FOOTNOTES:
[856] Marshall to Paulding, April 4, 1835; Lippincott's Magazine (1868), ii, 624-25.
[857] Washington to Bushrod Washington, Aug. 27, 1798; Writings: Ford, xiv, 75.
[858] Ib. In September, 1797, when Marshall was absent on the X. Y. Z. mission, Washington received a letter from one "John Langhorne" of Albemarle County. Worded with skillful cunning, it was designed to draw from the retired President imprudent expressions that could be used against him and the Federalists. It praised him, denounced his detractors, and begged him to disregard their assaults. (Langhorne to Washington, Sept. 25, 1797; Writings: Sparks, xi, 501.) Washington answered vaguely. (Washington to Langhorne, Oct. 15, 1797; Writings: Ford, xiii, 428-30.) John Nicholas discovered that the Langhorne letter had been posted at Charlottesville; that no person of that name lived in the vicinity; and that Washington's answer was called for at the Charlottesville post-office (where Jefferson posted and received letters) by a person closely connected with the master of Monticello. It was suspected, therefore, that Jefferson was the author of the fictitious letter. The mystery caused Washington much worry and has never been cleared up. (See Washington to Nicholas, Nov. 30, 1797; ib., footnote to 429-30; to Bushrod Washington, March 8, 1798; ib., 448; to Nicholas, March 8, 1798; ib., 449-50.) It is not known what advice Marshall gave Washington when the latter asked for his opinion; but from his lifelong conduct in such matters and his strong repugnance to personal disputes, it is probable that Marshall advised that the matter be dropped.
[859] Paulding: Washington, ii, 191-92.
[860] Marshall to Paulding, supra.
[861] Marshall to Paulding, supra. This letter was in answer to one from Paulding asking Marshall for the facts as to Washington's part in inducing Marshall to run for Congress.
[862] Pickering to Marshall, Sept. 20, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc.
[863] Ib.
[864] Adams to Pickering, Sept. 14, 1798; Works: Adams, viii, 595.
[865] Adams to Pickering, Sept. 26, 1798; Works: Adams, viii, 597.
[866] Adams to Rush, June 25, 1807; Old Family Letters, 152.
[867] Wood, 260. Wood's book was "suppressed" by Aaron Burr, who bought the plates and printer's rights. It consists of dull attacks on prominent Federalists. Jefferson's friends charged that Burr suppressed it because of his friendship for the Federalist leaders. (See Cheetham's letters to Jefferson, Dec. 29, 1801, Jan. 30, 1802, Proceedings, Mass. Hist. Soc. (April and May, 1907) 51-58.) Soon afterward Jefferson began his warfare on Burr.
[868] Marshall to Pickering, Oct. 15, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc. This campaign was unusually acrimonious everywhere. "This Electioneering is worse than the Devil." (Smith to Bayard, Aug. 2, 1798; Bayard Papers: Donnan, 69.)
[869] See Statutes at Large, 566, 570, 577, for Alien Acts of June 18, June 25, and July 6, and ib., 196, for Sedition Law of July 14, 1798.
[870] This section was not made a campaign issue by the Republicans.
[871] Jefferson to Madison, May 10, 1798; Works: Ford, viii, 417; and to Monroe, May 21, 1798; ib., 423. Jefferson's first harsh word was to Madison, June 7, 1798; ib., 434.
[872] Hamilton to Wolcott, June 29, 1798; Works: Lodge, x, 295.
[873] Madison to Jefferson, May 20, 1798; Writings: Hunt, vi, 320.
[874] For the Federalists' justification of the Alien and Sedition Laws see Gibbs, ii, 78 et seq.
[875] As a matter of fact, the anger of Republican leaders was chiefly caused by their belief that the Alien and Sedition Laws were aimed at the Republican Party as such, and this, indeed, was true.
[876] Jefferson to S. T. Mason, Oct. 11, 1798; Works: Ford, viii, 450.
[877] Washington to Spotswood, Nov. 22, 1798; Writings: Ford, xiv, 121-22.
[878] Washington to Murray, Dec. 26, 1798; Writings: Ford, xiv, 132.
