she urges us to resist the right itself. Why?Because she supposes that England will yield it? No, sir, no such thing. She well knows that England will not and cannot yield it with any regard to her own safety: it being of the last importance to her in a war like the present, where she has every thing staked on her maritime exertions, to prevent her seamen from passing from hers into neutral ships, where they get better wages, lighter duty, and are free from danger. France well knows, therefore, that England will not yield this right, and this is precisely the reason why she urges us to resist it: because such a resistance must immediately produce a quarrel between Great Britain and the United States. gan, it has long since been a mere contest for power. In this contest, France, having detached Prussia from the alliance, enslaved Belgium, subjugated Holland, and obtained an absolute control over the government and forces of Spain, found her progress resisted by nothing but the firm, persevering courage of Austria on one side, and the vast maritime power of England on the other. Accordingly, she bent all her efforts to weaken and destroy these two powers, and left nothing unattempted to divide them. She made continual efforts to induce the Turks to fall on the house of Austria on one side, and to arm Prussia against it on the other. She offered to divide its spoils with Prussia, in order to engage the avarice and amThe same spirit is visible in her other de- bition of that rival power, by whose assistance mands; all of which tend to the same point. she might break the strength of Austria, and She wished us to adopt a construction of the then rule both, with the rest of Germany. As treaty, that would have given her complete the fear of Russia has kept the King of Prussia possession of our ports, and shut them to in awe, and restrained his enterprises, she has England. She would have armed vessels, and left no stone unturned, to lull the new Emperor enlisted crews, in our country; she would have of Russia into security, and obtain his acquiessold her prizes here; she would have taken the cence. By thus raising up enemies against merchant ships of England on our shores, and Austria on every side, and pressing upon it at in our very rivers; and our courts must not have the same time with her whole military force, interfered. No English ship of war could have she is attempting to compel it to relinquish a entered our harbors, which she would not have large part of its territories, and make a peace expelled, by simply affirining, that it had made separate from England. But she constantly prize on her citizens, no matter whether lately refuses either to give up her own conquests, or or four years ago, whether in the East Indies, to make a peace in which both England and the West Indies, Africa or Europe. Could she Austria should be included. The policy of this have imagined, that England would see all this is obvious and important. Could she, after partiality, all these favors to its enemy, without having stripped and weakened Austria, succeed anger and jealousy? Could she have imagined, in detaching it from England, she would be left that bitter complaints or irritating remon-free to turn her whole undivided force against strances on the part of that country, would not take place? Certainly she could not. She knew, that anger, jealousy and irritation would necessarily be excited: she knew, that a system, which, under the name of neutrality, would have all the effect of an alliance with her, must produce resentment and remonstrance on the part of England, and that these, added to the ancient animosities not yet extinguished, but heightened on the contrary by recent injuries, must speedily end in hostility. Sir, the plan of ambition and aggrandizement, pursued by France in Europe, affords additional proofs of her policy respecting this country. I have no doubt, that any gentleman, who will carefully examine the subject, will be convinced that France deliberately attacked Austria as well as England, and of her own accord, and, in pursuance of a regular system of policy, lighted up the flames of the present war. I shall not, however, stop to examine that question, which would require a minute and tedious detail of facts, and is by no means essentially necessary in the present deliberation. Whether France began the war from projects of dominion, or was driven into it for the defence of her independence, is, in some degree, unimportant at present; since it is perfectly evident, and has indeed been admitted on all sides, that with whatever motives the war be that rival nation, so long the great object of her jealousy and hatred, and whose maritime superiority, it has been her policy, for a century, to reduce. In the mean time, she leaves nothing unattempted to accomplish this purpose; and knowing that the naval strength and pecuniary resources of the English depend on their trade, she resolves to assail their trade in all possible ways. Hence her former and recent attempts to exclude English vessels from every port. Hence her instructions to Genet to draw us into an alliance, one condition of which is to be the exclusion of English vessels from our ports. Hence her threats to Portugal of an invasion by Spain, unless English vessels are excluded from the Portuguese ports. Hence her recent attempts of the same kind on Denmark and the Hanse towns. To the success of this project against the commerce and navy of England, the aid of the United States is of the highest importance, and is so considered by France. I have it from the