by Mary Dillon
CHAPTER XVII
A GREAT DEBATE
They "of the western dome, whose weighty sense Flows in fit words and heavenly eloquence."
I had been so abashed by my wretched mistake that I had not so much astold the President who I was (though, truth to tell, he had not askedme, and it would have been only another impertinence on my part tohave volunteered the information). Yet as I sat waiting for young Mr.Lewis, and reviewing in my mind the miserable events through which Ihad just passed, it suddenly occurred to me as very remarkable thatMr. Jefferson should have known I was from Philadelphia, when Ithought I had been so particularly skilful in betraying no factconcerning myself. Moreover, he had not only guessed I was fromPhiladelphia; he must have guessed my identity also, for he had"communications of interest" for me.
My curiosity was now so thoroughly aroused, both as to how thePresident knew me and what his communications might be, that it beganto efface the keenness of my mortification. In the midst of mywondering surmises, Mr. Lewis appeared and greeted me most affably;and when I had presented Captain Clarke's letter of introduction, hewas, if possible, more affable still. He was an older-looking man thanI had expected to see, and with so much of seriousness in hiscountenance, and yet of such frankness and earnestness in his manner,that it drew my interest and liking at once.
He was the bearer of a very polite message from the President,inviting me to dinner at the White House at four o'clock thatafternoon; and then he proposed that we should set out at once for theCapitol, where, as he said, a debate of special interest was on thecalendar.
I was much touched at the generosity of Mr. Jefferson in returning mydiscourtesy to himself by so courteously placing his secretary at mydisposal for my entertainment, and nothing could have pleased mebetter than Mr. Lewis's proposal. It had been my intention to visitthe Capitol as soon as this visit of ceremony should be performed, butto visit it with a guide so much at home as the President's secretarywas good luck indeed.
I thought it still better luck when I found that, by Mr. Jefferson'sspecial invitation, we were to sit in a small gallery set aside forthe President and his friends, and to which a guard in uniformadmitted us with a key. I was much impressed by the exterior of theCapitol (though in such an unfinished state), but when I found myselfseated in the seclusion of the President's own private gallery,looking down upon the horseshoe of grave and distinguished senators, Icould have wished that one of the ladies (of whom there were a numberin the gallery opposite, and who cast many inquisitive glances at thetwo young men in the President's box) might have been MademoisellePelagie, for I felt sure she would never again think of me as a boy,could she but see me in my present dignified surroundings.
But it was only for a moment that my attention was distracted by theladies and by thoughts of mademoiselle. A gentleman was speaking (Mr.Lewis told me it was Mr. Ross of Pennsylvania) in a most impassionedmanner, and the magic word "Mississippi" caught my ear and charmed myattention. Mr. Ross was saying:
"To the free navigation of the Mississippi we have undoubted right,from nature and also from the position of our Western country. Thisright and the right of deposit in the Island of New Orleans weresolemnly acknowledged and fixed by treaty in 1795. That treaty hasbeen in actual operation and execution for many years, and now,without any pretense of abuse or violation on our part, the officersof the Spanish government deny that right, refuse the place ofdeposit, and add the most offensive of all insults by forbidding usfrom landing on any part of their territory and shutting us out as acommon nuisance. I declare it, therefore, to be my firm and matureopinion that so important a right will never be secure while the mouthof the Mississippi is exclusively in the hands of the Spanish. Fromthe very position of our country, from its geographical shape, frommotives of complete independence, the command of the navigation ofthe river ought to be in our hands.
"We are now wantonly provoked to take it. Hostility in its mostoffensive shape has been offered us, and hostility fatal to thehappiness of the Western World. Why not seize, then, what is soessential to us as a nation? Why not expel the wrong-doers? Papertreaties have proved too feeble. Plant yourselves on the river;fortify the banks; invite those who have an interest at stake todefend it. Do justice to yourselves when your adversaries deny it, andleave the event to Him who controls the fate of nations!"
