REESE LIBRARY
j UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
EI.IAS BOUDIXOT
From Painting by Thomas Sully, 1817
THE LIFE
PUBLIC SERVICES, ADDRESSES
AND LETTERS
OF
ELIAS BOUDINOT, LL. D.
PRESIDENT OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
EDITED BY
J. J. BOUDINOT
MEMBER OF THE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME II.
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
rc#&, Cambrib0e
1896
t V
V
Copyright, 1896,
BY J. J. BOUDINOT.
All rights resemed.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXII.
Mr. Eoudinot to chairman of joint meeting of Legislature of New Jer
sey; for permission to retire to private life. Hon. Benjamin
Franklin to Mr. Boudinot ; new commission not yet come to hand ;
Mr. Hartley in England ; Mr. Jay and Mr. Adams gone to Eng
land ; the court at Fontainebleau ; not obtaining further loan caused
by failure of Caisse d Escompte ; government proposed a lottery;
received duplicate of letter of I5th July to commissioners; very
satisfactory; sent copies to The Hague and Madrid; exchange of
treaty with Sweden ; M. du Calvar. Mr. Boudinoi to Hon. Henry
Laurens ; regarding all late movements. Mr. Boudinot to Hon.
John Adams ; regarding ministers in Europe ; conduct of Britain
irritating; Mr. Van Berckel. To Ministers Plenipotentiary inclos
ing instructions ; congratulations. To the Burgomasters and
senate of Hamburg, return proffers of friendship. To lion. Fran
cis Dana. To Hon. John Jay. To Gen. Elias Dayton .... I
CHAPTER XXIII.
Mr. Boudinot to General Washington ; on his retirement to Mount
Vernon. Mr. Boudinot to Charles Thomson, Esq. Asking for
news from old friends in Congress. Mr. Boudinot to General Lin
coln. On his way to Philadelphia with his daughter. Mr. Bou
dinot to General Washington ; sends seeds. To Mrs. Boudinot ;
time and distances by carriage. To Mrs. Boudinot; a wedding.
To Mrs. Boudinot, October, 1786, from Sunbury. Describes jour
ney. Law engagements. Advice to young Mr. Caldwell . . . 18
CHAPTER XXIV.
Establishment of government under the constitution. Extract from
Washington s speech. Mr. Boudinot s speeches. Appointed one
of the committee to receive the President. Letter on ceremonial
used for centennial celebration. Residence in Elizabethtown.
Third session of first Congress goes to Philadelphia. Purchased
estate of Rose Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford reside there.
IV CONTENTS.
Writes from New York to Mrs. Boudinot ; choice of speaker ; Mr.
Muhlenburg. To Mrs. Boudinot, describing busy day ; looks for
reward from higher source than gratitude from the public. Letter
on reception of President 34
CHAPTER XXV.
Mr. Boudinot s daughter, Susan Vergereau, married William Brad
ford. Letters. Mr. Bradford s parents. Studies. Major of
Brigade. Captain in Continental Army. Attorney-General of
Pennsylvania. Attorney-General of United States. Residence
in Philadelphia. Mr. Rush s description of scene in Washington
drawing-room. On Lafayette. Verses by Mr. Bradford. Mr.
Bradford to Mrs. Boudinot ; arrival at home; deluged with busi
ness. Mr. Bradford to Mrs. Boudinot on her illness. Mr. Brad
ford to Mr. Boudinot on filling judiciary department ; recommends
Mr. Shippen. Mr. Joseph Shotwell to Mr. Boudinot; relating to
post-office at Bridgetown ; negro slave case : advocate, Mr. Elisha
Boudinot. From Mr. Richard Wain on negro slave. Mr. Bou
dinot to Mr. Bradford ; on assumption of state debts ; deeds for
land purchased in Pennsylvania. Mr. Bradford to Mrs. Bradford ;
describes the country scene ; regarding their servants ; influenza.
Mr. Bradford to Mrs. Bradford ; describes the play enacted (" Alex
ander the Great"). From James Pemberton to Mr. Boudinot;
returning thanks of Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Aboli
tion of Slavery 45
CHAPTER XXVI.
Mr. Bradford to Mr. Boudinot for advice on accepting judgeship.
Mr. Boudinot s reply. Mr. Bradford to Mrs. Bradford ; her
illness ; absence. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Elisha Boudinot ; Mr.
Roberts children ; express from westward ; border warfare. Mr.
Samuel Bayard. Mr. Boudinot to General Washington, President
of the United States ; on Oration. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Samuel
Bayard; General Wayne quells the Indian outbreak ; Congress har
monious ; President s speech. Whiskey riots. Mr. Bradford to
Mr. Boudinot; explaining situation. Mr. Bradford from Pitts
burgh ; further accounts 71
CHAPTER XXVII.
Mr. Samuel Bayard to Mr. Boudinot ; political situation in Europe ;
^ Ireland; Earl FitzWilliams ; pamphlets relating to prophecy; gar
den seed. Mr. Samuel Bayard to Mr. Boudinot ; revolution in
CONTENTS. V
Holland ; trials in Paris ; Mr. Pitt. Mr. Samuel Bayard to Mr.
Bradford; sends Parliamentary debates for speech of Bishop
Landall and Mr. Fox s eulogy on our illustrious President ; Mr.
Erskine s opinion of his own best speech ; Mr. Bird in behalf of
American claimants ; books ; captures by the French. Mr. Bou-
dinot to lion. Oliver Walcott, recommending Mr. Charles Brown
for collector of the port of Charlestown. Mr. Samuel Bayard to
Mr. Bradford ; visits Mr. Gouverneur Morris; political ; Courts of
Admiralty sittings close; cases deferred; suspicions; Dr. Smith s
sermon ; Colonel Hamilton s last report on Sinking Fund repub-
lished. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Samuel Bayard; death of Mr.
Bradford ; grief of the family. Mr. Boudinot s visit to Dr. Samuel
Johnson. Character of Mr. Bradford. Mr. Boudinot becomes
Director of the Mint. Regulations, etc. Mr. Boudinot to Hon.
Timothy Pickering, regarding appointment to Mint. To a friend
on his acceptance. Country-seat. To Mr. Samuel Bayard re
garding copper 92
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Miss Bradford to Mr. Samuel Bayard ; sorrow at the loss of her bro
ther ; regarding Mr. Bayard s prospects ; Mr. Nicholson ; Mr.
Morris; Mr. R-u-h ; Bache ; the Cerberus of Democracy; the
family. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Samuel Bayard ; the vote for Presi
dent ; fires; Mr. Morris s Mills; Charlestown; Savannah. Mr.
Boudinot to Hon. George Washington ; takes leave of him. To
Mr. Samuel Bayard; Mr. Adams President; conduct of French
Directory. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Samuel Bayard ; regarding fam
ily ; Governor Blount of Tennessee ; Dr. Romayne ; Mr. Bayard s
affairs ; looks forward to further confusion in Europe ; asks for
Gardener ; attack on Colonel Pickering by Spanish Minister. To
Hon. Timothy Pickering ; announces death of Dr. Nicholas Way ;
treasurer of the Mint ; yellow fever. To His Excellency John
Adams ; President, on the same subject ; recommends Dr. Rush
as successor. To Hon. Timothy Pickering, on applications for the
office. Mrs. Boudinot to Mrs. Samuel Bayard; on their arrival in
America ; postscript by Mrs. Bradford. Mr. Boudinot to Mrs.
Boudinot ; their guests ; at the President s. To Mrs. Boudinot ;
ships subscribed for by merchants of Philadelphia for use of gov
ernment ; his wife. To Mrs. Boudinot ; counts the days for her
return ; describes accident to Mrs. Rush and Lord Henry Stewart.
To Mrs. Boudinot ; escorting Mr. Marshall into town ; French
Directory; jests at Mr. Bayard s intrigues m
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Mr. Eoudinot to Mrs. Boudinot ; longs for her return ; the President
with Mrs. Adams and others to tea; guests; the speaker; Mr.
Sedgwick ; Mr. Stockton ; Mr. Rush and family ; Mrs. Elaine; the
kitchen gentry. Mr. Boudinot to Miss Bradford; his brother s ill
ness ; others ; Mr. Boudinot to His Excellency Lieutenant-general
Washington on purchase of wine. To Mr. Samuel Bayard on cor
respondence; master in Chancery; French Count carries off young
lady. To His Excellency General Washington regarding the
wine. To Tobias Lear, Esq., on the same subject. To Mr. Elisha
Boudinot ; sad times ; fires ; death of Washington. To Mr. Sam
uel Bayard; political address; hopes of Mr. Van Rensselaer in the
Legislature. To Hon. James Madison; recommending Mr. Isaac
C. Barnet. To His Excellency Thomas Jefferson; salaries and
wages in Mint. His Excellency Thomas Jefferson to Mr. Boudi
not ; expense of Mint; double cylinder. Reply. Mr. Boudinot
to His Excellency Thomas Jefferson; sends curious wheat seed.
His Excellency Thomas Jefferson to Mr. Boudinot ; private
direction of Indian funds. Mr. Boudinot resigns from office of
Director of the Mint. From His Excellency Thomas Jefferson;
accepts Mr. Boudinot s resignation 144
CHAPTER XXX.
His Excellency Thomas Jefferson to Mr. Boudinot. Mrs. Bradford
to Mr. Samuel Bayard ; law suit ; bridal party. Mrs. Bradford to
Mr. Samuel Bayard ; thanks him for attending to publications ; her
father still suffering ; reference to equality of women with men in
New Jersey. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Elias E. Boudinot ; on estab
lishment of slavery in Missouri ; death of Mrs. Etnlin ; her beautiful
character. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Elias E. Boudinot ; circular letter
against establishment of slavery in Territory. To Mr. Samuel
Bayard on discontinuance of Bible Society in New Jersey. Mr.
Boudinot s death. Portraits. His daughter. Home in Bur
lington. Address of Hon. John Jay ; address before Bible Society.
Trustee of Princeton College. Endowment. Lover of trees.
Bequest to supply fuel to poor of Philadelphia ...... 167
CHAPTER XXXI.
Counting of votes for President and Vice-President of the United
States. Report from committee to receive the President. Duties
on Imports. Duties on Tonnage. Duties on Rum. On amend-
CONTENTS. Vll
ment of the Constitution. On committee to prepare bill for the
establishment of Department of Foreign Affairs. Treasury De
partment and Department of War. Department of Treasury.
Salary of President. Removal from Office 179
CHAPTER XXXII.
On Public Credit. On National Bank 214
CHAPTER XXXIII.
On the Petition of the Officers of the late Continental Army for fur
ther Compensation. On Official Conduct of the Secretary of the
Treasury 249
CHAPTER XXXIV.
On relief of French emigrants from St. Domingo. On commerce of
the United States 313
CHAPTER XXXV.
On sequestration of British debts. On non-intercourse with Great
Britain. On defense of the frontiers. On reduction of salaries.
On claims of Thomas Person and others to lands on frontier of
North Carolina. Special committees on which Mr. Boudinot
served. Motion for clay of Thanksgiving. First entry of the
Supreme Court of the United States 333
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Oration before the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New
Jersey. " A Star in the West." Other publications 356
APPENDIX.
A. Benevolent bequests in Mr. Boudinot s will 387
B. Committees in the Continental Congress on which Mr. Boudinot
served 388
C. Genealogical Notes 390
D. Proces-verbal de M r . le Senechal de Marans centre ceux de la
R. P. R., 1682 393
E. Jean Phillippeau marchand de ce lieu aage de cinquante deux
ans . . . Va 394
INDEX 395
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
CHAPTER XXII.
Mr. Boudinot to chairman of joint meeting of Legislature of New Jersey;
for permission to retire to private life. Hon. Benjamin Franklin to
Mr. Boudinot; new commission not yet come to hand; Mr. Hartley in
England ; Mr. Jay and Mr. Adams gone to England ; the court at
Fontainebleau ; not obtaining further loan caused by failure of Caisse
d Escompte ; government proposed a lottery ; received duplicate of
letter of I5th July to commissioners; very satisfactory; sent copies to
The Hague and Madrid; exchange of treaty with Sweden; M. du
Calvar. Mr. Boudinot to Hon. Henry Laurens; regarding all late
movements. Mr. Boudinot to Hon. John Adams ; regarding min
isters in Europe ; conduct of Britain irritating ; Mr. Van Berckel. To
Ministers Plenipotentiary inclosing instructions; congratulations. To
the Burgomasters and senate of Hamburg, return proffers of friend
ship. To Hon. Francis Dana. To Hon. John Jay. To Gen. Elias
Dayton.
MR. BOUDINOT TO THE CHAIRMAN OF JOINT MEETING.
PRINCETON, Oct. 27th. 1783.
SIR:
My time in the chair of Congress having just
expired and the seventh year of my expulsion
from my house and Estate compleated (the greater
part of which has been devoted to the public Ser
vice) whereby my private affairs have become
totally deranged, shall I beg the favour of you,
Sir, to make known my request in the most re-
VOL. II.
2 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
spectful manner to the honorable the Legislature
of this State, in their joint meeting, for their per
mission to retire to private Life ; and at the same
time to assure them of the deep sense I retain
of the Honor I have received from them by
the repeated Trusts reposed in me. My highest
ambition has been to serve my country in her
distress This I have endeavored to do to the
utmost of my Power, and if at any Time I have
failed in so important a Duty for want of ability,
it has been made up by the most unfeigned
Integrity. If these services have been accept
able to my Country I shall receive a most ample
Reward.
Suffer me in the most respectful manner to
congratulate you, Sir, and the legislature on the
accomplishment of the honorable and glorious
Peace with which my administration has been
honored, I mean not by this request to embarras
public measures, but as Peace is at last so firmly
established and the serving our Country the high
est Honor to which any Citizen can now aspire,
there can be no doubt of a choice of candidates
to fill so distinguished an office.
o
May the best of Heaven s blessings descend on
the Legislature and may all their Counsels be
directed to accomplish the true Interests of this
happy Republic ; and be assured that in whatever
situation divine Providence may think proper to
place me, I shall never cease to pray for their
prosperity.
HON. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TO MR. BOUDINOT 3
I have the honor to be with great Respect and
Esteem,
Your most Obedient and very Humble Servant
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Honorable Chairman of the joint meeting of the Legislature. 1
HONORABLE DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TO MR. BOUDINOT.
His EXCELLENCY ELIAS BOUDINOT, ESQ.
PASSY i November 1783.
SIR
Enclosed is a copy of my last, which went
by the English packet. I heard after I wrote it
that the French packet putting back by contrary
winds, Mr. Thaxter had no opportunity of getting
on board her, and that she sailed on the 26" of
September.
The mentioned new Commission is not yet
come to hand. Mr. Hartley is not returned
and I hear will stay for the meeting of Parlia
ment which is to be the nth instant, and not
come hither till the recess of the Christmas
holidays. Mr. Jay went to England about three
weeks since on some personal affairs ; and Mr.
Adams followed last week to see that country,
and take some exercise during the vacancy of
business.
This Court is now at Fontainbleau, but will
return to Versailles in a few days. Its good dis
position towards us continues. The late failure
1 Selections from New Jersey Revolutionary Correspondence from 1776
to 1786. Executive of N. J. Published by order of the Legislature, 1848.
Letter book, Elias Boudinot.
4 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
of payment in the Caisse d Escompte, an institu
tion similar to the Bank of England, occasioned
partly by its having gone too far in assisting the
government with money, and the inability of the
government to support their credit, though ex
tremely desirous of doing it, is a fresh proof that
our not obtaining a farther loan was not occa
sioned by want of good will to assist us, as some
have unjustly supposed, but by a real want of
the means. Money is at present unaccountably
scarce here ; what is arrived and expected in
Spain since the peace it is thought will set things
to rights.
The government has proposed a second lottery
for this year, by which they borrow twenty-four
millions, and it filled readily. This helps, and the
Caisse d Escompte goes on again with its opera
tions ; but it is said the interest paid by the lot
tery plan is nearly seven per cent.
I have received the duplicate of your Excel
lency s letter of the 15" July, to the Commission
ers, which is very satisfactory, though it came to
hand but lately. The first sent via New York,
has not yet appeared. I have sent copies of it to
The Hague and Madrid. The substance is pub
lished in several papers.
I have acquainted the Minister of Sweden that
I have received the ratification of the treaty ; and
he has written to me, that he shall be in town in
a few days, when he will make the exchange. The
HON. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TO MR. BOUDINOT. 5
conclusion of the Danish Treaty waits only for
the Commission and instruction from Congress.
The Ambassador of Portugal informed me lately,
that his Court had our proposed plan under con
sideration and that we should soon hear from
them. I sent it to Congress by Barney, and hear
the ship is arrived. A commission and instruc
tions will be wanting for that also, should the
Congress be disposed to conclude a treaty with
that nation.
I see by the public prints that the Congress
have ratified the contract I made with the minis
ter here, respecting the loans and aids we had
received ; but the ratification itself, though di
rected to be sent me, has never come to hand, and
I am often asked for it. I beg it may be for
warded by the first opportunity.
Here has been with me lately M. Pierre du
Calvet, a merchant of Montreal, who, when our
army was in Canada, furnished our generals and
officers with many things they wanted, taking
their receipts and promisory notes for payment ;
and, when the English repossessed the coun
try, he was imprisoned, and his estate seized
on account of the services he had rendered us.
He has shown me the originals of his papers,
which I think are genuine. He produced also a
quantity of Congress paper, which he says he re
ceived in payment for some of the supplies, and
which appeared to me of our first emissions, and
6 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
yet all fresh and clean, as having passed through
no other hands. When he was discharged from
prison, he could not obtain permission to go into
the United States to claim the debt, but was
allowed to go to England ; and from thence came
hither to solicit payment from me.
Having no authority to meddle with such debts,
and the sum being considerable, I refused, and
advised him to take passage for America, and
make his application to Congress. He said he
was grown old, much broken and weakened by
near three years imprisonment, and that the
voyage from Canada to London had like to have
been too much for him, he being sick all the way,
so that he could not think of another, though dis
tressed for want of money. He appears an hon
est man, and his case a hard one. I have there
fore undertaken to forward his papers, and I beg
leave to recommend them to the speedy consider
ation of Congress, to whom I request you would
be pleased present my dutiful respects, and assure
them of my most faithful services.
With great esteem and regard
I have the honor to be &c.
Sir, your Excellency s
Most obedient & most humble servant
B. FRANKLIN. 1
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., from the
Franklin papers, vol. v. p. 1183.
MR. BOUDINOT TO HON. HENRY LAURENS. 7
MR. BOUDINOT TO HON. HENRY LAURENS.
(Private.)
P. T. Nov r i, 1783.
SIR,
I have the honor of acknowledging the rec 1 of
your several favours of June 27 July 17 August
2 & gth These Letters were very acceptable to
Congress as they arrived in the midst of great
Doubts of what could occasion so long silence of
our Ministers in Europe, not having had any Offi
cial Intelligence from them since the Acct of the
signing the preliminary Articles By my Letters
to the Com rs Jointly of July last, you have un
doubtedly been informed of our leaving Philadel
phia & taking up our Residence in this Place The
Mutiny that occasioned this removal soon sub
sided and order & harmony was speedily restored
by a voluntary submission of the mutineers
several of them were condemned to be shot and
their Partners in Guilt ordered to do the execu
tion In the last moments of despair, they were
all pardoned by Congress, which has had a good
effect. This army is disbanded & gone home tho
without any money The Expectation of seeing
you here in the Spring gives your friends great
Pleasure Congress were agreed to form two
federal Towns one near the falls of the Potomack,
the other near the falls of the Delaware set alter
nately year about at each Place They adjourn
on the 6th for Annapolis as the Place of their
temporary residence as I have not a moment to
8 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
spare I must beg leave to refer you to my Letter
to the Com 1 " jointly & the News Papers sent to
them for further Particulars of News
I have the honor to be with very great respect
& Esteem, Sir,
E. BOUDINOT. 1
The Honble HENRY LAURENS, Esq.
MR. BOUDINOT TO THE HON. JOHN ADAMS.
P. T. Nov r I, 1783.
SIR
I have the honor of acknowledging the rect of
your several Public Letters under the Dates of
June 23 to July iSth Inclusive by Capt Barney
Nothing is done in Consequence of these Let
ters, but what is contained in the Instructions
enclosed in my official Letter by the opportunity,
to the Commissioners jointly Congress have not
come to any further Determination on your last
Letters relative to your resignation, on acct of
the Peace Arrangement not being yet settled
Perhaps there will be but a very few Ministers
employed in Europe, and those under the Char
acter of Residents or simple Ministers The
Conduct of Great Britain does not appear yet
very conciliating and her measures on this side
the Water here rather tended to irritate than
otherways Congress will not be in a hurry to
send a Minister to the Court of London till she
sees how the definitive Treaty will end We
have an acct this day from Coll Ogden, that it
1 Elias Boudinot s letter book.
MR. BOUDINOT TO THE HON. JOHN ADAMS. 9
was signed on the 2d Sept and that Mr Thaxter
is on his way with it, whom we long to see
Your Letter on the subject of our Credit abroad
and the strengthening and concerting the Union
o o o
at home came at a happy moment & has had a
very good effect Your Countrymen were run
ning Wild on this subject, but your observation
& Opinion has helped to check them and the
Legislature of Massachusetts have passed the 5
pr C. recommended by Congress Mr. Van
Berckle is arrived & yesterday reed his first pub
lic Audience of Congress his address & our An
swer, I Send to the Com r Jointly He appears
to justify the high opinion we have formed of the
Wisdom of the States of the United Netherlands.
The Choice of a Minister so consonant to the
Temper & manners of the citizens of these States,
show their Judgment & Prudence we are much
pleased with this Gentleman and as far as I can
Judge from present appearances, I may venture
to predict that he will cement the union of the
two Republics I shall leave the Chair of Con
gress on Monday and retire to private Life at
Eliz* Town after almost Eight years spent in the
service of my Country I rejoice to have seen
the end of all our Labours so happily accom
plished, and shall ever revere those great men
who have lent a Helping Hand to the glorious
work
In Private or public Life I shall always be glad
IO ELIAS BOUDINOT.
of the honor of a line from you sir if but to
announce your Health & welfare
I have the honor &c.
E. BOUDINOT. 1
The honble. JOHN ADAMS, Esq.
MR. BOUDINOT TO THE MINISTERS PLENIPOTENTIARY.
THE HONORABLE
THE MINISTERS PLENIPOTENTIARY
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PARIS.
PRINCETON i Nov 1783.
GENTLEMEN
I am honored by the commands of Congress to
transmit you a set of instructions in consequence
of your joint and separate letters of the months of
June and July last, by Captain Barney, which I
do myself the honor to enclose. These were not
finished till the 29" ult. after having undergone
the most mature deliberation and fullest discus
sion in Congress
Yesterday we received from Col Ogden the
news of the signature of the definitive Treaty on
the 3d of September, and that Mr. Thaxter was
on the way with the Official news. We long for
his arrival tho we have no doubt of the fact,
which is also announced by the post this day
from Boston.
I do most sincerely congratulate you, Gentle
men, on this most important and happy event,
which has diffused the sincerest joy throughout
1 Elias Boudinot s letter book.
TO THE BURGOMASTERS OF HAMBURGH. I I
these States, and the terms of which must neces
sarily hand down the names of its American
negociators to Posterity with the highest pos
sible honor. May the Gratitude of your Country
ever be the fair reward of all your labours. New
York is not yet evacuated, but Sir Guy Carleton
has informed our Commander in Chief that he
shall get clear of it in all this month, tho I think
they will not dare to stay much beyond the 15"
instant.
Yours &c.
E. B. 1
MR. BOUDINOT TO THE HONORABLE, THE BURGOMASTERS
AND SENATE OF THE IMPERIAL FREE CITY, HAM
BURGH.
PRINCETON ist Nov 1783.
GENTLEMEN,
I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt
of your very respectful and polite letter of the
29" of March last, by the hands of your faithful
Citizen and Missionary Mr. de Boor.
Congress received this very generous and can
did communication with all that pleasure and
attention, which so great proffers of friendships
from the honorable The Burgomasters and Sen
ate of the Imperial free city Hamburgh, justly
demanded from the United States of America.
Congress did not delay to take this honorable
tender of the affection and esteem of the worthy
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Papers of
the Continental Congress, No. 16, p. 261.
1 2 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Burgomasters and Senate under their immediate
consideration ; and I am now honored by the
commands of Congress to make known to the
respectable Representatives of the great and im
perial City, in terms expressive of the most sincere
" regard ; the high satisfaction with which the
" United States, in Congress assembled, received
" the annunciation of their friendship and attach-
" ment and their affectionate congratulations on
" the establishment of the liberty and Indepen
dence of the United States of America That
" having founded the Commercial system of these
" States on the basis of equality and reciprocity,
" Congress will cheerfully meet the wishes of the
" Burgomasters and Senate of Hamburgh and
" unite with them in encouraging the most
" friendly intercourse, between the Citizens of the
" respective countrys, on such liberal principles,
"as will best promote their mutual advantage and
" prosperity ; and that it is the earnest prayer
"of the United States in Congress assembled,
" that the Imperial free City Hamburgh, may
" continue to encrease in commerce and splen-
" dor, and be blessed with uninterrupted tran-
" quility "
It is with the most sensible pleasure I make
this communication, and hope and pray that a
solid foundation will be laid, for the firm estab
lishment of friendship and communion between
the Citizens of our Republics.
May God Almighty keep the honorable Burgo-
ELIAS BOUDINOT TO HON. FRANCIS DANA. 13
masters and Senate of the Imperial free City of
Hamburgh in his holy protection.
I have the honor to be &c.
E. B. 1
ELIAS BOUDINOT TO THE HON. FRANCIS DANA, ESQ.,
PETERSBURG.
November ist 1783
SIR
I have the honor to enclose you an Act of
Congress of the 29" ult. relative to your mission
at Petersburg. You have doubtless already an
ticipated the reason and propriety of the measure,
and indeed it was designed to have been com
pleted and forwarded last Spring, but has been
prevented by other important business.
I will endeavour to enclose you some of the
latest newspapers, which I am sure will be agree
able to you, at such a distance from your native
country, and especially as they contain some of
the most material acts of Congress on public
matters.
Congress have no Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Mr. Livingston having resigned in May last.
They intend to adjourn on the 6th instant to
Annapolis in Maryland, when I presume they
will make choice of a Successor to that worthy
gentleman.
Congress have agreed to form two federal
Towns for their residence, the one near the Falls
of the Potowmack ; the other near the Falls of the
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Papers of
the Continental Congress, No. 16, p. 266.
14 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Delaware, and to sit alternately, year about in
each. I shall give directions to our Ministers in
France to detain this, in case there should be a
probability of your having left Petersburg, which
is the prevailing opinion here.
I have the honor to be &c.
E. B. 1
This arduous year for Mr. Boudinot now drew
to a close. We read in the " Journal of Con
gress " of Monday, Nov. 3, 1783,
" Motion by Mr. Duane.
" Seconded by Mr. McHenry.
" Resolved that the thanks of Congress be given
to the Honorable Elias Boudinot, late President
of Congress, in testimony of their approbation of
his conduct in the chair and in the execution of
public duties."
He returned to his home in Elizabethtown,
New Jersey, from whence his family had been
driven during the war. He renewed the practice
of law, and was enabled by close application to
business to retrieve his fortune, and place himself
and his family beyond the anxiety that had
assailed him, and when called again to public
office, was again ready to serve his country.
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Papers of
the Continental Congress, No. 16, p. 263.
MR. BOUDINOT TO HON. JOHN JAY. 15
MR. BOUDINOT TO HON. JOHN JAY.
(Private.)
P. TOWN Nov r 5th 1783
SIR,
I was honored by your several private favours
recommending Mr. Vaughn & some other gent
to whom I have endeavored to pay every Civility
in my Power also one enclosing my Nephew s
Letter from Madeira for which I am much obliged
to you Congress has thought proper to appoint
him their Commercial Agent at that Island, he is
a deserving young American, 1 who I doubt not
will do honor to his appointment if you can be of
any service to him I shall take it as a particular
favour done to me I have the honor of enclos
ing a copy of the Acts of Congress relating to
yourself individually, the authenticated copies of
which I transmit in a letter of instructions to the
Com 1 " 3 Jointly by this opportunity
Congress did not think it Just or Honorable to
alter or abridge your Salary while absent at Bath
for your health and therefore have passed only a
Simple permission for your going to Bath, for the
establishment of your former Vigour; We are
still at this Town but on the 6th Inst Congress
mean to adjourn for Annapolis .having determined
(at present) to have two places of residence, or
federal Towns one near the fall of Potowmack the
other at or near the falls of Delaware I send
1 Mr. Marsden Pintard.
1 6 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the News Papers to the Com r which will you into
the general state of Things Capt Jones the
Bearer of this can also give you much general
Information I carefully forwarded your Letters
to the N River
I have the honor &c.
E. BOUDINOT. 1
Honble JOHN JAY, Esq.
MR. BOUDINOT TO GENERAL ELIAS DAYTON.
PRINCETON, Nov. 6th, 1783
SIR:
Your favour covering the certificate of election
as an honorary member of the Society of the Cin-
cinati has just come to hand. Permit me sir, to
request the favour of you to make known to that
respectable Society the high sense I entertain of
the honor done me by this unsolicited mark of
their respect and attention, and to assure them,
that while with pleasure I accept the honorable
appointment I shall also endeavor by every means
in my power to render myself worthy of so pecu
liar a mark of their friendship and esteem. The
line of the army at large, particularly that of New
Jersey, has always met with my warmest support,
but their politeness on this occasion will give me
the happiness of considering myself as one of their
body which I shall ever esteem as a peculiar
honor
Accept Sir, of my particular thanks for the
1 Elias Boudinot s letter book.
MR. BOUDINOT TO GENERAL ELIAS DAYTON. 17
very polite and friendly terms in which you have
been pleased to communicate their choice to me
and be assured that I am with great esteem
Sir, Yours &c.
E. BOUDINOT.
Genl ELIAS DAYTON. 1
1 Elias Boudinot s letter book.
VOL. n.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Mr. Boudinot to General Washington ; on his retirement to Mount
Vernon. Mr. Boudinot to Charles Thomson, Esq. Asking for news
from old friends in Congress. Mr. Boudinot to General Lincoln. On
his way to Philadelphia with his daughter. Mr. Boudinot to General
Washington ; sends seeds. To Mrs. Boudinot ; time and distances by
carriage. To Mrs. Boudinot; a wedding. To Mrs. Boudinot, Octo
ber, 1786, from Sunbury. Describes journey. Law engagements.
Advice to young Mr. Caldwell.
MR. BOUDINOT TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
ELiz th Jan y nth 1784
MY VERY DEAR SlR
We have received the most sensible Pleasure
on the News of your safe return to Mount Ver
non and your anxious family It is with the
warmest affection & attachment, that we join
the United Voice of your Country, in Congratu
lating your & our Dr Mrs Washington on this
happy & interesting Event You must permit
me Sir tho it may be lost amidst the public
Testimonies on this occasion from a thousand
more important sources, to add my Individual,
tho most sincere & affectionate Wishes for your
Happiness & prosperity, for it would be doing
violence to my feelings, while enjoying the sweets
of domestic Life on my little Estate here reserved
from the Hands of a Powerful Enemy after a
seven year expulsion, to persuade myself to be
silent, however trifling the Tribute, or refrain
MR. BOUDINOT TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. 19
from gratefully acknowledging those invaluable &
laborious services by which I am thus reinstated
in the most essential and important Comforts of
rational Life I need not add the sense of obli
gation I feel myself under, for the many kind
marks of personal attention & confidence ex
pressed towards me during the war & I shall
ever esteem it one of the greatest Honors of my
Life that I have served my Country in conjunc
tion with & under the Direction of Gen 1 Wash
ington You have our most Ardent Prayers to
Almighty God for your happiness & prosperity
in this enjoyment of the fruits of your own La
bour and of every domestic Bliss ; and that after
a long Period of extensive usefulness here, you
may be prepared for receive the glorious re
ward of eternal Life in the World to come. Mrs
B. Miss S. (whose health is rather declining)
join me in very respectful & affectionate wishes,
and beg to be very particularly remembered by
Mrs Washington.
I have the honor to be with every
sentiment of Esteem
Dr Sir &c.
E. BOUDINOT. 1
His Excellency,
Genl WASHINGTON.
1 Elias Boudinot s letter book.
20 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
MR. BOUDINOT TO CHARLES THOMSON, ESQ.
ELIZABETH TOWN, Jan. 30, 1784.
DEAR SIR:
Being at last peaceably settled in private Life,
I cannot but frequently turn my attention to my
old friends in Congress. Secluded by my private
Business in a great measure from the political
World, I long to hear what you are about, how
enjoy Annapolis Is the Definitive Treaty rati
fied In short, how do you all do ? I feel inter
ested in your Honor, comfort, success, in every
thing you undertake Is Mrs. Thomson with
you, and how does she like Annapolis? What
has become of Mrs. Carroll and Mrs. Henry, are
they as sanguine as ever about the central situa
tion of Congress There is nothing in this part
of the World worth communicating except that
the Assembly of New York have just got together
and very great but opposite expectations are
raised in different Peoples minds about the event
of their meeting, with regard to the Tories, the
violent members predominate among those chosen
for the City A French Packett inward bound,
cast away on the Long Island Shore in the late
Easterly storm, and great part of the hands lost
You \vill wonder at my troubling you with this
unimportant scribble, I will honestly confess
reason, it is in hopes of prevailing on you to give
me a line in answer that the advantage will be
entirely mine.
