those whom they were intended to affect. They furnished materials for abundant invective, as they were thought to be adverse to personal liberty and freedom of speech. That they may be judged of, with the calmness which comes with the lapse of time, as to past events, it is worth while to speak of them more fully.

Among the legislative movements, intended to affect the official reputation of Mr. Adams, was the motion of Edward Livingston, made, originally, in February, 1800, in the House of Representatives, to call on the President for his reasons, for having delivered up to the British Jonathan Robbins, a native, and impressed American. The call having been answered, the motion was extended, February 20th, and made to inculpate the President, for a dangerous interference of the executive power with judicial decisions; that the compliance of the Judge (Bee, of South Carolina) was a sacrifice of the constitutional independence of the judiciary, and exposed the administration thereof to suspicion and reproach. Mr. Livingston supported his motion, in a speech of three hours; Mr. Gallatin and Mr. Nicholas did their best to sustain him.

On the other side, Mr. Bayard, Mr. Harper, Mr. Otis, Mr. Dana, and others, resisted the motion. On the 6th of March, John Marshall made his masterly and conclusive speech against the motion, which has been deemed equivalent to a judicial authority, and has been bound up in books of reports, and is referred to as such. The motion was finally rejected by a vote of about sixtyfour to thirty-eight.

This was a mere party effort, whether the mover and his political friends so intended it to be or not. The unquestionable facts are, that this Jonathan Robbins was born at Waterford in Ireland; that his name was Thomas Nash; that he shipped on board the British frigate Hermoine; that in September, 1797, he, with others, murdered one or more of the officers, and among others Lieutenant Foreshaw; that he escaped and got to Charleston, and was there July 1st, 1799. He pretended that he was born at Danbury, (Connecticut,) but the selectmen certified, that

they knew of no such person, nor any one of the name of Robbins, in the town. Admiral Parker applied to Mr. Liston, the British minister, to request of the President to deliver up Nash, pursuant to the 27th article of the British treaty with the United States. The President wrote to Judge Bee to deliver him up, he then being in custody. Proper evidence of his identity, and of his crime, being presented to the judge, he was delivered up, tried, and executed. He confessed (it is said) at the time of execution, that he was Thomas Nash, born in Ireland.

Mr. Marshall's speech (late Chief Justice) went to prove, that this was a proper exercise of executive power under the treaty, as the crime was committed within the jurisdiction of Great Britain. His speech was a most satisfactory answer to the position taken on the other side, that Nash was punishable in the United States, if punishable at all, as a pirate. The cause for demanding Nash was, that he had committed murder; an offence against British, and not against American law; that whether he had also committed piracy, or not, (which crime, wheresoever committed, may be punished by any nation among whom the culprit may be found,) he was a proper subject for delivery under the 27th article of the treaty, as a murderer. So the House decided.

This incident is strongly illustrative of the times. It is well remembered, that the impression sought to be made on the public mind was, that the President had delivered up one of his own countrymen, in obedience to British requisition, to be hung; notwithstanding the accused citizen had done no more than he lawfully might do, to escape from the tyrannical impressment of the mistress of the seas. It is not surprising that any administration should be overthrown, when such calumnies were easily received as truths.

LETTER XXIX.

MAY 7, 1833.

OTHER legislative measures referred to, were the alien and sedition laws. In 1797, there were computed to be thirty thousand Frenchmen in the United States, all of whom were devoted to their native country, and all of whom were, in some way, associated, through clubs, or otherwise, and who had a strong fellow feeling. This number does not refer to the emigrants who had fled on the commencement of the revolution; but to men of a very different order, who had left France (after the monarchy had fallen), from necessity or choice. Besides these, there were computed to be fifty thousand who had been subjects of Great Britain, and some of whom had found it unsafe to remain at home. They fled to a country, as they understood it, where they should be free to do anything which they thought fit to do, in the name of "liberty," and where its enemies might be encountered, whether in office or not. A combination was formed and organized with more detail than is common in military usage, and prepared to act with union and effect, in any "emergency." Philadelphia, at that time the seat of government, was the head-quarters of this combination.

