The Life of John Marshall (Volume 2 of 4)

325

See Marshall's vivid description of the popular reception of the treaty; Marshall, ii, 365-66.

326

Hamilton to King, June 20, 1795; Works: Lodge, x, 103.

327

"An Emetic for Aristocrats… Also a History of the Life and Death of Independence; Boston, 1795." Copies of such attacks were scattered broadcast – "Emissaries flew through the country spreading alarm and discontent." (Camillus, no. 1; Works: Lodge, v, 189-99.)

328

McMaster, ii, 213-20; Gibbs, i, 207; and Hildreth, iv, 548.

329

Present-day detraction of our public men is gentle reproof contrasted with the savagery with which Washington was, thenceforth, assailed.

330

Marshall, ii, 370. Of the innumerable accounts of the abuse of Washington, Weld may be cited as the most moderate. After testifying to Washington's unpopularity this acute traveler says: "It is the spirit of dissatisfaction which forms a leading trait in the character of the Americans as a people, which produces this malevolence [against Washington]; if their public affairs were regulated by a person sent from heaven, I firmly believe his acts, instead of meeting with universal approbation, would by many be considered as deceitful and flagitious." (Weld, i, 108-09.)

331

Washington almost determined to withhold ratification. (Marshall, ii, 362.) The treaty was signed November 19, 1794; received by the President, March 7, 1795; submitted to the Senate June 8, 1795; ratified by the Senate June 24; and signed by Washington August 12, 1795. (Ib., 360, 361, 368.)

332

"Washington now defies the whole Sovereign that made him what he is – and can unmake him again. Better his hand had been cut off when his glory was at its height before he blasted all his Laurels!" (Dr. Nathaniel Ames's Diary, Aug. 14, 1795; Dedham (Mass.) Historical Register, vii, 33.) Of Washington's reply to the address of the merchants and traders of Philadelphia "An Old Soldier of '76," wrote: "Has adulation … so bewildered his senses, that relinquishing even common decency, he tells 408 merchants and traders of Philadelphia that they are more immediately concerned than any other class of his fellow citizens?" (American Remembrancer, ii, 280-81.)

333

Washington to Jay, May 8, 1796; Writings: Ford, xiii, 189.

334

American Remembrancer, ii, 265.

335

Journal, H.D. (1795), 54-55; and see Anderson, 43.

336

American Remembrancer, ii, 269.

337

Ames to Gore, Jan. 10, 1795; Works: Ames, i, 161.

338

"This treaty in one page confines,The sad result of base designs;The wretched purchase here beholdOf Traitors – who their country sold.Here, in their proper shape and mien,Fraud, perjury, and guilt are seen."(Freneau, iii, 133.)

339

Jefferson to Monroe, Sept. 6, 1795; Works: Ford, viii, 187-88.

340

Ib.

341

Jefferson to Tazewell, Sept. 13, 1795; Works: Ford, viii, 191. The Jay Treaty and Neutrality must be considered together, if the temper of the times is to be understood. "If our neutrality be still preserved, it will be due to the President alone," writes the younger Adams from Europe. "Nothing but his weight of character and reputation, combined with his firmness and political intrepidity could have stood against the torrent that is still tumbling with a fury that resounds even across the Atlantic… If his system of administration now prevails, ten years more will place the United States among the most powerful and opulent nations on earth… Now, when a powerful party at home and a mighty influence from abroad, are joining all their forces to assail his reputation, and his character I think it my duty as an American to avow my sentiments." (J. Q. Adams to Bourne, Dec. 24, 1795; Writings, J. Q. A.: Ford, i, 467.)

342

Charles Pinckney's Speech; American Remembrancer, i, 7.

343

Marshall, ii, 378. The Republicans insisted that the assent of the House of Representatives is necessary to the ratification of any treaty that affects commerce, requires appropriation of money, or where any act of Congress whatever may be necessary to carry a treaty into effect. (Ib.; and see Livingston's resolutions and debate; Annals, 4th Cong., 1st Sess., 1795, 426; 628.)

