Virginia was
compelled
to
release Kentucky from her reluctant embraces.
release Kentucky from her reluctant embraces.
Hamilton - 1834 - Life on Hamilton - v2
"* and the embassy to London was acknowedged by
the appointment of a consul.
These were things not to be endured, and yet not to be
resented by the American envoy. Feeling that from the
magic circle of court formalities there was no escape, Ad-
ams, relying upon the vast results he attributed to a simi-
lar procedure at the Hague, resolved to bring the British
ministry to a stand by presenting a memorial demanding
the evacuation of the frontier posts. But again delay was
followed by delay--all was ceremony--month after month
elapsed, when a reply was at last given. This reply
avowed the determination of Great Britain to act in per-
fect conformity with the strictest principles of justice and
good faith, and her readiness to carry every article of the
? 4 Dip. Cor. 333.
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? 332
THE LIFE OF
definitive treaty into full effect whenever America should
manifest a real determination to fulfil her part of it. It
recapitulated the legislative acts of eight states, contra-
vening its fourth article, and insisted on the injustice of
being obliged to a strict observance of the public faith,
while America held herself free to deviate from her en-
gagements.
This answer was referred to Jay, who, after a full ex-
amination of it, in which it appeared that many of the
charges were unsustained, admitted that the first of the
imputed violations of the treaty had been committed by
the states, some of which were still existing and ope-
rating; and that, under the circumstances, it was not a
matter of surprise that the posts were detained, and that
Britain would not be to blame in continuing to hold them,
until America should cease to impede her enjoying every
essential right secured to her and to her people and adhe-
rents by the treaty. The report closed with a recom-
mendation, that congress should resolve that the states had
no right to construe, retard, or counteract the execution of
the treaty; and that all their acts inconsistent therewith
should be repealed by their legislatures, in general terms.
He also recommended that the American minister should
admit to Great Britain the violation of the fourth and sixth
articles of the treaty; should state that measures were in
progress to correct this; should conclude a convention for
the estimation of property removed in violation of the
seventh article, and for the remission of interest on private
contracts during the war, and should express the deter-
mination of the United States to execute the treaty with
good faith.
This unwelcome duty was imposed on Adams. The
British ministry approved the spirit of the resolutions, but
still adhered to the system it had adopted; in pursuance
of which an act was passed for the regulation of their
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? II A MILTON.
333
trade with the United States, extending still further the
prohibition from her islands of American products. Mean-
while, the tone of the public feeling, the omission to appoint
a minister in return, frequent disappointments, and studied
procrastinations, wore upon the temper of Adams, who at
last, in his correspondence with the United States, cast off
all restraint. At times he deemed an abandonment by Ame-
rica of her commerce, the wisest course. * Again, he
urged a vindictive retaliation, as the only means of redress,
and poured out philippics, denouncing, with indiscriminate
wrath, England--her institutions--her king--her states-
men--her policy--her people. f
This was a wide departure from the opinions he had
expressed at an earlier period. "Let us banish forever
from our minds, my countrymen, all such unworthy ideas
of the king, his ministry, and the parliament. Let us not
suppose that all are become luxurious, effeminate, and un-
? 4D. c. 500.
t" There is no resource for me in this nation. The people are discouraged
and dispirited, from the general profligacy and want of principle, from the
want of confidence in any of the leaders, from the frequent disappointments
and impositions they have experienced in turn from all parties. Patriotism is
no more; nor is any hypocrite successful enough to make himself believed to
be one Fox, and his friends and patrons, are ruined by the endless ex-
penses of the last election, and have no longer any spirit, or any enterprise.
North and his friends are afraid of impeachment and vengeance, and there-
fore will avoid all hazardous experiments, by which the popular cry might be
excited. Pitt is but a tool and an ostensible pageant, a nose of tender virgin:
wax; he could not carry in Parliament, nor in the cabinet, any honest system
with America, if he meant to do it; but he is himself very far from being steady
in his American politics, any more than Camden or Richmond; and Sydney
and Carmarthen are cyphers. "--4 D. C. 444-5, 468,471. "This nation
would now crouch to France, for the sake of being insolent to us. "--480.
"The most remarkable thing in the king's speech and the debates is, that the
king, and every member of each house, has entirely forgotten that there is
any such place upon the earth as the United States of America. We appear
to be considered as of no consequence at all in the scale of the world. "--
4D. C. 481.
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THE LIFE OF
reasonable on the other side of the water, as many design-
ing persons would insinuate. Let us presume, what in
fact is true, that the spirit of liberty is as arde. nt as ever
among the body of her nation, though a few individuals
may be corrupted," &c. *
Alarmed by his extravagance, and apprehensive of be-
ing precipitated by his rashness into a contest for which
the country was not prepared, a formal motion was made
in congress and adopted, forbidding him to demand a cat-
egorical answer to his memorial, lest they should be involv-
ed in a war or in disgrace. f These orders were transmit-
ted by Jay,J who, at the same time, recommended as the
true policy of the nation, that" what wrong may have been
done should be undone, and that the United States should,
if it were only to preserve peace, be prepared for war. "
Adams now began to meditate his return to the United
States. The prospect of a new government opened more
grateful scenes, and congress yielded to his desire to leave
a position which he had prophetically anticipated would be
a "thicket of briers. " Dissatisfied with every thing, he
bade adieu to England, where his worst fears had been
realized of " the insignificance" to which he would sink,
and of the alike "dry decency and cold civility" with
which he would be treated by the administration and the
opposition. On his return to the United States, he found
new sources of discontent in the circumstances of his re-
call. On the twenty-fourth of September, seventeen hun-
dred and eighty-seven, a report was made by Jay, em-
bracing two points--an approval of his conduct, and a
vote of thanks. It was rejected after a division on each
poinf; but on the fifth of October the congress were in-
* "Essay on Crown and Feudal Laws, by J. Adams, Ambassador
Flen. " &c.
t 5 D. C. 358. t May 8, 1786.
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? HAMILTON.
335
duced to relent. For this decision, he is believed to have
been chiefly indebted to the exertions of a leading dele-
gate* from Massachusetts. f
Much as there was in the conduct of Great Britain to
disappoint expectation and wound national pride, yet on
a dispassionate view, it is to be deemed the natural result
of the relative situations of the two countries. Many of
her statesmen saw, or imagined that they saw, in a close
adherence to the colonial system the chief sources of her
wealth. Her jealousy had long been awakened to the
competition which the character and condition of the
American people would produce, and every effort to relieve
themselves from the pressure of her monopolies confirmed
her adherence to them, and was followed by more minute
and rigorous exactions. It could therefore with little pro-
bability be expected, that while she maintained her navi-
gation act towards other nations, she would relax her sys-
tem towards that power whose interference with her trade
she most feared, especially as the United States were, by
the treaties they had formed, precluded offering to her
any equivalent for such an exemption.
England also confided in the magnitude of her capital,
in the credits she could give, and in the cheapness of her
productions, as ensuring the introduction of them to the
American market, where the habits of the people had al-
ways secured to her a preference. The efforts of France
to compete with her had failed, and while the British mer-
chants were engrossing the trade, France was occupied in
speculating on the grounds of such a preference.
These circumstances, combined with too great a defer-
ence to the feelings of the monarch, had weight, but the
consideration which chiefly influenced the court of St.
James, was the political condition of the confederacy.
* Rufus King.
t 5D. C. 312.
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? 336 THE LIFE OF
Whatever might be the future resources of this nation,
whatever were the capacities of the people, America now
presented an unrelieved picture of anarchy and disunion.
