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4 | The Life and Times t * OF * j THOMAS JEFFERSOX • Being the First Part of a History of the United States Copyright, 1903, by Tho*. K. tDatson*”Mll Right* Roterood - — —?—. ■-" i u 1 'j . i ~;-> - . - . .1" CHAPTER XXXVIH. Determined to make our government resemble the English, it wag a darling project with Hamilton, Jay and other federalists of that type to bring about friendly relations with Great Britain. It was no easy task. England's temper Was ugly. She was sore over the loss of her colonies. She was aching to revenge herself upon America and upon France. She refused to give up the forts o n the northwest frontier. As Jefferson demon strated in a masterly state paper, her ex cuses were flimsy, untenable. She could not answer his argument, and did not try. She simply held on to the forts. From these forts Indians went forth, fired with hatred and whisky, to make war upon American settlements. But the federalists justified Great Britain. Jay declared the fault to be ours. She claimed and exercised the right to halt our ships upon the seas, to search them, and to drag from our decks such Sailors as her navy might need. Her pre tense was tile retaking of her own sea men: her practice was to take whom she » pleased. But tho federalists curbed their Indigna tion successfully, and from them no loud protest Was heard. And when France sent over her minister. Genet, and tho time came when our government had to show its hand, it suddenly appeared more friendly to our late foe than to our late ally. Without exception, our historians have treated the Genet episode from the stand point of the old federalist party. There fore, the average American gets an im pression so misleading as to be wholly false. The democracy of France, like the democracy in America., had made war upon a king and had established a re public Tn our struggle, French money and French blood had been poured out in our behalf It was not the money of the king of France; It was nqt the blood of the king of France; it was tho bio id and the money of tho people of France. The .powerful undertow of sympathy with America which had dragged the French minister off his feet, and made tho French alliance imperative, came, not from the torpid king, but from the people. Every time the royal pen was laid to paper in ' America's behalf it was done under pro ‘ test. These people who had rushed to Ameri ca's aid in the darkest hour of the revo lution had now accomplished a revolution of their own. America's example had en couraged them, inspired them, shown them tho way. Now that the French monarchy was down and democracy tri umphant. Great Britain bad chosen to in terfere. had made the king'-’ cause her own. and hi 1 . rated herself to the tinholly purpo o < r ’"storing in Europe the tyranny of ;I ri-1- r.ici and king.* Great Britain had blockaded France and dis- <*Sce full . cut i ■ .-* author’s "The Story of France and Napoleon ”) missed from London tho French minister. "War was begun Before th- French re public over published her declaration. ( What more natural than that the I French people, at this crisis, should look! to the American people for sympathy and help! There w r- the. two republics; tlv lr common enemy was monarchical England. Without French aid. tho American re public could not have been established. America still owed France a huge debt— partly of gratitude, partly of prosaic cash. And France, in rending Genet to Amen ca. virtually said to us what Beauregard's messenger said to Johnston on the eve of Manassas. "If you w'ant to help me, now is the time!" Genet came He was young: he was untutored in statecraft and the ways of diplomacy: he was fresh from scenes of democratic i-xcit-inent; the gospel of brotherly love was burning hotly within him. Never for one moment did he doubt that the heart of th- American people beat warm)', for the young French re public. He expected to be re vived wl'h open arms, with the gladdest smile of greeting, with the <-10.--a.-st ling of fra ternity Ha l not mg Lafayette broken out of convention,' rest: dis in Fiance, and hastened to th arms of Washington? Had not young Roell.imbeau led the lines at the final issnnlt at Yorktown? Oh, were we n >t all brothers in the holy cause of «t--’it- r-i.--, ? G-net assumed that we were. Impb. itl. bellev-d that we Were, unhesitatingly m-te-i upon th- conviction tha’ wo wore For at Ch t t.,n. where he landed, first th-r. was nothing to correct his im pressions. Everybody was glad to see him. Shouts of w>’e-me >os- around him. Open arms were thrown about him in the brotherly err. : . <•. Gv. ti-.ms tilled his young heart with patriot!/ rapture. Commissions * > send out privateers against tic British'.' Whx of course. Gov ernor Moultrie was the same old hero who had won that first victory over the com mon > >.enty- G .v-ri - Moultrie would sign commissions to tit out the privateers. Cheerfully. And so lie did, the treaty with France npp< siring to 1-iml the Americans to do that very thing. Private-is put to s-, and British com mere? !