344

"Priestly's Emigration," printed in Cobbett, i, 196, quoting "Agricola."

345

"Camillus"; Works: Lodge, v and vi. It is impossible to give a satisfactory condensation of these monumental papers. Struck off in haste and under greatest pressure, they equal if not surpass Hamilton's "First Report on the Public Credit," his "Opinion as to the Constitutionality of the Bank of the United States," or his "Report on Manufactures." As an intellectual performance, the "Letters of Camillus" come near being Hamilton's masterpiece.

346

Washington to Hamilton, July 29, 1795; Writings: Ford, xiii, 76.

347

The whole country was against the treaty on general grounds; but Virginia was especially hostile because of the sore question of runaway slaves and the British debts.

348

Washington to Randolph, Aug. 4, 1795; Writings: Ford, xiii, footnote to 86. See Resolutions, which were comparatively mild; American Remembrancer, i, 133-34; and see Richmond and Manchester Advertiser, of July 30, and Aug. 6, 1795.

349

Jefferson to Coxe, Sept. 10, 1795; Works: Ford, vii, 29.

350

Jefferson to Monroe, Sept. 6, 1795; ib., 27.

351

When Jefferson resigned, Randolph succeeded him as Secretary of State, and continued in that office until driven out of public life by the famous Fauchet disclosure. William Bradford of Pennsylvania succeeded Randolph as Attorney-General.

352

Washington to Marshall, Aug. 26, 1795; Washington MSS., Lib. Cong.

353

Act of 1789, Annals, 1st Cong., 1st Sess., Appendix, 2238.

354

For Randolph's pathetic account of his struggles to subsist as Attorney-General, see Conway, chap. xv.

355

The Fairfax purchase. See infra, chap. v.

356

Marshall to Washington, Aug. 31, 1795; Washington MSS., Lib. Cong.

357

See infra, chap. v.

358

Executive Journal, U.S. Senate, i, 81, 82. And see Washington's Diary: Lossing, 166. Carrington held both of these offices at the same time.

359

Referring to Marshall's title as General of Virginia Militia. He was called "General" from that time until he became Chief Justice of the United States.

360

Washington to Carrington, Oct. 9, 1795; Writings: Ford, xiii, 116.

361

Carrington to Washington, Oct. 2, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.

362

Ib.

363

Carrington to Washington, Oct. 8, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.

364

Ib., Oct. 13, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.

365

Ib. A passage in this letter clearly shows the Federalist opinion of the young Republican Party and suggests the economic line dividing it from the Federalists. "In the present crisis Mr. H.[enry] may reasonably be calculated on as taking the side of Government, even though he may retain his old prejudices against the Constitution. He has indubitably an abhorrence of Anarchy… We know too that he is improving his fortune fast, which must additionally attach him to the existing Government & order, the only Guarantees of property. Add to all this, that he has no affection for the present leaders of the opposition in Virga." (Carrington to Washington, Oct. 13, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.)

366

Carrington to Washington, Oct. 20, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong. Carrington's correspondence shows that everything was done on Marshall's judgment and that Marshall himself personally handled most of the negotiations. (See ib., Oct. 28; Oct. 30, 1795.)

367

American Remembrancer, i, 21 et seq. John Thompson was nineteen years old when he delivered this address. His extravagant rhetoric rather than his solid argument is quoted in the text as better illustrating the public temper and prevailing style of oratory. (See sketch of this remarkable young Virginian, infra, chap. x.)

[368] A favorite Republican charge was that the treaty would separate us from France and tie us to Great Britain: "A treaty which children cannot read without discovering that it tends to disunite us from our present ally, and unite us to a government which we abhor, detest and despise." ("An Old Soldier of '76"; American Remembrancer, ii, 281.)

368

American Remembrancer, i, 27.

369

See infra, chap. v.

370

Ames to Gore, March 11, 1796; Works: Ames, i, 189.

371

Annals, 4th Cong., 1st Sess., 1033-34.