highest authority, that the plan of a maritime coalition against England, was early formed by France; that to the completion of it the accession of the United States was alone wanting; and that that accession was requested and refused. The pretence of this coalition, was to reduce the exorbitant maritime power of England, and prevent her tyranny over the other commercial states. The object of it was, and | the certain effect of it if successful would have been, to break down England; by which means France, who came next to her in naval power, would have been left to reign unrivalled and uncontrolled in her stead. The United States would have been the most important member of this coalition. The great number of their ships and sailors would have enabled them to become the carriers of France, while she should employ all her maritime resources in attacking England. Their privateers also would have struck a deadly blow at the English commerce; and the use of their resources and their ports to France, would have given her a decided superiority in the West Indies, and obliged the English to send so great a force there, as greatly to weaken their operations every where else. Hence it is evident that France could have no ally so important to her, in the naval war against England, as the United States. Indeed, without their assistance, she could have no hopes of success in the West Indies. Accordingly she took steps to secure this assistance, as soon as she began to form her project against England, and has pursued them ever since with the most unwearied perseverance, and by every expedient of threats, promises, flatteries, frauds and intrigue. England alone. She well knows, that our sailors are the most brave, skilful, and enterprising in the world, and, that by arming our vessels, our commerce would soon be made to float safe from privateers; while her fleets and large ships would be kept in awe by those of England. She knows that in the late war, the State of Massachusetts alone, with its privateers, took one-third of all the merchant ships of Great Britain; and that, though she had no commerce to be attacked, these maritime materials, greatly increased since that time, would enable us, if driven to the necessity, to create speedily a formidable marine, with which we could, not only defend ourselves, but attack her possessions. She knows, that we have a population not far short of six millions, and that the martial spirit, which conducted us gloriously through the trying scenes of the late war, though dormant indeed, could not have been extinguished. She knows, that by co-operat ing with the English, s co-operation which must result naturally from our being driven into the war, by opening our harbors to their ships, permitting them to arm, refit and victual in our ports, to recruit among our seamen, and to employ our vessels as transports, we could give them a most decided preponderance in the American seas, under which her own colonies, and those of Spain and Holland, which she most justly considers as her own, must speedily fall. It being, as I conceive, perfectly manifest from all these considerations, that the plan of France has always been to draw us into the war; the House is furnished with a ready solu- She knows that in case of a war with us, tion of her anger against the British treaty, Spain and Holland, who must be her allies, and a clue to all her present measures. It is would be within our grasp. She knows that evident, that her anger at the treaty has arisen the Americans could and would lay hold of entirely, from its having defeated her plan of New Orleans and the Floridas, and that they drawing us into the war; and it will readily are well acquainted with the road to Mexico; appear, that the whole aim and object of her and she would dread that enterprising valor, present measures are to compel us to renounce which formerly led them through barren wilds it; to drive us into that quarrel with England, and frozen mountains, to the walls of Quebec. into which she has failed in her attempts to She knows, in fine, that to drive this country entice us. She must either mean this, or she into a war with her at the present juncture, must mean seriously to attack us, and drive us would bring about that co-operation of means, into a war against herself. To discover which and that union of interests and views between of these is her real object, what is the true us and the English, which it has been the great motive of her present measures, is of the ut- object of her policy to prevent, and which she most importance; because till that is done, it had undertaken two wars, in the course of will be difficult to determine, in what manner half a century, for the sole and express purpose those measures ought to be counteracted, which of breaking. It is, therefore, I think, impossiis the point immediately under consideration. ble to conceive, that France means to drive or I can never believe, that it is the intention of provoke us into war. Her object, in my opinFrance seriously to attack this country, or to ion must be altogether different. It must be drive it into a war against herself. She has to compel us to renounce the British treaty, too much to lose and too little to gain by such and renew all our differences with that nation, a contest, to have seriously resolved on it, or under circumstances of irritation which must even to wish it. In her counsels, I have ob- speedily end in a rupture. What has led her served great wickedness, but no folly; and it to form this project? From whence could she would be the extreme of