>• a: all t i suffer. G-net set out for Phtlad- ’pl a land. His journey was lilo a royal progrr s Th- hearts of tho I ■ ->ple v. with him Where else could be ■ ■ so >on forget Di< 1 t gratitude? Wag she in capabl- of g'-n- sous enthusiasm for Frau - :r. th- Freis h efforts to establish n r-public? Had America no responsive chord wb h might be touched by tlia struggles of other people for political freedom? Til- liis ’orians are cold. They sneer at Genet They mock his references to lib-, erty, / lit; fraternity They heap rid-» Ictile upon his "sentimental appeals." "Sentiment." it would seem, is. historical ly. a felony. French enthusiasm for our struggles might have been natural, even commend able; but tho idea was preposterous that Americans should have enthusiasm for the struggle in France. This historical tone grows out. of the necessity of the case The British faction dominated Washington's cabinet; th" British fac tion set its face like fjint against Genet; the British faction was able to convince Washington that he ought to Ignore what France had done for us. and to virtually say to Great Britain and the French, "Fight it out between yourselves." Treaty or no treaty. America will "hands off.'* So that when Genet reached Philadel phia, and had lapped himself In the lux ury of unbounded enthusiasm there, and then tvent into the presidential presence, expecting his official welcome to be of the very- warmest kind, he suddenly en countered an iceberg. He was enlightened as to the situation with cruel candor and promptitude. Washington's greeting was formal, and certainly not warm. Washington’s proc lamation was, practically, a repudiation of the treaty. Washington's orders as to the privateers recognized no obligations to France, and indicated no friendship. Genet's disillusion was complete and most painful. The struggling French republic, like the thirteen American colonies, was sorely in need of money. Genet asked for no gifts. The return of the donations the French had given to aid tho struggling colonies was not expected; but Genet did ask that the subsequent jsums, which /had been loaned, might now be repaid. Hamilton refused. The debts were not due, and it would be inconvenient to pay them. Should America discharge tho debts before they were due Great Brit ain might take offense! Can any' American citizen of the present dav read that statement and not feel ashamed? But this was not all. Genet, deeply hurt at the refusal to pay. and at the reason aligned, proposed to transfer tho French claims to American merchants in exchange for food and clothing for tho needy soldiers of Franco, who, barefoot ed, ip rags, and almost unfed, were fol lowing tlia. ilng in the cause of liberty, just as the poor American soldiers had done only a few years before. And Washington's government, domi nated by Hamilton, refused to allow Ge net that poor privilege! Great Britain, might not like it! Is it any wonder that young Genet lost his temper? The American of tills day who can read this chapter in our history and be proud of it will also be proud of the attitude of our government when Great Britain, partly by the help of supplies bought from us in violation of treaty, was tram pling the life out of tile South African republics. But no other citizen can be proud utf it. Yes. young Genet Jost his temper, and, like all men in a passion, did things that hurt his cause. He gave John Jay, Hamilton, Rufus King and other feder alists the excuse to say that lie had in sulted the president. Genet appealed to Washington to correct the slander, and Washington tightened the mantle of presidential dignity around him, refus ing to notice the appeal Democratic societies had sprung up everywhere, and Genet had multitudes of friends; but he could not afford to match himself against Washington, nor did he try. He protested as well as he could, but he was powerless. Jefferson was se cretly in sympathy with him almost to the last; but even Jefferson realized that the issue could not be met on the ground where the federalists had put it. He. abandon-d Genet to his fate, which, In di cd, was not personally ruinous to Genet, for the young man won the heart and hand of the daughter of Governor Clinton, of New York, and settled down To the life of private citizen. Not only were the Drill 1; assured that this government would pay all damages inflicted by the privateers fitted out from our ports, but they' were permitted to seize French property on American ves sels. as well as American property on American vessels. if such property chanced to be foodstuffs on the way to ....ngry France! Worse than all—during the entire pw nod covered by the controversy with Genet. British war vessels continued to capture American seamen wherever and whenever they could, and to impress them to service, exile and death on Eng lish ships! Greater humiliations were never en dured than those we bore in the efforts to make terms with England. We broke with a true and tried friend to prepare the way for alliance with an Inveterate enemy. The reason assigned by Hamil ton, Jay and the federalists generally was that another war with Great Britain would ruin us. 'Io keep peace we inflicted upon our- I selves and upon Frame cruel wrong— and yet we had England to fight, after Had we kept faith, had we been true to treaty, had we paid France our debts of gratitude and of money, who can say that it might not have been better for us as well as for France? Great Britain divided her foes--thanks to Hamilton. She fought France, and kept ns from aiding her. And then she fought us. when France could not help us. Bad we made common cause, she might not have attacked either. Thus each of the three nations suffered be cause of the 'broken treaty'. Before the revolution there had, of course, been no national political par ties. Whigs and torles there were, and divisions on local colonial questions. Dur ing the war all Americans who fought for Independence were classed as whig*, those opposed as tories. When the new constitution was on trial those who fa vored it were called federalists, those opposed anti-federalists. By the time Jefferson had taken in the full signifi cance of the Hamilton policies, an oppo sition lifted its head, and took the name republican. By that name