuss them at length. Till this day the United States have preserved the highest reputation amongst the nations of the earth for the fidelity with which they have fulfilled all their engagements and generally carried on all their relations with foreign nations. They have never engaged in a war for the sake of conquest, never but in self-defence and for the purpose of repelling aggression against their most sacred rights. They have never acquired any territory by conquest or violence, nor in any other way but by fair treaties, fairly negotiated, with the consent of all the parties that might have any claim to the territory in question. What now is the nature of the question which has been proclaimed lately,--the annexation of Texas? By the most solemn treaties between us and foreign nations Texas has been adjudged as being within the limits of Mexico. If there was any claim on the part of the United States to that country, it was expressly renounced by these treaties. It is perfectly clear then that the attempt now made is a direct and positive violation of treaty stipulations. I have heard it stated that there was danger that it would also lead us into war. I think this but a very partial and erroneous view of the subject. I do assert, without fear of contradiction, that the annexation of Texas under existing circumstances is a positive declaration of war against Mexico. I will say that even if the independence of Texas had been acknowledged by Mexico, it would be still war, for Texas is at war with Mexico, and in such a state of things to annex it to this country is to make us a party to that war. But in existing circumstances and while Texas continues at war with Mexico and her independence is not acknowledged by the latter power, I will say that, according to the universally acknowledged laws of nations and universal usage of all Christian nations, to annex Texas is war; and in that assertion I will be sustained by every publicist and jurist in the Christian world. This war would be a war founded on injustice, and a war of conquest I will not stop to inquire what Mexico may do or ought to do in such circumstances. It is enough that the war would be unjust. I know nothing of the ability or desire of Mexico to injure us. It is enough to say that an unjust war, founded upon the violation of solemn treaty stipulations, would disgrace the national character, which till this day has been unsullied.
There is another view of this subject, more complex, more delicate, but I do think it is both better and fairer to meet it in the face. I allude to the effect that this measure would have on the question of slavery. The Constitution of the United States was from the beginning founded upon mutual concessions and compromise. When that Constitution was passed it appears that the Southern States, alarmed by the difference of their social state and institutions from ours in the North, required some guarantees. They may have been granted with reluctance, but they are consecrated by the Constitution. The surrender of fugitive slaves and the non-equal principle of representation have been granted, and, however repugnant to our feelings or principles, we must carry out the provisions into effect faithfully and inviolate. But it ought to be observed that these provisions applied only to the territory then within the limits of the United States, and to none other. In the course of events we acquired Louisiana and Florida, and, without making any observations on these precedents, it so happened that, in the course of events, three new States have been added out of territories not, when the Constitution was adopted, within the limits of the United States; and more, eventually Florida was added to the slave-holding States. Thus it has happened that additional security and additional guarantee have been given to the South. With those I think they ought to be satisfied. Nothing is more true than that if we wish to preserve the Union, it must be by mutual respect to the feelings of others, but these concessions must be altogether mutual and not all on one side. If it be asked what we do require from the South, I will answer,--nothing whatever. We do not require from the South any new measure that should be repugnant either to their opinions or feelings. Nor do we interfere with the question of slavery in Texas. We have taken no measures, we do not mean to take any measures, either to prevent or induce them to admit slavery. It is a free, independent State, and we wish them to do precisely what they please. All we ask is to preserve the present state of things. All we ask is that no such plan as shall again agitate that question shall be attempted to be carried into effect. It is too much to ask from us that we should take an active part in permitting the accession of a foreign state, and a foreign slave-holding state, to the Union; and that we should consent that new States should again be added to those upon an equal basis of representation. This is all we ask. The discussion of these questions does not originate with us. It originates with those who have fostered this plan. We wish every discussion of this question to be avoided. But if it be forced upon us we will be forced to meet it.
There are other considerations and most momentous questions which depend upon this. In the first place, does the treaty-making power imply a power to annul existing treaties? Does that power embrace the right of declaring war? Can the President or Senate, in making a treaty with another power, disregard the stipulations of a treaty with a third party? Again, can a foreign state be admitted in the Union without the unanimous consent of all the parties to the compact? I know that the precedents of Louisiana and Florida may be adduced; but let us see how far they go. Their validity depends solely on the fact that there was universal acquiescence. Not one State in the Union protested against the proceeding, and if upon this occasion the same should occur, I will say that without adverting to forms we might consider it proper to admit that there is a right. But the precedent goes no farther. It does not go to the point that the power does or does not exist.
These, I have said, are momentous questions, such as would necessarily shake the Union to its very centre, and such as I wish to see forever avoided. Another point. This measure will bring indelible disgrace upon our democratic institutions; it will bring them into discredit; it will excite the hopes of their enemies; it will check the hopes of the friends of mankind. We had hoped that, when the people of the United States had resumed their rights and the government was in their hands, there would be a gradual amelioration of legislation, of the social state, of the intercourse between men. All this is checked by a measure on which treaties are violated and an unjust war undertaken.
Still, I do not despair. My confidence is in the people. But we must give them time to make, to form, and to express their opinions; and therefore it is that I do strongly reprobate the secret, the insidious manner in which that plot has been conducted, so as to debar the people of the Union from the right of expressing an opinion on the subject.
Gentlemen, I have done. I thank you for the indulgence with which you have been pleased to listen to me. I am highly gratified that the last public act of a long life should have been that of bearing testimony against this outrageous attempt. It is indeed a consolation that my almost extinguished voice has been on this occasion raised in defence of liberty, of justice, and of our country.
* * * * *
Repeatedly interrupted; at moments absolutely stopped by uproar and rioting; able to make his feeble voice heard only by those immediately around him, he still resolutely maintained his ground and persisted to the end. Mr. Gallatin was at that time in his eighty-fourth year; nothing but the most conscientious sense of duly could possibly have induced him to appear again in public, especially on an occasion when it was well known that the worst passions of the worst populace in the city of New York would be aroused against him. Not even when he risked his life before the rifles of the backwoodsmen at Redstone Old Fort had he given so striking proof of his moral courage.
Perhaps it was this final proof that gave point to a short speech of Mr. J. Q. Adams, which has been already alluded to. In the month of November following the annexation meeting, the New York Historical Society, of which Mr. Gallatin was now president, held a celebration, followed by a dinner, given in his honor. Mr. J. Q. Adams was one of the invited guests, and took the occasion to make the following remarks. Readers of his Diary will appreciate how much his concluding words meant to him; honesty, as both Mr. Gallatin and himself had found, was not only the highest, but one of the rarest, public virtues:
"To the letter," said Mr. Adams, "which was sent me, your honorable president added a line, saying, 'I shall be glad to shake hands with you once more in this world.' Sir, if nothing else could have induced me, these words would have compelled my attendance here, and I can conceive of nothing that would have prevented me. I have lived long, sir, in this world, and I have been connected with all sorts of men, of all sects and descriptions. I have been in the public service for a great part of my life, and filled various offices of trust in conjunction with that venerable gentleman, Albert Gallatin. I have known him half a century. In many things we differed; on many questions of public interest and policy we were divided, and in the history of parties in this country there is no man from whom I have so widely differed as from him. But on other things we have harmonized; and now there is no man with whom I more thoroughly agree on all points than I do with him. But one word more. Let me say, before I leave you and him,--birds of passage as we are, bound to a warmer and more congenial clime,--that among all the public men with whom I have been associated in the course of my political life, whether agreeing or differing in opinion with him, I have always found him to be an honest and honorable man."
[Sidenote: 1848.]
In spite of all the opposition of the North, the war with Mexico took place. Every moral conviction and every lifelong hope of Mr. Gallatin were outraged by this act of our government. The weight of national immorality rested incessantly on his mind. He would not abandon his faith in human nature; he determined to make an appeal to the moral sense of the American public, and to scatter this appeal broadcast by the hundred thousand copies over the country. With this view he wrote his pamphlet on "Peace with Mexico,"[172] yet accompanying it with another on "War Expenses," which invoked more worldly interests. His object was to urge the conclusion of a peace on moral and equitable principles, and, feeling that time was short, he pressed forward with feverish haste. On the 15th February, 1848, he said, "I write with great difficulty, and I become exhausted when I work more than four or five hours a day. Ever since the end of October all my faculties, impaired as they are, were absorbed in one subject; not only my faculties, but I may say all my feelings. I thought of nothing else: Age quod agis! I postponed everything else, even a volume of ethnography which was in the press; even answering the letters which did not absolutely require immediate attention."
The warnings to be quick came thick and fast. Only a week after he wrote this letter, his old associate, J. Q. Adams, breathed his last on the floor of Congress. A few weeks more brought the news that Alexander Baring was dead. In Europe society itself seemed about to break in pieces, and everything old was passing away with a rapidity that recalled the days of the first French revolution. Mr. Gallatin might well think it necessary to press his pace and to economize every instant that remained; and yet in that eventful year the world moved more rapidly still, and he had time--though not much--to spare. His pamphlets were sent in great numbers over the North and East, and certainly had their share in leading the government to accept the treaty of peace which was negotiated by Mr. Trist, notwithstanding instructions to leave Mexico, and signed by him at Guadalupe Hidalgo on the 2d of February.
[Sidenote: 1849.]
These pamphlets were his last intellectual effort. As the year advanced, symptoms of decline became more and more evident. His memory began to fail. When alone, he caught himself talking in French as when a boy. His mind recurred much to his early youth, to Geneva, to his school, to Mlle. Pictet, and undoubtedly to that self-reproach for his neglect of her and of his family which seems to have weighed upon him throughout life. The Presidential election of 1848 was a great satisfaction to him; but he thought more frequently and naturally of his own past political contests and of the Presidents whom he had helped to make. His mind became more excitable as his strength declined. There was, however, little to be done or desired by him in the way of preparation; his life had left no traces to be erased, and his death would create no confusion and required no long or laborious forethought. He had felt a certain pride in his modest means; his avowed principle had been that a Secretary of the Treasury should not acquire wealth. He had no enemies to forgive. "'I cannot charge myself with malignity of temper,'" he said; "'indeed, I have been regarded as mild and amiable. But now, approaching the confines of the eternal world, I desire to examine myself with the utmost rigor to see whether I am in charity with all mankind. On this retrospect I cannot remember any adversary whom I have not forgiven, or to whom I have failed to make known my forgiveness, except one, and he is no longer living.' Here he named a late eminent politician of Virginia"; doubtless William B. Giles.
During the last months of his life he turned with great earnestness to the promises and hopes of religion. His clergyman, Dr. Alexander, kept memoranda of his conversation on this subject. "I never was an infidel," he said; "though I have had my doubts, and the habit of my thinking has been to push discoveries to their utmost consequences without fear.... I have always leaned towards Arminianism; but the points are very difficult. I am a bold speculator. Such has been the habit of my mind all my life long."
He failed slowly as the winter of 1848-49 passed, and was for the most part confined to his room and his bed. In the month of May, 1849, while he thus lay helpless, his wife died in the adjoining room, leaving him deeply overcome and shaken by agitation and grief. Nevertheless, he survived to be taken, as the summer came on, to his daughter's house at Astoria. There, on the 12th August, 1849, his life ended.
INDEX.
A.
Adams, John, 310, 372, 399, 411, 427, 460; Vice-President of the United States, favors Gallatin's claim to eligibility for the Senate, 120, 121; elected President, 178; suspects intrigue, 178; his first speech to Congress, 183; his second speech, 188; declines invitation to birthday ball, 194; nominates William Vans Murray to France, 220, 221; remark on mediation, 223; his third speech to Congress, 223; ostensibly renominated for the Presidency, 241; his conduct in 1801, 258, 265, 266; calls the Senate, 260, 263.
Adams, Mrs. John, 185.
Adams, John Quincy, 429, 502, 634; rejected by the Senate as minister to Russia, 389; his account of the conduct of the Senate in 1809, 389-391; his account of Duane and Binns, 442; commissioner under the mediation, 479; parallelism of his career with Gallatin's, 495-497; his antagonism to Mr. Clay, 520, 522; his account of his colleagues at Ghent, 523, 527, 528; prepares articles, 540; his struggle to secure the fisheries, 540-545; minister to England, 548; joined in negotiating commercial convention, 548; his character, 552, 592, 599; Secretary of State, 562, 566; his negotiation with France in 1819-1822, 573-575, 579; his character of Gallatin, 576, 626, 629, 676; W. H. Crawford's comments on, 580, 584, 586, 588; Gallatin's character of, 599; chosen President, 602, 606; his reasons for not offering the Treasury to Gallatin, 609; on the distrust of Mr. Clay, 609; on relations with England in 1827, 624, 625, 627, 628; his comments on Mr. Canning, 624, 627, 628; his comments on men and measures, 636; his death, 677.
Adams, William, British commissioner at Ghent, 519, 543; negotiator of the commercial convention, 552.
Addison, Alexander, 177, 223.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Congress of, 572.