372

Ib., 1063. See Anderson, 41-43. As one of the purchasers of the Fairfax estate, Marshall had a personal interest in the Jay Treaty, though it does not appear that this influenced him in his support of it.

373

The voting was viva voce. See infra, chap. x.

374

Undoubtedly this gentleman was one of the perturbed Federalist managers.

375

North American Review, xxvi, 22. While this story seems improbable, no evidence has appeared which throws doubt upon it. At any rate, it serves to illustrate Marshall's astonishing popularity.

376

Carrington's reports to Washington were often absurd in their optimistic inaccuracy. They are typical of those which faithful office-holding politicians habitually make to the appointing power. For instance, Carrington told Washington in 1791 that, after traveling all over Virginia as United States Marshal and Collector of Internal Revenue, he was sure the people were content with Assumption and the whiskey tax (Washington's Diary: Lossing, footnote to 166), when, as a matter of fact, the State was boiling with opposition to those very measures.

377

The mingling, in the Republican mind, of the Jay Treaty, Neutrality, unfriendliness to France, and the Federalist Party is illustrated in a toast at a dinner in Lexington, Virginia, to Senator Brown, who had voted against the treaty: "The French Republic – May every power or party who would attempt to throw any obstacle in the way of its independence or happiness receive the reward due to corruption." (Richmond and Manchester Advertiser, Oct. 15, 1795.)

378

Carrington to Washington, Nov. 10, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.

379

Ib., Nov. 13, 1795; MS.; Lib. Cong.

[381] The resolution "was warmly agitated three whole days." (Randolph to Jefferson, Nov. 22, 1795; Works: Ford, viii, footnote to 197.)

380

Carrington to Washington, Nov. 20, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.

381

See debates; Annals, 4th Cong., 1st Sess., 423-1291; also see Petersburg Resolutions; American Remembrancer, i, 102-07.

382

Thompson's address, Aug. 1, 1795, at Petersburg; ib., 21 et seq.

383

Carrington to Washington, Nov. 20, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.

384

Randolph to Jefferson, Nov. 22, 1795; Works: Ford, viii, footnote to 197.

385

Randolph to Jefferson, Nov. 22, 1795; Works: Ford, viii, footnote to 197.

386

Ib.

387

Ib. See Hamilton's dissertation on the treaty-making power in numbers 36, 37, 38, of his "Camillus"; Works: Lodge, vi, 160-97.

388

Marshall to Hamilton, April 25, 1796; Works: Hamilton, vi, 109.

389

Randolph to Jefferson, Nov. 22, 1795; Works: Ford, viii, 198.

390

Journal, H.D. (Nov. 20, 1795), 27-28.

391

Journal, H.D. (Nov. 20, 1795), 28.

392

Carrington to Washington, Nov. 20, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.

393

The italics are mine. "The word 'wisdom' in expressing the confidence of the House in the P.[resident] was so artfully introduced that if the fraudulent design had not been detected in time the vote of the House, as to its effect upon the P. would have been entirely done away… A resolution so worded as to acquit the P. of all evil intention, but at the same time silently censuring his error, was passed by a majority of 33." (Letter of Jefferson's son-in-law, enclosed by Jefferson to Madison; Works: Ford, viii, footnote to 198.)

394

Journal, H.D. (Nov. 21, 1795), 29.

395

Ib.

396

Journal, H.D. (Nov. 21, 1795), 29.

397

Jefferson to Madison, Nov. 26, 1795; Works: Ford, viii, 197-98.

398

Randall, ii, 36.

399

Journal, H.D. (1795), 72.

400

Journal, H.D. (1795), 50.

401

Ib., 53.

402

Ib., 79.

403

Ib., 90.

404

Ib., 91-92.

405

Carrington to Washington, Dec. 6, 1795; MS., Lib. Cong.

406

Journal, H.D. (Dec. 12, 1795), 91-92.

407

Carrington to Washington, Feb. 24, 1796; MS., Lib. Cong.

408

Dodd, 39.

