strong, the foundations to be builded upon in the succeeding years and centuries. He earnestly insisted that it was a matter of primal importance that liberal provision should be made for popular education. He urged the opening of roads and the improvement of the waterways as means of intercommunication of the people and channels of trade and commerce. He suggested means of defense against still hostile tribes of Indians, and insisted that these, and all Indians, should be justly, honestly and humanely dealt with by the whites, which, he most truly said, would go far toward securing peace and harmony with them. He laid great stress upon the importance of religion and morality as conducive to the happiest conditions of society. "The prosperity and happiness of every people "-he wrote in his first message-" is invariably in proportion to their religious morality." He expressed the hope "that the people of Ohio would assume and forever maintain such advanced positions in industry, frugality, temperance and every moral virtue, as would gain for them the admiration of the whole world." But in that same first message he refers to the interference of the Spanish inhabitants of lower Louisiana with the free navigation of the Mississippi River by the people of the Northwest, in language which reveals that he certainly did not belong to the Quaker sect of Christians. He hoped that:

"These embarrassments to our infant commerce will soon be removed by prompt and efficacious measures to be taken by our President; but if our just and reasonable expectations in that regard should be frustrated," then with or without the aid of President or National troops as it might be―" although every friend of humanity may regret the dernier resort, it would be as impossible to prevent the Mississippi River from discharging its waters into the ocean, as to prevent the people of the West from asserting their natural right to force, with that stream, the fruits of their industry to every part of the world."

How perfectly Tiffin, in this message, unconsciously reflected the sentiments and feelings of Thomas Jefferson upon this subject! As early as 1790-long before the idea of buying Louisiana was conceived-the importance of the free navigation of the Mississippi River to our people living west of the Alleghany Mountains was fully realized, and was the subject of negotiations between our government and that of Spain. Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, in secret instructions to Mr. Carmichael, our minister in Madrid (which instructions, being State secrets, could not have been known to Tiffin when he wrote the message to the Ohio Legislature from which the above extract has been quoted) charged Carmichael to

Impress the Spanish ministry thoroughly with the necessity of an early settlement of this matter' (ie., the free navigation of the river), " for it is impossible to answer for the forbearance of our western citizens. We endeavor to quiet them with the expectation of the attainment of their ends by peaceable means; but should they, in a moment of impatience, hazard other means, there is no saying how far we may be led; for neither themselves nor their rights will ever be abandoned by us."

To anticipate a little upon this subject: in Gov ernor Tiffin's subsequent message, after congratulating the State of Ohio and people of the West, upon the completed purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul of France, by President Jefferson, and after reciting the fact that the Spanish authorities and residents on the lower Mississippi refused to acquiesce in their transfer by the Spanish crown to the French in July, 1802, and consequently their further transfer by France to the jurisdiction of the United States, and that they were still harassing American traders and impeding the navigation of the river, he urges the Legislature of Ohio to provide that "five hundred of our best disciplined and best officered militia be held in readiness to go down the river should the Spaniards either refuse or delay to give up Louisiana agreeably to the treaty."

All this was in perfect keeping with Tiffin's nature. The late venerable Col. Nathaniel Massie (oldest son of Nathaniel Massie, the founder of Chillicothe), who was intimate with the governor during the twenty years preceding the latter's death, and who assisted in preparing his body for the grave when dead, once said to the writer of this memoir: "Notwithstanding the intense fervor of Tiffin's religious character, I never knew a man more ready for combat of any kind-intellectual or physical-than he was upon provocation. But for that matter," added Colonel Nat reminiscently, "I never knew a Tiffin who was not like him in that respect."

CHAPTER X

Limitations of Powers of Governor-Progress of the StateTiffin reëlected Governor-The Burr Expedition foiled by Tiffin-Jefferson's Acknowledgment of His ServicesContemporary Notices of the Governor.

THE unpopularity of St. Clair, especially in the latter years of his official term, and the general resentment of his personal government, had so far influenced the members of the Constitutional Convention that they declined to confer the power of vetoing the actions of the legislative body upon the chief executive of the State, and, in fact, restricted his political powers to the narrowest possible limits. He could, by message, give information as to conditions in the State, and recommend legislation to the General Assembly; he could assemble it in special session in an emergency; he could appoint to office temporarily when vacancies occurred, subject to confirmation by the Senate; he could grant reprieves and pardons to persons convicted of crimes, except in cases of impeachment, and he could appoint notaries public. Substantially these were his only powers.