Ah, how his words burnt my brain! I was for leaving Mr. Lewis in thePresident's gallery, running down to the great entrance where I hadleft Fatima in charge of a negro boy, mounting her, and ridingstraight back to Kentucky. Once there, I was sure it would be an easymatter to raise a company of eager patriots and march at their headdown the Great River to the hostile city. But Mr. Ross had notfinished, and I could not lose a word of his impassioned speech:
"Why submit to a tardy and uncertain negotiation--a negotiation withthose who have wronged you? When in possession you will negotiate withmore advantage. You will then be in the position to keep others out.The present possessors have no pretense to complain, for they have noright to the country, by their own confession.
"The Western people will discover that you are making every effortthey could desire for their protection. They will ardently support youin the contest, if a contest becomes necessary. Their all will be atstake, and neither their zeal nor their courage need be doubted.
"But after negotiations shall have failed; after a powerful, ambitiousnation shall have taken possession of the key of their Western countryand fortified it; after the garrisons are filled by the veterans whohave conquered the East: will you have it in your power to waken thegenerous spirit of the West and dispossess them? No, no; theirconfidence in you as their rulers will be gone; they will bedisheartened, divided, and will place no further dependence upon you."
At this moment two officers in uniform entered the Senate, preceding agentleman who carried on a cushion a document. Immediately thePresident of the Senate, Mr. Burr (a man whom I had been reared todislike and distrust above all men, and whose enmity for Mr. Hamiltonwas sufficient cause to make me his foe, yet whose attractivepersonality, seeing him for the first time, I could not deny), calledthe house to order, and requested Mr. Ross to defer the completion ofhis speech until a message from the House of Representatives shouldhave been read.
I was all curiosity, for it seemed to me an imposing ceremony and onethat must be of great moment. But I was doomed to disappointment. Thegentleman bearing the document said something in a low tone to theclerk, who repeated it to Mr. Burr. Whereupon Mr. Burr rose in hisseat.
"Gentlemen of the Senate," he said, "the House of Representativessends you a confidential message. Sergeant-at-arms, clear the house!"
Mr. Lewis rose at once, and signaled to me to follow, which I did,very unwillingly. Outside in the corridors he said:
"I think this will be but a brief secret conference--most like we canreturn in a few minutes; and I will employ the interim in showing youthe building."
From his manner I thought he must know the subject of the secretconference, as, indeed, being the President's private secretary, hewould have every means of knowing. But he gave me no hint of it, andit was not until long afterward that I learned that in the half-hourwe were shut out the Senate had confirmed the House bill to place twomillion dollars at the President's disposal to commence with moreeffect a negotiation with France and Spain for the purchase of theIsle of New Orleans and the East and West Floridas.
When the doors were opened again, and we were back in our seats in thePresident's gallery, we found Mr. Ross already on his feet, continuinghis interrupted speech, and evidently the sentences I first heard werein reference to the bill just passed.
"I know," he said, "that some gentlemen think there is a mode ofaccomplishing our object, of which, by a most extraordinary procedure,I am forbidden to speak on this occasion. I will not, therefore, touchit. But I will ask honorable gentlemen, especially those from theWestern country, what they will say, on their return home, to a peoplepressed by the heavy hand of this
calamity, when they inquire: Whathas been done? What are our hopes? How long will this obstructioncontinue? You answer: We have provided a remedy, but it is a secret!We are not allowed to speak of it there, much less here. It was onlycommunicated to us confidentially, in whispers, with closed doors. Butby and by you will see it operate like enchantment. It is a sovereignbalsam which will heal your wounded honor; it is a potent spell, or akind of patent medicine, which will extinguish and forever put at restthe devouring spirit which has desolated so many nations of Europe.You never can know exactly what it is; nor can we tell you preciselythe time it will begin to operate: but operate it certainly will, andeffectually, too! You will see strange things by and by; waitpatiently, and place full faith in us, for we cannot be mistaken!
"This idle tale may amuse children, but the men of the West will notbe satisfied. They will tell you that they expected better things ofyou, that their confidence has been misplaced, and that they will notwait the operation of your newly invented drug; they will go andredress themselves!"