ho himself al ways referred to his i>arty. Its founder believed that Hamilton and his followers were aiming at monarchy. This did not necessarily mean that Jefferson thought Hamilton aimed at setting up a king; it meant that republican ideals, democratic principles, were ’being put aside. If this tendency was to be checked, if tho mon archical spirit was to toe kept out, then organized opposition was necessary. To organize this opposition and to dedicate the new government to the true republi can Ideals, (became the mission of Jef ferson's life. And therein consists his greatness. Edmund Randolph was perhaps quite as brainy’ a man as Jefferson; Patrick Henry? in some respects excelled him; Madison, in his own narrower limits, was as efficient; but in combination of high qualities, and in consecration of lofty purpose, none of these bear comparison to Jefferson. With him, as with Hamilton, the pur pose was to found a. system, establish a creed, shape the future of generations yet unborn. To do this was a duty, a mis sion. He had no option; It was work Imposed upon him by the law of his na ture. He believed in tho people, was willing to trust the people; the name of which he grew proudest was "the man of the people." At all point# his system, his creed, collided with that of Hamil ton. Tho things Hamilton was seeking to do wore those which Jefferson most abhorred. Ho did not want Europe repeated here. Above all things, ho dreaded that. Had American pioneers fled to this continent to escape pho abuses of European sys tems only to have those abuses intro duced again? After all tho aacrlflco# and THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION: ATLANTA, GA., MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1903. victories of the revolutionary war, in which king, aristocracy and class legisla tion had Hjeen cast aside, were we to voluntarily fasten upon our necks the same yoke in another form? Was hu manity never to learn its lesson? Was the past never to be respected as a teacher? The conception of Mr. Jefferson was that the world was making one more great effort to evolve a higher, better! system of government than Europa had ever known; and it galled him to see that statesmen like Hamilton, were merely' attempting to secure such legis lation. establish such Institutions. as would give us ns good a system as the abominably' upjusi system of Great Brit ain. Right or wrong, this was Jefferson’s attitude: anil to understand him. it is necessary to place one's self at. that point of view. He detested Hamilton, not as a personal enemy, but as Jh" most dangerous cham pion of the anti-republican, anti-demo cratic splri>. He hated, npt the man, but the system. Washington Ijjid endeavored to govern with a non-partisan cabinet. The at tempt/ was a failure. Parties sprang up at the very council board, tho two great secretaries, striking at ep.eh other llko fighting-cocks. Hamilton's party established a news paper organ, Fenao’s Gazette. Jefferson’s party founded Freneau’s Ga zette. The rival papers hammered each other and the leaders on each side in the man ner since urown so familiar. Hamilton was npt spared, Jefferson was assaulted, Washington himself roundly abused. Freneau was a clerk In the state de partment, with a salary’ of $250 per year. The president seemed to think that Jef ferson should dismiss the troublesome editor, but the secretary declined to do so. Those who claim that Jefferson was deficient In courage have many obstacles to overcome, and this braving of the wrath of Washington is one of them. But Mr. Jefferson had no fondness for the heated atmosphere of personal dis pute and wrangle"; by nature he pre ferred the ealm of llbcjrles ami the up per regions of philosophic thought. Speeches he would not make, newspa per controversies he would pot wage. Flans of campaign he would furnish to lieutenants, marching orders to battal ions. but for the actual scene of strife, the hurly-burly of knock down and drag out, he was unfitted, lb- feared no one. shrank from no position, compromised no principle, to save himself, deserted no friend because the world was against him; but yet lie had that high sense of personal dignity’ which held him aloof from any line of action inconsistent with his ideal of the statesman. A Wel lington might not be afraid to take off his CI/.V to tight the regimental bully; but no om would expect to see a Wellington do a thing of that kind. It wa s Wellington’s business to plan tile campaign anjj direct the combats of Other men. Let bullies light bullies. But while Mr. Jefferson took no hand in this, newspaper xvar, Hamilton did. Holding his rival responsible for all that. Fremau had written,. Hamilton assailed Jeffersqji violently, but the purpose fail ed. Jefferson paid no attention to him. President Washington was grieved and scandalized at this state of things in his non-paitisan cabinet. in the nobles spirit lie endeavored to compose the un seemly strife. But each secretary was without fault in his own eyes, and the breach was not healed. Hamilton wrote the president a letter of justification, and Jefferson did likewise—and federalists I have nev<T mused Io resent tin- fact th it i of the two filters Jefferson's is the stronger. His position having become irksome to him, Mr. Jeff.