 Chapter 8 of Washington and His Colleagues by Henry Jones Ford. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 8, Party Violence. When, in July 1793, Jefferson notified the president of his wish to resign from the cabinet, Hamilton's resignation had already been before the president for several weeks, ever since the removal of Congress to Philadelphia. Hamilton's circumstances had become less and less able to endure the strain of maintaining his official position on a salary of $3,500 a year. He had fully experienced the truth of the warnings he had received that if he gave himself to the public service, he might spend his time and substance without receiving gratitude for his efforts or credit for his motives. His location for a statesmanship, however it was too genuine, and his courage to hide for such results to dishearten him, he had now accomplished what he had set out to do in securing the adoption of the measures which established the new government and he no longer regarded his administrative position as essential to the success of his policy. Meanwhile, the need had become urgent that he should resume the practice of his profession to provide for his family. It was not in his nature, however, to leave the front when a battle was coming on, and although he gave early notice of his intention so that Washington should have ample time to look about for his successor, the resignation was not to become effective until Congress had met and shown its temper. According to Jefferson, Washington once remarked to him that he, supposed Hamilton, had fixed on the latter part of next session to give an opportunity to Congress to examine into his conduct. Although Hamilton had made up his mind to retire, he intended to march out with flying colors as became the victor on a hard fought field, so far he had met and beaten all enemies who had dared to assail his honor. He meant to beat them again if they renewed the attack, and he had word that one encounter was coming more formidable than any before. Hamilton's success in carrying his measures through Congress by sheer dexterity of management when numbers were against him added intense bitterness to the natural chagrin felt by the defeated faction. Men like Jefferson and Madison were subject to traditions of behavior that required them to maintain a certain style of public decorum no matter how they might rage in private, but new men with new manners were coming on the scene, and among them the opposition to Hamilton had found a new leader, William Branch Giles of Virginia. He was a Princeton graduate of the class of 1781, had studied for the bar and had been admitted to practice in 1786 to the full legal equipment of the period he added and energy and an audacity that speedily brought him legal and political distinction. He was active and outspoken in advocating the adoption of the new constitution at a time when popular sentiment in Virginia was strongly inclined to be adverse. He had no hesitation about undertaking unpopular causes, and hence British debt cases became a marked feature of his practice. Virginia state law had suspended the recovery of debts due British subjects until reparation had been made for the loss of migros slaves taken away by the British during the war and until the Western posts had been surrendered, but the peace treaty of 1783 stipulated that creditors on neither side should meet with lawful impediment in the recovery of debts about the new constitution treaties had become part of the law of the land on the basis of a national jurisdiction conflict with Virginia statutes. Giles acted so energetically that he himself related that by 1792 he had been employed in at least 100 British debt cases and was as successful in collecting money under judgments as is usually the case with citizens. Comprehension of the true nature of the struggle in which Giles became conspicuous must start with the fact that the constitution was reluctantly accepted and with great uneasiness as to possible consequences. In the Virginia Convention of 1788 it was declared that the new constitution was a center there scheme of that military men to subject the people to their rule. This argument was not so much met as avoided by the declaration that there could be no tyranny. While Washington lived the rejoinder was obvious what if he should not be able to withstand military influence what if in spite of him the government should be given a dangerous character that would develop after he passed away. Jefferson had built misgivings on this score from the first and Madison experienced them as soon as differences on practical measures arose between himself and Hamilton. Jefferson and Madison wanted the government to be made respectable but not strong. Hamilton saw what they could not see and indeed what few at that time could see that a government cannot be made respectable without being made strong. Washington was probably without any clear views of his own on constitutional questions and what evidence there is on this point supports Jefferson's claim that Washington was more disposed to confide in him and in Madison than in Hamilton. When Jefferson relinquished the State Department of Washington proposed to give Madison the post but was told he would not think of taking it Washington then transferred land off to the position because he could not get anybody else of suitable capacity. Whatever Washington's personal inclinations may have been he was in a position in which he had to act. Hamilton was the only one whom he could find to show him the way and thus circumstances more and more compelled Washington to accept Hamilton's guidance but at the same time it seemed increasingly clear to the opposition that it was above all things necessary to crush Hamilton. This state of sentiment must be kept in mind in order to make intelligible the rabbit violence of the party warfare which had long been going on against Hamilton and which now that Jefferson had left the cabinet was soon to be extended to Washington himself. When Giles went to the front in this war both Jefferson and Madison were busy behind the firing line supplying munitions. Giles was elected in 1792 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Theodoric Bland and took his seat in the third session of the first congress. The assumption bill had been passed but that was only the first of the series of financial measures proposed by Hamilton and Giles followed Madison's lead in unsuccessful resistance to the excise and to the national bank. Giles was re-elected to this second congress which opened on October 24, 1791. In the course of this session he became the leader of the opposition not by supplanting Madison but through willingness to take responsibilities from which Madison, like Jefferson, shrank because he too preferred activity behind the scenes. This situation as often occurred in parliamentary history as zealous party champions scouting the scruples and restraints that hampered the official leadership and assuming an independent line of attack with the covert favor and assistance of that leadership. In the effort to crush Hamilton a series of raids was led by Giles whose appetite for fighting could never be extinguished no matter how severe it might be his defeat. After much preliminary skirmishing which put heavy tasks on Hamilton in the way of getting up reports and documents a grand attack was made on January 23, 1793. A series of resolutions in drafting which Madison and Jefferson took part was presented calling for minute particulars of all loans names of all persons to whom payments have been made statements of semi monthly balances between the treasury and the bank and an account of the sinking fund and the expanded appropriations all from the beginning of the government until the end of 1792. The resolution required Hamilton to complete and state all the accounts of the Treasury Department up to a period only a little over three weeks before the resolutions were presented and to give a detailed transcript of particulars but the treasury accounts were in such perfect order and so great was Hamilton's capacity for work that the information called for was promptly transmitted in reports dated February 4, February 13 and February 14. At the same time Hamilton hit back by observing that the resolutions were not moved without a pretty copious display of the reasons on which they were founded which were about nature to excite attention to beget alarm to inspire doubts. Giles was soon able to renew the attack. Jefferson and Madison helped him to prepare a series of nine resolutions which were presented on February 27. They specifically charged Hamilton with violation of law, neglect of duty, transgression of the proper limits of his authority and in decorum and his attitude towards the House. The series ended with a resolution that a copy should be transmitted to the President. The proceeding was a sort of impeachment framed with the purpose not of bringing Hamilton to trial but of forcing him out of the cabinet. The charges against him were purely technical and were actuated by malevolence. Hamilton though not allowed to come into the House to defend himself nevertheless participated in the debate indirectly by writing the speech delivered by William Smith and credited to him in the annals of Congress. It was so