Then Mr. Ross proceeded to read a series of resolutions he had drawnup, the most important part of them being to authorize the Presidentto take immediate possession of the Isle of New Orleans, and to raisea militia army not exceeding fifty thousand men in the Western States,to cooperate with the army and navy of the Union; and that the sum offive millions of dollars should be appropriated to carry out theseresolutions.
They took my breath away. "What would I not give to be back inKentucky!" I whispered to Mr. Lewis, in irrepressible excitement.
"Calm yourself, my young friend," he whispered back. "War is notdeclared yet. Listen to this next speech; it is Mr. White fromDelaware. See whether he supports or opposes the resolutions."
His opening sentence answered the question:
"As to the closing of the port of New Orleans against our citizens,the man who can now doubt that it was a deliberate act of the Spanishor French government must have locked up his mind against truth andconviction, and be determined to discredit even the evidence of hisown senses. But, sir, it is not only the depriving us of our right ofdeposit by which we have been grieved: it is by a system of measurespursued antecedent and subsequent to that event, equally hostile andeven more insulting. I have in my hand a paper signed by a Spanishofficer, which, with the indulgence of the chair, I will read to theSenate."
Then he read a paper signed by Carlos de Grandpre, warning thesubjects of his Majesty of Spain that they were to have nocommunications with America, and couched in the most insulting terms.My blood boiled as I listened!
"These," said Mr. White, "are the measures that have been adopted bythe Spaniard, excluding us from their shores for a distance of twohundred and seventy miles, treating us like a nation of pirates andbanditti. Would the great Washington have permitted such an insult hadhe still been with us? Spain has dared us to the trial, and now bidsus defiance. She is yet in possession of that country; it is at thismoment within your reach and within your power. It offers a sure andeasy conquest. We should have to encounter there only a weak,inactive, and unenterprising people. But how may a few months vary thescene and darken our prospects! Though not officially informed, weknow that the Spanish provinces on the Mississippi have been ceded tothe French, and that they will, as soon as possible, take possessionof them. What may we then expect? When, in the last extremity, weshall be drawn to arms in defense of our indisputable rights, wherenow slumbers on his post the sluggish Spaniard we shall be hailed bythe vigilant and alert French grenadier; and in the defenselessgarrison that would now surrender at our approach we shall seeunfurled the standards that have waved triumphant in Italy, surroundedby impregnable ramparts and defended by the disciplined veterans ofEurope. I am willing to attribute to honorable gentlemen the best ofmotives; I am sure they do not wish to involve this country in awar--and, God knows, I deprecate its horrors as much as any man. Butthis business can never be adjusted abroad; it will ultimately have tobe settled upon the banks of the Mississippi; the war is inevitableunless honorable gentlemen opposed to us are prepared to yield up thebest interest and honor of the nation. I believe the only question nowin our power to decide is, whether it shall be the bloodless war of afew months or the carnage of years.
"These observations are urged upon the supposition that it is in thepower of the government to restrain the impetuosity of the Westernpeople and to prevent their doing justice to themselves, which, by theby, I beg to be understood as not believing. They know their ownstrength; they know the feebleness of the enemy; they know theinfinite importance of the stake, and they feel--permit me to say,sir, with more than mere sensibility--the insults and injuries theyhave received. You had as well pretend to dam up the mouth of theMississippi, and say to its restless waves, 'Ye shall cease here andnever mingle with the ocean,' as to expect they will be prevented fromdescending it.
"Without the free use of the river and the necessary advantage ofdeposit below our line, their fertile country is not worth possession;their produce must be wasted in the field or rot in the granary. Theseare rights not only guaranteed to them by treaty, but also given tothem by the God of nature, and they will enforce them, with or withoutthe authority of government!"
This long speech (and I have not remembered half of it) wasinterrupted by frequent bursts of applause, and when Mr. White satdown, it was amid such enthusiasm of cheering as quite carried me offmy feet.
"Was there ever such a speech?" I shouted into Mr. Lewis's ear, forthe noise was deafening. "That will surely win the day."
"Wait," he shouted back, "until you hear the other side. That is Mr.Jackson of Georgia trying to get the floor, and, if I mistake not, hewill be in opposition, and he is a strong speaker, with plenty ofcaustic wit."
