Newspaper Page Text
-1' i9i2, when the fiist question
of rmi counts arises, and ending, at his
feuiru, he received, in all, about $75,
000. F' r a like term Mr. Monroe receiv
ed $32,000; tor one year and eleven
mouths Mr. Pinkney received $41,
ooo-
• To place this matter in a clearer lighi,
permit me,sir, to enter injo some detail.
In July, 1800, Mr. Adams received his
appointment as Minis er to Russia, with
the usual salary aud outfit, and repaired,’
with his family, to St. Pe ersburg ; a resi
dence, r believe, as expensive as any in
the wot hi. No exception, as I under
stand, is taken to any thing in his acts, till
die commencement of the mission for the
negotiation of peace under the mediation
of the Emperor of Russia. This media
tion was offered in the Fall of 1812, tlvro’
the agency of Mr. Adams ; and I believe
it is net too much to say that it was main
ly owing to the favorable impression of
.-The Ametican character conceived by
the Emperor Alexander during the mis
sion of Mr. Adams, that the offer was
-made. T bis offer was accepted by the
American Government, and in April,
1813, a commission was sent to Mr. Ad
ams, jointly with Messrs. Gallatin and
Bayard, to negotiaie the treaty with Great
Britain, under the proffered mediation.—
The Secretary of State, under Mr. Madi
son, on informing him of his appointment,
i/j conjunction with the other gentlemen,
said, “as you will all be exposed to consi
derable expense an outfit has been allow
ed to each.” It may here be observed,
that in employing, as one of the three ne-
goiiators, the resident Minister at Sr. Pe
tersburg, a saving of $9000 accrued to
•the Government. The outfit alluded to
Was allowed aud paid at the time to Mr.
Adams.
Messrs. Bayard and Gallatin arrived at
in addition to his salary as Minister there,
the necessary expenses incident to the
mission extraordinary to Gottenburgh and
Ghent. The reasonableness of the al
lowance to them was never doubted.—
In Mr. Monroe’s case, it received the
d : rect sanction of Congress not two years
ago. It could not be more questionable
in ibe case of Mr. Adams. Those gen-
ilemen had to provide for their faraijies
in tlteir absence : Mr. Adams was com
pelled to leave his at St. Petersburgh,
with a necessary continuance of almost all
the qxnenses of his establishment. The
extra expenses incurred were, therefore
fairly chargeable upon the extra service.
The period during which tbis s°rvice con
tinued, including the negotiation of a com
mercial convention with Great Britain,
was 15 months, from April 26, when Mr.
A. left St. Petersburgh, to 3d July.—
Bui the charges made by him, and allow
ed to him, were confined to the period
from his departure from St. Petersburg!)
to the lime when his family joined him at
Paris, about eleven months. Mr. Ad
ams bad been informed by the Secretary
of State, at the time he was appointed on
the mission, under the mediation of the
Emperor of Russia, that, in the event of
the conclusion of peace, it was the inten
tion of President Madison to nominate
him ns Minister to London. He accord
ingly repaired to Paris, and directed his
family to join him there, with a view to
receiving the order of the President ei-
therfor his transfer, or his recall to Ame; i-
ca. They arrived at Paris March 20,
181*5. On the 7th of May, lie received a
letter from Secretary of State, informing
him of his appointment as Ministerto Lon
don. This was in fiie midst of the peri
od in France which has been called the
hundred days, between the arrival of Na
poleon from Elba and the baule of Wa
terloo. Tite ordinary communications
: and England were inter-
St. Petersburg, in July, 1813. lb
Emperor was absent oil the eventful cam- j between F
paign against the French, bur the confer- jrtipted;V * « ;lie passage ol Mr. A. and
enci-s of the Commissioners were opened j his family to die latter country was atten-
wi'li Count Roniauzof, Cli ncollor of the i 'ded w> h difficulty and delay. He ani-
Empire. The expenses which the outfit j veil in Lnnd<<u on the 15th of May, 1815,
Was intended to cover, incident to the ar- j and n e next day received his Commis-
rival of a new mission, actually accrued t
0 considerable extent, and were incurred
the more freely by Mr. Adams, for the
very reasons that he liad been allowed and
paid an outfit for-that purpose. England,
however, it is well known, refused to ac
cept the mediation of the Emperor, and
the mission under it closed, bv ttie depar
ture of Messrs Bayard and Gallatin, n
January, 1814. Mr. Adams was then
lafr as the resident Minister at St Pe
tersburgh.