MR. BOUDINOT TO GENERAL LINCOLN. 21
I find my family in the hurry of departure,
packed up the pamphlets that came in Oct. for
the Office of Foreign Affairs and which I de
signed to have returned to your Office, among my
books, I will return them by the first convenient
opportunity.
ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1
CHARLES THOMSON Esq.
MR. BOUDINOT TO GENERAL LINCOLN.
ELIZABETH TOWN, Oct. 5th. 1784.
MY DEAR SIR : -
This moment I arrived here on my way to
Philadelphia accompanying my little Ewe Lamb
to the City (having given her away to a certain
M r Bradford) and am just informed of Dr. Smith
having determined to set off for Boston to-morrow
o
morning I catch a moment to scribble a Line
(standing and in Company) to ask what has be
come of you I hope you rec d last Letter in
Answer to your Favour How is your adopted
Son How is Mrs. Lincoln and all the Family
Mrs. Boudinot and Daughter join me in feeling
an Interest in all that belongs to you Do let us
hear from you if but by one Line Libbie Flint s
Brothers and Sisters are all well I believe the
Marquis La Fayette will take Johnny with him
to France
All your Friends now here beg the most affec-
1 Elias Boudinot s letter book.
22 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
tionate Remembrance I am My Dr. Sir with
the greatest Esteem
Yours most Sincerely,
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Major Gen l. LINCOLN. 1
MR. BOUDINOT TO GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON.
ELIZABETH TOWN Feby 9, 1785.
MY DEAR SIR
This Moment I am honored with your favour
of the 26th Jan y and am greatly mortified to find,
that mine of the latter end of December had not
then reached you, altho I delivered it to the post
master myself.
It ever gives me a peculiar pleasure to obey
your Commands, and to oblige you in anything
this Country can afford, or to comply with your
washes, in any other way, will add greatly to the
felicity, I enjoy from those domestic Blessings
you with Mrs Washington so kindly participated
in
As soon as I received your favour of Nov r I
tryed to obtain the quantity of seed you requested,
but the Season being past, could get only six or
seven bushels, which was immediately forwarded
by the stage to Coll. Diddle, under the care of
our old Friend Coll. Gibbs, who happened to be
a Passenger, and by the next Post I advised you
of it.
Since which, I have accidentally met with three
1 From Magazine of American History, facsimile of original in col
lection of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet.
SENDS SEED TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. 23
Bushels and a half more, which I shall also im
mediately forward by the same Conveyance to
Coll. Biddle. The reason of my preferring the
stage, arises from the uncertainty of a Passage
from New York, the danger of its being lost in
the City, and the importance of your not being
disappointed in having it early in the Season.
I have had another Conversation with a very
experienced Farmer, on the manner of sowing it
He informs me that the Soil should be good,
moderately dry, and in good tilth. The quantity
of seed, must be proportioned to the goodness of
the Soil the better the ground, the greater the
quantity of Seed He has known in very high
cultivated grounds, two Bushels used for one acre,
and he thinks it, the cheapest in the end In
good Land, he has generally used from one to
one & an half Bushels pr acre The more seed
the finer the grass. The earlier it is sown the
better, provided you can harrow it, with some
light Body, as a Thorn Bush or some other thick
Bush, As it then covers the ground well, before
the Heats of Summer --To make Hay of it, you
must cut it young when in full bloom.
It w 7 ill give me great Satisfaction to hear, that
both Parcels have got safe to hand, and answer
your Expectation.
Mrs. Boudinot enjoys a very good State of
Health, as does Mrs. Bradford in the city. Mrs.
B. feels herself greatly indebted to Mrs Wash
ington for her kind remembrance. She joins me
24 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
in the most cordial wishes, for every Blessing of
the Season to attend you both.
I have the honor to be with the greatest respect
My dear Sir
your Most obed 1 & very Hble Serv 1
ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1
The Honble. GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esqr.
(Endorsed in Genl WASHINGTON S hand)
From
ELIAS BOUDINOT Esq
9th Feb 1785.
To Mrs. Boudinot in Trenton, he writes from
Elizabethtown, December 12, 1785:-
I am very apprehensive you cannot reach Phila
with two horses in one day. In order to do it
you must set off by 7 Oc. in the morning. Do
not attempt to unless you set off very early We
were five hours in a light Phaeton going from
Princeton to Brunswick
What shall I say for the conclusion To tell
you I love you, is an old story you have heard a
thousand Times. To say I wish you to be al
ways with me no more than what you know by
twenty odd years experience - - My Paper will
only admit me to say all in one word or two That
I am with unfeigned sincerity & esteem,
My dearest Love
Your most affec. husband
BOUDINOT. 2
1 Letters to Washington, vol. Ixvii. p. 58, MSS. Archives, Department
of State, Washington, D. C.
2 Family letters.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MRS. BOUDINOT. 25
MR. BOUDINOT TO MRS. BOUDINOT.
(Copy.)
ELIZABETH TOWN Dec 17, 1785.
MY BELOVED WIFE
I have been most earnestly hoping, that you
had so much prudence as to improve Thursday
in getting to the City. I confess I fear the soli
citations of your Friends, and if they did prevail,
you must have had a sad Time of it These two
Days past have been so dark & gloomy, that it is
sufficient to give any body but your Husband
the Horribles You may ask why he is to be
excepted because he is favoured with a wife
that keeps up his spirits both present & absent.
We have been favoured with the company of
Mr. Lenar Lady and four Children since Wednes
day Evening Their Goods are not yet arrived,
but are daily expected They go into Robert
Ogden s House.
Well how went the wedding I hope there
was nothing sneaking this Time but that all
things went on apropos. I shall expect a very
circumstantial account of every thing. I was at
first mortified I could not be there, but since I
have seen how the weather has turned out, I re
joice at my Escape. I begin to think my predic
tions will prove well founded & February, at
least, will find you in the City I find that I
must pay a visit to New York on Business and
should therefore improve your absence. I expect
26 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
to go over the middle of January or perhaps about
the 8" or 10". I shall stay about one week. The
Nisi Prius Court in Essex begins on the ist Tues
day in Feby so that I must then also be from
home On second Thought the New York
County Court is the nth Jany so that I must go
over to New York either sooner or later.
Give my kind Love to our Children, who I
hope begin to improve the long Winter Evenings
to some useful Purpose, especially as they have
their Mother to set them a good Example.
Remember me to all Friends, the Family are
all well & desire to be remembered.
I have the honor and happiness to be
my dearest Love with greatest affection
Yours most Sincerely,
ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1
Mrs BOUDINOT.
I rec d Bradford s Letter by M r Love and am
much obliged by the Papers. Shall answer it
soon.
Mr. Boudinot at this time made a journey into
Pennsylvania for the purpose of looking after
some land which he purchased there, and from
thence addressed the following playful letter to
his wife :
SUNBERRY, Oct 2;th 1786.
ii Oc at night.
From the shores of the overflowing Susque-
hanna and the banks of the turbulent Shamokin
1 Family letters.
JOURNEY IN PENNSYLVANIA. 27
where Savages lately raised their horrid yells and
wolves disturbed the peaceful rest of the curious
Traveler Narcissus addresses his beloved Eu
genia In vain does the rugged and craggy
Tuscorora raise his lofty Head, or the far extend
ing Kittatiny stretch her rugged arms from the
rising to the setting sun to separate me from my
beloved Wife, while the blessed reflection of past
happiness & the intimate union of souls made for
each other compleat that oneness of sentiment &
affection that Spirits enjoy in a State of separa
tion from the Body.
The second day after I left you, we entered into
a mere wilderness and keeping along the Banks
of the rapid Schuylkill which had but a few days
before broke all restraint and in the violence of its
fury spread destruction throughout all the lands
found roads either covered with Logs, Trees,
Stones & Mud, or cut into deep cavities im
passable morasses The distresses of the In
habitants were truly cutting to every mind of
sensibility Many Ferries destroyed, Fences,
Grain, Hay & other Forage carried down the
impetious stream Many houses, Barns & out
buildings with their furniture, stores totally washed
from their foundations carried down with the
instable Torrent Some few Lives lost This
was the scene not only in the Schuylkill but on
every Road which we passed We marched with
a slow movement in Indian File sometimes clam
bering up the Mountains without the appearance
28 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
of a Road, on our Hands & feet, dragging our
Horses after us and terrified in the descent from
the danger of their falling on us, sometimes strik
ing out new paths to avoid the obstructions of the
Road We passed our night near Caves Town
and the next Day repeated the scene with addi
tional Trouble and fatigue We came to our
Quarters for the second night Here was a house
it is true but without any kind of entertainment
but a tight Roof and a little cut straw & Rye
meal for our Horses Neither Hay, Oats, vic
tuals or Drink My precaution in taking a Ham
Dryed Venison Tea Chocolate & Sugar now
stood me in good stead In the morning we as
cended the Broad Mountain Rough beyond
description Craggy to the very summit and
towering above the clouds The many ridges
we had passed and what we had supposed of the
loftiest Height, now appeared reduced to the size
of common Hills The rising Sun presented a
sight truly glorious - - He appeared indeed (as
overlooking the mountains Ridge over Ridge)
like a strong man running a race The shades
O O
of the morning flying before his magnificent ap
pearance and the various Fogs dissipating in the
different valleys of the Mountains represented the
sight of a distant Sea intersected with Islands &
Capes.
Fatigued with so difficult a journey as that of
thirteen miles over such rugged Precipices during
which we were often obliged to walk miles to-
JOURNEY IN PENNSYLVANIA. 2Q
gether up & down the most difficult ascents with
out the least morning refreshment joy sparkled
in every countenance on our arrival at a little
humble Cot at the foot of this tremendous Preci
pice As soon as we entered we were cheered at
the sight of an old Lady & two daughters neat &
clean as the Naids of the Silver Stream We
were welcomed with the smiles of good nature
and tho nothing could be expected here but the
produce of a wilderness yet we were surprised with
a Breakfast that would have done honor to the
most inhabited parts of New Jersey a plenty of
excellent Johnny Cakes were brought into exist
ence in a trice excellent Souchong Tea & Loaf
Sugar made their appearance - - Chocolate &
Coffee graced the Table and a relish of smoke
beef & a roast chicken crowned the whole To a
company who had been fatigued since the Dawn
of the day and had been breathing the pure em
pyrean & the Ambrosia of the Spirits of the
Atmosphere, such a Repast gave a spring to the
empty stomach which would have pleased even an
Anchorite to see exerted in the evolutions of the
Knife & Fork the Cup & Saucer
On revising what I have wrote I ask myself
this question what is the design of all this ha
rangue? It can neither be instructive or enter
taining to a Person not a partaker in the fatigue
or refreshment of so tedious a Journey Con
victed of the Impropriety I throw 7 down my pen
and determine to follow the Judges to Court-
30 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
but on second consideration I resume it but to
answer the question It will serve to convince
my dearest Wife how her image & remembrance
penetrates the recesses of Valleys & flies over the
rugged Tops of many Hills & even the Mountains
of Kittatiny & Tuscorora It cheers in the Des
ert & gives entertainment in the pathless wilder
ness It will show that she is not forgotten by a
fond Husband tho Forests intervene & numerous
Rivers Voll their Torrents resistless to separate
Bodies whose souls are inseparable But I have
done my Paper adds to the voice of prudence and
reason that it is time to move to the innumerable
assurances that I am as ever, my dearest Love
Your affect Husband,
E. B. 1
Mrs BOUDINOT.
Mr. Boudinot seems, from his correspondence,
to have kept a paternal eye upon the young Cald-
wells, as he writes to John:
Your letters of March yth and April Qth both
got safe to hand and gave me very great Pleasure
Your situation that was so distressing and
o
gloomy, has thus by the good Providence of God
cleared up and opens a prospect of happiness and
usefulness that you could not have expected
Your Patron is one that you could not reasonably
have looked for He is noble, generous and dis
interested His regard for your real welfare is
1 Family letters.
LETTER TO MASTER JOHN CALDWELL. 31
manifested in the strongest Terms, and now all
seems to depend on yourself. In the first place let
me beseech you to be deeply sensible of the over
ruling Providence of God in your favour in raising
up such a friend to you in your distress In the
next place let the most sincere gratitude fill your
soul towards your generous Patron and with Pleas
ure submit carefully to all his injunctions which I
doubt not will be calculated for your best Interests.
Let him early see the reward of his kindness in
your docile attention & grateful temper of mind
towards him & all his connections And here let
me remind you how industrious you ought to be
to improve the present indulgent moment, as your
advantages may altogether depend on the Mar
quis Life, let no moment be lost for improvement
of your mind. Keep always on the stretch
Remember that every thing you can get in the
way of knowledge is clear gain Leave nothing
till tomorrow that can be done today Improve
by every thing you see and early accustom your
self to make observations in writing on every
occurrence in Life By reducing your thoughts
to writing on general subjects as well as particu
lar objects tho you destroy them again immedi
ately (which may be prudent) you will learn to
think close & with precision and in a sympa
thetic manner in opposition to a loose desultory
mode of reflection which destroys so much Time
of most of our young Persons.
At all events Flee Idle, Trifling Habits Let
32 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
your whole time be filled up with some employ
ment or other. Be sure to imbibe a spirit of
Integrity, Candor; Temperance & Chastity It is
the Mind of Man alone that is the seat of true
Magnanimity Benevolence & public Spirit
While you consider yourself a citizen of the
World you will learn to love all mankind and
while you attend to the relative duties of Life
such as your County, Family, Friends & Con
nections you will be convinced that these are not
incompatible with but ought to lead to those of
more general obligation to wit, to all in distress &
to the happiness of mankind at large.
Your Brothers & Sisters remain as when you
left them all well & hearty Excepting Peggy
who lives at Newark and James who lives with
Mr. Spencer Your Friends in general are well
& wish to be remembered.
Your very affectionate
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The reader will recall that the Marquis de La
Fayette had taken one of the sons of the Rev.
James Caldwell to France for his education, and it
is to him that the above letter is addressed. It
is recorded that he was a worthy son of his patriot
sire- and a credit to those who had so kindly inter
ested themselves in his welfare. Mr. Boudinot
appears to have kept up his interest in the young
man and continued this correspondence. He
writes an earnest letter on his change of faith
EARNEST ADVICE. 33
which the young Caldwell contemplated, warning
him against a fondness for change and an aban-
o o
donment of the Faith of his fathers, whose lives
had exemplified the truth in Jesus Christ. " Do
not suppose that I am so void of Christian Char
ity or so ignorant of the Principles & Practice
of thousands of the Roman Church as to suppose
that a man may not, under the influence of them
lead a life of holiness & devotion to God No
I am satisfied that the grace of God is not con
fined to Sect or Party Remember that as you
have changed your sentiments once you may live
to do it a second time - - This should lead you to
proceed with caution and circumspection."
CHAPTER XXIV.
Establishment of government under the constitution. Extract from
Washington s speech. Mr. Boudinot s speeches. Appointed one of
the committee to receive the president. Letter on ceremonial used for
centennial celebration. Residence in Elizabethtown. Third session
of first Congress goes to Philadelphia. Purchased estate of Rose
Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford reside there. Writes from New York
to Mrs. Boudinot ; choice of speaker; Mr. Muhlenburg. To Mrs.
Boudinot, describing busy day; looks for reward from higher source
than gratitude from the public. Letter on reception of president.
IN the spring of 1789 the new government is
established.
To the constitution, as presented by the consti
tutional convention, it was thought there still
remained much important filling-in for its perfec
tion. The work was happily in the hands of able
and earnest men, honestly desirous of carrying
forward the provisions of their great charter, of
which Washington, in his inaugural address, said,
" in defining your powers, designates the object
to which your attention is to be given : " and he
says, " It will be more consistent with those cir
cumstances and far more congenial with the feel-
o
ings which actuate me, to substitute in place of a
recommendation of particular measures, the trib
ute that is due to the talents, the rectitude and
the patriotism which adorn the characters selected
to devise and adopt them." " Beside the ordinary
objects submitted to your care, it will remain with
EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON S SPEECH. 35
your judgment to decide how far an exercise of
the occasional power delegated by the fifth arti
cle of the Constitution is rendered expedient, at
the present juncture, by the nature of objections
which have been urged against the system, or by
the degree of inquietude which has given birth to
them Instead of undertaking particular recom
mendations on this subject, in which I could be
guided by no lights derived from official opportu
nities, I shall again give way to my entire confi
dence in your discernment and pursuit of the
public good : for I assure myself that whilst you
carefully avoid every alteration which might en
danger the benefits of a united and effective gov
ernment, or which ought to await the future
lessons of experience ; a reverence for the char
acteristic rights of free men, and a regard for the
public harmony, will sufficiently influence your
deliberations on the question how far the former
can be more impregnably fortified or the latter be
safely and advantageously promoted "
It does not enter into the scope of this volume
to give in full the debates on the various subjects
presented for discussion in the first Congress of
the United States, neither is it possible to over
look or curtail the part taken in them by Mr.
Boudinot and give a just view of the balance and
trend of his mind, or illustrate the importance of
his influence.
He was elected as a representative from New
Jersey to this first Congress of the United States,
36 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
which held its first session in New York on
March 4, 1789; he took his seat on the 24th.
A quorum of the house was not formed until
April i. He was reflected to and served in the
second and third Congresses.
o
For the part in the various debates on the estab
lishment of the Department of Foreign Affairs,
Treasury Department, Department of War, Tax
ation, etc., which Mr. Boudinot took, and for his
interesting speeches on Slavery, Official Conduct
of the Secretary of the Treasury, Commerce of
the United States, etc., see the thirty-first, thirty-
second, thirty-third, thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, and
thirty-sixth chapters of this volume.
Having been appointed as one of the commit
tee to receive the first President of the United
States under its new Constitution, on his return
from that impressive ceremony he writes the
graphic description to his wife ; so graphic, that
the committee on ceremonial, of the centennial
celebration of that memorable occasion, was
enabled to reproduce the arrangements for the
reception of General Harrison, in 1889, from this
letter.
During the first session of Congress Mr. Bou
dinot lived with a relative in New York, going to
his home in Elizabethtown as occasion permitted.
It was not too far for riding or driving now and
again, though a much greater distance as reckoned
by time then than now in these days of steam
and electricity.
MR. MUHLENBURG CHOSEN AS SPEAKER. 37
At the third session of the first Congress, he
was, of course, obliged to stay hi Philadelphia, as
Congress removed from New York to that city
on the 6th of December, 1790. It was about
this time that he purchased the estate known as
Rose Hill, three miles north of the city of Phila
delphia, where it appears Mr. and Mrs. Bradford
spent some time, and where Mr. Boudinot looked
forward to uniting their families.
He writes to his wife from New York :
NEW YORK April 2d, 1789.
MY DEAREST LOVE,
I arrived here safe after a very disagreeable
ride just time enough to meet Congress on Mon
day We did not make a House till yesterday
when (tho the ist of April) we began business -
The first thing we did was to choose a Speaker,
which fell on Mr. Mulenburgh without any dis
sension I feel myself very happy that I am
clear of it I am sensible that the honor is great
but then the confinement is what I never could
have submitted to without having you in the city
This would have obliged us to remove our
Family and run to a very large expense without
any certainty of an adequate Provision & if made,
there would always have been Jealousy among
numerous minds, if supported with Dignity It
would also have brought you as well as myself
into an amazing scene of dissipation which even
you could not have wholly avoided I believe I
should not have refused it had it been offered, on
38 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
account of the Interests of the State, but I am
much better pleased without it, and consider it as
a kind Providence towards us This is between
ourselves, for such is the rage for office, that no
one will believe the Sentiment, as they suppose it
impossible to be so dead to the honors of this
World I bless God I feel not the least desire
after them, further than I can thereby be more
useful while I sojourn here below If I could
possibly get clear of my present appointment con
sonant with duty & in an honorable manner, I
would most certainly fly to the arms of my beloved
I shall write about Business by your Brother
tomorrow.
I am my dearest Love with great Esteem
Your Affec 1 Husband
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Mrs. KOUDTNOT,
Elizabeth Town.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MRS. BOUDINOT.
NEW YORK April I4th 1789.
I am laid under great obligations to my be
loved wife s letter of the nth Inst. which I can
not repay as I could wish to do. It is in vain to
pursue Melancholy Ideas on a subject that cannot
now be avoided, but considering all our Affairs as
under the guidance of a divine Hand let us en
deavour by the assistance of his blessed Spirit to
improve our Talent, as those who must give an
account to him, hoping that he will cause all
things (however dark to us) to turn out finally
CONCERNING DISPOSITION OF TIME. 39
for his glory. I have my hands so full here that
I have but little Time to think about even the
gloomy side of the question I am up at 7
o clock or a little after, spend an half hour in my
Room Dress & Breakfast by half past eight, in
Committee at 9 from thence immediately to the
House adjourn at 3 o clock In Committee
again at 6 return at 8 and write till 12 at night.
This has been my course for some time, except
when I dine out, which to me is harder Service
Had I my Charming Wife to repay me, by her
tenderness when the business of the day was
done, it would add an invaluable pleasure to all
my Engagements, but it cannot be for the Pres-
ent and therefore I will regale myself (tho at a
midnight hour) with scribbling to her, however
trifling my Letters may be she knows they come
from a faithful Heart and that will excuse the
deficiency of the Pen I never expected returns
of gratitude from publick & indeed it is in the
nature of things impossible If I was to seek it,
I never would do it by great faithfulness in their
Business A man of this Cast does not leave
himself time to deceive & cajol them I look for
my reward from a higher source as to things of a
future value As to this world, if I render my
self by an unreproachable conduct in Life, worthy
of the Love & Esteem of my beloved Wife, I
shall then have a present reward
Pray be careful of your health let me know
how you are without reserve If I suspect you
4O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
are not candid on that head I shall feel more un
easiness, than if I enjoyed a degree of certainty
by being well advised.
Give my most affectionate Love to my Dear
Mrs. Custis and tell her how much I love her and
if she will visit you very often, I will love her still
more Remember me to Molly, Aunt Mr.
Spinning and all Friends To Tobias Mr.
Griffith &c &c Do not forget the kitchen
gentry
What shall I say further to my dearest Wife
My eyes are heavy with sleep
May God Almighty protect & bless the sweet
object of my affection & best wishes
Believe me to be with unfeigned sincerety
My dearest Love
Yours most sincerely
BOUDINOT. 1
Mrs. BOUDINOT.
NEW YORK, April 24th 1789.
MY DEAREST WIFE
If it was in my power, I could wish to give you
an adequate account of the Proceedings of the
citizens of this Metropolis on the approach and
at the reception of our President when he arrived
here yesterday I cannot do it justice & there
fore should not attempt it had I not so much van
ity as to think you will be something gratified by
its coming thro this channel however imperfect
You must have observed with what propitious
1 Family letters.
LETTER ON RECEPTION OF PRESIDENT. 4!
gales we left my beloved shore (It contains the
Wife of my bosom) (entre nous) and glided with
steady motion across the Newark Bay, the very
water seeming to rejoice in bearing the precious
Burthen over its placid Bosom. The appearance
of the Troops we had left behind & their regular
firing added much to our Pleasure
When we drew near to the Mouth of the Kills
a number of Boats with various Flags came up
with us & dropped in our wake Soon after we
opened the Bay, General Knox & several genls
in a large Barge presented themselves with their
splendid colours Boat after Boat & Sloop after
Sloop added to our Train, gaily dressed in all
their novel armaments made a most splendid
appearance. Before we got to Bedloes Island,
a large sloop came up with full sail on our Star
board Bow when there stood up about 20 gentle
men & Ladies with most excellent voices & sang
an elegant Ode prepared for the purpose to the
Tune of God save the King, welcoming their
great Chief to the seat of Government At the
conclusion we gave them our Hats and then they
with the surrounding boats gave us theirs Soon
after another Boat came under our Stern & pre
sented us with a number of copies of another ode
and immediately about a dozen Gent n began to
sing it in parts as we passed along Our worthy
President was greatly affected with these tokens
of a profound respect. As we approached the
Harbour our Train increased & the Huzzaing
42 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
and shouts of Joy seemed to add life to the lively
scene At this moment a number of Porpoises
came playing amongst us, as if they had risen
up to know what was the cause of all this joy
We now discovered the Shores crowded with
thousands of People Men, Women Children
Nay I may venture to say Tens of Thousands
from the Fort to the place of landing altho near
half a mile you could see little else along the
shores or the streets and on board every vessel,
but heads standing as thick as ears of corn before
the Harvest. The Vessels in the Harbour made
a most superb appearance indeed, dressed in all
the Pomp of Attire The Spanish Packett in a
moment on a signal given discovered 27 or 28
different colors of all Nations on every part of the
Rigging and paid us the compliment of 13 Guns,
with the yards all manned, as did another vessel
in the Harbour displaying colors in the same man
ner. I have omitted the like compliment from the
Battery of 18 Pounders We soon arrived at the
Ferry stairs where there were many thousands of
the citizens waiting with all the eagerness of ex-
o o
pectation to welcome our excellent Patriot to that
Shore which he had regained from a powerful
Enemy by his valour & good conduct. We
found the stairs covered with carpeting & the
rails hung with crimson. The President being
preceded by the Committee was received by the
Governor & the Citizens in the most brilliant
manner Here he was met on the Wharf by
LETTER ON RECEPTION OF PRESIDENT. 43
many of his old & faithful officers & fellow Pa
triots who have borne the Heat & Burthen of the
day with him and who like him had experienced
many reverses of Fortune with fortitude & Pa
tience and who now joined the universal chorus
of welcoming their great deliverer (under Provi
dence) from all their fears It was with difficulty
a Passage could be made by the Troops thro the
pressing crowds who seemed to be incapable of
being satisfied by gazing at the man of the Peo
ple you will see the Particulars of the Proces
sion from the wharf to the House appointed for
his Residence in the news Papers The streets
were lined with the Inhabitants as thick as the
people could stand, and it required all the exer
tions of a numerous Train of City Officers with
their Staves to make a passage for the Company.
The Houses were filled with Gentlemen & Ladies
the whole distance being about half a mile and
the windows to the highest stories were illumi
nated by the sparkling Eyes of innumerable com
panies of Ladies who seemed to vie with each
other to show their Joy on this great occasion
It was half an hour before we could finish our
commission as soon as this was done notwith
standing his great Fatigue of both Body & Mind
he had to receive all the gentlemen & Officers
to a very large amount who wished to show their
respect in the most affectionate manner when
this was finished we went, dressed and dined with
his Excellency Governor Clinton, who had pro-
44 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
vided an elegant Dinner for the purpose. This
ended our Commission The Evening though
very wet was spent by all ranks in visiting the
City Street after street being illuminated in a
superb manner I cannot help noting now how
highly we were favoured in the weather the whole
Procession having been compleatly finished & we
had repaired to the Governors before it began to
rain When the President was on the wharf an
officer came up & addressing the President said
he had the honor to command his guard and he
was ready to obey his Order. The President
announced that " as to the present arrangement
he should proceed as was directed but that, after
that was over he hoped he would give himself no
further Trouble as the affections of his fellow-
citizens (turning to the crowd) w r as all the guard
he wanted "
Goodnight May God bless you
Yours affc ly
E. B. 1
1 Family letters.
CHAPTER XXV.
Mr. Boudinot s daughter, Susan Vergereau, married William Bradford.
Letters. Mr. Bradford s parents. Studies. Major of Brigade.
Captain in Continental Army. Attorney-General of Pennsylvania.
Attorney-General of United States. Residence in Philadelphia. Mr.
Rush s description of scene in Washington drawing-room. On La
fayette. Verses by Mr. Bradford. Mr. Bradford to Mrs. Boudinot ;
arrival at home ; deluged with business. Mr. Bradford to Mrs.
Boudinot on her illness. Mr. Bradford to Mr. Boudinot on fill
ing judiciary department ; recommends Mr. Shippen. Mr. Joseph
Shotwell to Mr. Boudinot ; relating to post-office at Bridgetown ;
negro slave case -. advocate, Mr. Elisha Boudinot. From Mr. Richard
W T aln on negro slave. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Bradford; on as
sumption of state debts ; deeds for land purchased in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Bradford to Mrs. Bradford ; describes the country scene ; re
garding their servants ; influenza. Mr. Bradford to Mrs. Bradford ;
describes the play enacted ("Alexander the Great"). From James
Pemberton to Mr. Boudinot ; returning thanks of Pennsylvania So
ciety for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.
MR. BOUDINOT S only child who survived infancy,
Susan Vergereau, born in 1764, married William
Bradford in 1 784. Her education was carried on
amid " war s alarums," in those days when people
traveled in stages or their own coaches, and " the
post " was a personality ; when, alas ! the roads
were blocked with contending armies, and Jersey
families were refugees in their mountain retreats,
while Washington, like a will-o -the-wisp, was flit
ting from place to place throughout the State, and
luring the British to their destruction.
To the blood of her forefathers, the wise home
training, and the influence of " the times that tried
46 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
men s souls," this young woman owed a more than
ordinary self-sacrificing, fearless, and loyal nature,
and that choicest blossom of a highly civilized
society, the perfect bearing of a gentlewoman.
Nor did she lack accomplishment, for she could
accompany her songs upon the spinet.
Mrs. Bradford appears to have been well mated
in her choice of a husband, whose loss she was
early called upon to mourn ; his letters reveal a
noble character, and those of his associates fairly
wring our hearts as they make known to us the
sorrow endured at his untimely death.
Some hesitancy is felt in giving these to the
public eye ; yet, if " one touch of nature makes
the whole world kin," why here refuse the claims
of such kinship ? They who penned their sorrows
and rejoicings have passed to another sphere, too
lofty for even the incense of praise to touch their
serenity. What we may gain from these letters, of
their earnest, simple, and honorable lives, is felt
to be a precious legacy. To picture our ances
tors of a hundred years ago, we must study their
moods, know the sentiments which swayed their
actions, the subtle forces which ruled their lives.
As we conjure before us their portraits, we are
forcibly struck with their strength, their goodness,
their capacity. They were the natural outgrowth
of a people who abandoned their homes for liberty
and the right to worship God according to the
dictates of conscience. From those of them thus
dowered, who inherited as well the traditions of
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM BRADFORD. 47
culture and refinement, what might we not ex
pect ? Is it any wonder that they evolved a new
world politically and socially? that their doings
were so far-reaching and potent? We are apt to
forget the evils combated, measuring only the
heights still to be scaled. One of the surest ways
of drawing near to those who walked this earth a
century before us is through their communings
with each other ; can there be any better way of
putting ourselves en rapport with them, as it
were ? We see them, quill in hand, with their
high head-dresses and flowing sleeves, their ruf
fled shirts, knee-breeches and buckles, and, more,
we feel their high-bred and dignified bearing, we
know of their goings and comings, their " daily
walk and conversation," we suffer and rejoice with
them, and learn to love them as our o\vn.
To draw from their perfumed receptacles such
treasures as were so carefully preserved, perhaps
for this very purpose, can be no breach of pro
priety ; and, as the dainty string is broken to the
package of letters that lies before us, we trust that
in transcribing them we are fulfilling a mission.
o o
" Wm. Bradford was the Son of Wm. & Rachel
Buck! his wife. He was born at Phila. Sept. 14
1755. Educated at Princeton, and studied law
with Hon. Edward Shippen, aftenvards Chief
Justice of Penna. In the Summer of 1776 he
entered camp as a volunteer, soon after was chosen
Major of Brigade to Genl. Robardeau presently ap
pointed to a Captaincy in the Continental army in
48 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the Regiment of Col. Hampton, April 10, 1777;
on ballot in Congress, was elected Deputy Master
Genl. with rank of Colonel in the Army of the
United States ; Was with the army at head quarters
at Valley Forge, at White Plaines, Fredericks-
borough & Raritan during 1776 & 1778, but in
the following year was obliged to resign on ac t
of the delicacy of his health When 25 years of
age he was appointed Attorney Genl of Pennsyl
vania, On Jany 2Qth 1794 commissioned Attorney
Genl of the United States." 1 He died at the
country-seat of his father-in-law, near Phila
delphia, August 25, 1795.
Mr. Bradford s residence in Philadelphia was in
Market Street, on the north side, near to Sixth
Street, and almost opposite to General Washing
ton s. Mr. Rush 2 writes : " William Bradford was
among the most gifted men Pennsylvania has pro
duced, an honor and an ornament to the State.
He was a profound lawyer more than this, his
mind by its enlargement was able to use the
vantage ground of jurisprudence and survey its
broadest principles, as the noblest of human
sciences practically applicable to mankind
amongst the testimonials of so expanded an
understanding, was his treatise on Capital Pun
ishment a work written at the request of Gov
ernor Mifflin, and intended for the use of the
Legislature of Pennsylvania, in the nature of a
1 From sketch in Pennsylvania Historical Society.
2 Mr. Richard Rush, late Minister to the Court of St. James.
INTIMACY WITH THE WASHINGTON FAMILY. 49
report, when that subject was first under con
sideration in that body. He had before that time
been Attorney General of Pennsylvania To
abilities of the first order as a lawyer he added
true accomplishments of a scholar and an orator,
the zeal of a patriot and the virtues of a man and
a gentleman." And again, of him and his young
wife : " This estimable pair won upon the esteem
of the Washington family and the official inter
course which Mr. Bradford necessarily had with
the President was followed by both of them be
coming participants not merely of the dinner
hospitalities and drawing-room entertainments of
their illustrious neighbors, but the sharers of a
social intimacy more endearing as well as gratify
ing. At that memorable epoch, the French revo
lution was raging, its first shocks seemed to be
unhinging the world, its magnificent promises,
and early deeds of freedom, the romantic and
triumphant valor of millions of armed French
men in its cause, who rushed to battle under the
inspiring chorus of the Marseilles Hymn ; with
all the honors that came afterwards, were natural
and frequent topics at the fire-side of Washington,
and no single incident among the astounding
group of events was ever called up with more in
tensity of interest . than the doom of Lafayette,
then a prisoner in the dominions of the King
of Prussia one evening when Mr. Bradford
was there and no company, none present but
the family circle, consisting of the General and
VOL. II.
