believe him to be honest, firm, faithful and independent, a sincere lover of his country, a real friend to genuine liberty, combining his attachment to that with love of order and stable government. No man's private character can be fairer than his. No man has given stronger proofs of disinterested and intrepid patriotism." The views of Hamilton prevailed, and Adams was re-elected by a small majority.

And now the Secretary of State began to reconsider his resolution to withdraw from office, He had tried a last effort to drive Hamilton from his post, by instigating an inquiry into the affairs of the Treasury, in Congress, and endeavouring to cast imputations on the probity of the rival minister. The result had been a triumphant refutation of every charge, and the House had confirmed the opinion of Boudinot, that the Secretary of the Treasury "was free from even a suspicion of malconduct in the whole transaction." Then Jefferson reflected, that for him to retire would be to leave Hamilton victorious and powerful, and he expressed his willingness, if the President had made no arrangements to the contrary, to continue in the cabinet somewhat longer-" how long he could not say, perhaps the

summer, perhaps the autumn." If Washington consented to this proposal, it was, that he still hoped to control the violence of faction, and to prevent a convulsion at home, in the face of the innumerable dangers which threatened the peace of the world.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE FRENCH ENVOY.

T

HE year 1793 opened under the darkest

auspices. The judicial murder of Louis XVI. was followed by the French declaration of war against England, and by the commencement of a contest that was to shake all the corners of the globe. The wise and good men of America beheld with dismay the rise of a new republic, whose creed was atheism, and whose foundations were laid in blood. The king, who had aided them in their struggle for liberty, had perished on the scaffold; the friends, who had fought by their side, were in exile or in prison; the principles they had loved and cherished were degraded by the foul caricature of a mad and impious anarchy. To such men as Washington and Hamilton, the state of France could only be a subject for deep regret, and their chief anxiety was to avert from their own country the evils of so pernicious an example.

Very different was the mood in which Jefferson watched the progress of events, and received intelligence of each new piece of Jacobin frenzy. He could see nothing objectionable in the excesses of republican zeal, and was always ready to extenuate crimes that were committed in the name of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Freneau and the National Gazette were employed to excite the popular mind in favour of France, the execution of the king was described as "a great act of justice," and the expression of pity for his fate was represented as the shriek of a monarchical junto." Every art was used to stimulate the unworthy prejudice against England, to stigmatize her as the champion of the tyrants and despots of Europe, and to sow the seeds of a lasting enmity between two kindred races of freemen.

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The treaty which France had concluded with the United States, during the course of the War of Independence, was entitled "a treaty of alliance eventual and defensive;" and it now became a question whether, under its provisions, America might not be bound to assist France in the present crisis. "Now is the time," wrote Jefferson to Madison, "for America to show her gratitude to

her friendly ally, France; now is the time to assist in the struggles of liberty." And if this language could be held by a person in the responsible position of Secretary of State, it is no wonder that the excited populace were ready to put the most forced and violent construction on the national obligations. Hamilton saw the danger that America might be dragged into a war with half the world, for interests that were not hers, and objects which she could not in sober reason approve. It was his opinion that, in acknowledging the French Republic as a government de facto, America should reserve to herself the right to consider the applicability of the treaty to the changed situation of the contracting parties. And he urged upon Washington that, before receiving a minister from the French Convention, it would be expedient to publish a Declaration of Neutrality with regard to the war now raging between France and Great Britain.

A stormy, and most important cabinet-council followed. Jefferson opposed the Declaration of Neutrality, but, with his usual cunning, based his objections less on the measure itself, than on the want of power in the President to take such a step without the consent of Congress. In the dis

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