Mr. Jackson began to speak with so slow a drawl and in such low tonesthat at first I hardly thought him an adversary to be dreaded. But ashe warmed to his work I changed my mind.
"What is the course," he began, "which we have to pursue? Is it to goimmediately to war without asking for redress? By the law of nationsand the doctrines of all writers on such law, you are not justifieduntil you have tried every possible method of obtaining redress in apeaceable manner. It is only in the last extremity, when you have noother expedient left, that a recourse to arms is lawful and just, andI hope the United States will never forfeit their character forjustice by any hasty or rash steps which they may, too late, have torepent of.
"Sir, we have been told much, by the gentleman from Delaware, ofBonaparte: that he is the hero of France, the conqueror of Italy, thetyrant of Germany, and that his legions are invincible. We have beentold that we must hasten to take possession of New Orleans whilst inthe hands of the sluggish Spaniards, and not wait until it is in theiron grip of the Caesar of modern times. But much as I respect the fameand exploits of that extraordinary man, I believe we should havelittle more to fear from him, should it be necessary in the end tocontend with him for the possession of New Orleans, than from thesluggish Spaniards. Bonaparte, sir, in our Southern country would belost with all his martial talents. His hollow squares and horseartillery would be of little service to him in the midst of ourmorasses and woods, where he would meet, not with the champaigncountry of Italy,--with the little rivulets commanded by his cannonwhich he could pass at leisure,--not with the fortified cities whichcommand surrounding districts, but with rivers miles wide, and swampsmortal or impenetrable to Europeans. With a body of only ten thousandof our expert riflemen around him, his laurels would be torn from hisbrow, and he would heartily wish himself once more on the plains ofItaly.
"The sacred name of Washington has been unnecessarily appealed to onthis as on many other occasions, and we have been boastingly told thatin his time no nation dared insult us. Much, sir, as I revere hismemory, acknowledging him among the fathers of his country, was thisthe fact? Was he not insulted?--was not the nation insulted under hisadministration? How came the posts to be detained after the definitivetreaty with Great Britain? What dictated that inhuman dee
d to stir uphorror and destruction among us--Lord Dorchester's insolent and savagespeech to the hordes of Indians on our frontiers to massacre ourinhabitants without distinction? Were those not insults? Or have wetamely forgotten them? Yet, sir, did Washington go to war? He did not;he preferred negotiation, and sent an envoy to Great Britain. Peacewas obtained by a treaty with that nation. Shall we, then, notnegotiate? Shall we not follow the leading feature of our nation'spolicy? We are all actuated, I hope, by one view, but we differ in themeans. Let us show the nations of the earth we are not anxious forwar, that scourge of mankind; that we bear patiently our injuries, inhope of redress.
"But, sir, if forced to war, contrary to our policy and wish, let usunsheathe the sword and fling away the scabbard until our enemies bebrought to a sense of justice and our wrongs be redressed."
Now to every word of this speech I had listened breathlessly. Therewas a ring in Mr. Jackson's voice as he warmed to his theme, and hislong body swayed in the power of his own eloquence, that moved memightily, though I wished not to be moved.
I scarcely listened to the gentleman that followed (a Mr. Cocke fromTennessee), so intently was I reviewing Mr. Jackson's ringingsentences, and wondering if, after all, he was right, and all thebrave Kentuckians who had been so loud in their demands for war werewrong. But one or two sentences of Mr. Cocke caught my ear; I heardhim say:
"We were told by Mr. Ross that we were bound to go to war for thisright which God and nature had given to the Western people. What arewe to understand by this right given by God and nature? Surely not theright of deposit, for that was given by treaty, and as to the right ofnavigation, that has been neither suspended nor brought into question.But we are told by the same gentleman that the possession of NewOrleans is necessary to our complete security. Leaving to thegentleman's own conscience to settle the question as to the moralityof taking that place because it would be convenient, I beg to informhim that the possession of it would not give us complete security."