5O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Mrs. Washington, his private Secretary and
young Custis (who has since so often delighted
his countrymen with anecdotes of Washington)
and his accomplished sisters ; and the conversa
tion going on with the w r onted dignity and ease
of that illustrious circle, the sufferings of LaFay-
ette became the theme. Washington as he dwelt
upon them in contrast with the former fortunes
and splendid merits of Fayette in our cause and
recalling scenes also that awoke anew the warmth
of his friendship for him, became greatly affected,
his manly countenance was shaken, his whole
nature seemed melted, his eyes were suffused.
Mr. Bradford saw it all ; and what a spectacle to
be witnessed by a man whose own bosom was open
to the heavings of patriotism and every generous
impulse. Going home in the pensive tone of
mind which a scene so moving at the fire-side of
Washington had created, Mr. Bradford sat down
and wrote some simple and touching stanzas, the
offhand Sfushmsfs from the heart of a man of
o o
sensibility and genius. These were passed from
hand to hand and sometimes sung to the plaintive
dirge composed on the occasion of the execution
of the Queen of France."
WILLIAM BRADFORD TO MRS. BOUDINOT.
Monday Night Sept 5, 1789.
Here we are my dear Madam, safe & sound
in our own parlour & the day has been so crowded
with business that it seems to have left us a very
MR. BRADFORD TO MRS. BOUDINOT. 51
few minutes to devote to our Mamma. We had
the good fortune to get within 7 miles of Prince
ton the first day, & by setting off pretty early the
next we were enabled to reach Phila. the same
evening. Susan has been so busy to-day up
stairs & down putting up this thing taking
down that examining into tother that the
little woman has fatigued herself; and altho I
have written an extravagantly long letter to her
papa, she bids me say to you all for her that she
intended to do But she intends to reform &
in future won t suffer her domestic cares to steal
her pen, or interrupt the duties of filial friend
ship.
We found Mrs Rush well she was exceed
ingly pleased with her melon - - The rest of the
family are also well. On our way we called on
Mr. P. Stockton. The accounts of his health left
us little hopes for a perfect recovery.
I have been deluged with business which was
dammed up by my absence. I am exceedingly
fatigued ; but am in high spirits notwithstanding.
Every body remarks how much better I look. It
gratifies me, that my time has not been spent in
vain.
Mr. Wallace has just arrived I go to pay him
my attentions & beg your excuse for the haste
in which I write to you.
My dear Susan joins in the most affectionate
wishes for your health. She is delighted that the
memento s of maternal goodness all arrived safe
52 ELIAS BOUDINOT,
not a pot cracked not a Glass broke not a
drop spilled but all safe & sound, like
Your affectionate Children,
W. & S. BRADFORD. 1
WILLIAM BRADFORD TO MRS. BOUDINOT.
Tuesday Night 22 Sept, 1789.
MY DEAR MAMMA,
How exceedingly I have been agitated by the
letter which I have just received! The account
of your indisposition alarms me while the assur
ance that the disorder seems to have taken a fav
orable turn is like escaping from a precipice ! So
intimately is the happiness of my dear Susan s
life and mine connected with your welfare, that
we cannot but tremble at the prospect of any
event that threatens to rob us of you. We pray
that merciful being who hath hitherto strewed our
path with many comforts, to restore your health
& prolong your life to be at once the witness &
the cause of your children s happiness I dared
not show the letter to Susan ; tho it inspires
hope it does not preclude great apprehension ;
but I have in general informed her of your illness
& of the recovery that was begun. I hope the
next advice will remove all our anxieties.
I was anticipating the pleasure of seeing you
in a fe\v days & about to write to you in the gaiety
of heart which that expectation excited ! How
1 Wallace Papers, vol. ii. p. 3, Letters of Hon. William Bradford, At
torney-General of United States.
MRS. BOUDINOTS ILLNESS. 53
changed the tenor of my letter ! But I still flatter
myself that you will be able to come on in the
course of a week or two after Congress adjourns.
We have no Dyssentries here & I think I have
always observed that the air of Philadelphia was
favorable to your health.
It is at a late hour I write. Susan encloses a
few lines. We hope to hear daily by Stage & by
post. If our cousin Polly Hetfield is with you I
hope she will write frequently but to me if she
pleases I will pay her when I have it in my
power.
Adieu my dearest Mamma With every af
fectionate & filial feeling I commend you to the
care of our merciful Father, & as I conclude, I
feel a confidence that all will yet be well.
I am my dear Mamma
Yours most affectionately
WM. BRADFORD, Jun. 1
Mrs. BOUDINOT.
MR. WILLIAM BRADFORD TO MR. BOUDINOT.
September 22d 1789.
MY DEAR SIR
If in the business of filling the Judiciary De
partment it should be of any importance to know
the sentiments of the Gentlemen of the law at
this place, I can now confidently assure you that
they are unanimously in favor of Mr. Shippen
and that his appointment would be very accept-
1 Bradford Papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 7, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
54 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
able to them. We have not been satisfied about
the propriety of making any recommendation as
a body, and many are unwilling to interfere at all
unless their opinion should be requested. But I
believe all have expressed their high opinion of
Mr. Shippen s talents, and most, that his appoint
ment is greatly desired by them. I write this,
that if it should be necessary you may make use
of & give my authority for the assertion.
If Mr. Shippen should be dropped I w r ish to
recommend Mr. Barton to your attention. He
studied law under Mr. Shippen with me, he was
a diligent student and w r ell read when he w r as ad
mitted at the bar. Pi is talents however, are not
of a showy kind & he is not qualified to shine as
a speaker. But I have a favorable opinion of his
judgment, I think he could fill that part with
reputation.
Tuesday Night
John Rush brought me yours of the 2Oth &
2ist about an houra o. I am exceedingly alarmed
O O J
at the situation of our dear Mama s health, tho
I feel great relief from your postscript. I hope
all will issue well. I beg you will omit no oppor
tunity of informing me of the progress of the dis
order. I could not conceal the substance of your
letter from Susan She was present with me
when John brought me the letter, tho he at
tempted to deliver it secretly, he sufficiently
alarmed her, and she became so exceedingly
alarmed that I found it prudent to inform her
FUNDING SYSTEM. 55
that her Mamma had been ill but was now much
better, that you were able to leave her. Her fears
were so much beyond this, that the intelligence
composed & relieved her. But she will be very
anxious to hear frequently has just written a
few lines to her Mamma.
Be pleased to give our love to all friends & be
assured my dear Sir that I am
Your affectionate Son,
WM. BRADFORD, Jun. 1
Hon. E. BOUDINOT Esq.
MR. BRADFORD TO MR. BOUDINOT.
PHILAD A Jan. 21, 1790.
MY DEAR SIR
Your second of the I4th did not reach me un-
till Tuesday night. The information contained
in the paper, which was enclosed, had arrived
before ; but with all the lights that are yet given
to us, the nature of the system proposed by Mr.
H. is not understood. The first arrival of the
news had a considerable effect on the public
securities they sold at gj. but have since fallen
& can be had at 8/6. If they should be funded,
they will scarcely exceed 10 or i2/. There is
but little money to meet the debt that will imme
diately be set afloat & if any considerable funds
are put into the hands of Commissioners for pur
chasing up these papers, the debt may be consid
erably sunk at a small expense. I presume that
1 Bradford Papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 6, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
56 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the system has been the subject of much conver
sation among you ? What do your brethren in
Congress think of it and is there any proba
bility that it will be adopted either in whole or
in part in the present session ? The sooner the
public mind is at rest, the sooner, these papers
come to be settled value, the better for the coun
try. Every hour it is delayed the rising falling
of certificates does a deal of mischief, and already
produces a spirit of gambling and all the stock
jobbing tricks that we read of in England.
Many persons besides brokers, buy in order to
take advantage of some bubble they intend to
raise sell to persons whom they afterwards
alarm & induce to sell out at under price. As
the Nation must one day adopt the measure of
funding them is it not wisdom to do it early?
We have some stout advocates here for discrimi
nation, in time, they may have an influence on
the public mind but the system, if formed now,
altho its operation should be postponed till next
year, will be unalterable & the public honor of
America will be Safe.
I have not yet got the account of facilities due
you to the State. The Comptroller has been too
much engaged to furnish me with it, but promises
it this week. They cannot exceed the amount of
your 4 yrs. interest.
I have spoken to Mr. Lewis about Lozan s
debt. He promised immediate attention to it.
I shall remind him of it tomorrow. But I sus-
REGARDING JUDICIARY. 57
pect that his head is too much engrosed by poli
tics. He made a long a learned speech to-day,
in support of the introduction of a Court of
Chancery but in vain A resolution has been
passed that no person holding any office under
the Uo S. shall be capable of holding any office
under this State. Several other Resolutions of
this kind, have very much chagrined those gen
tlemen who were most zealous in calling the con
vention & who perhaps expected that the country
members must receive the constitution that was
prepared for them. I am sorry to find that the
whole Judiciary is like to be rejected also sev
eral other matters in the report which you have
seen.
Susan has a good deal of the headache occa
sioned by the close attention to some fine work
and this must be her excuse for not writing at
this time. She begs to be affectionately remem
bered. We expect our good Mamma is with you.
Marsdon & our pretty cousin must not be for
gotten. Polly, who is in close chat with her
beau, now puts in her claim to be remembered
& immediately resumes her tete a tete.
With every good wish for your happiness
I am my Dear Sir
Your affec* Son
W. BRADFORD Jun. 1
Hon. E. BOUDINOT, Esq.
1 Bradford Papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 13, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
58 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
We have, in the following two letters and
others, evidence of the sympathy and active sup
port of Mr. Boudinot and his brother, in the
cause of the oppressed and the protection of
the slaves.
MR. JOSEPH SHOTWELL TO MR. BOUDINOT.
BRIDGETOWN 4 m 12 1790
ESTEEMED FRIEND
Thine of 20 tilto came to hand 2 days since
and the same day I returned from Phila which
circumstance apologizes for the omission of ac
knowledging thy kindness before (which I now
take the liberty of doing) as well as the delay of
I. Town s going to New York to take the neces
sary steps previous to the establishing a Post
Office in this Town, he now proposes going over
for that purpose, and I doubt not in the course of
a few months the income will be equal to that
of any Town between this & Phila.
Before I conclude I can t omit mentioning a
o
circumstance which has recently occurred as thy
Brother has been a principal actor in the case.
A negro man whose Master often in his Life
time on his Death Bed declared should be free,
but before the Person who was sent for, to write
his Will, came, he was deprived of his reason and
in that state died, the Negro apply d to me for
assistance, and I to my friend Elisha who kindly
offered his assistance, a Writ of Habeas Corpus
ordered the Adm tr to bring him before the Judges
PROTECTION OF SLAVES. 59
at the Supreme Court last week, when his case
was nobly advocated by my fr d Elisha (& sec
onded by the Attorney General). They were
opposed by Colonel Frelinghausen & Aaron
Ogden the evidences appearing very clear, the
Judges after considering the case 2 or 3 days
unanimously agreed he was entitled to his free
dom & discharged him accordingly, he returned
to-day & informed me thy Brother proposed like
wise coming on in the Stage today Actions of
this nature certainly Merit great applause with
Benevolent Hearts, and the Actors will receive
the plaudits of future ages, when the Nabobs of
the South will not be entitled thereto.
I remain with affectionate respect in which I
am Joined by my wife
Thy obliged & Assured Friend
JOSEPH SHOT WELL. 1
MR. RICHARD WALN TO MR. BOUDINOT.
WALNFORD 4 Mo. 17, 1790.
RESPECTED FRIEND,
I am loth to intrude upon thy important con
cerns but believing thou wilt think Time spent
in arresting the arm of Injustice & oppression
will be as usefull as any part of our Lives, I ven
ture to lay two cases before thee for thy opinion
A negro woman was left to be sold " by will " for
1 5 years & then be free she was sold in con-
1 Mr. Elisha Boudinot, Wallace Collection ; Hon. Elias Boudinot pa
pers, Pennsylvania Historical Society.
6O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
sequence thereof by the Executors, she had in
the Time 5 Children, & is now free but the Chil
dren are all sold as Slaves by the person that pur
chased the Mother is the sale of the Children
legal
Another a negro named Jack was sold by
the Sheriff (his Master deceased) & was bought
by a son of his Master who promised that as
soon as he could by his Labour repay the Pur
chase ^83. he should be free by the most un
common Industry & exertions he earned & paid
all the money after which a Bill of Sale was
made of him to Tobias Hendrickson of Mon-
mouth County who says he lent the money to
pay the Sheriff the agreement with the Negro
can be fully proved by several Evidence who
heard the Master declare it & the full payment
of the money all of which I believe the present
Master knew this last case has in it something
peculiarly severe, he is exceedingly Industrious &
Honest has a Wife & 3 Children all Slaves
the Master of whom would free them if the man
was free to take care of them the man that sold
the Negro is insolvent & the transfer to a Brother
in Law
Thy respected friend,
RICH D WALN
Should not if the Negro is illegally held
the present Master pay for his time. 1
1 lion. Elias Boudinot papers, Wallace Collection, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
DEBATE ON FUNDING. 6 1
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. BRADFORD.
NEW YORK April 15, 1790.
MY DEAR SIR
I have delayed writing from day to day all this
week, in hopes of giving you some certainty with
regard to our settlement of the Principles of our
funding system but I find it is vain. Last
week the Question was taken on the assumption
of the State Debts, when it was lost by the defal
cation of one Member, who had formerly voted in
favor of it 29 for & 31 agt. but as the Chair
man was in favor, one would have turned the
scale. Since that event; all the evils I have so
long foretold, are taking place. The harmony of
our House is broken up, and the victorious party,
have appeared out of spirits and have not at
tempted to call up the Question till this Day,
when they made a motion to proceed in the Busi
ness. The Temper of the House now broke out,
and very express declarations came forth, that it
was not to be expected that any funding whatever
would be adopted, without being attended by an
assumption of State Debts. The whole morning
till I past two was spent in disputing, whether
the Question should be taken up, and the Yeas
& Nays called near the usual time of Adjourn
ment. It was carried, but nothing could be got
through in consequence of it In short I fear
the worse It may be voted in the House, but I
doubt much if it will be compleated this Session,
62 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
without a Coalition I wish most sincerely, it had
never been mentioned. I wrote you 10 or 12
days ago & enclosed a Letter from your Coach
Maker, begging you to get the Glasses of your
Chariot examined by him & certified to me. I
shall be much obliged by your sending an answer
as soon as possible, as I keep Hollet out of his
money till I hear from you.
I am sorry that you are so wholly taken up
with your Courts. It is to be feared that your
Health must inevitably suffer by it. I hope you
will at all Events spend a week or Ten days,
when you come for Susan, by way of relaxation.
It is as necessary as Application.
I wish you would persuade Mr. Greer to come
this way he would be taken great Notice of
here.
I lately purchased of a poor Woman here (who
was advised to apply to me, as having some Con
nection with Pennsylvania) a tract of Land in
your State I did it out of mere Charity not
wishing to be troubled with it : Enclosed you
have the deeds Do enquire into the value of
it at Markett. If more than I gave could be
obtained for it, I would willingly give the benefit
to the Grantor I know not who she is, but her
Poverty would be relieved by having the full
value.
I begin to wish for a discharge from this Ses
sion and to breathe a little free Air I cannot
form a guess of the length of the Session as
we are all at Bay.
MAY DAY. 63
Our kindest Love to Susan and all Friends
Her Mama expects her in all this month.
I am dear Sir,
Your most Affec*
ELLAS BouoiNOT. 1
P. S. Mr. Cuthbert is here and will not go to
your City till Susan returns.
WM. BRADFORD, Esq.
MR. BRADFORD TO MRS. BRADFORD.
PHILADELPHIA, May 2d, 1790.
MY DEAR SUSAN,
I left West Chester early yesterday morning,
and had a delightful ride to the City. I was
alone and indulged myself in many an agreeable
reverie, which this season of the year is apt to
occasion amidst rural scenes. It was May day
the Sun bright, the air mild the trees in
blossom the birds singing, and all nature smil
ing. The maypoles were decked out for the
occasion, & tho there were no nymphs & swains
dancing round them I met with several in their
best attire, and all seemed to wear the face of
contentment. I gave myself up to the agreeable
emotions which the scene excited. I built castles
in the air. I planned schemes of happiness for
my dear Susan, & I could have truly said with
Juliet " My bosom s queen sits lightly on her
throne and all this day an unaccustomed Spirit
Lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts."
Romeo & Juliet.
1 Bradford papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 23, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
s^*^
! XJjTt
64 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Your note of friday reached me this morning.
By this time I hope a more lengthy & particular
account of yourself is on the way, as I miss you
here. I wish to know where you are and what
you are doing, which may be some consolation
for your absence, tho a poor one.
I found everything in good order and that
the house had not been disturbed either by
Ghosts or Thieves Charles is to leave me to
morrow - - and who do you think is likely to
succeed him? Even the redoubtable James Cal-
lenclar! He has returned from England & is
desirous of coming here again. Charles tells me,
that he appears much altered for the better that
he believes he has given up drinking & seems
desirous I should try him. I have therefore de
termined to give him a trial of a single month,
with a promise that he forfeit all his wages if he
shall get drunk during that time. Whether he
shall continue longer will depend upon his own
conduct. I examined Charles as to his opinion
of James s honesty & he declares that he believes
him a safe servant in that respect, but I confess
I have some doubts. However he comes in a
critical time. I have not been able to get any
other & as soon as I see him, I shall agree with
him in the manner I have mentioned. As for
John, I hear that he & his brother have been
concerned in some villainous tricks and have
been obliged to fly the City to avoid the pursuit
of the Constable. They went together & in the
RIVAL QUEENS. 65
name of Major Burrows took up goods to the
amount of near ^15, and John went to the Farm
& stole several articles belonging to Josey s bro
ther. We may now easily conjecture in what way
my jacket, stockings, spoons &c. disappeared.
If the weather is good I believe I shall go to
the Theatre tomorrow night when the Rival
Queens will be represented. Much animosity is
said to be occasioned by the distribution of the
characters and it is expected that a party of
Mrs Henry s friends will occasion some uproar,
by hissing or otherwise insulting Mrs. Morris &
Mrs Harper, who are said to be the occasion of
Mrs. H s. non-appearance. But as every exertion
it is said, will be made to please, it is probable
that these mighty Animosities may subside with
out disturbance. As it is not certain that I shall
be able to visit N. York, I believe you had better
forward to me the letter from Capt. Cuthbert
which you mention, that I may have an opportu
nity of answering it early. But if you should
write to Canada, your mentioning that the letter
is still in New York will be a sufficient apology
for me.
I am sorry to find that the Influenza has re
turned more so, as I understand, it is now cer
tain that it can be taken a second time. Many
persons in this City have been seized violently
with a (torn) its symptoms are more unfavorable
now than they were last fall. I hope you will be
careful of yourself, should you discover any indi
cations of its having again attacked you.
VOL. II.
66 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
I wish you to write to me by the post. The
letters come with more speed and safety : & if
the small expense were an object, it will be to me
the cheapest way.
I shall write to your papa My pen is so bad
that it will hardly allow me to beg you to remem
ber me to Mama, Rachel and all friends.
I am my dear Girl
Most affectionately Yours,
WM. BRADFORD, Jun. 1
Mrs. S. BRADFORD.
MR. BRADFORD TO MRS. BRADFORD.
PHI LA. Thursday Night,
6 May 1790.
MY DEAR SUSAN
I have formerly boasted with the ancient Phi
losopher " That I was never less alone than when
alone." But you have spoilt my philosophy and
at this moment I feel myself so horribly alone in
this Cathedral of a house, that I fly to my pen to
relieve me from the irksomeness of Solitude.
My books will no longer afford me the society I
need, and wanting your company in reality, I en
deavor to enjoy it in idea by chatting to you on
paper. The Court keeps me pretty well employed
thro the day -- but the night if I do not ramble
abroad is wearisome enough. I wake with the
first glimpse of the morning am up soon after
sun rise breakfast half after seven and gener
ally dine before two.
1 Bradford papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 24, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
THE THEATRE IN PHILADELPHIA. 67
I went to the theatre on Monday night when
Alexander the Great was performed. Never did
I see the house so crowded. The gallery could
not receive all that came with tickets the pit was
so full that the people were obliged in many parts
of it to stand, & some laughable scenes exhibited
themselves at the expense of the little folks. A
short bald-pated Jew (of the name of Bardt Jacobs),
got so surrounded with people taller than himself
that it was impossible for him to see a single per
son on the stage, or even to get out of the pit.
Nothing was to be discovered but his bald-head,
moving & shaking in great vexation, while his
endeavors to get a peep at the rare-show were
wholly ineffectual ; until a stout man, in mercy,
held him up, to the amusement of the whole audi
ence. The boxes were overflowing " the cream,"
the new and much of the skim milk, all mixed to
gether, tho the former now & then seemed to
curdle with disdain. And after all, the represen
tation was a mere baby show, a sight at most
for children & so conducted as to partake
more of Comedy than of Tragedy It was acted
again last night, when your maid Betsy asked
permission to go & came home charmed beyond
measure.
We go on very quietly. James is constantly at
home I hope is really reformed. I have, how
ever, deferred taking him for any longer than a
month untill you see & approve his conduct.
I dined this day at Dr. Rush s. The family are
68 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
well but Miss Susan in great distress for the
loss of her White Mouse.
I thank you a hundred times for your letter of
the 4th (Tuesday) which was delivered this after
noon. You gave me a charming description of
Mr. Beekman s seat & I don t wonder you were
so much delighted with it. I am obliged to you
for your particularity. I wish to know every
movement you make, that I may in some measure
partake of your pleasures.
I shall probably write by Col. Hartley who has
just arrived & will set out on Saturday. At all
events I shall write to your papa. This I suppose
will find you in New York, I hope you congratu
lated the "happy pair" for me. I wrote you a
few lines by the Stage to do so.
Love to all friends and be assured my dear
girl of the truest love of
Your affectionate
W. BRADFORD, Jun. 1
MR. THOMAS JEFFERSON TO MR. BOUDINOT.
NEW YORK, June 29, 1790.
SIR
As it is desirable that we should receive from
our Consuls an exact report of all our vessels with
the cargoes, which 20 to the countries of their resi-
o o
dence, such fees appear necessary as may induce
them to be watchful that every such vessel is
1 Bradford papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 25, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
DEPOSITIONS, ETC., ABROAD. 69
noted. At the same time the fee should not be
so large as to induce them to connive at foreign
vessels reporting themselves as American merely
to give them the fee, five & ten dollars appears
to me well proportioned.
While I was in Europe I found that there was
a great want of some legal Mode of taking and
authenticating instruments and evidence in gen
eral, to be sent to this country, such as deposi
tions, affidavits, copies of wills, records, deeds,
powers of Attorney &c. I thought it would be
proper as soon as we should have consuls estab
lished, to make their authentications under the
seal of their office, good evidence in our Courts.
I take the liberty of submitting to you whether a
clause for these purposes Might not be properly
placed in this bill I assure you the occasions for
it are extremely frequent
I have the honor to be with great respect Sir,
Your Most obed 1 humble seiV
TH. JEFFERSON. 1
Mr. BOUDINOT.
MR. JAMES PEMBERTON TO MR. BOUDINOT.
PHILA. nth Month 8, 1790.
RESPECTED FRIEND,
The Pennsylvania Society for promoting the
Abolition of Slavery, &c &c at their Meeting on
the 4th of last Month, directed that their sincere
Thanks should be conveyed to thee, for thy
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, Jefferson pa
pers, series I, vol. iv. p. 76.
7<D ELIAS BOUDINOT.
humane and spirited Exertions in the cause of
the Negro Silas, before the Supreme Court of
New Jersey.
When men of acknowledged abilities thus step
forth in the cause of the Oppressed Africans, it
affords additional encouragement to our Society
to persevere in their Arduous Undertaking, by
inspiring hopes, that their endeavors to Abolish
Domestic Slavery will finally be crowned with
success and this great National Iniquity be thus
forever removed from amongst the people of the
United States.
I am on behalf of the s d Society
Thy Respectful Friend
JAM S PEMBERTON Presd 1
Counsellor ELIAS BOUDINOT.
1 Boudinot papers, Pennsylvania Historical Society, Wallace Collec
tion.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Mr. Bradford to Mr. Boudinot for advice on accepting judgeship. Mr.
Boudinot s reply. Mr. Bradford to Mrs. Bradford ; her illness ;
absence. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Elisha Boudinot ; Mr. Roberts chil
dren ; express from westward ; border warfare. Mr. Samuel Bayard.
Mr. Boudinot to General Washington, President of the United
States ; on Oration. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Samuel Bayard ; General
Wayne quells the Indian outbreak ; Congress harmonious ; President s
speech. Whiskey riots. Mr. Bradford to Mr. Boudinot ; explaining
situation. Mr. Bradford from Pittsburgh ; further accounts.
MR. BRADFORD TO MR. BOUDINOT.
PIIILA. April iSth, 1791.
MY DEAR SIR,
We had the satisfaction of hearing of your wel
fare & of that of our good Mamma by her letter
of Wednesday which Mr. Brown handed to Susan
yesterday. We hope you have by this time ar
rived in safety at your long deserted dwelling &
are enjoying the charms of this beautiful season
among your blooming fruits, the apricots and
peach trees.
We have just finished our court I have been
sufficiently wearied by it & the approaching Cir
cuit will keep me busily employed till I set
out. Before I go I wish your opinion at large
upon the proposition that was hinted to me while
you were here. It has since been directly pro
posed to me by the Governor himself. He was
72 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
pleased to say, That It was his wish to make the
Supreme Court as respectable as possible; and
that my acceptance would gratify him very much.
I had before this told Mr. Smiley who first
communicated with me on this subject that I
could not think seriously of it untill I knew
whether my acceptance could make any differ
ence to the arrangements or would in any manner
affect Mr. Atlee s interests & secondly whether
there was any probability of the Compensation
being raised to ^750 For I ought to inform
you that the amend 15 of the Senate raising the
compensation from ^600 to ^750 were nega
tived in the house of representatives thro the
interposition of Mr. Biddle & his friends who
thought him neglected & therefore determined to
o o
keep all on an equality. I was assured that Mr.
Atlee could not be continued & that it was very
probable that the compensation would be raised
Upon the Gov r s application to me, I told him that
all I could say at that time was, That I would take
it under serious consideration give him an answer
as soon as I had consulted my friends Soon
after two members of the Senate & one of the
house of representatives called on me, by the Gov rs
desire to assure me of the determination of them
selves their friends to draw the compensation
increase, they promised me the interest of all the
" Whig interest " as it is sometimes called &
would enc;ao:e that should not be wanted : adding
O O C5
MR. BRADFORD OFFERED A SEAT ON THE BENCH. 73
that Mr. Shippen & Mr. Yates would have inter
est on the other side of the house & that it was
likely to succeed but could not be absolutely
engaged. Upon my saying " that the business was
not pressing that many things might turn up
before the end of August & that I would con
sider of it in the mean time " they told me, that
my resolution must not be long delayed that
the Gov r would be brought into difficulties if he
should displace Mr. Atlee without having some
successor absolutely fixed on that in the case of
Mr. Rush he felt that embarrassment & was de
termined not to be in a similar one again. That
if I did not accept they were apprehensive some
other gentleman would be appointed by no means
as acceptable to them & their friends. They there
fore added, that my acceptance or refusal could
not be delayed till the event of the next Session of
Assembly could be known, but that if I accepted,
they pledged themselves to use every exertion to
accomplish the necessary compensation. In this
situation I am : & feel myself a little exercised
what choice to make. Almost any body s judg
ment that I can rely upon would turn the scales
so evenly, are they balanced. My resolution fluc
tuates with my feelings. When I am worried
with business & exhausted with the vexations of
the bar I wish to retire but when my spirits are
better I think the sacrifice too much. The con
siderations on each side are important; but I
74 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
believe I should give way to the solicitations if
there could be any certainty that the compensa
tion would be raised. Upon an accurate review
of my circumstances, I think I can safely count
upon an income of ^600 independent of my
landed property : and I believe could arrange
matters so in the course of the present year as to
make it nearly equal to ,700. The income would
therefore be sufficient even in this expensive City,
but a considerable part of my property is in the
public funds & I have not yet learned to consider
them as perfectly secure. I presume that with
my present office & my professional business I
can make double the sum that I should receive as
a judge yet whether (as I mean one day to take
a seat on the bench if in my power) the present
opportunity ought to be passed by is the diffi
culty. Pray determine for me. I am like a young
Girl that has an advantageous offer yet finds her
self in very comfortable circumstances without a
husband. She means to marry some time but
thinks it is too soon. The offer is not quite such
as she wishes but it is too good to be hastily
rejected. If he could wait till she could see how
things will turn up it would be very clever but
she knows he won t wait and what shall she do
in such a perplexing situation !
I have written this in such haste that I fear you
cannot easily decipher it, but when you have made
it out be good enough to give me your senti
ments at large. They will govern me very
MR. BOUDINOT S ADVICE TO HIS SON-IN-LAW. 75
much in my determination. With much love to
Mamma I am dear Sir
Yours very affectionately,
W. BRADFORD, Jun. 1
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. BRADFORD.
ELIZABETH TOWN, April 23, 1791.
My VERY DEAR SlR
I wrote you by the last Post, since which I have
received your favour of the i8th Inst. and take
the earliest Opportunity of answering it. I have
a feeling sense of the Anxiety & delicacy of your
present embarrassed Situation--! know by ex
perience that it brings with it, a State of Mind
neither eligible nor pleasing. I wish I could with
certainty point out the Path of Duty. It is cer
tain there are Arguments on both sides of the
Question, that deserve great weight from their
Importance.
On the one Hand
You relinquish a lucrative, as well as an honor
able & useful Employment in the Prime of Life,
and in the very Zenith of reputation
On the other hand
You receive a very honorable mark of distinc
tion from a very respectable Government, in being
solicited to fill one of the most useful, honorable
& independent offices in the Commonwealth, at a
time of Life, when others are barely laying a
1 Bradford papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 40, Pennsylvania
Historical Society.
76 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
foundation of Expectations of those favours, in
which they often are disappointed.
You give up the Opportunity of increasing
your political & individual Interest in the State,
by serving your fellow creatures (often in trying
difficulties) and thereby shewing your talents to
advantage.
By this change of Employment you gain an
Opportunity of enlarging your Studies, and ap
plying to those Branches that become necessary
in the higher departments of the general Govern
ment which from Time to Time must call for
Abilities of the most extensive Nature (not thickly
sown) and rnust necessarily hold out Inducements,
worthy the great Objects they have in view
add to this that your Sphere of usefulness thus
changed is not reduced ; and altho the subjects
of your attention may be varied, yet you may
command the respect of the Government at
large, instead of the Individuals who were for
merly benefited by your Services and instead
of raising your reputation as an able & honest
Lawyer you may as early obtain that of the
upright Judge or faithful Statesman.
You reduce your income at least one half, and
of course your manner of living and appearances
among your fellow creatures, as well as make it
necessary to restrain your Views of laying up a
worldly Estate, under the pretence of Provision
for old age.
As to your present income, it depends on so
AGAINST ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH. 77
many contingent Circumstances that it can hardly
claim the Consideration of Certainty A failure
of Business the loss of your present office -
Long sickness a multiplicity of professional
men, and many other adventitious circumstances,
must be taken in to the account, by way of Sub
traction to give a fair comparative View of the
pecuniary Interests of both States of Life Add
to this, the probable reduction of many Expenses
in one Situation, that necessarily attend the other.
The comfort of domestic Peace & Enjoyment -
the possibility of often doing many other pieces
of accidental Business-- The folly of large For
tunes when Circumstances do not require them
and lastly the rational prospect of increasing your
personal Happiness & Improvement, as well as
relative usefulness & Importance.
Thus stands the account, and tho at first sight
and judgment from the commonplace doctrine of
Men of Business and the World, great difficulty
seems to arise, yet considering Things in their
true Lights and valueing the Enjoyments & im
provements of the Mind as far exceeding all the
pleasures arising from an overgrown Property,
which a man cannot spend with propriety, I am
induced to be of opinion that you ought not (all
Things considered) to forego the present Oppor
tunity which tho perhaps a few Years, too soon,
yet receives a respectable Complection from this
very Circumstance.
Your Income as stated by you, with the Commis-
7& ELIAS BOUDINOT.
sion, is sufficient for all valuable or desirable Pur
poses. For what you have not, no account will
hereafter be required But even here, your Pros
pects will rather be on the increase, considering
your Youth and talents.
If I could accomplish my Wishes, we should
soon join you, with an income (If I am not disap
pointed) of about ^"600. pr annum, besides some
unproductive real estate the Farm with you
It is not rational to suppose w 7 e should want that
long, and when we are gone, it will not diminish
your Competence. On the whole, considering
Life with its Emoluments honors, as desirable
only as it bears an aspect on that glorious State
of Existence which I hope we have principally
above all Things in View, and to a due prepara
tion for which we are led in the strongest Manner
to usefulness, in Life and Improvement in every
good work, I wish you not to hesitate, in accept
ing the Governor s offer, and trust all future
Events to that God, who has so remarkably pro
vided for you heretofore, and who now in the
course of his Providence calls you to make the
Sacrifice in Question.
