compelled all of her enemies except Austria and England to make peace with her, would find it hard to believe that the "enemies of liberty, fraternity and equality" in the United States would be able to oppose her will.

QUESTIONS.

1. What was the nature of the question at issue between the United States and France from 1793 to 1800?

2. Compare the word "State" as used in this chapter with the same word in a quotation made from Burgess on page 50, and state its meaning?

3. Give the names of the men who were ministers from France to the United States from 1793 to 1800, and give an account of their conduct.

4. Contrast the letter written by Lord Sackville-West in 1888 with the letters published by Adet in the Aurora in 1796, and the conduct of the government with reference to the former with its conduct with reference to the latter.

5. How do you explain the difference?

6. Give the substance of the various decrees issued by France relating to the United States from 1793 to 1798, and explain their object.

7. Compare the decree of January, 1798, with the famous Berlin decree afterwards issued by Napoleon in 1806.

1798?

8. What was Talleyrand's opinion of the United States in

10. A member of the French council of five hundred in 1797 made a speech in which he said: "It is not Pinckney whom they (the government) repulse. It is the government of which he is the minister and the organ. And what have we been doing? Our agents at St. Domingo announce to the minister of marine, that having no other financial resources, and knowing the unfriendly dispositions of the Americans, they had, to avoid perishing, armed privateers; that already eighty-seven corsairs were at sea; and that for three months the administration had subsisted, and individuals had been enriched by the product of their prizes.

That the revolting conduct of the Americans and the indirect evidence of the intentions of the government, made it their duty to order reprisals. Corsairs against a friendly nation! Reprisals! When we are the assailants! Reprisals towards a nation which has not taken one of our vessels! Wealth acquired by the confiscation of the vessels of a people with whom treaties unite us; from whom no declaration of war separates us. What is the pretext? The treaty with Great Britain! Are we then the sovereigns of the world? Are our allies only our subjects, who cannot form treaties at their will?” Explain and comment upon the italicized passages.

A

President's message to Congress.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS.

BOUT the middle of March (March 19), the President sent to Congress a message informing them of the conclusion he had reached from a careful consideration of the contents of the dispatches from our envoys in France, which had been received about two weeks before. He told Congress that although nothing had been left undone which honorably could have been done, he saw no reason to expect that the envoys could accomplish the objects of their mission on terms compatible with the honor and essential interests of the United States; and that nothing further could be attempted without abandoning the principles for which the country had uniformly contended, and which lay at the basis of its national sovereignty. He therefore urged them to adopt measures for the protection of our commerce and citizens; "for the defense of any exposed portions of Our territory; for replenishing our arsenals, establishing foundries and military manufactories, and to provide such efficient revenue as will be necessary to defray extraordinary expenses, and supply the deficiencies which may be occasioned by depredations on our commerce." He also informed them that he had cancelled the instructions to collectors not to permit private armed vessels to sail.

Jefferson's opin

sage.

The effect of this message upon the Republicans was natural. Filled with the belief that the Federalists were bent on every pretext for accumulating power in the government, they were not in- ion of the mesclined to take the word of John Adams for the necessity of these warlike preparations and heavy expenditures. In a letter to Madison, Jefferson declared that the President's "insane message" was identical with war, and that he could see nothing in favor of it "resulting from views either of interest or honor strong enough to impose even on the weakest mind." The only explanation he was able to give of "so extraordinary a degree of impetuosity" was by supposing it to be due either to the desire to establish a monarchy, or to effect the separation of the states. He thought that Congress should pass a law prohibiting the sailing of private armed vessels as the President had withdrawn his prohibition, and then adjourn, since to do nothing and to gain time was everything.

The Republican members of Congress sympathized with Jefferson, and the effect of their conduct upon the Federalists was equally natural. Firm in the conviction that the Republicans were only Antifederalists in disguise, that their desire and aim was to break down the constitution, the Federalists thought that it was the policy of their opponents to keep the country unarmed, and thus compel the government to accept such terms as France might choose to impose. Utterly failing to com

prehend the point of view of their opponents, the Federalists believed that the Republicans were ready to subject the country to any degree of humiliation that might result either in overthrowing the constitution or in humbling the administration so as to destroy its prestige in the eyes of the people. Nor was this opinion confined to a few extremists like Robert Goodloe Harper and Harrison Gray Otis. In a letter to Lafayette, written the latter part of 1798, Washington wrote: "A party exists in the United States formed by a combination of causes, which opposes the government in all its measures, and is determined,

Washington's opinion of the Republicans.

as all its conduct evinces, by clogging its wheels, indirectly to change the nature of it, and subvert the constitution."

Debate upon

Immediately after the receipt of the President's message the House passed a bill making appropriations for the equipment of the three national frigates Spriggs' resolu. which had been authorized at the late sestions. sion. A few days later (March 27), the policy of the opposition was developed in three resolutions offered by Spriggs, of Maryland. The first declared that it was not expedient for the United States to resort to war against the French republic; the second, that the arming of merchant vessels ought to be restricted; the third, that adequate provision ought to be made for the protection of our seacoast and for the internal defense of the country. The