folly in her to compel derive hopes of success? She has been led to this country to become her enemy; especially form it, in my opinion, from a persuasion, erroin the present war, when we can throw so for-neous indeed, but favored by many appearmidable a weight into the opposite scale. France well knows our power in that respect, and will not compel us to exert it. She well knows, that we possess more ships and more seamen than any country upon earth except ances, that we are a weak, pusillanimous people, too much devoted to gain to regard our honor, too careful about our property to risk it in support of our rights, too much divided to exert our strength, too distrustful of our own government to defend it, too much devoted to I her to repel her aggressions at the risk of a quarrel, too much exasperated against England to consent to that co-operation, which must of necessity grow out of resistance to France. Various occurrences have combined to produce and confirm this persuasion, and the forbearance which our government has exercised towards herself, is not the least of them. She has seen us submit, with patience, to the insults and outrages of three successive ministers, for the very least of which, she would have sent the minister of any nation out of her country, if not to the guillotine. The minister of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, with whom France had recently concluded a treaty, learning that the daughter of Louis the Sixteenth was to be sent out of the country, requested permission to pay her a visit. This request to visit an unfortunate young lady, the near relation of his sovereign, and whose tender age no less than her sex, her virtues and her calamities, entitled her to respect, was answered by an order from the directory, to quit the territories of the republic. His expression of a wish to show one mark of regard to virtuous misfortune and suffering innocence, was considered as an affront by the government of France, and punished by the instant dismissal of the minister. Accustomed to act thus herself, how can she impute our long-suffering and forbearance, under the perpetual insolence and insults of her ministers, to any thing but weakness, pusillanimity, or a blind devotedness to herself? The conduct of gentlemen on this floor, too, has more and more confirmed her in this injurious opinion of us; has confirmed her in the erroneous persuasion, that there is a party in the very bosom of the government, devoted to her interests. I do not mean to charge gentlemen with acting under French influence. I am persuaded, that in the course they have taken, they believed themselves to be aiming at the good of their country, which they supposed might best be promoted in the manner recommended by them. But I would ask those gentlemen, and I solemnly call on them to lay their hands on their hearts and answer me I would ask them whether the course of conduct which they have pursued, is not calculated to impress France with a belief that they are devoted to her interests, and not to those of their own country? Whether the manner in which they have always connected the interests and wishes of France with their opposition to the measures of this government, does not necessarily tend to create and confirm this belief? When she saw them constantly making it a ground of opposition to measures, that they would be hurtful or displeasing to her; constantly supporting those plans which she was desirous of seeing adopted; constantly opposing all that she opposed; what could she infer, but that they were a party devoted to her views? As she knows their numbers and importance, and has these apparently strong reasons for relying on their attachment, what can she conclude, but, that however unable they may be to direct the government according to her wishes, they will be ready and able so to clog its operations as to prevent it from adopting or pursuing vigorous measures against her? She no doubt does believe, and there is evidence of the fact from the most respectable quarter, our minister in that country, that she has nothing to do but press hard on the government, in order to lay it, bound hand and foot, at the feet of this party, by means of which, she might then govern the country. She is further confirmed in this belief by the conduct of the people of this country, by their warm partiality for her cause and her nation, by their enthusiastic exultation in her victories, and the fond, sympathizing sorrow with which they mourn her disasters. Mistaking the source of these generous emotions, she has seen in them nothing but the proof of a slavish devotedness to herself, which would render this people incapable of asserting their own rights, when it must be done at the risk of her displeasure. She does not know, nor can she be made to understand, that it is the cause of liberty in which she is thought to be struggling, that inspires this enthusiasm, and that, should she change her conduct, and abandon the principles which she professes, these generous well-wishers would be found among the firmest of her opposers. A similar mistake she committed with respect to England, and that mistake further confirmed her original error. She saw much resentment excited by the attacks and outrages of England, and she supposed that resentment to be deep-rooted and durable. She did not know, and could not conceive, that, when England had given up her injurious pretensions for the future, and agreed to make a fair and just compensation for the past, we should forget our resentments, and cherish sentiments of mutual and friendly