Your Mama has had many serious thoughts
also, on this Business, but on the whole unites
with me in the above opinion, and most sincerely
wishes you the Influence of that Spirit of Wisdom,
which always leads into the right way.
Present our most Affect. Love good wishes
MRS. BRADFORD S ILLNESS. 79
to our Daughter & the young Ladies I quite
forgot in my last, to beg you to direct Josey to
endeavour to rent the farm House & for the season
if he can get ^"30. He told me of some Lady
that wanted it, if Mr. Meade did not take it. I
am not anxious about it, but if it can be easily
done may be better than to let it lay empty. I
am my dear sir with every sentiment of Esteem &
affection
Yours most sincerely,
ELIAS BOUDINOT. 1
WILLIAM BRADFORD Esq.
MR. BRADFORD TO MRS. BRADFORD.
Sunday May 5, 1791.
MY DEAR SUSAN
I arrived here late last night & this day I re
ceived your welcome letter of the 2d inst. I had
no intimation of your being ill untill a hint in a
letter from Mr. Bayard, last friday that you were
better. On my return I was not a little alarmed
with the accounts they gave me & I was preparing
to set out for Elizabeth Town without delay.
This day I got both your papa s letter of the 2d
May giving me an account of your indisposition
& yours which assures me it is removed. Fer
vently, my dear Girl, do " I join with you in
thanking our heavenly father for this renewed
mercy." You are precious to me, my Susan, be
yond expression and your spared life is and
1 Boudinot papers, vol. ii. p. 41, Pennsylvania Historical Society.
8O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ought to be a subject of present gratitude. To
leave Phila. at this time would have been incon
venient as the ensuing week will be a busy one.
I therefore shall not pursue my design, as you
mention your intention of setting your face home
ward the beginning of this week. But I beseech
you do not hurry yourself too much. Come on
by easy journeys : and I would rather forego the
pleasure of your Society till the end of the week
than permit you to run any risk. Tis irksome
enough living here alone to be sure. But I can
endure that with less inconvenience than you can
fatigue. If you can inform me by a line what day
you will be here it will be some consolation & I
shall count the hours as they pass. I wrote to
you from Chester last monday. Mr. Lewis prom
ised to put the letter in the post office. I am
surprized to find that you had not received it on
friclay when you wrote, especially as there \vere
some things in it that would not bear any body s
eye but yours. I found all our friends here
well. Patty wishes much for you. She was a
good deal indisposed for an hour or two this
morning and gave Mr. B. some alarm. But she
soon got better by the assistance of a little lauda
num.
I shall endeavor to send this by some private
hand, so as to reach you tomorrow night : but if I
cannot find one, shall entrust it to the post. Give
my most affectionate love to Mamma, I shall assure
FIGHT WITH INDIANS. 8 I
your papa of my regard myself. With the sincer-
est affection I am my dearest Susan
Yours very tenderly &
forever
W. B. Jun.
Mrs. BRADFORD. 1
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. ELISHA BOUDINOT.
PHILADELPHIA Dec r 26 1791.
MY DEAR BROTHER :
Enclosed you have, the Report of the Pay
Master on Mr. Roberts Children s Case, from
which you can judge what may be done Also a
Letter to poor Hoppe to advise him of his Success
in gaining a full report of the Masters in his
favour. Do be so good as to send it to him as
soon as possible, as I believe he is in suffering
Circumstances If you are not careful in sending
it, he will never get it
We have had another Express from the West
ward, which does not make the business a Whit
better-- Our Loss is 590 Killed about 230
wounded All those who could not run away
were left on the Field and are considered as
killed Upwards of 40 women suffered --It is
on the whole a most mortifying & perplexing af
fair, and I am at a loss to know, what steps are
proper to retrieve it Our Sessions will be pro
longed greatly by so untoward a Circumstance, as
I expect it will give rise to great debates
1 Bradford papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 42, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
VOL. ii.
82 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
I propose to part with 20 shares in the Manu
factory when it is a proper time to sell out, as I
have more than I shall be able to manage then
o
Our kindest love to Sister & the Children
I am my Dear Brother
Yours afft ly
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ELISIIA BOUDINOT, Esq.
Gouverneur Morris is nominated our Minister to France, Mr. Thos.
Pinckney (South Carolina) for London.
(Addressed)
ELISIIA BOUDINOT, Esq. Free
Counsellor at Law. New Ark.
Mr. Samuel Bayard was the son of Colonel
John Bayard of Revolutionary fame, distinguished
for his bravery and patriotism, descended from
that branch of the Bayard family who immi
grated to Holland from France during the reli
gious troubles of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
The widow, Madam Anna Bayard, who accom
panied Peter Stuyvesant and his wife, her sister-
in-law, to New York, brought with her, her three
sons, one of whom, Peter, was the ancestor of
Samuel Bayard. He was one of the purchasers
of the four necks of land known as Bohemia
Manor in Maryland, consisting of twenty thou
sand, seven hundred and sixty-nine acres, from
Lord Baltimore. It was here in the family man
sion that Colonel John was born. Samuel mar
ried Martha Pintard, commonly called Patty, the
daughter of Lewis Pintard and the dear and cher-
MR. SAMUEL BAYARD. 83
ished niece of Mrs. Elias Boudinot and cousin of
Mr. Boudinot. During the war she made her
home with them, and was greatly beloved in the
family circle. Her father at the time was dep
uty commissary of prisoners under Elias Boudi
not.
Mr. Pintard s father w^as a French Huguenot,
who emigrated from France some years previous
to the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He be
came in New York a prosperous importing mer
chant, and before the troubles which led to the
Revolutionary War paid more than one third of
the post charges of New York city.
Samuel Bayard studied law with William Brad
ford, Mr. Boudinot s son-in-law. He practiced law
in Philadelphia for seven years. In 1791 he was
appointed by Washington to prosecute American
claims in the British admiralty court. After his
return to America he was appointed, by Governor
Jay, presiding judge of the court of common
pleas of Westchester County, New York, where
he resided at the time with his father-in-law,
Lewis Pintard. Samuel Bayard and his wife
were regarded by Mr. and Mrs. Boudinot almost
in the light of their own children. She, the
Patty of their letters, spent much of her time
with the Boudinots. She was with them during
the whole of the winter of 1783, in Philadelphia,
where the two young ladies doubtless enjoyed a
gay and novel scene, and cemented a friendship
which was as enduring as their lives.
84 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
MR. BOUDINOT TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
ELIZABETH TOWN Nov i2th 1793
DEAR SIR
The troubling you to read the enclosed oration
may perhaps need an apology. Undoubtedly the
liberty I have taken, to address it to you, without
your express permission renders one absolutely
necessary.
A number of concurring Circumstances, added
to the subject & design prompted me to it,
and a Dependance on your known Candor &
Friendship makes me hope, it will not give of
fence.
Mrs. Boudinot joins me in the most respect
ful affectionate Compliments to Mrs. Washing
ton.
I have the honor to be with every Sentiment
of Duty & respect
Dr Sir
Your Most obed 1 Hble. Sen/
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The President of the United States.
(Endorsed in Gen 1 W s. hand)
From
ELIAS BOUDINOT Esq : l
1 2th Novr 1793.
1 MSS. Archives, Washington, D. C., Letters to Washington, vol. Ixxix.
p. 348. Endeavors to find this oration have proved unavailing.
VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS. 85
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. SAMUEL BAYARD IN LONDON.
PHIL A 1794.
To SAMUEL BAYARD, ESQ R
MY DEAR SIR
Nothing has happened since you left except
the complete success of Gen 1 Wayne and the
total quelling the Insurgents of the West by our
patriotic Militia. The first gained a complete
victory over a very large body of Indians with a
few Canadians (say So) under the guns ^of the
British fort at the Mauini Rapids, the officers of
which did not interfere The Fort has since
been evacuated as is said, and there is great
probability that a general Peace will take place
with the Indians This has been the case with
the Six Nations and the Town of Presque Isle
will now be built with the approbation of the
Indians
The return of the Militia has been attended
with great rejoicing & eclat Every thing has
turned out full as well if not better than was ex
pected.
Our violent people in C. are totally silenced &
we go on with the utmost harmony, but one
squable, that was about the answer to the Presi
dent s speech, which caused some fine speeches
& ended finally very harmoniously.
Indians desirous of peace sent request of that
nature but Gov. Simcoe disregarded them assur
ing them of assistance from their Great Father
the King.
86 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
P S. The fort at the rapids does not appear
to have been evacuated
To SAMUEL BAYARD Esq r
at
The Philadelphia Coffee-House, 1
London.
In the two letters which follow, Mr. Bradford,
then attorney-general of the United States, refers
to the insurrection in the western part of Penn
sylvania, caused by the attempt to enforce the law
imposing duties on distilled spirits. The insur
gents were suppressed only by the appearance of
a formidable force of militia from Virginia, Mary
land, and Pennsylvania, which Washington had
called out. 2
MR. BRADFORD TO MR. BOUDINOT.
ROSE HILL, Aug* 7 1794
MY DEAR SIR.
The attention of the President of late has been
wholly engrossed by the Western insurrections.
A c^ood deal of information has been received &
O
the nature, extent force of the opposition is
very unduly appreciated by the public. Measures
at once energetic & yet temperate are requisite.
The ordinary powers of Gov 1 being too weak to
quell the insurrection & to execute the laws, no
thing remains on the score of compulsion but
Military force. The only force of this kind that
can be properly employed is the Militia & in the
first instance the Militia of the State There is
1 Family letters.
2 See Irving s Washington, vol. v. p. 209.
INSURRECTION IN PENNSYLVANIA. 87
no mode of compelling the personal service of
these ; a fine not very large will excuse them ; &
many, whatever view they might have of the
Excise Laws would decline to so distant & disa
greeable a service ; others who hate or affect to
hate that system or love to criminate the Gov r
would even decry the measure ; & the Gov r of
Penn a has assured the President that under the
present circumstances he does not think a suff 4
number could be got in that State, it would be
merely to fan the flame to call out less than six or
8000 men, therefore, an order to prevent bloodshed
must be an imposing one. This the President how
ever is determined to employ he has no alterna
tive left but he feels the solicitude of a parent
on this interesting occasion he deeply regrets the
necessity of hastily arraying citizen against cit
izen he sees a flame about to arise that may
consume the Innocent and the guilty & per
haps essentially injure or eventually dismember the
Union There is some danger to apprehend
that the disaffected have taken measures to secure
the people of Kentucky & they threaten to
call in the aid of the British Under all these
views of the subject, the Presd 1 means to convince
these people & the World at once of the modera
tion & the firmness of the Gov. He will take all
preparatory steps for using force if it be finally
necessary; he will call on the Militia to be in
readiness while the blow is suspended Com
missioners go, in hopes of inducing a submission
88 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
of these deluded people to the authority of the
Laws, to explain to them the motives & determi
nation of the Gov. & to lay before them the con
sequences of further resistance & to offer, on con
dition of an entire obedience to the Laws a full
amnesty & oblivion of all that is past If this
shall be refused the weight of the public opin
ion will give energy to the dernier resort In
that case, they must contemplate a dismember
ment of the nation. Of the Commissioners, one
is from the National Legislature, Mr. J. Ross
one from the State Judiciary, Mr. Yeates &
one immediately from the Councils of the Presd*.
That one is myself. Extremely disagreeable &
inconvenient to my private business as this mis
sion is, the public considerations which press it,
oblige me to go I leave town at 10 o clock
to-day --The haste arises, from the meeting or
convention of these people being fixed for the
14" ins. I have hopes that respectable people
will be among them as there hitherto have been
at all their meetings. These properly appreciate
their situation, On this creat occasion it is of the
O
last consequence to keep the public mind right.
A full particular detail of the whole conduct
of these people is preparing & the proclamation
contains a summary of it. Any appearance of
approbation of the measures among ourselves will
be very encouraging to the insurgents if any
publications from the Democrats or others lend
to that point. I really think that if prosecutions
MISSION TO THE RIOTERS. 89
can be sustained in such a case they must be ven
tured. It .will not do, to trifle with this business.
Susan proposes to visit Eliz th Town early next
week. But she will write herself.
Love to Mamma & all friends.
In very great haste, I am my dear Sir,
Very truly and affect ly Yours,
W. BRADFORD.
Hon. E. BOUDINOT Esq. 1
MR. BRADFORD TO MR. BOUDINOT.
PITTSBURGH, Aug 4 2Qth 1794.
MY DEAR SIR :
Before this reaches you it is possible that my
dear Susan may be on her return to Philadelphia:
if not, this letter will give her all the information
of my Situation and welfare that I have to com
municate. This mission has been a very difficult
and delicate one. We have found many obsta
cles to a favorable issue ; but we are at last in a
train that promises success. I shall be able to
give you some curious accounts on my return, but
do not wish to trust them to paper at present.
I send with this a printed copy of the Commit
tee s report which will give you some insight into
the situation of things here. The account of the
O
Conference is neither full nor very accurate.
We found that there were no assurances of
submission on which Government could rely, but
these which came from the people themselves. If
1 Bradford papers, Wallace Collection, vol. ii. p. 98, Pennsylvania His
torical Society.
9O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
these can. be obtained the disturbances will be
thoroughly quieted : any thing short of this would
be skimming over the \vouncl without a radical
cure. We have put this matter on the only train
in which success is probable. The Committee of
Conference lead the way & carry all their friends
with them : the Committee of sixty, which is now
at Redstone will probably do the same : and if
they think that the public mind is not sufficiently
matured they will interpose a meeting of the whole
body of 226, before the people are called together.
I have now great hopes, that this insurrection will
be quieted without bloodshed : if so, a great
point in the present situation of the U. S. will be
gained. The fever was very high when we ar
rived & there is no doubt but a formidable
resistance would have been made if the militia
had been suddenly marched against them. They
have or affect to have a very great contempt for
the " water gruel troops over the mountains "
& promise if they turn out, to meet them half
way. But this temper is cooled : the terror which
the Insurgents had impressed is dissipating & the
moderate men take the lead. We believe we are
secure of three Counties but Washington has still
much inflamable matter in it. However, great
exertions are making there ; & the presbyterian
clergy of the County who happened accidently
to be assembled have determined to recommend
submission. If things go right at Redstone it is
probable that Mr Yates & I will set out on our
SUBMISSION FROM OHIO COUNTY. 9!
return in two or three days. Mr. Ross will have
full powers to complete the business.
If Susan be with you let her know that the
time for returning negro John, if he does not
please, is near expiring. If therefore his conduct
has been exceptionable, I hereby authorize you to
reassign for me his time of service to Mr. Shippen.
I believe the time allowed will expire on the Qth
September, or loth. Have the goodness to take
this trouble for me.
I have never been so homesick on any journey.
I have been confined here a little like State pris
oners. The ( ) men do not like to come near
us for fear of loosing that influence ; and you may
safely conjecture that we see none of the enragees
We have already received assurances of sub
mission from Ohio County and hope for the best
here.
Assure my dear Susan of my impatience to see
her & Mama of affectionate remembrance of
her. With compliments to friends l
(Signature torn off)
Hon. E. BOUDINOT.
1 Bradford papers, Wallace Collection, Pennsylvania Historical Society.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Mr. Samuel Bayard to Mr. Boudinot; political situation in Europe ; Ire
land; Earl FitzWilliams; pamphlets relating to prophecy; garden
seed. Mr. Samuel Bayard to Mr. Boudinot; revolution in Holland;
trials in Paris; Mr. Pitt. Mr. Samuel Bayard to Mr. Bradford ; sends
Parliamentary debates for speech of Bishop Landall and Mr. Fox s
eulogy on our illustrious President ; Mr. Erskine s opinion of his own
best speech; Mr. Bird in behalf of American claimants; books; cap
tures by the French. Mr. Boudinot to lion. Oliver Walcott, recom
mending Mr. Charles Brown for collector of the port of Charlestown.
Mr. Samuel Bayard to Mr. Bradford ; visits Mr. Gouverneur Morris ;
political; Courts of Admiralty sittings close; cases deferred; sus
picions; Dr. Smith s sermon; Colonel Hamilton s last report on Sink
ing Fund republished. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Samuel Bayard ; death
of Mr. Bradford ; grief of the family. Mr. Boudinot s visit to Dr.
Samuel Johnson. Character of Mr. Bradford. Mr. Boudinot be
comes Director of the Mint. Regulations, etc. Mr. Boudinot to Hon.
Timothy Pickering, regarding appointment to Mint. To a friend on his
acceptance. Country-seat. To Mr. Samuel Bayard regarding copper.
MR. SAMUEL BAYARD TO MR. BOUDINOT.
LONDON, March i2th, 1795.
MY DEAR SIR:
I wrote you some days since pretty fully by the
way of New York, and gave you a brief sketch of
the state of things on this side of the water. This
place is to be sure the creat focus of intelligence,
JT O O
and to give you a perfect idea of events that are
unfolding to view in the various parts of Europe,
it would be necessary to write you a volume by
every vessel.
Notwithstanding the " traiterous correspond-
AFFAIRS IN HOLLAND AND FRANCE. 93
ence bill " means are constantly devised here for
keeping a communication between London &
Paris at the latter place things were all very
quiet when the last acc ts came away. The con
vention were en2;a^ed in matters of a domestic
o o
nature in revising their laws establishing jus
tice and destroying abuses. The Commission of
21 had not reported on the case of Barrere Collot-
d Herbois & Beland Varrennes, but here it is
supposed they will certainly fall. A treaty it is
admitted here on all hands has been actually
concluded between the King of Prussia and the
French. But its tenor is wholly unknown.
Holland and the rest of the U. Provinces are
regenerating themselves in a very peaceable man
ner their revolution was effected at a most happy
moment at the very time when justice, wisdom,
and moderation resumed their authority in France.
Had Dumouriez instead of Pichegru entered their
territory widely different would have been the
scene from that which their country now exhibits.
Whether this country will consent to remain at
peace with the Dutch is yet a doubt. They have
embargo d and sequestered so much Dutch prop
erty which they have refused to give upon a requi
sition from the States General, that I do not see
how a war can be avoided. The opening campaign
it is thought w r ill be principally naval. The French
talk strongly of paying both the West & East
Indies a visit this summer, and with a force that
cannot easily be resisted there is little talk now
94 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
of invading G. Britain, their aim appears to be to
cripple her by sea and as they say to liberate the
Commerce of the world. I expect soon to hear
some news on which we can depend from the in
terior of France. Mr. Trumbule has just gone
there probably on some business of a public
nature and is I believe soon expected to return.
Ireland is in a very perturbed state Earl
FitzWilliams short viceroyship has given the
nation great satisfaction and raised their hopes
to the highest pitch whether these hopes are
yet to be blasted is at present unknown but
if they should, great convulsions will probably
ensue.
I send you by the Molly a couple of pam
phlets that have excited universal attention here
- As they relate to prophecy they are in your
way.
The author of one Mr. Halhead is an M. P. and
deeply vers d in Hindoo learning. The Prophet
Mr. Brothers has lately been taken up examined
before the Privey Counsel confined a short time
in Newgate and since dismissed. I send you also
a few garden seeds which I hope may arrive in
time to grace the garden of Rose Hill this season.
With the best love to our dear Aunt.
I remain as ever My D. Sir,
most affect ly yours
SAM L BAYARD. 1
ELIAS BOUDINOT Esq.
1 Family letters.
UNITED PROVINCES. 95
MR. SAMUEL BAYARD TO MR. BOUDINOT.
LONDON 14 March 1795.
MY DEAR SIR : -
I have seldom in my life experienced so
lively a satisfaction as your two letters of the 15
and 20 Dec r gave me. Your " Political sketch "
although " hasty " furnished me with information
both new and interesting. In return I intended
giving you by the present conveyance as full view
of the state of these belligerent powers and more
particularly of this country as my information
would allow.
I fear that I shall not be able to do as satisfac
torily as after Monday next when I purpose at
tending the House of Commons to hear the de
bate on the motion Mr. Fox is then to make on
the state of the nation. Some information how
ever I can communicate which may prove inter
esting.
Long before the arrival of this letter you will
have learned the fate of Holland and the conduct
of the French there.
The revolution in the U. Provinces has been
highly honorable to those who have conducted it.
As yet no blood has been shed. No proscription
of persons and no confiscation of property except
that of the Stadt-holders. This has been de
manded and in part received by the national
Commissioners of France as the price of their ex
ertions in favor of Dutch Liberty.
By the last accounts from Holland it appears
96 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
that the people are proceeding with great calm
ness and judgment in the formation of their new
Govern t.
The Provisional Representatives are employed
in destroying ancient abuses and in putting the
country in safety against any foreign attacks.
They have lately ordered all the citizens between
the age of 18 and 60 to be enrolled as a national
guard. They have directed their attention to
their marine and have taken energetic measures
to ensure the protection of their foreign posses
sions. Their policy appears to be prudent and
enlightened and is calculated to wipe away the
slanders that have been thrown on republican
government in consequence of the late cruelties
in France under Robespierre s administration.
In this great Republic you will find by the public
papers, that the reign of justice and order has be
come pretty firmly established. We have just
learned that the Commission of 21 have reported
on Barrere Collot-d Herbois Belland Varrenne
and Vadier, and the Convention amidst great ap
plauses have decreed them to be tried before the
Revolutionary Tribunal. In the present dispo
sition of the people of Paris there is said to be
little chance of their escaping the guillotine. In
the morning Chronicle of Thursday (12 inst.) we
had the speech of Boissy D Anglas on the relations
of the Republic with other Powers, which is uni
versally praised here, as one of the finest speeches
ever delivered in a legislative assembly. It was
MR. PITTS SUPPORTERS. 97
unanimously adopted by the Convention as con
taining a just representation of their views and
principles.
The report of a treaty having been concluded
between the King of Prussia and France is gen
erally believed here. It is supposed also that the
Emperor is negotiating with the French, his loan
stagnates and on change the idea is that it will
not be accepted.
In Spain things are at a stand. The severity
of the late winter has put a stop to military opera
tions there but with the Spring it is believed that
the French will either conclude a peace or over
run the whole country:
Ireland at this time presents a scene interesting
to the friend of mankind to explain the late
disturbances in this country it is necessary to go
back for several years.
When Mr. Pitt came into administration he
was supported by the Marquis of Buckingham
and all his connections. They have ever since
adhered strongly to Mr. Pitt. In return the
Minister has uniformly paid the greatest attention
to the Marquis, and to his friends, wherever he
could introduce them into place, it has been done,
except as to the Marquis himself. His eye has
been fixed on the place of First Lord of the Ad
miralty for this place he has long been qualify
ing himself by the utmost attention. 1
1 Family letters.
VOL. II.
98 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
MR. SAMUEL BAYARD TO HON. WILLIAM BRADFORD.
LONDON, 27 April 1795.
MY DEAR SIR :
Having heard of an opportunity directly for
Philadelphia I avail myself of it to send you a
few pamphlets and inform you of our all being
very hearty and happy. By the Molly I sent you
sundry books and pamphlets which I trust have
reached you by this time. No. 7 of Woodfall s
Parliamentary debates I sent that you might
have the much admired speech of the Bishop of
Llandall, on the Duke of Bedford s Motion for
negotiating with France, in its best dress, The
No. of the Parliamentary debates published by
Debrete, I sent that you might have Mr. Fox s
Eulogy on our illustrious President, as nearly like
the original as possible.
Since writing to you last I have Rec cl dupli
cates of the trial of Mr. Walker and Mr. Frost
from Mr. Erskine, one copy of each of which I
propose sending you by the present Opp ty. By
the Last I sent the paper which Mr. Walker pub
lished as an appendix to his trial. In a note
from Mr. E. which accompanied these and sev
eral other pamphlets he suggests to me that his
speech in favour of Mr. Frost is the one which
of all his public addresses, pleases himself the
best.
The " View of the relative situation of G. B.
and the U. S." is from the pen of Mr. H. M.
Bird, one of the Gent n who have offered and
CAPTURES BY THE FRENCH. 99
have entered security in behalf of the American
Claimants in the cases under my charge. It was
published soon after the orders of the 8 Jan y 94.
Before which however Mr. Bird was perhaps one
of the most active men in effecting the revoca
tion of the orders of the 6 Nov r and in opening
the eyes of Government to the consequences of a
rupture with the U. States.
There is at present a very pretty pocket edition
publishing of Hume s Hist, of Eng d, with Smol
lett s continuation of the best novelists (the
English Classics) and of selections from the best
poets. They appear in numbers of about 60
pages each price 6d unbound, the binding will
cost 1 1 more. These or whatever else you or
your friends may wish, it will always give us
much pleasure to send you.
Acc ts have just arrived of the capture of Gre
nada St. Vincents and Montserrat by the French
and have occasioned great alarm. Provisions
are very high and no prospect of their being
lower shortly hence you observe mobs and in
surrections in every part of the Kingdom. It has
been suggested to me from a quarter I have no
reason to suspect and that is of authority that all
neutral vessels carrying provisions to France are
to be brought into G. B. for the purpose of sup
plying this country with provisions and to distress
France. The cargoes to be paid for by the Gov t
We shall soon learn whether this be true.
Assure all our friends that we remember them
IOO ELIAS BOUDINOT.
with the heartiest affection, and will write to some
of them by a vessel that will leave London about
the loth of next month. In the interim we hope
for some letters to answer. It is a long time
since we have had a line from yourself and our
good cousin.
I am my dear Sir,
Most aff ly yours &c.
SAM L BAYARD. 1
Honorable WM. BRADFORD, Esq.
MR. BOUDINOT TO HON. OLIVER WOLCOTT.
ELIZABETH TOWN May 23d 1795.
MY DEAR SIR
I am just informed that Coll. Motte naval offi
cer for the port of Charles Town in South Caro
lina has lately died, by which that Office has
become vacant. Will you give me leave to re
commend Mr. Charles Brown, the present col
lector of the Port of George Town as his Suc
cessor Mr. Brown married a Relation of mine,
the Daughter of the late Rev d William Tennant
dec d , to whom the Revolution is much Indebted
for his great Exertions in the Common Cause.
Mr. Brown was an officer in the American Army
almost during the whole war & continued in it
till the very last He suffered greatly in his prop
erty, by the active part he took ag l the Common
Enemy--! am informed that his Conduct as
Collector of George Town has given universal
satisfaction, and has fitted him to execute the
1 Family papers.
COLLECTORSHIP. IOI
naval office with more Propriety The loss of
his Mother very lately makes his Presence in
Charles Town necessary, for the benefit of the
family at large, which renders his removal more
Eligible than otherwise it would be
If it should be consistent with the public ad
vantage, I wish you to take his application into
full consideration
Be so good as to deliver the enclosed, it being
on the same subject.
I have the honor to be Dr Sir
Your obedt Humble Serv 1
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Mrs. B. joins me in
complimants to Mrs. Woolcot.
OLIVER WOOLCOT, Esq.
(Endorsed)
Eliz town
(Addressed)
Honble OLIVER WOOLCOT Esqr
Secretary of the Treasury,
Philadelphia. 1
MR. SAMUEL BAYARD TO HON. WILLIAM BRADFORD.
LONDON 13 July 1795
MY DEAR SIR-
I am never fatigued in writing to you and the
flattering reception you have given to prior com
munications persuades me that I shall not fatigue
you. By several vessels that will probably have
arrived much about the same time you will have
received a flood of letters from us. Your next
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Applica
tions and Recommendations for Office, vol. i. p. 94.
IO2 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
favors will be in answer to some of these, we
are impatient to see them. Last evening and the
present Patty and myself have passed at home by
ourselves like Darby and Joan talking of our Rose
Hill and Elizabeth Town friends, and feasting
our imaginations on our enjoyment in again meet
ing you all in health, and safety.
I have been this clay to pay my respects to Mr.
Governeur Morris. I found him at the Grand
Hotel in Covent garden quite ill of the fever and
ague. This is. the second attack he has had of
this complaint since he has been in London which
is little more than a month.
I conversed with him about an hour on various
subjects but chiefly political & found that al
though his body was reduced by his indisposition
his mind had lost nothing of its native acuteness
and energy. I was exceedingly interested and
enlightened by his remarks & recital of facts and
moreover he proposes leaving London on a tour
through the different Counties of England. Would
that I could accompany him.
In a few days the regular sittings of the Court
of Admiralty ends & the next Saturday, I am in
formed, will be the last on which the Lords of
Appeal will hear cases argued until November.
If this be the case they will adjourn without hav
ing given a decision on any of those interesting-
points, which are involved in several cases that
either have been argued before them or have long
been ready for a hearing. There is something in
HAMILTON S REPORT REPUBLISHED IN ENGLAND. 103
this conduct that awakes suspicions & fears. It
surely does not wear the aspect of conciliation.
To us it is really embarrassing.
On receiving Dr. Smith s sermon on the late
Thanksgiving occasion I sent it to one of the
booksellers who has republished it but it has ex
cited no great attention as yet. Possibly when it
has been reviewed it may obtain a more rapid and
gen l circulation. Col. Hamilton s last report on
the Sinking Fund & means of improving the rev
enues of the U. S. I have had republished & I
believe meets a favorable reception. I am glad
to find you are pleased with the sale of your Bank
Stock as it took a raise afterwards. I regretted
having sold at the time I did, however it has
since fallen greatly & is now at 118-119 Per
share. Had I now cash at command I would buy
as I am persuaded it must rise again soon, this
fluctuation arises from some jobbing trick without
which there could be no profit. Master Ule
stands by me & says I must give his love to his
dear Tooto & to the Judge too & to tell "little
Tommy Hooson " that he will write him a letter
" when he grows a big boy."
May the " blessings that maketh rich " attend
you all. Dated from the Planet Saturn (for we
have been sitting this afternoon beside a good
fire) Adieu, My very dear Sir
Yours affectionately,
S. B. 1
Honorable WM BRADFORD Esq r .
1 Family letters.
IO4 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. SAMUEL BAYARD.
ROSE HILL Aug. 25th 1795.
MY VERY DEAR SlR
How shall I communicate the fatal tidings or
in what lan^ua^e of distress shall I dictate this
O <_>
letter Would you believe Sir that the reading
of your letter of the 8th of June directed to my
excellent & worthy son, grieved my soul to the
quick, oh my dear Sir, my hand trembles & my
heart aches to tell you We had just commit
ted his precious remains to eternal Rest ; he
had struggled many days with the yellow fever,
without much complaint from his aversion to
Dr. Rush s mode of relief, deferred sending for
him till it was too late The fever seized his
Brain, he was deprived of his reason and I arrived
only Time enough to hear him say, " Oh it is my
dear Father how glad I am to see him I thought
it was a countenance I loved" and sunk to rise
no more My soul is within me, my Tears
follow my Pen The Lord hath given The
Lord hath taken away Blessed be the name of
the Lord
My Child, my beloved Child, is supported mira
culously - Your Aunt is the picture of woe I
need not tell you the whole community groans
Every countenance proclaims the public Loss.
My white hairs are going down with sorrow to
the grave and nothing but having a God to go to
could support my hopes. Poor Rachel will go
mourning all her day
DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON ON MR. BRADFORD. 105
Excuse a scrawl of affliction merely to convey
the mournful tidings
Yours in the deepest affliction
E BOUDINOT. 1
SAMUEL BAYARD Esq
at the Philadelphia Coffee House,
London.
" In 1809 Dr. 2 Elias Boudinot made a tour into
New England, of which he kept a Journal, now in
my hand; on June 29th, 1809, he visited his old
friend, Dr. Samuel Johnson, at Stratford ; he found
him entirely ill with gout, but had some conversa
tion with him. Respecting Mr. Bradford, there is
the following entry in Mr. Boudinot s Journal :
4 He, Dr. Johnson, very politely inquired after my
Daughter Mrs. Bradford, said she was dear to him
for her own sake, for she was an excellent woman,
but particularly for his beloved friend Mr. B s
sake whom he loved most tenderly; that he was
great as to his attainments as to this life, but he
was remarkably great in the attainments of the
mind, & that our Country had met with a great
loss indeed in him, that had he lived he would
have been of great use in days of difficulty. " 3
Extracted by me, H. B. W.
(HORACE BINNEY WALLACE.)
Happily, at this time, the President appointed
Mr. Boudinot director of the Mint of the United
States, and his intention of retiring from public
1 Family papers. 2 Doctor of Laws.
3 Historical Society, Philadelphia.
IO6 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
life was overborne, doubtless by the conviction
that active work of this nature would be the better
balm for his afflicted soul. His friends certainly
thought so, and Miss Bradford expresses some
thing of this in one of her letters. He entered
immediately upon his duties, and in a few days had
prepared a pamphlet of thirty-six pages, being
" Orders and Directions for conducting the mint
of the United States; established by Elias Bou-
dinot, Director of said Mint, Nov. 2, 1 795." Doubt
less many of these rules had previously been in
use, but Mr. Boudinot first systematized them and
had them printed for the use of officers and em
ployes. Some have been incorporated into sub
sequent laws relating to the Mint, particularly the
general Mint Law of 1837.
In the year 1801, proposals were made to the
government to perform the operation of coinage
by contract with individuals. The director re
ported that " This proposition was wholly inad
missible and impracticable ; and that it was alto
gether against the policy of Government to suffer
her coin to be made by persons not absolutely
under her control and check, or who would em
ploy persons in the execution of the work with
whom the Government had no connection. He
adds that it would be impossible to be executed
without the Government kept all its principal
officers, such as Director, Assayer, Melter and
Refiner, and Chief Coiner. These views were so
sound and unanswerable that the suggestion was
oO
not further pressed."