Alexander, Emperor of Russia, invites diplomatic relations in 1808, 390; offers mediation, 477, 498; renews the offer, 498, 503; causes misunderstanding, 503, 510, 511; receives a note from Mr. Crawford, 511; his conversation with La Fayette at the house of Madame de Staël, 512, 514; his visit to London, 514; his interview with Gallatin, 514, 515; his influence on the negotiation, 516, 518, 537; his friendliness, 553.
Alien laws, 202, 204, 206, 274, 320.
Algerine powers, war with, 300, 306, 307, 349.
Allegre, Sophia, Gallatin's first wife, her family, 69; her engagement, 70; her mother, 70, 71; her marriage, 71, 72; her death, 72, 75, 80, 83.
Allen, John, M.C. from Connecticut, on the sedition law, 207.
Alston, Joseph, reports of his character, 244, 245.
Ames, Fisher, 154; his speech on Jay's treaty, 155, 165, 198; his opinion on the use of the army in domestic politics, 170; favors war with France, 184; his political formulas, 199, 214.
Amory, scholar of Gallatin's at Harvard College, 43, 59.
Anderson, Joseph, Senator from Tennessee, 429, 484, 490.
Armstrong, John, 290, 389, 400; appointed Secretary of War, 471; his conduct, 481; wishes to be commander-in-chief, 485; his account of how he ceased to be Secretary of War, 530.
Assumption of State debts, 87, 168.
Astor, John Jacob, 455, 477, 488, 588; on Gallatin's rejection by the Senate, 488, 489; offers to take Gallatin into partnership, 555; his account of American habits, 584; establishes the National Bank for Gallatin, 642.
B.
Bache, Franklin, 15.
Bache, Richard, 554.
Bacon, Ezekiel, M.C. from Massachusetts, 450, 454.
Badollet, Jean, schoolmate of Gallatin's, 15, 16, 64, 120; urged by Gallatin to come to America, 51, 53, 60; comes to George's Creek, 63, 66; settles at Greensburgh, on the Monongahela, 144; his opinion of Judge Brackenridge, 133, 134; appointed register of the land-office at Vincennes, 404, 405; his struggle against the introduction of slavery in Indiana, 404, 406; Gallatin's opinion of, 610, 646, 647; death of his wife, 649.
Baer, George, M.C. from Maryland, 250, 262.
Bainbridge, Commodore, 462, 466.
Baldwin, Abraham, Senator from Georgia, 253, 302.
Bank of the United States, 157, 308, 309; Mr. Jefferson's views regarding, 308, 321, 665; its dissolution in 1811, 416, 417, 426-430; rechartered in 1816, 429; consequences of its dissolution, 451, 474, 475; Gallatin declines Presidency of, 578, 583, 584; question of recharter in 1830-1842, 636, 638, 639, 651; its power, 651; rechartered as U.S. Bank of Pennsylvania, 659; opposes return to specie payments, 659, 660; becomes bankrupt, 661; Gallatin's views on rechartering, 639, 659, 665, 666.
Bank, National (Gallatin), of New York, 642, 643, 647, 658, 662.
Banking, Gallatin's writings on. (See _Currency_.)
Baring, Alexander (Lord Ashburton), 552, 564, 565; his relations with Gallatin in the Louisiana purchase, 317, 318; his letters to Gallatin on the Russian mediation, 499, 500, 502, 504; his negotiation in 1842, 668-670; his opinion of Gallatin, 668; his death, 677.
Barlow, Joel, 424, 436, 461.
Bassano, Duke de, Napoleon's Minister of State, 421.
Bathurst, Lord, his notes and instructions to the British commissioners at Ghent, 527; his offer of the _uti possidetis_, 535; his instructions regarding the fisheries, 543.
Bayard, James A., M.C. from Delaware, 154, 155, 156, 205, 316, 458, 459; his course in the contested Presidential election of 1801, 250, 254, 260, 262; sent as envoy to Russia, 479, 490, 493, 495; goes with Gallatin to London, 506; his influence in the negotiation, 522, 523; conversation with Goulburn, 524, 525; death, 549.
Baylies, Francis, M.C. from Massachusetts, 620, 624, 625.
Bentley, William, tutor at Harvard College, and clergyman at Salem, 43, 69.
Benton, Thomas H., his defence of Mr. Van Buren, 618.
Berkeley, Admiral, 358, 359.
Bibb, W. W., M.C. from Georgia, 480.
Biddle, Nicholas, 637, 660.
Binns, John, 439, 442.
Bledsoe, Jesse, Senator from Kentucky, 484.
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 381, 383, 399; his Berlin, Milan, and Bayonne decrees, 374, 376, 567; his apparent change of policy in 1810, 420, 421; his secret Trianon decree, 421, 422, 425; succeeds in leading the United States into war with England, 425; anecdote of Count Romanzoff, 444; returns from Elba, 547.
Boston, 55, 68; description of, in 1780, 27, 28, 45; Mr. Clay's opinion of, 509.
Boundary, North-Eastern, 521, 535, 536, 614, 621, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 667, 668; North-Western, 569, 570, 614, 621, 627, 670, 671.
Bourdillon, 146, 209, 226.
Bourse Gallatin, 5.
Brackenridge, Judge H. H., his first meeting with Gallatin, 68; his character, 128, 133, 134; his conduct at the Mingo Creek meeting, 128; at Braddock's Field, 129, 130; at Parkinson's Ferry, 131, 132; at Redstone Old Fort, 135-137; his distinction between Quakers and Presbyterians, 150; candidate for Congress, 141, 176, 210.
Braddock's Field, rendezvous at, 129, 130.
Bradford, David, 91, 92, 125; a member of the State Legislature, 93; a tenth-rate lawyer, 96; an empty drum, 97; his enmity to Gallatin, 98; his course at the Mingo Creek meeting, 128; causes the mail to be seized, 128; summons the militia to Braddock's Field, 129; his course there, 129; at the Parkinson's Ferry meeting, 131-134; at Redstone Old Fort, 135-137; escapes to Louisiana, 138; his party defeated, 141.
Bradford, William, 441; his reforms in the penal code of Pennsylvania, 84.
Brasier, Philip, 235, 236.
Breckenridge, John, Attorney-General, 598.
Brent, Richard, M.C. from Virginia, 190, 317; Senator, 435, 490.
Broglie, Duke de, 563, 564.
Brooks, David, H.C. from New York, 193.
Burr, Aaron, 101; speech on Jay's treaty, 151; distrusts the Virginians, 178, 242, 243, 247; conducts the New York City election of May, 1800, 232, 233, 238; his intrigue and management, 234, 239; the most eligible character for Vice-President, 239; the agent of a Supreme Power, 241; nominated for Vice-President, 243; the election, 244; his daughter's marriage, 244, 245; his conduct during the contest in the House of Representatives, 245, 246, 247, 254; causes of his schism, 282, 288, 289; urges M. L. Davis for office, 283, 284, 289; his opinion of Gallatin, 289; his schism, 311, 313, 389.
Burr, Theodosia, her marriage, 244.
C.
Cabell, Samuel J., M.C. from Virginia, 202.
Cabot, George, 112, 199.
Calhoun, John C., M.C. from South Carolina, 445, 473, 562; on Gallatin's character, 576, 577; W. H. Crawford's comments on, 580, 581; Gallatin's opinion of, 599; chosen Vice-President, 601, 602; on war with France, 655.
Calvin, John, 2, 11.
Campbell, George W., M.C. from Tennessee, his report on foreign relations in 1808, 378; Secretary of the Treasury, 505.
Canning, George, 381, 383, 399; his remarks on the naval battles of 1812, 171; his treatment of Mr. Jefferson's diplomacy, 356; his management of the affair of the Chesapeake, 364; of the orders in council, 364, 365; his success, 367, 368, 411; his sarcasms, 374, 376; his instructions to Erskine, 392, 393; disavowal of Erskine's arrangement, 394; thrown out of office, 411; Foreign Secretary in 1826, 614; his orders in council of 1826, in regard to the West India trade, 615-617; his motives, 616, 618, 620, 624, 627; Prime Minister, 626; his opinion of the English constitution, 626; his death, 626.
Castlereagh, Lord, 498, 499; instructions to Lord Cathcart, 503; offers direct negotiation, 504; favorable to peace, 506, 507, 508, 516; obliged to check Mr. Goulburn, 525; favors delay, 531; his influence in 1818, 569, 618; his death, 614.
Cathcart, Lord, 503, 504.
Caucuses, party, 214, 595; in 1824, 592, 594, 595, 596, 597.
Champagny, Duke de Cadore, his letter of August 5, 1810, 420, 421.
Chapman, Maria, 671.
Chase, Judge Samuel, his impeachment, 327; his successor, 440.
Chateaubriand, Vicomte de, French Minister of Foreign Relations, 567.
Chesapeake, affair of, 357, 359, 360.
Cheves, Langdon, M.C. from South Carolina, 445, 472, 473, 475, 476; President of the U.S. Bank, 582, 583.
Circular to collectors. (See _Civil Service_.)
Citizenship, Gallatin's, 48, 49, 62, 109, 111, 112; statement of the question regarding, 119, 120; adverse decision, 110, 121; amendment of the Constitution concerning, 203, 211.
Civil service in 1801, 273; Gallatin's circular to collectors, 278, 279.
Claiborne, W. C. C., Governor of Louisiana, 319, 325; establishes a bank at New Orleans, 322.
Clare, Thomas, 55, 62, 71, 99, 120; his death, 560.
Clark, John, Governor of Georgia, 581.
Clay, Henry, 154, 445, 577; opposes the bank charter in 1811, 428, 429, 430; supports the war policy, 449; forces Mr. Madison to recommend a declaration, 456-459; sent to negotiate treaty of peace, 505; his views on the political situation and the New England Federalists, 509, 546; his antagonism to Mr. Adams, 520, 522, 544-546; his criticisms, 523; opposes offer to renew the treaty of 1783 in regard to the fisheries and the Mississippi, 541; carries a compromise, 541, 542; continues his opposition, 544; nettled by the result, 545; joined with Gallatin and Adams in negotiating commercial convention, 548-552; opposes President Monroe, 562; Gallatin's opinion of, 599, 623; to be supported as Vice-President, 602; causes the election of J. Q. Adams, 602; distrust felt towards him, 608, 609; offers Gallatin the post of envoy to the Panama Congress, 612; his note on the colonial trade difficulty, 616, 623; his attack on Gallatin in 1832, 641; his compromise, 642.
Clinton, De Witt, 282, 471, 562, 577.
Clinton, George, consents to be candidate for the Assembly, 234, 237; averse to accepting the Vice-Presidency in 1800, 239, 242; recommends Burr, 242; chosen Vice-President, 312; throws casting vote against the bank charter, 429, 430; annoys Administration, 471, 606.
Clopton, John, M.C. from Virginia, 202.
Coast Survey, 350.
Cobb, T. W., M.C. from Georgia, 593.
Coit, Joshua, M.C. from Connecticut, 202.
Collectors, circular to. (See _Civil Service_.)
Colonial trade, 151, 550, 551, 569, 570, 571; British orders in council of 1826, 615-617; failure of negotiations, 617, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 628.
Committee of Ways and Means, its origin, 157, 172.
Connecticut, 68; manners, 191.
Constitution of 1787, 68, 76, 79, 648; its provisions regarding eligibility to the Senate, 119, 120; its grants of power: regarding a national bank, 157; internal improvements, 157; the making of treaties, 160, 161, 162, 163, 319, 674; amendment proposed regarding citizenship, 203, 211, 224; the acquisition of territory, 319-321, 674; its great defect the monarchical principle, 606; its guarantees to the slave power, 673.
Cooper, Dr. Samuel, 15; obtains for Gallatin a position as instructor in French at Harvard College, 38, 39, 42; joins in giving him a certificate, 43, 44.
Copenhagen, 495.
Coxe, Tench, 228.
Craik, William, M.C. from Maryland, 262.
Cramer, Mr., 9, 11.
Crawford, William H., Senator from Georgia, 433, 435, 469; supports the bank charter in 1811, 428; sent as minister to France, 509, 510; attempts to approach the Emperor Alexander, 611; returns home with Bayard in 1815, 552; Secretary of the Treasury under Monroe, 559, 562, 566; his political plans, 578, 580; his comments on J. C. Calhoun, 580, 581; on J. Q. Adams, 579, 580; on William Lowndes, 581; on Henry Clay, 582; his bitterness, 586; candidate of the triumvirate for the Presidency, 589, 592, 599; struck by paralysis, 590, 593, 594; reproached with intrigue, 597; offered the Treasury by J. Q. Adams, 607.
Cumberland Road. (See _Internal Improvements_.)
Currency, Gallatin's opinions on, 638, 664; his essays on, 638, 647, 648, 662, 664, 665.
Curtius. (See _John Thompson_.)
D.