In refusing to negotiate under the me
diation ol Russia, Great Britain offered
to heat directly with the United States,
at Gottenburgh or London, and hi.' offer
was accepted. Mr. Adams was a op
ted, in joint commission with Messrs.
Bayard, Clay and Russel, to whom was
afierwards added Mr. Gallatin, to nego
tiate for peace at Gottenbu-g. Mr. A.
received this commission at St. Peters-,
burgh, in April, 1814, with instructions
to repair to Gottenburgh. His commis
sion as Minister to St. Petersburgh still
remained in force, and he was directed to
leave Mr. L. Hams as charged with the
affairs of the legation, during bis absence.
01 bis family, he bad with him at that
time at St. Petersburgh, bis wile in vei*t
ill health, and a son under seven years<%
age. In traveling from St. Petersburgh
to Gottenburg, it was necessary to gw bv
water passage upon the Gulfs of Finland
and Boihinia; oi by crossing five passa
ges, from ten to fifty miles in extent, over
the I >iand in the latter of those Gulfs,
which passages at that season of the year,
by the breaking up of ice, were rendered
impiso. 'cable, and were, at their first
opening., extremely dangerous.
There was little expectation in any
quarter, that the negotiation would be
successful; aud ihere was every leason,
on the part of Mr. Adams, to believe that
after a short absence, he would be obli
ged to return to So Peie-rsburgh. He
the re fore left his family and establishment
there, winch coutinued at nearly the same
expense as before. Taking passage by
water at Revel, in the first vessel which
Sailed, after the breaking up of the ice
and afiei repeated delay and detention ;
mid great risk, from the same cause, Mr.
Adams arrived at Stockholm on the 25th
vofraav. He there learned that an ar-.
rancemeiu had been made by Messrs.
B vard and Gallatin, (who' were in Lou
don,) with the British Government, by
Which the seat of negotiation had been
Transferred trom Gottenburgh »o Ghent,
in Flanders. An American slo op of war
Was then at Gottenburgh, iiivi.g as a
cartel, conveyed Messrs. Clay and Rus
sell to that place. Ii was ordered to the
Texel, there to await the further direct
ions of the American Ministers. Mr.
Adams accordingly proceeded to Gotten
burgh, embarked with Mr. Russel on
board die vessel, landed from her at the
Texel, and thence proceeded by laud to
Ghent, where he arrived on the 24ih
June. Six months from that day, on the
24 li December, 1814, the Treaty of
peace was signed. For this Mission to
Gottenburgh and Ghent, Mr. A. never (as
has been alleged) received either salary
or outfit. And yet it was a Mission,
different in its locality, and the expenses
incident to it, from that nuder the media
tion. The outfit for the latter was not
Iruefnled to cover, and could not cover
the extra expenses for the former.——
Accordingly, Messrs. Gallatin and Bay
ard, each of whom had received an outfit
sion i >■* Creden’ial letters to England,
and letter of recall from, Russia.
According to ilie rule adopted as early
as the Administration'of General Wash
ington, Mr. A. would have been authori
zed in cpn-idei ing his Mission as Minister
Plenipotcn'iary to the Russian Govern
ment as terminating on tlie day on which
he-received his letter of recall. He might
also, on the rule, have charged his extra
expenses to the account of the joint com
mission for negotiating the commercial
convention with Great Britain. He,
however, considered his Mission to Si.
Petersburgh as terminating when the ex
penses incident to it terminated, viz : the
in- ! arrival of his family at Paris, and regard
ing the special mission for negotiating a
commercial convention merged in that of
Minister Plenipotentiary to England, for
which lie received a full outfit. Accord
ingly, from the 20th of March, 1815, lie
made no charge, and received no a.low-
ance for the expenses of a special mission.