-rson offered more than once to resign. At the urgent request of the president, however, he held on till Jan uary J. 171'4, when he retired, carrying yvith him as warm ff letter of commenda tion as Washington could write. in The True Thomas Jefferson Mr. ■William Elery Curtis states that Jeffers m "was compelled to resign from the cabi net ” This surprising statement is not only contradicted by ail the previous biographers of Mr. Jefferson, but is con tradicted by Washington himself. In bis letter of January 1, 17'JI. he says to Mr. Jefferson: "1 yesterday received with sincere re gret your resignation of the office of secretary of state. Since it lias been im possible to prevail upon you to forego any longer' the Indulgence of your desire for private life, the event, however anxious 1 am to prevent it, must be submitted to." lie then goes on to pay a high tributq to his retiring secretary. If Mr. Curl is had Investigated his sub ject. he would have learned that General Washington sought to win Jefferson back to service of his administration by offer ing a special mission to Spain. Mr Jef ferson declined in a letter which bears date September 7, 179-1. The statements made by Mr. Curtis that Washington wished Jefferson out of the cabinet, that Jefferson promised several times to get out, and that lie was at last forced out, are untrue. Mr. Jefferson’s popularity and reputa tion were greatly increased by liis record as secretary of state. He had diligently applied himself to the routine work of his department. improvTng the postal service; arranging treaties with Indian tribes; laying off the. new federal city- and plan ning its public buildings; making exhaus tive studies and reports on uniformity of coinage, weights and measures, and all such other matters as then fell within the duties of secretary’ of state. It was upon his recommendation that the government decided to coin Its own money, and the mint at Philadelphia, was established. His correspondence with Genet and with the English minister. Mr. Hammond, was highly approved, and the opposition which he had made to Hamilton’s policies gave him.his first, prominence as the leader of distinct political party. The sentiment which he represented, the principles of which made himself the exponent and champion, were as yet unorganized; but they were powerful, and Jefferson xvas their prophet. It began to appear then, as it more clearly appears now. that, as Hamilton stood for a class and for a gov ernment of special privilege, Jefferson stood for 11,0 mass of the people and a government of equal rights to all. Yet, so great was his tact, his smooth ness of manner and method, that he probably’ counted as many personal friends among Hamilton’s followers as Hamilton hlmsnFf could claim. Although he did not treat his friends ns if they might ono dny become enemies—thus has tening the coming of that day—he did be- »'/ ' ( j have toward hfs enemies very’ much as if they’ might a.t some future time see their error and become friends—as most of them actually did. in fact. Jefferson united in himself two distinct qualities: he was a consummate man of the world in his social relations with others, and, tit the same time, he fought for his creed with the stubbornness of a fanatic. He li<j,d all the reforming zeal of Lu ther, without his brutality; and all the echol<#rl” polish of Erasmus, without his timidity. He was not content to merely draw the curtains, drink tea in the li brary, and slay dragons theoretically: not content to leave his brethren out in the storm, while he himself lounged, in slip pered feet, by the cheerful blaze, wielding never a battle ax or lance on any field, carrying no weapon heavier than a pen. From the memorable day of Patrick Henry's speech In the Burgesses, when Jefferson, the college student, had stood In the door of the lobby listening, he had been in the very front rank of the fighters, lie had written the first resolutions whlcn declared for independence, at a time when Henry and Washington were still posing as subjects of the king. His "Sum mary View” was the bravest paper in nil the literature of thnt. early day. and tho ablest. It put his neck in tho halter, in the event rebellion did not succeed. ’Time and again he had come forward in public bodies with papers that were rejected for tho reason that they were too bold. Never had a line of his been put aside because it was too timid. Jefferson’s timidity is a biographical product solely— planted by the imaginative, kept alive by the Imitative, and swallowed by the sim ple. The li>lc on the Declaration of Indepen dence was hardly dry’ when this same timid Jefferson hurried to Virginia, chal lenged the proud, strong aristocracy of the Old Dominion to the field, and un horsed it in fair tight. Then he accom plished what French revolutionists found it so hard to do, and what Mr. Gladstone found jt so h.'Hd to do in Ireland, and what no man lias been able to do in Eng land to tliis day—ho disestablished the sialo church. Not only that! He told the whites they ought to free the blacks; and told the rich they ought to tax themselves to edu cate the poor! More than that, even—he told old William and Mary college that they' must turn out two ridiculous doc tors of divinity and otherwise modernize her antiquated institution. Yet so scholarly a writer as Henry Cabot Lodge makes timidity a salient feature of Jefferson's character; and Mr. Roosevelt continually repeats that he was "weak and vacillating!" Tho last patent Mr. Jefferson issued xviiile he was secretary of slate was to Eli Whltm-y for the cotton gin. Mr. Whitney was doubtless an original inventor and was entitled to the patent lie got and tlie fortum In- made: but just as certainly as thei- v. -re steam boats before Fulton's th'!, vvas a cetton gin before Whitney's! Within a few miles of where the pre-sent writer lives an inven live, enterprising genius. Jesse Bull, who moved into Georgia from Maryland, op erated a. primitive cotton gin with a pack ing box tun by an iron screw. The descendants of Jesse Bull were