Dallas, Alexander J., 245, 259, 281, 312; comes to America in 1783, 67; Secretary of State for Pennsylvania, 86; his intimacy with Gallatin, 99, 109, 113, 303; his part in the whiskey campaign, 142, 143; on Pennsylvania politics, 326, 328, 330, 333, 439; on the impeachment of the judges, 327; offered the chief-justiceship of Pennsylvania, 333; on the last year of Mr. Jefferson's Presidency, 372; recharters the U.S. Bank, 429; on the succession to Justice Chase, 440-442; imposes war taxes, 468; on Gallatin's rejection by the Senate, 479; retires from the Treasury, 557; differs from Gallatin on returning to specie payments, 657.
Dallas, George M., 493; sent to England, 502.
Dana, Samuel, M.C. from Connecticut, 154, 155, 156, 185, 205; the most eloquent man in Congress, 188.
Davis, Matthew L., 228; editor of the Time-Piece, 197; Burr's most active friend, 232; presses him for the Vice-Presidency, 239, 240; candidate for the post of naval officer, 282, 283; goes to Monticello, 284, 287; his rejection a declaration of war on Burr, 288.
Davy, Albert, 666.
Dayton, Jonathan, M.C. from New Jersey, speech on sequestering British debts, 121; Speaker, 191, 192, 202.
Dearborn, Henry, Secretary of War, 265, 274, 303, 345, 373; his character, 276; general, 485.
Debt, public. (See _Finances_.)
Degen and Purviance, navy agents at Leghorn, 400-403.
Democracy, its dogmas in 1801, 270, 272, 655, 666.
Dennis, John, M.C. from Maryland, 262.
De Staël, Mme., 563; La Fayette's interview with the Emperor at her house, 513; on the negotiations at Ghent, 531, 532; her death, 566.
Dexter, Samuel, Secretary of the Treasury, 258, 265, 277.
Drayton, William, M.C. from South Carolina, 642.
Duane, William, editor of the Aurora, Treasury books in his hands, 258; urges removals from office, 277, 278, 281; cause of his hostility to Gallatin, 281, 311, 331; his schism, 311, 312, 326, 328, 329, 330, 331; his war on Gallatin, 322, 329, 388, 400, 414, 417, 419, 427, 437, 439, 442, 558; account of, by J. Q. Adams, 442; his treatment by Jefferson and Madison, 443, 483.
Dumont, Etienne, schoolmate of Gallatin's, 16, 52, 289, 519.
D'Yvernois, 144, 145, 146.
E.
Edgar, James, 136, 176.
Education, 84, 90; Mr. Jefferson's scheme for a national university, 350; Gallatin's scheme for a popular university, 648.
Ellsworth, Oliver, 112, 228, 486.
Embargo decided upon, 366; Gallatin's opinion on, 366, 370-372, 375, 622; Jefferson's opinions on, 367, 368, 369; adopted, 369; amended, 369; effects of, 370, 412; Robert Smith's opinion on, 373; Enforcement Act, 378, 379; repeal of, 375, 380, 382, 383; to give place to war, 383, 384, 385; removed, 386.
England, her political condition in 1789, 71; her conduct towards America in 1793, 104, 112; Jay's treaty, 158-166; the danger of war, 165, 169; relations with, in 1798, 224; in 1801, 255; in 1805, 334; revival of the rule of 1756, 348; Monroe and Pinkney's treaty, 355, 356; her change of policy in 1807, 356; affair of the Chesapeake, 357-362, 364; orders in council, 364, 365, 366, 367, 374, 376, 378, 393, 460, 472; Rose's mission, 364, 367, 394, 397; Erskine's arrangement, 392, 393; disavowed, 394, 396; Jackson's mission, 394, 396, 411; proposed Navigation Act against, 413, 414; Macon's Act, 416; her refusal to withdraw the orders in council, 425, 444; approach of war, 444, 460; refuses Russian mediation, 497, 499, 500, 503; offers direct negotiation, 504; refuses concessions on impressment, 506; her attempts to isolate the United States, 499, 511, 513, 514; her position in Europe, 517, 518 (see _Ghent, Negotiations at_); commercial convention of 1815, 551, 614, 626; negotiations of 1818, 570-572 (see _Colonial Trade, Fisheries, Mississippi, Impressments_); negotiations of 1826-27, 612-629 (see _Colonial Trade, Boundary_); disposition towards America, 508, 618, 620, 621, 622, 624, 625, 627, 628; character of English diplomacy, 622.
Eppes, John W., M.C. from Virginia, 480.
Erskine, David M., British minister, 358, 359, 381; his relations with Gallatin, 381, 395, 418; his wish to reconcile, 381, 382; his arrangement, 392-394; disavowed, 394, 396; his despatches, 418.
Escalade, the, 4, 30.
Ethnological Society, 645.
Ethnology. (See _Indian Ethnology_.)
Eustis, William, Secretary of War, 395, 440, 462, 469; his administration of the War Department, 467, 468, 469, 470; his resignation, 470; minister to the Netherlands, 568.
Everett, Alexander, 587.
Everett, Edward, 655.
Excise, resolutions on, by the Pennsylvania Legislature, 88; causes of hostility to, 88; Washington resolutions on, 89; Pittsburg resolutions on, 91, 123; their effect, 93, 94; resistance to the law previous to the insurrection, 123, 124; its repeal in 1801-2, 274; reimposition in the war of 1812, 452, 453.
F.
Fauchet, Joseph, French Minister, 188.
Fayette County, 55, 58, 62, 73, 75, 90, 108, 109, 113, 121, 122; its obedience to the excise law, 124; disturbed by rioters, 130, 138; insurrection in, 148, 149.
Federalist party, 155, 156, 159, 161, 165, 169, 175, 178, 184, 199, 203, 206, 211, 215, 221, 223, 228, 232, 265, 266, 272, 274, 277, 280, 281, 373, 379, 394, 414; its success, 273, 274; schism in, 221; plans in 1801, 254, 257, 259, 262, 263; disorganized, 398; conduct in the war, 477, 483, 484.
Few, William, Senator from Georgia, Gallatin's brother-in-law, 101.
Finances, 167; of the United States in 1796, 157, 168, 169, 173, 174; in 1800, 243; in 1801, 291-293; in 1802, 305, 306; in 1803, 318, 319; in 1804, 327; in 1805, 348; in 1806, 348, 349; in 1808, 382; in 1809, 412; in 1811, 445, 446; management of, by the Federalists, 273, 274; national debt, its origin, 168, 169; its amount in 1796, 168, 173; in 1800, 243; addition to, in 1803, 318; reduction in 1806, 348; its condition in 1811, 446; its payment the great dogma of the Democratic principle, 270, 276, 354, 407, 410, 655, 656; Gallatin's "fundamental substantial measure," 293, 295, 296, 297, 318; Mr. Hamilton's sinking fund, 173, 174, 229, 230, 231, 296; ultimate discharge of the debt and its consequences, 655, 656; direct tax, 181; reduction of taxation a dogma of Democracy, 270, 276; internal taxes, removed in 1801-2, 270, 291, 293, 295; restored in the war of 1812, 452, 453; Mediterranean Fund, 295, 318, 319, 336, 349, 412, 446; loans, 447, 452, 473; in 1812, 454; in 1813, 477; war taxes, 451, 452, 454, 475, 480; threatened collapse in 1812, 474; suspension of specie payments in 1814, 553, 556, 561, 657; in 1837, 667; resumption in 1838, 658-662.
Findley, William, 92, 136, 176, 177, 222, 323, 453.
Fisheries, nature of the question at Ghent, 540, 541; disputes in the American commission, 541, 542, 544; doubts on the British side, 542, 543; omitted from the treaty, 545; settlement in 1818, 571; Gallatin's opinion of, 572.
Fisk, James, M.C. from Vermont, 456.
Florida, proposed purchase of, in 1805, 336, 337, 339, 341; cession of, in 1819, 572, 573.
Foster, Augustus, British minister, 444.
Fox, Charles James, 355.
France, her conduct towards Geneva, 52; her cause in 1793, 104, 110, 112; how affected by Jay's treaty, 158, 166, 178, 186; relations with, in May, 1797, 184; in 1798, 189, 195, 196, 199, 200, 201, 214; in 1801, 254, 255, 273; treaty rejected, 258; ratified, 259; the peace of Amiens, 300; her purchase of Louisiana, 307; sells Louisiana to the United States, 308, 334; her Berlin and Milan decrees, 355, 364, 374, 376, 378, 422; Macon's Act, 416; its effect on French policy, 419, 420, 421, 444; her secret Trianon decree, 422; her Rambouillet decree, 421, 423, 424; indemnity asked of her, 444; negotiations on, 567, 568, 655; court of Louis XVIII., 563; commercial negotiations and treaty, 1819-1822, 573-575, 579, 582; case of the Apollon and Alligator, 575, 576, 579; threatened rupture with, in 1835, 655.
Franklin, Benjamin, 15, 24, 38, 519, 520, 567.
Free trade, 640; memorial, 640.
Freneau, Philip, 197.
Friendship Hill, 63, 589, 590, 610.
G.
Gaddis, 147, 148.
Gailliard, John, Senator from South Carolina, 484.
Gallatin, Abraham, of Pregny, grand-father of Albert Gallatin, 5, 10, 64; his death, 94.