His colleagues received for their part, in
the service of negotiating commercial
convention of July 3, 1815, each a half
outfir. Mr. A. lias received no conespon-
ding allowance.
t C
In tbis way, ihe time for which Mr.
Adams was allowed the necessary expen
ses of the special mission to Gottenburg
and Ghent, is reduced to between ten and
eleven months—about the same apace of
time which was occupied by the special
mission to Spain of Mr. T. Pinkney, in
1795, and Mr. Monroe, in 1804—5.—
The allowance to those gentlemen for
their expenses, was to Mr. Pinkney about
nine thousand dollars and to Mr. Monroe
upwards of eleven thousand dollars.—
The whole amount of expenses allowed
to Mr. Adams, was 6385 dollars—less than
was evei claimed or allowed in any paral
lel case since the foundation of the gov
ernment. . Of the ministers of the United
States to Europe, who have been employ
ed at the same time, upon several distinct,
important and expensive missions, there
is no one whose case approaches so near
ly to that of Mr. Adams, as the late Presi
dent, Mr. Monroe, Each was employed
on four distinci missions, in three different
countries, for a length of time within 40
days the same. The allowances to Mr.
Monroe (prior to the act of Congress of
May, 1826J were $82,000; those to Mr.
Adams, $75,000. Omitting fractions in
both cases.
Tiiecase ofMr. Monroe is worthy in
this connexion of the more particular at
tention ofthe House. He went to Europe
1S03, with three commissions ;-one .as
Minister resident in England, one as joint
Commissioner with Chancellor Livingston
in France, and a third as joint Commis
sioner with Mr. Pinckney, in Spain. He
was on, his departure, allowed an outfit as
Minister tu England, but was told that he
could not be allowed it as Extraordinary
Minister of France. He sailed for this
last country in the Spring of 1-303, passed
a few weeks there in negotiating, in con
junction with Mr. Livingston, aud went
over to .England. After his return to
America, he claimed an outfit to France,
and was allowed it by President Madison
5th May, 1810, four days after the pas
sage ofthe law of 1st May i810, which is
alleged to limit the allowance of outfit to
Minis'e s going from the United Staies.
These two outfits accrued to Mr. Mon
roe iu the space of four months. The
next year he went to Spain, on his special
mission, and was gone about nine months.
nud expenses of their conveyance, to St. J For his expenses on this mission he was
Peteteburgh, on the mission ot the media- i allowed $11,000, in addition to his regu-
ti«>n, were vet allowed all their travelling ; lat salary as Minister at London. It is
cv.leases lro:n St. Petersburgh to Ghent, j true that a small part of this allowance
o same principle, and on the estab- j was lor expenses not strictly personal to
: preci dents in the cases of Mr. j himself. It was Mr. Monroe’s intention
P.t;K -ey, in 1/95, and Mr. M >u- to return to America in 1805, but the as-
. in 1805, who were allowed all the j peel of our negotiations making it expe-
ex i-n>es of their missions to - Spam, ; dieot that he should continue at London,
• they retained their commissions he was instructed by the President to re-
'Ul utcs as resident plenipotentiaries inni.; there, which he did for two years
* o-ondoa. Mr. A. retaining Ins cu.rq- , longer, during which time he was associ-
sioa at St. Petersburgh, was allowed, jated in a negotiation with Mr. Pinkney,
This detention occasioned to Mr. Mon-
roe increased expenditure, although his
residence was not changed. For this in
creased expenditure he claimed an allow
ance, on the settlement of his accounts in
1810. This allowance was sus'pended by
Mr. Madison ; and for obvious consider-
aiions was not subsequently brought for
ward by Mr. Monroe, till the close of his
Administration. He then submitted it to
Congress. It was examined by them at
two successive sessions, under the aus
pices of two select committees, at the head
of which was placed the gentlemar from
Pennsylvania, (Mr. Ingham.) The equi
ty of the claim was allowed, among other
items, about $lO,O0O for this two years’
detention, with interest down to the pres
ent time ; a sum more than equal, with
out imerest, to a third outfit in three years.
oat the sum of $25,000. * No friend of
the Administaation, said a word in favor
of retaining it. On the contrary, a gen
tleman from Ohio (Mr. Becher) made a
motion to reduce it to $5,000.