Her public engagements had nearly all been violated, her
private resources appeared either to be exhausted, or
could not be called into action; and while the individual
states were pursuing measures of mutual hostility and de-
triment, the confederation was powerless over their laws,
powerless over public opinion. Hence, to every argu-
ment or inducement in favour of a commercial treaty,
there was an irrefutable reply--America will not, or if
she would, she cannot fulfil it. "Our ambassadors," Ham-
ilton observed, "were the mere pageants of mimic sove-
reignty. "
In this brief retrospect of the negotiations with the two
leading powers of Europe, nothing is more obvious than
the want of that practical common sense, which had car-
ried this country through the revolution both in the ob-
jects, and in the conduct of them. This country was, in
fact, without a government. Could it be hoped, that
either France or England would treat on advantageous
terms with a people who had not the power to fulfil their
engagements? Could it be supposed, for a moment, that
those old governments would abandon their artificial sys-
tems and fixed maxims, affecting so many public and pri-
vate interests, for an untried theory?
Jefferson* at an early period advised that "the Ameri-
can workshops should remain in Europe;" that " perhaps
it might be better for us to abandon the ocean altogether,
that being the element whereon we shall be principally
exposed to jostle with other nations; to leave to others to
bring what we shall want, and to carry what we can spare. "
Now he is the projector of a system of entangling connec-
? Notas on Virginia, p. 175, 176.
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? n AMILTON.
337
tions with all the nations of Europe. He voted against a
proposition to adopt the commerce of " natives" as the basis
of treaties, and he proposed to treat with England on that
basis. "I know," he wrote to Adams, "it goes beyond our
powers, and beyond the powers of congress too; but it is
evidently for the good of all the states that I should not
be afraid to risk myself on it, if you are of the same
opinion. "*
Abandoning the principle of his own instructions,f he
suggested to Vergennes J "that both nations would cement
their friendship by approaching the conditions of their citi-
zens reciprocally to that of 'natives,' as a better ground of
intercourse than that of'the most favoured nation. '" The
reply of France was an arret, approving in its preamble
a general freedom of commerce; but vindicating the "ex-
clusion of foreign goods, as required under existing cir-
cumstances by the interest of the kingdom. "
Yet he at the same period avows, " were I to indulge my
own theory, I should wish them (the United States) to prac-
tise neither commerce nor navigation, but to stand, with
respect to Europe, precisely on the footing of China. "?
The opinions of Adams as to the foreign policy of this
country, were not less various.
At one time he avowed, "that it is in the power of
America to tax all Europe whenever she pleases, by laying
duties upon her exports, enough to pay the interest of
money enough to answer all their purposes. "|| He then
enters into this project of commercial freedom; then de-
nounces it, declaring, " that we had hitherto been the bub-
bles of our own philosophical and equitable liberality;"
and indicates as the only means of redress, " commercial
regulations. "! !
? 2D. C. 338. -July28,1785. t Niles, v. 12, p. 82. t November, 1785.
? October 13, 1785. --Jeff. Works, vol. 1, 344. II 5 D. C. 502.
12D. C. 338.
43
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? 338
THE LIFE OF
The course of events had proved the correctness of
Hamilton's views, as he calmly consulted the great perma-
nent interests of the country. Though in his liberal spirit
the advocate of a policy which he observed would estab-
lish " our system with regard to foreign nations upon those
grounds of moderation and equity by which reason, reli-
gion, and philosophy had tempered the harsh maxims of
more early times, and that rejects those principles of re-
striction and exclusion which are the foundations of the
mercantile and navigating system of Europe;" yet, judg-
ing wisely of human nature, of the force of habit, preju-
dice, and passion, he had from the earliest period indicated
the necessity of conferring upon congress the power "of
regulating trade, laying prohibitions, granting bounties
and premiums. "* And when he saw the confederacy
nerveless--the states in collision--the people desponding
--their energies withering under the restrictive regula-
tions of Europe--he then again avowed the necessity of
counteracting "a policy so unfriendly to their prosperity,
by prohibitory regulations extending at the same time
throughout the states," as a means of compelling an equal
traffic; of raising the American navigation so as to estab-
lish "an active" instead of "a passive commerce;" of "a
federal navy, to defend the rights of neutrality. "
These views, as the perspective of this vast republic
rose before him, were embraced in the exhortation--" Let
Americans disdain to be the instruments of European
greatness! Let the thirteen states, bound together in a
strict and indissoluble union, concur in erecting one great
American system, superior to the control of transatlantic
force or influence, and able to dictate the connection be-
tween the old and the new world ! "f
* The Constitutionalist, No. 4, August, 1781--No. 6, July 4, 1782.
t The Federalist, No. 11.
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? HAMILTON.
CHAPTER XXI.
[1786. ]
I. n the domestic situation of this country there was
much to justify distrust. The definitive treaty had indeed
assured almost Roman limits to the new republic; but the
eastern boundary was disputed--the western denied--
while from the frowning fortresses which dotted its out-
line, each morning's drum-roll struck alarm into the breast
of the borderer, as it awakened in the crouching savage
his slumbering appetite for carnage. The interior subdi-
visions were also unsettled. The coterminous states of
Massachusetts and New-York had not yet wearied of their
disputes. Pennsylvania, though her rights had been es-
tablished under a constitutional tribunal, was threatened
with a contest with the New-England settlers at Wyo-
ming, who were preparing to refer their claims to the
most summary arbitrament.
Virginia was compelled to
release Kentucky from her reluctant embraces. North
Carolina was dissevered, and a fragment of her domains
was forming into an independent state under the name of
Frankland, of which an assembly preparatory to a con-
vention had met. * While so many inducements existed to
adopt a comprehensive national policy, such was the prev-
alence of state jealousy, that instead of labouring to invig-
orate the arm of the general legislature, an aversion to the
restraints of law, and an increasing disposition to withhold
confidence from the constituted authorities, were daily de-
veloped. Instead of looking for remedies to relieve the
>> August 1, 1785.
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? 340
THE LIFE OF
public distresses, in every part of the continent the prevail-
ing anxiety appeared to be to discover new objects upon
which to vent dissatisfaction. A bill to repeal the charter
of the Bank of North America passed the assembly of
Pennsylvania. In New-York, a memorial to incorporate
the bank, of which the constitution had been framed by
Hamilton, was presented to the legislature early in seven-
teen hundred and eighty-four; but so prevalent was the
jealousy of a moneyed influence, that it was compelled to
conduct its affairs during six years without corporate im-
munities. The cry arose that banks were combinations
of the rich against the poor, although, when not abused,
their tendency is to raise industrious poverty above the
influence of wealth.
These were minor indications. The craving appetite of
discontent called for food, and the recent combinations of
military men, and the d xngers of a standing army in time
of peace, became fruitful themes of clamour. An associa-
tion of the officers of the late army, formed at the en-
campment on the Hudson, " to preserve inviolate the lib-
erties for which they had bled, to promote and cherish
national union and honour, and to render permanent the
cordial affection of the officers by acts of mutual benefi-
cence," under the now venerated title of " the Society of
the Cincinnati," to continue during the lives of the mem-
bers, with succession to their eldest male posterity, became
an object of the most violent and wide-spread hostility.
The alarm was first sounded in an address under the
signature of Cassius, written by ^Edanus Burke, a judge of
the supreme court of South Carolina, professing to prove
that this association created a race of hereditary patricians,
and full of trite allusions to the orders which had sprung
up during the ages of European barbarism.
This popular topic was echoed throughout the states,
and having performed its office in America, was seized
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? HAMILTON.
341
upon by Mirabeau, and depicted with all the power, art,
and eloquence of his extraordinary genius.