[879] Washington to Bushrod Washington, Dec. 31, 1798; ib., 135-36. Judge Addison's charge was an able if intemperate interpretation of the Sedition Law. The Republican newspapers assailed and ridiculed this very effectively in the presidential campaign of 1800. "Alexander Addison has published in a volume a number of his charges to juries—and precious charges they are—brimstone and saltpetre, assifœtida and train oil." (Aurora, Dec. 6, 1800. See Chief Justice Ellsworth's comments upon Judge Addison's charge in Flanders, ii, 193.)
[880] Marshall to Pickering, Aug. 11, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc.
[881] Oct. 11, 1798. The questions of "Freeholder" were, undoubtedly, written with Marshall's knowledge. Indeed a careful study of them leads one to suspect that he wrote or suggested them himself.
[882] The Times and Virginia Advertiser, Alexandria, Virginia, October 11, 1798. This paper, however, does not give "Freeholder's" questions. The Columbian Centinel, Boston, October 20, 1798, prints both questions and answers, but makes several errors in the latter. The correct version is given in Appendix III, infra, where "Freeholder's" questions and Marshall's answers appear in full.
[883] Ames to Gore, Dec. 18, 1798; Works: Ames, i, 245-47.
[884] Sedgwick to Pickering, Oct. 23, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc.
[885] Columbian Centinel (Boston), Oct. 24, 1798.
[886] Cabot to King, April 26, 1799; King, iii, 9.
[887] This was not true. The Fairfax embarrassment, alone, caused Marshall to go to France in 1797.
[888] Pickering to Sedgwick, Nov. 6, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc.
[889] Murray to J. Q. Adams, March 22, 1799; Letters: Ford, 530. Murray had been a member of Congress and a minor Federalist politician. By "us" he means the extreme Federalist politicians.
[890] Marshall to Pickering, Oct. 22, 1798; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc.
[891] Adams: Gallatin, 212.
[892] "Freeholder" had not asked Marshall what he thought of the constitutionality of these laws.
[893] Thompson: The Letters of Curtius. John Thompson of Petersburg was one of the most brilliant young men that even Virginia ever produced. See Adams: Gallatin, 212, 227. There is an interesting resemblance between the uncommon talents and fate of young John Thompson and those of Francis Walker Gilmer. Both were remarkably intellectual and learned; the characters of both were clean, fine, and high. Both were uncommonly handsome men. Neither of them had a strong physical constitution; and both died at a very early age. Had John Thompson and Francis Walker Gilmer lived, their names would have been added to that wonderful list of men that the Virginia of that period gave to the country.
The intellectual brilliancy and power, and the lofty character of Thompson and Gilmer, their feeble physical basis and their early passing seem like the last effort of that epochal human impulse which produced Henry, Madison, Mason, Jefferson, Marshall, and Washington.
[894] Taylor to Jefferson, June 25, 1798; as quoted in Branch Historical Papers, ii, 225. See entire letter, ib., 271-76.
[895] For an excellent treatment of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions see Von Holst: Constitutional History of the United States, i, chap. iv.
[896] Nicholas to Jefferson, Oct. 5, 1798; quoted by Channing in "Kentucky Resolutions of 1798"; Amer. Hist. Rev., xx, no. 2, Jan., 1915, 333-36.
[897] Writing nearly a quarter of a century later, Jefferson states that Nicholas, Breckenridge, and he conferred on the matter; that his draft of the "Kentucky Resolutions" was the result of this conference; and that he "strictly required" their "solemn assurance" that no one else should know that he was their author. (Jefferson to Breckenridge, Dec. 11, 1821; Works: Ford, viii, 459-60.)
Although this letter of Jefferson is positive and, in its particulars, detailed and specific, Professor Channing has demonstrated that Jefferson's memory was at fault; that no such conference took place; and that Jefferson sent the resolutions to Nicholas, who placed them in the hands of Breckenridge for introduction in the Kentucky Legislature; and that Breckenridge and Nicholas both thought that the former should not even see Jefferson, lest the real authorship of the resolutions be detected. (See "The Kentucky Resolutions": Channing, in Amer. Hist. Rev., xx, no. 2, Jan., 1915, 333-36.)