schoolmates of the author, and he has seen ancient papers pre? rved in the fam ily , and has heard the talk of old citizens who were conversant with neighborhood traditions. There is no doubt that, the cotton gm, like the steam boat, like the sewing machine, and like the breech loading gtm, had entered into the heads of others than the final patentee. Colo nel Tarleton ’’ad a bre< - li-loadiug gtm in our revolutionary war, and there is one in tlie Tower of London which must be hundreds of year-; old. Thnt the invention was offer/-1 to Napoleon Bonaparte by a Prussian mechanic is well known. There- | fore, in the case of the eotlon gin there | is nothing incredible in tlie story that ' Jesse Bull was using both gin and press i wli' ii Mliitmy was working out his idea of the gin. Tlie patent office liail just been estab lished, and Bull may have known noth ing of it till too late. Whituey was fi -tn the north, was intimate with General Nathaniel Green, and tlaough his intro duction could reach the patent office with everything in his favor. He got the patent, and then used the lederal courts Io Stop Jesse Bl 11. The cases in the federal courts never came to a triai, for reasons which cannot now be known. GIIAPTER XXXIX. L-urir.g bis term in tlie cabinet Mr. Jef ferson had been to Monti.olio for an oc casional vacation, but not long enough to get his affairs in order. l.e n.’W found them in bad shape. The overseer, it appears, had let everything go to wa-te. There were one hundred and fifty-four negro slaves and three sheep The lences and buildings were dilapidated, tlie mountain slope fields were washed into gullies and. "galls." The yield of wheal seems to have got down to where it was a case of "nip ami tu. a" to get Hu- seed back. The ono crop an the place which net er failed was —debts. WTicii Mr. Jefferson set out for I ranee lie had left many unpaid aeeimuls be- Jdnd liim, not including the British in cumbrance on the lands. These various obligations soon made an inti rest charge upon his resources of about $2,0V0 per year. Tlie mansion at Monticello had never been completed, lie was still at work on it. Europe had given him some new ideas, and into ids model home some oi: these new Ideas must go. Changes had to be made, additions planned, perfec tions worked out—regardless of cost. The dome had not been put on; some of the walls were not even ready for the roof. At such tasks slaves were kept employed; and, had the vverseers been asked what was the matter With Mr. Jefferson's affairs, they might have re plied that a good deal of his financial unhealthiness was due to the everlasting labor and expense connected witli the building of the model house. When Mr. Curtis slates that the entire cost of this building was less than SS,OOO, he comes almost as near the facts as wnen he says that Washington compelled Jefferson’s resignation from tlie cabinet. Martha Jefferson had married Thomas Mann Randolph (February 23, 1790), and she now had two children. Mr. Jeffer son was so devoted to his daughter and her children that Monticello continued to be her home. Marla is described as being “a vision of beauty." She was soon to become the wife of John Eppes. Both of Mr. Jefferson's sons in law were in congress while he was president. A democrat to the core, In principle, Mr. Jefferson was a grand seigneur in By * t i THOMAS E. WATSON | ; Author of • iStory o/ France,” "Napoleon, Etc. | DEDICATION i.n- 1 • Because he has consecrated his wealth, talent and energies to the ,m H ov e ment ,he because he Is today working with splendid ' cause he has shown an earnest, fearless and consistent interest in the cause of the w a P • HEARST this work. <. ability along; the same lines which Mr. Jefferson marked out a hundred years «rg;o, I dedica > - THOS. E. WAPSON. ' Thomson, Ga.. June 17, 1903- —— J 1- . ; ,—. _..... 4- his manner of life. Tho flock of sheep might dwindle to three, but the number of saddle horses was eight. Thirty seven bushels of wheat was the crop for 1794, and the servants who dawdled about the mansion probably exceeded that number. On his home farm of 2.000 acres ft was necessary to buy’ five more horses before he could get his fourth plow going, there being eight horses to the plow. At this time, 1794, it appears from his land-roll that his estate had shrunk to T0.G47 acres, comparatively little of which was In cultivation. It does not seem that there was any net Income at all, now, from the farms. There was a $30,000 grist mill on the Rivanna, which did not pay; there was the weaving of cloth, the forg ing of nails and the other farm Indus tries common to large plantations of that day, but Monticello was never a . farm in the sense that Mount Vernon was. Washington was a practical farm er. made the business yield a profit; Mr. Jefferson was not a practical farmer, and did not make his land pay. At least, that Is tho opinion the present writer has reached .after considerable investiga tion. Back at Monticello, Mr. Jefferson put hfs whole heart Into the work of reno vation. Trim lines of fruit trees, to run where zig-zag fences had rotted, were set—an idea brought from France. Artistic touches on house and grounds, on lawn, terrace and garden, were ex pensively applied—suggestions brought from Italy pr England. New ways of rotating crops, restoring, land. Increasing the output, w’ere tried—Jiints picked up in conversations with learned academical farmers or from books which were con vincing to the mind. It was a delight to Mr. Jefferson to apply’ his mechanical and mathematical gifts to practical purposes. He doted on experiment. He burned to make im provements. He reached out to grasp new fields !n thought and