disparage the work of others, his peers, did much to lower him in the estimation of men whose good opinion was worth having.

When, in 1790, the seat of government was removed to Philadelphia, the translating clerk in the department of state declined to follow. To oblige his friends, James Madison and Henry Lee, Mr. Jefferson appointed to the office Captain Philip Frenau, who was somewhat of a poet, and quite a man of genius. Frenau was at the time general utility man on the New York Commercial Advertiser. The salary of clerk in the department of state was small,-but two hundred and fifty dollars per year. However, Mr. Madison and Governor Henry Lee, of Virginia, had in contemplation the establishment of a paper to represent the republican party, as Hamilton had an organ, the Gazette of the United States. Less than a year after Frenau's appointment, appeared the first number of the National Gazette. The course followed by the National Gazette in combatting the principles of federalism, and condemning Mr. Hamilton's schemes, inflamed the ire of that gentleman, who became still more embittered against Mr. Jefferson, believing him the instigator and abettor of the attacks against the United States bank, and other measures. The only connection Mr. Jefferson had with the National Gazette, if connection it can be called, was in loaning its editor the foreign newspapers received by the department. Mr. Jefferson plainly said: "I never did, by myself or any other, or indirectly, say a syllable, nor attempt any kind of influence,

nor write, dictate, or procure, any one sentence to be inserted in Frenau's, or any other gazette, to which my name was not affixed, or that of my office." Undoubtedly Mr. Jefferson's sympathies were with the paper representing his political views, as were those of Mr. Hamilton with the paper representing the federal party.

Two natures radically antagonistic can hardly be reconciled. This was the case with Jefferson and Hamilton. Their first mutual impressions were those of antagonism-the one a republican, in sympathy with a republican form of government, the other a federalist, with strong predilections to a monarchical government, surrounded by the restrictions of court etiquette, and a titled nobility. While each treated the other with courtesy and respect, there was nothing in common between them. Hamilton planned for a life of power. Jefferson desired relief from the cares of state, and opportunity for following the pursuits that were best suited to his nature. The differences between these great men were never reconciled, and never ended until Hamilton fell, bathed in his own blood, under the fatal bullet of Burr. Jefferson dreaded Hamilton's ambition and designs. His extravagant praise of Julius Cæsar, whom he pronounced the greatest man that ever lived, brought to mind a declaration of Cicero, that Cæsar used frequently a verse from Euripides "which expressed the image of his soul," that "if right and justice were ever to be violated, they were to be violated for the sake of

reigning." Jefferson believed he had ambitious designs, and " suspected what Gouverneur Morris suspected, that Hamilton contemplated in some crisis resorting to the sword."

In 1791 begun a long discussion of differences between the United States and Great Britain, in which the cause of the United States was represented and ably defended by Mr. Jefferson, that of England being supported by Mr. Hammond, who had been accredited minister to the United States in August of that year. The government had received notice that an Englishman, named Bowles, was endeavoring to incite the Creek Indians to declare war against the United States. This being brought to the attention of Mr. Hammond, he denounced Bowles as an imposter in representing himself an agent of Great Britain. Mr. Jefferson replied that “the promptitude of the disavowal of what their candor had forbidden him to credit was a new proof of their friendly dispositions, and a fresh incitement to both parties to cherish corresponding scntiments."

Weightier matters soon came before the two ministers. The govern ment claimed that British fortified posts within the United States had not been delivered up, as contemplated in the treaty of peace; that many negroes had been carried off in contravention of the same article; that the river St. Croix, the boundary between the United States and Canada, is not the river contemplated in the treaty, there being two rivers of that name. Mr. Hammond declared that the United States had violated sections of the same treaty, and adduced an article stipulating that creditors of either nation should have no legal impediments thrown in the way of recovering debts; that Congress should recommend the several state legislatures to make restitution of property of British subjects confiscated during the war; there should be no future confiscations, nor prosecutions of persons for having borne arms in the war. The discussion of these questions extended into the following year, and was conducted with consummate ability on both sides, but nothing definite was agreed upon during Mr. Jef ferson's administration of the department of state.

The declaration of war between England and France, in the winter of 1793, gave rise to many conflicting feelings in America. France, who had been an ally in the war of independence, was now assailed because she was in a weakened condition. What course should be taken in the coming struggle? The sympathy and cordial co-operation of a great majority of the people could be depended on for France. But how would America's position in the great sisterhood of nations be affected? A very few days of delay and every American vessel capable of carrying a half-dozen guns, would be fitted out, manned, and dispatched to capture British merchant vessels. The President was at Mt. Vernon when a letter from Mr. Jefferson reached him, informing him of what had occurred. He immediately started by the fastest post, for Philadelphia, and on his arrival called a meeting of his

cabinet to discuss the grave question before them. The representative of France was at that time crossing the Atlantic on a peaceful mission. Should he be received and recognized? Jefferson and Randolph at once answered in the affirmative. Hamilton and Knox saw no other course open to them, and were obliged reluctantly to acquiesce. By the treaties of 1798—one of "amity and commerce," the other of "alliance"-French privateers might enter our ports with their prizes, while British war vessels were denied the privilege; the United States also guaranteed the French their possessions in America. The king of France had signed these treaties, but the revolutionists had beheaded him. Was a treaty, signed by the king of France, valid, now that he was murdered, and the government republican in form? Mr. Hamilton favored giving the new representative, M. Genet, a qualified reception, by declaring the question as to the validity of existing treaties reserved. He said: "It was from Louis XVI. that the United States received those succors which were so important in the establishment of our independence and liberty. It was with his heirs and successors that they contracted their engagements, by which they obtained those precious succors."

Mr. Jefferson replied at length to the arguments of Mr. Hamilton. He said: "If I do not subscribe to the soundness of the secretary of the treasury's reasoning, I do most fully to its ingenuity.

I consider the people who constitute a society or nation as the source of all authority in that nation; as free to transact their common concerns by any agents they think proper; to change these agents individually, or the organization of them in form or function, whenever they please; that all the acts done by these agents, under the authority of the nation, are the acts of the nation, are obligatory on them, and inure to their use, and can, in no wise, be annulled or affected by any change in the form of the government or of the persons administering it. Consequently, the treaties between the United States and France were not treaties between the United States and Louis Capet, but between the two nations of America and France; and the nations remaining in existence, though both of them have since changed their forms of government, the treaties are not annulled by these changes." The President decided that Genet be received without qualification.

On the 8th of April the frigate L' Embuscade, carrying forty guns and three hundred men, arrived in Charleston harbor, having on board the ambassador, M. Genet. Following her came a British prize, captured during the passage, showing what rich pickings might be taken by priva teers. And this was not all. Two prizes had been taken, the brig Little Sarah, and a valuable merchantman, the Grange. A few days later arrived the French frigate, Citizen Genet, also with two prizes. Charleston at this time contained many wealthy French merchants, all of whom welcomed the ambassador with delight, and many requested commissions to engage in