The distrust thus excited in the minds of the people was
cherished by persons, who, having served wholly in a civil
capacity, had long been jealous of the superior populari-
ty of Washington and of his companions in arms. One,
with cold philosophy, advised them to "melt down their
eagles"*--while another, with all the vehemence of " a
disordered imagination," denounced the association as an
inroad upon the first principles of equality--the deepest
piece of cunning yet attempted--an institution "sowing
the seeds of all that European courts wish to grow up
among us of vanity, ambition, corruption, discord, and se-
dition. "f The outcry which had been so successfully
raised was deemed of sufficient importance to require the
attention of the society.
A general meeting was convened, at which Washington,
the president-general, presided, and an abolition of the he-
reditary provision was recommended. The following
documents relating to this subject, show how entirely the
real objects of this association corresponded with its pro-
fessed purpose, and with what sentiments Washington
viewed this impeachment of his pure and elevated patri-
otism. Hamilton thus represented to him the proceedings
of the state society of New-York.
"SIR,
"Major Fairlie is just setting out on a visit to you, I
believe on some business relating to the Cincinnati. The
society of this state met some short time since, and took
into consideration the proposed alterations in the original
frame of the institution. Some were strenuous for adher-
ing to the old constitution, a few for adopting the new,
and many for a middle line. This disagreement of opin-
* Jefferson. t Adams.
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? 342
THE LIFE OF
ion, and the consideration that the different state societies
pursuing different courses--some adopting the alterations
entire, others rejecting them in the same way--others
adopting in part and rejecting in part--might beget confu-
sion and defeat good purposes, induced a proposal, which
was unanimously agreed to, that a committee should be
appointed to prepare and lay before the society a circular
letter expressive of the sense of the society on the different
alterations proposed, and recommending the giving pow-
ers to a general meeting of the Cincinnati, to make such
alterations as might be thought advisable to obviate objec-
tions and promote the interests of the society. I believe
there will be no difficulty in agreeing to change the pre-
sent mode of continuing the society; but it appears to be
the wish of our members that some other mode may be de-
fined and substituted, and that it might not be left to the
uncertainty of legislative provision. We object to putting
the funds under legislative direction. Indeed, it appears to
us the legislature will not, at present, be inclined to give
us any sanction.
"I am of the committee, and I cannot but flatter myself
that when the object is better digested and more fully ex-
plained, it will meet your approbation.
"The poor Baron is still soliciting congress, and has every
prospect of indigence before him. He has his impru-
dences, but upon the whole, he has rendered valuable ser-
vices, and his merits and the reputation of the country
alike demand that he should not be left to suffer want.
If there should be any mode by which your influence
could be employed in his favour, by writing to your
friends in congress or otherwise, the baron and his friends
would be under great obligations to you. "
Washington replied:--" I have been favoured with your
letter of the twenty-fifth of November, by Major Fairlie.
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? HAMILTON. 343
Sincerely do I wish that the several state societies had, or
would adopt the alterations that were recommended by the
general meeting in May, seventeen hundred and eighty-four.
I then thought, and have had no cause since to change my
opinion, that if the society of the Cincinnati mean to live in
peace with the rest of their fellow-citizens, they must sub-
scribe to the alterations which were at that time adopted.
"That the jealousies of, and prejudices against, this so-
ciety were carried to an unwarrantable length, I will
readily grant; and that less than was done ought to have
removed the fears which had been imbibed, I am as clear
in, as I am that it would not have done it; but it is a mat-
ter of little moment, whether the alarm which seized the
public mind was the result of foresight, envy, and jealousy,
or a disordered imagination; the effect of perseverance
would have been the same: wherein then would have
been found an equivalent for the separation of interests,
which, from my best information, not from one state only,
but many, would inevitably have taken place?
"The fears of the people are not yet removed, they only
sleep, and a very little matter will set them afloat again. ,
Had it not been for the predicament we stood in with re-
spect to the foreign officers and the charitable part of the
institution, I should, on that occasion, as far as my voice
would have gone, have endeavoured to convince the nar-
row-minded part of our countrymen that the amor patriae
was much stronger in our breasts than theirs, and that our
conduct, through the whole of the business, was actuated
by nobler and more generous sentiments than were appre-
hended, by abolishing the society at once, with a declara-
tion of the causes, and the purity of its intentions. But
the latter may be interesting to many, and the former is
an insuperable obstacle to such a step.
"I am sincerely concerned to find by your letter that
the baron is again in straitened circumstances. I am
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? 344
THE LIFE OF
much disinclined to ask favours of congress, but if I knew
what the objects of his wishes are, I should have much
pleasure in rendering him any services in my power with
such members of that body as I now and then correspond
with. I had flattered myself, from what was told me
some time ago, that congress had made a final settlement
with the baron, much to his satisfaction. "
The state society of New-York, of which Baron Steu-
ben and General Schuyler were, at that time, the presid-
ing officers, met on the fourth of July, seventeen hundred
and eighty-six; on which occasion Colonel Hamilton de-
livered an oration, and at an adjourned meeting two days
after, he presented a report, which was agreed to, in
which his views as to the hereditary succession by right
of primogeniture, and the distinction between military and
civil members, are seen.
"The committee to whom was referred the proceedings
of the society of the Cincinnati, at their last general meet-
ing, beg leave to report, that they have attentively consid-
ered the alterations proposed at that meeting to be made
in the original constitution of the society; and though they
highly approve the motives which dictated those alter-
ations, they are of opinion it would be inexpedient to adopt
them, and this chiefly on the two following accounts.
"First--Because the institution, as proposed to be altered,
would contain in itself no certain provision for the contin-
uance of the society beyond the lives of the present mem-
bers; this point being left to the regulation of charters,
which may never be obtained, and which, in the opinion
of this committee, so far as affects this object, ought never
to be granted, since the dangers apprehended from the in-
stitution could then only cease to be imaginary, when it
should receive the sanction of a legal establishment. The
utmost the society ought to wish or ask from the several
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? HAMILTON. 345
legislatures is, to enable it to appoint trustees to hold its
property, for the charitable purposes to which it is destined.
Second--Because, by a fundamental article, it obliges the
society of each state to lend its funds to the state; a pro-
vision which would be improper, for two reasons; one,
that in many cases the society might be able to dispose of
its funds to much greater advantage; the other, that the state
might not always choose to borrow from the society.
"That while the committee entertain this opinion with
respect to the proposed alterations, they are at the same
time equally of opinion, that some alterations in the origi-
nal constitution will be proper, as well in deference to the
sense of many of our fellow-citizens, as in conformity to
the true spirit of the institution itself. The alterations
they have in view respect principally the duration or suc-
cession of the society, and the distinction between honora-
ry and regular members. As to the first, the provision
intended to be made appears to them to be expressed in
terms not sufficiently explicit; and as far as it may intend
an hereditary succession by right of primogeniture, is liable
to this objection--that it refers to birth what ought to belong
to merit only; a principle inconsistent with the genius of a
society founded on friendship and patriotism. As to the
second, the distinction holds up an odious difference be-
tween men who have served their country in one way,
and those who have served it in another, and improper in
a society where the character of patriot ought to be an
equal title to all its members. "
Time has furnished the best comment on the character
and motives of this association. Notwithstanding all the
alarms which were felt, or feigned, and the jealousies which
were inflamed, these societies have retained the soli-
tary solace of a riband and a medal to commemorate
their sufferings; have persevered in performing their ori-
ginal office of silent benevolence, and are only known to
44
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? 346
THE LIFE OF
exist when they assemble to celebrate the birthday of in-
dependence; to confer a more sacred distinction upon
some modern achievement of patriotism; or to remind pos-
terity, in an unobtrusive recital of his merits, that" another
patriot of the revolution is no more. "*
The unrepealed proclamations of our great maritime
rival, or, as England was termed, in language becoming an
age of barbarism, our " natural enemy," were more wor-
thy objects of opposition, and the first efforts to teach this
"assuming brother" moderation, are among the most in-
teresting and instructive portions of American history.