achievement. He realized the vast possibilities of chem istry when a savant like Buffon was classing tlie science with cookery; ho saw a living machine worked by’ a screw in Paris, and expressed the belief that the, screw propeller in water would be even more effective. He redued to writing a mathematical formula for making an improved mold-board for ti turn-plow, and took a good prize on it in France. He mado for his own use a folding-chair, a copy-press, an extension top to his carriage, a one-horse "sulky.” and mimer ous ot.her Inventions, any one of which would have made somei yankee’s fortune. He Introduced the first threshing-machine ever brought to this country, and he was one of the first to import Merino Sheep. He was a man whose originality some times crossed the line of the ludicrous. The interior of bls house gives some evidence of this. For instance, there, was an opening in the wall between Ills wife's bed room and bis own. the bed occu pying the open space. 'l'iiUs be could en ter tjie bed at night from his room, and she from hers. In like manner they could separate of mornings. A. good ar rangement. but peculiar It w ts just such oddities ns these which caused some matter-of-fact people to make fun of the sage of Monticello. Tol eration is yet a myth, and th" unwritten law is that you mngt conform. Mr Jefferson was not a conformer, had no such reverence for antiquity as to resent the appearance, of the new moon and to resist a. change in the weather; consequently, he often did things which shocked the conservatives Days of joy these were to this lover of naur/j in all Jjer moods, in all her myriad! displays of sublimity or beauty. To whom did a tlower speak in a language more touching than to tins great statesman? Be would bend over violet or lily, over tulip or rose, with a r i.pt enjoyment which never grew old. m-ver gr- w cold. With every’ return of tlie spring his love was of y’.quth for the Howers. And the birds-the birds! Did the musicians of the woods ever have a better friend? Be loved their presence, loved their beauty loved their song, lov/ d their love of life. Read his letters to the children; note his yearning to plant in their hearts the love of birds and flowers. See how eav nesth he Instills into young minds the true refinement to which every charm of nature is a poem without rhyme, a song without words. As a. young lawyer he sketched out his plans for the home ideal, and the care with which lie expected to attract tlie birds to come and live with him was written down with sober earnestness. Protect the birds! When presdent of the United States he wrote his daughter: "I sincerely congratulate you on the ar rival of the mocking bird. Learn the children to venerate it as a superior be ing in tho form of a bird, as a being which will haunt them if any harm is done to itself or its eggs.” In spite of debts and tlie devastations of overseers, therefore. Mr. Ji-fferson spent happily the year 1794 at Monticello, taking only a casual interest in passing events. Bls time hlld not come to change the policies of the government. Until Washington's second term should expire there would be no good tlgiitiug chance for an opposition party. Be could and would write letters to certain prominent friends here and there, keep ing in touch with public affairs, at the same time that he was putting out peach trees and watching the progress of lu cerne and peas. When the whisky rebel lion broke out. in Pennsylvania, and dis appeared at the advance of tlie troops, Mr. Jefferson's sympathies were rather with the malcontents than with the law, for the exercise he thought was infernal. When John Jay went to England, nego tiated a treaty which left Great Britain free to continue tile seizure of our ships and our sailors, while it forbade us to ex port cotton and a good many other tilings he saw as clearly as any one how tiie honor of tlie nation had been sacri ficed to New England commerce; but when Washington gave the treaty his sanction, he. like thousands of others, had to swallow liis indignation and hope for better things. He witnessed the complete triumph of the British faction in Washington's cab inet, and deplored it. He saw Edmund Randolph, the young Virginian who had left everything, broken every tie, to Join Washington and serve Ills country—saw him cast out. on no other proof than a doubtful sentence found in the captured dispatches of the French minister. At tlie time General Washington, as Mr. Jefferson thought, was in his decline. Age had impaired liis memory and the firmness of his mind. He was surrounded by inferior men, who were under Hamil ton's sway, and the president was con- trolled by them to a greater extent than he realized. So thought Mr. Jefferson. A letter of his to Mazzei, the Italian who had been bls neighbor, alluded to the English faction which had secured control, and they were called "apos tates . . . men who were Samsons in the field and Solomons in the council, but who have had their heads shorn by the harlot, England." The British faction, ever ready to put Washington between themselves and the enemy, thrust him forward once more, claiming that Jefferson’s reference was to him. This Mr. Jefferson denied, contending that his reference was to Hamilton, Jay and others of the federalist party. The federal papers attacked Mr. Jeffer son on account of this letter, just as they attacked him on other points, and ho paid no more attention to this attack than he did to the others. When Mr. Curtis says that "never before had he avoided a newspaper controversy," hfs statement amounts to nothing more than an addi tion to the errors already contained in The True Thomas Jefferson. Never