\ gentleman from Georgia, now its
Governor Mr. Forsyth,; opposed the mo
tion of the gentleman from N. Carolina,
on the ground that though it was a mistaken
policy ( in which I already concur with him)
to provide the President a lodging at the
public expense; yet, having done so, it
ought to be decently furnished Another
gentleman, also, in opposition, (Mr. Cam-
breleDg)expressed the same sentiment aod
the appropriation was retained. Not
withstanding that mode in which it took
place, a mighty clamor against the Pres
ident arose throughout the country. The
estimates of the upholsterers were diffused
I voted with the gentleman throughout on through the Opposition Press. The
the passage of this bill, believing the claim hard suspicious f rench names of furniture
just and equitable, but without the least employed by these artisans, were found
conception that I might ever wish to make significant of corruption ; and it was de
nse of it as a precedent ; for I did not at ! clared to be the affair of the President
that time know that any thing in the-and his political fiiends. Sir, no man
President’s acts had been subjected to ex
cepiion.
One word more as to the outfit for the
mission under the mediation, before I pass
from this subject. It ought, in the first
is above public opinion ; and no matter
is so small that it.may not furnish a suffi
cient fulcrum for moving the greatest
masses. The odium excited by this small
matter was intense ; and yielding to it, I
(Here Mr. RANOoLre said ’General
Washington played biliards.”]
The gentleman from North Carolina
said that it was an insignificant affair, till
the Administration made it important.
Sir, is this the fact ? I appeal to the gen
tleman if it did not ring from Georgia to
Maine, from the Atlantic to the Mississipi.
I have been well assured that it has been
so misrepresented to the people, in some
parts of the country, as to have cost the
here bolds up to toe horror of tbe &n otr .
its Chief Magistrate and his wife ashav.
ing conspired to poison the virtue ofac
individual to whose care their had commit,
ted their own infant child.
You remember, sir, when a vile ques
tion was put to the unfortunate queen of
Frnace by her revolutionaryjudges touch
ing her son, she appealed to every female
in the crowded audience, who was herself
a mother to find an answer in her
own
Administration more votes than any thing heart. Sir, I call no hard names, I never
else. And this abused community has call them. But I appeal to evetv father
been so urged and plied on the subject, who hears me, especially to every one who
through the channels of the Press, that I ’ has left his wife and children at a distant
am well informed that there are districts home, to judge of the commiseration | 0
place, to be observed that the practice of j did at the next session of Congress, move
allowing a full outfit to a resident Minis- to reduce the appropriation from 25,000 !
ter abroad, when commissioned on a new dollars (for not a cent had been drawn
rrtission, was first introduced by Mr. Jef-j from the Treasury) to 6,000 dollars; a
iersoti. Mr. Adams, when appointed by j sum adequate to pay for what had alreedy
President Washington to Lisbon, (being | been bought or contracted for. The
Charge d’Affatres at the Hague,) had friends ofthe Administration in the House
bui a half outfit, and when transferred by were blamed for yielding to that clamor ;
President Adams to Berlin, had also but a ! but whoever will revert to the famous let-
halt outfit. On the same rule, when Mr. j ter in the Richmond Enquirer—a gross
Van Murray was by President Adams ap- j fabrication from beginning to end, but art-
pointed on the mission to Fracce, jointly
with Messrs. Dacre and Ellswyrtliy, he
was told, by older of President Adams,
that a half outfit only would be allowed
him. On his return home, under Mr.