The first proclamation was issued in July, seventeen
hundred and eighty-three. In December of that year,
Virginia passed a resolution recommending congress to
prohibit all intercourse, until the restrictions upon the com-
merce of the United States were removed. In the fol-
lowing year she enacted several laws of a commercial na-
ture. One was to restrict foreign vessels to certain ports.
Having instructed her delegates in congress to remonstrate
against the infractions of the treaty, and to render the col-
lection of British debts contingent upon its fulfilment, she
passed an act empowering congress to regulate trade and
to collect a revenue. In seventeen hundred and eighty-
five she gave this subject a more deliberate consideration,
and resolutions were proposed and discussed in her legis-
lature of much moment.
* The medal was of gold, suspended by a blue riband edged with white,
indicative of the union with France. The principal figure was Cincinnatus,
three senators presenting him a sword, and other military ensigns. On a field
in the background, his wife standing at the door of their cottage, near it a
plough and instruments of husbandry. Around the whole, " Omnia reliquit
servare rempublicam. " On the reverse, sun rising; a city with open gates,
and vessels entering the port; Fame crowning Cincinnatus with a wreath,
inscribed, " Virtutis premium. " Below, hands joining, supporting a heart,
with the motto, " Esto perpetua. " Round the whole, " Societas Cincinnato-
rum, mstituta A. D. 1783. "
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? HAMILTON. 347
It was moved that her delegates should be instructed to
propose a recommendation to the states, to authorize con-
gress to regulate the trade and collect the revenue upon
the following principles. To prohibit vessels of any na-
tion not in treaty from entering any of the ports of the
United States, and to impose any duties on such vessels,
or their cargoes, as they should judge necessary, provided
they were uniform throughout the union; the proceeds to
pass into the treasury of the states where they should
accrue. To this general authority restrictions were to be
annexed, that no state should impose duties on goods from
another, by land or water, but might prohibit the impor-
tation from any other state of any particular species of any
articles, which were prohibited from all other places; and
that no act of congress, affecting this subject, should be en-
tered into by less than two-thirds of the states, nor be in
force beyond a limited term. An effort was made to in-
troduce an amendment, authorizing a continuance of this
act, by a vote of two-thirds of congress, if given within a
year prior to the expiration of the limited period, or a re-
vival of it by a similar vote within a year after. After
much debate, the first resolution was so amended as to ex-
punge the words, "nations not in treaty," and to extend
the power " to any foreign nation. "*
The authority to collect a five per cent. advalorem im-
post was refused, the restrictions on the respective states
were retained, and the duration of the act was limited to
thirteen years, the amendment authorizing its being con-
tinued having been rejected. After waiting a year for the
concurrence of a sufficient number of states, in conferring
this general power upon congress, Virginia, following the
example of other states, passed a countervailing law, that
no vessels trading to the state, other than those owned
? November, 1785.
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? 348 THE LIFE OF
r
wholly by American citizens, or by states having commer-
cial treaties with the United States, should be permitted to
import any other articles, than such as were the produce
or manufacture of the state or kingdom to which they be-
longed. She gave a preference of duties to her own citi-
zens, and discriminated between states having and those
not having commercial treaties with the United States ;*
and for the purpose of encouraging ship-building within
the state, gave a drawback on the duties imposed on arti-
cles imported in Virginia built vessels, wholly owned by
citizens of the United States. These measures, viewed in
connection with the vigorous and obnoxious system of tax-
ationf she now imposed, and with the fact that she had
opened communications with France in her separate capa-
city, could leave little doubt that she was preparing for the
moment to assume her station at the head of a southern
confederacy. In this countervailing policy it is believed
that Maryland was the first of the southern states to concur.
The action of New-Jersey upon this subject was nearly
contemporaneous with that of Virginia. As early as seven-
teen hundred and seventy-eight, she had represented, when
congress were framing the articles of the confederation,
that the exclusive power of regulating trade ought to be
vested in that body, and that the commercial revenue
should be applied to the equipment of a navy and to the
common benefit. As soon as the policy of England gave
* December, 1786.
t She passed a stamp act levying duties on legal processes, and upon all
alienations of property, and following out her policy of discrimination, a car~
riage tax, which was charged per wheel on all home-built coaches, and was
more than doubled on imported carriages. She subsequently prohibited tho
importation of rum, brandies, and of all foreign malt liquors, and imposed a
tax on bar iron and castings; hemp and hempen ropes not the product or
manufacture of the United States. Thus far had that state proceeded, urged
by a strong necessity, in a system of taxation, which, though much modified,
she subsequently strenuously opposed.
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? HAMILTON.
341)
practical evidence of her wise foresight, she again resolved*
that congress ought to be invested with the power of pro-
hibition. The contiguous state of Pennsylvania had shown
herself at an early period inclined to a protective system,
and her successive laws give evidence of her desire to en-
courage and to mature domestic manufactures by bounties
and discriminations. Impelled at last by the same motives
which had influenced other states, in March, seventeen
hundred and eighty-six, she enacted a law restricting her
commerce to American vessels, unless the imports were
made in bottoms belonging to the countries of which their
cargoes were the growth, product, or manufacture, under
pain of forfeiture, and levied a tonnage duty of five per
cent. on foreign vessels, annexing a condition, that this act
should be in force until congress were invested with the
necessary powers. She at the same time declared, "that
the privilege in the degree retained by the states individu-
ally of controlling and regulating their own trade, was no
longer compatible with the general interest and welfare of
the United States; reason and experience clearly evincing
that such a privilege is productive of mutual inconveniences
and injuries among ourselves, and that the systems of seve-
ral nations, by which our merchants are excluded from
the most beneficial branches of their commerce, while the
whole of ours is laid open to them, cannot be consistently
or effectually countervailed but by a unity of counsel in
the great representative body of the United States. "
Connecticut had passed an "act for the regulation of
navigation" during the war. In the preamble to it, she re-
cited, that as " a free, sovereign, independent state, she had
an equal right with all other sovereign powers to the free
and undisturbed navigation of the high seas, and to exer-
cise a convenient jurisdiction therein. " By this act, her
<< December 24, 1783.
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? 350
THE LIFE OF
governor was appointed "superintendent of marine" and
a revenue system ,was established. In May, seventeen
hundred and eighty-four, New-Haven and New-London
were declared by her to be free ports. All persons remov-
ing there for the purpose of commerce, were to become
free citizens; and immunities were offered to foreign capi-
talists who should engage in trade. This act cautiously
provided, that no countenance should be given by it to the
slave trade, and that it should not contravene any regula-
tions which congress might be invested with, for the pur-
pose of regulating commerce. Having granted to that
body the power of raising an impost, she in the mean time
imposed specific duties on certain enumerated articles, and
an advalorem duty of five per cent. on all other imports,
not the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United
States, whether imported by land or water from any of the
states, with a remission to those imported by citizens of
the state through another state for their own consumption.
These duties were subsequently increased as to specified
articles, most of which were selected with a view to en-
courage domestic manufactures, for which purpose, she
had enacted laws granting bounties. * Subsequent to this le-
gislation for local objects, she passed an act "vesting congress
with power to regulate the commerce of the United States. "
While the other members of the confederacy had mani-
fested so strongly their sense of the evils which the policy
of England had inflicted upon them, it was to have been
expected that Massachusetts, as the largest navigating
state, would have been the earliest to feel, the loudest to
reclaim against, the most zealous to oppose, the measures
* May, 1784. --A bounty of two pence per ounce on raw silk raised and
spun within the state. In 1787, she exempted from taxation buildings appro-
priated to the manufacture of woollen cloths, and the operatives from the
poll tax, and gave a bounty on spun yarn. Iron works were also exempted
from assessment, except slitting mills.
the appointment of a consul.