was Mr. Jefferson a newspaper cont roversial iet till he fell into the clutches of William Elcroy Curtis. This author further states thnt from the time of the Mazzie letter Washington and Jefferson "ceased all correspondence and intercourse. The slightest comparison of dates will convince even Mr. Curtis that he has erred. Tho Mazzie letter caused no rup ture between Washington and Jefferson n.t the time. Subsequent to that friendly letters passed, cordial personal relations con tinued to exist, and Washington enter tained Jefferson nt. his table. They part ed affectionately’ after John Adams in auguration. It was a letter which John Nicholas wrote Washington, long after the Mazzie letter, which caused Washington to ex press the doubt as to Jefferson’s sincerity. The contents of tlie Nicholas letter are not known. As a matter of fact, Mr. Jefferson was always careful to draw a distinction be tween Washington and the Hamilton- Wolcott-Pickering clique, which too often Influenceci him. In none of his most pri vate letters will expressions disrespectful to the father of his country be found. And when Mount Vernon had lost its master, the land In mourning, tlie Eng lish channel fleet lowering its flags, and Napoleon Bonaparte paying public, tribute to the simple private citizen who slept on the Potomac, what was the attitude of tlie rivals, Thomas Jefferson and Alex ander Hamilton’ The political foe. Jefferson, penned the in -st discriminating and permanently val uable tribute that has ever been paid to Washington's character; while Hamil ton. the political friend of the dead man, wrote that cold and selfish fitter in which he told the heart-broken widow how serviceable Washington had been to him! Hamilton had lost an aegis nec essary to his protection and to his schemes- and that was the thought which was uppermost in the Hamilton mind as tho Masons elapped their hands over and beside tho bier, and tile war horse, riderless forevermore, followed his mas ter to his tomb. Even while death had the great sol dier by tlie throat, choking his life out with frightful cruelty, a letter from the precious old federalist clique was On its way to Mount Vernon ontreating Wash ington to run again for tho presidency in order that they might remain in the high places from which tlie people were about to east them! CITAPTEK XL. So rapid has been tho growth of op position to the policies of Washington's administration that it was only by what Hamilton called "a kind of miracle" that in- did not receive his rebuke at the next election. Had Thomas Jefferson been our second president, owing Tiis success, as he would have done, to Ills disapproval of the federalist measures, history would have been compelled to say that Washington retired from office miller a vote of censure. Aided by all tho advantages of patron age, position, and Washington's over shadowing influence. John Adams de feated Thomas Jefferson by only 3 votes, and these were due to some accidental circumstances. A more pathetic figure than Adams dur ing tlie four years of his presidency has seldom been seen in that high office. An approved patriot, a man of great ability and experience, he entered upon his duties heavily handicapped by his .surroundings ami by the infirmities of liis own character. Mr. Adams was learned, honest and capable, but his van ity, jealousy, irritability amounted al most to monomania. His situation was even worse than his temper, for the election had shown that he was prac tically the president of a minority. To make bls lot peculiarly wretched, this minority was factious. It worshiped three gods, tile least of whom was Ad ams. Washington first, Hamittch sec ond. Adams third and last, was the order in which federalism bowed to its divinl ties. Besides all this, Adams inherited the complications Washington had made, without succeeding to Washington’s ca pacity to deal with them. Tlie woes of our second president began witli his inauguration. Ou that day, when all right-minded people should have wor shiped the rising sun, Adams, they had perversely prostrated themselves before Washington, the setting sun. Everybody had eyes and acclamations for Washing ton; few, indeed, paid proper attention to Adams. I'lie in-going president would have been more than human had he not been hurt; and being just human, he suf fered. This, however, was trivial and tempo rary; Washington would go to Mount Ver non, and Philadelphia would then belong to president Adams. Such would have been the case had not Adams himself or dered otherwise. Making tlie mistake which doomed him, he took s cabinet Just as lie found it. thus saddling himself with councilors who had grown accustomed to the dictation of Hamilton. Fastened in this way to policies and to advisers which lie could not control, the president stumbled along from one defeat and humiliation to another, until he had turned liis political friends into enemies without having changed enemies into friends. For tlie first of ids troubles Mr. Adams was not responsible. President Washington had sent James Monroe on a mission to France, and had recalled him in disgrace. Monroe was not the ablest of Virgin ians, but Geoi-e Washington himself was not a truer, cleaner man. As a mere schoolboy James Monroe had run off to the war, had fought gallantly, had led the attack on the British In the streets of Trenton, and had got a bullet in his shoulder which he carried the remainder of his life. Monroe had served with tha French, appreciated the help the French gave us at that crisis, and carried to France a lively recollection of the days when he and the French officers had gone into battle side by side to face British