Washington and the American Republic Part 29

We have already noticed the flight of Lafayette from France before the fury of Jacobin fanaticism, and his incarceration in an Austrian dungeon, while his family were left to be the sport of fortune. In that dungeon the marquis was confined almost three years, in a cell three paces broad and five and a half long, containing no other ornament than two French verses which rhymed with the words "to suffer and to die."

And yet his great soul went out to his suffering fellow-man as free as the air of heaven; and with a toothpick (for he was deprived of pen and ink) he wrote to a princess, who sympathized with him, on a sc.r.a.p of paper which came to him almost miraculously, and with soot and water, these n.o.ble words: "I know not what disposition has been made of my plantation at Cayenne, but I hope Madame Lafayette will take care that the negroes who cultivate it shall preserve their liberty." He had set them all free.

The marchioness, as soon as she was allowed the privilege, hastened to Olmutz with her daughters to share the dungeon with the husband and father; while their son, whom they had named in honor of their ill.u.s.trious friend, came to the United States with his tutor, M.

Frestel, consigned to the fatherly care of Washington. Young Lafayette was then about seventeen years of age.

The two exiles arrived at Boston at the close of the summer of 1795, and they immediately sent information of the fact to the president, who was just on the point of leaving Philadelphia for Mount Vernon. Washington's first impulse was to take the young man to his bosom and cherish him as a son; but, as we have observed, grave reasons of state denied him that pleasure. After brief reflection, he sent the letters of the exiles, to Senator Cabot, of Boston, saying:--

"To express all the sensibility which has been excited in my breast by the receipt of young Lafayette's letter, from the recollection of his father's merits, services and sufferings, from my friendship for him, and from my wishes to become a friend and father to his son, is unnecessary."[87] Let me in a few words declare that I will be his friend; but the manner of becoming so, considering the obnoxious light in which his father is viewed by the French government, and my own situation as the executive of the United States, requires more time to consider, in all its relations, than I can bestow on it at present, the letters not having been in my hands more than an hour, and I myself on the point of setting out for Virginia to fetch my family back, whom I left there about the first of August.

"The mode, which at the first view strikes me as the most eligible to answer his purposes and to save appearances, is, first, to administer all the consolation to the young gentleman that he can derive from the most unequivocal a.s.surances of my standing in the place of, and becoming to him, a father, friend, protector, and supporter. But, secondly, for prudential motives, as they relate to myself, his mother and friends whom he has left behind, and to my official character, it would be best not to make these sentiments public; and of course it would be ineligible that he should come to the seat of the general government, where all the foreign characters (particularly those of his own nation) are residents, until it is seen what opinions will be excited by his arrival; especially, too, as I shall be necessarily absent five or six weeks from it, on business in several places. Thirdly, considering how important it is to avoid idleness and dissipation, to improve his mind, and to give him all the advantages which education can bestow, my opinion and my advice to him are, if he is qualified for admission, that he should enter as a student in the university in Cambridge, although it should be for a short time only; the expense of which, as also for every other means for his support, I will pay.... Let me pray you, my dear sir, to impress upon young Lafayette's mind, and indeed upon that of his tutor, that the reasons why I do not urge him to come to me have been frankly related, and that their prudence must appreciate them with caution.

My friendship for his father, so far from being diminished, has increased in the ratio of his misfortunes; and my inclination to serve the son will be evidenced by my conduct."

General Knox, then in Boston, took much interest in the young Lafayette. In a letter to Washington, on the twenty-first of September, he said, "He goes by the name of Motier [a family name of his father], concealing his real name, lest some injury should arise to his mother, or to a young Mr. Russell of this town, now in France, who a.s.sisted in his escape." Knox spoke of the exile as "a lovely young man, of excellent morals and conduct."

Mr. Cabot readily undertook the duty solicited by Washington. He found Lafayette and his tutor in much perplexity. The attempt at concealment was futile. "Already M. Motier is known to too many persons," wrote Mr.

Cabot, "and a public festival announced by the French consul for Monday next, at which all their citizens in this vicinity are expected to attend, occasions serious embarra.s.sments; to which is added, that some circ.u.mstances of delicacy relative to the family in which they are placed, make an immediate removal proper." He further informed him that they were about to depart for New York, where they expected to be accommodated in the country-house of a French gentleman, their friend, where they would remain in retirement, until they should receive further directions from Washington. Mr. Cabot gave them letters to Colonel Wadsworth and Colonel Hamilton, and they departed.