These were things not to be endured, and yet not to be
resented by the American envoy. Feeling that from the
magic circle of court formalities there was no escape, Ad-
ams, relying upon the vast results he attributed to a simi-
lar procedure at the Hague, resolved to bring the British
ministry to a stand by presenting a memorial demanding
the evacuation of the frontier posts. But again delay was
followed by delay--all was ceremony--month after month
elapsed, when a reply was at last given. This reply
avowed the determination of Great Britain to act in per-
fect conformity with the strictest principles of justice and
good faith, and her readiness to carry every article of the
? 4 Dip. Cor. 333.
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? 332
THE LIFE OF
definitive treaty into full effect whenever America should
manifest a real determination to fulfil her part of it. It
recapitulated the legislative acts of eight states, contra-
vening its fourth article, and insisted on the injustice of
being obliged to a strict observance of the public faith,
while America held herself free to deviate from her en-
gagements.
This answer was referred to Jay, who, after a full ex-
amination of it, in which it appeared that many of the
charges were unsustained, admitted that the first of the
imputed violations of the treaty had been committed by
the states, some of which were still existing and ope-
rating; and that, under the circumstances, it was not a
matter of surprise that the posts were detained, and that
Britain would not be to blame in continuing to hold them,
until America should cease to impede her enjoying every
essential right secured to her and to her people and adhe-
rents by the treaty. The report closed with a recom-
mendation, that congress should resolve that the states had
no right to construe, retard, or counteract the execution of
the treaty; and that all their acts inconsistent therewith
should be repealed by their legislatures, in general terms.
He also recommended that the American minister should
admit to Great Britain the violation of the fourth and sixth
articles of the treaty; should state that measures were in
progress to correct this; should conclude a convention for
the estimation of property removed in violation of the
seventh article, and for the remission of interest on private
contracts during the war, and should express the deter-
mination of the United States to execute the treaty with
good faith.
This unwelcome duty was imposed on Adams. The
British ministry approved the spirit of the resolutions, but
still adhered to the system it had adopted; in pursuance
of which an act was passed for the regulation of their
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? II A MILTON.
333
trade with the United States, extending still further the
prohibition from her islands of American products. Mean-
while, the tone of the public feeling, the omission to appoint
a minister in return, frequent disappointments, and studied
procrastinations, wore upon the temper of Adams, who at
last, in his correspondence with the United States, cast off
all restraint. At times he deemed an abandonment by Ame-
rica of her commerce, the wisest course. * Again, he
urged a vindictive retaliation, as the only means of redress,
and poured out philippics, denouncing, with indiscriminate
wrath, England--her institutions--her king--her states-
men--her policy--her people. f
This was a wide departure from the opinions he had
expressed at an earlier period. "Let us banish forever
from our minds, my countrymen, all such unworthy ideas
of the king, his ministry, and the parliament. Let us not
suppose that all are become luxurious, effeminate, and un-
? 4D. c. 500.
t" There is no resource for me in this nation. The people are discouraged
and dispirited, from the general profligacy and want of principle, from the
want of confidence in any of the leaders, from the frequent disappointments
and impositions they have experienced in turn from all parties. Patriotism is
no more; nor is any hypocrite successful enough to make himself believed to
be one Fox, and his friends and patrons, are ruined by the endless ex-
penses of the last election, and have no longer any spirit, or any enterprise.
North and his friends are afraid of impeachment and vengeance, and there-
fore will avoid all hazardous experiments, by which the popular cry might be
excited. Pitt is but a tool and an ostensible pageant, a nose of tender virgin:
wax; he could not carry in Parliament, nor in the cabinet, any honest system
with America, if he meant to do it; but he is himself very far from being steady
in his American politics, any more than Camden or Richmond; and Sydney
and Carmarthen are cyphers. "--4 D. C. 444-5, 468,471. "This nation
would now crouch to France, for the sake of being insolent to us. "--480.
"The most remarkable thing in the king's speech and the debates is, that the
king, and every member of each house, has entirely forgotten that there is
any such place upon the earth as the United States of America. We appear
to be considered as of no consequence at all in the scale of the world. "--
4D. C. 481.
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? 331
THE LIFE OF
reasonable on the other side of the water, as many design-
ing persons would insinuate. Let us presume, what in
fact is true, that the spirit of liberty is as arde. nt as ever
among the body of her nation, though a few individuals
may be corrupted," &c. *
Alarmed by his extravagance, and apprehensive of be-
ing precipitated by his rashness into a contest for which
the country was not prepared, a formal motion was made
in congress and adopted, forbidding him to demand a cat-
egorical answer to his memorial, lest they should be involv-
ed in a war or in disgrace. f These orders were transmit-
ted by Jay,J who, at the same time, recommended as the
true policy of the nation, that" what wrong may have been
done should be undone, and that the United States should,
if it were only to preserve peace, be prepared for war. "
Adams now began to meditate his return to the United
States. The prospect of a new government opened more
grateful scenes, and congress yielded to his desire to leave
a position which he had prophetically anticipated would be
a "thicket of briers. " Dissatisfied with every thing, he
bade adieu to England, where his worst fears had been
realized of " the insignificance" to which he would sink,
and of the alike "dry decency and cold civility" with
which he would be treated by the administration and the
opposition. On his return to the United States, he found
new sources of discontent in the circumstances of his re-
call. On the twenty-fourth of September, seventeen hun-
dred and eighty-seven, a report was made by Jay, em-
bracing two points--an approval of his conduct, and a
vote of thanks. It was rejected after a division on each
poinf; but on the fifth of October the congress were in-
* "Essay on Crown and Feudal Laws, by J. Adams, Ambassador
Flen. " &c.
t 5 D. C. 358. t May 8, 1786.
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? HAMILTON.
335
duced to relent. For this decision, he is believed to have
been chiefly indebted to the exertions of a leading dele-
gate* from Massachusetts. f
Much as there was in the conduct of Great Britain to
disappoint expectation and wound national pride, yet on
a dispassionate view, it is to be deemed the natural result
of the relative situations of the two countries. Many of
her statesmen saw, or imagined that they saw, in a close
adherence to the colonial system the chief sources of her
wealth. Her jealousy had long been awakened to the
competition which the character and condition of the
American people would produce, and every effort to relieve
themselves from the pressure of her monopolies confirmed
her adherence to them, and was followed by more minute
and rigorous exactions. It could therefore with little pro-
bability be expected, that while she maintained her navi-
gation act towards other nations, she would relax her sys-
tem towards that power whose interference with her trade
she most feared, especially as the United States were, by
the treaties they had formed, precluded offering to her
any equivalent for such an exemption.
England also confided in the magnitude of her capital,
in the credits she could give, and in the cheapness of her
productions, as ensuring the introduction of them to the
American market, where the habits of the people had al-
ways secured to her a preference. The efforts of France
to compete with her had failed, and while the British mer-
chants were engrossing the trade, France was occupied in
speculating on the grounds of such a preference.
These circumstances, combined with too great a defer-
ence to the feelings of the monarch, had weight, but the
consideration which chiefly influenced the court of St.
James, was the political condition of the confederacy.
* Rufus King.
t 5D. C. 312.
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? 336 THE LIFE OF
Whatever might be the future resources of this nation,
whatever were the capacities of the people, America now
presented an unrelieved picture of anarchy and disunion.