Gallatin, Albert, his origin and family, 1-5; his birth, 9, 10; his education, 10-15; graduates from college, 16; refuses a commission in the Hessian service, 17; secretly quits Geneva, 17, 18; writes from Pimboeuf, 23; lands at Gloucester, 26, 27; arrives at Boston, 26, 27, 35; his account of Boston in 1780, 27, 28; his voyage to Machias, 30, 32, 36; his life at Machias, 33-37, 40; returns to Boston, 38; instructor in French at Harvard College, 39, 42, 43, 70; departs to Philadelphia, 44; associates himself with Savary in land speculations, 46, 50, 53, 59, 60, 61, 70; his political opinions in 1783, 47-49, 51, 52; decides to become an American citizen, 48, 49; goes to Richmond, 53, 54; his first expedition to the Ohio, 54, 65; his first meeting with General Washington, 56-59; brings Badollet to America, 60; his second expedition to the Ohio, 61, 62; attempts to settle there, 62; becomes a citizen of Virginia, 62; leases land at George's Creek, 62; returns to Richmond, 63; buys Friendship Hill, 63; rumor of his death, 65; his indolence, 22, 65, 73; his awkwardness, 103; attains his majority, 65; his life at George's Creek, 66, 67; result of his land speculations, 67; makes a winter expedition to Maine, 68, 69; falls in love with Sophia Allegre, 69, 70, 71; his first marriage, 71, 72; death of his wife, 72, 75, 80; meditates returning to Geneva, 73, 75; his political tendencies, 76, 77; attends the Harrisburg conference, 77; his draft of report, 78; opposes the calling of the convention of 1789 to revise the State constitution of Pennsylvania, 79, 80; becomes a member of it, 80; his share in its proceedings, 81, 83; is elected to the State Legislature, 83; his share in legislation, 84-86, 89, 90, 95; his report in favor of the abolition of slavery, 86; his resolutions on the excise, 87, 88; his report on the finances of Pennsylvania, 85; his plan for a county school system, 84, 90; for county taxation, 91, 97; elected Senator, 86, 95, 96, 97, 98; clerk of the Pittsburg meeting of August, 1792, 91, 92; his responsibility for the resolutions, 92; his opinion of them, 92, 93, 94; his inheritance, 66, 94; question as to his citizenship, 98; falls in love with Hannah Nicholson, 99, 102; his views on European politics in 1793, 104, 110, 112; his marriage, 108; his election as Senator disputed, 109, 111, 113; takes his seat in the Senate, 110, 112; goes into business, 113, 152, 153, 175, 176, 221, 226; his action as Senator, 114; his call for financial statements from the Treasury, 115; declared ineligible to the Senate, 119, 120, 121; sells western lands to Robert Morris, 121, 122, 179; returns to George's Creek, 123; attends meeting at Uniontown on outbreak of insurrection, 124; attends meeting at Parkinson's Ferry, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135; at Redstone Old Fort, 135-137; urges that the army should not march, 138; elected to Congress, 140; returns to the Assembly, 141; election disputed, 141, 143, and annulled, 142; his speech on the occasion, 141, 142; his re-election, 142, 144; his scheme for emigration from Geneva, 144, 145, 146, 150, 151; his opinion of New York and Pennsylvania society, 146, 147; of Jay's treaty, 151; enters Congress, 154; his account of his Congressional service, 155-157; his speeches on Jay's treaty, 155, 156, 161, 162, 163, 165, 166; his views on constitutional construction, 157, 205; Executive encroachments, 157; specific appropriations, 157, 180, 299; the finances in 1796, 157, 169, 173, 174; originates the standing committee of Ways and Means, 157, 172; his views on the navy, 157, 170, 171, 172, 180, 217, 218, 229, 334, 335; his share in originating the land-system, 167, 297, 298; his financial principles compared with Hamilton's, 169, 174, 175; re-elected to Congress, 176-178; birth of his eldest son, 179, 180, 181, 182; on the political situation in 1797, 183, 185, 187; his opinion of Washington, 182; of John Adams, 265, 266; the political situation in 1798, 189, 190, 195, 196, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 223, 224; on foreign intercourse, 189, 195, 197, 198, 611; on the alien bill, 205, 219, 220; on the sedition bill, 207, 208, 219; on the exclusion of slavery from the Southwestern Territory, 209; re-elected to Congress, 210; his character described by Curtius, 213; his nationality of character, 214; on R. G. Harper, 216, 217; state of his affairs, 222, 225; on the political situation in 1799, 226, 227, 228; on a sinking fund, 230, 231, 296; on John Marshall's argument in the case of Jonathan Robbins, 232; on the New York City election of 1800, 240, 241; on the finances in 1800, 243; his account of the Jefferson-Burr contest in 1801, 248-251, 253-262; his plan in the event of usurpation, 248, 251, 254, 255, 256; his description of Washington in 1801, 252, 253; named as Secretary of the Treasury, 258, 259; nomination communicated by Mr. Jefferson, 263; fears of rejection by the Senate, 264, 265, 276; his position compared with that of Hamilton, 268, 269; his views on the objects of Mr. Jefferson's Administration, 269-271; his opposition to removals from office, 277, 279, 280, 285, 286, 290; his circular to collectors, 278; on M. L. Davis, 285, 286; on Burr's political position in 1801, 287, 288, 289; on the succession to Mr. Jefferson, 287, 288; his "fundamental substantial measure" regarding reduction of debt, 292-295, 296, 297; his notes on the finances in 1801, 292; his complaints of bad administration in the navy, 294; his views on removal of internal taxes, 291, 293, 295; on internal improvements, 85, 86, 157, 167, 299; his portrait by Stuart, 301; his house in Washington, 302; his account of a public dinner at the navy-yard, 304; on the finances in 1802, 305; on dry-docks, 305; on the U. S. Bank, 309; on the occupation of Louisiana, 319; on the constitutional right to acquire territory, 319; his description of Humboldt, 323; his relations with John Randolph, 314, 324, 328, 329, 339, 340, 341, 342, 344; on Pennsylvania politics, 330, 331; on relations with Spain, 334, 335; on the political dissensions of 1806, 345-347; on the finances in 1806, 349; on internal improvements, 350-352; on gun-boats, 352-354; on the affair of the Chesapeake and war with England, 357-359, 361, 362; on embargoes, 366; on enforcing the embargo law, 370-372, 373, 374, 375; on the attitude of England and France, 374-376; urges Mr. Jefferson to settle a policy, 377, 378; drafts "Campbell's Report," 378; his war policy, 380, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 392; his relations with Erskine, 381, 395, 418, 419; chosen by Mr. Madison to be his Secretary of State, 383, 388-391; on the navy coalition of 1809, 387, 388; meditates resignation, 392, 403, 408-410; on the disavowal of Erskine's arrangement, 396; his political position in 1809, 398, 399; on the bills of exchange drawn by Smith & Buchanan, 402, 403; on the tendency to extravagance in Mr. Madison's Administration, 410; his report for 1809, 412, 413; favors continuation of the bank, 416, 417, 426, 451; makes a report on domestic manufactures, 417; on Mr. Jefferson's alleged partiality to France, 418, 419; on the attacks of the Aurora, 419; on Napoleon's secret Trianon decree, 422; his letter of resignation in 1811, 434; Duane's character of, 437, 438; thirsts for obscurity, 440; his feelings regarding Duane, 443, 483; on the finances in 1811, 446, 447; on loans, 447; his views on war taxes, 450-452; on the war policy, 450, 455, 461; his alleged wish to lay up the frigates, 462-466; wishes to reorganize the Cabinet, 469, 470; on remission of forfeitures, 473; requests to be sent to Russia, 477; his motives, 478; on the occupation of Florida, 481; on the Russian mediation, 482; his rejection by the Senate, 483-491, 501; his system of administration, 491, 492; sails for St. Petersburg, 493; arrives at Gottenburg, 494; at Copenhagen, 495; at St. Petersburg, 495; effect of his arrival, 498; correspondence with Gen. Moreau, 499, 501, 509; with Alexander Baring, 499, 500, 502, 504; recognized by the Emperor and rejected by the Senate, 501; determines on going to England, 502; quits St. Petersburg, 505; arrives at Amsterdam, 505, and in London, 506; appointed member of commission to negotiate directly, 505, 508; superintends diplomatic operations, 505; changes negotiation from Gottenburg to Ghent, 506, 507, 509; his views on the political situation, 507, 517; attempts to win the Emperor Alexander, 499, 509, 510; his interview with the Emperor, 514, 515; meets Dumont and Bentham, 519; arrives at Ghent, 518; delicacy of his ground there, 522; expects the negotiation to fail, 523, 524; ascendency over the mission, 528; on the financial outlook, 533; draws article offering to confirm the provisions of the treaty of 1783 regarding the fisheries and the Mississippi, 541; accepts Mr. Clay's compromise, 542; offers an article to continue the liberty of taking fish, 544; carries an article referring the subject to future negotiation, 544; his delicate management, 545; the treaty his special triumph, 546; visits Geneva, 547, 598; returns to Paris, 547; appointed minister to France, 548; negotiates commercial convention with England, 551; returns to America, 553; on the situation of America and Europe in 1815, 553, 554; declines mission to France, 554; declines nomination to Congress, 554; declines offer of partnership with Mr. Astor, 555; declines the Treasury, 558, 559; reconsiders and accepts mission to France, 556, 557; urges return to specie payments, 556, 561; his residence in Paris, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565; his arrival there, 562; his opinion of Talleyrand, 564; his negotiation for indemnities, 567, 568; or a commercial treaty with the Netherlands, 568; his negotiations with England in 1818, 568-572; his opinion of the fisheries convention, 572; his share in the commercial negotiations with France, 573-575, 577; his argument in the case of the Apollon, 575, 576; character of, by J. Q. Adams and J. C. Calhoun, 576, 577, 676; declines the presidency of the U. S. Bank, 578; decides to return to New Geneva, 578; returns to America, 684-586, 588; supports Mr. Crawford for the Presidency, 589, 590; description of Friendship Hill, 589, 590; nominated for the Vice-Presidency, 591, 592, 594; his reasons for accepting, 598-600; his account of Mr. Crawford's character, 598; of Gen. Jackson, 599; of Mr. Calhoun, 599; of J. Q. Adams, 599; of Mr. Clay, 599, 623; of Genevan affairs, 600, 601; withdraws from the contest, 602, 604, 605, 606; his attitude towards J. Q. Adams, 607, 608; entertains La Fayette, 611, 612; offered appointment as envoy to the Panama Congress, 612; appointed minister to London, 612, 613; arrives in London, 613; subjects of negotiation, 614; his notes on colonial intercourse, 616, 617; Mr. Van Buren's paraphrase of his despatch, 618; his explanations of Mr. Canning's hostility, 620, 624; his opinion of English and French diplomacy, 622; his conciliatory management, 626, 628, 629; his treaties of 1827, 626, 627; prepares statement of the argument on the North-Eastern boundary, 629, 633; his views on politics in 1828-9, 630, 631, 633, 634; would accept mission to France in 1829, 632, 633; disapproves removals from office, 633, 634; on quitting public life, 634; publishes his first essay on banks and currency, 637, 638, 647; his attitude regarding the U. S. Bank, 638, 639, 651, 665, 666; composes the free-trade memorial, 640, 642; attacked by Mr. Clay, 641; becomes president of the National Bank, 643, 647, 652; resigns, 662; his ethnological writings, 643-645, 652; tries to establish a popular university, 648; on politics in 1833, 648, 649; in 1834, 650; favors annual Presidency, 650; on American society, 646, 650, 651, 653, 663, 664; on universal suffrage, 654; his share in the resumption of specie payments in 1838, 657-662; his second essay on banks and currency, 662, 663, 664, 665; asked by President Tyler to take the Treasury Department, 666, 667; republishes his argument on the North-Eastern boundary, 668; Alexander Baring's opinion of him, 668; his views on the Ashburton negotiation, 670; his pamphlet on the Oregon question, 671; his speech on the annexation of Texas, 670-675; J. Q. Adams's remarks regarding him, 676; his pamphlet on peace with Mexico, 677; his religious opinions, 678; his death, 678.
Gallatin, Mrs. Albert. (See _Allegre, Sophia_, and _Nicholson, Hannah_.)
Gallatin, James, 179, 180, 316, 480, 493, 606, 607, 608, 610, 632, 650; his son, 650, 667.
Gallatin, Jean, enrolled as citizen of Geneva in 1510, 2.
Gallatin, Jean, father of Albert Gallatin, 9; his death, 10.
Gallatin, Paul Michel, Albert's guardian, 19-22.
Gallatin, Pierre, Count de, Würtemberg minister at Paris, 3, 563.
Gallatin-Rolaz, Mme., mother of Albert Gallatin, 7, 9, 10.
Gallatin-Vaudenet, Mme., grandmother of Albert Gallatin, 5, 16; Voltaire's notes to, 6, 7; her figs, 6, 7; her children, 9; gives her grandson a "cuff," 17; her decline, 94.
Gambier, Lord, British commissioner at Ghent, 519.
Genet, Edmund, French minister, 86, 104, 111.
Geneva, its government, 3; its society, 5, 10, 11, 15, 40; its academy, 11-15; its politics, 28, 33, 48, 47, 48, 51, 52, 73, 75, 96, 97, 144, 145, 199; emigration from, 145, 146, 150; condition in 1814, 531; revisited by Gallatin in 1815, 547; his account of, 600, 601.
George IV., 650.
George's Creek, 55, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, 69, 72, 123.
Georgetown, 253, 259, 530.
German, Obadiah, Senator from New York, 484.
Gerry, Elbridge, nominated envoy to France, 185; vote on his confirmation, 185.
Ghent, negotiations at: meeting of the commissioners, 519; American terms of peace, 520; British terms, 520, 521; Indian sovereignty, 521, 527; antagonisms among the American commissioners, 520, 521, 522, 523; expected failure of the negotiation, 523, 524, 525, 526; first modification of the British terms, 526, 527; effect on the American commissioners, 527, 528; settlement of the Indian question, 535; British offer of the basis of _uti possidetis_, 535, 536; rejected, 536; effect of the rejection, 536-538; negotiation considered at an end, 636, 537; interposition of the Duke of Wellington, 538, 539; second modification of the British terms, 539, 540; articles on impressment, blockade, and indemnities, 540; straggles over the fisheries and the Mississippi, 540-545; signature of the treaty, 546; the treaty peculiarly a triumph of Mr. Gallatin, 546; Castlereagh's opinion of, 546.
Giles, William B., 154, 156, 298, 678; leaves Congress in 1798, 202; favors war in 1808, 376; opposes Gallatin's appointment as Secretary of State, 388, 389, 401; opposes the bank charter, 427, 428, 429; his taunts at Gallatin, 448, 449; opposes Gallatin's confirmation to Russia, 484, 490; thought of for President of the Senate, 485.
Gilman, Nicholas, Senator from New Hampshire, 484.
Girard, Stephen, 477.
Glass, manufacture of, 176.
Goodhue, Benjamin, Senator from Massachusetts, 185.
Goodrich, Chauncy, M.C. from Connecticut, his speech for Jay's treaty the best, 155.
Gottenburg, 493, 494, 495.
Goulburn, Henry, British commissioner at Ghent, 519; his reports of the Ghent negotiations, 524, 525, 534, 535, 545; checked by his chiefs, 525, 526; his mortification, 540; his views on the fisheries, 543, 545; negotiates commercial convention, 550.
Granger, Gideon, 329, 429.
Granges, estate in Bugey, 1, 2.
Greenville, treaty of, 521.
Griswold, Roger, M.C. from Connecticut, 154; his speech on Jay's treaty, 155, 162, 163; his altercation with Matthew Lyon, 191-193, 194, 195; his political opinions, 192, 199, 214, 249; nominated Secretary of War, 258; his attack on Gallatin in 1803, 309, 314, 315.
Grundy, Felix, M.C. from Tennessee, 445, 457.
Gun-boats, Gallatin's views on, 352, 353; Mr. Jefferson's views on, 353, 354; results of, 354.
Gurney, Francis, 85, 88.
H.
Hamilton, Alexander, 67, 101, 106, 120, 153, 154, 202, 320; his financial policy, 87; regarding excise, 89; his jealousy of control, 114; his letter on calls for financial information, 116, 117; his course in regard to the whiskey rebellion, 139, 140, 141; his antagonism to Jefferson, 159, 170; his financial principles, 167, 168, 169; his sinking fund, 173, 174, 296; his reduction of debt, 174; his political formulas, 199; commander of the army, 211; his statement of the political situation in 1798, 223; pitted against Burr in 1800, 232, 242; active in the New York City election of 1800, 233; fears Burr's influence, 234; not present at the nominating caucus, 235; opposed to making Burr President, 254; the vigor and capacity of his mind, 268; compared with Gallatin, 268, 269.