ACCEPTS APPOINTMENT AS DIRECTOR OF MINT. 1 07
Mr. Boudinot is said to have conducted the
business of the Mint " with great industry as well
as ability." *
MR. BOUDINOT TO THE HON. TIMOTHY PICKERING.
ELIZABETH TOWN Sept i6th 1795
DEAR SIR/
I have seriously reflected on the subject of the
President s polite & friendly offer made by your
favour of the loth Inst. and altho I had deter
mined to retire from public business, having no
desire to engage in any, from pecuniary Views,
yet I had as decidedly determined never to lead
an idle life, but to be as active & useful in a pri
vate station as possible. I wish always to be em
ployed, but not to be encumbered with business
If therefore I thought I could be useful to my
country in the department proposed, I should
willingly do every thing in my power to fill it
with faithfulness & diligence.
Any hesitation I have, arises from my want of
Chimical Knowledge, which appears to be neces
sary to this Service The Employments of my
whole Life, have always led me another way, and
altho this Science may be gained by application,
I am almost too far advanced in Life to become
a proficient therein. I mention this difficulty to
you, with the greater freedom, because I have it
in my power to name a gentleman to you, in this
State, whose Chimical Knowledge, liberal Edu-
1 See The Washington and National Medals, Snovvden, p. 185.
108 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
cation, acknowledged integrity & local Situation
in Life, fit him so well for this office, that duty to
my Country, obliges me to bring him to your
Notice It is Dr. Isaac Smith of Trenton, the
second Judge of our Supreme Court. I am of
opinion he would accept the appointment with
pleasure from a patriotic principle I would give
way to him, with great satisfaction
But if the President should decline his Ap
pointment, I will endeavor to do the best I can
in the office If I find on Experience that I am
unequal to the Task I can but resign to some
better Man
As I am not anxious for the Salary, I hope not
to be attached to the office longer than I can fill
it with honor & propriety.
It will be the be^innino; of November before I
o o
could fill the Department by a personal attend
ance as it w y ill take some time to move my family
to Rose Hill, where I shall reside.
I feel a respectful Sense of your politeness &
Friendship and have the honor to be
Dr Sir
Your Most obed 1 Hble Serv 1
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The Ilonble. TIMOTHY PICKERING Esq 1 ". 1
1 In Pickering s hand. " In my letter to Mr. B. I informed him the
Mr. Desaussure wished to be relieved as soon as possible, tho if neces
sary he would continue to the end of this Month September T. P."
Pickering to Washington sent with letter. Hence this letter is found
in "Letters to Washington." MSS. Archives, Department of State,
Washington, D. C., The Washington Papers, Letters to Washington,
vol. Ixxxii. p. 140.
RESIDENCE. IOQ
Mr. Boudinot writes to a friend, May n, 1796:
" At the earnest desire of the President I have
undertaken the direction of the Mint of the
United States. It is the same berth the famous
Sir Isaac Newton enjoyed many years in Britain
tho not with the same emoluments. The only
disagreeable consequence attending it, is confine
ment to Philadelphia, as every day brings some
thing that cannot be done but by the Director
alone. The Business is curious and opens up
many sources of knowledge and contemplation
that I was before a stranger to."
Mr. Boudinot s Philadelphia residence, where
his occupation as Director of the Mint obliged
him to remain, was No. 218 Arch Street, then a
fashionable quarter of the Town.
The house at Rose Hill, his country seat, about
two miles from Philadelphia was the scene of
great hospitality; the house was almost always
full of guests. Many of Miss Bradford s clever
letters were written from there, when she for a
time, after her brother s death, made her home
with the Boudinots.
There were other country seats of well-known
Philadelphians in the neighborhood. It was a
pleasant drive from the city, and visitors from
thence were frequent.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. BAYARD IN LONDON.
Shall I beg the favour of you to let me know
from some respectable dealer in copper I mean
HO ELI AS BOUDINOT.
at the fountain head At what rate they will
supply me with blanks ready cut for striking off
cents pr ton or pr Ib paying the cash on the
Copper being shipped If I can get them in
proper time, so as to be a saving to the United
States I may import perhaps 30 Tons pr annum
They must be of the best copper I believe
Bristol would be the best place to inquire con
cerning the copper Blanks a Mr. Bolton has
some famous instruments for the purpose The
Blanks must be ready cleaned & nealed fit for
striking. 1
1 Family letters.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
i
Miss Bradford to Mr. Samuel Bayard; sorrow at the loss of her brother;
regarding Mr. Bayard s prospects ; Mr. Nicholson ; Mr. Morris ; Mr.
R-u-h ; Bache ; the Cerberus of Democracy ; the family. Mr. Boudi-
not to Mr. Samuel Bayard ; the vote for President ; fires ; Mr. Morris s
Mills; Charlestown ; Savannah. Mr. Boudinot to Hon. George
Washington ; takes leave of him. To Mr. Samuel Bayard ; Mr.
Adams President; conduct of French Directory. Mr. Boudinot to
Mr. Samuel Bayard ; regarding family ; Governor Blount of Tennessee ;
Dr. Romayne ; Mr. Bayard s affairs ; looks forward to further confusion
in Europe ; asks for Gardener ; attack on Colonel Pickering by Spanish
Minister. To Hon. Timothy Pickering; announces death of Dr.
Nicholas Way; treasurer of the Mint; yellow fever. To His Ex
cellency John Adams ; President, on the same subject ; recommends
Dr. Rush as successor. To Hon. Timothy Pickering, on applications
for the office. Mrs. Boudinot to Mrs. Samuel Bayard ; on their arrival
in America ; postscript by Mrs. Bradford. Mr. Boudinot to Mrs.
Boudinot; their guests; at the President s. To Mrs. Boudinot;
ships subscribed for by merchants of Philadelphia for use of govern
ment ; his wife. To Mrs. Boudinot; counts the days for her return;
describes accident to Mrs. Rush and Lord Henry Stewart. To Mrs.
Boudinot; escorting Mr. Marshall into town; French Directory; jests
at Mr. Bayard s intrigues.
Miss BRADFORD S letters written from Rose
Hill, with graphic accounts of this delightful
country seat and its inmates, are a welcome ad
dition to the task of carrying forward Mr. Boudi-
not s life, at this time becoming more retired from
the public eye.
ROSE HILL, Nov. 26, 1795.
MY DEAR FRIEND.
That distance inhances the value of letters, is
the only reason why those I have poured upon
112 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
you could entertain or interest, for I have often
lamented the want both of matter and variety, to
make them worth even the expense of time to
read them, and even of that little worth they are
now wholly destitute. When I look round the
Secretary at which I am now writing and view
the scattered fragments impressed with characters
expressive of the elegant, generous, noble Mind
that made our world to us a heaven, when I recol
lect the many pages which on this spot has been
written for your advantage, instruction and enter
tainment, by that dear hand which is motionless
in the tomb, every power is unhinged at the dread
ful retrospect and I feel almost ready to cast my
pen aside forever every comfort of Life seems
deprived of its value, and I pause to ask what is
the use or purpose of existence. But I will if
possible cease from this melancholy subject, and
strive to give another complexion to letters from
which something more, is reasonably expected,
than the continual strain of the hidden sorrows of
my heart it is but seldom that I nozu venture to
intrude them on those nearest to me, and I well
know it is unkind to load you with them when
such an extent of world lies between you and
those friends, who still live, and are dear to you.
Your letter of the i2th. of Sept. was yesterday
handed to me, few things now communicate to
my heart a sensation so nearly allied to joy as
those remembrances from you. Whoever inter
ested the friendship and affection of the adored
PUBLIC EVENTS. I I 3
benefactor I have lost, have claims upon my heart
from that consideration alone but where this is
added to partiality and esteem antecedent to such
a motive, their claims are strong indeed and on
this ground who can take the lead of you and our
amiable Patty? Not a day I believe elapses in
which you are not remembered in our conversa
tion in some way or other and the prospects
which seem to be opening to your future establish
ment and independence, is a source of more sat
isfaction than I can express. Some uneasiness
however occurs at times, lest you may be building
your prospects on a fallacious foundation and find
yourself deceived where you feel the most confi
dence ; however your Father-in-law has written you
with respect to Mr. Nicholsons embarassed Situa
tion, and will fully guard you against too much
dependence there. The Bubble with respect to
him and Mr. Morris seems to be bursting, and
should it, who can say how far the shock will ex
tend, they are the universal topicks of conversa
tion I am told, and against Mr. M s the pub-
lick is outrageous, he appears indeed to be playing
a game of desperation, and if his creditors in
crease their clamors, it is said he cannot extricate
himself tho I think more may be expected from
him as to that effect than any man in the Union
he is the ball of merchantile censure, and Mr.
R-a-h 1 of the political world, his promised defence
1 See Irving s Life of Washington, vol. v. p. 235, on " Conduct of
Randolph."
VOL. II.
TJ N I
114 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
has not yet come forward and I much suspect the
Mountain will not even bring forth a mouse to
testify to his innocence, poor man there seems
much reason to think he wants those supports
which upright men feel so much within their
reach, that they want but little time to make good
their vindication. The Cerberus of Democracy,
Bache barks more furiously than ever, and snaps
so much that its fangs will loose their power of
wounding by continual gnashing unless it makes
a speedy exit by madness for I think the symptoms
of that disease increase in it daily, the President
is the continual mark of his abuse, to which no
bound is set, it is to be hoped, that like some
other party papers have done here before Bache s
will destroy itself and its insolent publisher, be
sent into the contempt he deserves. The Storm,
which the business of the Treaty threatened to
raise, seems to be blown over; at least appear
ances are less dark and alarming what the De-
moniacks of Congress may bring forward to ex
cite new commotions on the subject we shall soon
know, their asylum at the head of government
being broken up, will no doubt perplex their
plans and will probably suspend if not wholly
suppress some of their operations. Would to
heaven, this country could learn to aim at a char
acter of its own, fitted to the peculiar blessings
which belong to it and without any reference to
the politicks of Nations whose constitution and
governments cannot be suited to us, in the enjoy-
MISS BRADFORD TO MR. BAYARD. I 1 5
ment of more perfect freedom than any people
ever had it in their power to enjoy.
I was in expectation that I could have prevailed
on Susan to have written to her Cousins by this
opportunity, but that is an exertion our per
suasions cannot yet rouse her to, altho I believe
besides her Parents there does not live an object
so dear to her as Patty. . . . our good friend Mr.
Boudinot begins to recover his spirits and both
looks and is better than he was. I believe we
may look to the office he has accepted, as the
means by which he is preserved to us, the con
stant employment it gives his mind and the exer
cise it obliges him to take for he goes to Town
every day and the intercourse it leads him to with
the political circles keep him from sinking beneath
the keen sense he feels of the insuperable loss he
has sustained. Mrs. Boudinot I think enjoys
more than usual health and tho Susan looks thin
and suffers from frequent head-aches yet her con
stitution, I trust will prove more than equal to her
tryal. Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Powell and Mrs.
Morris were here this morning such a visit natu
rally recalled scenes to her mind that more forci
bly affected her than those to which she is now
accustomed, generally do.
The season is at hand when we must depend
upon ourselves for society and on our exertions
for relief of mind. The roads will barr the visits
of our City friends. Mr. Leamy is moved to
town and poor Capt. and Mrs. Barry are and it is
I I 6 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
probable will for a long time remain in so conva
lescent a state that they cannot be neighbors to
us. Betty begs I will remember her to her mis
tress when I write and indeed she deserves to be
mentioned Assure my amiable Patty I love her
sincerely present her the mingled affection of
all here and consider yourself a sharer in the
large portion that is sent as well as in the esteem
and friendship of
Yours aft. 1
R. B.
In January of 1796 Miss Bradford writes from
Rose Hill to Mrs. Bayard (Patty) in London :
This uncommon season advances the interest
of friendship as well as commerce, as it gives
more than usual opportunity of exchanging those
remembrances which at present are more valuable
than ever. It o-ives me much satisfaction to hear
o
how agreeably you pass your time among the
many friends your virtues have made you.
I cannot yet prevail on Susan to write you but
I do not urge anything that requires great exer
tion; I believe it better to beguile than to force
her into a compliance, which by degrees will
recall her to her former self. I hope she will
not materially suffer in her health. We keep
ourselves constantly employed either with work
or books for I early found time was a tardy physi
cian to wounds too deep and festering and if
other application was not made than that which
1 Family letters.
MISS BRADFORD TO MRS. BAYARD. 117
time bestows the extent of the evil was beyond
calculation. To live usefully now is the only wish
I have. . . . your excellent Aunt and Uncle are
every thing that the most affectionate parents, the
most generous friends could be to the most at
tached children whilst Susan and Hetty, John and
your friend feel no higher satisfaction than to con
tribute to their happiness as far as we can and
the pleasure of each other; all the world seems
centred within these walls and not one among us
has a desire to go beyond them. We all feel and
think alike on the one great object of our thoughts
and those thoughts I believe, often descend into
the grave together, when in pensive silence we
surround our evening fire. ... as I know you
love to be brought as near to us as you can, per
haps it would not be very much amiss to tell you,
we generally rise and are assembled in grateful
acknowledgement to the giver of our multiplied
comforts, by nine o clock we then breakfast
when the kindness of your Aunt and the cheer
fulness of your inestimable Uncle, renders our
meal pleasant, the good old gentleman then takes
himself to Town, where he attends the Mint every
day John goes to his law, Susan, Hetty, your
Aunt, Mary and myself sit down to work or
books, mostly History or sacred or moral writings,
often one reads whilst the rest work, about 3 or 4
O clock our beloved benefactor and father returns,
sometimes earlier to dinner He gives us what
news he gets and that, or accidental occurrences
Il8 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
give birth to conversation till 6 O clock when
candles invite us to other employments. Hetty
and Mary mostly sit down to Geography which
they are learning under John, Susan and I read,
whilst the others work and Mr. B. generally spends
his evening at his pen. For exercise they gener
ally play battledore two or three times thro the
day. About 1 1 or 12 O clock we are all hands in
bed; thus passes day after day without jar, inter
ruption or dissentions and when the hours of
retiring come, we are all astonished to find how
more than usually fleet time has become.
Sister Wallace, her husband and sons and two
of her daughters are here at present, they all beg
to be affectionately remembered. 1
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. SAMUEL BAYARD.
ROSE HILL 14 Dcc r 1796
MY DEAR SIR
I wrote you by the Wm Perm and the Domme-
nick Ferry ; This moment (late in the evening) I
am informed of the sailing of the West Indian for
London tomorrow
I mentioned in my last the great disappoint
ment Mr Bolton had caused me in not sending
the Planchetts at all events ; it has left us without
employ for the latter part of the Winter, and
shows that he wants punctuality I hope to have
them in the first Ship that comes out-
Since my last we have acts from several of the
1 Family letters.
VOTES FOR PRESIDENT. IIQ
States, and there is a possibility that Mr. Adams
will be our President, unless the great anxiety to
keep Mr. Jefferson & Mr. Burr from the Vice
Presidentship, should lead the States of Massa
chusetts New Hampshire to vote unanimously
for Mr. Pinkney as Vice President, and not throw
away some votes as Connecticut has done and
thereby run him above Mr. Adams. It is a most
remarkable event and one that soon cannot be for
gotten, that in the year 1796, on the first disputed
election for a President of the United States,
the State of Pennsylvania who values herself on
her attachment to the Christian character should
give 13 votes out of 15 for a President & Vice
President who are open & professed Deists at the
same time, it will also be remembered that in
the house of Representatives in the Congress of
the United States Dr Priestly had 27 votes for
their Chaplain. These facts are too remarkable
to escape the Pen of our future Historians & I
confess they give such substantial evidence of our
degenerating from the zeal of our forefathers, who
first settled this wilderness, that those who retain
any of their spirit have their fears greatly alarmed
for the consequences.
Mr. Adet s letter or note addressed rather to
the People than the government of the Union has
roused every part of it and each State is striving
with the other, who shall show their detestation
of the conduct of the french Directory & their
Minister, in the strongest language. Even Vir
I2O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ginia has taken fire and a great conversion is
working there on this subject. They begin to
feel the insult offered to our political character -
Our Ladies are all doing pretty well.
Our beloved daughter has got into her house ;
she left us last Saturday, and here we are, Darby
& Joan by our fireside enjoying ourselves during
our evening of snow and rain.
Whatever our conduct as a People may be,
divine Providence seems to have a controversy
with us I pray that he may give us wisdom to
see it in time The cities and indeed country
too, have been visited with fires in the most ex
traordinary and unheard of manner There have
been already near 20 fires this Fall, by which
many private Houses have been totally destroyed
about 6 weeks ago Ten Houses, all new, were
burned down in New York and last Sunday about
40 or 50 more, the whole Square adjoining the
fly Market & to the Southward of it to front or
Water St. a very distressing fire about a fortnight
ago happened at Baltimore destroyed the Meth
odist Church, Academy &c. Mr. Morris Mills at
the Falls opposite Trenton has been burned within
a few days To the Southward Charles Town
has lost a great number of valuable Houses, I be
lieve upwards of 100 and yesterday we had an
account of the destruction of two thirds of the
Town of Savannah in Georgia, say 250 houses
These are serious events & call for Reflection &
Contrition
WORDS OF FAREWELL TO WASHINGTON. 121
Remember us in the most affectionate manner
to our beloved Niece and kiss your charming son
for us Compliments to all our friends
I am my dear Sir with great sincerity
Your very af?
* ELIAS BOUDINOT.
SAMUEL BAYARD Esq.
Your Aunt has received Patty s letter but it is
too late for her to answer it She feels very great
anxiety on her account and begs a line by the
first opportunity. 1
ELIAS BOUDINOT TO THE HON. GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESQ.
PHILADELPHIA 7th March 1797
DEAR SIR
I send herewith the seal you was pleased to
commit to my care The time has been scarcely
sufficient for the purpose
The letter of Mrs. Ferguson has been for
warded with one from myself in the manner you
requested.
As I may not have the pleasure of seeing you
again before you leave the City, permit me once
more to express my most Affectionate wishes for
your health & happiness, and most devoutly to
pray, that your retirement may prove as conco-
latory to your declining Age, as your active life
has been essential to your grateful Country -
Mrs Boudinot and the Ladies of my Family
unite with me in the most respectful Salutation
1 Family letters.
122 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
to yourself, Mrs Washington & Miss Custis, ex
pressive of our best wishes for a pleasant & pros
perous Journey
I have the honor to be with the most perfect
Esteem
jDear Sir
Your most obdt. & very Hble SeiV
ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1
The Ilonble GEORGE WASHINGTON Esq.
(Endorsed in Gen 1 WASHINGTON S hand)
From
ELIAS UOUDIXOT Esq. 7th Mar. 1797.
In 1797, he writes to Mr. Bayard:
We have at last made tryal of a new Master
Mr. Adams has been solemnly, peaceably & joy
ously enstalled into the Presidential Office. The
Day was Solemn every thing was conducted
in the most quiet, decent interesting manner.
The old President was the first who most cor
dially congratulated the new one, on that honor
conferred on him by his country. The whole
was a scene that commanded the most respectful
veneration from strangers while the Citizens heart
overflowed with Joy gratitude, at the contem
plation of his happy lot among the Nations of the
Earth. This morning our late Excellent Chief
Magistrate left us for Mount Vernon followed by
the Blessing of every good citizen
We are in anxious Expectation of news from
Europe a rumor that Mr. Pinkney has been
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Letters to
Washington, vol. Ixxxiv. p. 352.
OPINION OF CONGRESS. 123
refused by the french Directory has increased
this anxiety Indeed the conduct of the french
Republic has been so very extraordinary of late
towards us, as to leave it very problematical,
whether a state of actual war would not be the
most preferable for America That Nation seems
to be verging on absurdity in all her conduct
To cast off such friends as the United States and
force them into the arms of their Rival appears
to be little short of Infatuation. Could Britain
be so well rewarded in any other way for all her
expense in the late war with France ? Could
France be more completely wounded by her
greatest enemy? Congress has also finished
their state of existence and are dispersed It has
done but little Indeed they have been the most
miserable Representatives the Nation has ever
had - They have dishonored the Nation by their
Folly & want of the necessary qualities of the
Representatives of the People The great diffi
culty has been to prevent them from doing evil-
Their List of Laws does them no honor and they
have dispersed with the general wishes of the
People for an essential Improvement in the next
Representation. The last letters we received
from you were dated in Nov. & beginning of
December We hope later intelligence is on the
way
I am in great want of the Copper from Mr.
Bolton and the Iron I have written by three or
four vessels I trust some will get to hand
124 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Your Aunt and Cousin with Miss Reed join in
the best wishes & send love &c &c May the
blessing of Heaven be your Portions
I am my dear Sir
Yours Most Sincerely
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
SAMUEL BAYARD Esq
London
Agent for American Claims l
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. SAMUEL BAYARD.
July 1 5th 1797
MY DEAR SIR
A clay or two ago we were favored with your
very affectionate Letters of the 28th March & iz{.th
April by the Pomona which has had a very long
passage
The favourable accounts of our dear Nieces
health & that of her sweet children, gave us the
most sensible pleasure & we do render our most
ardent thanks to the giver of Health for the grace
& mercy to us, in delivering her in a perilous
hour from the destroying grave. May the pious
Resolutions formed in the hour of distress and
under a deep sense of his all gracious Providence
be carried into full execution in the days of pros
perity Alas ! too well do I know the danger to
which prosperity exposes the human Mind we are
too apt to forget the engagements of danger &
distress We are formed by habit to enjoy the
present, forgetful of the past with expectations of
doing better in futurity I trust to the grace
1 Family letters.
BLOUNT AND DR. ROMAYNE. 125
of a kind & holy Gocl that these will not be the
returns you will make for all his goodness but it
is best to entertain a pious jealousy of our own
conduct, as we advance in Life & are engaged
with the world The time is drawing near when
we shall stand in great need of the most lively
sense of the divine Presence continually in exer
cise to save us from the indignation that is com
ing on a guilty World if it is not already begun.
Our Family yet continue much favoured with
regard to health & every other blessing
Your dear Aunt tho not so fat as formerly
keeps about much as usual.
Rachel is yet at Boston & does not return un
til September Hetty is still in Jersey with Mrs
Field (Abey Stockton) from whence Susan has
lately returned & is something benefited by her
jaunt.
We have lately been much amazed by the trea
sonable practices of a certain Governor Blount, a
Senator from the State of Tennessee --a letter
has been intercepted from him to a Mr. Gary an
Indian Interpreter which you will read in the
papers ; by this it was discovered, that a Scheme
had been some time in agitation & was near
coming into Execution to raise about 4000 men
on our Frontiers in behalf of Great Britain with
a large body of Indians and attack the Spanish
settlement by Land while the British made an
Assault by Sea & thus take possession of both
of the Floridas The Spanish Minister had
126 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
been giving the government notice of some such
movement since March last but no one had any
Idea of the truth of it, as the British Minister
absolutely denied any knowledge of it, except
that such a proposal had been made to him by
some of our people & rejected by him but re
ported to the Government & his conduct appro
bated by them He still holds the same Lan
guage. Dr. Romayne is suspected as the original
Author of the business, and on which he went to
England &c is now here under examination on
the Suspicion a Committee of Congress with
very extravagant Powers are left to investigate
this business we are not without fears that this
may be a scheme of the Demo s frenchified
Americans to ruin England in the American
opinion & give the Spaniards an excuse to break
their Treaty with us-- Near 30 Names are said
to be implicated and we know not yet the extent
of the Mischief Blount has been arraigned
before the Senate expelled their Body He
has been also impeached by a unanimous vote of
the Representatives but suffered at last to escape
by the Senate holding him to bail in the small
sum of 1000 dollars. He did not remain here
an hour after he gave the Bail but went off with
great precipitation. He was pursued by the
Officers of government near 100 miles but in
vain. The Senate are not without blame All
who have been mentioned as concerned in the
Business are violent Jacobins professed Enemies
REGARDING MR. BAYARDS RETURN. 127
to Great Britain & who have been continual ad
vocates for the French always vociferating a
british Faction Blount has been rather sup
ported in both Houses by the democratic party &
friends of France as to the measures to be pur
sued against him This increases the enigma &
envelopes the whole in greater darkness I have
been long uneasy at your intimacy with Dr. R.
and was glad when he left England All this
business has been in a measure confirmed by the
preparations for War among the Indian Nations
and we have serious apprehensions of trouble
from that quarter The Session of Congress
has broken up & has been the least honorable to
America of any that has been held
I wrote you lately in answer to your proposals
by the William Penn : your Father and Friends
here think you ought to be governed by Circum
stances & not stay a moment longer than you find
it absolutely necessary, neither on the other hand
ought you to reject the opportunities divine Prov
idence may put into your power for the sake of
hurrying a month or two sooner Five hun
dred pounds per annum with what you can do
here, will certainly maintain you comfortably. A
large estate ought not to be any object to detain
you, it is not essential to happiness, altho a com
petence is a blessing for which we cannot be too
thankful You can get some office here that may
add as much more to your income and this with
economy even at this expensive day, will be suf
ficient.
128 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Notwithstanding the appearance of Peace it
will be but of short duration I am looking for
a greater degree of confusion in Europe, than has
yet happened it must take place --The govern
ments there are on the decline Their end is
drawing near --The cloud thickens every day and
a few years will progress the business & bring
about the great consummation.
Our Farm looks very well & we are very com
fortable this very hot weather in being clear of
the city
We are much plagued for want of a good gard-
ner Labour is so high that scarcely any thing
the ground produces will pay the expence of rais
ing it If a o;ood Scotch or French ^ardner
<r? o o
could be engaged for 3 or 4 years for a reason
able rate without a family I really believe it
would be a good scheme provided he was really
sober and honest We have almost every kind
of garden seed imported here from England every
spring & sold at reasonable rates If anything
new and out of the common way could be ob
tained, it would be clever to add to our common
stock. Early Colliflower & some of the best kind
of potatoes, ought to be advantageous. Extra
ordinary kinds of fruit w r ould increase our Capital
Lewis copy book yielded many agreeable sensa
tions and it gave us much pleasure to observe his
great progress in writing may he be a Blessing
to his Parents & his generation
I will look out for Faucets Sermons I dare say
they may be had here -
DEATH OF DR. NICHOLAS WAY. 1 29
There has just come out a violent attack on
Col. Pickering, from the Spanish Minister who
has neither prudence, knowledge or understand
ing to prevent his being made a Tool of by the
Jacobins to bring on his own destruction you
will see it in the Newspapers.
Our Ladies join in the most Affectionate re
membrances & beg you to kiss the brace of boys
for them
I am my very dear Friends with very great
sincerity
Your most affec
E. BOUDINOT. 1
SAMUEL BAYARD Esq
Agent for American Claims
London.
MR. BOUDIXOT TO HONBLE TIMOTHY PICKERING.
ROSEHILL Sept 4 1797.
DR SIR
It is with inexpressible Grief, that, I announce
to you the unexpected Death of our excellent
friend Dr. Nicholas Way, Treasurer of the Mint
He dyed last Saturday Evening of a most ma
lignant yellow fever He was ill but seven days
The disorder in the city increases in its malig
nity, and, of course is more mortal than it was;
I fear from the information I have, that it will
spread over the City.
Enclosed is a letter giving the Information to
the President I have seen Dr. Rush, whose
1 Family letters.
VOL. II.
1 30 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
mind is greatly clouded, by the present appearance
of the disorder. He seems determined if he
should live thro this Visitation of the City, to re
tire from business, and I suspect would gladly ac
cept the office of Treasurer of the Mint It
would be a respectable appointment & therefore I
mention it to you.
I have the honor to be with great
respect Dr Sir, Your very Hbl SeiV
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The IIon bl TIMOTHY PICKERING Esq.
(Endorsed)
ELIAS BOUDINOT Esq. Sept. 4, 1797, Rec d 4th
(Addressed)
The Secretary of State U. S. now at Trenton. 1
MR BOLJD1NOT TO HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN ADAMS.
ROSEHILL 4 Sept. 1797.
SIR
It is with real distress, that I find it my duty to
inform you of the death of our worthy Treasurer,
Doctor Nicholas Way He dyed last Saturday
Night of the present malignant fever.
As a Successor must of necessity be soon ap
pointed, suffer me to mention, that I have some
reason to believe, from the present state of Dr.
Rush s mind and the distress he is so constantly
involved in, by means of his professional business,
that he would accept of that important Trust
So respectable a Successor would give general
Satisfaction
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Applica
tions and Recommendations for Office, vol. i.
APPLICATIONS FOR OFFICE. 131
I have the honor to be with every respectful
Sentiment of Esteem
Sir
Your most obdt Humble Servt
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The President of the United States. 1
(Endorsed)
Pennsylvania,
The President of the United States.
MR. BOUDINOT TO HONBLE TIMOTHY PICKERING.
ROSEHILL Sept J5th 1797.
DEAR SIR,
I have reed applications from Dr. Conover
Jonathan Williams Esq. and Dr. James Hall of
York Town in this State who respectively solicit
to be put on the list of Candidates for the office
of Treasurer of the Mint.
I am happy to inform you that in the opinion
of the Physicians, Mrs. Bradford is pronounced to
be out of danger. She is certainly much recruited
and apparently in a convalescent state.
I have the honor to be with great respect
Dr Sir
Your obdt Hble Serv
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
(Endorsed)
ELIAS BOUDINOT Esq. Sept 15, 1797.
Dr. COXOVER J. WILLIAMS,
& Dr. HALL
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Applies
tions and Recommendations for Office, vol. i.
132 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
(Addressed)
The Honble. TIMOTHY PICKERING Esq.
Trenton. 1
MRS. ELIAS BOUDINOT TO MRS. SAMUEL BAYARD.
ROSE HILL, May 17, 1798.
Blessed be the Father of all our mercies and
comforts that I can address my beloved Patty,
and her excellent husband, this side the great
Atlantic, thanks be to God, that you have
pass cl the dangers of the sea, and of an enemy,
laying in wait for you. I cannot tell you my
dear, the relief my mind experienced when your
good Uncle came in, his eyes dancing with pleas
ure and inform d me of your safe arrival, and that
he had letters from Mr. Bayard, Susan crying
out, Mama let us set off to-morrow. I have had
a bad cold for some time, and still feel indisposed,
and being out here so short a time makes it very
inconvenient for me to leave home at present, but
as Mr. Bayard mentioned, that, " you are at
Brunswick on Thursday." Susan seemed to be cle-
termin d to set of, call for Miss Bradford, who is
at Burlington, and be at that place, to-morrow.
But we received a letter from your Papa this
morning, which tells us, that, you went yesterday
to New Rochelle, and that Mr. B. was to leave
Brunswick this day, therefore I have persuaded
Susan to compose herself, till we hear from you,
and are inform d of your plans, your Papa, like-
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C, Applica
tions and Recommendations for Office, vol. i.
MRS. BOUDINOT TO MRS. BAYARD. 133
wise, mentions that great part of your baggage
is to come into this City, which, perhaps, may
make it necessary for you to come here No
thing on earth, could give us greater pleasure,
than that we might return with you, as I must
pay your poor Dr. Aunt Pintard a visit, if they
cannot come here, it is almost three years since
I saw them, when I left them with a heart full of
sorrow to visit this, then^ Melancholy abotte
Your Papa says that you seem to be better than
he expected, I hope your Native air and Inter
course with your friends, will be the means of a
perfect restoration of your health and that a life,
so dear to us, may be long spared, I long to see
your dear boy, kiss him for me, we will go into
town tomorrow to see if Mr. A. Bayard is return d.
I cannot tell you my dr friends how I feel alth I
endeavor to compose my mind, with that grati
tude and thankfulness, which is due to the God
of our lives, and all our mercies, yet I am, some
times, impatient to see you may kind heaven
grant us that blessing soon. I have often felt for
your dear father, and mama, I now rejoice with
them. Your Uncle joins me in the most affec
tionate love to you all. May every blessing rest
upon you is the constant and ardent prayer of
your
Aunt that loves you
H. BOUDINOT.
I cannot let the post go to New York without
134 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
joining in the expressions of gratitude to the
Author of all I still enjoy that he has returned
my beloved friend and Cousin once more to her
anxious family, nothing in this world could have
given such joy to my heart as it felt at the mo
ment papa gave me Mr. Bayards letter and I saw
from himself that you had passed the dangers of
the Sea. My impatience to see you is greater
than I can bear very long. I wished to set off
to-morrow morning but Mamma is trying to pre
vail upon me to stay untill we hear from you. I
have long been a stranger to the wish of going
from home but on the contrary have thought of
quitting my own house with horror, but all that
fled in a moment, and I now hope to be with you
next week, what a multitude of contending emo
tions does the thought of meeting you raise in
my mind, but no more, the Lord reigns. Kiss
my sweet Lewis for me, make him remember me,
give to Mr. Bayard my Sincere and affectionate
regards tell him I long to see him with the ar
dour of a real friend, and in the hope of embra
cing you all very soon.
I remain my beloved Cousin yours most affec
tionately.
S. V. BRADFORD.
The Belvidere is arrived.
Let us hear from you on the receipt of this, and
pray say that you are coming here we shant let
Susan go till we hear from you Betty seems
LETTERS TO MRS. BOUDINOT. 135
much rejoiced, and sends her love to her Mis
tress
H. B.
Addressed
Mrs. BAYARD
at LEWIS PINTARDS Esqr.
New Rochelle. 1
MR. BOUDINOT TO MRS. BOUDINOT.
From ROSEHILL,
June 8 1798.