generally felt in Congress that the resolutions were founded on nothing more substantial than spite that Giles could not hold his forces together and as the debate proceeded the number of his adherents dwindled. The House began voting at a night session on March 1 after the resolution had been defeated by a voter 40 to 12 and attempt was made to withdraw the others but such action was refused and one by one the remaining resolutions were defeated by increasing numbers until only seven voted with Giles at the last among them James Madison. It was a signal triumph for Hamilton but his enemies were not disposed to accept the decision as final and Jefferson thought it might be revised at the next session. It was not until the second Congress that the old factions finally disappeared and the formation of national parties began. The issue over the adoption of the Constitution had produced federalists and anti-federalists but with its adoption anti-federalism as such became a thing of the past. Opposition to the government had to take itself to the political platform provided by the successful introduction of the new system of government and was obliged to distinguish itself from official federalism by attacking not the Constitution but the way in which the Constitution was being construed and applied. The suspicion, jealousy and dislike with which the new government was regarded in many quarters were reflected from the beginning in the behavior of Congress. There was from the first a disposition to find fault and to antagonize and as time went on this disposition was aggravated by the great scope allowed to misunderstanding and calamity from the lack of direct contact between Congress and the administration in founding a new party Jefferson only organized forces that were demanding leadership. He consolidated the existing opposition and gave it the name Republican Party implying that its purpose was to resist the rise of monarchy and the growth of royal prerogative in the system of government which was introduced by the adoption of the Constitution. It is clear enough now that the implication was Mayor Calumny the notion that Washington was either aiming at monarchy or was conniving at it through ignorance was a grotesque travesty of the shameful situation that actually existed but fictions pretenses and calumnes that would never have been allowed utterance if the administration Congress has stood face to face now had opportunity to spread and in fact public opinion hence the tone of extreme rage that dishonors the political contention of the period and the malice that stains the correspondence of the faction chiefs. Although a distinct party opposition appeared and assumed a name during the second Congress it disavowed as yet any opposition to Washington and represented its actual attempts to thwart the measures of the administration as efforts to counteract Washington's evil advisors. The old constitutional tradition that the king can do no wrong which still lingered in American politics tended to an analogous elevation of the presidential office above the field of party strife while leaving the president's cabinet advisors fully exposed to it just as in the case of the ministers of the crown in England. Allowance must be made for the effect of this tradition when judgment is passed on the political activities of the period considered with regard to present standards of political behavior the course of Jefferson in fomenting or opposition through the administration of which he was a part wears the appearance of despicable intrigue. There was nothing mean or low about it however in the opinion of himself and his friends and even his enemies would have allowed it to be within the rules of the game. Jefferson did his best to defeat in Congress measures adopted by Washington on the advice of Hamilton and he also did his best to undermine Washington's confidence in Hamilton in his personal dealings with Washington. Jefferson had every advantage for he had Washington's ear and could more readily than Hamilton direct the currents of unconscious influence that produced the will to believe but Jefferson's animosity kept tempting him to overplay his hand in a way that was fatal in the face of an antagonist so keen and so dexterous as Hamilton in a letter of May 23 7092 Jefferson presented to Washington an elaborate indictment of Hamilton's policy as a justification of his own behavior in organizing an opposition party in Congress. He charged Hamilton with subverting the character of the government by his financial measures the logical consequence of which would be a change from the present republican form of government to that of a monarchy hence the need for organizing the republican party who wish to preserve the government in its present form. Washington thought of the matter and according to Jefferson reopened the subject in that personal interview on July 10 being now fully apprised of Jefferson's case Washington himself prepared a brief of it divided into numbered sections and applied to Hamilton for a statement of his ideas upon the enumerated discontents framed so that those ideas may be applied to the correspondent numbers. The proceeding is a fine instance of the care which Washington exercised informing his opinions of course as soon as charges of corruption and misdemeanor were reduced to exact statement the matter was put just where Hamilton wanted to get it and in that grasp of his powerful hands its trashy character was promptly displayed. It is needless to go into details now that public loans the funding of floating indebtedness in excess of current income and the maintenance of a national banking system to supply machinery of credit are such well recognized functions that the wonder is how any statesman could have ever thought otherwise. Jefferson's arguments been read with the prepossessions of the present day are so apt to leave an impression of absurdity that they constitute a troublesome episode for his biographers. Jefferson's maneuvering utterly failed to enter Hamilton in Washington's esteem but it did have the effect of so thoroughly disgusting Washington with public life that at one time he was determined to refuse a re-election even went so far as to ask Madison to prepare a valid decree address for him. He consented to serve another term most reluctantly and not until he had been besought to do so by the leaders on both sides. Jefferson was as urgent as was Hamilton while Washington was still wavering he received a strong letter from Edmund Randolph that doubtless touched his soldierly pride the letter closed with this sharp argument you suffered yourself to yield when the voice of your country summoned you to the administration should a civil war arise you cannot stay at home and how much easier will it be to disperse the factions which are rushing to this catastrophe than to subdue them after they shall appear in arms it is the fixed opinion of the world that you surrendered nothing incomplete an appeal of this character was the most effective that could possibly be addressed to Washington but in consenting he grumbled over the hardship of having to keep inactive service at his time of life after already having served for so long a time he complained that his hearing was getting bad and that perhaps his other faculties might fall off and he not be sensible of it acquiescence in Washington's candidacy made it practically impossible for the republican party to manifest its true strength the compliment of republican support was awarded to governor clinton of new york who together with washington received all the electoral votes of virginia new york north carolina and georgia austral electoral vote from pennsylvania brought clinton's total up to 50 whereas john adams received 77 votes which re-elected him as vice president jefferson received only four electoral votes all from kentucky but his poor showing in this election was wholly due to the intricacy of the electoral system and his party meanwhile developed so much strength that when the third congress met on december 2 70 93 the republicans were strong enough to elect the speaker undeterred by this circumstance hamilton forced the fighting the jeffersonians have been excusing the defeat that had received in attacking hamilton in the previous congress on the ground that the house had acted without allowing sufficient time for due examination of the evidence this plea supplied to hamilton an occasion for prompt action exactly two weeks after the meeting of congress he addressed the letter to the speaker in which he declared unwilling to leave the matter on such a footing i have concluded to request of the house of representatives as i now do that a new inquiry may be without delay instituted in some mode most effectual for an accurate and thorough investigation and i will add that the more comprehensive it is the more agreeable it will be to me jiles promptly took up the challenge and moved the appointment of a committee to examine the state of the treasury department in all its particulars bending action by the house a new complication was introduced which though meant as a blow at hamilton resulted in a signal triumph for him his enemies got hold of a discharged clerk of the treasury department by means of whom they now tried to counteract the effect of hamilton's