Hamilton, Paul, Secretary of the Navy, his report on gun-boats, 353, 354; his administration of the navy, 462, 467; Gallatin's remarks on, 463; his cruising orders, 465; his resignation, 470.
Hamilton, Dr. Robert, his work on the British National Debt, 230.
Hanson, A. C., M.C. from Maryland, 457, 530.
Harper, R. G., M.C. from South Carolina, 154, 155, 156, 201, 202; his qualities, 188; chairman of Ways and Means, 188; remarks on "the plot," 205, 207; on the alien and sedition bills, 205, 207, 208; on Gallatin's glass house, 216; on the sinking fund and the debt, 218, 229, 230.
Harris, Levett, 514.
Harrisburg, conference at, 77-79.
Harrison, William H., Governor of the Indiana Territory, 404; candidate for the Presidency, 653.
Harvard College appoints Gallatin instructor in French, 42.
Henry, John, his discoveries, 455.
Henry, John, Governor of Maryland, 224.
Henry, Patrick, his letter of introduction for Gallatin, 59, 60; nominated minister to France, 228.
Hesse-Cassel, the Landgrave of, 7, 8, 9, 16; letter to Mme. Gallatin-Vaudenet, 9.
Hispaniola, 109.
Hull, General, his surrender, 468, 469, 470.
Humboldt, Alexander von, 564, 565, 626; Gallatin's description of, in 1804, 323; his diplomatic assistance in 1814, 511; his congratulations on the treaty of Ghent, 548; influences Gallatin to write on Indian ethnography, 644.
Husbands, Herman, 133.
Huskisson, William, 414, 618, 625, 626.
Hutchinson, Dr., his character, 105; death by yellow fever, 107.
Hyde de Neuville, French minister to the United States, 573, 574, 575, 582, 583.
I.
Impressments, 502, 506, 512-518, 540, 551, 570.
Indemnities. (See _France_.)
Indian ethnology, Gallatin's writings on, 644, 645, 652, 677.
Indian sovereignty at the Ghent negotiation, 521, 527.
Indians, disturb Monongalia County, 55, 62; break up Gallatin's settlement, 62, 91, 112.
Ingersoll, C. J., his History of the War of 1812, 462, 514.
Ingersoll, Jared, 440.
Ingham, Samuel D., M.C. from Pennsylvania, 582, 592.
Internal improvements, 85, 86, 157; the National Road, 167, 299, 350; Mr. Jefferson's schemes for, 350; Gallatin's schemes for, 350-352.
Invisibles, the, 427, 430.
Irvine, Gen. William, 96, 98.
J.
Jackson, Andrew, 497, 562; Gallatin's opinion of, 599; his political removals from office, 632, 633, 634; a dinner at the White House, 634; his war on the U. S. Bank, 636, 639; a pugnacious animal, 651.
Jackson, Francis James, British minister, 394, 396, 411, 412.
Jackson, John G., M.C. from Virginia, 341.
Jay, John, 65, 104, 186, 355, 485; his treaty with England, 151, 155, 156, 214, 669; speeches on, 155-157; its merits, 158, 201; its effects, 159, 178; question arising on its execution, 160; debate on, 160-166, 172.
Jefferson, Thomas, 25, 65, 86, 175, 187, 189, 202, 214, 228, 253, 394, 496, 513, 577, 633, 636; his democratic principles, 159, 170; defeated as candidate for the Presidency, 178; his Mazzei letter, 198; his conduct as Vice-President, 606; on the political situation in 1798, 206; and in 1799, 219, 220; his election in 1800, 244; contest in 1801, 244-262; his alleged compromise with the Federalists, 247, 250; elected President, 252, 262; nominates Gallatin to the Treasury, 263; characteristics of his Administration, 269, 270, 272; his New Haven letter, 278, 280, 281; on the interference of office-holders in politics, 279; his ostracism of Burr, 288, 289, 290, 313; his course regarding the navy, 291; his alleged parsimony, 294; his want of humor, 306; his dry-docks, 306; on balancing England and France, 310, 334, 356, 376; his treatment of Duane, 311, 313, 330, 439, 443; on the constitutional power to acquire territory, 321; on the United States Bank, 308, 321, 322, 665; re-elected President, 326; his Spanish policy in 1805, 334, 335, 336, 337, 347; his defence of Gallatin against Randolph, 342, 343; on the dissensions of 1806, 344; on a national university and internal improvements, 349, 350; on gun-boats, 353; his rejection of Monroe's treaty, 355; his faith in commercial restrictions, 367, 368; his abdication of power, 376, 377, 383; his discouragement, 376, 379; disastrous close of his Administration, 380, 390, 391; Erskine's remarks on, 381; on the defeat of the war-policy of 1809, 385, 386; on Gallatin's proposed resignation, 407, 408; on the dissensions of 1810, 418; his alleged partiality to France, 418, 419; his scheme of administration, 491, 492; his views on Presidential candidates of 1822, 591, 593; his mind impervious to argument on the extension of slavery, 671.
Johannot, 15.
Jones, Walter, M.C. from Virginia, 190, 222, 228.
Jones, William, Secretary of War, 471.
Judiciary bill, repeal of, 274, 301.
K.
Kanawha River, 56, 61.
Kentucky, 56.
King, Rufus, 104, 484, 490, 612, 613; his political theories, 272.
Kinloch, Francis, 15, 22, 24.
Kirkpatrick, Major, burning of his barn, 130, 133.
L.
Lacock, Abner, 582, 588, 602, 603, 604, 605.
La Fayette, General, 643, 654; his diplomatic assistance to Mr. Crawford, 511; his interview with the Emperor Alexander, 512; his position in 1817, 564; entertained at Friendship Hill, 611, 612.
Lands, public, system of, 167, 297, 298.
Langdon, John, of New Hampshire, 222, 253, 265.
La Place, Pierre Simon, 564.
Law, Mrs. (Custis), 191, 194, 252, 303, 305.
Lawrence, Cornelius W., 658.
Lawrence, William Beach, 622, 628.
Lee, Henry, 249.
Leib, Michael, U. S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 313, 322, 328, 330, 388, 389, 400, 401, 414, 429, 459, 484, 490.
Lesdernier de Russin, friends of Gallatin and Serre at Machias, 30, 31, 35, 36, 40.
Lincoln, Levi, Attorney-General, 265, 274, 298, 373; his character, 276; story told of him, 277.
Livermore, Samuel, 112.
Liverpool, Lord, on the Emperor of Russia, 516; obliged to check his commissioners at Ghent, 526; accepts the Indian article, 535; his embarrassment, 536, 537; his appeal to the Duke of Wellington, 538; accepts the _status quo ante_, 539; his death, 626.
Livingston, Brockholst, 236.
Livingston, Edward, 154, 156, 162, 212, 228, 245, 246, 283, 284; begins the debate on Jay's treaty, 160; on the alien bill, 207, 219; his defalcation, 290.
Livingston, Chancellor Robert R., his character, 239; minister to Paris, 307.
Logan's Act, 215.
Louis XVIII., 563.
Louis Philippe, 650.
Louisiana, purchase of, 307, 310, 318; incorporation of, 325, 673.
Lowndes, William, M.C. from South Carolina 445, 449, 473, 562; Mr. Crawford's comments on, 581.
Lowrie, Walter, Senator from Pennsylvania, 582, 592; advises Gallatin to withdraw, 602, 603.
Lyon, Matthew, M.C. from Vermont, 560; his altercation with Roger Griswold, 191-195; his imprisonment, 219; his relations with Randolph, 325, 329.
M.
Machias in 1780, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37.
McClanachan, Blair, 77, 185, 188.
McKean, Thomas, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, 84; candidate for governor, 227; governor, 249; offered nomination for Vice-Presidency, 312; declines, 312, 313; his account of Pennsylvania politics, 313; re-elected governor by Federalists, 330; his mistakes, 331, 333, 442.
McLane, Louis, his instructions as minister to England, 618, 619.
Macon, Nathaniel, M.C. from North Carolina, 302, 473; on the Chesapeake affair, 359, 362; on the war policy of 1808, 384; his navigation bill of 1809, 413, 414, 415, 416; his Act of May 1, 1810, 416; its effect, 419, 420, 421; opposes the bank charter, 427; refuses to go into caucus, 591, 595-597.
Madison, James, 79, 83, 86, 154, 155, 156, 166, 214, 219, 298, 300, 496, 636; his speech on Jay's treaty, 155, 162, 163; retires from Congress, 181; his nullification resolves, 211, 212, 374; appointed Secretary of State, 265; his influence in the scheme of administration, 268, 269, 272; John Randolph's attack upon, in 1806, 339, 340, 341, 342, 344, 345; candidate for the Presidency, 346; his pamphlet on the rule of 1756, 348; elected President, 374; urges Mr. Jefferson to fix a policy, 377, 378; his views on the war policy, 384; his character, 384, 399, 459; attempts to make Gallatin Secretary of State, 388-391, 633; unfortunate beginning of his Administration, 391, 392; his message of 1809, 412; his course towards France in 1810, 423, 424, 425, 461; his course regarding the bank charter, 416, 427; dismisses Robert Smith, 435; appoints Monroe Secretary of State, 435; his treatment of Duane, 443; his attitude towards the war party, 445, 448, 455, 460; his opinion of their measures, 449; his share in causing the declaration, 456-459; his supposed wish to lay up the frigates, 462-466; reorganises his Cabinet, 468-470; accepts Russian mediation, 477; sends Gallatin to Russia, 477-479; his dangerous illness, 484-488; refuses to vacate the Treasury, 486, 487; disaffection towards him in Washington, 529; his dismissal of General Armstrong, 530; offers the Treasury to Gallatin in 1816, 557.
Marbois, Barbé, 52.
Marshall, Humphrey, Senator from Kentucky, 185.
Marshall, James, 91; his course at the Mingo Creek meeting, 128; at the Parkinson's Ferry meeting, 131, 132.
Marshall, John, 213, 277; his encouragement to Gallatin, 54; his talent, 83; his views on blending common law and equity, 81-83; member of Congress, 154-156; on the sedition law, 211; on the case of Jonathan Robbins, 231, 232; Chief Justice, 258.
Martineau, Harriet, her notes of Gallatin's conversation, 650, 651.
Massachusetts, account of, in 1780, 28, 29.
Masters, Josiah, M.C. from New York, 342, 343.
Mediterranean Fund. (See _Finances_.)
Mexico, war with, 672, 673, 676, 677; Gallatin's pamphlet on, 677.
Mifflin, Thomas, Governor of Pennsylvania, 86, 223.
Mississippi, navigation of, at the Treaty of Ghent, 540-545; in 1818, 570.
Mitchell, Stephen N., 112.
Mitchill, Samuel L., 237, 238.
Monongahela River, 55, 62, 63, 630, 646.
Monongalia County, 55, 58, 59, 62.
Monroe, James, minister to France, recalled by Washington, 178, 179, 186; his account of his mission, 186; dinner to, 187; sent to France in 1802, 307; negotiates treaty with England in 1808, 348, 355, 361, 616; appointed Secretary of State, 435; assumes duties of Secretary of War, 469, 470; aspires to be "generalissimo," 471; on Gallatin's rejection by the Senate, 484-486; urges him to accept the French mission, 555; elected President, 559; his Cabinet, 559; the Monroe doctrine, 614, 624.
Monroe, Mrs. James, 594.
Montgomery, John, M.C. from Maryland, Gallatin's brother-in-law, 101.
Moreau, General, 499, 501, 509.
Morgan, Col. Zach., 59.
Morris, Gouverneur, 111, 199, 254, 260.
Morris, Lewis R., M.C. from Vermont, 250, 254, 262.
Morris, Robert, 65, 66; his land speculations, 53, 179; buys lands of Gallatin, 121, 122, 152, 225; on the eligibility to office of actual citizens in 1788, 120; his bankruptcy, 209, 210.
Morton, Col. J., 235, 236.
Muhlenberg, F. A., 166.
Muhlenberg, Peter, 249.
Murray, William Vans, his nomination as minister to France, 220, 221, 227, 228.
N.
Napoleon I. (See _Bonaparte_.)
Navigation act; Macon's bill, 413, 414, 415, 416; in 1817, 569.
Navy, a subject of division, 157, 170-172; economy in, 180, 217, 218, 229, 318, 319; Mr. Jefferson's conservatism regarding, 291; dry-docks, 306; Gallatin's complaints of, 294, 354, 410; Randolph's views on, 325, 330, 335; Gallatin's views on, 157, 170, 171, 172, 180, 217, 218, 229, 334, 335, 386; the navy coalition of 1809, 387, 388, 399, 400; the alleged order to lay up the frigates in June, 1812, 462-466.
Nesselrode, Count, 497, 498, 504.
Netherlands, negotiation with the, 568.
Neville, General, inspector of excise, 124, 125.