409

Lee to Washington, July 7, 1796; Writings: Sparks, xi, 487.

410

Washington to Marshall, July 8, 1796; Washington MSS., Lib. Cong.

411

Marshall to Washington, July 11, 1796; ib.

412

Washington to Marshall, July 15, 1796; Washington's Private Letter Book; MS., Lib. Cong.

413

Washington to Marshall, Oct. 10, 1796; ib.

414

Marshall to Washington, Oct. 12, 1796; Washington MSS., Lib. Cong.

415

Genêt's successor as French Minister to the United States.

416

Interesting State Papers, 48 et seq.

417

Interesting State Papers, 55.

418

For able defense of Randolph see Conway, chap. xxiii; but contra, see Gibbs, i, chap. ix.

419

Patterson of New Jersey, Johnson of Maryland, C. C. Pinckney of South Carolina, Patrick Henry of Virginia, and Rufus King of New York. (Washington to Hamilton, Oct. 29, 1795; Writings: Ford, xiii, 129-30.) King declined because of the abuse heaped upon public officers. (Hamilton to Washington, Nov. 5, 1795; ib., footnote to 130.)

420

Washington to Hamilton, Oct. 29, 1795; Writings: Ford, xiii, 131.

421

For debate see Annals, 4th Cong., 1st Sess., 423-1291.

422

Carrington to Washington, May 9, 1796; MS., Lib. Cong.

423

Oliver Wolcott to his father, Feb. 12, 1791; Gibbs, i, 62.

424

Hamilton to King, June 20, 1795; Works: Lodge, x, 103.

425

Washington to Knox, Sept. 20, 1795; Writings: Ford, xiii, 105-06.

426

Carrington to the President, April 22, 1796; Writings: Ford, xiii, footnote to 185.

427

Washington to Carrington, May 1, 1796; ib., 185.

428

Ib., 186.

429

Story, in Dillon, iii, 352.

430

Senator Stephen Thompson Mason wrote privately to Tazewell that the Fairfax purchasers and British merchants were the only friends of the treaty in Virginia. (Anderson, 42.)

431

Alexander Campbell. (See infra, chap. v.)

432

Randolph to Madison, Richmond, April 25, 1796; Conway, 362. Only freeholders could vote.

433

Marshall to Hamilton, April 25, 1796; Works: Hamilton, vi, 109.

434

Author unknown.

435

Richmond and Manchester Advertiser, April 27, 1796.

436

Carrington to the President, April 27, 1796; MS., Lib. Cong.

437

Marshall to King, April 25, 1796; King, ii, 45-46.

438

Washington to Thomas Pinckney, May 22, 1796; Writings: Ford, xiii, 208.

439

Robert Morris to James M. Marshall, May 1, 1796; Morris's Private Letter Book; MS., Lib. Cong.

440

Story, in Dillon, iii, 350.

441

Marshall to King, April 19, 1796; Hamilton MSS., Lib. Cong. Hamilton, it seems, had also asked Marshall to make overtures to Patrick Henry for the Presidency. (King, ii, footnote to 46.) But no correspondence between Hamilton and Marshall upon this subject has been discovered. Marshall's correspondence about Henry was with King.

442

Marshall to King, May 24, 1796; King, ii, 48.

443

For an accurate description of the unparalleled abuse of Washington, see McMaster, ii, 249-50, 289-91, 302-06.

444

Marshall, ii, 391-92. Also see Washington to Pickering, March 3, 1797; Writings: Ford, xiii, 378-80; and to Gordon, Oct. 15; ib., 427.

445

Journal, H.D. (1796), 46-47; MS. Archives, Va. St. Lib.

446

Journal, H.D. (1796), 153; MS. Archives, Va. St. Lib.

447

Ib.

448

Ib. This amendment is historically important for another reason. It is the first time that the Virginia Legislature refers to that Commonwealth as a "State" in contra-distinction to the country. Although the Journal shows that this important motion was passed, the manuscript draft of the resolution signed by the presiding officer of both Houses does not show the change. (MS. Archives, Va. St. Lib.)