Jefferson’s Administration, he was allow
ed and paid a full outfit. And the prece
dent then established, has since been pur
sued in like cases. With respect to the
outfit allowed to Mr. Adams in 1813, it
was by Mr. Madison’s order allowed and
paid to Mr. Adams, out of a fund entirely
at his disposal, on the ground of the addi
tional expenses to he incurred, and in con
junction with his colleagues. At the
next session of Congress, among the esti
mates from the Treasury, was one for the
three outfits which had already been al
lowed and paid out of the contingent fund
for foreign intercourse. Instead of the
amount of these outfits, Congress appro
priated a sum equal only to two and a half
so that $22,500 only instead of $27,000
were replaced to the contingent fund.
Mr. Adams was accordingly called on
to refund one half of ihe outfit which he
had been allowed and paid by President
Madis-m, and which he bad received and
expended. This he declined to do, and
owing to this item, his accounts remained
for some years uusetteied. Living under
a government of laws, and supposing lie
was entitled to their protection he reques
ted the officers of the Treasury to iii'.;;;-
fute a suit against him, in order that if a
judicial tribunal decided in favor of the
allowance it m gilt he made h:tn ; and
prepared, if otherwise, to acquiesce.—
Tilts however, the Treasury declined do
ing. When the provisi-m was introduced
into the law, stopping the salaries of ail
office*s iti arrears to the goyernnien, 51.-.
Adams appealed to the President for his
decision. The President took the official
advice of the A'torney General. This
officer decided that the cla.m was un
doubtedly valid, and it was allowed and
paid accordingly. The
of the
Attorney General may be found, (Docis,
1st Session 19tli Congress, vol. x. doc.
167.)
Another subject has been brought into
this discussion, by a gentleman from North
Carolina, (M r. Carson,) on which I shall
with great reluctance, say a few words.—
He says, that he was astonished that the
Administration, after receiving $14,000,
in the spring of 1825, for furnishing the
President’s house, should, at the nexi
fully calculated for effect—and take this
in connexion with the outrageous clamor
which pervaded the country on the same
subject, will admit that we took the proper
course.
There is another matter in this con
nection, to which I feel bound to advert,
as the gentleman from Nortli Carolina
has never especially referred to me on the
subject. In engaging in their duty, in re
ference to the furnishing of the public
buildings, the Committee thought, while
so large an additional appropriation was
proposed, that it would be satisfactory to
the House to know in what way the for
mer usual appropriation had been applied.
They therefore, requested the private Se
cretary of the President (who, they un
derstood, had been employed in superin
tending the furnishing of the house) to
give them a statement of what had been
bought. This he accordingly did.—
And among the items contained in
the inventory, \Vere a biliard table costing
$50; some ofthe appurtenances to it, and
a set of chessmen. Now, sir, it may have
been a remarkable obtuseness of moral
sentiment, on she part of the Committee ;
but it so happened that no alarm was taken
by them at these dangerous articles. The
inventory was reported to the House, with
the other papers accompanying the bill.—
forthwith as as I have already said, a por
tentous outcry arose. The matter was taken
up with all the energy of the pi ess, the
President was denounced as the corruptor
ot the youth of the country ;—the articles
themselves were declared to be parts of a
splendid gambling establishment; the Ad
ministration was represented as a set (not
merely politically but morally of despera
does and debauchees, and the President’s
H-rose as the scene of their orgies. Co
lumns of this loathsome cant filled the
newspapers. In due time the gentleman
from North Carolina called the attention
of the House to this subjeet. I do not
say he did it in offensive terms ; for I re
ally do not recollect what he said about it.