challenge two days after hamilton's letter to the speaker a memorial from andrew g francis was laid before the house making charges which amounted to this that there was a combination between hamilton and other officers of the treasury department to evade payment of warrants so that they could be bought up for speculative purposes hamilton's request for an investigation was allowed to lie on the table but the memorial from francis was referred to a select committee of which jiles was a member this circumstance turned out to be much to hamilton's advantage jiles was an erect bold manly foe he could not stomach the sort of testimony upon which depended the charges against hamilton's personal integrity and he concurred in a report on hamilton finding that the evidence was fully sufficient to justify his conduct and that in the whole course of this transaction the secretary and other officers of the treasury have acted a meritorious part towards the public jiles while exonerating hamilton of the charge of dishonesty did not desist from pressing his motion for further investigation of the treasury department but he admitted that imputations upon the secretary's integrity have been quite removed and he now urged that the primary object of the resolution is to ascertain the boundaries of discretion and authority between the legislature and the treasury department and thus shifting his ground he presented a new issue in which the house and indeed jiles's own party associates took little interest the fact was that the attack on hamilton had failed that the purpose of showing him to be unworthy of washington's confidence had been abandoned as impracticable and that all that remained was a proposal that the house should again engage in that laborious investigation of the desirability of attempting a new delimitation of the functions of the treasury department and of congress but this of course did not concern hamilton he had acted under existing laws and with responsibilities which were defined by them if congress offered to make new laws the consequences would fall upon his successor in office not upon him since he was about to retire if congress made fetters for the secretary it might even be that some member of jiles's own party would have to wear them best however jiles's latest proposal might be viewed it was not attractive moreover it was presented at a time when the house had much more urgent matters to consider the country was wild with the excitement over the retaliating orders and degrees of great britman france which subjected american interest to injury from both sides jiles and page appeared to have been the only speakers on the resolution when it was taken up for consideration on february 24 79 4 and both disclaimed any intention of reflecting upon hamilton the resolution received decent interment by reference to a committee with no one objecting the practical conclusion of the matter was that hamilton had beaten his enemies once more and beaten them thoroughly before resigning his office hamilton added still another great achievement to his record of illustrious service in establishing public authority the violent agitation against the excise act promoted by the jeffersonians naturally tended to forcible resistance one of the counts of jefferson's indictment of hamilton's policy which had been presented to washington was that the excise law was of odys character committing the authority of the government in parts where existence is most probable and a coercion least practicable the parts thus referred to were the mountains of western pennsylvania the popular discontent which arose there from the imposition of taxes upon their principal staple distilled spirits naturally coalesced with the agitation carried on against washington's neutrality policy at a meeting of delegates from the election districts of allegheny county held at pittsburgh resolutions were adopted attributing the policy of the government to the pernicious influence of stockholders this was an echo of jefferson's views but the resolutions went on to declare our minds view this with so much indignancy that we are almost ready to wish for a state of revolution and the guillotine of france for a short space in order to inflict punishment on the miscreants that innovate and disgrace our government this was an echo of a talk in the political clubs that had been formed throughout the country the original model was apparently the jackabin club of pares the philadelphia club with which the movement started soon after genese arrival adopted the jackabin style of utterance it declared its object to be the preservation of freedom whose existence was menaced by a european confederacy transcendent in power and unparalleled in iniquity and also by the pride of wealth and arrogance of power displayed in the united states writing to governor lee of virginia washington said that he considered this insurrection as the first formidable fruit of the democratic societies amethyst moved rarely doing whatever it lay in his power to smooth the practical working of the system in the hope of attaining the object of the laws by means short of force but such was the inflamed state of feeling in western pennsylvania that no course was acceptable short of abandonment by the government of efforts to enforce the internal revenue laws during 1793 there were several outrageous attacks on agents of the government and the execution of warrants for the arrest of rioters was refused by local authority people who showed a disposition decide with the government had their barns burned the revenue inspector was tart and feathered and was run out of the district the patients with which the government endured insults to its authority encouraged the mob spirit on july 1670 94 the house of inspector neville was attacked by a mob and when he appealed to the local authorities for protection he was notified that there was such a general combination of the people that the laws could not be executed neville a revolutionary veteran of tribe valor was able to obtain the help of an officer and 11 soldiers from fort pit but the mob was too numerous and too well armed to be withstood by so weak a force after a skirmish in which the mob fired the buildings and the place became untenable the troops had to surrender soon after this affair a convention of elegance from the four western counties of pennsylvania was called to meet on august 14 to concert measures for united action organized insurrection had in fact begun the government said washington could no longer remain a passive spectator of the contempt with which the laws were treated but when he called for cabinet opinions the old variance that once showed itself randolph thought that calm consideration of the situation banishes every idea of calling the militia into immediate action he pointed out that the disaffected region had more than 15 000 white males above the age of 16 and that sympathy with the insurgents was active in several counties in virginia having a strong militia it was also the risk that the insurgents might seek british aid in which case a severance of the union might result randolph also enlarged upon the expense that would attend military operations and questioned whether the funds could be obtained he advised the proclamation and the appointment of commissions to treat with the insurgents should such means fail and should it appear that the judiciary authority was withstood then at last military force might be employed hamilton held that our competent force of militia should be called forth and employed to suppress the insurrection and support the civil authority it appeared to him that the very existence of the government demands this course ears that the force employed ought to be an imposing one such if practicable as will deter from opposition save the effusion of the blood of the citizens and serve the object to be accomplished he proposed a force of 12 000 men of whom 3000 were to be cavalry and advised that in addition to the pennsylvania militia new jersey mariland and virginia should each contribute a quota all the members of the cabinet except randolph concurred in hamilton's opinion the practical execution of the measures was entrusted to hamilton who acted with great sagacity some appearance of timidity and inertia in pennsylvania state authority was indirectly but effectually counteracting by measures which showed that the military expedition would move even if pennsylvania held back although some troops were together at carlow pennsylvania others were to meet at cumberland fort virginia the business was so shrewdly managed that pennsylvania state authority fell obediently into line and the insurgents were so cowed by the determined action of the government that they submitted without a struggle washington thought that this event would react upon the clubs and effectuate their annihilation sooner than it might otherwise have happened a general collapse among them certainly followed and they disappeared from the political scene it is in the nature of precaution that the more successful it is the less necessary it appears to have been and thus the complete success of hamilton's management furnished his enemies with a new argument against him of which they afterwards made great use the costly military expedition and headnote fighting