[898] See Jefferson's "Rough Draught" and "Fair Copy" of the Kentucky Resolutions; and the resolutions as the Kentucky Legislature passed them on Nov. 10, 1798; Works: Ford, viii, 458-79. See examination of Marshall's opinion in Marbury vs. Madison, vol. iii of this work.
[899] Jefferson to Madison, Nov. 17, 1798; Works: Ford, viii, 457.
[900] Writings: Hunt, vi, 326-31.
[901] Davie to Iredell, June 17, 1799; quoting from a Virginia informant—very probably Marshall; McRee, ii, 577.
[902] Iredell to Mrs. Iredell; Jan. 24, 1799; McRee, ii, 543.
[903] Murray to J. Q. Adams, April 1, 1799; quoting Marshall to Sykes, Dec. 18, 1798; Letters: Ford, 534.
[904] Writings: Hunt, vi, 332-40.
[905] For Marshall's defense of the liberty of the press, quoted by Madison, see supra, chap. viii.
[906] Address of the General Assembly to the People of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Journal, H.D. (Dec., 1798), 88-90.
[907] Sedgwick to Hamilton, Feb. 7, 1799; Works: Hamilton, vi, 392-93; and to King, March 20, 1799; King, ii, 581. And Murray to J. Q. Adams, April 5, 1799; Letters: Ford, 536.
[908] Address of the Minority: Journal, H.D. (Dec., 1798), 88-90. Also printed as a pamphlet. Richmond, 1798.
[909] Journal, H.D. (1799), 90.
[910] Callender: Prospect Before Us, 91.
[911] Ib., 112 et seq.
[912] Sedgwick to King, March 20, 1799; King, ii, 581.
[913] Murray to J. Q. Adams, April 5, 1799; Letters: Ford, 536.
[914] Mordecai, 202; also Sedgwick to King, Nov. 15, 1799; King, iii, 147-48.
[915] Jefferson to Pendleton, Feb. 14, 1799; Works: Ford, ix, 46; and to Madison, Jan. 30, 1799; ib., 31.
[916] Jefferson to Bishop James Madison, Feb. 27, 1799; ib., 62.
[917] Marshall to Washington, Jan. 8, 1799; Washington MSS., Lib. Cong.
[918] Hamilton to Dayton, 1799; Works: Lodge, x, 330. The day of the month is not given, but it certainly was early in January. Mr. Lodge places it before a letter to Lafayette, dated Jan. 6, 1799.
[919] Hamilton to Sedgwick, Feb. 2, 1799; Works: Lodge, x, 340-42.
[920] This was probably true; it is thoroughly characteristic and fits in perfectly with his well-authenticated conduct after he became Chief Justice. (See vol. iii of this work.)
[921] Callender: Prospect Before Us, 90 et seq.
[922] See Hildreth, v, 104, 210, 214, 340, 453-55.
[923] Wood, 261-62. This canard is an example of the methods employed in political contests when American democracy was in its infancy.
[924] Marshall to his brother James M., April 3, 1799; MS. Marshall uses the word "faction" in the sense in which it was then employed. "Faction" and "party" were at that time used interchangeably; and both words were terms of reproach. (See supra, chap. ii.) If stated in the vernacular of the present day, this doleful opinion of Marshall would read: "Nothing, I believe, more debases or pollutes the human mind than partisan politics."
[925] Jefferson to Pendleton, April 22, 1799; Works: Ford, ix, 64-65.
[926] Henry to Blair, Jan. 8, 1799; Henry, ii, 591-94.
[927] Henry to Blair, Jan. 8, 1799; Henry, ii, 595.
[928] Virginia Herald (Fredericksburg), March 5, 1799.
[929] This was true in most of the States at that period.
[930] This method of electing public officials was continued until the Civil War. (See John S. Wise's description of a congressional election in Virginia in 1855; Wise: The End of An Era, 55-56. And see Professor Schouler's treatment of this subject in his "Evolution of the American Voter"; Amer. Hist. Rev., ii, 665-74.)