Her public engagements had nearly all been violated, her
private resources appeared either to be exhausted, or
could not be called into action; and while the individual
states were pursuing measures of mutual hostility and de-
triment, the confederation was powerless over their laws,
powerless over public opinion. Hence, to every argu-
ment or inducement in favour of a commercial treaty,
there was an irrefutable reply--America will not, or if
she would, she cannot fulfil it. "Our ambassadors," Ham-
ilton observed, "were the mere pageants of mimic sove-
reignty. "
In this brief retrospect of the negotiations with the two
leading powers of Europe, nothing is more obvious than
the want of that practical common sense, which had car-
ried this country through the revolution both in the ob-
jects, and in the conduct of them. This country was, in
fact, without a government. Could it be hoped, that
either France or England would treat on advantageous
terms with a people who had not the power to fulfil their
engagements? Could it be supposed, for a moment, that
those old governments would abandon their artificial sys-
tems and fixed maxims, affecting so many public and pri-
vate interests, for an untried theory?
Jefferson* at an early period advised that "the Ameri-
can workshops should remain in Europe;" that " perhaps
it might be better for us to abandon the ocean altogether,
that being the element whereon we shall be principally
exposed to jostle with other nations; to leave to others to
bring what we shall want, and to carry what we can spare. "
Now he is the projector of a system of entangling connec-
? Notas on Virginia, p. 175, 176.
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? n AMILTON.
337
tions with all the nations of Europe. He voted against a
proposition to adopt the commerce of " natives" as the basis
of treaties, and he proposed to treat with England on that
basis. "I know," he wrote to Adams, "it goes beyond our
powers, and beyond the powers of congress too; but it is
evidently for the good of all the states that I should not
be afraid to risk myself on it, if you are of the same
opinion. "*
Abandoning the principle of his own instructions,f he
suggested to Vergennes J "that both nations would cement
their friendship by approaching the conditions of their citi-
zens reciprocally to that of 'natives,' as a better ground of
intercourse than that of'the most favoured nation. '" The
reply of France was an arret, approving in its preamble
a general freedom of commerce; but vindicating the "ex-
clusion of foreign goods, as required under existing cir-
cumstances by the interest of the kingdom. "
Yet he at the same period avows, " were I to indulge my
own theory, I should wish them (the United States) to prac-
tise neither commerce nor navigation, but to stand, with
respect to Europe, precisely on the footing of China. "?
The opinions of Adams as to the foreign policy of this
country, were not less various.
At one time he avowed, "that it is in the power of
America to tax all Europe whenever she pleases, by laying
duties upon her exports, enough to pay the interest of
money enough to answer all their purposes. "|| He then
enters into this project of commercial freedom; then de-
nounces it, declaring, " that we had hitherto been the bub-
bles of our own philosophical and equitable liberality;"
and indicates as the only means of redress, " commercial
regulations. "! !
? 2D. C. 338. -July28,1785. t Niles, v. 12, p. 82. t November, 1785.
? October 13, 1785. --Jeff. Works, vol. 1, 344. II 5 D. C. 502.
12D. C. 338.
43
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? 338
THE LIFE OF
The course of events had proved the correctness of
Hamilton's views, as he calmly consulted the great perma-
nent interests of the country. Though in his liberal spirit
the advocate of a policy which he observed would estab-
lish " our system with regard to foreign nations upon those
grounds of moderation and equity by which reason, reli-
gion, and philosophy had tempered the harsh maxims of
more early times, and that rejects those principles of re-
striction and exclusion which are the foundations of the
mercantile and navigating system of Europe;" yet, judg-
ing wisely of human nature, of the force of habit, preju-
dice, and passion, he had from the earliest period indicated
the necessity of conferring upon congress the power "of
regulating trade, laying prohibitions, granting bounties
and premiums. "* And when he saw the confederacy
nerveless--the states in collision--the people desponding
--their energies withering under the restrictive regula-
tions of Europe--he then again avowed the necessity of
counteracting "a policy so unfriendly to their prosperity,
by prohibitory regulations extending at the same time
throughout the states," as a means of compelling an equal
traffic; of raising the American navigation so as to estab-
lish "an active" instead of "a passive commerce;" of "a
federal navy, to defend the rights of neutrality. "
These views, as the perspective of this vast republic
rose before him, were embraced in the exhortation--" Let
Americans disdain to be the instruments of European
greatness! Let the thirteen states, bound together in a
strict and indissoluble union, concur in erecting one great
American system, superior to the control of transatlantic
force or influence, and able to dictate the connection be-
tween the old and the new world ! "f
* The Constitutionalist, No. 4, August, 1781--No. 6, July 4, 1782.
t The Federalist, No. 11.
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? HAMILTON.
CHAPTER XXI.
[1786. ]
I. n the domestic situation of this country there was
much to justify distrust. The definitive treaty had indeed
assured almost Roman limits to the new republic; but the
eastern boundary was disputed--the western denied--
while from the frowning fortresses which dotted its out-
line, each morning's drum-roll struck alarm into the breast
of the borderer, as it awakened in the crouching savage
his slumbering appetite for carnage. The interior subdi-
visions were also unsettled. The coterminous states of
Massachusetts and New-York had not yet wearied of their
disputes. Pennsylvania, though her rights had been es-
tablished under a constitutional tribunal, was threatened
with a contest with the New-England settlers at Wyo-
ming, who were preparing to refer their claims to the
most summary arbitrament.
Virginia was compelled to
release Kentucky from her reluctant embraces. North
Carolina was dissevered, and a fragment of her domains
was forming into an independent state under the name of
Frankland, of which an assembly preparatory to a con-
vention had met. * While so many inducements existed to
adopt a comprehensive national policy, such was the prev-
alence of state jealousy, that instead of labouring to invig-
orate the arm of the general legislature, an aversion to the
restraints of law, and an increasing disposition to withhold
confidence from the constituted authorities, were daily de-
veloped. Instead of looking for remedies to relieve the
>> August 1, 1785.
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? 340
THE LIFE OF
public distresses, in every part of the continent the prevail-
ing anxiety appeared to be to discover new objects upon
which to vent dissatisfaction. A bill to repeal the charter
of the Bank of North America passed the assembly of
Pennsylvania. In New-York, a memorial to incorporate
the bank, of which the constitution had been framed by
Hamilton, was presented to the legislature early in seven-
teen hundred and eighty-four; but so prevalent was the
jealousy of a moneyed influence, that it was compelled to
conduct its affairs during six years without corporate im-
munities. The cry arose that banks were combinations
of the rich against the poor, although, when not abused,
their tendency is to raise industrious poverty above the
influence of wealth.
These were minor indications. The craving appetite of
discontent called for food, and the recent combinations of
military men, and the d xngers of a standing army in time
of peace, became fruitful themes of clamour. An associa-
tion of the officers of the late army, formed at the en-
campment on the Hudson, " to preserve inviolate the lib-
erties for which they had bled, to promote and cherish
national union and honour, and to render permanent the
cordial affection of the officers by acts of mutual benefi-
cence," under the now venerated title of " the Society of
the Cincinnati," to continue during the lives of the mem-
bers, with succession to their eldest male posterity, became
an object of the most violent and wide-spread hostility.
The alarm was first sounded in an address under the
signature of Cassius, written by ^Edanus Burke, a judge of
the supreme court of South Carolina, professing to prove
that this association created a race of hereditary patricians,
and full of trite allusions to the orders which had sprung
up during the ages of European barbarism.
This popular topic was echoed throughout the states,
and having performed its office in America, was seized
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? HAMILTON.
341
upon by Mirabeau, and depicted with all the power, art,
and eloquence of his extraordinary genius.