to do was continually held up to public ridicule that the expense was traveling in comparison with the objects achieved must deeply impress anyone who examines the records of the times a mistake might have been fatal to the existence of the government it has become so powerful and massive since that time that we can hardly realize what a rickety structure it then was and how readily in less capable hands it might have collapsed randolph then secretary of state seems to have been in a panic foe shea the french minister at that time reported to his government that randolph called upon him and with a grief stricken countenance declared it is all over a civil war is about to ravage our unhappy country he represented to foe shea that there were four men whose talents influence and energy might say that the debtors of english merchants they will be deprived of their liberty if they take the smallest step he wanted to know whether foe shea could lend funds sufficient to shelter them from english persecution foe shea's letter was captured by the british and made public randolph's explanation did not clear up the obscurity that surrounds the affair his version was that the four men were flower merchants who were being pressed by their creditors and that the money was wanted only for the purpose of paying them what was actually due to them in virtue of existing contracts even on his own showing it was a shady transaction and he retired from washington's cabinet under a cloud washington always had difficulty about the composition of the cabinet a capable man had been found to succeed randolph as attorney general in the person of ream bradford enable pennsylvania lawyer but he died in 1795 and was succeeded by charles lee of virginia when nox resigned in 1794 the vacancy was filled by a transfer to the war department timothy pickering of massachusetts who had previously served as postmaster general when hamilton in attire january 1795 he was succeeded by albert wallcott of connecticut who had been comptroller of the treasury after randolph had been discredited by the foe shea letter the office of secretary of state went to begging it was offered to William paterson of new jersey to thomas johnson of maryland to charles coatsworth pinkney of south carolina but all these men declined washington got word that patrick henry the old antagonist of the constitution was showing federalist leanings in opposition to jefferson and madison and henry was then tendered to the appointment for he too declined others were approached but all refused and meanwhile pickering the secretary of war also attended to the work of the state department the matter was finally settled by permanently attaching pickering to the state department while the vacancy thus created at the head of the war department was filled by james mckamery an appointment which washington himself described as hobson's choice hamilton although out of the cabinet still remained a trusted advisor and he rendered splendid service at a dangerous crisis in spite of the fact that the jay treaty had been ratified by the senate in june 1795 it was an issue in the fall elections that year jefferson held that the treaty was an accidental thing an infamous act which is really nothing more than a treaty of alliance between england and the angloman of this country against the legislature and that people of the united states jails who had been in close consultation with jefferson moved with characteristic energy to translate jefferson's views into congressional action the fourth congress met on december 7 1795 and although a federalist jonathan daten and new jersey was elected speaker the republicans were strong enough to tone down the reply to the president's address by substituting for an expression of undiminished confidence and acknowledgement of zealous and faithful services which expressed approval of his course on march 24 1796 the house by a vote of 62 to 37 adopted a resolution calling upon the president to lay before it his instructions to jay together with the correspondence and the other documents relative to said treaty advised by hamilton and sustained by his whole cabinet washington replied on march 30 by declining to comply because concurrence of the house was not necessary to give validity to the treaty and because of the necessity of maintaining the boundaries fixed by the constitution between the different departments the house retorted by a resolution declaring its right to judge the merits of the case when application was made for an appropriation to give effect to a treaty debate on this issue which is still an open one in our constitutional system began on april 14 and continued for 16 days medicine opposed the execution of the treaty but the principal speech was made by jails whose argument covers 28 columns in the annals as the struggle proceeded the jeffersonians lost ground it became evident that weighty elements of public opinion were veering around to the support of the treaty as the best arrangement attained what in the circumstances the balance of strength became so close that the scales were probably turned by a speech of wonderful power and eloquence delivered by fissure aims a decision was reached on april 30 the test question being on declaring the treaty highly objectionable 48 votes were cast on each side and the speaker gave his decision for the negative in the end the house did 51 to 48 in favor of carrying the treaty into effect only four votes for the treaty came from the section south of mason and dixon's line during the agitation over the jay treaty the rage of party spirit turned full against washington himself he was blackarded and abused in every possible way he was accused of having shown incapacity while general and of having embezzled public funds while president he was nicknamed the stepfather of his country the imputation on his honor stung so keen that he declared he would rather be in his grave than in the presidency and in private correspondence he complained that he had been assailed in terms so exaggerated and indecent as could scarcely be applied to a nero a notorious default or even to a common pickpocket the only rejoinder which his dignity permitted him to make is that contained in his farewell address stated september 1770 96 in which he made a modest estimate of his services and made a last affection appeal to the people whom he had so faithfully served the farewell address was not a communication to congress it was issued in view of the approaching presidential election to give public notice that he declined being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made the usual address to congress was delivered by washington on december 770 96 shortly after the opening of the second session of the fourth congress the occasion was connected in the public mind with his recent valedictory and congress was ready to vote a reply a particular late cordial tenor jiles stood to his guns to the last speaking and voting against complementary resolutions he hoped gentlemen would compliment the president privately as individuals at the same time he hoped such adulation would never pervade the house he held that the administration had been neither wise nor firm and he acknowledged that he was one of those who did not think so much of the president and some others do on this issue medicine for succumb and jiles devoted was voted down 67 to 12 among the 11 who stood by jiles was a new member who made his first appearance that session andrew jackson with tenancy in later years when jiles's opinions had been modified by experience and reflection he regretted his attitude towards washington it is due to jiles to say that he did not stab in the dark he had qualities of character that under better constitutional arrangements would have invigorated the functions of the house as an organ of control but at that time with the separation that had been introduced between the house and the administration his energy was mischievous and his intrepidity was a misfortune to himself and to his party washington's term dragged to his clothes like so much slow torture others might resign but he had to stand at his post until the end and it was a happy day for him when he got his discharge his elation was so manifest that it was noticed by john adams writing to his wife about the ceremony the day after the inauguration adams remarked that washington seemed to me to enjoy a triumph over me me thought i heard him say i i'm fairly out and you fairly and see which of us will be the happiest end of chapter eight chapter nine of washington and his colleagues by henry jones ford this libre vox recording is in the public domain chapter nine personal rule of john adams the narrow majority by which john adams was elected did not accurately reflect the existing state of party strength the electoral college system by its nature was apt to distort the situation originally the electors voted for two persons without designating their preference for a president there was no inconvenience on that account while washington was a candidate since he was the first choice of all the electors but in 1796 with washington out of the field both parties were in the dilemma that if they voted solidly for two candidates the vote of the electoral college would not determine who should be president to avert this