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I.

square adjoining Philadelphia, and including German- CHAPTER town. This change made the bill more agreeable to the Eastern members, and not less so to those of Pennsyl- 1789. vania; but it tended to add to the dissatisfaction of the South. The House, however, agreed to it, with an additional provision, that the laws of Pennsylvania should continue in force in the ceded district till Congress should otherwise provide. This amendment made it necessary for the bill to go back to the Senate, where, for some reason that does not distinctly appear, but probably the increasing dissatisfaction of the Southern members, the whole subject was postponed till the next session.

A few days before the adjournment, a resolution was offered in the House to request the president to recommend a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by the people of the United States in acknowledgment of the many signal favors of Almighty God, and especially his affording them the opportunity peacea bly to establish a constitution of government for their safety and happiness. This motion, offered by Boudinot and supported by Sherman, did not pass without opposition. Burke did not like this mimicking European customs, while Tucker intimated that it would be as well to wait for some experience of the effects of the Constitution before returning thanks for it. He thought the question of a thanksgiving ought to be left to the state authorities, as they would know best what reason the people had to be pleased with the new government. In spite, however, of these cavils, the motion passed by a decided majority.

IV.-I

Sept. 28

CHAPTER

CHAPTER II.

APPOINTMENTS TO OFFICE. FOREIGN AND INDIAN RELA
TIONS. RHODE ISLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA. SECOND
SESSION OF THE FIRST CONGRESS. THE FUNDING SYS-
TEM. POWER OF CONGRESS OVER THE SUBJECT OF SLA-
VERY. TERRITORY SOUTH OF THE OHIO. SEAT OF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

OF

F

Of all the duties devolving on the president, there was II. none of greater delicacy or importance than that of prop1789. er appointments to the various offices created by Congress. The selection of suitable persons to fill the seats on the bench of the Supreme Court was a matter which occupied much of Washington's thoughts. The post of chief justice, which might be considered, next to that of president, the highest dignity in the government, and, in some respects, superior even to that, was given to John Jay, active and conspicuous for many years as a leading member of the Continental Congress, as chief justice of New York, as embassador to Spain, as one of the commissioners for negotiating peace with England and treaties with the powers of Europe, and, finally, as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. For Jay's colleagues on the bench, due regard being had to their geographical distribution, Washington selected William Cushing, chief justice of Massachusetts; James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, looked upon by the public eye as a competitor with Jay for the place of chief justice; R. H. Harrison, chief justice of Maryland, formerly Washington's confidential secretary; John Blair, one of the judges of the

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Virginia Court of Appeals; and John Rutledge, so dis- CHAPTER tinguished from the commencement of the Revolution in the politics of South Carolina. Harrison declined his 1789 appointment, preferring the office of Chancellor of Mary. land, to which he had been simultaneously appointed, and the seat thus vacant, after the accession of North Carolina, was given to James Iredell, a distinguished law. yer of that state.

The appointments of Hamilton and Knox as secretaries of the Treasury and of War have already been mentioned. The Department of State was offered to Jeffer son, who had just returned home on leave of absence, after a six years' residence in France as minister to that court. Jefferson did not accept this appointment without some reluctance, being rather inclined to return to Paris; nor did he actually enter on his office till the following March, its duties, in the interval, being still discharged by Jay. The post of Attorney General was given to Edmund Randolph, late governor of Virginia, who had played, in relation to the Federal Constitution, a part almost as conspicuous as Madison, though not quite so consistent. After having been active in forming it, Randolph had refused to sign it, yet finally had supported its ratification with no little zeal. Samuel Osgood, late one of the commissioners of the Treasury, was appointed Postmaster General. As yet, that office did not confer a seat in the cabinet, which consisted of the three secretaries and the attorney general.

In filling up the inferior judicial offices, and other posts connected with the administration of justice and the col lection of the revenue, the president found a high personal pleasure in providing, consistently with the interests of the public, for a number of his Revolutionary companions in arms, many of whom were in pecuniary circumstances

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CHAPTER to make such appointments very desirable. The col II. lectorships of Boston, New London, and Baltimore were 1789. given to Generals Lincoln, Huntington, and Williams, that of New York to Colonel Lamb. General M Intosh was appointed surveyor of the port of Savannah, and General Sullivan district judge of New Hampshire. Generals St. Clair and Parsons were continued in their respective offices, the one as governor, the other as a judge of the Northwest Territory. Many officers of inferior rank were otherwise provided for. But Washington's appointments were by no means confined to military men, the larger proportion being selected from civil life, into which, indeed, the officers of the late Revolutionary army had been long since absorbed.

The Senate at first adopted the practice, afterward dispensed with, of passing upon all nominations by ballot. Of those made during the first session of Congress, only one seems to have been rejected. The question was early raised as to the capacity of persons holding office under the United States, or elected members of Congress, to continue to sit in the state Legislatures. The decision that these two functions were incompatible was soon arrived at, and has ever since been adhered to. The law of Virginia, disqualifying United States officers to hold any state office, has been already mentioned. The first appointments having been made, the patronage of the president, since so extensive, remained, during the earlier years of the government, comparatively trifling.

The external relations of the United States, both those with the countries of Europe and those with the Indian tribes along the Western and Southern frontier, early called for attention on the part of the new government. Under the auspices of the Continental Congress, commer. cial treaties had been negotiated with France, Holland

Sweden, and Prussia.

The two former powers, as well chapter

II.

as Spain, had ministers resident in the United States. A treaty with the Emperor of Morocco afforded but a 1789. partial security against the cruisers of the African piratical states, who were accustomed, at that day, not only to capture the vessels of all nations not in alliance with them-in other words, not paying tribute-but also to reduce the crews to slavery. Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, as well as Morocco, each had to be separately conciliated. The cruisers of these states generally confined themselves to the Mediterranean, into which American vessels did not venture for fear of them. But sometimes they sallied forth into the Atlantic, and the interference of the new government had been already solicited on behalf of certain American citizens captured and held in slavery by the Algerines.

A consular convention with France, framed in accordance with a plan agreed to by the Continental Congress in 1782, had been signed by Franklin in 1784. But the inconveniences of this arrangement, when it came to be submitted to the Continental Congress for ratification, had plainly appeared. It gave to the consuls of the two nations complete jurisdiction over the merchants and mariners of the nation they represented -a jurisdiction which could hardly be exercised without serious danger of collision with the local authorities. Jefferson had therefore been instructed to ask for modifications, and especially for the insertion of a limitation of time. After a long negotiation, this limitation and some other modifications had been lately conceded, and the convention, having been signed anew, had been submitted to the Senate, during the late session, for their advice as to its ratification. Called upon by the Senate. for a report upon the subject, Jay stated that, though

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