449

Story, in Dillon, iii, 355. Marshall's account was inaccurate, as we have seen. His memory was confused as to the vote in the two contests (supra), a very natural thing after the lapse of twenty years. In the first contest the House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly against including the word "wisdom" in the resolutions; and on the Senate amendment restored it by a dangerously small majority. On the second contest in 1796, when Marshall declares that Washington's friends won "by a very small majority," they were actually defeated.

450

Journal, H. D., 153-90.

451

Aurora, Monday, March 5, 1797. This paper, expressing Republican hatred of Washington, had long been assailing him. For instance, on October 24, 1795, a correspondent, in the course of a scandalous attack upon the President, said: "The consecrated ermine of Presidential chastity seems too foul for time itself to bleach." (See Cobbett, i, 411; and ib., 444, where the Aurora is represented as having said that "Washington has the ostentation of an eastern bashaw.") From August to September the Aurora had accused Washington of peculation. (See "Calm Observer" in Aurora, Oct. 23 to Nov. 5, 1795.)

452

Henry to his daughter, Aug. 20, 1796; Henry, ii, 569-70. Henry was now an enemy of Jefferson and his dislike was heartily reciprocated.

453

Washington to Jefferson, July 6, 1796; Writings: Ford, xiii, 230-31. This letter is in answer to a letter from Jefferson denying responsibility for the publication of a Cabinet paper in the Aurora. (Jefferson to Washington, June 19, 1796; Works: Ford, viii, 245; and see Marshall, ii, 390-91.) Even in Congress Washington did not escape. In the debate over the last address of the National Legislature to the President, Giles of Virginia declared that Washington had been "neither wise nor firm." He did not think "so much of the President." He "wished him to retire … the government of the United States could go on very well without him." (Annals, 4th Cong., 2d Sess. (Dec. 14, 1796), 1614-18.) On the three roll-calls and passage of the address Giles voted against Washington. (Ib., 1666-68.) So did Andrew Jackson, a new member from Tennessee. (Ib.)

The unpopularity of Washington's Administration led to the hostile policy of Bache's paper, largely as a matter of business. This provident editor became fiercely "Republican" because, as he explained to his relative, Temple Franklin, in England, he "could not [otherwise] maintain his family," and "he had determined to adopt a bold experiment and to come out openly against the Administration. He thought the public temper would bear it." (Marshall to Pickering, Feb. 28, 1811, relating the statement of Temple Franklin to James M. Marshall while in England in 1793.)

454

Southern Literary Messenger, 1836, ii, 181-91; also see Howe, 266.

455

Southern Literary Messenger, ii, 181-91; also Howe, 266. Apparently the older lawyer had been paid the one hundred dollars, for prepayment was customary in Virginia at the time. (See La Rochefoucauld, iii, 76.) This tale, fairly well authenticated, is so characteristic of Marshall that it is important. It visualizes the man as he really was. (See Jefferson's reference, in his letter to Madison, to Marshall's "lax, lounging manners," supra, 139.)

456

Story, in Dillon, iii, 363.

457

Wirt: The British Spy, 110-12.

458

Mazzei's Recherches sur les États-Unis, published in this year (1788) in four volumes.

459

Marshall himself could not read French at this time. (See infra, chap. vi.)

460

In this chapter of Marshall's receipts and expenditures all items are from his Account Book, described in vol. i, chap. v, of this work.

461

Marshall's third child, Mary, was born Sept. 17, of this year.

462

La Rochefoucauld, iii, 75-76.

463

Records, Henrico County, Virginia, Deed Book, iii, 74.

464

In 1911 the City Council of Richmond presented this house to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, which now owns and occupies it.

465

Mordecai, 63-70; and ib., chap. vii.

466

La Rochefoucauld, iii, 63. Negroes made up one third of the population.

467

Ib., 64; also Christian, 30.

468

This celebrated French playwright and adventurer is soon to appear again at a dramatic moment of Marshall's life. (See infra, chaps. vi to viii.)