In November, soon after his return to Philadelphia, Washington wrote an affectionate letter to young Lafayette, in which, after telling him the causes which rendered it necessary for them both to be circ.u.mspect, and desiring him to repair with his tutor to Colonel Hamilton, in the city of New York, who would see that they were well provided for, he said:--

"How long the causes which have withheld you from me may continue, I am not able at this moment to decide; but be a.s.sured of my wishes to embrace you, so soon as they shall have ceased, and that, whenever the period arrives, I shall do it with fervency. In the meantime, let me begin with fatherly advice to you to apply closely to your studies, that the season of your youth may be improved to the utmost, that you may be found the deserving son of a meritorious father." To M. Frestel, Washington wrote at the same time, after directing him to read his letter to his pupil: "To the above I shall just add, that, as the preceptor and friend of M. de Lafayette, I pray you to count upon my attentions and friendship, and learn that it is my expectation that you will accompany him in whatever situation he may be placed; and moreover that you will let me know, at all times, what he has occasion for."

The Congress at length took official notice of the presence of the son of Lafayette; and on the eighteenth of March, 1796, the house of representatives pa.s.sed the following resolution and order:--

"Information having been given to this house that a son of General Lafayette is now within the United States; _Resolved_, that a committee be appointed to inquire into the truth of the said information, and report thereon; and what measures it would be proper to take if the same be true, to evince the grateful sense entertained by the country for the services of his father.

"Ordered, that Mr. Livingston, Mr. Sherburne, and Mr. Murray, be appointed a committee pursuant to the said resolution."

As chairman of the committee, Mr. Livingston wrote to young Lafayette as follows:--

"SIR: Actuated by motives of grat.i.tude to your father, and eager to seize every opportunity of showing their sense of his important services, the house of representatives have pa.s.sed the resolution which I have the pleasure to communicate. The committee being directed to inquire into the fact of your arrival within the United States, permit me to advise your immediate appearance at this place, that the legislature of America may no longer be in doubt, whether the son of Lafayette is under their protection, and within the reach of their grat.i.tude.

"I presume to give this advice as an individual personally attached to your father, and very solicitous to be useful to any person in whose happiness he is interested. If I should have that good fortune on this occasion, it will afford me the greatest satisfaction."

This letter, and the resolutions of the house of representatives, young Lafayette forwarded to President Washington, and asked his advice as to the course he should pursue. Washington advised him to come to Philadelphia at the opening of the next session of Congress, occupy a room in his house, but to avoid society as much as possible. He complied, and remained in Philadelphia until the following spring, when Washington, on becoming a private citizen, embraced the son of his friend as if he had been his own child, and bore him to his home on the Potomac. There he remained until early in October, when the joyful news of the release of his father from confinement, and his restoration to his country and friends, caused him to leave for the seaboard to depart for France. He and M. Frestel sailed from New York on the twenty-sixth of October, 1797.

As young Lafayette was about to leave Mount Vernon, Washington placed a letter in his hands for his father, in which he said:--

"From the delicate and responsible situation in which I stood as a public officer, but more especially from a misconception of the manner in which your son had left France, till explained to me in a personal interview with himself, he did not come immediately into my family on his arrival in America, though he was a.s.sured, in the first moments of it, of my protection and support. His conduct, since he first set his feet on American ground, has been exemplary in every point of view, such as has gained him the esteem, affection, and confidence of all who have had the pleasure of his acquaintance. His filial affection and duty, and his ardent desire to embrace his parents and sisters in the first moments of their release, would not allow him to wait the authentic account of this much-desired event; but, at the same time that I suggested the propriety of this, I could not withhold my a.s.sent to the gratification of his wishes to fly to the arms of those whom he holds most dear, persuaded as he is, from the information he has received, that he shall find you all in Paris.

"M. Frestel has been a true Mentor to George. No parent could have been more attentive to a favorite son; and he richly merits all that can be said of his virtues, of his good sense, and of his prudence. Both your son and he carry with them the vows and regrets of this family and all who know them. And you may be a.s.sured that yourself never stood higher in the affections of the people of this country than at the present moment."[88]

FOOTNOTES:

[86] Randall's Life of Jefferson, ii, 268.

[87] The late Richard Rush relates an interesting incident, ill.u.s.trative of the feelings of Washington on account of the misfortunes of his n.o.ble friend. Mr. Bradford, the attorney-general, who lived directly opposite the residence of Washington, was spending an evening with the president, when the conversation reverted to Lafayette. Washington spoke with great seriousness, contrasted the marquis's. .h.i.therto splendid career with that of his present forlorn and suffering condition; and at length became so deeply affected that his eyes filled with tears, and his whole great soul was stirred to its very depths. "Magnanimous tears they were," says Mr. Rush, "fit for the first of heroes to shed--virtuous, honorable, sanctified!" Mr. Bradford, who deeply sympathized with the feelings of Washington, was much affected at the spectacle, and, retiring to his own house, wrote some simple and touching verses, called the "Lament of Washington." They were an impromptu effusion from his heart.