His comment had, however, the effect of
giving a sanction to what had been said
already elsewhere. Now, sir, what was
the President to do. Neither he nor any
one else, as I have just said, is above pub
lic opinion: he is on the contrary, more
powerfully subjected to it than any other
person, for the reason, that his station
gives greater importance to his actions.—
The account was not yet settled at the
session qf Congress, ask for $35,000.’ Sir ! Treasury?. The statement submitted to
when in the spring of 1S25, the usual ap
propriation of $14,000 was made furnish
ing the President’s house., (which had nev
er been entirely furnished) it was, in res
pect to furniture, in a forlorn and destitute
state. The.appropriation of$l4,000 was
accordingly almost wholly expended in
articles of daily household utility. In the
course of the session, a motion was made
for a committee to enquire into the expe
diency, at that time, of finishing and fur
nishing the public buildings. As far as the
President’s house was concerned, this
motion had especial reference to the large
eastern room, which to say, was made
without any knowledge or ageucy on the
part of the occupant of that house, or any
of his family. The .commit tee thus rais
ed, went to the President’s house to satisfy
themselves, by actual inspection, of its
situation, in respect to furniture. Though
one of the committee, I was myself pre
vented by illness from attending to that
duty. They found, of course, the large
rooQi empty, with the exception of a few
chair frames, without seats, and in every
part of the house, a want of furniture, re
quired, not for elegance and luxury, but
for comfort. They then uirected two
artisans to examine the premises, and es
timate the expense of furnishing them.—
For the large room two estimates weie
giyeh in, one amounting to $20,000, and
the other to $19,000, while the only esti
mate for the residue of the house was
$10,000. The committee reported a
gross sum, of $25,000, to furnish the eas
tern room, to supply ihe deficiency of fur
niture in other parts of the house, and to
make some slight repairs. In this esti
mate, neithei the President'af the U. S.,
nor any member of the family, had direct
ly or indirectly the least agency. The
gentleman, dierefore, is wholly mistaken
in saying that the Administration a^ked for
this new appropriation. When the bill
was before the House, the gentleman from
North Carolina, (I think) moved to strike
the Committee was nothing but the ac
count of the President’s Private Secreta
ry (an officer not known to the Govern
ment) with the fund. It was necessary
to settle an account with the Treasury.—
In doing so, it was necessary for the
Pres'dent to charge either the public or
himself with every article in the state
ment already rendered. It was necessa
ry that he should either allow or disallow
the particular item in question. He chose
the latter. He had a right so to do ; lie
was right in doing. If the opponents
of the Administration chose (as they did)
to make a great matter out of this small
ene, it was the duty of the President to
his friends, to take from their oppo
nents this ground of attack. He did so,
and paid for them. But I shall be told
that there still remains against the Presi
dent the high charge of having these arti
cles (however paid for) in his possession.
The opinion which may be formed of the
immorality of this act, will vary accord-
ing&to associations. I myself have been
bred up in the bosom of a virtuous com
munity ; one in which, it is supposed,
something of the strictness of the Pilgrim
Fathers may yet be traced in the morals
of their descendants. I think I may say
that, with them, no horror is felt on this
subject. Among my friends, neighbors,
and constituents there are several who
deeming this relaxation not'merely inno
cent, but a healthful exercise, when the
weather does not permit exercise abroad,
have the means of enjoying it in their
dwelling house. Dr. Franklin, no cer-
ruptor of youth, was a great admirer of
the game. Mr. Jefferson, I have been
told at one time proposed ta introduce it
among the gymnastic exercises of the U-
niversity of Virginia. Whether General
Washington played biliards Ldo not know
bat it is recorded of him that he played
cards, which, in a moral point of view, is,
perhaps n«t better.
in the United States, in which it is firmly
believed, that the private abode of the
President, than whom a man of purer life
does not exist in the country, is little bet
ter than a bagnio.
Sir, there is another remark which fell
from the gentleirian from North Carolina,
which I feel bound to notice, though I
do it with the utmost pain. He savs,
“ has the character of Gen. Jackson alone
been attacked? No sir, like the Hyena,
that fellest of the fell, which robs the
graves of the dead, they have entered the
sanctuary of domestic retirement, and
dragged before the bar of the public, load
ed with the basest slanders, the character
of an innocent and much injured lady.—
Have they done this, and do they now
complain and charge us with wishing to
heap.ealumny on the Administration ?”