This morning I have been made very happy
by the receipt of your affectionate letter of the
4 th Miss Bradford returned to Burlington with
Dr Wharton Mr & Mrs Wallace remained be
hind
I was at the President s a day or two ago and
Mrs Adams asked very kindly after you and Su
san Our Hay harvest begins this next week
God willing from which time they will keep go
ing from Hay to grain from grain to grain till
you return Remember me in the most affec
tionate manner to my beloved Daughter & all
the Group of relatives. 2
MR. BOUDINOT TO MRS. BOUDINOT.
June I3th 1798.
MY DEARLY BELOVED WlFE
I wrote you on Sunday in expectation of its
going by Mr. Green but on second thought sent
it by Post determining to write again by Dr.
Green was it only to mention that we are all well
1 Family letters. 2 Family letters.
136 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
& longing to see you. Yesterday the Merchants
of Philadelphia began a subscription for two ships
of 20 guns each, for the use of Goverment, and
this morning when I was at Bank, it amounted to
upwards of 40,000 Dollars & tomorrow or next
day the keels will be laid They expect to finish
them within 90 Days This shows some inti
mate Union between the Government and People.
It wont do for an old Man to complain of the
absence of his Wife you know the young folks
would only laugh at him But let them laugh
who will Old as I am, I have more real affec
tion for and receive more solid satisfaction from the
company of my old Lady than three fourths of all
the young fry of the present age who talk of no
thing but Love & everlasting affection while they
regard only present enjoyment & the happiness
of the moment. But this is inter nos and wont
do to go further as it is quite an unfasionable
strain -- But-- Wherever you are and in every
circumstance of Life and whatever others may do
or think I am
My beloved W T ife with unalterable affection &
Esteem Your most sincere & constant
Husband,
BOUDINOT. 1
Mrs BOUDINOT at
LEWIS PINTARDS Esq. New Rochelle.
1 Family letters.
ACCIDENT TO MRS. RUSH AND LORD STEWART. 137
MR. BOUD1NOT TO MRS. BOUDIXOT.
ROSE HILL June i7th 1798.
My BELOVED WIFE
Just returned from Church I retire to commune
with her who has my first thoughts in rising and
my last in lying down I have borne your ab
sence as yet with tolerable patience as I know
you are enjoying yourself more than perhaps you
ever will again, but I now begin to be looking for
ward and counting the days & weeks appointed
for your return. My mind has this day been
made more anxious than usual from a sudden
alarm and distress from our friend Mrs. Rush
Alas ! when we go out we know not how we shall
return and when we come in we know not whether
we shall ever again go out Mr. & Mrs. Leston,
Dr. Rush, Mrs. Rush & children with Lord Henry
Stewart all took a ride yesterday to see Mr. &
Mrs Peters On their return Mrs Rush know
ing Dr. Rush to be complaining got into the chair
with Lord Henry & gave the Dr. her seat in the
coach it was near night and when they came
to the Bridge the Dr. in the Coach with Mr.
& Mrs Leston stopped to pay the fare & Lord
Henry drove over the Bridge There happened
to be a large Lancaster wagon on the Bridge be
fore them the driver of which was not very ac-
comodating. Lord Henry attempted to pass the
waggon, when the Horse took a fright ran
back, broke the arms of the Bridge, and plunged
138 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Chair Riders & all into the River Lord Henry
(being a good swimmer) exerted himself to the
utmost to save Mrs. Rush. He clasped her in his
arms then took her by the Head then by the
middle but it would not clo, he finally lost hold
of her her presence of Mind did not forsake
her but she struggled to keep herself up as much
as she could - - Just as she was going down the last
time, two men appeared on the Bridge & attempted
to reach her but could not Lord Henry still in
the water called on them to save her for God s
sake. The men besrsfed her to extend her arms
CDO
Lord Henry finding she must drown made a
desperate attempt to reach her and pushed her so
that in the last strusrele she threw out her arms
oo
when one of the men secured her hand and
dragged her on the Bridge She was between
the Horse and the Bridge by which her head and
face were much braised In this situation Dr.
Rush heard a cry that the Chair was gone He
burst open the door of the coach & ran like a
distracted man, and just found her raised by the
two men & supported between them After get
ting Lord Henry out of the water and getting
dry clothes they reached home the Horse was
drowned but the chair saved I have just been
to see her, not hearing of it till after Church was
out She spent a very restless night but slept
well in the morning She is no ways hurt but in
the Head, Eyes & Temples, These, are more ex
ternal bruises, and there is no doubt but that a
ANXIETY FOR HIS FAMILY. 139
few days will restore her, a blessing to her Family
This Event affected me very much ; as not
only the Loss to her Family & Friends, had her
life been sacrificed but every circumstance at
tending it would have aggravated the evil, but it
also reminds me of your and my beloved daugh
ters absence and exposed to danger & accidents
in Travelling but God is my hope & support
in whom (however undeserving I am) I put my
trust Altho all our attention is in vain when
God refuses to keep us, yet it is our duty to be
careful not to expose ourselves unnecessarily
when no great object of duty is in view I there
fore beg that you will not neglect your duty in
this respect, but be careful how you travel take
your own time & the Easiest mode in your Power
I lament that I cannot go for you, that at least
I might give my care with yours This is the
fifth letter I have written but only one have I re
ceived from you, perhaps this will find you in the
city Pray let me know in your next how you
mean to order your movements
We are all well & John has in the most of his
Harvest of Hay Remember me to Mr. & Mrs.
Rodgers and all our Friends wherever you are
when this arrives. Kiss my dear Daughter for
me I long to see her, but do not mean to hasten
your return on my account till you have corn-
pleated your visits
I send your shawls by Dr. Green
Rachel & Hetty with John send Love &c &c
140 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The first has been engaged in the cherry sweet
meats a day or two past I hope you will
call on Mrs. Pintard as soon as you get to the
city Give my love to her, and tell her that I
will write to her in a few days
I saw Mr. Andrew Bayard & Lady yesterday,
when they were all well I hope Patty & her
swain mean to come with you
May a gracious God who has ever been our
undeserved Protection and Benefactor keep &
bless my dearest Wife child & make them the
special care of his Divine Providence -
I am my beloved Wife & Child, with the most
tender affection
Yours most sincerely
E. BOUDINOT. 1
Mrs. BOUDINOT at LEWIS PINTARD S Esq.
New Rochelle.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MRS. BOUDINOT.
ROSE HILL June 2ist 1798.
MY DEAREST LOVE
I returned from Town yesterday greatly morti
fied as well as disappointed having gone in with
a presentiment of certainty, that I should be fa
voured with a letter from my beloved Wife
Daughter. I have received but two letters, this
is the 6th I have written I take it for granted
that you are enjoying unusual happiness with
your friends but it would not lessen it to have a
change for a few moments while you wrote you
were well
1 Family letters.
RECEPTION OF MR. MARSHALL. 141
The Time seems very long since you left us ;
and we all begin to look forward with pleasure to
the first of July
After my return yesterday from the City and
taking dinner I went to the Jolly Post Tavern, a
little out of Frankford to meet Mr. Marshall &
escort him into Town. There were about 150
Horse Col Pinkney, Mr Bingham, Myself and
about fifty or sixty citizens making a very long
Cavalcade He is a very modest man & seemed
to be rather disconcerted, at the unexpected honor
of his Reception He seems to think we have
no alternative in the French Directory, than ab
solute submission to their will or a determined
Resolution to oppose to the uttermost Their
Pride is too unbounded to submit to anything
short of unconditional homage to them The
o
Example too to other small States would be
much against them but it comforts me that we
have the word of the wisest of Men that " After
Pride cometh a fall " I believe that Mr. Mar
shall s arrival will be of eminent service at this
moment, it will tend to urge on energetick
measures I saw Mrs Adams yesterday, she also
wishes your return, how much more then must I
ardently wish it It is now years since you have
been so long absent from me God grant in his
undeserved Mercy, that you may return in health
& safety Mrs Rush is rather better is out in
her Tea Room but her face yet is so black, that
she is obliged to cover the greatest part of it
How merciful has our God been to us all
142
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Rachel has been engaged in the cherry sweet
meats and tomorrow intends beginning with the
Raspberries
The House seems very lonely without you this
gloomy weather Josey has a good deal of Hay
down, and the rain falls in Torrents, tho he has
had very good luck having gotten in at least five
Tons.
Tell Mr. Bayard, that we did not know his
tricks abroad No sooner was he gone from the
City, than every corner was covered with a large
sheet of paper, advertising " Bayard Intrigues "
in Capitals No wonder he hurried out of Town
so fast Mr Griffith was here lately & talks of
coming with Abbey to stay a few days I sup
pose it will be to meet Mrs Bend
My best love to my Daughter and let her know
that all her friends are loninno- to see her & that
o o
we are all praying for her return. There has
been a terrible washing going forward this week,
so that I fear whether you are at home or abroad
we are mopped out of house & home. Do let me
know how you mean to dispose of yourselves the
fortnight coming in, that we may trace your steps
as you go on It is a comfort to know where
you are-
Pray call on the portrait Painter whose pic
tures you saw at Dr. Jacksons and agree with him
to take yours & Susans Let it be done while
you are there Rachel wrote yesterday by Post
TO HIS WIFE. 143
\, C -
She, Julia, and Hetty with all the family desire
to be remembered.
I am my beloved Wife & Daughter
Your most Affec
BOUDINOT. 1
Mrs. BOUDINOT,
at the Rev d Dr. Rodgers,
New York.
1 Family letters.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Mr. Boudinot to Mrs. Boudinot ; longs for her return ; the President
with Mrs. Adams and others to tea; guests; the speaker; Mr. Sedg-
wick ; Mr. Stockton; Mr. Rush and family; Mrs. Elaine; the kitchen
gentry. Mr. Boudinot to Miss Bradford ; his brother s illness ; others ;
Mr. Boudinot to His Excellency Lieutenant-general Washington on
purchase of wine. To Mr. Samuel Bayard on correspondence; master
in Chancery; French Count carries off young lady. To His Excel
lency General Washington regarding the wine. To Tobias Lear,
Esq., on the same subject. To Mr. Elisha Boudinot ; sad times ; fires ;
death of Washington. To Mr. Samuel Bayard; political address;
hopes of Mr. Van Rensselaer in the Legislature. To Hon. James
Madison; recommending Mr. Isaac C. Barnet. To His Excellency
Thomas Jefferson; salaries and wages in Mint. His Excellency
Thomas Jefferson to Mr. Boudinot ; expense of Mint ; double cylinder.
Reply. Mr. Boudinot to His Excellency Thomas Jefferson ; sends
curious wheat seed. His Excellency Thomas Jefferson to Mr. Bou
dinot ; private direction of Indian funds. Mr. Boudinot resigns from
office of Director of the Mint. From His Excellency Thomas Jeffer
son ; accepts Mr. Boudinot s resignation.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MRS. BOUDINOT.
ROSE HILL, June 29 1798.
WHAT shall I say to my beloved Wife for her
agreeable, affectionate & pleasing letter of yester
day morning I really feel myself greatly obliged
by your kind attention and wish I could make any
return worth your accepting I know not why it
is so, but I have never been so uneasy & anxious
about your absence I have tryed hard to enjoy
myself and be as contented as possible and indeed
I have had every kind attention to make me per
fectly comfortable but still there was something
GUESTS. 145
wanting and I have felt your absence more disa
greeable than I ever did before I confess I felt
a little disappointed at finding that you would
not leave Elizabeth Town till Wednesday yet I
do not see how you can possibly do so sooner, I
will therefore try to do as well as I can till the
happy hour arrives May our Gracious God grant
that no untoward accident may lengthen the time
It has been a great consolation to me that
you have enjoyed so much pleasure among your
friends, and I only mourn that I could not have
been with you however I am fully convinced
that it would not do to leave our Family both
together I will try to meet you at Trenton if I
can be permitted to leave the Mint for so long a
Time. The President and his Lady with a num
ber of gentry drank tea & spent the afternoon of
Wednesday with us Mrs Rush and Family dined
with us yesterday Mrs. Elaine dined with us
today Miss Duche spends the day, so that we are
not without company The Speaker also makes
one of the party and Sedgwick & Mr Stockton
will drink tea with us This is all very clever, but
I am still alone having neither Wife nor Daughter
I have been drooping for several Days by reason
of a cold but am much better to-day Rachel
is hard set for an apology for writing those things
she conjures up in her own brain I take more
care of my arms especially my right one least I
should not have the pleasure of corresponding
with my charming old lady It is true Rachel
VOL. II.
146 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
has taken liberties sometimes laughing at my
longing for the Ladies to come home but on
the whole has been very good and industrious
Mrs. Edwards is still here & I hear nothing fur
ther about her going away The Kitchen gentry
are all well but never was a Mistress more wanted
among them
Kiss my beloved Daughter & remember us to
all Friends as if named
I am my dearly beloved Wife
Your aff c
BOUDINOT. 1
Mrs. BOUDINOT,
at Mr. WM. DAYTON S,
Elizabethtown.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MISS BRADFORD.
NEWARK Oct 22d 1798
MY DEAR RACHEL,
Your letter of Saturday was received yester
day morning and appeared to us as life from the
dead, thus is the goodness of God ever exercised
towards us & in the midst of judgment does he
remember Mercy The appearance of a recovery
in our dear Brother has given real joy throughout
this village, the Inhabitants of which have testi
fied great feeling & sympathy in the interest they
have manifested they had on this trying occasion
- May God grant that lives thus spared by his
condescending Mercy may hereafter be spent to
his glory.
1 Family letters.
ILLNESS OF MR. ELISHA BOUDINOT. 147
We are exceedingly obliged by your constant
faithful account of my Brothers illness It is a
satisfaction to know that nothing is kept back and
while we partake with him in all his danger
distress, we still place our confidence in that God
who hath ever been our help & support and has
promised never to leave or forsake us.
I had anticipated your wishes in getting Genl
Gumming to look out for another house and to
have the family moved before my Brother s return
for this one is only calculated to produce every
kind of disease & I despair of the family s restora
tion to health while they remain here. I expect
to get Mr. James B. Smith s house which I be
lieve is the only one to be had in the Town.
We are anxious to hear how you are, do take
prudent care of yourself I know you want me
to watch you we are very anxious for your next
letter In hopes to have a confirmation of the
goodness of God to us.
Mrs Jones is better & has got about the house
Sally is better tho weak, she has behaved ex
ceedingly well since we have been here.
Phobe is always complaining I fear much for
my better half as she is often complaining but we
are still in the hands of a Gracious God Elias
is tolerable
Remember us in the most affectionate manner
to our good Brother Mr Mrs Hunter and our
cousin Hunter & family If Susan is with you
give our love to her & send her to Princeton as
148 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
soon as you can, as I think she is too predisposed
to fever to remain in a damp atmosphere
Mr. & Mrs Smith are much as usual but Elias
continues in a dangerous situation : The Doctor
has hitherto proved callous to all invitations to
spilling of blood altho he confesses the inunda
tion of medicines he has produced has had no
effect. I have just been at him and at last he has
consented to bleed Elias in the next paroxysm of
fever as well as blister him, tho he says it will do
him no 2-ood If this succeeds I shall insist on
o
the same process with Eliza who gives us much
uneasiness.
As to myself, I am mending having got my feet
to the ground tho in a weak state. I mean to
resign an attempt at moving on in a day or two
I am my dear Rachel,
Your very affetfy
ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1
Miss BRADFORD
at The Rev. Dr. HUNTER S,
Near Trenton.
MR. BOUDINOT TO HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON.
ROSE HILL Dec r 4, 1798.
Mr. Boudinot presents his most respectful com
pliments to Lieutenant Genl Washington and in
forms him that the wine he mentioned to him
is all sold Mr. Boudinot has sent money to
1 Family letters.
DICTATED NOTE TO WASHINGTON. 149
Madeira to purchase a few Pipes of the best
wine the Island affords He expects they will
be shipped in January for the port, and if they
arrive safe, and answer His expectations, Mr. B.
will let the General Know it, and as Mr. B. sent
for enough to last him as long as he expects to
want any, he will with pleasure spare the General
a Pipe, if he shall then choose to take it Mr.
B. intended to have waited on General Washing
ton again in Person but his continued ill state of
health forbids it
His Excellency Lt. Genl WASHINGTON.
(Addressed)
His Excellency Lieut General WASHINGTON.
(Endorsed)
From ELIAS BOUDINOT, Dec. 4, 98.!
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. SAMUEL BAYARD.
PHILADELPHIA i2th. April, 1799.
MY VERY DEAR SlR :
My absence for the week at a meeting of the
Trustees of the College at Princeton, has pre
vented my answering your very affectionate and
friendly letter of the 3rd. April inst. which has
got safe to hand. I believe I am the delinquent
in our correspondence having considered my
letters to your good Father as in some measure
to you. Indeed my dear Sir I have been so
afflicted with the Rheumatism in my shoulders
and arms and a gouty humor all over me, that I
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Letters to
Washington, vol. Ixxxvii. p. 194.
1 50 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
have found it difficult to discharge the positive
duties of my station, while you were absent any-
thing from a distant friend was acceptable but
now you are surrounded by so many interesting
and improving connections and acquaintances I
am discharged from supposing the scrawls that I
am able to send you can afford any satisfaction
further than to inform you of our health and com
fortable situation. My Time of Life for agree
able epistolatory correspondence is passed, and
all I am now to hope for is to keep up my old con
nections without <nvin them cause for discrust.
o o o
Do not suppose I am complaining of my advanced
age, no blessed be God, he has given me too much
cause of gratitude and thankfulness. . . . Writing
is not so pleasant to me as it once was arising
from a consciousness, that my letters cannot con
vey the pleasure they once did, when the Powers
of both mind and body were in a greater state of
activity our only aim therefore now, is to keep up
our correspondence as we can, that we may not
loose the benefit of our beloved Friends com
munications, who enjoy all that is necessary to
enliven, instruct and please. It must yield them
some pleasure to smooth the path of declining
age, and give a zest to the benumbed Tastes of
those who once rejoiced in aiding them on the
paths of virtue, knowledge and happiness. It is
on this principle that we earnestly solicit a con
tinuance of the favours of our beloved Friends at
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. SAMUEL BAYARD. 151
New Rochelle. . . . We sincerely rejoice with you
in acknowledging the goodness of God in the health
and comfort you have all enjoyed this Winter. It
is matter of the Greatest thankfulness We also
o
partake in the prospect of usefulness, you may
be brought into by your honorable offices con
ferred with so many pleasing circumstances. In
New York the place of Master in Chancery is
very lucrative, in New Rochelle, it can only be
honorable and command respect and may be a
stepping stone to something more advantageous;
it may by proper management introduce you into
the Chancery Practice, if you should hereafter
prefer it, as the rule about the admission of At
torneys I am told is done away, if so ought you
not to get admitted, even if you do not practice :
It would add weight to your character.
There is no news stirring here but what you
will see in the Newspapers, the general talk is
confined to a late runaway match. A certain
French Count, said to be of very bad character,
in point of morals and rather low in Purse about
40 years old got acquainted in Mr. B s. family, who
before they suspected any acquaintance with their,
youngest daughter about 15 years of age he car
ried her off and married her. The whole family
are sunk in the deepest affliction and seem to
admit of no consolation. Thus you see that ex
travagant riches do not necessarily constitute the
ingredient for exclusive happiness.
152 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
. . . Remember us in the tenderest way to your
Father, the Madame and our beloved niece.
I am my very dear Sir
Yours most Affect ly.
ELIAS BOUDINOT/
SAMUEL BAYARD, Esqr.
MR. BOUDINOT TO HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT-GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON.
ROSE HILL June 28th 1799
DEAR SIR/
Your Letter of the 22d Inst. with its Enclo
sures for Mr. Pintard came safe to hand, and
which I shall be careful to forward by the first
Opportunity.
I have been, and still am in daily expectation
of the arrival of My Wine from Madeira: as it
was to be shipped in January, I am at a loss to
account for its non arrival, unless our good friends
the Sansculottes have thought it necessary for
their present necessities
If it should arrive & turn out as good as I
have reason to expect it will be, I will loose no
time in sending a pipe as you have directed
Mrs Boudinot & Mrs Bradford join with me in
gratefully reciprocating the best wishes for the
health & happiness of their excellent friend Mrs.
Washington and your own, in which we all feel
ourselves much interested
Family letters.
REGARDING WINE FOR MOUNT VERNON. 153
I have the honor to be with sentiments of es
teem & respect
Dr Sir
Your very obed 1 and Hble Servt
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
His Excellency Lt. Genl. GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1
(Endorsed in Genl. WASHINGTON S hand)
From ELIAS BOUDINOT,
28th June 1799.
MR. BOUDINOT TO TOBIAS LEAR, ESQ.
ROSEHILL Oct 28th 1799.
DEAR SIR,
Immediately on the receipt of your Letter I
forwarded the enclosed to Mr. Pintard at New
Rochelle He had left Madeira before the Let
ters, forwarded by me, could possibly have reached
that Island ; but he assures me that his House
will forward the wines as well as if he had been
present
I am in the daily expectation of receiving the
wines I have been expecting since last January
If they should arrive, you shall have immediate
Notice
Mrs. Boudinot & Mrs Bradford join me in the
most affectionate & respectful Compliments to
Mrs Washington & the General
I have the honor to be with great regard
Dear Sir
Your very Hble Serv*
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Letters to
Washington, vol. Ixxxviii. p. 194.
154 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
TOBIAS LEAR Esq.
(Addressed)
TOBIAS LEAR Esq
at Mount Vernon.
(Endorsed)
From ELIAS BOUDINOT, Esq.
Oct. 28, 99.1
Mr. Boudinot writes to his brother, December
19, 1799:-
" This has been a week of distress to us
dreadful fire in the City the night before last, had
destroyed Rickett s Circus, the City Hotel & 5
New Houses opposite the Congress Hall We
have received the News of Tobias loosing his
child and dreadful to tell, Washington is no
more He died last Saturday evening with a
quinsey after 24 hours sickness There has a
great man fallen in Israel Congress Immedi
ately on the News adjourned as did the courts of
Justice America will Mourn from the East to
the South It is appointed for all men once to
die but after that the judgment We have
great cause of gratitude thankfulness, amidst
our mourning that God in his Providence has
continued him so long a public blessing and that
he has ended his clays crowned with glory
" You need not be uneasy about Kitty she shall
have what money she wants " 2
Mr. Boudinot writes to Mr. Samuel Bayard :
" I was much obliged by the compliment of your
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Letters to
Washington, vol. Ixxxviii. p. 347.
2 Family letters.
PUBLICATION. 155
political address & hope that it will richly pay
you for your labour in a full harvest of federal
votes ; tho indeed the defalcation of the people
of the United States is so general that my hopes
are not very sanguine in any State to the South
ward of Connecticut I yet am a little encour
aged to hope that by the great exertion of the
friends of religion & good Government in your
State, especially in the Northern Counties, that
Mr. Van Ranssaler will succeed If he does, I
should suppose there will be a majority of federal
members in the Legislature of which I trust you
will make one."
He asks him to read a little book on " The Sav
iour and His work " which he has been urged to
publish, saying that " it is merely old truths con
densed that the young and uninformed may be put
in possession of the substance of many books too
voluminous and expensive for many to obtain."
MR. BOUDINOT TO HONORABLE JAMES MADISON.
PHILADELPHIA March 24 1802
DR SIR
Altho I am much averse from intermeddling
with the appointments of Goverment, well know
ing the great difficulties attending them, yet from
the peculiar Situation and adverse Circumstances
of Mr Isaac C. Barnet of Bourdeaux, a son of an
old acquaintance, who died in the army during
our late struggle with Great Britain, I am con
strained to trouble you with the Letter -
1 Family letters.
156 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
I have been privy to the encouragement and
even assurances of Government made to him, if
he would continue at his Post, until peace should
take place with France -- I have been informed
from the best authority, that his conduct has been
correct & useful General Washington in his
life time considered him as a very promising offi
cer of Government and among the best in
France
Suffer me then Sir, to save you time, to enclose
(mutilated) an original Letter I have just received
from Mr. Barnet which will better communicate
his real Situation than any language of mine ;
and I shall be much obliged by your returning it,
when you have done with it
I do not mean, by this Communication to urge
anything on Government, if they have reasons for
disapproving, but barely to possess you with his
Statements of Facts, and to beg such an answer
as you think expedient, and which may decide his
expectations and ascertain his future prospects -
He seems to have his Eye on the Consulate
either of Antwerp or Lisbon-- Government only
can determine the propriety of the application
I have the honor to be with great respect
Dr Sir
Your very Obedt Serv*
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The Honble. JAMES MADISON, Esq. 1
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Applica
tions and Recommendations for Office, vol. i.
METHOD OF COINING. 157
HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS JEFFERSON TO MR. BOUDINOT.
WASHINGTON, May 23, 1801.
DEAR SIR,
You know the disposition of the legislature to
discontinue the establishment of the Mint on ac
count of its expence, and that there is a possibility,
not to say more that the design will be resumed.
Mr. Leslie the bearer of this has explained to me
a Mode of performing the operation of Coining
which would prodigiously abridge its expences, if
it answers the proposition looks well if it rests
on the known force of the double cylinder, and he
represents may be tried at an expence of 5. or 10
guineas in his opinion. Under these impressions
I cannot but recommend to you the trial of his
method, by having a pair of rollers & die prepared
by your workmen, for a single dollar only, be
cause if it will make one, there will be no doubt
of its sufficiency. I shall be happy to learn the
result & think the sooner it is tried the better, be
cause if it succeeds there will be time to get into
full operation before the meeting of Congress.
I received from a german of the name of Reich
some specimens of engraving & a wish to be em
ployed. He is just arrived & in distress. I send
them to you by Mr. Leslie, that you may judge
for yourself whether he may be employed usefully
for the public. I have taken the liberty of send
ing him to present himself to you. Accept assur
ances of my high consideration & respect. 1
1 From the Jefferson papers, series i, vol. viii. No. 120% Department
of State, Washington, D. C.
158 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
MR. BOUDINOT TO HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS JEFFERSON.
MINT OF THE UNITED STATES
1 6th June 1801
DEAR SIR
I duly reed a Letter, without any signature, by
a Mr. Leslie relative to a plan he proposed of
striking Coin, by means of the double Cylinder
He assured me that he received this Letter from the
President of the United States, and that the omis
sion of the signature, was by mere accident ; this
led me to pay the strictest attention to its contents.
On Mr. Leslie s first explanation of his design
to me, a number of serious difficulties struck me ;
but not willing to trust my own judgment, and
desirous of giving him the best opportunity of
supporting his scheme, I have had a meeting with
him at the Mint, in presence of the professional
workmen. On the best investigation I could
make, I found that the objections which arose in
my Mind were not new. This plan was attempted
to be carried into execution in several parts of
Germany, but on experiment was given up. Our
present mode of striking, is much less expensive,
and performs the business full as fast, as is neces
sary for our wants I have so calculated the
establishment, as to answer the supplies of the
precious Metals in the year I could with a small
additional expence strike three times as much as
we now do, but then the hands would often be
idle for weeks together, and the deposits would
lay in an unproductive State till a large quantity
of the precious metals was collected together.
PLAN FOR STRIKING COIN. 159
The single process of striking the coin, is now
one of the easiest of the twenty, thro which every
planchett passes before it is complete.
The impracticability of preserving the precise
circle, the flat surface the uniform thickness
and the milling round the Edge, added to the
greater Expence of engraving a Cylinder (when
the original Hubb could not be used, and if of
course the sameness of figure not preserved)
would render this scheme not only very difficult
but very expensive For my own justification
your satisfaction, I take the liberty of enclosing
a copy of the chief Coiner s report to me on the
Subject; that of the Engraver being of the like
import.
Notwithstanding all this, as Mr. Leslie seems
desirous that the experiment should be made, I
have determined, if still approved by the Presi
dent to have a sett of Cylinders made & engraved,
altho it cannot be done under 150 Dollars Mr.
Leslie has said that he would rather defray part
of the expense than not make an attempt, but I
presume this would not be allowed of.
I am conscious that the Mint, has been the
subject of great Complaints particularly with re
gard to its expense This has certainly been
without just cause, as every plan for reducing the
expence to government, has been uniformly re
jected by all parties in various Committees of both
Houses of Congress, on the policy that all the
charge should be borne by the Gov t and the Depos-
160 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
itors have every thing done without the least ex-
pence to them. It was among other things for this
Purpose, proposed that instead of the Depositor s
receiving in Coin the full weight of his gold or
silver with the addition of the weight of the alloy
(found by the United States) that it should be
with the addition of two thirds of the alloy, by
which Means the expence of the Mint, to the
public, would be reduced one half, but this was
rejected on the principle of public policy. Even
any charge for necessary waste was denied, or pro
vision that the Silver put into the alloy of gold,
should be paid for.
I have been waited on by Mr. Reich and was
much pleased with the samples of his work He
has been liberated from his servitude by means of
one of the officers of the Mint ; since which I
have set him to work on a particular medal, to be
ascertained of his abilities I am obliged to use
great precaution, in regard to employing him in
the Mint, before I can have good evidence of the
integrity of his character -
I have the honor to be with every sentiment of
respect
Dear Sir
Your very obed & very Hble Serv
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The President of the United States.
(Endorsed)
BOUDINOT ELIAS, Mint, June 16, 1801.
reed June 22. 1
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C, Jefferson
papers, series 2, vol. viii. p. 33.
TO PROVIDE FOR WAGE-EARNERS IN THE MINT. l6l
MR. BOUDINOT TO HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS JEFFERSON.
MINT OF THE UNITED STATES,
PHILADELPHIA, lyth April 1802.
To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
The Director of the Mint, being informed by
the public news papers, that a Bill has been
brought into Congress for abolishing of the Mint,
cannot, consistent, with his duty, omit, respectfully
to represent the Case of some of the Officers,
Clerks and workmen of the Mint, to the Presi
dent.
The Salaries and Wages allowed in the Mint
have not been increased since the first establish
ment of the Institution, notwithstanding the great
rise in the prices of every necessary of life, for
several years past They have submitted to a
bare subsistence without complaint, from the
Idea, that their Employment was permanent,
while they behaved well, and that Peace and re
duced prices of food, would give them an oppor
tunity of making up former deficiencies Add
to this, that their constant habits in the Mint have
made it difficult for them, at once, to return to
their former occupations with advantage If the
Mint should be abolished, it will be some time
before they can get again into full Employment,
and of course must suffer essentially, even as to
the necessary support.
The Director therefore submits their Case to
VOL. II.
\ XT N I ~\ I
1 62 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the consideration of Government, and does not
doubt but some small provision will be made for
them, in Case of their intire dismission from the
public Service.
In this representation it is not meant to include
the Director, Assayer or Treasurer, as neither of
these depend on their Salaries for support All
which is respectfully submitted to the President
by his Obedient humble Servant
ELIAS BOUDINOT Director.
The President of the United States.
(Endorsed)
LOUDINOT, ELIAS, Phil a Apr. 17, 1802.
reed Apr I9. 1
MR. BOUDINOT TO HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS JEFFERSON.
(Private.)
ROSEIIILL, August roth 1802.
DEAR SIR
Knowing your fondness for Agriculture, and
everything connected with it, tho in a collateral
respect, I take the liberty of troubling you, amidst
the arduous affairs of government, with the follow
ing fact
If it is new to you, your curiosity will be grati
fied ; if not, the information you will be able to
give me, as to the native soil of this production,
will lay me under peculiar obligations -
In the fall of 1800, I was presented, at second
hand, with a few quarts of an extraordinary wheat,
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Jefferson
papers, series 2, vol. viii. p. 33.
ANIMATED OATS. 163
from a distant Country but from whom it came
or from what country, have wholly slipped my
Memory
At seed time, when cleaning it for sowing, I
discovered four uncommon grains, which I was
wholly unacquainted with, the legs & beard
(which I afterwards found belonged to them) be
ing entirely broken off by the friction, with the
wheat I put them up carefully till the Spring,
and then planted them in a good soil At Har
vest they turned out to be a species of Oats of
a peculiar Nature when ripe, I was collecting
them from the straw by hand Having picked
14 or 15 I laid them on the grass, till I gathered
more ; but in 10 minutes they disappeared, and
could not be found. I gathered a number more
o
& put them in the center of a Salver with a per
forated rim, and carefully placed it over night,
where it could not be disturbed The next
Morning, I found every grain at the rim of the
Salver, with its head thro the holes of the Rim
- 1 then dipped one in water, and laid it on
paper, when it not only plainly discovered a
power of loco-motion, but sprang about half an
Inch. On bringing others I was convinced that
providence had endued them with this power to
propagate themselves. On carefully examining
them with a Magnifying glass, there appeared a
spiral line round the upper part of the leg, which
I presume is the cause of their motion. I have
164 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
called them, animated Oats, for indeed they are
the nearest line between vegetation and anima
tion, that I know of.
Many gentlemen, both natives & foreigners,
have seen them during the past year, but no one
could inform me of their native country.
The last Spring, I sowed more of them and
have just gathered a new crop They are so
great a curiosity to me & my acquaintance, that
I have ventured to trouble you with a small Box
containing a few of them for your examination.
If I should be mistaken and they should not be
new to you, I hope you will charge it to my ig
norance of natural history, and excuse the liberty
I have taken, from a desire of gratifying your
love of Agriculture.
By taking one of them by the end of his long
legs, and dipping him under water about the
second of a minute, and laying it on a sheet of
Paper, you will soon perceive its operation
They should be carefully dried in the Sun, or
air, and when wet again they will repeat the Mo
tion Some of them may fail, on account of
their not being thoroughly ripe They are most
brisk in damp weather -
I have the honor to be
with great respect Dr. Sir,
Your Obd Hble Serv
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
The President of the United States.