What further Mr. Cocke said I do not know, for at that moment Mr.Lewis whispered to me:
"Do you know the lady in the gallery opposite? She has been for sometime covertly regarding one of us, and I think it must be you. Do notlook at her just now; look at the right-hand gallery, and thengradually let your glance come around to the lady wearing a black laceveil beside the pillar in the front row opposite."
I did as Mr. Lewis instructed--letting my glance finally fall in themost casual manner where he indicated. But as I did so my heart gave agreat bound. Could that be Mademoiselle Pelagie? The pose of the head,the dark eyes seen dimly through the lace veil, the little ringlets inthe neck, were hers; but after a moment I convinced myself that it wasonly a chance resemblance. I had left Mademoiselle Pelagie in Kentuckynot three weeks before, with no intention of coming to Washington, butof going direct to New York as soon as suitable escort could be found.It would hardly be within the bounds of possibility that she should bein Washington as soon as I. It was true I had been detained somewhaton the route, once by losing my way, and once by Fatima laming herfoot and causing me to spend two days with a Virginia planter whileshe recovered sufficiently to permit our resuming our journey. Butstill I could not believe mademoiselle could have accomplished such ajourney so quickly, and when I had left her there had been a smallprospect of an escort to New York, but none at all to Washington.
So I told Mr. Meriwether Lewis that the lady did indeed remind me ofone I knew, but as she was at that moment (I had every reason tobelieve) safe with Mrs. O'Fallon at Mulberry Hill, it was impossiblethat it could be she. Then, though much disturbed by this chanceresemblance and the thronging memories it awakened, I addressed myselfonce more to the debate.
I was just in time to see rising to his feet the handsomest man in theSenate, as I had long before decided. Mr. Gouverneur Morris, with hisclean-cut, aristocratic features, his carefully curled peruke, hisfine lace ruffles falling over his long white hands, and hisimmaculate stockings and pumps with their glittering buckles, was, tomy mind, every inch the gentleman, and quite worthy to have calledhimself a blue-blooded Philadelphian, but that an unkind fate hadgiven him New York for a birthplace. I was more than curious to knowon which side he would be, and his opening sentence filled me with theassurance he was on the right side and every word was weighted.Clear-cut, each sentence dropped from his lips like a string ofburnished jewels.
"Had Spain the right to make this cession to France without ourconsent? Gentlemen have taken it for granted that she had. But I denythe position. No nation has a right to give to another a dangerousneighbor without her consent. He who renders me insecure, he whohazards my peace and exposes me to imminent danger, commits an act ofhostility against me and gives me the rights consequent on that act.Suppose Great Britain should give to Algiers one of the Bahamas, andcontribute thereby to establish a nest of pirates near your coast.Would you not consider it as an aggression? It is among the firstlimitations to the exercise of the rights of property that we must souse our own as not to injure another, and it is under the immediatesense of this restriction that nations are bound to act toward eachother.
"The possession of Louisiana by the ambitious ruler of France wouldgive him in the New World the preponderance he has already obtained inthe Old. It becomes the United States to show that they do not fearhim who is the ruler of all; and it specially behooves the young andgrowing republic to interpose, in order to revive the energy andresistance of the half-conquered nations of Europe, and to save theexpiring liberties of mankind!"
No one can imagine the fire, the grace, the inspiring tones andgestures, with which this last sentence was uttered. In my enthusiasmI looked across to my fair neighbor in the opposite gallery forsympathy. Through the veil I thought I caught her eye; but by theslightest turn of her head and an almost imperceptible movement of herhand she conveyed to me (whether intentionally or not, I was not sure)that she was not at all in sympathy with the speaker--indeed, that shedisagreed with him wholly.
I looked down again into the arena below me. Slowly rising from hisseat was a figure as ungainly as the other had been elegant. Red offace, with features almost coarse, and unwieldy from too great aburden of flesh, I recognized at once Mr. Morris's colleague, thefamous Mr. Clinton of New York. What he said pleased me no more thanhis appearance, yet I could but own that no speaker had spoken withmore force, more caustic satire, or more fluent eloquence. I had toadmit, also, that there was a flavor of good sense and practicabilityabout much that he said, though I was loath to admit it. He beganponderously, with pompous tones; but as he went on his voice changeduntil it became at times high and even rasping.