intercouse. She supposed these resentments to be far more deeply rooted, more universal, and more permanent, than they really are, and relies on them as a certain means of preventing any union of interests and operations between us and England, however recommended by policy or even required by necessity. In all these delusions she is confirmed by the conduct, the speeches, and the writings, of persons in this country, both our own citizens and hers; by the information and opinions of some of her citizens, who, having resided here, have carried home with them those erroneous opinions, which foreigners generally form about countries they visit; and it is to be feared by the behavior, too, of some of our citizens in her own country, who, forgetting the trust reposed in them, and the situations in which they were placed, allowed themselves to pursue a course of conduct and conversation, calculated to confirm France in all her unfounded and injurious opinions, respecting this country. Supposing, therefore, that the people of this country are unwilling to oppose her, and the If such are her objects, how was she to be induced to renounce them? By trifling concessions of this, that, or the other article of a treaty; this, that, or the other advantage in trade? No. It seems to me a delusion equally fatal and unaccountable, to suppose that she is to be thus satisfied: to suppose that, by these inconsiderable favors which she has not even asked for, she is to be bought off from a plan so great and important. It seems to me the most fatal and unaccountable delusion, that can make gentlemen shut their eyes to this testimony of every nation, to this glare of light bursting in from every side; that can render them blind to the projects of France, to the Herculean strides of her overtowering ambition, which so evidently aims at nothing less than the establishment of universal empire, or universal influence, and has fixed on this country as one of the instruments for accomplishing her plan. This, government unable; that we should prefer | and at the hazard of all our possessions. peace with submission, to the risk of war; that I believe, is the way to insure success to the a strong party devoted to her will hang on the negotiation; and without this, I shall consider government, and impede all its measures of it as a measure equally vain, weak, and delureaction; and, that if she should place us by sive. her aggressions in a situation, where the choice When France shall at length be convinced, should seem to lie between a war with Eng-that we are firmly resolved to call forth all our land and a war with her, our hatred to Eng- resources, and exert all our strength to resist land, joined to those other causes, would force her encroachments and aggressions, she will us to take the former part of the alternative; soon desist from them. She need not be told she has resolved on the measures which she is what these resources are; she well knows their now pursuing, and the object of which is to greatness and extent; she well knows that this make us renounce the treaty with England, and country, if driven into a war, could soon beenter into a quarrel with that nation; in fine, come invulnerable to her attacks, and could to effect by force and aggressions, that which throw a most formidable and preponderating she had attempted in vain by four years of in-weight into the scale of her adversary. She triguing and insidious policy. will not, therefore, drive us to this extremity, but will desist as soon as she finds us determined. I have already touched on our means of injuring France, and of repelling her attacks; and if those means were less than they are, still they might be rendered all-sufficient, by resolution and courage. It is in these that the strength of nations consists, and not in fleets, nor armies, nor population, nor money: in the "unconquerable will-the courage never to submit or yield." These are the true sources of national greatness; and to use the words of a celebrated writer," where these means are not wanting, all others will be found or created." It was by these means that Holland, in the days of her glory, triumphed over the mighty power of Spain. It is by these, that in later times, and in the course of the present war, the Swiss, a people not half so numerous as we, and possessing few of our advantages, have honorably maintained their neutrality amid the shock It is against this dangerous delusion that I of surrounding states, and against the haughty wish to warn the House and the country. I aggressions of France herself. The Swiss have wish to warn them not to deceive themselves not been without their trials. They had given with the vain and fallacious expectation, that refuge to many French emigrants, whom their the concessions proposed by this amendment vengeful and implacable country had driven will satisfy the wishes or arrest the measures and pursued from state to state, and whom it of France. Do I dissuade you from these con-wished to deprive of their last asylum in the cessions? Far from it. I wish them to be of-mountains of Switzerland. The Swiss were fered, and in the way the most likely to give weight to the offer. It is a bridge which I am willing to build for the pride of France to retreat over; but what I wish to warn the House against is the resting satisfied with building the bridge, to the neglect of those measures by which France may be induced to march over it, after it shall be built. I wish to negotiate, and I even rely much on success; but the suc-forbade, they would protect them in it at every