The distrust thus excited in the minds of the people was
cherished by persons, who, having served wholly in a civil
capacity, had long been jealous of the superior populari-
ty of Washington and of his companions in arms. One,
with cold philosophy, advised them to "melt down their
eagles"*--while another, with all the vehemence of " a
disordered imagination," denounced the association as an
inroad upon the first principles of equality--the deepest
piece of cunning yet attempted--an institution "sowing
the seeds of all that European courts wish to grow up
among us of vanity, ambition, corruption, discord, and se-
dition. "f The outcry which had been so successfully
raised was deemed of sufficient importance to require the
attention of the society.
A general meeting was convened, at which Washington,
the president-general, presided, and an abolition of the he-
reditary provision was recommended. The following
documents relating to this subject, show how entirely the
real objects of this association corresponded with its pro-
fessed purpose, and with what sentiments Washington
viewed this impeachment of his pure and elevated patri-
otism. Hamilton thus represented to him the proceedings
of the state society of New-York.
"SIR,
"Major Fairlie is just setting out on a visit to you, I
believe on some business relating to the Cincinnati. The
society of this state met some short time since, and took
into consideration the proposed alterations in the original
frame of the institution. Some were strenuous for adher-
ing to the old constitution, a few for adopting the new,
and many for a middle line. This disagreement of opin-
* Jefferson. t Adams.
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THE LIFE OF
ion, and the consideration that the different state societies
pursuing different courses--some adopting the alterations
entire, others rejecting them in the same way--others
adopting in part and rejecting in part--might beget confu-
sion and defeat good purposes, induced a proposal, which
was unanimously agreed to, that a committee should be
appointed to prepare and lay before the society a circular
letter expressive of the sense of the society on the different
alterations proposed, and recommending the giving pow-
ers to a general meeting of the Cincinnati, to make such
alterations as might be thought advisable to obviate objec-
tions and promote the interests of the society. I believe
there will be no difficulty in agreeing to change the pre-
sent mode of continuing the society; but it appears to be
the wish of our members that some other mode may be de-
fined and substituted, and that it might not be left to the
uncertainty of legislative provision. We object to putting
the funds under legislative direction. Indeed, it appears to
us the legislature will not, at present, be inclined to give
us any sanction.
"I am of the committee, and I cannot but flatter myself
that when the object is better digested and more fully ex-
plained, it will meet your approbation.
"The poor Baron is still soliciting congress, and has every
prospect of indigence before him. He has his impru-
dences, but upon the whole, he has rendered valuable ser-
vices, and his merits and the reputation of the country
alike demand that he should not be left to suffer want.
If there should be any mode by which your influence
could be employed in his favour, by writing to your
friends in congress or otherwise, the baron and his friends
would be under great obligations to you. "
Washington replied:--" I have been favoured with your
letter of the twenty-fifth of November, by Major Fairlie.
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? HAMILTON. 343
Sincerely do I wish that the several state societies had, or
would adopt the alterations that were recommended by the
general meeting in May, seventeen hundred and eighty-four.
I then thought, and have had no cause since to change my
opinion, that if the society of the Cincinnati mean to live in
peace with the rest of their fellow-citizens, they must sub-
scribe to the alterations which were at that time adopted.
"That the jealousies of, and prejudices against, this so-
ciety were carried to an unwarrantable length, I will
readily grant; and that less than was done ought to have
removed the fears which had been imbibed, I am as clear
in, as I am that it would not have done it; but it is a mat-
ter of little moment, whether the alarm which seized the
public mind was the result of foresight, envy, and jealousy,
or a disordered imagination; the effect of perseverance
would have been the same: wherein then would have
been found an equivalent for the separation of interests,
which, from my best information, not from one state only,
but many, would inevitably have taken place?
"The fears of the people are not yet removed, they only
sleep, and a very little matter will set them afloat again. ,
Had it not been for the predicament we stood in with re-
spect to the foreign officers and the charitable part of the
institution, I should, on that occasion, as far as my voice
would have gone, have endeavoured to convince the nar-
row-minded part of our countrymen that the amor patriae
was much stronger in our breasts than theirs, and that our
conduct, through the whole of the business, was actuated
by nobler and more generous sentiments than were appre-
hended, by abolishing the society at once, with a declara-
tion of the causes, and the purity of its intentions. But
the latter may be interesting to many, and the former is
an insuperable obstacle to such a step.
"I am sincerely concerned to find by your letter that
the baron is again in straitened circumstances. I am
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THE LIFE OF
much disinclined to ask favours of congress, but if I knew
what the objects of his wishes are, I should have much
pleasure in rendering him any services in my power with
such members of that body as I now and then correspond
with. I had flattered myself, from what was told me
some time ago, that congress had made a final settlement
with the baron, much to his satisfaction. "
The state society of New-York, of which Baron Steu-
ben and General Schuyler were, at that time, the presid-
ing officers, met on the fourth of July, seventeen hundred
and eighty-six; on which occasion Colonel Hamilton de-
livered an oration, and at an adjourned meeting two days
after, he presented a report, which was agreed to, in
which his views as to the hereditary succession by right
of primogeniture, and the distinction between military and
civil members, are seen.
"The committee to whom was referred the proceedings
of the society of the Cincinnati, at their last general meet-
ing, beg leave to report, that they have attentively consid-
ered the alterations proposed at that meeting to be made
in the original constitution of the society; and though they
highly approve the motives which dictated those alter-
ations, they are of opinion it would be inexpedient to adopt
them, and this chiefly on the two following accounts.
"First--Because the institution, as proposed to be altered,
would contain in itself no certain provision for the contin-
uance of the society beyond the lives of the present mem-
bers; this point being left to the regulation of charters,
which may never be obtained, and which, in the opinion
of this committee, so far as affects this object, ought never
to be granted, since the dangers apprehended from the in-
stitution could then only cease to be imaginary, when it
should receive the sanction of a legal establishment. The
utmost the society ought to wish or ask from the several
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? HAMILTON. 345
legislatures is, to enable it to appoint trustees to hold its
property, for the charitable purposes to which it is destined.
Second--Because, by a fundamental article, it obliges the
society of each state to lend its funds to the state; a pro-
vision which would be improper, for two reasons; one,
that in many cases the society might be able to dispose of
its funds to much greater advantage; the other, that the state
might not always choose to borrow from the society.
"That while the committee entertain this opinion with
respect to the proposed alterations, they are at the same
time equally of opinion, that some alterations in the origi-
nal constitution will be proper, as well in deference to the
sense of many of our fellow-citizens, as in conformity to
the true spirit of the institution itself. The alterations
they have in view respect principally the duration or suc-
cession of the society, and the distinction between honora-
ry and regular members. As to the first, the provision
intended to be made appears to them to be expressed in
terms not sufficiently explicit; and as far as it may intend
an hereditary succession by right of primogeniture, is liable
to this objection--that it refers to birth what ought to belong
to merit only; a principle inconsistent with the genius of a
society founded on friendship and patriotism. As to the
second, the distinction holds up an odious difference be-
tween men who have served their country in one way,
and those who have served it in another, and improper in
a society where the character of patriot ought to be an
equal title to all its members. "
Time has furnished the best comment on the character
and motives of this association. Notwithstanding all the
alarms which were felt, or feigned, and the jealousies which
were inflamed, these societies have retained the soli-
tary solace of a riband and a medal to commemorate
their sufferings; have persevered in performing their ori-
ginal office of silent benevolence, and are only known to
44
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? 346
THE LIFE OF
exist when they assemble to celebrate the birthday of in-
dependence; to confer a more sacred distinction upon
some modern achievement of patriotism; or to remind pos-
terity, in an unobtrusive recital of his merits, that" another
patriot of the revolution is no more. "*
The unrepealed proclamations of our great maritime
rival, or, as England was termed, in language becoming an
age of barbarism, our " natural enemy," were more wor-
thy objects of opposition, and the first efforts to teach this
"assuming brother" moderation, are among the most in-
teresting and instructive portions of American history.