situation the adherence of a presidential candidate would have to scatter votes meant to have only vice presidential significance this explains the wide distribution of votes that characterized the working of the system until it was changed by the 12th amendment adopted in 1804 in 1796 the electoral college gave votes to 13 candidates the federalist ticket was john adams and thomas pink knee of south carolina hamilton urged equal support of both as the surest way to defeat jefferson but 18 adams electors in new england withheld votes for pink knee to make sure that he should not slip in ahead of adams had they not done so pink knee would have been chosen president a possibility which hamilton fore saw because of pink knees popularity in the south new york new jersey and delaware voted solidly for adams and pink knee as hamilton had recommended but south carolina voted solidly for both jefferson and pink knee and moreover pink knee receives scattering votes elsewhere in the south the action of the adams selectors in new england defeated pink knee and gave jefferson the vice presidency the vote for the leading candidates being 71 for adams 68 for jefferson and 59 for pink knee the tendency of such conditions to inspire political feuds and to foster factional animosity is quite obvious this situation must be borne in mind in order to make intelligible the course of adams's administration adams had an inheritance of trouble from the same source which had plagued washington's administration the efforts of revolutionary france to rule the united states in selecting manro to succeed morris washington knew that the former was as friendly to the french revolution as morris had been opposed to it and hence he hoped that manro would be able to impart a more friendly feeling to the relations of the two countries manro arrived in paris just after the fall of robespierre the committee of public safety then in possession of the executive authority hesitated to receive him manro wrote to the president of the national convention then sitting and a decree was at once passed that the minister of the united states should be introduced in the bosom of the convention manro presented himself on august 15 1794 and made a glowing address he discounted upon the trials by which america had won her independence and declared that france our ally and friend and who aided in the contest has now embarked in the same noble career the address was received with enthusiasm the president of the convention drew manro to his bosom in a fraternal embrace and it was decreed that the flags of the united states of america shall be joined to those of france and displayed in the hall of the sittings of the convention in sign of the union and eternal fraternity of the two peoples in compliance with this decree manro soon after presented an american flag to the convention when the news of these proceedings reached the state department a sharp note was sent to manro to recommend caution lest we be obliged at some time or other to explain a way or disavow an excess of fervor so as to reduce it down to the cool system of neutrality the french government regarded the jay treaty as an affront and as a violation of our treaties with france many american vessels were seized and confiscated with their cargos and hundreds of american citizens were imprisoned washington thought the manro was entirely too submissive to such proceedings therefore on august 22 1796 manro was recalled and soon after charles coatsworth pink knee was appointed in his stead the representation of france in the united states have been as mutable as were politics fogey who succeeded jeunet vertaud in june 1795 and was succeeded by adai who like his predecessors carried on active interference with american politics and even attempted to affect the presidential election by making public a note addressed to the secretary of state complaining of the behavior of the administration in adams's opinion this note had some adverse effect in pennsylvania but no other serious consequences since it was generally resented meanwhile pink knee arrived in france in december 1796 and the directory refused to receive him he was not even permitted to remain in paris but honors were showered upon manro as he took his leave in march 1797 adai withdrew and diplomatic relations between the two countries were entirely suspended by a decree made two days before adams took office the directory proclaimed as pirates to be treated without mercy all americans found serving on board british vessels and ordered the seizure of all american vessels not provided with lists of their crews in proper form though made under cover of the treaty of 1778 this letter provision ran counter to its spirit and purpose captures of american ships began at once as joel barlow wrote the decree of march two 1797 was meant to be little short of a declaration of war the curious situation which ensued from the efforts made by adams to deal with this emergency cannot be understood without reference to his personal peculiarities he was vain learned and self-sufficient and he had the characteristic defect of pedantry he overrated intelligence and he underrated character and since he was inclined to resent washington's eminence as being due more to fortune than to merit and he had for hamilton an act of hatred compounded of wounded vanity and a sense of positive injury he knew that hamilton thought slidingly of his political capacity and had worked against his political advancement and he was too lacking in magnanimity to do justice to hamilton's motives his state of mind was well known to the republican leaders who hoped to be able to use him jefferson wrote to madison suggesting that it would be worthy of consideration whether it would not be for the public good to come to a good understanding with him as to his future elections jefferson himself called on adams and showed himself desirous of cordial relations mrs adams responded by expressions of pleasure at the success of jefferson between whom and her husband she said there had never been any public or private animosity such rejoicing over the defeat of a federalist candidate for vice president did not promote good feeling between the president and the federalist leaders the morning before the inauguration adams called on jefferson and discussed with him the policy to be pursued toward france the idea had occurred to adams that a good impression might be made by sending out a mission of extraordinary weight and dignity and he wanted to know whether jefferson himself would not be willing to head such a mission without checking adams's friendly overtures jefferson soon brought him to agree that he would not be proper for the vice president to accept such a post adams then proposed that madison should go on march 6 jefferson reported to adams that madison would not accept then for the first time according to adams's own account he consulted a member of his cabinet supposed to be wool cot although the name is not mentioned adams took over washington's cabinet as it was finally constituted after the retirement of jefferson and hamilton and the virtual expulsion of randall process of change had made it entirely federalist in its political complexion and entirely devoted to washington and hamilton in its personal sympathies that adams should have adopted it as his own cabinet has been generally regarded as a blunder but it was a natural step for him to take to get his capable men to accept the portfolios as those then holding them would have been difficult so averse had prominent men become to putting themselves in a position to be harried by congress with no effective means of explaining and justifying their conduct congress then had a prestige which it does not now possess and its utterances then received consideration not now accorded whenever presidential electors were voted for directly by the people the poll was small compared with the vote for members of congress moreover there was then a feeling that the cabinet should be regarded as a bureaucracy and for a long period this conception tended to give remarkable permanence to its composition when the personal attachments of the cabinet chiefs are considered it is easy to imagine the dismay and consternation produced by the dealings of adams with jefferson by the time adams consulted the members of his cabinet they have become suspicious of his motives and distrustful of his character before long they were writing to washington and hamilton for advice and were endeavoring to manage adams by concerted action in this course they had the cordial approval of leading federalists who would write privately to members of the cabinet and give counsel as to procedure wallcott a federalist leader in connecticut warned his son the secretary of the treasury that adams was a man of great vanity pretty capricious of a very moderate share of prudence and a far less real abilities than he believes himself to possess so that it will require a deal of address to render him the service which it will be essential for him to receive the policy to be pursued was still unsettled when news came of the insulting rejection of pink me and the domineering attitude assumed by france on march 25 adams issued a call for the meeting of congress on may 15 and then said about getting the advice of his