cess of the negotiation must be secured on this floor. It must be secured by adopting firm language and energetic measures; measures which will convince France, that those opinions respecting this country, on which her system is founded, are wholly erroneous; that we are neither a weak, a pusillanimous, or a divided people; that we are not disposed to barter honor for quiet, nor to save our money at the expense of our rights: which will convince her, that we understood her projects, and are determined to oppose them, with all our resources, required to drive them away, under the pretence that to afford them a retreat was contrary to the laws of neutrality. They at first temporized and evaded the demand: France insisted; and finding at length, that evasion was useless, they assumed a firm attitude, and declared that having afforded an asylum to those unfortunate exiles, which no law of neutrality hazard. France, finding them thus resolved, gave up the attempt. This was effected by that determined courage, which alone can make a nation great or respectable: and this effect has invariably been produced by the same cause, in every age and every clime. It was this that made Rome the mistress of the world, and Athens the protectress of Greece. When was it that Rome attracted most strongly the admiration of mankind, and impressed the deepest sentiment of fear on the hearts of her enemies? It was when seventy thousand of her sons lay bleeding at Cannæ, and Hannibal, victorious | over three Roman armies and twenty nations, was thundering at her gates. It was then that the young and heroic Scipio, having sworn on his sword, in the presence of the fathers of the country, not to despair of the republic, marched forth at the head of a people, firmly resolved to conquer or die: and that resolution insured them the victory. When did Athens appear the greatest and the most formidable? It was when giving up their houses and possessions to the flames of the enemy, and having transferred their wives, their children, their aged parents, and the symbols of their religion on board of their fleet, they resolved to consider themselves as the republic, and their ships as their country. It was then they struck that terrible blow, under which the greatness of Persia sunk and expired. These means, sir, and many others are in our power. Let us resolve to use them, and act so as to convince France that we have taken the Then resolution, and there is nothing to fear. This 1 APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN MINISTERS. This speech, on the constitutional powers of half long, in which he repeated assertions forthe President and Senate, relative to the ap-merly refuted, and made them the ground of a pointment of Foreign Ministers, was delivered long train of reasoning; and advanced many in the House of Representatives of the United States, on the second day of March, 1798. * new positions equally untenable, but equally capable, if left undetected and unexposed, of misleading the mind. These assertions, which the gentleman from Pennsylvania has not attempt of all his reasonings, were advanced with a boldness which nothing but a belief that he was to remain unanswered could have produced. His speech, when prepared in his closet, was evidently intended for a concluding speech; and hence he has laid down positions which he knew to be unfounded, with a boldness of which even he himself has heretofore exhibited no example. On these positions he has built a gigantic structure of argument, to support the present motion; a structure which, like a vast edifice resting on loose blocks, must fall and crumble in the dust, as soon as some person shall take the trouble to discover and knock away, its frail and temporary props. It was my wish and my hope, Mr. Chair-ed to prove, though they are the ground-work man, when this business was again called up some days ago, after an intermission of three weeks or more, that we should at length be permitted to come to a decision, without further debate, on a question which had so long occupied the attention of the House, and already perhaps exhausted the patience of the public. I and those with whom I think on this occasion were willing, for the sake of an early decision, to pass by unanswered many things, which though susceptible in our opinion of an easy refutation, were calculated to make an impression to our disadvantage. We were even content to leave unnoticed the violent philippic of the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Nicholas, who introduced this motion, and who, in support of it, has allowed himself so great a latitude of invective, against its opposers and their adherents. We therefore repeatedly called for the question, and did all in our power to close a debate, in which such immoderate use had already been made of the indulgence of the House. But it did not so seem good to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Gallatin. He yesterday pronounced a discourse of three hours and a * See Journals of Congress, January 18th, 1798. It is for this purpose that I now rise, once more to trespass on the indulgence of the committee. The loose blocks which support this edifice I mean to knock away; an operation which requires neither strength nor skill, which may be performed by any person who stands near enough to discover the defect; and then it will be seen with what speedy ruin a structure so large, and appearing so solid when viewed from a distance, will tumble to the earth. Though called up, however, Mr. Chairman, by the assertions of the gentleman from Penn |