TO EDMUND RANDOLPH, SECRETARY OF STATE MY DEAR SIR, [PRIVATE] MOUNT VERNON, 29 July, 1795. * I view the opposition, which the treaty is receiving from the meetings in different parts of the Union, in a very serious light; not because there is more weight in any of the objections, which are made to it, than was foreseen at first, for there are none in some of them, and gross misrepresentations in others; nor as it respects myself personally, for this shall have no influence on my conduct, plainly perceiving, and I am accordingly preparing my mind for it, the obloquy which disappointment and malice are collecting to heap upon me. But I am alarmed on account of the effect it may have on, and the advantage the French government may be disposed to make of, the spirit which is at work to cherish a belief in them, that the treaty is calculated to favor Great Britain at their expense. Whether they believe or disbelieve these tales, the effect it will have upon the nation will be nearly the same; for, whilst they are at war with that power, or so long as the animosity between the two nations exists, it will, no matter at whose expense, be their policy, and it is to be feared will be their conduct to prevent us from being on good terms with Great Britain, or from her deriving any advantages from our trade, which they can hinder, however much we may be benefited thereby our selves. To what length this policy and interest may carry them is problematical; but, when they see the people of this country divided, and such a violent opposition given to the measures of their own government pretendedly in their favor, it may be extremely embarrassing, to say no more of it. To sum the whole up in a few words, I have never, since I have been in the administration of the government, seen a crisis, which in my judgment has been so pregnant of interesting events, nor one from which more is to be apprehended, whether viewed on one side or the other. From New York there is, and I am told will further be, a counter current; but how formidable it may appear, I know not. If the same does not take place at Boston and other towns, it will afford but too strong evidence, that the opposition is in a manner universal, and would make the ratification a very serious business indeed. But, as it respects the French, counter resolutions, even would, for the reasons I have already mentioned, do little more than weaken, in a small degree, the effect the other side would have. * TO EDMUND RANDOLPH, SECRETARY OF STATE MY DEAR SIR, * [PRIVATE] MOUNT VERNON, 31 July, 1795. * To be wise and temperate, as well as firm, the present crisis most eminently calls for. There is too much reason to believe, from the pains which have been taken before, at, and since the advice of the Senate respecting the treaty, that the prejudices against it are more extensive than is generally imagined. This I have lately understood to be the case in this quarter, from men, who are of no party, but well-disposed to the present administration. How should it be otherwise, when no stone has been left unturned, that could impress on the minds of the people the most arrant misrepresentation of facts; that their rights have not only been neglected, but absolutely sold; that there are no reciprocal advantages in the treaty; that the benefits are all on the side of Great Britain; and, what seems to have had more weight with them than all the rest, and most pressed, that the treaty is made with the design to oppress the French, in open violation of our treaty with that nation, and contrary, too, to every principle of gratitude and sound policy? In time, when passion shall have yielded to sober reason, the current may possibly turn; but, in the mean while, this government in relation to France and England may be compared to a ship between the rocks of Scylla and Charybdis. If the treaty is ratified, the partisans of the French, (or rather of war and confusion,) will excite them to hostile measures, or at least to unfriendly sentiments; if it is not, there is no foreseeing all the consequences, which may follow, as it respects Great Britain. It is not to be inferred from hence, that I am or shall be disposed to quit the ground I have taken, unless circumstances more imperious than have yet come to my knowledge should compel it; for there is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily. But these things are mentioned to show, that a close investigation of the subject is more than ever necessary, and that they are strong evidences of the necessity of the most circumspect conduct in carrying the determination of government into effect, with prudence as it respects our own people, and with every exertion to produce a change for the better from Great Britain. * TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS MY DEAR SIR, 1 PHILADELPHIA, 22 December, 1795. I am become so unprofitable a correspondent, and so remiss in my correspondencies, that nothing but the kindness of my friends, in overlooking these deficiencies, could induce them to favor me with a continuance of their letters; which to me are at once pleasing, interesting, and useful. To a man immersed in debt, and seeing no prospect of extrication but by an act of insolvency (perhaps absolvency would be a better word), I compare myself; and like him, too, afraid to examine the items of the account, I will at once make a lumping acknowledgment of the receipt of many interesting private letters from you, previous to your 1 This letter fell into the hands of the French Directory, to whom, according to the American minister in Paris, James Monroe, it gave offence. For Washington's reply to Monroe, see, post, page 421. last arrival in England, and will begin with those subsequent thereto of the 3d of July and 22d of August. As the British government has repealed the order for seizing our provision vessels, little more need be said on that head, than that it was the principle, which constituted the most obnoxious and exceptionable part thereof, and the predicament in which this country was thereby placed in her relations with France. Admitting, therefore, that the compensation to some individuals was adequate to what it might have been in another quarter, yet the exceptions to it on these grounds remained the same. I do not think Colonel Innes's report to the governor of Kentucky was entirely free from exceptions. But let the report be accompanied with the following remarks. 1, that the one, which Lord Grenville might have seen published, was disclaimed by Colonel Innes, as soon as it appeared in the public gazettes, on account of its incorrectness. 2, an irritable spirit at that time pervaded all our people at the westward, arising from a combination of causes (but from none more powerful, than the analogous proceedings of Great Britain in the north, with those of Spain in the south, towards the United States and their Indian borderers), which spirit required some management and soothing. But, 3d and principally, Lord Grenville if he had adverted to the many remonstrances, which have gone from this country against the conduct of his own, which I will take the liberty to |