The first proclamation was issued in July, seventeen
hundred and eighty-three. In December of that year,
Virginia passed a resolution recommending congress to
prohibit all intercourse, until the restrictions upon the com-
merce of the United States were removed. In the fol-
lowing year she enacted several laws of a commercial na-
ture. One was to restrict foreign vessels to certain ports.
Having instructed her delegates in congress to remonstrate
against the infractions of the treaty, and to render the col-
lection of British debts contingent upon its fulfilment, she
passed an act empowering congress to regulate trade and
to collect a revenue. In seventeen hundred and eighty-
five she gave this subject a more deliberate consideration,
and resolutions were proposed and discussed in her legis-
lature of much moment.
* The medal was of gold, suspended by a blue riband edged with white,
indicative of the union with France. The principal figure was Cincinnatus,
three senators presenting him a sword, and other military ensigns. On a field
in the background, his wife standing at the door of their cottage, near it a
plough and instruments of husbandry. Around the whole, " Omnia reliquit
servare rempublicam. " On the reverse, sun rising; a city with open gates,
and vessels entering the port; Fame crowning Cincinnatus with a wreath,
inscribed, " Virtutis premium. " Below, hands joining, supporting a heart,
with the motto, " Esto perpetua. " Round the whole, " Societas Cincinnato-
rum, mstituta A. D. 1783. "
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? HAMILTON. 347
It was moved that her delegates should be instructed to
propose a recommendation to the states, to authorize con-
gress to regulate the trade and collect the revenue upon
the following principles. To prohibit vessels of any na-
tion not in treaty from entering any of the ports of the
United States, and to impose any duties on such vessels,
or their cargoes, as they should judge necessary, provided
they were uniform throughout the union; the proceeds to
pass into the treasury of the states where they should
accrue. To this general authority restrictions were to be
annexed, that no state should impose duties on goods from
another, by land or water, but might prohibit the impor-
tation from any other state of any particular species of any
articles, which were prohibited from all other places; and
that no act of congress, affecting this subject, should be en-
tered into by less than two-thirds of the states, nor be in
force beyond a limited term. An effort was made to in-
troduce an amendment, authorizing a continuance of this
act, by a vote of two-thirds of congress, if given within a
year prior to the expiration of the limited period, or a re-
vival of it by a similar vote within a year after. After
much debate, the first resolution was so amended as to ex-
punge the words, "nations not in treaty," and to extend
the power " to any foreign nation. "*
The authority to collect a five per cent. advalorem im-
post was refused, the restrictions on the respective states
were retained, and the duration of the act was limited to
thirteen years, the amendment authorizing its being con-
tinued having been rejected. After waiting a year for the
concurrence of a sufficient number of states, in conferring
this general power upon congress, Virginia, following the
example of other states, passed a countervailing law, that
no vessels trading to the state, other than those owned
? November, 1785.
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? 348 THE LIFE OF
r
wholly by American citizens, or by states having commer-
cial treaties with the United States, should be permitted to
import any other articles, than such as were the produce
or manufacture of the state or kingdom to which they be-
longed. She gave a preference of duties to her own citi-
zens, and discriminated between states having and those
not having commercial treaties with the United States ;*
and for the purpose of encouraging ship-building within
the state, gave a drawback on the duties imposed on arti-
cles imported in Virginia built vessels, wholly owned by
citizens of the United States. These measures, viewed in
connection with the vigorous and obnoxious system of tax-
ationf she now imposed, and with the fact that she had
opened communications with France in her separate capa-
city, could leave little doubt that she was preparing for the
moment to assume her station at the head of a southern
confederacy. In this countervailing policy it is believed
that Maryland was the first of the southern states to concur.
The action of New-Jersey upon this subject was nearly
contemporaneous with that of Virginia. As early as seven-
teen hundred and seventy-eight, she had represented, when
congress were framing the articles of the confederation,
that the exclusive power of regulating trade ought to be
vested in that body, and that the commercial revenue
should be applied to the equipment of a navy and to the
common benefit. As soon as the policy of England gave
* December, 1786.
t She passed a stamp act levying duties on legal processes, and upon all
alienations of property, and following out her policy of discrimination, a car~
riage tax, which was charged per wheel on all home-built coaches, and was
more than doubled on imported carriages. She subsequently prohibited tho
importation of rum, brandies, and of all foreign malt liquors, and imposed a
tax on bar iron and castings; hemp and hempen ropes not the product or
manufacture of the United States. Thus far had that state proceeded, urged
by a strong necessity, in a system of taxation, which, though much modified,
she subsequently strenuously opposed.
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? HAMILTON.
341)
practical evidence of her wise foresight, she again resolved*
that congress ought to be invested with the power of pro-
hibition. The contiguous state of Pennsylvania had shown
herself at an early period inclined to a protective system,
and her successive laws give evidence of her desire to en-
courage and to mature domestic manufactures by bounties
and discriminations. Impelled at last by the same motives
which had influenced other states, in March, seventeen
hundred and eighty-six, she enacted a law restricting her
commerce to American vessels, unless the imports were
made in bottoms belonging to the countries of which their
cargoes were the growth, product, or manufacture, under
pain of forfeiture, and levied a tonnage duty of five per
cent. on foreign vessels, annexing a condition, that this act
should be in force until congress were invested with the
necessary powers. She at the same time declared, "that
the privilege in the degree retained by the states individu-
ally of controlling and regulating their own trade, was no
longer compatible with the general interest and welfare of
the United States; reason and experience clearly evincing
that such a privilege is productive of mutual inconveniences
and injuries among ourselves, and that the systems of seve-
ral nations, by which our merchants are excluded from
the most beneficial branches of their commerce, while the
whole of ours is laid open to them, cannot be consistently
or effectually countervailed but by a unity of counsel in
the great representative body of the United States. "
Connecticut had passed an "act for the regulation of
navigation" during the war. In the preamble to it, she re-
cited, that as " a free, sovereign, independent state, she had
an equal right with all other sovereign powers to the free
and undisturbed navigation of the high seas, and to exer-
cise a convenient jurisdiction therein. " By this act, her
<< December 24, 1783.
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THE LIFE OF
governor was appointed "superintendent of marine" and
a revenue system ,was established. In May, seventeen
hundred and eighty-four, New-Haven and New-London
were declared by her to be free ports. All persons remov-
ing there for the purpose of commerce, were to become
free citizens; and immunities were offered to foreign capi-
talists who should engage in trade. This act cautiously
provided, that no countenance should be given by it to the
slave trade, and that it should not contravene any regula-
tions which congress might be invested with, for the pur-
pose of regulating commerce. Having granted to that
body the power of raising an impost, she in the mean time
imposed specific duties on certain enumerated articles, and
an advalorem duty of five per cent. on all other imports,
not the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United
States, whether imported by land or water from any of the
states, with a remission to those imported by citizens of
the state through another state for their own consumption.
These duties were subsequently increased as to specified
articles, most of which were selected with a view to en-
courage domestic manufactures, for which purpose, she
had enacted laws granting bounties. * Subsequent to this le-
gislation for local objects, she passed an act "vesting congress
with power to regulate the commerce of the United States. "
While the other members of the confederacy had mani-
fested so strongly their sense of the evils which the policy
of England had inflicted upon them, it was to have been
expected that Massachusetts, as the largest navigating
state, would have been the earliest to feel, the loudest to
reclaim against, the most zealous to oppose, the measures
* May, 1784. --A bounty of two pence per ounce on raw silk raised and
spun within the state. In 1787, she exempted from taxation buildings appro-
priated to the manufacture of woollen cloths, and the operatives from the
poll tax, and gave a bounty on spun yarn. Iron works were also exempted
from assessment, except slitting mills.