RESIGNATION FROM DIRECTORSHIP OF THE MINT. 165
(Addressed)
Private
with a small box,
The President of the United States,
Washington.
(Endorsed)
BOUDINOT, ELIAS,
Rosehill, Aug. 10, 1802.
rec d Aug. i6. 1
HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS JEFFERSON TO MR. BOUDINOT.
MONTICELLO, Aug. 3, 04.
SIR
Your favor of the 3Oih Ult. came to hand last
night as to the question how far we can place the
Indian funds under private direction & coopera
tion lies within the department of War, I have
this day written to Genl Dearborne on it. if he
be still at Washington I may expect an early
answer : if gone on to Maine, it will be some time
first, in either case, as soon as his answer is
received you shall hear from me.
Accept my salutations & assurances of respect
TH : JEFFERSON
ELIAS BOUDINOT, Esqr. 2
In 1805 Mr. Boudinot resigned from the Direc
torship of the Mint and retired from all public
duties, having served his country in positions of
the highest trust for the greater part of thirty
years. He built a commodious house in Burling
ton, N. J., where, surrounded with a charming
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Jefferson
papers, series 2, vol. viii. p. 36, b.
2 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Jefferson
papers, series I, vol. x. p. 132.
1 66 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
circle of friends, he spent his remaining years, de
voted to Biblical studies, to the protection and
freeing of slaves, to educational interests in various
quarters, to the civilization of Indians, to the
American Bible Society of which he was founder,
and to the interests of the poor and the spread of
Christianity.
CHAPTER XXX.
His Excellency Thomas Jefferson to Mr. Boudinot. Mrs. Bradford to
Mr. Samuel Bayard ; law suit ; bridal party. Mrs. Bradford to Mr.
Samuel Bayard ; thanks him for attending to publications ; her Father
still suffering ; reference to equality of women with men in New Jer
sey. Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Elias E. Boudinot ; on establishment of
slavery in Missouri; death of Mrs. Emlin ; her beautiful character.
Mr. Boudinot to Mr. Elias E. Boudinot ; circular letter against estab
lishment of slavery in Territory. To Mr. Samuel Bayard on discon
tinuance of Bible Society in New Jersey. Mr. Boudinot s death.
Portraits. His daughter. Home in Burlington. Address of Hon.
John Jay; address before Bible Society. Trustee of Princeton Col
lege. Endowment. Lover of trees. Bequest to supply fuel to
poor of Philadelphia.
HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS JEFFERSON TO MR. BOUDINOT.
WASHINGTON Jun 13 05.
SIR
Your letter announcing your intention to retire
from the Direction of the Mint has been duly re
ceived, presuming that before coming to that de
cision you had considered all the circumstances
which might influence your determination, and
had determined accordingly, it is not for me to
say any thing on the subject, but, in consequence
of your determination, to consider of a successor.
I have therefore directed a Commission for Mr.
Robert Patterson of Philad a to take effect at the
epoch you have fixed on ; who will receive from
you any Matters of charge, or communications
which you may be pleased to deliver to him.
1 68 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Your letter of Mar. 23, having come to my
hands at Monticello, I deferred answering it till
I should see Gen 1 Dearborne here, but before I
could get through some other indispensable busi
ness he took a journey to New York, so that it is
not till since his return I have been able to con
sult him on the subject of that letter, he observes
that neither the practice of the War Department
nor the object of the Indian appropriations seem
to authorize his confiding the administration of
them to any but the regular agents of the depart
ment and consequently that he cannot make use
of the services of the Missionary society in the
line contemplated in your letter Accept my salu
tation assurances of respect,
TH : JEFFERSON.
Mr. BOUDTNOT.
(Endorsed) BOUDINOT, ELIAS, June 13, 05. 1
MRS. BRADFORD TO MR. BAYARD.
BURLINGTON, January 20, 1806.
A variety of small circumstances have in a
most unaccountable manner led rne to protract
the pleasure I always take, in thus seeming to
converse with my dear Cousin and knowing
that he is in my debt. We were all delighted to
find by your letter, that the law suit had been de
termined in your favour, altho the sum was not
equal to your expectations ; I had heard the
opinion of two gentlemen of the bar, which made
1 MSS. Archives, Department of State, Washington, D. C., Jefferson
papers, series 2, vol. viii. p. 33, c.
WEDDING FESTIVITIES. 169
me fear that you would be altogether disappointed,
so that my pleasure was greater as it was unex
pected. Papa thinks you had best be contented
with what you have got, rather than risque the
whole in another tryal.
I am very anxious to hear of or from my dear
Patty, whether her health continues good, and if
she has got a good nurse. Aunt Pintard desires
me to say, that if there should be sleighing in
February, you may expect her in Brunswick. I
should not consent to this on any terms, were it
not for Patty s situation, but as it is, have not a
word to say against it.
I suppose you did not see the bridal party as
they passed through your City, I assure you we
made quite a bustle in \hejerseys as we came on
- we spent three days in Princeton dined the
first day at Morven, the second at Doctor Smiths
and the third at Mr. Hunters on Monday we
arrived safe here and put the Burlington people
in motion, on Tuesday evening we had a very
handsome supper at Mr. Griffith s, on Wednesday
dined at Mr. Wallaces, and in the evening had a
large company to supper here and on Thursday
morning, they left us, to dine with Coll. Rhea at
Trenton. Our family are all very much pleased
with their new relation and she appears to be
equally pleased with them, so that everything
seems to justify the conclusion, that Uncle has
made a wise choice.
Papa has had a slight fit of gout, but thank
I7O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
God he is so well that yesterday he was at
Church. Mama continues pretty well, we all
unite in affectionate love to our dear Patty (kiss
my dear children for me. tell Sam I shall write
him a little letter, by the first private opportunity
that offers.
Let me know as soon as anything is determined
with Mrs. Gibbs I am anxious to have the matter
settled.
Remember me to your Father s and Sisters
families.
I am my dear Sir
Your affectionate friend and Cousin
SUSAN V. BRADFORD. 1
SAMUEL BAYARD Esqr.
MRS. BRADFORD TO MR. SAMUEL BAYARD.
BURLINGTON, Feb. 4, 1818.
MY DEAR COUSIN,
Your letter by Mr. Ellis I have just received
and I take the opportunity of papa s sleeping to
thank you for the kind attention to the business
of the publication. What should we do in this
pilgrimage State were it not for the comfort and
assistance we derive from dear friends ? It must
indeed be a wilderness to those who are doomed
to pass through this world without the solace of
loving and being loved ; it is one of the greatest
earthly blessings, it may be extended beyond this
scene of things for what would the joys of heaven
be, were we deprived of loving our Father and our
1 Family letters.
WOMAN SUFFRAGE. i;i
God ? How cheering is the prospect that those
friendships which have been formed on earth,
shall in the regions of the blessed be strength
ened and improved in the highest degree. There
shall be no more separation no more sorrowing
but all engaged in the same glorious employment
of singing the praises of redeeming love.
When I began this letter it was just to offer
my thanks and to let you know how my dear
father is, but I have forgotten myself and put
down my thoughts in a way that I seldom do in
a letter, as it is to you it shall go, put it in the
fire when you have read the contents.
Papa continues much the same, one day better
and another worse, he calls, I must leave you,
love to all at Princeton who you know I love.
I am with sincere regard and esteem
Your affectionate cousin
SUSAN V. BRADFORD.
P. S. I congratulate the ladies of New Jersey
that they are in some thing put on a footing with
the gentlemen and the most extraordinary part of
it is, that it has been done by the gentlemen
themselves but these are a few who have been
more enlightened than the rest. Papa will thank
you to send one of the Newspapers with the pub
lication you mention to John Caldwell, New York.
I did not receive one by Mr. Ellis, therefore con
clude it was not sent. 1
1 Family letters.
172 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. ELIAS E. BOUDINOT.
BURLINGTON, Nov. 27th 1819
MY DEAR NEPHEW,
Since my last I have been a good deal con
fined with the gout and an inundation of business
which has been almost too much for me We
have been a good deal agitated here on the dis
pute relating to once more (and if it should be
forever) establishing Slavery in the Missouri and
of consequence in the United States It seems
to have run like a flaming fire through our mid
dle States and causes great anxiety It is whis
pered abroad by the knowing ones, that there is
a wheel within a wheel and that there is some
bargaining taking place I know not how this
is, but this I can pretty clearly guess at, that if it
should take place there is an end to the happiness
of the United States -
We have this day been renewing our Grief by
paying the last sad offices of friendship to the
remains of our excellent & worthy Friend &
neighbor Mrs Emlin Alas ! she has left but few
equals behind her How precious to God are
the death of his Saints ! I think I have heard it
said that she was never known to have been out
of temper or has given offence to a single crea
ture, since she has grown up & which is now 28
years ago She lived the Life of the Righteous
and her latter end was like his, rejoicing in God
her Saviour : Oh ! What an essential difference
OPPOSING SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES. 173
there is between the death of a child of God and
that of the sinner, who has lived without God in
the World -
When is it likely we shall see you here
Your cousin joins me in kind love & best re
spects to your Mama, sisters, Brothers and all the
Family and to such persons who think proper to
enquire after us particularly, Dr Richards & Mr.
Durand.
I am my dear Sir with great sincerity
Yours most affect ly
ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1
,ELIAS E. BOUDINOT, Esqr.
MR. BOUDINOT TO MR. ELIAS E. BOUDINOT.
BURLINGTON, Dec 1 i5th 1819
MY VERY DEAR NEPHEW
I have written you a circular letter on the
Subject of establishing Slavery in the Missouri
Territory Do exert yourself in the business
It is the most important question ever before
Congress I consider that our Union depends
upon it If it is carried in favour of Slavery, in
a very few years they will increase upon us in
such a manner, that we shall become a second
Hayti If it is difficult to get rid of negro
slavery now when there are but a little over
one million what will it be when there are 10
Millions
Your cousin desires to be affectionately remem
bered to all the family
1 Family letters.
174 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Could you not spend your Christmas with us ?
Present my best wishes to all with you
I am my dear Nephew
yours most affray
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ELIAS E. BOUDINOT, Esqr.
Mr. Elias E. Boudinot was Mr. Boudinot s
nephew, and co-heir with Mrs. Bradford. In her
declining years they made their home together.
He was twenty-eight years her junior, and she re
garded him rather in the light of a son than a
cousin. He studied law after graduating from
Princeton in his sixteenth year, and was judge of
the Court of Common Pleas in New Jersey, but
did not long pursue the practice of the law.
The following in spite of illness and his eighty-
one years illustrates the ardor and unabated en
ergy of Mr. Boudinot s character.
TO MR. SAMUEL BAYARD.
BURLINGTON, Aug. 23d, 1821.
MY VERY DEAR SIR.
By mere accident it was mentioned that next
Tuesday was the meeting of the Bible Society at
Brunswick--! said no, not till next Tuesday
week on Examining we found my error barely
time to finish this scrawl which it has pleased a
Gracious God to enable me to scribble.
Miss Martel l mentioned that she wished I
1 A French lady, one of the St. Domingo refugees, who held the posi
tion of amanuensis to Mr. Boudinot:
DEATH OF MR. BOUDINOT. 175
could go, as she had heard you say there was a
design to discontinue the Society, as it could not
be kept up I hope there is no foundation for
that suggestion I scarcely know anything of
the like nature that would fix so indelible a
stigma upon this State To have the honor of
having been the first proposer of this invaluable
Institution & now to degrade herself with being
the first to desert her colours & declare to the
world that they are unworthy of this signal favour
of their Lord & Master and thus to verify the
predictions of our enemies I dare not write
more except to protest agt any such measure,
without public notice being previously given of
the awful design-- If it should take place & my
Life should be spared I certainly shall endeavour
to set up a new Institution & endeavour to save
the honor of the State & the dignity of the Church
of Christ.
Yours most affc ly
ELIAS BouDiNOT. 1
SAMUEL BAYARD, Esq.
at Princeton.
Having passed his eighty-first birthday, and
though enfeebled by illness, still occupied in be
nevolent schemes, Mr. Boudinot died on October
24th, 1821.
Several portraits were painted of Mr. Boudinot;
with the exception, however, of the one by Charles
Wilson Peale they represent him in extreme age.
1 Family letters.
176 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Sully painted two; the one by Waldo and Jewett
was taken at the request of the Emperor of Rus
sia. The engraving accompanying these volumes
is preferable, as representing him in the full vigor
of life and all his varied activities.
After Mr. Boudinot s death the beautiful old-
fashioned home at Burlington was kept up in the
same style and with its wonted hospitality, as
before, by his daughter, Mrs. Bradford. Her ad
vanced age saw all of the Washington circle
depart this life, but while any of these remained
they were visitors here. The younger scions of
historic families were ever, to her, cherished links
of the past, and found a warm welcome under her
time-honored roof ; few there were who did not
avail themselves of it.
The writer recalls the figures of some of these ;
notably Mrs. Hamilton, the widow of the great
Alexander Hamilton, Mrs. Rush, the wife of the
signer, with Daytons, Stocktons, Ogdens, Bayards,
and many more of Jersey s renowned ones, and
Washingtons, Laurences, Rutlidges, etc., from the
South.
Ease and elegance, without unnecessary display,
obtained in this household : a corps of well-regu
lated, efficient, and liveried servants; large open
fires ; a liberal table, with handsome plate, glass,
and china ; chariot and coach, conservatory, gar
dens and beautiful lawn a dignified and repose
ful mode of living, befitting a life begun and long
endured amid the turmoil and anxieties of war
and political agitations. Here was, indeed, a
shrine where the votive lamp of a fervid patriot
ism burned clear and bright, from whence may
the torches of a new generation, catching the
inspiration, kindle into life and illumine in their
turn those pictures of a past glory and renown.
As Mrs. Bradford became infirm she resigned
all care and management of the household into
the hands of the younger mistress, the wife of
Mr. E. E. Boudinot, whose pleasure it was to con
duct things in " the old way ; " and her children
recall the solicitous care with which she minis
tered to the elder lady, and the loving communion
in which they dwelt.
The Hon. John Jay, in an address to the Amer
ican Bible Society, May 9, 1822, alludes to "our
late worthy & munificent President having since
the last anniversary of the society been removed
to a better state Not only Bible Societies but
also the various other societies who in different
ways are forwarding the great work in question
(i. e. the spread of the Gospel) have abundant
reason to rejoice and be thankful for the blessings
which have prospered their endeavours : We of
this society in particular cannot fail to participate
largely in this gratitude and joy, especially when
we reflect on the beneficent and successful exer
tions of our late meritorious president to establish
& support it."
Mr. Boudinot was elected a Trustee of the Col
lege of New Jersey in 1772, and continued to be
VOL. II.
178 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
a member of its board during his lifetime. He
o
took a most lively interest in its welfare, present
ing to it a cabinet of Natural History, and be
queathing to it $10,000 for fellowships.
Mr. Boudinot was a great lover of trees ; many
he planted with his own hand, which became
landmarks of rare beauty. It is probable the
method pursued in dealing with his bequest of
land in Centre County, Pennsylvania, to be devoted
to the Fuel Fund for the poor of Philadelphia, is
in harmony with his feeling and views. Twelve
thousand acres of timber land with a frontage of
over thirteen miles on the Susquehanna River,
containing about twenty miles of trout streams and
naturally stocked with deer, bear, and pheasant,
being leased to the Spruce Run Park Association,
with two club-houses and dwellings for watch
men ; the object being to obtain the rental and
at the same time to protect the valuable timber
against the hitherto barbarous inroads of the
woodsman. 1
1 See Twenty-first Annual Report of the Board of Directors of City
Trusts of Philadelphia.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Counting of votes for President and Vice-President of the United States.
Report from committee to receive the President. Duties on Imports.
Duties on Tonnage. Duties on Rum. On amendment of the Consti
tution. On committee to prepare bill for the establishment of Depart
ment of Foreign Affairs. Treasury Department and Department of
War. Department of Treasury. Salary of President. Removal
from Office.
SPEECHES.
First Congress under the Constitution, First Session.
Monday, April 6, 1789.
MR. BOUDINOT, from the House of Representa
tives, informed the Senate that the House is ready
forthwith to meet them, to attend the opening
and counting of the votes of the Electors of the
o
President and Vice-President of the United States.
Whereby it appeared that George Washington,
Esq. was elected President, and John Adams,
Esq. Vice-President of the United States of
America. 1
April 24, 1789, Mr. Boudinot was appointed
one of the committee to receive the President and
conduct him to the house formerly occupied by
the President of Congress. " Mr. Boudinot re
ported from the committee appointed to attend
with a committee, from the Senate to receive the
President of the United States at the place of his
1 From Annals of the Congress of the United States, vol. i. p. 18.
l8o ELIAS BOUDINOT.
embarkation from New Jersey ; that the committee
did according to order, together with a committee
from the Senate, attend at Elizabethtown in New
Jersey on the 23rd instant, at which place the two
committees met the President and thence em
barked for this city where they arrived about
three o clock in the afternoon of the same day
and conducted him to the house appointed for his
residence." l
DUTIES ON IMPORTS.
Mr. Boudinot said : " I am sorry, Mr. Speaker,
at this stage of the business to hear anything that
sounds like an attachment to particular States,
when we are laying a general duty to affect the
whole. For my part, I consider myself as much
the representative of Massachusetts as of New
Jersey, and nothing shall prevail on me to injure
the interest of one more than the other. I profess
myself a friend to the present revenue system, be
cause it is the best way of getting money to sup
ply our necessities. I am the more attached to it
because I conceive it will prevent an application
to direct taxes. I say, I would avoid every thing
which would make a difference between the
States, and therefore I like the system before you ;
it goes upon the principle of mutual concession.
It would be impossible to impose a duty on any
article that will not affect one State more than
some others ; but we have endeavored to equalize
the burdens as much as possible. I confess, at
1 Annals of Congress, vol. i. p. 192.
DUTIES ON IMPORTS. l8l
the same time, that I consider the duty on mo
lasses too high ; but it is for the reason that I
consider all the other articles too high. I do not
conceive that it is much out of proportion to rum.
The object I have in view by the impost is, to
produce revenue enough to answer the necessities
of the United States, and to have it done accord
ing to system. I have endeavoured to establish
some principle by which we should be governed
in laying the duties. I have endeavoured to do
this in my own mind, and have fixed on about
twenty-five per cent, on the value of the articles
at the time and place of importation. If we in
fringe this principle, it ought to be in favour of a
raw material, to increase the manufacture of an
article within the Union, or secure the collection
of the revenue. I confess Mr. Speaker, I agree
with the gentlemen from Massachusetts, that six
cents are too hisfh. If we reckon the cost of the
c5
molasses, we shall find five cents to be nearer the
proportion of twenty-five per cent, which we have
laid on other articles.
" If we consider it as a raw material we ought
to make some further allowance ; if we admit on
this account the reduction of one cent more, it
will be as much as is necessary. If we then take
up the idea that molasses is a necessary of life,
and that a great part of it enters into the support
of the inhabitants, I think we may justly lower it
another cent. By this allowance we shall come
down to a proper medium and secure the collec-
1 82 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
tion of the duty. If we could accomplish our ob
ject of taxing rum in any other way than by laying
a duty on the raw material, perhaps it might be
proper to reduce it to what gentlemen have men
tioned ; but, as I despair of this, I think three
cents would be as low as we ought to go. As to
the proposition for an excise to be levied at the
still-head, I cannot vote for it ; the very name of
such a tax is odious, nor will the multiplication
of officers necessary to collect it be less so ; but I
believe this idea has not met any countenance in
the House.
" It has been hinted, that four hundred thou
sand people disapprove the measure. I give
every weight to information which gentlemen lay
before the House, but in this case, I take it to be
no more than matter of opinion. I have so high
an idea of the good sense and patriotism of the
citizens of Massachusetts, that I never can be per
suaded that if this House, on principle, think it
expedient to lay a duty on any particular article,
the inhabitants of that State will rise in opposition
to the measure. I believe them to be as well
affected to the Government as any other part of
the United States, and that our acts will receive
as ready attention and as prompt execution among
them as elsewhere, provided we act on principle.
" I felt myself sorry to hear a comparison drawn
between the Eastern and Southern States. I
thought the reasoning used on that point falla
cious ; the principles were not true, so, of conse-
DUTIES ON IMPORTS. 183
quence, the conclusion was erroneous. The in
ference was this, that from the labor and industry
of the Eastern people fish were obtained, and
from the labor of the Southern States, other arti
cles of commerce were produced. The question
was then asked, why should the articles obtained
in exchange for the one be subjected to higher
duties than the other? If this were the case, I
should admit, with the gentleman, that it was a
partial imposition; but do not we lay an equal
duty on the articles imported into the Southern
States ? Let the gentleman examine the list, and
say, if the articles taken in exchange for tobacco
and rice do not pay as much as molasses. Some
articles essential to agriculture are considerably
taxed, such as steel and salt ; but they pay above
twenty-five per cent, on the rum they receive,
which is more than I contend ought to be paid
upon molasses. But gentlemen ought not to con
tend that all the duty on molasses is taken out of
the pockets of the inhabitants of Massachusetts.
They export to other parts of the United States
great quantities of their rum, the consumer of
which repays the duty on molasses. The port
of Philadelphia alone, in one year, received of
this article 360,000 gallons ; will not the con
sumer in Pennsylvania, therefore, pay the duty
on that quantity ?
" I consider the object we ought to have in
view is, to lay our duties on solid principles. I
have given the principles upon which we ought to
184 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
reduce the impost on molasses to three cents. I
will only now mention the temptation that six
cents would be to smuggle ; but, as I instanced
before a fact relative to this circumstance, I will
not repeat it, contenting myself in stating to the
House my fear that a high duty will be unpro
ductive, while a low one will be more favorable
to the revenue." 1
On duties, on imports, Saturday, April n,
1789, Mr. Boudinot said: "It appears to me that
this business of raising revenue points out two
questions, of great importance, demanding much
information. The first is, what articles are proper
objects of taxation, and the probable amount of
revenue from each. The second is, the proper
mode of collecting the money arising from this
fund, when the object and its amount are ascer
tained. There are three sources from which
we may gain information on the first question,
namely, from the revenue laws of the different
States, for I believe a partial revenue has been
raised almost in every State by an impost. The
second source of information, and a very natural
one, is the great body of merchants spread
throughout the United States ; this is a very
respectable and well-informed body of our fellow-
citizens, and great deference ought to be paid
to their communications they are in a peculiar
situation under the present Constitution, to which
they are generally esteemed sincere friends -
1 Annals of Congress, vol. i. p. 216.
DUTIES ON IMPORTS. 185
they are also more immediately interested in the
event of the proposed measure, than any other
class of men. To this Government they look for
protection and support, and for such regulations
as are beneficial to commerce ; for these reasons,
I think they deserve our confidence, and we ought
to obtain from them such information as will en
able the Congress to proceed to a general perma
nent system on more solid principles.
" The last source from which we are to derive
information is the Executives of the States, stat
ing the operation and production of the different
revenue laws in the States respectively, by which
we can judge of the effect likely to be produced
by the system we establish, as well as the aggre
gate produce of a general impost. This will also
tend to prevent our burthening the people at
large with unreasonable duties, and cramping
trade without an adequate reason.
" With regard to the second question, the mode
of collecting duty, I own I do not see any infor
mation so satisfactory, as I could wish. When I
recollect the numerous volumes of laws made to
secure and regulate this point, the inefficacy of
them all, though accompanied with the most terri
ble denunciations and penalties, and the careful
observing eye of long experienced officers I
say, when I recollect all this, and consider it may
be necessary for the United States to adopt a
similar plan, I own that I almost shrink from the
task as an extraordinary work, requiring the most
superior abilities.
1 86 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
" Though there may be bme circumstances
which may render the business more easy, such
as the virtue of the people and the inflexibility of
the officers, yet there are also difficulties of a
superior magnitude to those encountered by other
nations. When we look at the boundaries of the
United States ; when we contemplate the prox
imity of the eastern territory and the British
provinces ; when we turn to the northwest, and
observe Vermont leagued with Canada in pouring
in upon the interior country the manufactures of
Great Britain ; when we consider the natural and
political situation of Rhode Island, and judge
from the nefarious principles which they have
lately held, and the vicinity of their coast to the
extensive shores of Connecticut and Long Island,
we shall have reason to apprehend that she is
ready to take every advantage of the United
States that lies in her power. When I observe
the shores of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela
ware ; the wide stretched-out shores of Maryland
and Virginia with the waters of the Chesapeake
flowing between, a winding course of three hun
dred miles, penetrating, in this distance, six or
seven times the borders of different States ; the
coast of North Carolina, not yet in the union ;
the borders of South Carolina and Georgia upon
the Atlantic, with their numerous inlets, altogether
present such a group of difficulties and embarrass
ments, as we cannot remove in the little time we
have, nor regulate upon the information now be-
DUTIES ON IMPORTS. 1 87
fore us. The inference I would draw from this
is, that we should not precipitate a business which
some of us think the committee at this time in
competent to ; but it is not for me to desire that
such delay should take place the State I have
the honor to represent being altogether agricul
tural, at best it partakes but little of the commerce
of the Union, therefore we shall not be so mate
rially injured by an improper regulation of this
subject, as those which derive greater advantages
from commercial transactions.
" There are gentlemen on this floor well cal
culated to represent the mercantile interests of
this country, and in whose integrity and abilities
I have the highest confidence ; but it is the duty
of the members of this body to see that the prin
ciples upon which we act, are those calculated to
promote the general good, and not confined to
the local interests of a few individuals, or even
individual States, so that they will decline trust
ing alone to this species of information, when an
other is attainable.
" I am aware of an objection to this mode of
reasoning ; it will be alleged that the pressing
necessities of the United States for revenue re
quire immediate relief, and permit no delay. This
I admit, and it is this which makes me prefer a
temporary system for the present to a permanent
one. Let us take, then, the resolution of Con
gress, in 1783, as presented by the honorable gen
tleman from Virginia, (Mr. Madison) and make it
1 88 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the basis of our system, adding only such protect
ing duties as are necessary to support the manu
factures established by the Legislatures of the
manufacturing States. Thus far, we can go with
safety, if we do not descend into a minute enumer
ation ; such articles as are readily admitted to
deserve legislative encouragement, we may take
into the list.
" With regard to the collection of the revenue,
I would recommend that until a general plan can
be devised, officers should be appointed to collect
the impost and protecting duties, in the manner,
and under the penalties, directed by the laws of
the proper state. It may be said that there are
some states which have no revenue laws of this
kind, and, consequently, no officers to execute
them ; I would, in every such case, subject them
to the laws of the next adjoining State. By adopt
ing a plan upon these principles, we shall gain
time sufficient to obtain full information in the
manner I have pointed out, and also reap the
harvest of the Spring importations ; the latter of
these objects, I apprehend, will be totally lost by
any other system that has yet been suggested.
" Whatever permanent system we may devise
ought to be calculated to give efficacy to trade,
while it gives supplies to our treasury. This
cannot be done well, if done speedily ; while, on
the other hand, we might get a temporary one
framed against the arrival of the President, with
out injury to commerce or manufactures, and
greatly to the interest of the Union.
DUTIES ON IMPORTS. 189
"If any gentleman thinks as I do, he will second
me in moving, that the committee rise and report
as their opinion the appointment of a committee
for the purpose of framing such a temporary law." 1
D.UTIES ON IMPORTS, CONTINUED.
Mr. Boudinot. " When we consider the argu
ments of gentlemen on both sides of this ques
tion, we shall find they do not differ so much as,
on a superficial view, gentlemen may be led to
imagine. It is agreed, that a revenue must be
obtained adequate to our wants ; but some gen
tlemen think we shall not receive a greater sum,
because we lay a high duty ; in this opinion I am
with them. I think the present is a favorable
time to lay an impost duty, and expect very con
siderable aid from the public spirit ; but I am in
favor of a low duty, because I would do nothing
to check that spirit. If we lay high duties, and a
man finds smuggling the most profitable business
he can follow, we shall have to contend with pri
vate interest. If we lay a duty of thirty or forty
per cent., the temptation will be too strong for
resistance, and the sum collected may not amount
to ten per cent, on the whole importation ; whereas,
if we lay twenty or fifteen per cent., the whole
may probably be collected, and the treasury be
better filled, because it does not hold out so strong
an inducement to evade the payment of the
duties.
1 From Annals of Congress, vol. i. p. 117.
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
" Another objection has been stated, which is of
great weight : a system of high duties will neces
sarily engage us in a system of drawbacks. If we
are forced into this measure, it will be a great
injury to the revenue.
" We ought also to consider the inconvenience
to which high duties will subject our merchants.
It is a common case in America, that our mercan
tile capitals are limited. Gentlemen engaged in
commerce can ill spare so large a proportion in
the payment of duties.
" It has been mentioned by gentlemen, that Great
Britain collects four shillings sterling per gallon
on rum ; yet she is exposed to great difficulties in
obtaining it. But I ask gentlemen, whether Great
Britain ever laid such a high duty in the first
instance, as we are about to impose? I believe
they did not : they began, I apprehend, with mod
erate duties, and increased them as circumstances
authorized, when the people became habituated to
the imposition. This is the very principle I wish
to adopt, and show the world that our conduct
is founded in wisdom, propriety and experience.
If we shall discover our mistake in laying high
duties and are driven by necessity to reduce them,
such measures will operate to the injury of the
fair trader; whereas, if we increase them by
degrees, it will be rather favorable to their in
terest than otherwise; at all events, it will injure
none.
" If a sense of the committee could be obtained
DUTIES ON IMPORTS.
on a general reduction of ten or fifteen per cent,
on the rate the articles now stand at, I should be
glad to vote in favor of such a motion ; but I
could not approve of reducing the article of rum
alone, because I do not think it charged out of
proportion with the others." ]
Friday, May 15, Mr. Boudinot said: "The time
mentioned by the former Congress, and to which
they requested the concurrence of the several
States, was, that the impost duties might be con
tinued for twenty-five years. This request was
made on full consideration, and they did not think
it was more than sufficient to discharge the prin
cipal and interest of the national debt. He con
cluded, therefore, that it was better to let the law
remain without limitation ; because when they
found the purposes for which it was intended
were accomplished, it would be in the power of
Congress to repeal the law."
On Saturday, May i6th, Mr. Boudinot thought
himself obliged to say a few words more, in order
to justify the part he should take in the division of
the House on the question. He conceived the
manner in which the motion was brought before
the House, after the bill was supposed to be gone
through, did not give such opportunity for the
members to consider the subject as its importance
seemed to require, and which might have been
had if it had been brought forward at an earlier
period.
1 Annals of Congress, vol. i. p. 313.
I Q2 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
"If," said he, " we are to have the measure of the
Parliament of Great Britain hung about our necks
in all our public proceedings, and observations
from their practice perpetually sounding in our
ears, that practice ought to be defined and estab
lished." He believed that in the whole volumes of
the statute law, there was not one single revenue
act to be found, with a limitation. He believed
that the revenue laws, passed fifty, sixty, eighty,
and near a hundred years ago, in that kingdom,
existed at the present moment " We have long
seen and been convinced of the infirmities of the
former confederation, and shall we now rivet those
infirmities upon the present constitution ? Are
we never to stand upon a certain and solid foun
dation ? Is not our public credit totally gone ?
Has not experience convinced us that the loss of
it would have been our total destruction, if the
generous exertions we have lately made had not
revived some decree of confidence in our future
o
measure ? Are we not so deeply in debt as to
give us reason to believe that it will require many
years to emancipate ourselves ? If this is the
case, will a revenue law for one or two years bring
that relief which is expected ? Will this prevent
an increase of the public debt ? Will it restore
value to the evidence of that debt held by our
creditors?" He would ask any man whether, if
the United States were in the situation in which
they were during the last war, he would be in
duced to lend money upon a temporary and inad-
DUTIES ON TONNAGE. 193
equate fund provided for two years ? He believed
the answer would be in the negative.
Mr. Madison withdrew his motion in order to
introduce another, which he hoped would recon
cile both sides of the House. He joined those
gentlemen who opposed the clause in thinking
that one or two years would be a period insuf
ficient to answer the purposes in contemplation.
If the House agree to the clause he would substi
tute for the one just withdrawn, he would move to
fill the blank with a more distant day. His mo
tion was, that this act shall not continue in force
after the day of unless otherwise provided
in the act for the appropriation of the revenue. 1
DUTIES ON TONNAGE.
Mr. Boudinot said: "I look upon this subject
as of considerable importance to the prosperity
and welfare of the United States ; of considerable
importance as it respects the revenue and of im
portance as it affects the interests of the indi
vidual States. Whenever I speak of trade, I
must own that I feel as if I were out of my ele
ment. I can only form my opinion, and determine
from such facts as are before me and the informa
tion I get from gentlemen on the floor. I take it
the object in view is to raise a revenue for the
support of your Government, and that it must be
obtained from one quarter or another; it must
either come from an impost on goods, a duty on
1 Annals of Congress, vol. i. pp. 312-364.
VOL. II.
194 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
tonnage, or from direct taxes laid upon the citizens
of the Union. We all seem to agree that, where
it can be done with propriety, it is most eligible
to take it from trade. Under these impressions,
we agreed to an impost upon goods, wares, and
merchandise. I believe there is no gentleman
but would give up every restraint upon commerce,
if it were possible to do so without encumbering
it with protecting regulations. Then, with re
spect to the proposed duty on tonnage, it will be
necessary to ask if it be reasonable in itself, and
such as will, in an adequate degree, supply the
wants of the Union, without adding too much to
the embarrassment which trade labors under?
