VI. CHAPTER West Indies, but which operated quite as much against the French. Sedgwick's resolutions had been rejected, 1794. but a substitute was passed suggesting a draft of militia. A committee, to whom this substitute was referred, proposed to detach from the militia eighty thousand minute men; to enlist, for the purpose of manning the new fortifications, a regiment of artillery, including among the officers one chief engineer and three assistants; and to raise, besides, an additional standing force of twenty-five thousand men. March 27. Simultaneously with the report of this committee, Smith, of South Carolina, suggested that citizens who suffered spoliations while in pursuit of a lawful trade were entitled to immediate compensation at the hands of their own government, which might then demand indemnity from the aggressor; and he moved a committee to take the subject into consideration. Dayton, who, though representing one of the New Jersey districts, was a member of a mercantile firm in the city of New York, thereupon moved to sequester all debts due in the United States to British subjects as a fund out of which this indemnification might be made. He thought Congress had the right, by way of retaliation and for the purpose of indemnity, to confiscate all British property, not only that in the hands of individuals, but that also in the public stocks; but, for the present, he would limit his motion to a sequestration of debts. It was in vain to expect indemnity for the spoliations we were suffering, unless it were compelled by some such means. The hostile determination of the British was no longer a secret, as the speech of Lord Dorchester showed. Mercer and Smilie favored Dayton's resolution, and proposed to consider it at once. Ames thought that so serious a measure ought not to be VI. hurried; he still cherished the hope of peace; he would CHAPTER struggle against war to the last; and he reprobated any measure tending to drive the nation into it, at least be- 1794. fore negotiation had entirely failed. Boudinot wanted time to make up his mind. Tracy also argued for delay. He could not tell what change might be wrought in his opinion; but at present, the proposition before the House appeared to him an outrage upon common honesty. Smith, of South Carolina, declared himself totally ignorant, when he made his suggestion of indemnity, of any design to connect with it a sequestration of debts. thought the two subjects ought to be kept entirely separate, as otherwise the idea of indemnity to our own citizens might create a very improper bias in favor of sequestration. He In spite of all objections, Dayton's resolution was immediately taken up in Committee of the Whole. Warmly urged by the mover, by Mercer, and by Smith of Maryland, it was opposed by Smith of South Carolina as a step fatal to the credit of the country, and dangerous, also, from its tendency to involve us in future wars. Commerce could not be carried on without creating debts to foreigners; and whenever any considerable number of these debtors became embarrassed, they might be stimulated to embroil us in war, in hopes of avoiding, or at least of delaying, payment. Of those who advocated the present measure, some had rejected with horror the idea of seizing upon the property of British subjects in the public stocks. For his part, he could see no great difference between the two cases. Once break down the barrier which protected debts generally, and it was hard to tell where to stop. He doubted much the power of Congress thus to meddle, in time of peace, with private contracts. CHAPTER Before any question was taken, news arrived that the British order of November 6th had been superseded by a 1794. new one of the 8th of January, restricting the capture March 31. of French produce in neutral vessels to cases in which that produce belonged to Frenchmen, or the vessel was bound to France. It was also stated, as coming from the British ministry, that no confiscation was to take place under the first order, except in cases to which the second order would apply. In consequence of this news, the debate on Dayton's resolution was postponed, and the House employed itself for several days on the proposed measures of defense. Further debate upon the sequesApril 7. tration, when it again came up, was superseded by a motion, proposed by Clark, Dayton's colleague, to discontinue all commercial intercourse with Great Britain and her subjects, so far as respected all articles of the growth or manufacture of Great Britain or Ireland, until the surrender of the Western posts, and due compensation for all losses and damages growing out of British aggressions on our neutral rights. From the course of the debate, it soon became apparent that this resolution would pass the House; while, from the equal division of parties in the Senate, a probability existed of its passing there also. If adopted as the policy of the nation, it seemed to lead directly to war. 484 As the last resource for averting so dreadful a calamity, Washington was inclined to send a special minister to England, in hopes of bringing to an amicable arrangement the existing points of dispute. He had thought of Hamilton for this mission, and had mentioned the subject to Randolph. At Hamilton's special request, a committee of the House had been appointed to investigate his management of the Treasury Department. This committee, fifteen in number, including Giles and other of his VI. bitter enemies, and empowered to send for persons and CHAPTER papers, had been hard at work during the session, but without being able to discover any flaws. Yet, the more 1794. Hamilton's political enemies became satisfied that his conduct was above reproach, the more bitter became their hatred and jealousy. Having learned from Randolph, or judging from the inherent probability of the thing, that Washington thought of sending Hamilton to England, Monroe addressed a letter to the president, deprecating the appointment as not only injurious to the public interests, but especially so to Washington himself, and offering to give his reasons in a private interview. Nor was this a mere individual movement. Another very violent letter against Hamilton's appointment was sent to the president about the same time by one of the Virginia members of the House. Washington consulted Randolph as to these letters, the decorum of which seemed somewhat questionable, especially in Monroe's case, whose duty as a senator it rather seemed to be to pass upon the president's nominations than, by gratuitous and unasked for advice, to assist him in making them. Randolph thought it would be best to grant the interview, but with an intimation to Monroe that he must confine himself to facts. Washington preferred, however, to send a note, requesting Monroe to state in writing any information he might have tending to disqualify Hamilton for the mission referred to a request which seems to have given a quietus to Monroe's interference. However Hamilton might be otherwise qualified, the very hatred and jealousy of which he was the object were decisive against the policy of appointing him. Not only might they endanger his confirmation by the Senate, but any treaty that might be formed would be the less palatable for his agency in it. Under these circumstan CHAPTER ces, Washington turned his eyes on Chief Justice Jay. VI. In point of Revolutionary services, only the president 1794. himself stood upon higher ground; nor could any person, except the vice-president, pretend to a place upon the same level. In lofty disinterestedness, in unyielding integrity, in superiority to the illusions of passion, no one of the great men of the Revolution approached so near to Washington. Profound knowledge of the law, inflexible sense of justice, and solidity of judgment, had especially marked him out for the office which he held. Having played a very active part in a state, during the whole struggle of the Revolution the seat of hostilities, he knew what war was, and dreaded it accordingly. One of the ministers who negotiated the treaty of peace, and afterward Secretary of Foreign Affairs, he was perfectly familiar with all the grounds of controversy as between the two nations. Though on questions of principle perfectly unyielding, in matters of interest and expediency he knew the wisdom of giving up a part rather than to risk the loss of the whole. The only serious objection to his appointment was his judicial station; but even that gave an additional dignity to the mission, and in a crisis so important the objection lost much of its weight.. 451 Clark's resolutions, sustained by the whole force of the opposition, and by a few Federalists led on by Dayton, passed the House in committee by sixty-one votes in the affirmative. Such was the state of matters when April 16. the president sent to the Senate his nomination of Jay as special envoy to England, with a message expressing undiminished confidence in Thomas Pinckney, the resident minister, but recommending the proposed extraor dinary mission as demonstrating to the world a reluctance at hostilities, and solicitude for a friendly adjustment. April 19. The nomination was confirmed, not without some oppo |