guns. Gouverneur Morris had been our min ister to France succeeding Jefferson, and Morris had given the republicans such of fense that they insisted upon his recall. Washington sent Monroe, after having tendered the place to others, who declined. Monroe was young, and had not yet lost capacity for enthusiasm. Caught up in the whirlwind of democratic passion in Paris, the young Virginian's conduct was very different from that of the Brit Is.i aristocrat, Gouverneur Morris. The national convention of France (which had just overthrown Robespl>?r:s and put an end to the reign of terror) gave Monroe a public reception. Over looking Genet's treatment, making no references to the broken a’Mtince of 1778. nor to our refusnj to pay France some of the debt we owed her when her need was so great, tlie French national convention greeted James Monroe with loud applause, and the president gave him the brotherly embrace. The convention decreed that the flags of the United States and of Franca should be intertwined; and. thus joined together, should be displayed in the kali of the convention as a sign to all the world of the union and the eternal friend ship of the two people—of the sister re publics! Join the flags together; hang them la the hall where the universe can see; France is not ashamed nor afraid to fi t every monarchy in Europe know how h<r people love Americans and their repubii : Thus the voice of France! And this was at a time when every king in the civilized world was banded against her and mar h- Ing upon her. What was the response of our govern ment? Edmund Randolph, acting under the orders of Washington and his cabinet, wrote to Monroe a. stinging letter of 1 - buke. His course had been too friend! . It would embarrass us with England. ! Monroe should have expressed his g" .id I wiil to the French republic privately, "be cause the dictates of sincerity do not mand that we should render notorious til our feelings in favor of that nation." In otlfr words, our friendship must be of the cautious sort which shrinks fr m open avowal. Thomas Paine, had aided the French revolution as he had aided ours. He ■ 1 risked his head first for the republicans when the king was still strong, and t’.- n for mercy when democracy was victorjo .a and the king's life demanded. He had stood against all odds opposing the king's 1 execution. Robespierre's faction marked him for the guillotine. The July re if' against Robespierre saved him But ’ • still lay in jail, ami his suffering was great. Gouverneur Morris had refused to lift a finger jn his behalf. In fact, Morris seen rd quite willing to lift a couple of fing on tlie otli'-r side. Neither would Washington intercede. Monroe had not forgotten, nor was i ' ashamed. He interposed in behalf f Paine, got him out of jail, took him to ; own house, and there gave him sh f -;a n, and protection. ' Impartial history reviewing this t: action will not make comparisons ir: ous to Monroe! Afterwards came lai's mission to land, his violation of the plain tern: ' liis instructions, his treaty, which t ’’ France over and which sacrificed ciple and honor In tlie Inter< st of fi | England trade. Os course, the ii (ion of France was extreme, l-’ror point of view, America had us< ’Ft against Groat Britain, and was v making a sacrifice of her to Great 1 Not content with violating her with France, she was making w " land a treaty most injurious to 1': l-’rom tho French point of view, w the feeling of resentment natural” Tlie British faction in Wash " cabinet was no longer willing tha: ’ Monroe should be minister to His recall was sent, and C. C. I' was named to succeed him. Now, th" ill luck of John Ad-: that ho fell heir to this qiinrr-’l. Tho French government. lon]/ Monroe’s recall as an unfriendly fused to receive Pinckney; but i - fusal came too late to embarrn. ington. ft. caught Adams at tlie old of his administration. During Washington's term Grei’ ain had heaped insults upon made a bloody record along our western frontier; had seized o n chantmen; had impressed our M hen the French minister, F.i a I returned to France, preparations capture had been made by tin in our own harbors. Even after ' treaty, British ships contlniii depredations, seizing our w ssel men. Washington had done notl’.i eraiism was helpless to pn ve.-.i venge the outrages. Besides, Hamilton was so ! that British alliance of his that permanently angered him. Adams succeeded to all this -c<> 1 n t possibly have escaped it, for it w him at the very moment he step; .-I ' ' the presidency. Neither could ' 8 escaped the French snarl. It w already. Hamilton and Waslii. made it; Adams was left to s der it. Badgered by France, baited bv r " son's republicans, undermined b ' n cabinet, John Adams found t!> deney to De what Jefferson ha.! :i 1 xxas, a splendid misery"—the r being much more apparent tlian ti- '■ dor. The whole nation rallied to tlie 1 faction Yvln-n Talleyrand made ' ” ‘ brated "X. Y. Z." attempt t ■ tribute from the grand embus' •’ ,l Adams had sent to negotiate J. r I ' e; and there was wild talk of ' I ’ " I '. l ' invasion. Congress voted suppli- s W.c-’- Ington was placed in command f 8 aimy of defense, an,l preparat ill’s ’ ’ ‘ on an extensive scale for war Ileie, again, there were rm*i’! ; -i‘ 1 ' ■' fur Adams. General Wirshington named H-'in to rank next to himself in 'l'-'' ' army; and, owing to Washing! u'- ' as °' this meant that Hamilton would be ing commander in chief. General K”’x had ranked Hamilton in the old and he now claimed precedence- Ad.m'.s sided with Knox. But Hamilton held ; cabinet In the hollow of his hand: arM the cabinet threw its full weight tor Hamilton. Washington insisted tha: Ham-