New England, her attitude in the war of 1812, 507, 509, 546; her people, 651.
New Geneva, 578, 579.
New York in 1783, 45, 68; in 1795, 146; city election of May, 1800, 232-241; politics of, 288, 289.
Newbold, George, 658.
Nicholas, John, M.C. from Virginia, 154, 190, 193, 202, 212, 222, 253; his speech on the sedition law, 219, 220.
Nicholas, Wilson Cary, Senator from Virginia, 154, 162, 253, 302, 387, 389, 401; favors war in 1808, 376.
Nicholson, Hannah (Mrs. Albert Gallatin), 303, 404; her family, 100; description of her person and character, 99, 108, 109; her dislike of the western country, 259, 275; her death, 678.
Nicholson, Commodore James, his origin, 100; his wife, 101, 647; his naval battles, 100; his brothers, 100; his children, 101; his political activity, 101; quarrel with Hamilton, 108, 153, 154; engages in the city election of May, 1800, 232, 233; urges Burr for Vice-President, 241, 242; interview with George Clinton, 242; urges removals from office, 282, 290; is appointed loan officer, 282, 303.
Nicholson, James W., Gallatin's brother-in-law, 481, 482, 598; associated in partnership with Gallatin at New Geneva, 152.
Nicholson, John, Comptroller-General of Pennsylvania, his impeachment, 97.
Nicholson, Joseph Hopper, M.C. from Maryland, 101, 156, 262, 299, 302, 316, 337, 338, 339, 344, 439; accepts seat on the bench, 344; on the affair of the Chesapeake, 360; attacks General Smith, 401; on Gallatin's proposed resignation, 403, 406; urges Gallatin to return to the Treasury, 558.
Nicholson, Maria, marries John Montgomery, 101; her doubts of Burr's character, 244, 245.
Non-intercourse, 386, 396, 397, 406, 413.
Nullification in 1798, 211, 212, 374; in 1833, 642, 648, 656.
O.
Ohio, Gallatin's expeditions down the, 54, 55, 61, 62.
O'Neal, Peggy, 634.
Orders in council of November 11, 1807, 364, 365 (see _England_); regarding the colonial trade in 1826, 615-617.
Otis, Harrison Gray, a pupil of Gallatin's, 43; M.C. from Massachusetts, 154, 155, 156, 192, 193, 202, 205; on the sedition bill, 208.
P.
Paine, Thomas, 101, 102, 187, 326.
Panama Congress, 612.
Parker, Jonah, M.C. from Virginia, 193, 202.
Parkinson's Ferry, meeting at, 130-135, 139.
Pauly, Louis, 60, 70, 71.
Pennsylvania (see _Western Insurrecton_), adopts the Federal Constitution, 77; its constitutional convention of 1789-90, 78-83; its legislation, 1790-1795, 84, 85, 86; report on its finances, 85; its financial condition, 86; its society in 1795, 146-147; its politics, 281, 311, 326, 327, 328, 330, 331, 332; Duane's schism, 290.
Perceval, Spencer, Attorney-General of England, author of the orders in council, 365.
Perry, Commodore, 529.
Peters, Judge Richard, 148.
Philadelphia, 46, 46, 54, 90; yellow fever in, 105, 106, 107; gentlemen corps, 142, 143.
Pickering, Timothy, 95, 184, 188, 436, 467, 458.
Pictet, Catherine, adoptive mother of Albert Gallatin, 10, 16, 19, 24, 38, 39, 42, 52, 74, 75, 94; her death, 152, 153.
Pinckney, C. C., 223; to be supported for the Presidency in place of John Adams by the Federalists, 241.
Pinckney, Charles, 260.
Pinckney, Thomas, 178, 241.
Pinkney, William, sent minister to England in 1806, 348; negotiates treaty, 355, 361; Attorney-General, 395, 440.
Pitt, William, his sinking fund, 173, 174, 230, 296, 326.
Pittsburg, 54, 56, 61, 68; meeting of August, 1792, 91, 92, 93, 123, 204; seizure of its mail, 128; march through, 129; occupied by the U. S. militia, 139.
Porter, Commodore, 529.
Posso di Borgo, 564, 565.
Pregny, 5, 6, 10, 16.
Providence in 1783, 44.
Q.
Quincy, Josiah, M.C. from Massachusetts, his speech on the conduct of the war, 470.
R.
Randolph, John, 154, 156, 302, 314, 316, 389, 394, 459, 581; causes repeal of internal taxes, 295; moves resolutions regarding Louisiana, 308; on Mr. Griswold's attack, 314, 315; on politics in 1804, 324; on a naval force, 325; his attack on the Yazoo settlement, 328, 329; on the management of the navy, 330, 335; on politics in 1805, 331-333; on Mr. Jefferson's retirement, 333; his course regarding the purchase of Florida in 1805, 338-344; against continuing the embargo, 384; on Gallatin's resignation, 430, 431; his temper and eccentricities, 598.
Redstone Old Fort, meeting at, 135-137.
Reed, Jacob, Senator from South Carolina, 185.
Richelieu, Duke de, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, 567.
Richmond, 1783-1789, 53, 54, 59, 61.
Robbins, Jonathan, case of, 231, 232.
Roberts, Jonathan, M.C. from Pennsylvania, 473, 588; his reminiscences of the war, 476, 480.
Robinson, Frederick (Lord Goderich), 550, 552, 570, 571, 618; Prime Minister, 626.
Rochefoucauld d'Enville, Duc de la, 24.
Rodgers, Commodore, 465, 466, 529.
Rodney, Cæsar A., Attorney-General, 366; resigns, 440, 493.
Rogers, Richard, naval officer of the port of New York, 281, 282; question of his retention in office, 282-289.
Rolas of Rolle, Alphonse, 10, 11, 21, 74.
Romanzoff, Count, Chancellor of the Russian Empire, 497; anecdote of Napoleon I., 444; his policy, 498; renews offer of mediation, 499, 503; retires from office, 504.
Rose, George, British Minister, 364, 367, 394, 397.
Ross, James, U. S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 122, 185, 227.
Rush, Richard, minister to England, 569, 588.
Russell, Jonathan, rejected by Senate as minister to Sweden, 484; sent to negotiate treaty of Ghent, 505; his share in negotiation, 523, 541, 544; his controversy with J. Q. Adams, 584.
Russia. (See _Alexander_.)
Rutherford, John, 112.
S.
St. Lawrence, navigation of, 550, 551, 621, 625.
Savary de Valcoulon, 99, 643; his business in America, 45; assists Gallatin, 46, 55, 64; enters with Gallatin into land speculations, 46, 53, 56, 59, 60, 61, 70; his brick house at Richmond, 59; attempts a settlement on the Ohio with Gallatin, 62; returns with him to George's Creek and leases land, 62; returns to Richmond, 63; signs Gallatin's marriage bond, 71, 72; his death, 560.
Schools. (See _Education_.)
Scott, Sir Walter, 578.
Sedgwick, Theodore, Senator and M.C. from Massachusetts, 173, 185.
Sedition law, 203, 204, 206, 207, 208, 209, 274.
Seney, Joshua, M.C. from Maryland, Gallatin's brother-in-law, 101.
Serre, Henri, schoolmate of Gallatin's, 15; runs away with Gallatin from Geneva, 17; his account of life at Machias, 34, 35, 40; his character, 34, 39, 64; his project of life, 40, 41; goes to Jamaica, 46, 49, 56; dies, 46, 66; Gallatin's attachment to him, 50, 53, 55, 63.
Sewall, Judge Samuel, M.C. from Massachusetts, 154, 200; the first man of his party, 188; on the alien law, 205.
Sheldon, Daniel, secretary of legation and chargé d'affaires, 585, 586.
Shepherd, Abraham, on Mr. Madison's share in declaring war, 457, 458, 459.
Short, William, rejected as minister to Russia, 390.
Sidmouth, Lord, 364.
Sinking fund. (See _Finances_.)
Sitgreaves, Samuel, M.C. from Pennsylvania, 122, 156.
Slavery, abolition of, 86; evils of, 109, 259; exclusion from the territory, 209, 406; Gallatin's opinions on, 671, 673, 674.
Smilie, John, 91, 93, 125, 560.
Smith, Robert, appointed Secretary of the Navy, 276, 333, 335; Gallatin's complaints of his administration, 294, 386, 410; Randolph's complaints, 330; on the embargo, 373; appointed Secretary of State, 389, 390, 633; his course in the Cabinet, 400, 415; his purchases of exchange on Leghorn, 401, 404; his despatches in July and November, 1810, 423; his removal from office, 430, 431, 435, 436, 437, 439, 468.
Smith, Samuel, M.C. from Maryland, 253, 316, 490; his account of the Lyon-Griswold affair, 191; his intervention in the election of Mr. Jefferson, 247, 250, 251; declines the Navy Department, 265, 276; U. S. Senator, 400; makes his brother Secretary of State, 389, 390; his drafts on Leghorn, 400-403; becomes hostile to Gallatin, 403; opposes Macon's bill, 415; opposes the bank charter, 417, 428, 429, 430; opposes everything, 466; takes command in Baltimore, 530; resumes relations with Gallatin, 590.
Smith, William, M.C. from South Carolina and minister to Portugal, 15, 154, 173, 184.
South Carolina, her acts in 1833, 648.
Spain, her conduct towards America in 1793, 104; interdicts right of deposit, 307; protests against the Louisiana purchase, 319; her course in 1805, 334; Mr. Jefferson's policy regarding, 334-338, 347; his proposed purchase of Florida, 336; her affairs, 513; her course regarding the sale of Florida, 572.
Specie payments, suspension of. (See _Finances_.)
Specific appropriations, 157, 180, 299.
Spencer, John C., Secretary of the Treasury, 666, 667.
Stewart, Andrew, M.C. from Pennsylvania, 594, 606, 608.
Stewart, Commodore, 462, 463, 464, 466.
Stockton, Lucius H., nominated Secretary of War, 258.
Stoddart, Benjamin, Secretary of the Navy, 265, 277.
Stokeley, Thomas, 176.
Stone, David, Senator from North Carolina, 484.
Stuart, Gilbert, his portrait of Gallatin, 301.
Suffrage, universal, Gallatin's opinions on, 664, 655.
Swanwick, John, M.C. from Pennsylvania, 188.
Symmes, John Cleves, 182.
T.
Tahon, keeper of a boarding-house in Boston, 26, 42.
Talleyrand, 227; Gallatin's opinion of, 564.
Tariff in 1832, 640, 641, 642.
Taxation, local, 654.
Tayloe, Benjamin Ogle, 564.
Taylor, John, M.C. from South Carolina, 416.
Taylor of Caroline, John, 212.
Texas, annexation of, 672; Gallatin's speech on, 672-675.
Thacher, George, M.C. from Massachusetts, his motion to exclude slavery from the Southwestern Territory, 209.
Thomas, J. B., Senator from Illinois, 592.
Thomas, John Chew, M.C. from Maryland, 261, 262.
Thompson, John, his letters of Curtius, 212, 213, 214, 227.
Time-Piece, New York newspaper, 196.
Tom the Tinker, 149.
Tompkins, D. D., candidate for the Presidency, 559.
Tracy, Uriah, Senator from Connecticut, 185.
Treasury Department, its importance, 114, 167, 267; its severe duties, 300, 558; its early position towards the Executive and Legislature, 114; annual report from, 114; Gallatin's call for statement from, 115, 116, 118; auditor's office burned, 258; Gallatin named for Secretary, 258; threatened collapse in 1812, 473, 474; offered to Gallatin in 1816, 557, and in 1843, 666, 667.
Tripoli. (See _Algerine Powers_.)
Triumvirate, Jefferson, Madison, Gallatin, 269, 274, 470, 471, 496, 589, 598, 599.
Troup, Col. R. M., 581.
Tyler, President, wishes Gallatin to take the Treasury, 666, 667.
U.
University, national. (See _Education_.)
V.
Van Buren, Martin, an efficient man, 593; his scheme for nominating Mr. Clay as Vice-President, 602, 603, 605, 632; his instructions to Mr. McLane, 618, 619; his position in 1829, 632, 634; his diplomacy, 667, 668.
Vigel, Philip, condemned to death for treason, 149, 150.
Villars, Duc de, 7.
Virginia, its hospitality, 54, 67.
Virginia, resolutions of 1798, 212, 374, 379.
Voltaire, letters and notes of, 3, 6, 7, 8; by, 7, 16, 17.
W.
War of 1812, 175; causes of, 411, 448, 449, 455, 461; declaration of, 456-459; sending the frigates to sea, 465; collapse of the administrative system, 467; military disasters, 467, 468, 469; condition of Washington, 529; capture of Washington, 518, 529, 533; danger of Baltimore, 529, 530; defeat of Sir George Prevost at Plattsburg, 539; suspension of specie payments, 553, 556, 561, 657.
Washington, meetings at, 129; county of, 128, 129, 131, 141; elects Gallatin to Congress, 140.