cabinet he presented a schedule of interrogatories to which he asked written answers the attitude of the cabinet was at first hostile to adams's favorite notion of a special mission but as hamilton council deference to the president's views the cabinet finally approved the project adams appointed john marshall of virginia and elbridge gary of massachusetts to serve in conjunction with pink me who had taken refuge in holland strong support for the government in taking a firm stand against france was manifested in both houses of congress hamilton aided secretary wallcott in preparing a scheme of taxation by which the revenue could be increased to provide for national defense with the singular fatality that characterized federalist party behavior throughout adams's administration however all the items proposed were abandoned except one for stamp taxes what had been offered as a scheme these particulars were justifiable by their relation to the whole was converted into a measure which was traditionally obnoxious in itself and was now made freshly odious by an appearance of discrimination and partiality the federalists did improve their opportunity in the way of general legislation much needed laws were passed to stop privateering to protect the ports and to increase the naval armament and adams was placing a much better position to maintain neutrality than washington had been fear of another outbreak of yellow fever accelerated the work of congress and the extra session lasted only a little over three weeks such was the slowness of communication in those days that when congress reassembled at the regular session in november no decisive news had arrived of the fate of the special mission adams with proper prudence thought it would be wise to consider what should be done in case of failure on january 24 1798 he addressed to the members of his cabinet a letter requesting their views no record is preserved of the replies of the secretaries of state and of the treasury lee the attorney general recommended a declaration of war but can read the secretary word offered a series of seven propositions to be recommended to congress one permission to merchant ships to arm to the construction of 20 sluts of war three the completion of frigates already authorized four grant to the president of authority to provide ships of the line not exceeding 10 by such means as he may judge best five suspension of the treaties with france six an army of 16 000 men with provision for 20 000 more should occasion demand seven alone and an adequate system of taxation these recommendations are substantially identical with those made by hamilton in a letter to pickering and the presumption is strong that mchanry's paper is a product of hamilton's influence and that it had the concurrence of pickering and wallcott the suggestion that the president should be given discretionary authority in the matter of procuring ships of the line contemplated the possibility of obtaining them by transfer from england not through formal alliance but as an incident of a cooperation to be arranged by negotiation whose objects would also include aid in placing a loan and permission for american ships to join british convoys this feature of mchanry's recommendations could not be curried out pickering soon informed hamilton that the old animosities were still so active in some breaths that the plan of cooperation was impracticable meanwhile the composite mission had accomplished nothing except to make clear the actual character of french policy when the envoys arrived in france the directory had found in napoleon bonaparte an instrument of power that was stunning europe by its tremendous blows that instrument had not yet turned to the reorganization of france herself and at the time it served the rapacious designs of the directory europe was looted wherever the arms of france prevailed and the levying of tribute both on public and on private account was the order of the day tally rand was the minister of foreign affairs and he treated the envoys with a mixture of menace and cajolary it was a part of his tactics to sever the republican member gary from his federalist colleagues gary was weak enough to be caught by tally rand's snare and he was foolish enough to attribute the remonstrances of his colleagues to vanity they were wounded he wrote by the manner in which they had been treated by the government of france and the difference which had been used in respect to me gary's conduct served a weekend and delay the negotiations but he eventually united with his colleagues in a detailed report to the state department which was transmitted to congress by the president on april 3 1798 in the original the names of the french officials concerned were written at full length in the department cipher in making a copy for congress secretary pickering substituted for the names the terminal letters of the alphabet and hence the report has passed into history as the x y z dispatches the story in brief was that on arriving in paris the envoys called on tally rand who said that he was busy at the very time on a report to the directory on american affairs and in a few days would let them know how matters stood a few days later they received notice through tally rand's secretary that the directory was greatly exasperated by expressions used in president adams's address to congress that the envoys would probably not be received until further conference and that persons might be appointed to treat with them a few more days elapsed and then three persons presented themselves as coming from tally rand they were hot and gay bellamy and ho teval designated as x y z in their communication to congress they said that a friendly reception by the directory could not be obtained unless the united states would assist france by alone and that a sum of money was required for the pocket of the directory and ministers which would be at the disposal of monsieur tally rand this dose sir to the directory amounting to approximately two hundred and forty thousand dollars was urged with great persistence as an indispensable condition of friendly relations the envoys temporized and pointed out that their government would have to be consulted on the matter of the loan the wariness of the envoys made tally rand's agents the more insistent about getting the do sir at one of the interviews hot and gay exclaimed gentleman you do not speak to the point it is money it is expected that you will offer money the envoys replied that on this point their answer had already been given no said he you have not what is your answer we replied it is no no not a six pence this part of the envoys report soon received legendary embellishment and innumerable stump speeches that rang out as not one cent for tribute millions for defense the publication of the x y z dispatches sent rolling through the country a wave of patriotic feeling before which the republican leaders quailed and which swept away many of their followers jefferson held that the french government ought not to be held responsible for the torpored to of swindlers and he steadfastly opposed any action looking to the use of force to maintain american rights some of the republican members of congress however went over to the federalist side and jefferson's party was presently reduced to a feeble and dispirited minority loyal addresses reigned upon adams there appeared a new national song hail columbia which was sung all over the land and which was established in lasting popularity among its well-known lines is an exalted stands are beginning behold the chief who now commands once more to serve his country stands this is an illusion to the fact that washington had left his retirement to take charge of the national forces the envoys have been threatened that unless they submitted to the french demands the american republic might share the fate of the republic of venice the response of congress was to vote money to complete the frigates the united states the constitution on the constellation work on which had been suspended when the algorene troubles subsided and further to authorize the construction or purchase of 12 additional vessels for the management of this force the navy department was created by the act of april 30 70 98 by an act of may 28 the president was authorized to raise a military force of 10 000 men the commander of which should have the services of a suitable number of major generals on july 7 the treaties with france that had so long vexed the united states were abrogated the operations of the navy department soon showed that american sailors were quite able and willing to defend the nation if they were allowed the opportunity in december 70 98 the navy department worked out a plan of operations in the enemy's waters to repress the depredations of the french privateers in the west indies a squadron commanded by captain john berry was sent to cruise to the windward of saint kitts as far south as barbados and it made numerous captures a squadron under captain thomas truckston cruised in the vicinity of porta rica the flagship was the frigate constellation which on february 9 70 99 encountered the french frigate lanser genre and made it strike his flag after an action lasting only an hour and 17 minutes the french captain fought well but he was put at a disadvantage by losing his