[88] See _Mount Vernon and its a.s.sociations_, pages 285-293, inclusive.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

WASHINGTON'S SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE--TREATY WITH THE INDIANS--OTHER INDIAN RELATIONS--TREATY WITH ALGIERS--TREATY WITH SPAIN--PICTURE OF NATIONAL PROSPERITY--FORBEARANCE IN CONGRESS RECOMMENDED--RESPONSES TO THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE--ACTION OF LEGISLATURES ON THE TREATY--LETTER TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS--WASHINGTON'S POLITICAL CREED--HE IS PREPARED TO MEET ANY ACTION OF CONGRESS--PRESENTATION OF THE FRENCH FLAG TO THE UNITED STATES--THE FRENCH CONSt.i.tUTION AND THE NATIONAL CONVENTION--ACTION IN CONGRESS CONCERNING THE FRENCH FLAG.

On the eighth of December, 1795, Washington read his seventh annual address to the a.s.sembled Congress. It contained a gratifying summary of the events of the year in which his government and country were concerned. He had the pleasure of informing them officially of the "termination of the long, expensive, and distressing war," in which the army had been engaged with the Indians of the Northwest Territory, by the treaty made by Wayne at Grenville, to which we have already alluded.

That treaty was doubtless more easily consummated, after Wayne's victories, because of the knowledge that the western posts were about to be given up to the United States. By that treaty, a tract of twenty-five thousand square miles was ceded to the United States, lying in one body east of a defined line, and including the eastern and southern part of the present state of Ohio. They also ceded sixteen detached portions of territory in the region westward of that line, most of them two miles square, but several of them much larger. These included the sites of some of our most flourishing villages and cities in the West. As an equivalent for these cessions, the Indians were to receive goods to the amount of twenty thousand dollars in presents, and an annual allowance of articles to the value of nine thousand, five hundred dollars, to be distributed proportionately among the tribes who were parties to the treaty.

"At the exchange of prisoners which took place on this occasion,"

(conclusion of the treaty,) says Hildreth, "many affecting incidents occurred. The war as against Kentucky had lasted for almost twenty years, during which period a large number of white people had been carried into captivity. Wives and husbands, parents and children, who had been separated for years, were now restored to each other. Many of the younger captives had quite forgotten their native language, and some of them absolutely refused to leave the savage connections, into whose families they had been taken by adoption."[89]

The Indian relations on the southwestern frontier were not so satisfactory. Former treaties had been confirmed, and there were signs of permanent peace; but the reckless violence of some of the white settlers, in perpetrating b.l.o.o.d.y outrages upon the Indians, kept that section of the Union in a state of great inquietude.

In his message, the president announced amicable relations with the new emperor of Morocco, who in a letter had certified his recognition of a treaty made with his father. "With peculiar satisfaction I add," said Washington, "that information has been received from an agent deputed on our part to Algiers, importing that the terms of a treaty with the dey and regency of that country had been adjusted, in such a manner as to authorize the expectation of a speedy peace, and the restoration of our unfortunate fellow-citizens from a grievous captivity."

We have already observed the appointment of Colonel Humphreys as the agent to Algiers alluded to. He was then diplomatic agent of the United States at Lisbon. He came home for the special purpose of making arrangements for his negotiation, and returned to Lisbon deputed to purchase a peace of the Barbary powers. From Lisbon, Humphreys proceeded to Paris to confer with Mr. Monroe, and to solicit the mediation of the French government, leaving discretionary powers with Mr. Donaldson, who had accompanied him as consul to Tunis and Tripoli; to conclude a peace upon the best terms to be obtained, when a favorable opportunity should occur. On the fifth of September, 1795, Donaldson signed a treaty, by which, in consideration of the release of the American captives and a guaranty of peace in the future, it was agreed to pay to the dey of Algiers the sum of seven hundred and sixty-three thousand dollars, besides an annual tribute in stores, which, at their real value, amounted to about forty-eight thousand dollars. Besides these sums, a biennial present of nine or ten thousand dollars was required, and twenty thousand more on the appointment of a consul.