Washington, the Federal city, description of, in 1801, 252, 253, 255; Gallatin's house in, 302; its destruction, 529; capture of, 528, 529; society of, 594.
Washington, George, 194, 223, 267, 268, 310, 651; his land speculations, 53; his first meeting with Gallatin, 56-59; his locations of land on the Ohio, 62; his first Administration, 86, 104, 159; his second Administration, 111, 162, 178; his course in regard to the whiskey rebellion, 134, 138, 139; in regard to Jay's treaty, 158, 163, 164; his manners and temper, 182; his death, 229.
Washington, Mrs., 182.
West India trade. (See _Colonial Trade_.)
Western insurrection, causes of, 88 (see _Excise_), 123, 124; outbreak of, 124; duration of, 125; Mingo Creek meeting, 125; seizure of the mails, 128; rendezvous of the militia at Braddock's Field, 129, 130; meeting at Parkinson's Ferry, 128, 130, 131-135; at Redstone Old Fort, 136-137; partial submission, 137, 138; march of the militia, 138, 139, 141; trials for treason, 147-150.
Wellesley, Marquess, successor to Mr. Canning, 411, 412.
Wellington, Duke of, 527, 540, 546.
Whiskey. (See _Excise_, and _Western Insurrection_.)
Wilkinson, Gen. James, 319, 485.
Willard, Joseph, President of Harvard College, 42, 43.
William IV., 650.
Wilson, James, 84, 441.
Wirt, William, 342, 439.
Wolcott, Oliver, Secretary of the Treasury, 182, 184, 202, 300.
Woolsey, William W., 235.
Worthington, Thomas, Senator from Ohio, 350, 457, 458, 459, 489.
X.
X. Y. Z. despatches, 200.
Y.
Yazoo land claims, 298, 328, 329.
Yellow fever in 1793, 105, 106, 107, 108.
THE END.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A more detailed account of the Gallatin genealogy will be found in the Appendix to vol. iii. of Gallatin's Writings, p. 598.
[2] Printed in Voltaire's Works, xii. 371 (ed. 1819.)
[3] Letter to Eben Dodge, 21st January, 1847. Writings, vol. ii. p. 638.
[4] Sparks's Franklin, viii. 454.
[5] Letter to John Connor, 9th January, 1846. Writings, vol. ii. p. 621.
[6] See Writings, vol. ii., p. 659.
[7] See map, p. 126.
[8] See below, p. 646.
[9] Writings, ii. 523.
[10] Cooper's Naval History, vol. i. p. 226.
[11] Dr. Hutchinson died on the 6th.
[12] See Hamilton's letter to the Senate of 6th February, 1794, State Papers, vii. 274.
[13] Endorsed by Mr. Gallatin in a later hand,--"complains of _unnecessary_ calls, alluding indirectly to certain resolutions, founded on my motion, calling for explanatory financial statements which were never furnished."
ALEXANDER HAMILTON TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 22, 1794.
SIR,--I have received a late order of the Senate on the subject of a petition of Arthur Hughes. Diligent search has been made for such a petition, and it has not been found. Neither have I now a distinct recollection of ever having seen it. Whether, therefore, it may not have originally failed in the transmission to me, or may have become mislaid by a temporary displacement of the papers of my immediate office, occasioned by a fire which consumed a part of the building in the use of the Treasury, or by some of those accidents which in an extensive scene of business will sometimes attend papers, especially those of inferior importance, is equally open to conjecture. There is no record in the office of its having been received, nor does any of my clerks remember to have seen it. A search in the auditor's office has brought up the enclosed paper, which it is presumed relates to the object of the petition; but this paper, it will appear from the memorandum accompanying it, was placed in that office prior to the reference of the petition.
The auditor of the Treasury is of opinion, though his recollection is not positive, that the claim had relation to the services of John Hughes as forage-master. Two objections opposed its admission: 1, the not being presented in time; 2, the name of John Hughes in the capacity in which he claimed not appearing upon any return in the Treasury.
If these be the circumstances, I should be of opinion that it would not be advisable by a special legislative interposition to except the case out of the operation of the acts of limitation.
The second order of the Senate on the subject of this petition leads to the following reflections:
Does this hitherto unusual proceeding (in a case of no public and no peculiar private importance) imply a supposition that there has been undue delay or negligence on the part of the Secretary of the Treasury?
If it does, the supposition is unmerited; not merely from the circumstances of the paper, which have been stated, but from the known situation of the officer. The occupations necessarily and permanently incident to the office are at least sufficient fully to occupy the time and faculties of one man. The burden is seriously increased by the numerous private cases, remnants of the late war, which every session are objects of particular reference by the two Houses of Congress. These accumulated occupations, again, have been interrupted in their due course by unexpected, desultory, and distressing calls for lengthy and complicated statements, sometimes with a view to general information, sometimes for the explanation of points which certain leading facts, witnessed by the provisions of the laws and by information previously communicated, might have explained without those statements, or which were of a nature that did not seem to have demanded a laborious, critical, and suspicious investigation, unless the officer was understood to have forfeited his title to a reasonable and common degree of confidence. Added to these things, it is known that the affairs of the country in its external relations have for some time past been so circumstanced as unavoidably to have thrown additional avocations on all the branches of the Executive Department, and that a late peculiar calamity in the city of Philadelphia has had consequences that cannot have failed to derange more or less the course of public business.
In such a situation was it not the duty of the officer to postpone matters of mere individual concern to objects of public and general concern, to the preservation of the essential order of the department committed to his care? Or is it extraordinary that in relation to cases of the first description there should have been a considerable degree of procrastination? Might not an officer who is conscious that public observation and opinion, whatever deficiencies they may impute to him, will not rank among them want of attention and industry, have hoped to escape censure, expressed or implied, on that score?
I will only add that the consciousness of devoting myself to the public service to the utmost extent of my faculties, and to the injury of my health, is a tranquillizing consolation of which I cannot be deprived by any supposition to the contrary.
With perfect respect, I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
Signed ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Secretary of the Treasury.
THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE.
True copy. Attest: SAMUEL A. OTIS, S. Secretary.
[14] Gallatin's Deposition in Brackenridge's Incidents, vol. ii. p. 186.
[15] Incidents, vol. ii. p. 68.
[16] Gallatin's Deposition.
[17] See the resolutions as proposed and as ultimately adopted, in Appendix to Gallatin's speech on the insurrection. Writings, iii. 56.
[18] Brackenridge, Incidents, vol. i. p. 90; Findley, p. 144; Gallatin's Deposition.
[19] Incidents, vol. i. p. 90.
[20] Incidents, vol. i. p. 91.
[21] Badollet, who was at the same time a terribly severe critic of himself and of others, had little patience with Judge Brackenridge, who was perhaps the first, and not far from being the best, of American humorists. Badollet's own sense of humor seems not to have been acute, to judge from the following extract from one of his letters to Gallatin, dated 18th February, 1790:
"J'ai vu Brakenridge à Cat-fish où j'ai été à l'occasion d'Archey, et je puis déclarer en conscience que de mes jours je n'ai vu un si complet impertinent fat. Peut-être ne seras-tu pas fâché de lire une partie d'une conversation qu'il eut devant moi. Un inconnu (à moi du moins) voulant le faire parler, à ce que je suppose, lui adresse ainsi la parole:
"N. I think, Mr. Brakenridge, you are one of the happiest men in the world.
"B. Yes, sir; nothing disturbs me. I can declare that I never feel a single moment of discontent, but laugh at everything.
"N. I believe so, sir; but your humor....
"B. Oh, sir, truly inexhaustible; yes, truly inexhaustible,--et tout en disant ces mots avec complaisance il tirait ses manchettes et son jabot, caressait son visage de sa main, et souriait en Narcisse,--truly inexhaustible. Sir, I could set down and write a piece of humor for fifty-seven years without being the least exhausted. I have just now two compositions agoing....
"N. Happy turn of mind!
"B. You may say that, sir. I enjoy a truly inexhaustible richness and strength of mind, &c., &c."
[22] "In the report of the commissioners of the United States to the President, it was most erroneously stated that I wanted the committee, viz., the Parkinson's Ferry members, to remain till the twelve commissioners or conferees should report. The reverse was the fact." Marginal note by Mr. Gallatin on pp. 98-99 of Brackenridge's Incidents.
[23] Incidents, vol. i. p. 111.
[24] Findley, History of the Insurrection, p. 122; Brackenridge, Incidents, vol. i. p. 111.
[25] Brackenridge, Incidents, vol. i. p. 112.
[26] Writings, vol. i. p. 4.
[27] Ibid, p. 9.
[28] Findley, History, &c., p. 240.
[29] Findley, p. 248.
[30] Writings, vol. iii. pp. 8-52.
[31] See the Speech of N.P. Banks, of June 30, 1868, Cong. Globe, vol. lxxv., Appendix, p. 385.
[32] See, among other expressions to this effect, Lodge's Cabot, pp. 342, 345.
[33] Gibbs's Administrations of Washington and Adams, ii. p. 320.
[34] Annals of Congress, February 10, 1797.
[35] This essay is republished in his Writings, vol. iii. p. 70.
[36] This statement should be compared with Mr. Monroe's published account of this transaction (View of the Conduct of the Executive, pp. xix.-xxii.), in order to gather the sense in which Mr. Monroe probably meant it to be understood.
[37] Mr. Coit, of Connecticut, had read Mr. Jefferson's Mazzei letter.
[38] See especially George Cabot to Pickering, 14th February, 1804. Lodge's Cabot, p. 341.
[39] See Works of Fisher Ames, ii. 354.
[40] Gibbs's Administrations, &c., ii. 45.
[41] Jefferson's Works, iv. 237.
[42] Gallatin's Writings, vol. ii. p. 604.
[43] Works, vol. ix. p. 507.
[44] See the letters of Wolcott to Ames, 29th December, 1799, and Ames to Wolcott, 12th January, 1800. Gibbs's Administrations, &c., ii. 313-321.
[45] See Gallatin's Writings, iii. 553.
[46] See the letter of George Cabot to Wolcott of 6th October, 1798. Lodge's Cabot, p. 168. The letter is printed in Gibbs's Administrations, &c., as of 25th October, vol. ii. p. 109.
[47] Inquiry concerning the Rise and Progress, the Redemption and Present State, and the Management of the National Debt of Great Britain. By Robert Hamilton, L.L.D. Edinburgh, 1813. Reprinted at Philadelphia in 1816, and by Lord Overstone in his collection of Financial Tracts, 1856-1859.
[48] Sic.
[49] Vol. i. pp. 18-28.
[50] Letter to Gales & Seaton, 5th February, 1835, Writings, ii. 535.
[51] Writings, vol. i. p. 24.
[52] See Miss Randolph's Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson, pp. 307-308, and Parton's Jefferson, pp. 585-586.
[53] See Parton's Burr, ii. 69.
[54] See Cooper's Naval History, i. 192-194.
[55] Finance, vol. i. p. 746.
[56] Gallatin to W. B. Giles, 14th Feb., 1802, Writings, vol. i. p. 76.
[57] See Mr. Gallatin's "Introduction to the Collection of Land Laws, &c.," reprinted in his Writings, vol. iii.
[58] Printed in American State Papers, Finance, i. p. 765.
[59] See infra, p. 607.
[60] See also his letter to Mr. Gallatin of 13th December, 1803, Jefferson's Works, iv. 518.
[61] See his letter to Mr. Jefferson of 13th December, 1803, Writings, vol. i. p. 171.
[62] This paper is printed in the Annals of Congress, 7th Cong., 2d Sess., p. 690; also in American State Papers, Finance, vol. ii. p. 37.
[63] This letter will be found in Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. p. 130.
[64] Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. p. 111.
[65] Ibid., p. 115.
[66] Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. p. 241.
[67] Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. p. 263.
[68] Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. p. 277.
[69] Ibid., p. 281.
[70] Cf. Jefferson to Wirt, 3d May, 1811. Jefferson's Writings, vol. v. p. 593.
[71] Letter to George Clinton, Jr., dated 5th April, 1806. Writings, vol. i. p. 295.
[72] Gallatin's Writings, Endorsement on letter of G. Clinton, Jr., vol. i. p. 298.
[73] See "Decius, II.," Richmond Enquirer, November, 1806, republished in the Aurora for 25th November, 1806.
[74] See Randolph's speeches in Congress of May 26, 1812, and 15th April, 1824.
[75] Omitted in final draft.
[76] State Papers, Finance, ii. p. 212.
[77] Gallatin's Writings, i. 330.
[78] Jefferson's Writings, v. 42.
[79] State Papers, xiv. 194.
[80] Under the Act of Congress of February 27, 1815.
[81] To Tench Coxe, 27th March, 1807.
[82] See Writings, vol. i. p. 341.
[83] Ibid., p. 358, 21st October, 1807.
[84] Diary and Correspondence of Lord Colchester, ii. 132.
