CHAPTER XIII. "An efficient preparation for war can alone secure peace. It is peace that we have uniformly and perseveringly cultivated, and harmony between us and France 1798. may be restored at her option. But to send another minister, without more determinate assurances that he would be received, would be an act of humiliation to which the United States ought not to submit. It must, therefore, be left with France, if she is indeed desirous of accommodation, to take the requisite steps. United States will steadily observe the maxims by which they have hitherto been governed. They will respect the sacred rights of embassy; and, with a sincere disposition on the part of France to desist from hostility, to make reparation for the injuries hitherto inflicted, and to do justice in future, there will be no obstacle to the restoration of a friendly intercourse." The But while giving this public pledge of readiness to meet any sincere advance on the part of France toward peace, the president still urged, as the only sure means of obtaining an equal treaty and insuring its observance, preparations for war, and, particularly, attention to the naval establishment. "Perhaps no more sudden and remarkable advantages had ever been experienced from any measure than those derived from arming for maritime defense. A foundation ought to be laid, without loss of time, for giving an increase to the navy, sufficient to guard our coasts and protect our trade," and he recommended to the attention of Congress "such systematic efforts of prudent forethought as would be required for this object." Adams had been accustomed, after Washington's example, to consult his cabinet ministers as to the contents of his speeches, and, like him, to make free use of the drafts which they furnished. A large portion of that part of the speech relating to France had been taken CHAPTER from a draft furnished by Wolcott; but on one important XIII. point there had been a deviation. Wolcott's draft had 1798. expressly declared, and, in so doing, had expressed the opinion of at least a majority of the cabinet, that to send another minister to France would be an act of humiliation not to be submitted to except under the pressure of an extreme necessity, which did not exist. Very much against the will of Pickering, Wolcott, and M'Henry, Lee and Stoddert seeming also to incline the same way, though much less decisively, the president gave to this passage the turn above stated, so as still to leave himself the conditional liberty of sending a minister, upon the withdrawal of the offensive pretensions to dictate the selection, and more positive assurances as to a respectful reception. The sentiments of the speech were fully re-echoed by the House as well as the Senate; and, what had not happened for several sessions, the answers were carried in both Houses without a division. The answer of the Senate, referring to Logan's recent mission, complained of an intercourse carried on by France, through “the medium of individuals without public character or au thority, designed to separate the people from their government, and to bring about by intrigue that which open force could not effect;" to which Adams responded by a suggestion whether such "temerity and impertinence on the part of individuals affecting to interfere in public affairs, whether by their secret correspondence or otherwise, and intended to impose on the people and to sepa rate them from their government, ought not to be in quired into and corrected ?" This suggestion gave rise to the first act of the ses sion, known as the "Logan Act," which made it a high misdemeanor, subject to a fine not exceeding $5000, XIII. and to imprisonment from six months to three years, CHAPTER for any citizen of the United States to carry on, without permission or authority from the Federal government, 1798. any correspondence, verbal or written, with the officers of a foreign government, with intent to defeat the measures of the government of the United States, or in any controversy in which the United States were concerned, to influence the conduct of a foreign government. Not being able to meet this bill in the face, the opposition, led by Gallatin, Nicholas, and Macon (for Giles had resigned his seat), made the most strenuous efforts to neutralize it by amendments. A very sharp discussion ensued, in the course of which Harper, now the acknowledged leader of the Federalists in the house, made a severe attack upon Logan, as well as upon those heads of the opposition in concert with whom he was supposed to have acted. This drew out from Logan a letter, published in the Aurora, in which he gave the history of his mission, and denied the concern in it of any body but himself. Since his return Logan had been chosen, after a very severely contested election, a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature. The early part of the session was chiefly occupied with the impeachment of Blount, left undisposed of at the close of the last session. The preliminary questions having at last been arranged, the Senate resolved itself Dec 24 into a High Court of Impeachment. More agreeably occupied as president of the Senate of Tennessee, Blount disregarded the summons sent him, and did not personally appear. But Dallas and Ingersoll, who acted as his counsel, filed a plea, in which they denied the jurisdiction of the court, on the double ground that senators were not "officers" liable to be impeached, and that, if they were, Blount's expulsion from the Senate left him CHAPTER no longer a senator. To the elaborate argument of Dallas and Ingersoll, an equally elaborate reply was 1798. made by Harper and Bayard, two of the managers appointed on behalf of the House. But the Senate sustained the plea, whether on both grounds or on which of them did not appear, and so this long process came to an end. By these proceedings against him, Blount's popularity in Tennessee had been rather increased than otherwise, and nothing but his sudden death prevented his being elected governor over Sevier's head. 1799. It was not till the session of Congress was half gone, Jan. 18. and after divers urgings from Gallatin, who objected otherwise to go on with the several bills reported by the standing committees on defense, that the president laid before Congress the promised documents, including Gerry's correspondence with Talleyrand, and also the letters from Consul-general Skipwith, who, however, as well as all the consuls under him, appointed by Monroe's suggestion, had already been removed from office. One cause of the president's delay became apparent in Jan. 23. the transmission, a few days afterward, of a very elaborate report from Pickering, which it must have taken some time to prepare, and in which, though it had been somewhat trimmed down by the president's hand, Talleyrand, the Directory, and Gerry himself were very sharply criticised. The main argument of this report was, that as the several outrageous French decrees against American commerce remained unrepealed (whatever little repealing there had been being but illusory), Talleyrand's expressions of readiness to treat ought to be regarded only as a deceptive lure, intended to keep the United States quiet, while France, in the continued plunder of American commerce, enjoyed all the benefits without experiencing hardly any of the evils of war. Xill 1799. Jan. 28 Pickering's report was presently followed by another CHAPTER message, communicating a new decree, extending to neutrals generally, found serving on board hostile vessels, that penalty already some time before denounced against Americans in particular, of being treated as pirates, even though they might allege having been forced into the service. This sort of impartiality did not satisfy; and a bill was soon brought in by the Committee of Defense, authorizing, on proof of the execution of this decree against any American citizen, a retaliation, in like kind, upon any French prisoners in the hands of the United States. Before this bill had time to pass, news arrived that, owing to threats of retaliation by England, the late decree had been repealed; but as the former decree, embracing American citizens only, still remained in force, the bill was persevered with, and became a law. Into the bill which passed the House, continuing for a year the non-intercourse with France and her dependencies, a clause was inserted, in spite of the efforts of the opposition, designed to facilitate the renewal of commercial intercourse with St. Domingo, the president being authorized, whenever he might deem it expedient, to discontinue this restraint by proclamation, either with respect to the entire French republic, or to any port or place belonging to it. Three bills from the naval committee were carried through the House, one appropriating a million of dol lars toward the construction of six ships of the line and six sloops of war; a second appropriating $200,000 for the purchase of timber; and a third granting $50,000 toward the establishment of two dock-yards. The Senate, meanwhile, had passed a bill, authorizing the president to raise, in case of war or imminent danger of invasion, besides the troops voted at the last session, |