The president also announced that Mr. Pinckney, who had been sent on a special mission to Spain concerning the navigation of the Mississippi river, had been successful, the stipulation being that it should be free to both parties throughout its entire length. He believed this would lead the way to the settlement of "a foundation of lasting harmony with a power whose friendship the United States had uniformly and sincerely desired to cultivate."

The treaty which had caused so much commotion throughout the Union was alluded to in a manner almost as if incidental. "Though not before officially disclosed to the house of representatives," the president said, "you, gentlemen, are all apprized that a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation has been negotiated with Great Britain, and that the senate have advised and consented to its ratification upon a condition which excepts part of one article. Agreeably thereto, and to the best judgment I was able to form of the public interest, after full and mature deliberation, I have added my sanction. The result on the part of his Britannic majesty is unknown. When received, the subject will without delay be placed before Congress."

In contemplation of the general relations of the United States, the president said: "While many of the nations of Europe, with their American dependencies, have been involved in a contest unusually b.l.o.o.d.y, exhausting, and calamitous, in which the evils of foreign war have been aggravated by domestic convulsion and insurrection, in which many of the arts most useful to society have been exposed to discouragement and decay; in which scarcity of subsistence has embittered other sufferings; while even the antic.i.p.ations of a return of the blessings of peace and repose are alloyed by the sense of heavy and acc.u.mulating burdens, which press upon all the departments of industry, and threaten to clog the future springs of government, our favored country, happy in a striking contrast, has enjoyed general tranquillity--a tranquillity the more satisfactory because maintained at the expense of no duty. Faithful to ourselves, we have violated no obligation to others. Our agriculture, commerce, and manufactures prosper beyond example, the molestations of our trade (to prevent a continuance of which, however, very pointed remonstrances have been made) being overbalanced by the aggregate benefit which derives from a neutral position. Our population advances with a celerity which, exceeding the most sanguine calculations, proportionally augments our strength and resources, and guaranties our future security. Every part of the Union displays indications of rapid and various improvement; and with burdens so light as scarcely to be perceived, with resources fully adequate to our present exigencies, with governments founded on the genuine principles of rational liberty, and with mild and wholesome laws, is it too much to say that our country exhibits a spectacle of national happiness never surpa.s.sed, if ever before equalled."

With such a picture before them, a picture faithful and true in form and coloring, how pitiful must have appeared to the wise, and thoughtful, and generous, those miserable party feuds and personal animosities which disturbed the peace of the commonwealth--mere loathsome cobwebs, spun by selfishness, across a piece of gorgeous tapestry--spots upon the sun of a glorious national career!

Foreseeing the heats of party strife in the national legislature, the president, after commending to their consideration several important objects, counselled temperate discussion, "and mutual forbearance where there may be a difference of opinion." This advice, always timely, was especially apposite at that time.

The senate gave a cordial response to the message; but the opposition being in the majority in the lower house, a clause in the response reported by a committee appointed to prepare it, in which was expressed "undiminished confidence" in the president, was objected to. The opposition also desired to strike out from the senate's address the expression of a belief that the president's foreign policy was an "enlightened, firm, and persevering endeavor to preserve peace, freedom, and prosperity." Some members affirmed that their confidence in the president had been very much diminished by "a late transaction" (signing the ratification of Jay's treaty); and that they believed such was the case among the people at large. The address of the representatives was finally, after much debate, recommitted, and the objectionable clause was modified so as to read thus: "In contemplating that spectacle of national happiness which our country exhibits, and of which you, sir, have been pleased to make an interesting summary, permit us to acknowledge and declare the very great share which your zealous and faithful services have contributed to it, and to express the affectionate attachment which we feel for your character."

Already the legislatures of the different states had taken action on the treaty. Governor Shelby, in his message to the legislature of Kentucky, a.s.sailed it as containing stipulations that were unconst.i.tutional. The lower house agreed with him, but the senate would not concur. The Virginia house of delegates approved of the action of their senators in voting against the treaty, and rejected a resolution declaring undiminished confidence in the president. The Maryland legislature denounced the a.s.saults on the president, and declared their "unabated reliance on his integrity, judgment, and patriotism." The Pennsylvania senate took similar action; and the legislature of New Hampshire denounced the seditious declaimers against the treaty and the administration. North Carolina would not stand by Virginia in her action; but the South Carolina legislature declared the treaty "highly injurious to the general interests of the United States." The matter was not acted upon by the senate, however, and the subject was not again taken up. The legislature of Delaware approved of the treaty; while Governor Samuel Adams, in his address to the general court of Ma.s.sachusetts, spoke of the treaty as "pregnant with evil." The Ma.s.sachusetts senate considered any action on the subject as an interference with the powers delegated to the general government; while the house, by a decided vote, suggested that "respectful submission on the part of the people to the const.i.tuted authorities," was "the surest means of enjoying and perpetuating the invaluable blessings of our free and representative government." Rhode Island approved of the action of the senate and the chief magistrate; and in New York, as well as in Rhode Island and Ma.s.sachusetts, a proposition made by resolutions in the Virginia legislature, that the const.i.tution of the United States should be so amended as to admit the house of representatives to a share in the treaty-making power, and otherwise abridging the powers of the government, was rejected or laid on the table.