top mask at the opening of the engagement so the captain truckston was able to take a raking position the american loss was only one killed in three wounded while lanser genre had 29 killed in 41 wounded on february 1 1800 the constellation fought the heavy french frigate vengeance from about eight o'clock in the evening until after midnight when the vengeance lay completely silenced and apparently helpless but the rigging and spars of the constellation had been so badly cut up that the main mass fell and before the wreck could be cleared away the vengeance was able to make her escape during the two years and a half in which hostilities continued the little navy of the united states captured 85 armed french vessels nearly all privateers only one american war vessel was taken by the enemy and that one had been originally a captured french vessel the value of the protection thus extended to american trade is attested by the increase of exports from 57 million dollars in 1797 to 78 million six hundred and sixty five thousand five hundred and twenty eight dollars in 1799 revenue from imports increased from six million dollars in 1797 to nine million eighty thousand nine hundred and thirty two dollars in 1800 the creation of an army however was attended by personal disagreements that eventually wrecked the administration without waiting to hear from washington as to his views adams nominated him for the command and then tried to overrule his arrangements the notion that washington could be hustled into a false position was a strange blunder to be made by anyone who knew him he set forth his views and made his stipulations with his customary precision in letters to secretary mchenry who had been instructed by adams to obtain washington's advice as to the list of officers washington recommended as major generals hamilton cc pinkney and nox in that order of rank adams made some demur to the preference shown for hamilton but mchenry showed him washington's letter and argued the matter so persistently that adams finally sent the nominations to the senate in the same order as washington had requested confirmation promptly followed and a few days later adams departed for his home at quincy massachusetts without notice to his cabinet it soon appeared that he was in the salks then mchenry wrote to him about proceeding with the organization of the army he replied that he was willing provided nox's precedence was acknowledged and he added that the five new england states would not patiently submit to the humiliation of having nox's claim disregarded from august 13 wrangling over this matter went on the members of the cabinet were in a difficult position it was their understanding that washington's stipulations have been accepted but the president now proposed a different arrangement pickering and mchenry wrote to washington explaining the situation in detail news of the differences between adams and washington of course soon got about and caused a great buzz in political circles adams became angry over the opposition he was meeting and on august 29 he wrote to mchenry that there has been too much intrigue in this business both with general washington and with me that it might as well be understood that in any event he would have the last say and i shall then determine it exactly as i should now nox pink knee and hamilton washington stood firm and on september 25 wrote to the president demanding that he might know it once and precisely what he had to expect in reply adams said that he had signed the three commissions on the same day in the hope that an amicable adjustment or acquiescence might take place among the gentlemen themselves but should this hope be disappointed and controversy shall arise they will of course be submitted to you as commander in chief adams of course knew quite well that such matters did not settle themselves but he seems to have imagined that all he had to do was to sit tight and that matters would have to come in his way the tricky and shuffling behavior to which he descended would be unbelievable of a man of his standing were they're not an authentic record made by himself the suspense finally became so intolerable that the cabinet acted without consulting the president any longer on the point the secretary of war submitted to his colleagues all the correspondence in the case and ask their advice the secretaries of state of the treasury and of the navy made a joint reply declaring the only inference which we can draw from the facts before stated is that the president consents to the arrangement of rank as proposed by general washington and that therefore the secretary of war ought to transmit the commissions and inform the generals that in his opinion the rank is definitely settled according to the original arrangement this was done but nox declined an appointment ranking him below hamilton and pinkney thus adams despite his obstinacy was completely baffled and a bitter feud between him and his cabinet was added to the causes now at work to destroy the federalist party the federalist military measures were sound and judicious and the expense although a subject of bitter denunciation was really trivial in comparison with the national value of the enhanced respect and consideration obtained for american interests but these measures were followed by imprudent acts or regulating domestic politics by the act of june 1870 98 the period of residence required before an alien could be admitted to american citizenship was raised from five years to 14 by the act of june 25 78 the efficacy of which was limited to two years the president might send out of the country such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the united states or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect our concern in any reasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof the state of public opinion might then have sanctioned these measures had they stood alone but they were connected with another which proved to be the weight that pulled them all down by the act of july 14 78 it was made a crime to write or publish any false scandalous and malicious statements about the president or either house of congress to bring them into contempt or dispute or to stir up sedition within the united states there were plenty of precedents in english history for legislation of such character robust examples of it were supplied in england at that very time there were also strong colonial precedents according to secretary wolcott the sedition law was merely a copy from a statute of virginia in october 1776 but a revolutionary wig measure aimed at tories was a very different thing in its practical aspect from the same measure used by a national party against the constitutional opposition hamilton regarded such legislation as in politic and on hearing of the sedition bill he wrote a protesting letter saying let us not establish tyranny energy is a very different thing from violence but in general the federalist leaders were so carried away by the excitement of the times that they could not practice moderation their zealotry was sustained by political theories which made no distinction between partisanship and sedition the constitutional function of partisanship was discerned and stated by berkins 1770 but in his definition of it as a joint endeavor to promote the national interest upon some particular principle was scattered at the time and was not allowed until long after the prevailing idea in washington's time both in england and america was that partisanship was inherently pernicious and ought to be suppressed washington's farewell address warned the people in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party the idea then was that government was wholly the affair of constituted authority and that it was improper for political activity to surpass the appointed bounds newspaper criticism and partisan oratory were among the things in washington's mind when he censured all attempts to direct control counteract or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities hence judges thought it within their province to denounce political agitators when charging a grand jury chief justice else within a charge delivered in massachusetts denounced the french system mongers from the quinn tumverett that pairs to the vice president and minority in congress as apostles of atheism and i'm agree bloodshed and plunder in charges delivered in western pennsylvania judge adison dealt with such subjects as jealousy of administration and government and the horrors of revolution washington then in private life was so pleased with the series that he sent a copy to friends for circulation convictions under this addition law were few but there were enough of them to cause great alarm a jersey man who had expressed the wish that the wad of a cannon fired as a salute to the president has hit him on the rear bulge of his breeches was fined one hundred dollars matthew line of vermont while canvassing for reelection to congress charged the president with unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp foolish adulation and a selfish avarice this language cost him four months in jail and the fine of one thousand dollars but in general the law did not repress the tendencies at which he was aimed but merely increased them the republicans too weak to make