[Mr. Carson said he referred to the
Administration presses]
Sir, I admit the explanation. I re
marked in the outset that I would act on
the defensive. But I would wish to show
the gentleman, that there are two sides to
this matter; and that in reference to the
presses enlisted in the present contest, the
Administration have as much to forgive as
to be forgivpn. Allow roe, Sir, to relate
to yon an anecdote. It so happened, that
in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Adams at
St. Petersburgh, was a virtuous and re
spectable young woman, who had gone
with them from Boston, in the capacity of
attendant on their infant child, possessing
an unusual share of personal beauty, and
an education above her employment in
life. On her arrival at St. Petersburgh,
she heard the stories, such as often circu
late in the European capitals, whether
true or false, of the private life and habits
ofthe Emperor. These stories formed a
part ofthe letters which she wrote to her
friends in America. Gentlemen know
that in many countries in Europe (and it
was especially so at the period in question,
which was one of anxious political excite
ment) letters committed to the post office
are opened at the police. It was done in
this case, and coming as they did from a
person in the family of a foreign minister,
and dealing so freely with the Emperor's
character, the letters of this individual
were submitted by the police to the Em
peror, and by him to the Empress, as mat
ter of pleasantry to both. About this
time, by an act of attention not unusual
toward the families of foreign ministers,
the Empress requested that the infant
child of Mrs. Adams should be sent on a
visit to the palace. This was accordingly
done, under the charge of the individu/i
mentioned, and the letters alluded to, and
her appearance, caused her to be the ob
ject of some slight notice on the part of
the Emperor and Empress. This is the
whole of the affair. She remained in the
family of Mr. A. till she returned to Bos
ton—married there a respectable citizen,
from having been the servant, became
the friend and visiting acquaintance of
Mr. and Mrs. A., and is now deceased.-
Such are the real facts. Now, Sir, since
the Administration presses have been
charged, in this debate, with invading do
mestic retirement, and slandering female
character, let me show you what has been
made out of this innocent affair. I read
it, from, a pamphlet, which, as I have been
told lias been widely circulated, and which
purports, on its title page, to be printed
for one who has been introduced into this
debate, by the gentleman from Pennsyl
vania, as a victim ofthe proscribing and
vindictive policy of the Administration.—
I will first read the text and then the
comment.
“To avert so dreadful a calamity was
the first fruits of this victory (of New Or
leans) and the hero that achieved it, is for
this entitled not only to the fervent bene
dictions of the designated victims, but to
all who prefer the guardian of innocence,
and the protector of virtue, to a customer
of bawds, or the pandor of an autocrat.”
This is the text, and now follows the
comment :
It appears that the lady of our min
ister to St. Petersburgh, some years since,
took with her a very pretty young wo
man, to superintend her children. The
charms of this person, while at that cap
ital, had been so loudly extolled, that they
at length reached the ears of the immacu
late Alexander, who expressed a curiosity
to behold such a prodigy of beauty. To
indulge this curiosity a secret coalition
was formed, by which it was arranged that
the Autocrat of all the Russias should, at
a certain hour, take his airing in a certain
public walk, and that its unsuspecting ob
ject should be punctually sent thither, by
those who could control her movements.
This interview accordingly took, place
with the consent and contrivance of those
who ought to have been the special guar
dians of the innocence ofthe proflered vic
tim, but entirely without her knowledge,
or ever dreaming of the frightful perils to
which she was thus wantonly exposed.—
Fortunately, however, the abused maiden
escaped outrage, and preserved her peace
and honor because the fastidious taste of
the lascivious monarch did not accord with
the grosser taste of those who had ” Sir,
I can read no further: I have touched this
odious topic in reply to the gentleman
from North Carolina, who accuses the
Administration presses of warring on fe
male character; in reply to the gentleman
from Pennsylvania, who has alluded, in
this debate, to the person whose name is
on tbe pamphlet as a persecuted mao, who
which he is entitled, as a persecuted man
who could put his name to a tale like this
and send it, as I am informed, bv facili
ties of transportation arising from govern
ment patronage, into every cottage in the
State.