"Sublime, sir, as these speculations may appear to the eyes of some,and high-sounding as they may strike the ears of many, they do notaffect me with any force. In the first place, I do not perceive howthey bear upon the question before me; it merely refers to the seizureof New Orleans, not to the maintenance of the balance of power. Again,of all characters, I think that of a conquering nation least becomesthe American people. What, sir! Shall America go forth, like anotherDon Quixote, to relieve distressed nations and to rescue from thefangs of tyranny the powerful states of Britain, Spain, Austria,Italy, the Netherlands? Shall she, like another Phaethon, madly ascendthe chariot of Empire, and spread desolation and horror over theworld? Shall she attempt to restrain the career of a nation, which myhonorable colleague represents to have been irresistible, and which hedeclares has appalled the British lion and the imperial eagle of thehouse of Austria? Shall we wantonly court destruction and violate allthe maxims of policy which ought to govern infant and free republics?Let us, sir, never carry our arms into the territory of other nations,unless we are compelled to take them up in self-defense. A pacificcharacter is of all others most important for us to maintain. With asea-coast of two thousand miles, indented with harbors and lined withcities, with an extended commerce, and with a population of only sixmillions, how are we to set up for the avenger of nations? Can gravityitself refrain itself f
rom laughter at the figure which my honorablecolleague would wish us to make on the theater of the world? He wouldput a fool's cap on our head and dress us up in the parti-coloredrobes of a harlequin for the nations of the world to laugh at. Andafter all the puissant knights of the times have been worsted in thetournament by the Orlando Furioso of France, we must then, forsooth,come forward and console them for their defeat by an exhibition of ourfollies!
"I look, sir, upon all the dangers we heard about the Frenchpossession of Louisiana as visionary and idle. Twenty years must rollover our heads before France can establish in that country apopulation of two hundred thousand souls. What, in the meantime, willbecome of your Southern and Western States? Are they not advancing togreatness with a giant's stride? The Western States will then containon their borders millions of free and hardy republicans, able to crushevery daring invader of their rights!"
There was a slight stir in the gallery opposite. I looked up to seethe figure in black rising from her seat. But even as I looked Ithought I caught a direct glance from the dark eyes, and I couldalmost have sworn there was a slight wave of the hand as if in partingsalute to me. Her companion, an older lady, rose with her, andtogether they turned and left the gallery. Once more I was struck bythe startling resemblance to Mademoiselle Pelagie in every movement,and in the outlines of the graceful figure. I heard nothing more Mr.Clinton had to say; I was lost in an abstracted reverie as to thepossibility of its being mademoiselle in the flesh. I would have likedto propose to Mr. Lewis that we go out and follow the mysteriousfigure, but cold reason assured me that mademoiselle was many milesaway, and it was but a fond fancy that pictured her image in everydark-eyed maiden, and so shamed me from such a foolish pursuit.
"Shall we go?" said Mr. Lewis. "There will be no vote--probably nonefor a week at least."
I started from my reverie to find the debate over, the Senateadjourned, floor and gallery rapidly clearing. I answered withalacrity, hoping he had not discovered my abstraction:
"By all means. It has been a grand occasion, and I am much indebted toyou, sir, for giving me the opportunity of hearing so great a debate."
Through the long corridors I hurried Mr. Lewis, eagerly scanning thethrong for a glimpse of that figure, which I hoped we might overtake;but it had utterly vanished. Outside we found our horses waiting, andtogether we picked a rough and broken path down Capitol Hill, andthen a smoother road where we could put our horses to a canter up theavenue; a gay throng in coaches, in saddle, and on foot accompanyingus, and Mr. Meriwether Lewis saluting to right and left as we passedthe more leisurely ones, or were passed by those riding or driving inreckless haste. And so on to my inn, where Bandy Jim, stillindustriously polishing boots on the sidewalk, ducked his white headwith a joyous "Howdy, marsa!" and I felt as if an old friend waswelcoming me home.