[85] The actual author of the orders in council of November 11, 1807, was Spencer Perceval, then Attorney-General. The objects he had in view are very clearly given in a letter written by him towards the end of that month to Charles Abbot, then Speaker of the House of Commons, afterwards Lord Colchester:
SPENCER PERCEVAL TO SPEAKER ABBOT.
... The business of recasting the law of trade and navigation, as far as belligerent principles are concerned, for the whole world, has occupied me very unremittingly for a long time; and the subject is so extensive, and the combinations so various, that, even supposing our principles to be right, I cannot hope that the execution of the principle must not in many respects be defective; and I have no doubt we shall have to watch it with new provisions and regulations for some time.
_The short principle is that trade in British produce and manufactures, and trade either from a British port or with a British destination, is to be protected as much as possible. For this purpose_ all the countries where French influence prevails to exclude the British flag shall have no trade but to or from this country or from its allies. All other countries, the few that remain strictly neutral (with the exception of the colonial trade, which backwards and forwards direct they may carry on), cannot trade but through this being done as an ally with any of the countries connected with France. If, therefore, we can accomplish our purposes, it will come to this, that either those countries will have no trade, or they must be content to accept it through us.
This is a formidable and tremendous state of the world; but all the part of it which is particularly harassing to English interests was existing through the new severity with which Buonaparte's decrees of exclusion against our trade were called into action.
Our proceeding does not aggravate our distress from it. If he can keep out our trade he will, and he would do so if he could, independent of our orders. Our orders only add this circumstance: they say to the enemy, if you will not have _our_ trade, as far as we can help it you shall have _none_. And as to so much of any trade as you can carry on yourselves, or others carry on with you through us, if you admit it you shall pay for it. The only trade, cheap and untaxed, which you shall have shall be either direct from us, in our own produce and manufactures, or from our allies, whose increased prosperity will be an advantage to us....
* * * * *
Diary and Correspondence of Lord Colchester, vol. ii. p. 134. See also the Life of Spencer Perceval, by Spencer Walpole, vol. i. p. 263 ff., for the further history and Cabinet discussions of this subject.
[86] On the 15th May, 1808.
[87] To Gallatin, 18th November, 1808. Jefferson's Writings, v. 385.
[88] To Governor Sullivan, 12th August, 1808. Jefferson's Writings, v. 340.
[89] To Dupont de Nemours, 2d March, 1809. Writings, v. 482.
[90] To Dr. Logan. Jefferson's Writings, v. 404. Letter to Lieutenant-Governor Lincoln, 13th November, 1808, v. 387.
[91] Letter to Mr. Gallatin of October 30, 1808. Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. p. 420.
[92] Letter to Cabell, 2d February, 1816. Writings, vi. 540.
[93] Jefferson MSS.
[94] Jefferson's Writings, v. 417.
[95] To T. M. Randolph. Writings, v. 424.
[96] Erskine to Robert Smith, 14th August, 1809.
[97] Bath Archives. Diaries and Letters of Sir George Jackson. See, among other instances, Second Series, i. 109.
[98] The passages in brackets were omitted in the final draft.
[99] Speech of 12th May, 1826.
[100] See Mr. Madison's "Memorandum." Writings, ii. 495-506.
[101] See Writings, vol. i. p. 475.
[102] Writings, vol. ii. p. 198.
[103] Ibid., p. 279.
[104] See Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. p. 496.
[105] See, for another account of the struggle between Gallatin and the Smiths, the "Recollections of the Civil History of the War of 1812, by Joseph Gales;" a series of papers printed in the National Intelligencer, numbered from I. to IX., and published between June 9 and September 12, 1857.
[106] 8th April, 1811.
[107] 3d September, 1811.
[108] Mr. J. Q. Adams, in the year 1820, commented upon Pennsylvania politics in his Diary (vol. v. p. 112): "Pennsylvania has been for about twenty years governed by two newspapers in succession; one, the Aurora, edited by Duane, an Irishman, and the other, the Democratic Press, edited by John Binns, an Englishman. Duane had been expelled from British India for sedition, and Binns had been tried in England for high treason. They are both men of considerable talents and profligate principles, always for sale to the highest bidder, and always insupportable burdens, by their insatiable rapacity, to the parties they support. With the triumph of Jefferson in 1801, Duane, who had contributed to it, came in for his share, and more than his share, of emolument and patronage. With his printing establishment at Philadelphia he connected one in this city; obtained by extortion almost the whole of the public printing, but, being prodigal and reckless, never could emerge from poverty, and, always wanting more, soon encroached upon the powers of indulgence to his cravings which the heads of Departments possessed, and quarrelled both with Mr. Madison and Mr. Gallatin for staying his hand from public plunder. In Pennsylvania, too, he contributed to bring in McKean, and then labored for years to run him down; contributed to bring in Snyder, and soon turned against him. Binns in the mean time had come, after his trial, as a fugitive from England, and had commenced editor of a newspaper. Duane had been made by Mr. Madison a colonel in the army; and as Gibbon the captain of Hampshire militia says he was useful to Gibbon the historian of the Roman Empire, so Duane the colonel was a useful auxiliary to Duane the printer, for fleecing the public by palming upon the army at extravagant prices a worthless compilation upon military discipline that he had published. But, before the war with England was half over, Duane had so disgusted the army and disgraced himself that he was obliged to resign his commission, and has been these seven years a public defaulter in his accounts to the amount of between four and five thousand dollars, for which he is now under prosecution. Snyder, assailed by Duane, was defended by Binns, who turned the battery against him, and finally ran down the Aurora so that it lost all influence upon public affairs."
[109] Gallatin's Writings, ii. 490.
[110] Letter of Ezekiel Bacon, dated 24th October, 1845, published in the New York Courier and Enquirer.
[111] See Writings, vol. iii. pp. 90, 91.
[112] History, II. Series, iii. 334.
[113]
WASHINGTON, 11th April, 1878.
MY DEAR SIR,--In March, 1836, I was the guest of Mr. Madison for several days. He knew the object of my visit, and kept me at his side during many hours of each day, sometimes starting topics, sometimes answering my questions and allowing me to take down his words from his lips in his presence. The memorandum annexed is, for the most part, in his own words, and committed to paper as they were uttered.
Ever yours, GEORGE BANCROFT.
* * * * *
[Memorandum.] March, 1836.--Madison was a friend of peace. But he told me "that the British left no option; that war was made necessary; that under the circumstances of the negotiations with England war was unavoidable." He further said, "he knew the unprepared state of the country, but he esteemed it necessary to throw forward the flag of the country, sure that the people would press onward and defend it."
[114] Vol. ii. p. 611.
[115] All these papers will be found in Niles's Register for 1845, and in the New York Courier and Enquirer.
[116] Gallatin's Writings, vol. iii. p. 538.
[117] Gallatin's Writings, i. 526.
[118] See Gallatin's Writings, iii. 283, ff.
[119] See both letters in Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. pp. 562, 576.
[120] All this correspondence is printed in Gallatin's Writings, vol. i. p. 545, ff.
[121] Memoirs of J. Q. Adams, ii. 549, 19th November, 1813.
[122] See Lord Castlereagh's private letter in the Castlereagh Correspondence, 3d Series, vol. i. p. 34.
[123] Castlereagh Correspondence, 3d Series, vol. i. p. 94.
[124] See Writings, vol. i. p. 627, and below, p. 517.
[125] See this note in Writings, vol. i. p. 629.
[126] Supplementary Despatches of the Duke of Wellington, vol. ix. pp. 290-291.
[127] See Writings, vol. i. p. 627; also Ingersoll's Late War, ii. 293.
[128] See Lord Castlereagh's instructions of August 14, 1814, to the British commissioners at Ghent, Castlereagh Correspondence, 3d Series, vol. ii. p. 86 ff. Also Mr. Goulburn's acknowledgment of these instructions to Lord Bathurst of 21st August, Supplementary Despatches of the Duke of Wellington, vol. ix. p. 188. Lord Liverpool to Lord Bathurst, 11th September, ibid., p. 240. Lord Bathurst to the commissioners, 18th and 20th October, Castlereagh Correspondence, 3d Series, vol. ii. pp. 168 and 172.
[129] See his letter of August 21 to Earl Bathurst, Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 188.
[130] See his letter to Goulburn of August 28, 1814, Castlereagh Correspondence, 3d Series, vol. ii. p. 102.
[131] Castlereagh to Liverpool, Correspondence, 3d Series, vol. ii. p. 100.
[132] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 214.
[133] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 217: Goulburn to Lord Bathurst.
[134] Ibid., p. 222.
[135] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 278.
[136] Letter to Lord Bathurst, 26th September, Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 287.
[137] Castlereagh Correspondence, 3d Series, ii. 168, 172.
[138] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 384.
[139] Goulburn to Bathurst, 14th November, 1814, ibid., p. 432.
[140] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 382.
[141] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 402.
[142] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 426. Castlereagh Corr., 3d Series, ii. 186.
[143] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 430.
[144] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 438.
[145] Ibid., 452.
[146] See "The Duplicate Letters, the Fisheries, and the Mississippi," p. 126.
[147] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 427.
[148] Castlereagh Correspondence, 3d Series, ii. 67.
[149] Castlereagh Correspondence, 3d Series, ii. 86.
[150] Wellington Sup. Desp., ix. 472.
[151] Ibid., p. 479.
[152] Castlereagh Corr., 3d Series, ii. 523.
[153] Gallatin to Monroe, 25th November, 1815. Writings, i. 665.
[154] Memoirs of J. Q. Adams, iii. 242.
[155] Writings, ii. 83, 84.
[156] Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of War.
[157] U. S. Senator from Illinois.
[158] Member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
[159] See Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, p. 103.
[160] See Writings, vol. ii. p. 324.
[161] Vol. i. p. 216.
[162] The objectionable passages in Mr. Van Buren's instructions to Mr. McLane were the following:
"In reviewing the events which have preceded and more or less contributed to a result so much to be regretted, there will be found three grounds upon which we are most assailable. 1st. In our too long and too tenaciously resisting the right of Great Britain to impose protecting duties in her colonies. 2d. In not relieving her vessels from the restriction of returning direct from the United States, after permission had been given by Great Britain to our vessels to clear out from the colonies to any other than a British port; and, 3d. In omitting to accept the terms offered by the Act of Parliament of July, 1825, after the subject had been brought before Congress and deliberately acted upon by our government. It is, without doubt, to the combined operation of these (three) causes that we are to attribute the British interdict; you will therefore see the propriety of possessing yourself fully of all the explanatory and mitigating circumstances connected with them, that you may be able to obviate, as far as practicable, the unfavorable impression which they have produced.
"The opportunities which you have derived from a participation in our public counsels, as well as other sources of information, will enable you to speak with confidence (as far as you may deem it proper and useful so to do) of the respective parts taken by those to whom the administration of this government is now committed, in relation to the course heretofore pursued upon the subject of the colonial trade. Their views upon that point have been submitted to the people of the United States; and the counsels by which your conduct is now directed are the result of the judgment expressed by the only earthly tribunal to which the late Administration was amenable for its acts. It should be sufficient that the claims set up by them, and which caused the interruption of the trade in question, have been explicitly abandoned by those who first asserted them, and are not revived by their successors. If Great Britain deems it adverse to her interests to allow us to participate in the trade with her colonies, and finds nothing in the extension of it to others to induce her to apply the same rule to us, she will, we hope, be sensible of the propriety of placing her refusal on those grounds. To set up the acts of the late Administration as the cause of forfeiture of privileges which would otherwise be extended to the people of the United States, would, under existing circumstances, be unjust in itself, and could not fail to excite their deepest sensibility. The tone of feeling which a course so unwise and untenable is calculated to produce would doubtless be greatly aggravated by the consciousness that Great Britain has, by order in council, opened her colonial ports to Russia and France, notwithstanding a similar omission on their part to accept the terms offered by the Act of July, 1825. You cannot press this view of the subject too earnestly upon the consideration of the British ministry. It has bearings and relations that reach beyond the immediate question under discussion.
"I will add nothing as to the impropriety of suffering any feelings that find their origin in the past pretensions of this government to have an adverse influence upon the present conduct of Great Britain."
[163] Writings, vol. ii. p. 327.
[164] Gallatin's Writings, ii. 364.
[165] See Parton's Life of Andrew Jackson, vol. iii. chap. xvii.
[166] Reprinted in Gallatin's Writings, vol. iii.
[167] See Writings, vol. ii. p. 450.
[168] Writings, vol. ii. p. 474.
[169] Reprinted in Gallatin's Writings, vol. iii.
[170] Collector of the port of Philadelphia, appointed by President Harrison.
[171] Reprinted in Writings, vol. iii.
[172] Reprinted in Writings, vol. iii.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
precipated=> precipitated {pg 75}
divisons of national thought=> divisons of national thought {pg 159}
pamplet form=> pamphlet form {pg 220}
and and seized=> and seized {pg 423}
infalliby=> infallibly {pg 470}
and and seized=> and seized {pg 423}
End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of Albert Gallatin, by Henry Adams