"The American Society of United Irishmen" was, at this time, a very formidable body. In the troubles in Ireland, the United Irishmen there, had revived their associations under the impulse of the French Revolution, and the British government encountered them with civil and military force. Some eminent men had joined the Union, and entertained the hope of securing an independent government. Thomas Addis Emmett engaged in this enterprise, which was wholly and disastrously unsuccessful. After a long imprisonment, that gentleman came to the United States in 1804, at the age of about forty, and rose to high

professional eminence. He was of amiable character, and was highly esteemed.* When the British government had entirely defeated the objects of the United Irishmen, it was proposed that they should be allowed to emigrate to the United States. This measure, Mr. King, then minister at London, strenuously opposed. After Mr. Emmett came to this country he discussed publicly, with some severity, this opposition. It is believed that Mr. Emmett did not otherwise interpose, in any respect, in political movements, on this side. Some who had been involved in the troubles of Ireland came to the United States in 1795, and the two following years, bringing with them, of course, a bitter hostility to the English government, and a devotion to France, naturally arising from the belief, that the great Republic was prevented only by British superiority at sea, from sending over a force competent to establish liberty in their native land. It was easy for such emigrants to learn, and believe, that the government of the United States was the proper object of their hatred, as identified with the government at home; and that everything tending to uphold and honor republican France, demanded their zealous attachment. The combinations of the United Irish could not be misunderstood by our government; and they were sufficiently alarming to require preventive measures. The Jacobin Clubs in the United States, if not then existing in name, were still so sympathetic with these

A very characteristic anecdote is related of this gentleman, when he was pursuing his profession of counsellor at the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Emmett was accustomed to carry a simple eye-glass loosely in his hand, which he frequently applied to his eye when addressing the court or jury. On one occasion, in the year 1815, when opposed to Mr. Pinkney (William) of Maryland, mentioned in some of the previous letters, Mr. Pinkney resorted to some personalities, in the course of his argument, against Mr. Emmett. Bringing his eyeglass to his eye, Mr. Emmett thus addressed the court, referring to Mr. Pinkney, who had then lately returned from a foreign mission: "May it please your honors, I know not where the honorable gentleman learned his manners; but if in his late experience at foreign courts, he obtained them there, I am sure he could have kept no company; and if he took them with him, it is a great pity he did not leave them there," which reply, delivered with a slight brogue, was very effective.

alien combinations, as to be a most effective auxiliary. It is believed that they were still organized, and in full vigor; though they were put down in France after the fall of Robespierre.

In the then state of the country, in relation to France, (which might intend to send over a military force, relying on the aid to be found within our own territories,) these powerful allies were, very justly, a subject of alarm, and were so considered by the President.

In the official speech made to Congress, at the May session, 1797, the President makes these remarks: "It is impossible to conceal from ourselves or the world, that endeavors have been employed to foster and establish a division between the government and the people of the United States. To investigate the causes which have encouraged this attempt, is not necessary; but to repel, by united and decided councils, insinuations so derogatory to the honor, and the aggressions so dangerous to the constitution, union, and even independence of the states, is an indispensable duty.

"It must not be permitted to be doubted, whether the people of the United States will support the government established by their voluntary consent, and appointed by their free choice; or whether, surrendering themselves to the direction of foreign and domestic factions, in opposition to their own government, they will forfeit the honorable station which they have hitherto maintained.”

Congress passed a law, which was approved, on the 18th of June, 1798, providing, among other things, for the manner in which aliens might become citizens, whereby the facility with which citizenship had before been acquired, was much restricted. 2. It empowered the President to order all such aliens, as he should judge to be dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or concerned in treasonable measures, to leave the United States. 3. To grant licenses to aliens to remain during the President's pleasure. 4. It provided imprisonment, not exceeding three years, to such aliens as remained without license, and perpetual disqualification to become citizens. 5. It authorized the President to