an effective standing congress tried to interpose state authority jefferson drafted the kentucky resolutions adopted by the state legislature november 1798 they hold that the constitution is a compact to which the states are parties and that each party has an equal right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress the alien and sedition laws were denounced and steps were proposed by which protesting states will concur in declaring these acts void and of no force and will each take measures of its own for providing that neither these acts nor any others of the general government not plainly and intentionally authorized by the constitution shall be exercised within their respective territories the virginia resolutions adopted in december 1798 were drafted by madison they view the powers of the federal government as resulting from the compact to which the states are parties and declare that if those powers are exceeded the states have the right and are in duty bound to interpose this doctrine was a vial of woe to american politics until it was cast down and shattered on the battlefield of civil war it was invented for a partisan purpose and yet was entirely unnecessary for that purpose the federalist party as then conducted was the exponent of a theory of government that was everywhere decaying the alien and sedition laws were condemned and discarded by the forces of national politics and state action was as fetal in effect as it was mischievous in principle it diverted the issue in a way that might have ultimately turned to the advantage of the federalist party had it possessed the usual power of adaptation to circumstances after all there was no reason inherent in the nature of that party why it should not have perpetuated its organization and repaired his fortunes by learning how to derive authority from public opinion the needed transformation of character would have been no greater than has often been accomplished in party history indeed there is something abnormal in the complete prostration and eventual extinction of the federalist party and the explanation has to be found in the extraordinary character of Adams's administration it gave such prominence and energy to individual aims and interests that the party was rent to pieces by them in communicating the x y z dispatches to congress Adams declared i will never send another minister to france without assurance that he will be received respected and honored as the representative of a great free powerful and independent nation but on receiving an authentic though roundabout intimation that a new mission would have a friendly reception he concluded to dispense with direct assurances and without consulting his cabinet sent a message to the senate on february 18 79 9 nominating murray then american minister to holland to be ministered to france this unexpected action stunned the federalist and delighted the republicans as it endorsed the position they'd always taken that war talk was falling and that france was ready to be friendly if america would treat her fairly had the ballast heart and the ablest hit in the world wrote senator sedgwick to hamilton been permitted to select the most embarrassing and ruinous measure perhaps it would have been precisely the one which has been adopted hamilton advised that the measure must go into effect with the additional idea of a commissioner three committee of the senate to whom the nomination was referred made a call upon adams to inquire his reasons according to adams's own account they informed him that a commission would be more satisfactory to the senate and to the public according to secretary pickering adams was asked to withdraw the nomination and refused but a few days later on hearing that the committee intended to report against confirmation he sent in a message nominating chief justice ellsworth and patrick henry together with murray as envoys extraordinary the senate much to adams's satisfaction promptly confirmed the nominations but this was because hamilton's influence had smoothed the way patrick henry declined and governor davie of north carolina was substituted by the time this mission reached france the podium bonaparte was in power and the envoys were able to make an acceptable settlement of the questions that issue between the two countries the event came too late to be of service to adams in his campaign for reelection but it was intensely gratifying to his self-esteem some feelers were put forward to ascertain whether washington could not be induced to be a candidate again but the idea had hardly developed before all hopes in that quarter were abruptly dashed by his death on december 14 70 99 from a badly treated attack of quincy efforts to substitute some other candidate for adams proved unavailing as new england still clung to him on sectional grounds news of these efforts of course reached adams and increased his bitterness against hamilton whom he regarded as chiefly responsible for them adams had a deep spite against members of his cabinet for the way in which they had foiled him about hamilton's commission but for his own convenience and routine matters he had retained them although debarring them from his confidence in the spring of 1800 he decided to rid himself of men whom he regarded as hamilton's spies the first to fall was mccannery whose resignation was demanded on may 5 1800 after an interview in which according to mccannery adams reproached him with having biased general washington to replace hamilton in his list of major generals before nox pickering refused to resign and he was dismissed from office on may 12 john marshall became the secretary of state and samuel dexter of massachusetts secretary of war will cut retain the treasury portfolio until the end of the year when he resigned of his own motion the events of the summer of 1800 completed the ruin of the federalist party that adams should have been so indifferent to the goodwill of his party at a time when he was a candidate for reelection as a remarkable circumstance a common report among the federalists was that he was no longer entirely sane more likely supposition was that he was influenced by some of the republican leaders and counted on their political support in biographies of gary it is claimed that he was able to accomplish important results through his influence with adams at any rate adams gave unrestrained expression to his feelings against hamilton and finally hamilton was aroused action on august 1 1800 he wrote to adams demanding whether it was true that adams had asserted the existence of a british faction in this country of which hamilton himself was said to be a leader adams did not reply hamilton waited until october 1 and then wrote again affirming that by whomsoever a charge of the kind mentioned in my former letter may at any time have been made or insinuated against me it is a base wicked and cruel calamity destitute even of a plausible pretext to excuse the folly or mask the gravity which must have dictated it hamilton always sensitive to imputations of honor was not satisfied to allow the matter to rest there he wrote a detailed account of his relations with adams involving an examination of adams as public conduct and character which he privately circulated among leading federalists it is an able people fully displaying hamilton's power combining force of argument with dignity of language but although exhibiting adams as unfit for his office it advised support of his candidacy were obtained a copy and made such use of parts of it that hamilton himself had to publish it in full in this election the candidate associated with adams by the federalist was draws coastworth pinkney of south carolina though one adams elector in rote island cut pinkney he would still have been elected have the electoral votes of his own state been cast for him as they have been for thomas pinkney four years before for south carolina now voted solidly for both republican candidates the result of the election was a tie between jefferson and burr each receiving 73 votes while adams received 65 and pinkney 64 the election was thus thrown into the house for some of the federalists entered into an intrigue to give burr the presidency instead of jefferson but this scheme was defeated largely through hamilton's influence he wrote if there be a man in this world i ought to hate it is jefferson with burr i've always been personally well but the public good must be paramount to every private consideration the result of the election was a terrible blow to adams his vanity was so hurt that he could not bear to be present at the installation of his successor and after working almost to the stroke of midnight signing appointments to office for the defeated federalist he drove away from washington in the early morning before the inauguration ceremonies began eventually he soothed his self-esteem by associating his own trials and misfortunes with those endured by classical heroes he wrote that washington hamilton and pinkney formed a triumvirate like that of anthony octavius and lepetis and that's the zero was not sacrificed to the vengeance of anthony more egregiously than john adams was to the unbridled and unbounded ambition of alexander hamilton in the american triumvirate end of chapter nine end of washington and his colleagues by henry jones ford