Sir, there were other topics, on which I
meant to have touched, but I have ex-
hausted the little strength which I brought
into the House. In the part I have ta-
ken in the discussion, I have but acted op
the defensive. I own it, that 1 have
been a little surprised, that it has ever
been made a question whether the
ministration was assailed or not. Why
sir, there has not been a day nor an hour
since it was formed, that it has not been
assailed. I do not now complain of this
sir, I do but stale the fact ; and the gen
tleman from Pennsylvania tells us now
what we were told two years ago, bv the
gentleman from South Carolina, that the
very existence of the Administration was
a political felony—that they have burst
unlawfully into the offices of State, and
that he njould no more make terms with
them, that is, no more “judge them bv
their acts,” than with the robber, wb.. ha-
ving broken into his premises, should pro
mise to behave himself well. One gen
tleman from Tennessee, (Mr. Mitchell,)
says they are already too much w orn out
to be attacked, and the gentleman from
Tennessee, (Mr. Bell,; that they are ruts
down ; and yet we are accused of kind
ling at fancied charges, and bristling up in
the defence, when nobody has attacked us.
Sir, such an assault, in my limited ac
quaintance with the history of the country,
I have no where found. A Chief Magis
trate of more than ordinary simplicity of
life and purity of character is denounced
at one moment as the profligate corruptor
ofthe youth of our nation ; as able, fiith-
ful and patriotic a CaKuet as any ever
formed since the first Administration of
Washington, and abler than almost everv
other which has followed, is denounced as
weak, inefficient, and corrupt. An ad
ministration, which in three years has ap
plied thirty-three million to the payment
ofthe Public Debt, and expended ten or
twelve more in objects of public utility, is
proclaimed to be profuse and extravigant.
An Administration which came into pow
er avowedly on the principles of seeking
out the best talents of the nation for offi
ces of trust and honor, and which, if it has
erred has erred in neglecting its friend*, is
charged with proscribing and persecuting
its opponents. And after all this has been
repeated, year after year, till in its effect,
gentlemen flatter themselves, and tell us
hat we are wasted, worn out, and run
down ; and after each one of these topics,
and numerous others, have been touched
on in his very debate, we are then told
to keep very cool—nobody has attacked
us.
But I am willing for one, Sir, to take
these declarations of gentlemen as tho in
dication of the course whicli they approve’
and are willing to pursue. It is tiuie, for
the honor of the country, that the war of
extermination should cease. In laying
waste the characters of those, who under
the constitution of the country, are cloth
ed with the administration of its affairs, we
are wasting that which is a part of the
most valuable treasury of the nation.—
Above all, it appears to me, lhal'il is time
the vehemence with which, within these
walls, the war has been waged against the
Administration, should cease. In addi
tion to its necesssary and unavoidable
evils, and waste of time—the sacrifice of
dignity—the kindling of the worst pass
ions, it is accompanied with the still grea
ter evil, that it lends a kind of sanction to
that ferocity in the press which has alrea
dy reached the point at which many of
the most valuable citizens of the commu
nity shrink back into retirement, .before
the storm of obloquy that awaits every
one who appears before tbe public.
Before f sit down, sir, I must ask leave
to say, that if every gentleman had spoken
in the tone of the gentlemen from Tcn-
nesse, (%- Bel! ,) I should probably not
have troubled tbe House. To almost
every remark that fell from him, I yiel
ded a hearty assent. I feel not less
strongly than he, tho’ I may be unable to
express it with that manly force which won
the attention of the House, that this war
fare is mail exempli, without our even be
ing able tu plead in excuse, that the bad
example sprang from a goad one. The
geutleman, with a liberality which I could
uot but admire, however little I might be
willing to sanction the consciousness of
political strength with which he spoke,
told us that the joy of the huntsman is in
the chase, and when the game fs run down,
he calls off the pack, and will not let them
manage the carcass. The gentleman
cannot expect me to agree with him that
the game is run down, but he will agree
with me, that, of the pack which sprang
at the throats of this Administration, there
were some, whose fangs were already
fleshed in other game. And is the law ot
the chase altered ? Will not what has
been, again be ? Believe me, sir, it will;
the fate of Acteon is no fable here: and
scarcely will the gentleman’s gallant hunts
man, (unless some rare felicity of fortune
shall elevate him above the lot of hiS
predecessors,; scarcely will he have
wound his horn in triumph, when be will
find, to his amazement, that he is the
game, and some of those who have shared
in the triumph of the chase will tu/o and
spring on him* *