The tardiness of the British government in the performance of its acts of justice toward the United States, and the present apparent hesitation in ratifying the treaty, perplexed Washington; for this seeming unfriendliness was used as a weapon by the opposition. Accordingly, toward the close of the year, he attempted to remind that government of its duty, in an unofficial way, through Gouverneur Morris, who, having been succeeded by Mr. Monroe as minister to the French republic, was now in England, and on quite intimate terms with Lord Grenville and other ministers, and members of the privy council. In a letter to Morris, on the twenty-second of December, after giving at much length a narrative of the causes of complaint against the British government, Washington said:--

"I give you these details (and if you should again converse with Lord Grenville on the subject, you are at liberty unofficially to mention them, or any of them, according to circ.u.mstances) as evidences of the impolitic conduct of the British government towards these United States, that it may be seen how difficult it has been for the executive, under such an acc.u.mulation of irritating circ.u.mstances, to maintain the ground of neutrality which had been taken; and at a time when the remembrance of the aid we had received from France in the Revolution was fresh in every mind, and while the partisans of that country were continually contrasting the affections of _that_ people with the unfriendly disposition of the _British government_. And that, too, as I have observed before, while _their own_ sufferings during the war with the latter had not been forgotten.

"It is well known that peace has been (to borrow a modern phrase) the order of the day with me since the disturbances in Europe first commenced. My policy has been, and will continue to be while I have the honor to remain in the administration, to maintain friendly terms with, but be independent of, all the nations of the earth; to share in the broils of none; to fulfil our own engagements; to supply the wants and be carriers for them all, being thoroughly convinced that it is our policy and interest to do so. Nothing short of self-respect, and that justice which is so essential to a national character, ought to involve us in war; for sure I am, if this country is preserved in tranquillity twenty years longer, it may bid defiance in a just career to any power whatever; such, in that time, will be its population, wealth, and resources....

"In a government as free as ours, where the people are at liberty and will express their sentiments (oftentimes imprudently, and, for want of information, sometimes unjustly), allowances must be made for occasional effervescences; but, after the declaration I have here made of my political creed, you can run no hazard in a.s.serting that the executive branch of this government never has suffered, nor will suffer while I preside, any improper conduct of its officers to escape with impunity, nor give its sanction to any disorderly proceedings of its citizens.

"By a firm adherence to these principles, and to the neutral policy which has been adopted, I have brought on myself a torrent of abuse in the factious papers of this country, and from the enmity of the discontented of all descriptions. But, having no sinister objects in view, I shall not be diverted from my course by these, nor any attempts which are or shall be made to withdraw the confidence of my const.i.tuents from me. I have nothing to ask; and, discharging my duty, I have nothing to fear from invective. The acts of my administration will appear when I am no more, and the intelligent and candid part of mankind will not condemn my conduct without recurring to them."

Fortified by such conscious rect.i.tude, Washington was well prepared to meet whatever action the supreme legislature of his country might take concerning the great question at issue.

We have already observed the cordial reception of Mr. Monroe by the French government, and the decree of the National Convention that the respective flags of the American and French republics should be united and suspended in their hall, as a token of eternal friendship between the two nations. Mr. Monroe, it will be remembered, reciprocated this generous feeling, by presenting to the a.s.sembly the flag of the United States. When, afterward, Mr. Adet came to America as the successor of Fauchet, the French minister, he bore a letter from the Committee of Safety to the Congress, and the banner of the French republic for the government of the United States. He arrived in the summer of 1795, when the whole country was in a ferment respecting the treaty with Great Britain; and partly on that account, but chiefly because he supposed his communication on the subject of the flag must be made to the Congress direct, he did not announce to the president that complimentary portion of his mission until late in December. Adet had then been made aware that the presentation of the colors to the government must be made through the president only; and as that presentation would be an occasion for rejoicing, because of a friendly feeling between the two nations, Washington appointed the first of January, 1796--"a day of general joy and congratulation"--as the time when he would receive the token of amity.