[931] This account of election day in the Marshall-Clopton contest is from Munford, 208-10. For another fairly accurate but mild description of a congressional election in Virginia at this period, see Mary Johnston's novel, Lewis Rand, chap. iv.
[932] Henry, ii, 598.
[933] Randall, ii, 495.
[934] Washington to Marshall, May 5, 1799; Writings: Ford, xiv, 180.
[935] As a matter of fact, they were not far wrong. Marshall almost certainly would have been made Secretary of State if Washington had believed that he would accept the portfolio. (See supra, 147.) The assertion that the place actually had been offered to Marshall seems to have been the only error in this campaign story.
[936] Marshall to Washington, May 1, 1799; Writings: Ford, xiv, footnote to 180-81; also Flanders, ii, 389.
[937] Washington to Marshall, May 5, 1799; Writings: Ford, xiv, 180.
[938] Marshall to Washington, May 16, 1799; Washington MSS., Lib. Cong.
[939] Pickering to King, May 4, 1799; King, iii, 13.
[940] Sedgwick to King, July 26, 1799; King, iii, 69.
[941] Sedgwick to King, July 26, 1799; King, iii, 69.
[942] Murray to J. Q. Adams, June 25, 1799; Letters: Ford, 566.
[943] Murray to J. Q. Adams, July 1, 1799; ib., 568.
[944] Jefferson to Stuart, May 14, 1799; Works: Ford, ix, 67.
[945] Jefferson to Coxe, May 21, 1799; Works: Ford, ix, 69-70.
[946] Ib., 70.
[947] For instances of these military letters, see Marshall to Washington, June 12, 1799; Washington MSS., Lib. Cong.
[948] See Morison, i, 156-57; also Hudson: Journalism in the United States, 160. Party newspapers and speakers to-day make statements, as a matter of course, in every political campaign much more violent than those for which editors and citizens were fined and imprisoned in 1799-1800. (See ib., 315; and see summary from the Republican point of view of these prosecutions in Randall, ii, 416-20.)
[949] Adams to Pickering, July 24, 1799; Works: Adams, ix, 3.
[950] Adams to Pickering, Aug. 1, 1799; ib., 5; and same to same. Aug. 3, 1799; ib., 7.
[951] Professor Washington, in his edition of Jefferson's Writings, leaves a blank after "apostle." Mr. Ford correctly prints Marshall's name as it is written in Jefferson's original manuscript copy of the letter.
[952] Jefferson to Wilson Cary Nicholas, Sept. 5, 1799; Works: Ford, ix, 79-81.
[953] Marshall to Pickering, Aug. 25, 1799; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc. Marshall had not yet grasped the deadly significance of Jefferson's States' Rights and Nullification maneuver.
[954] Supra.
[955] Talleyrand to Pichon, Aug. 28, and Sept. 28; Am. St. Prs., ii, 241-42; Murray to Adams, Appendix of Works: Adams, viii. For familiar account of Pichon's conferences with Murray, see Murray's letters to J. Q. Adams, then U.S. Minister to Berlin, in Letters: Ford, 445, 473, 475-76; and to Pickering, ib., 464.
[956] "Murray, I guess, wanted to make himself a greater man than he is by going to France," was Gallatin's shrewd opinion. Gallatin to his wife, March 1, 1799; Adams: Gallatin, 227-28.
[957] Ib.
[958] Ames to Dwight, Feb. 27, 1799; Works: Ames, i, 252.
[959] Cabot to King, March 10, 1799; King, ii, 551.
[960] Cabot to King, Feb. 16, 1799; ib., 543.
[961] Ames to Pickering, March 12, 1799; Works: Ames, i, 253.
[962] Ames to Pickering, Oct. 19, 1799; ib., 257.
[963] Uriah Tracy to McHenry, Sept. 2, 1799; Steiner, 417.
[964] Ames to Pickering, Nov. 5, 1799; Works: Ames, i, 260-61.
[965] Ames to Pickering, March 12, 1799; Works: Ames, i, 254.
[966] "Men of principal influence in the Federal party ... began to entertain serious doubts about his [Adams's] fitness for the station, yet ... they thought it better to indulge their hopes than to listen to their fears, [and] ... determined to support Mr. Adams for the Chief Magistracy." ("Public Conduct, etc., John Adams"; Hamilton: Works: Lodge, vii, 318.)
[967] Ames to Dwight, Feb. 27, 1799; Works: Ames, i, 252.
[968] Ames to Pickering, Nov. 5, 1799; ib., 260.
[969] Cabot to King, March 10, 1799; King, ii, 552.
[970] Higginson to Pickering, April 16, 1800; Pickering MSS., Mass. Hist. Soc., printed in An. Rept., Amer. Hist. Assn., 1896, i, 836.
[971] For an excellent summary of this important episode in our history see Allen: Our Naval War with France.
[972] Pickering to King, March 6, 1799; King, ii, 548-49.
[973] Ames to Pickering, March 12, 1799; Works: Ames, i, 254.
[974] Ames to Dwight, Oct. 20, 1799; ib., 259.
[975] Ames to Pickering, Oct. 19, 1799; ib., 257.
[976] Wolcott to Ames, Aug. 10, 1800; Gibbs, ii, 403.
[977] Jefferson to Pendleton, Feb. 19, 1799; Works: Ford, ix, 54.
[978] Lee to Adams, March 14, 1799; Works: Adams, viii, 628.
[979] Adams to Lee, March 29, 1799; ib., 629.
[980] Cabinet to President, Sept. 7, 1799; Works: Adams, ix, 21-23; and same to same, May 20, 1799; ib., 59-60.
[981] Adams to Lee, May 21, 1800; ib., 60. For account of Fries's Rebellion see McMaster, ii, 435-39. Also Hildreth, v, 313.
[982] Pickering to Cabot, June 15, 1800; Lodge: Cabot, 275.
[983] "Public Conduct, etc., John Adams"; Hamilton: Works: Lodge, vii, 351-55; and see Gibbs, ii, 360-62.
[984] See Hamilton's arraignment of the Fries pardon in "Public Conduct, etc., John Adams"; Works: Lodge, vii, 351-55.
[985] McRee, ii, 551.
[986] "The Aurora, in analyzing the reasons upon which Fries, Hainy, and Getman have been pardoned brings the President forward as, by this act, condemning: 1. The tax law which gave rise to the insurrection; 2. The conduct of the officers appointed to collect the tax; 3. The marshal; 4. The witnesses on the part of the United States; 5. The juries who tried the prisoners; 6. The court, both in their personal conduct and in their judicial decisions. In short, every individual who has had any part in passing the law—in endeavoring to execute it, or in bringing to just punishment those who have treasonably violated it." (Gazette of the United States, reviewing bitterly the comment of the Republican organ on Adams's pardon of Fries.)
[987] Many Federalists regretted that Fries was not executed by court-martial. "I suppose military execution was impracticable, but if some executions are not had, of the most notorious offenders—I shall regret the events of lenity in '94 & '99—as giving a fatal stroke to Government.... Undue mercy to villains, is cruelty to all the good & virtuous. Our people in this State are perfectly astonished, that cost must continually be incurred for insurrections in Pennsylvania for which they say they are taxed & yet no punishment is inflicted on the offenders. I am fatigued & mortified that our Govt. which is weak at best, would withhold any of its strength when all its energies should be doubled." (Uriah Tracy to McHenry, on Fries, May 6, 1799; Steiner, 436.) And "I am in fear that something will occur to release that fellow from merited Death." (Same to same, May 20, 1790; ib.)
[988] "Public Conduct, etc., John Adams"; Hamilton: Works: Lodge, vii, 351-55.
[989] Ames to Pickering, Nov. 23, 1799; Works: Ames, i, 270.
[990] Troup to King, May 6, 1799; King, iii, 14.
[991] Adams's home, now Quincy, Massachusetts.
[992] Troup to King, June 5, 1799; King, iii, 34.