For my part I conceive the best evidence on this
point the House is in possession of arises from
the conduct of the different States throughout the
Union. It will appear, by referring to their laws,
that they have generally adopted the idea of dis
crimination, and often laid it upon the tonnage.
Pennsylvania has laid a duty per ton on vessels of
nations in treaty, and a much higher one on those
who are not in treaty. Maryland has laid is. Sd.
per ton on those in treaty, and 2s. Sd. on those
who are not in treaty, except British. The British
vessels pay 6s. Sd. besides two per cent, on goods
imported therein, over and above what is paid by
others. Virginia lays 35. 6d. upon those in treaty,
and 6s. 6d., their money, on the nations not in
treaty, besides the addition of two per cent, ad
valorem on all merchandise so imported. Caro-
DUTIES ON TONNAGE. 195
lina lays a duty of 2s. 9<d. sterling upon British
sugars, and is. 8d. only on those of other nations.
This duty both in principle and consequence, is
the same as the one now under consideration.
These duties upon the vessels of foreigners in
alliance with us average about 2s. 6d. per ton ;
consequently, we are within the mark when we
propose thirty cents, or a sum equal to about 23.
3d. This being the case, I should conceive, if
there be no further objection, that a duty of thirty
cents was just and reasonable, and could not have
a bad effect in any part of the United States.
But gentlemen have stated objections from the
peculiar circumstances of some of the States.
These objections ought to be attended to, and
seriously considered. The spirit of accommoda
tion evinced by both sides of the House is really
a subject of congratulation, and gentlemen will
not press hard for a measure that militates against
the interest of others. The State of South Caro
lina requires us to be tender, with regard to her,
in this instance. She wishes to emancipate her
self from the slavery in which, by adventitious cir
cumstances, she is enthralled.
" Now, sir, I am of opinion that the true way to
enable her to regain her strength and vigor would
be to render her independent of the attendance of
foreigners upon her. I think, too, that it might
be done in a little time ; because, under a small
encouragement, our navigation would grow up,
so that her sister States might supply her with
196 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
vessels enough. With this assistance she would
soon clear herself of her incumbrances. When
she comes to consider the present regulation in
this point of view, she will be satisfied with it, al
though it may seem to bear a little hard at first.
To prove that these expectations are not chimeri
cal, I need only mention the present situation of
our India trade, a commerce of but yesterday,
and yet there are no less than forty-seven sail of
vessels, at this moment, on voyages to and from
that country. If these go so far in search of
freight, I should imagine employment nearer home
would be more agreeable. I think nothing but
o o
an imposition on foreign shipping, equal to what
the Americans sustain in other countries, can
ever enable us to be a maritime nation ; and, with
out this, the abundance nature has lavished upon
us will be of little avail. But these advantages
ought to be grasped at with caution. I would not
materially injure any State by our regulations, if
the object could be accomplished by other means.
I am willing to 2:0 so far with the gentlemen as to
o o o
reduce the duty to twenty-five cents, but to in
crease it hereafter in the manner proposed by the
gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Madison). This,
I take it, will furnish us with a considerable rev
enue ; and as the quantity of foreign shipping de
creases, the revenue will still be the same, by an
increase of the rate of tonnage ; it will also be
serving the Southern States, which I am willing
DUTIES ON IMPORTS. 1 97
on every occasion to do, as far as good policy
admits/ 11
DEBATE ON RUM.
Mr. Boudinot said : " I am in favor of taxing
this article as high as there is a probability of col
lecting the duty. I think our doing so will answer
two or three good purposes. The present object
of the committee is to raise a revenue, and no arti
cle on the list before you is more likely to be
productive than this one ; but a high duty may
also discourage the use of ardent spirits; if not, it
may discourage the West Indies from turning
their molasses into rum. This being the case, they
have no other market for molasses than this coun
try, and our own distilleries, with the advantages
arising therefrom, will be able to rival them in the
manufacture of that article ; so far it may tend
to the benefit of the country. I conceive it might
be proper, on these accounts, to lay a much higher
duty than has been proposed, were it not for the
considerations mentioned by the gentleman from
New York, that we run a risk of losing all by
grasping at too much."
DEBATE ON HEMP.
Mr. Boudinot said : " Hemp is a raw material,
necessary for an important manufacture, and there
fore ought not to be subject to a heavy duty. If
it was the product of the country in general, a
1 Annals of Congress, vol. i. p. 261.
198 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
duty might be proper, but this he believed was not
the case."
Mr. Madison. "I said before, I very much
doubted the propriety of laying a duty on such
articles as entered into ship-building; but if it is
necessary to lay a duty on cordage for the purpose
of encouraging the manufacture, and making us
independent of the world, as to that article, it is
also politic to endeavor to make us alike indepen
dent for the raw material ; a great proportion of
the land in the Western country is peculiarly
adapted to the growth of hemp, and it might be
there cultivated to advantage, if the labors of
the husbandman were protected by the Govern
ment."
Mr. Boudinot thought the soil of this country
ill adapted to the cultivation of hemp; even the
strong low lands which are fit for it soon became
exhausted ; it impoverished the lands wherever it
grew, and destroyed the agricultural stamina. If
he was not mistaken in this opinion, he thought
the committee would, with him, disagree to the
motion. 1
INDIAN COMMERCE.
Mr. Boudinot declared himself a friend to the
Indian commerce. He thought it encouraged the
employment of shipping and increased our sea
men ; he knew its advantages to agriculture. The
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Madison) supposed
1 Vol. i. p. 149.
VIRGINIA AND THE CONSTITUTION. 199
that little of our productions were sent in ex
change for India goods ; but our beef, pork, flour,
and wheat were shipped for this purpose, not to
China, yet to ports where proper cargoes were
taken in to answer the trade. Encouragement
and protection were necessary to prevent the large
companies in Europe from underselling our mer
chants, which they would readily do, at consider
able loss, if they could in consequence put a stop
to our trade. He hoped, therefore, the committee
would not hesitate in adopting the motion. 1
The motion was adopted accordingly.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
Mr. Bland presented the Application of the
Legislature of Virginia, to have a convention
called of deputies from all the States, to consider
the defects of the Constitution and report amend
ments ; and moved to refer the application to the
Committee of the Whole on the state of the
Union.
Mr. Boudinot. "According to the terms of
the Constitution, the business cannot be taken up
until a certain number of States have concurred
in similar applications; certainly the House is dis
posed to pay a proper attention to the application
of so respectable a State as Virginia, but if it is a
business which we cannot interfere with in a con
stitutional manner, we had better let it remain on
1 Annals of Congress, vol. i. pp. 127, 149, 169, 192.
2OO ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the files of the House until the proper number of
applications come forward."
Mr. Bland thought there could be no impro
priety in referring any subject to a committee;
but surely this deserved the serious and solemn
consideration of Congress. He hoped no gentle
man would oppose the compliment of referring it
to a committee of the whole ; besides it would be
a guide to the deliberations of the committee on
the subject of amendments, which would shortly
come before the House.
Mr. Madison said he had no doubt but the
House was inclined to treat the present applica
tion with respect, but he doubted the propriety of
committing it, because it would seem to imply
that the House had a right to deliberate upon the
subject. This, he believed, was not the case until
two thirds of the State Legislatures concurred in
such application, and then it was out of the power
of Congress to decline complying, the words of
the Constitution being express and positive rela
tive to the agency Congress may have in case of
applications of this nature. " The Congress, wher
ever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Con
stitution ; or, on the application of the Legisla
tures of two thirds of the several States, shall call
a convention for proposing amendments.
" From hence it must appear that Congress have
no deliberative power on this occasion. The most
respectful and constitutional mode of performing
VIRGINIA AND THE CONSTITUTION. 2OI
our duty will be, to let it be entered on the min
utes, and remain upon the files of the House until
similar applications come to hand from two thirds
of the States."
Mr. Boudinot hoped the gentleman who desired
the commitment of the application would not sup
pose him wanting in respect to the State of Vir
ginia. He entertained the most profound respect
for her, but it was on the principle of respect to
order and propriety that he opposed the commit
ment; enough had been said to convince the gen
tleman that it was improper to commit. For what
purpose can it be done ? what can the committee
report ? The application is to call a new conven
tion. Now, in this case, there is nothing left for
us to do but to call one when two thirds of the
State Legislatures apply for that purpose. He
hoped the gentleman would withdraw his motion
for commitment.
Mr. Bland. "The application now before the
committee contains a number of reasons why it is
necessary to call a convention. By the fifth arti
cle of the Constitution, Congress are obliged to
order this convention when two thirds of the Leg
islatures apply for it ; but how can these reasons
be properly weighed, unless it be done in commit
tee ? Therefore, I hope the House will agree to
refer it."
Mr. Huntington thought it proper to let the
application remain on the table ; it can be called
up with others when enough are presented to
2O2 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
make two thirds of the whole States. There would
be an evident impropriety in committing, because
it would argue a right in the House to deliberate,
and, consequently, a power to procrastinate the
measure applied for.
Mr. Tucker thought it not right to disregard
the application of any State, and inferred that the
House had a right to consider every application
that was made : if two thirds had not applied, the
subject might be taken into consideration ; but if
two thirds had applied, it precluded deliberation
on the part of the House. He hoped the present
application would be properly noticed.
Mr. Gerry. " The gentleman from Virginia
(Mr. Madison) told us yesterday, that he meant to
move the consideration of amendments on the
fourth Monday of this month ; he did not make
such motion then, and may be prevented by acci
dent or some other cause from carrying his inten
tion into execution when the time he mentioned
shall arrive. I think the subject, however, is in
troduced to the House, and perhaps it may con
sist with order to let the present application lie on
the table until the business is taken up generally."
Mr. Page thought it the best way to enter the
application at large upon the Journals, and do the
same by all that came in, until sufficient were
made to obtain their object, and let the original
be deposited in the archives of Congress. He
deemed this the proper mode of disposing of it,
and what is in itself proper can never be con
strued into disrespect.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 203
Mr. Bland acquiesced in this disposal of the
application. Whereupon it was ordered to be
entered at length on the Journals, and the origi
nal to be placed on the files of Congress. 1
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.
On motion of Mr. Boudinot, the House re
solved itself into a committee of the whole House
on the state of the Union, Mr. Trumbull in the
chair.
Mr. Boudinot said : " I rise, Mr. Chairman,
with diffidence, to introduce a subject to the con
sideration of the committee which I had hopes
would have been brought forward by an abler
hand ; the pressing necessity of it alone must be
my excuse. The great Executive Departments
which were in existence under the late Confeder
ation, are now at an end, at least so far as not to
be able to conduct the business of the United
States. If we take up the present Constitution,
we shall find it contemplates departments of an
executive nature in aid of the President ; it then
remains for us to carry this intention into effect,
which I take it will be best done by settling prin
ciples for organizing them in this place, and after
wards appoint a select committee to bring in a
bill for the same. I need say little to convince
gentlemen of the necessity which presses us into
a pursuit of this measure. They know that our
national debt is considerable ; the interest on our
1 Annals of Congress, vol. i. p. 250.
2O4 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
foreign loans, and the instalments due, amount to
two millions of dollars. This arrearage, together
with the domestic debt, is of great magnitude,
and it will be attended with the most dreadful
consequences to let affairs run into confusion and
ruin for want of proper regulations to keep them
in order.
" I shall move the committee, therefore, to come
to some such resolution as this : That an office
be established for the management of the finances
of the United States, at the head of which shall
be an officer to be denominated the Secretary of
Finance. I am not tenacious of the style, per
haps some other may be proper, but the object I
have in view is to establish the department; after
which we may go on to narrate the duties of the
officer, and accommodate the name to the acts he
is to perform. The departments under the late
Constitution are not to be models for us to form
ours upon, by reason of the essential change which
has taken place in the Government, and the new
distribution of Legislative, Executive, and Judicial
powers.
" If gentlemen then agree with me so far, I shall
proceed to restrain the Secretary of Finance, and
all persons under him, from being concerned in
trade or commerce, and make it his duty to super
intend the treasury and the finances of the United
States, examine the public debts and engage
ments, inspect the collection and expenditure of
the revenue, and to form and digest plans for its
TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 2O5
improvement. There may be other duties which
gentlemen may add, as I do not pretend to have
perfectly enumerated them all. After this point
is settled, we may then go to the consideration
of the War Department and the Department of
Foreign Affairs ; but, for the present, I would
wish to confine ourselves to the Department of
Finance."
On May 21, 1789, Mr. Boudinot is appointed on
the Committee of Eleven to prepare a bill for the
establishment of departments of Foreign Affairs,
Treasury Department, and Department of War.
On the bill to establish the Treasury Department,
" Mr. Boudinot considered the question to be
whether the department should be under the
direction of one or more officers. He was against
boards, because he was convinced by experience
that they are liable to all the objections which
gentlemen have stated. He wished the committee
had it in their power to turn to the transactions
of this department since the Revolution, to exam
ine the expenditures under former boards of treas
ury, and under the Superintendent of Finance; it
would so confound them, that he was sure no
gentleman would offer another argument in favor
of boards. He was not acquainted with the man
agement under the present board. He had not
been in the habit of doing business with them.
But between the administration of the former and
the Superintendent of Finance there was an intol
erable comparison. He was far from being aston-
206 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ished at the jealousy and suspicion entertained of
that valuable officer; he rather wondered that the
clamor was not more loud and tremendous. He
could not repeat all the causes there were for
accusation against him, but surely they were not
inconsiderable. He remembered one hundred and
forty-six supernumerary officers were brushed off
in one day, who had long been sucking the vital
blood and spirit of the nation. Was it to be won
dered at if this swarm should raise a buzz about
him ? The reform which daily took place made
him no inconsiderable number of enemies. The
expenditures under the Board of Treasury had
been enormous. They were curtailed in the quar
termasters, commissaries of provision and military
stores, in the hospital, and every great department
established by Congress ; so that, besides those
who were offended by a removal, every one who
was affected by this economy, or parsimony, if
they will call it so, were incensed against him.
It was impossible to gain friends among those
people by a practice of this kind. He would state
a circumstance which might give the committee
some small idea of what the savings under the
superintendent were. The expenditure of hay at
a certain post was one hundred and forty tons ;
such was the estimate laid before him ; yet twelve
tons carried the post through the year, and the
supply was abundant, and the post was as fully
and usefully occupied as it had ever been before.
" He wished gentlemen to examine whether the
TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 207
other arguments did not preponderate in favor of
a single administration. He thought that there
was certainly more responsibility and system likely
to be acquired in this way than in the other. He
saw no weight in the objections stated by the gen
tlemen respecting the collusion between the secre
tary and the collectors ; but if there was any
weight in them, he imagined they applied with
equal force against Boards. The Commissioners
were men equally fallible and exposed as the Sec
retary, Comptroller, and Auditors.
"The gentleman had asked where a proper char
acter for a financier was to be found. 1 America
has seen one equal to the task ; but he would not
undertake to say that that gentleman was the only
one fit for the business. If talents of this kind
were hard to be found, he was for establishing
the Department in this way, in order to bring up
men to a knowledge of this science. He had no
idea of sending to a foreign nation for a person ;
it would be dishonorable to the United States.
But he could not believe any foreigner adequate
to the business. The utility of this officer con
sists in his knowledge of the manners, habits, cus
toms, wealth, and pursuits, the temper, genius, and
disposition of the people. This cannot be ac
quired but by a long residence and actual obser
vation. A foreigner has not this advantage, and
therefore must be unfit to direct the finances of
America." 2
1 See Annals of Congress, vol. i. p. 386.
2 Annals of Congress ; vol. i. p. 394.
208 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE.
Mr. Boudinot said :
" This is a question, Mr. Speaker, that requires
full consideration, and ought only to be settled
on the most candid discussion. It certainly in
volves the right of the Senate to a very important
power. At present I am so impressed with the
importance of the subject, that I dare not abso
lutely decide on any principle, although I am
firmly persuaded we ought to retain the clause in
the bill ; and, so far as it has been examined, I
agree that it is a Legislative construction of the
Constitution necessary to be settled for the direc
tion of your officers. But if it is a deviation from
the Constitution, or in the least degree an infringe
ment upon the authority of the other branch of
the Legislature, I shall most decidedly be against
it. But I think it will appear, on a full considera
tion of this business that \ve can do no otherwise
than agree to this construction, in order to pre
serve to each Department the full exercise of its
powers, and to give this House security for the
proper conduct of the officers who are to execute
the la\vs.
" The arguments adduced, are to show that the
power of removal lies either in the President and
Senate, or the President alone, except in the
cases of removal by impeachment. There is no
thing, I take it, in the Constitution, or the reason
of the thing, that officers should be only remova-
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. 2OQ
ble by impeachment. Such a provision would be
derogatory to the powers of Government, and
subversive of the rights of the people. What
says the Constitution on this point? (I fear, sir,
it has not been rightly comprehended.) That the
House of Representatives shall have the sole
power of impeachment; that the Senate shall
have the sole power to try all impeachments ;
and judgment shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold
it in future. Then comes the clause declaring
absolutely that he shall be removed from office
on impeachment for, and on conviction of treason,
bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors.
It is this clause which guards the rights of the
House, and enables them to pull down an im
proper officer, although he should be supported
by all the power of the Executive. This, then, is
a necessary security to the people, and one that
is wisely provided in the Constitution. But I be
lieve it is nowhere said that officers shall never
be removed but by impeachment;, but it says
they shall be removed on impeachment. Sup
pose the Secretary of Foreign Affairs shall mis
behave, and we impeach him ; notwithstanding
the clearest proof of guilt, the Senate might only
impose some trifling punishment, and retain him
in office, if it were not for this declaration in the
Constitution.
" Neither this clause, nor any other, goes so
far as to say it shall be the only mode of removal ;
VOL. II.
210 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
therefore we may proceed to inquire what the
other is. Let us examine whether it belongs to
the Senate and President. Certainly, sir, there is
nothing that gives the Senate this right in ex
press terms ; but they are authorized, in express
words to be concerned in the appointment. And
does this necessarily include the power of re
moval ? If the President complains to the Sen
ate of the misconduct of an officer, and desires
their advice and consent to the removal, what are
the Senate to do ? Most certainly they will in
quire if the complaint is well founded. To do
this, they must call the officer before them to an
swer. Who, then, are the parties ? The supreme
Executive officer against his assistant ; and the
Senate are to sit as judges to determine whether
sufficient cause of removal exists. Does not this
set the Senate over the head of the President ?
But suppose they should decide in favor of the
officer, what a situation is the President then in,
surrounded by officers with whom, by his situa
tion, he is compelled to act, but in whom he can
have no confidence, reversing the privilege given
him by the Constitution, to prevent his having
officers imposed upon him who do not meet his
approbation ?
" But I have another more solid objection,
which places the question in a more important
point of view. The Constitution has placed the
Senate as the only security and barrier between
the House of Representatives and the President.
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. 2 I I
Suppose the President has desired the Senate to
concur in removing an officer, and they have de
clined; or suppose the House has applied to the
President and Senate to remove an officer obnox
ious to them, and they determine against the
measure, the House can have recourse to nothing
o
but an impeachment, if they suppose the crimi
nality of the officer will warrant such a procedure.
Will the Senate then be that upright court which
they ought to appeal to on this occasion, when
they have prejudged your cause? I conceive the
Senate will be too much under the control of
their former decision, to be a proper body for
this House to apply to for impartial justice.
" As the Senate are the dernier resort, and the
only court of judicature which can determine on
cases of impeachment, I am for preserving them
free and independent, both on account of the
officer and this House. I therefore conceive that
it was never the intention of the Constitution to
vest the power of removal in the President and
Senate ; but, as it must exist somewhere, it rests
on the President alone. I conceive this point
was made fully to appear by the honorable gen
tleman from Virginia (Mr. Madison) inasmuch as
the President is the supreme Executive officer of
the United States.
" If the doctrine of the gentleman from South
Carolina is true, then it follows, that every offi
cer has perpetuity in office at least during good
behaviour. If this is to be the case, there is no
212 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
necessity for declaring in the Constitution that
the judges shall hold their offices during good
behaviour. This would be destroying the re
sponsibility of the President, and establishing
such a principle in the Government as would be
extremely dangerous.
"It was asked, if we ever knew a person re
moved from office by reason of sickness or igno
rance. If there never was such a case, it is per
haps nevertheless proper that they should be
removed for those reasons ; and we shall do well
to establish the principle.
" Suppose your Secretary of Foreign Affairs
rendered incapable of thought or action by a par
alytic stroke : I ask whether there w r ould be any
propriety in keeping such a person in office, and
whether the salus populi, the first object of re
publican Governments, does not absolutely demand
his dismission. Can it be expected that the Pres
ident is responsible for an officer under these cir
cumstances, although when he went into office
he micfht have been a wise and virtuous man,
O
and the President well inclined to risk his own
reputation upon the integrity and abilities of the
person ?
" I conceive it will be improper to leave the
determination of this question to the judges.
There will be some indelicacy in subjecting the
Executive action in this particular to a suit at
law; and there may be much inconvenience if
SALARY OF THE PRESIDENT. 213
the President does not exercise this prerogative
until it is decided by the courts of justice.
" From these considerations, the safety of the
people, the security of this House, and the adher
ence to the spirit of the Constitution, I am dis
posed to think the clause proper; and as some
doubts respecting the construction of the Con
stitution have arisen, I think it also necessary.
Therefore, I hope it will remain." l
Thursday, July 16, 1789, Mr. Boudinot made
some further observations respecting the exami
nation made by the committee, 2 from which it
appeared that the expense of the President of the
United States would exceed the expenses of the
late President of Congress in a variety of cases.
Two secretaries would be wanting. They must
be men of abilities and information ; but the com
mittee conceived extra provision would be made
for them by the House. If the whole was to be
comprehended in one grant to the President, he
would rather increase the sum reported by the
committee than diminish it. Originally he was
in favor of allowing 16,000; but then he thought
the expense of secretaries, carriages, furniture,
etc., was to be an additional allowance. Since
the House had determined otherwise, he favored
an addition to $20,000.
1 The first clause after recapitulating the title of the officer and his
duties had these words : " To be removable from office by the President
of the United States."
2 Mr. Boudinot one of the committee.
CHAPTER XXXII.
On Public Credit. On National Bank.
IN the second session of the First Congress,
January Qth, a letter was received from the Secre
tary of the Treasury, stating that in accordance
with the resolution of September 2ist he had
prepared a plan for the support of the public
credit. This called forth much discussion on its
several features and various amendments, some of
which called for discrimination in the payment of
the public debt.
Mr. Boudinot said : " I am glad to see gentle
men bring into view principles on which to deter
mine the great question before us ; because, when
they are once established, they will enable us to
proceed with certainty to a decision. If the princi
ples brought forward by the honorable gentleman
from Pennsylvania are just, his arguments are of
great weight; but if, on consideration, we shall
find that the principles are unjust, then I pre
sume, however cogent the system of reasoning he
has founded thereon, it will not prevail. He
supposes we sit here as judges to determine the
different claims of the creditors of the United
States. If we are in that predicament, I agree
we ought not to proceed but on full evidence and
hearing of the claims. But I have never hitherto
PUBLIC CREDIT. 215
been led to consider Congress in this light, nor can
I now consider them in any such point of view. I
consider the Congress, who entered into these en
gagements, as complete representatives of the
United States, and, in their political capacity,
authorized, by the Articles of Confederation, to
contract the debts for which our public faith is
pledged; instead of being judges, or arbitrators,
on this occasion, we are parties to the contract ;
nor is our case varied, by the dissolution of the
old Confederacy because the existing Constitution
has expressly recognized the engagements made
under the former. All debts before the adoption
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the
United States, under this Government, as under
the Confederation. Now is the moment to estab
lish the principle ; if the Constitution admits the
borrowing of money, or paying for supplies, to be
a contract, we are one of the parties to this con
tract, and all idea of being arbiters must vanish.
We cannot judge in our own cause. The case
will now stand clear ; we owe a debt, contracted
for a valuable consideration. The evidences of
our debt are in the hands of our creditors, and
we are called upon to discharge them ; if we have
it in our power, we ought to consider ourselves
bound to do it, on every principle of honor, of
justice, and of policy ; but as we have not the
ability to pay the whole off, nor, perhaps, the
whole interest, we must endeavor to make such a
modification as will enable us to satisfy every one.
2l6 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Not that this modification shall take place with
out the consent of the creditors ; this would be
improper and unjust. Each party is as much to
be consulted on this occasion, as it was at the
time of the first contract. If, then, Congress is
bound by the first contract, no gentleman can say
we are judges. If we are parties, what would be
the decision before a court of justice ? The cred
itor produces my bond, by which I have bound
myself to pay a hundred dollars ; I cannot gain
say the fact ; no man is allowed to plead that he
has made a bad bargain, and that at other times,
he could have purchased what he got of the cred
itor at half the sum he was forced to allow him.
The inquiry with the judges is not, whether the
debtor made a good bargain or not, but whether
he did it fairly and voluntarily. We are in the
same predicament if we fairly and honestly re
ceived the quid pro quo ; we are bound, as parties
to the honest performance of the contract, to dis
charge the debt ; otherwise what avails the clause
in the Constitution, declaring all debts contracted,
and engagements entered into, before its adoption
to be as valid against the present Government as
they were under the old Confederation ? The
debt W 7 as bona fide contracted ; it was acknow
ledged by the United States ; and the creditor re
ceived a certificate as to the evidence of his debt.
It is immaterial to us what he did with it. I con
fess if the original holder was to come forward
and say that he had been robbed of such evidence,
PUBLIC CREDIT. 217
we ought not to pay it until the point was ascer
tained in a court of justice.
" I can by no means consider the Congress of
the United States judges on this occasion. We
are not called upon as arbiters, our creditors
justly consider us as parties, and call upon us for
the payment of what we acknowledge to be due.
They require at our hands the discharge of the
engagement of which they present the written
evidence. I confess we are not warranted to
charge our constituents with unreasonable bur
dens ; and therefore, I presume we are authorized
to make propositions to our creditors for a more
convenient mode of payment than what was origi
nally contracted for, but this is optional with
them. If they refuse to listen to us, and insist
upon their just claim, we must satisfy it as far as
we have the ability ; thus far, I presume, we may
fairly go in regard to the domestic debt."
Some observations were made to point out a
difference between the foreign and domestic debt.
" I admit there is a distinction, and that in an
other instance which has not been mentioned.
His Most Christian Majesty, when he first became
our important ally, presented Congress with a
large sum of money ; but this being insufficient
to procure us the necessary supply of military
stores, a loan was made us from the royal coffers
of France. But this also being inadequate, we
endeavored to obtain further aid from foreigners.
The credit of the United States was so much im-
2l8 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
paired as to hold out but little encouragement to
individuals to trust us with their money. The
French King added another mark of his dis
tinguished attention : he guaranteed the loan, and
the money was obtained obtained of the widow
and fatherless, of persons whose all depended
upon a punctual payment of the interest. On
this point I could refer you to letters from our
commissioners in Europe, who beg that we may
not put them on this business, unless we are cer
tain that the United States will carefully provide
for the payment of the interest ; because, in case
of failure, hundreds must perish for want. This
is another motive why we should attend to the
performance of our contracts ; and I will repeat
again, it is what we are called upon to do upon
every principle of honor, justice, and policy." 1
SUBJECT OF SLAVERY.
First Congress, Second Session.
Monday, March 22cl, 1790.
" Mr. Boudinot said although he most heartily
approved of many of the arguments and doctrines
of his friend from Pennsylvania, yet he could not
go all lengths with him. He thought with him,
that our time had been taken up, and great labor
had been used in arguments that in no wise re-
o
lated to the merits of the question before the
committee, but he could not agree that the clause
in the Constitution relating to the want of power
l Annals of Congress, vol. i. p. 1149.
IMPORTATION OF NEGRO SLAVES. 2 19
in Congress to prohibit the importation of such
persons, as any of the States now existing shall
think proper to admit, prior to the year 1808, and
authorizing a tax or duty on such importation,
not exceeding ten dollars for each person, did
not extend to negro slaves. Candor required that
he should acknowledge that this was the express
design of the Constitution, and, therefore, Con
gress could not interfere in prohibiting the impor
tation, or promoting the emancipation of them,
prior to that period. He said he was well in
formed that the tax or duty of ten dollars was
provided instead of five per cent ad valorem, and
was so expressly understood by all parties in the
Convention. That therefore it was the interest
and duty of Congress to impose this tax, or it
would not be doing justice to the States, or equal
izing the duties throughout the Union. If this
O C>
was not done, merchants might bring their whole
O O
capital into this branch of trade, and save paying
any duties whatever. Mr. B. had hoped that the
great lengths to which the gentleman from Penn
sylvania had carried the argument would have
convinced gentlemen in the opposition of the pro
priety, if not the necessity, of the resolutions on
the table. Is it not prudent now, while the de
sign of the framers of the Constitution is well
o
known, and while the best information can be
obtained, for Congress to declare their sense of
it, on points which the gentlemen say involve
their great and essential interests, especially when
22O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the gentleman from Pennsylvania gives so differ
ent a construction of it from what the gentleman
from the southward thinks right ? Is it not ad
vantageous to the Southern States to have an
explicit declaration calming their fears and pre
venting unnecessary jealousies on this subject ?
Can there be any foundation for alarm, when
Congress expressly declare that they have no
power of interference prior to the year 1808?
But gentlemen say they have been charged with
impropriety of conduct, in discovering so much
warmth and earnestness, on a subject with which
their dearest interests are so intimately connected
-that all men are led by interest, and they are
justified in pursuing the same line of conduct.
" Mr. B. declared for his own part, he never
blamed them for standing forth for what they
conceived the true interests of their constituents;
but it was the manner in which this had been
done that he complained of. On resolutions de
claring that Congress had not power to prohibit
the importation of slaves into any State, or inter
fering in their emancipation or internal govern
ment, long arguments had been used, and much
precious time had been spent, to prove the lawful
ness of the African trade in slaves ; this indeed
was an arduous task in this day of light and
knowledge. An author, said to be of reputation,
was brought forward to prove the state of that
unhappy country, but it turned out to be in the
fifteenth century ; this could be of little avail.
SLAVE TRADE. 221
An hour was taken up in reading the labors of a
newspaper writer in the island of Jamaica. This
writer appeared wholly uninformed as to historic
facts relating to the miserable Africans, and as
ignorant of the principal arguments against the
slave trade. It was necessary for him to deny
the authority of Anthony Benezet, who had pub
lished some printed facts on the subject. Mr.
Benezet was a man of the strictest integrity, and
of the best information a man that was an
honor to his country and an ornament to society.
Mr. B. had been well acquainted with him, and
spoke from personal knowledge ; he had exam
ined into the facts from captains of Guineamen,
and a person who had lived twelve years in that
country and he could say, with confidence, that
Mr. Benezet s account had been generally con
firmed. Not only the practice of ancient nations,
and that of all modern Europe, had been brought
into view, but even the sacred Scriptures had
been quoted to justify this iniquitous traffic. It
is true, that the Egyptians held the Israelites in
bondage for four hundred years, and Mr. B.
doubted not, but much the same arguments as
had been used on the present occasion, had been
urged with great violence by the King of Egypt,
whose heart, it is expressly said, had been ex
tremely hardened to show why he should not
consent to let the children of Israel go, who had
now become absolutely necessary to him ; but,
said he, gentlemen cannot forget the consequences
222 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
that followed ; they were delivered by a strong
hand and stretched out arm, and it ought to be re
membered that the Almighty Power that accom
plished their deliverance is the same yesterday,
to-day, and forever. The New Testament has
afforded a number of texts to countenance this
doctrine, in the gentleman s opinion. One would
have imagined that the uniform tenor of the Gos
pel, that breathes a spirit of love and universal
philanthropy to our fellow creatures that com
mands our love to our neighbor to be measured
by our love to ourselves that teaches us what
soever we would that men should do to us to do
so to them, would have prevented this misappli
cation. Surely the gentleman overlooked the
prophecy of St. Peter, where he foretells that
among other damnable heresies, Through covet-
ousness shall they, with feigned words, make mer
chandise of you.
"A quotation from a modern author, of great
note in the philosophical world, has been most
ungenerously made use of by the newspaper writer
before referred to I mean from the works of the
famous Mr. Paley, whose treatise on Moral Phi
losophy does him the greatest credit a single
sentence or two is taken from this work, without
regard to the connection, to brand him with the
charge of countenancing slavery. Mr. B. then
produced the book and read the passage, wherein
it appeared that Mr. Paley laid down the obliga
tion of slavery to arise from crimes, captivity and
SLAVERY. 223
debt ; that the slave trade on the coast of Africa
is not excused by these principles, that no ques
tions are there asked relative to the justice of the
vender s title, but this is the least crime with
which this traffic is chargeable ; the natives are
excited to war with this the wickedness begins ;
O
the slaves torn away from parents, \vives, children,
from their friends and companions, their fields
and flocks, their home and country, are trans
ported to the European settlements in America,
with no other accommodation on ship-board than
what is provided for brutes. This is the second
stage of cruelty from which they are delivered,
only to be placed, and that for life, in subjection
to a dominion and system of laws the most tyran
nical that ever were tolerated upon the face of the
earth. But necessity is pretended, and after all it
has never been proved that it exists. Mr. Paley
then refers to the present situation of the United
States. The great revolution in the Western
World, says he, may probably conduce (and
who knows but what it was designed) to acceler
ate the fall of this abominable tyranny ; and now
it is a season for reflecting whether a Legislature
which had so long lent its assistance to the sup
port of an institution replete with human misery,
was fit to be trusted with an empire the most
extensive that ever obtained in any age or quarter
of the world. He then shows that slavery was
a part of the civil constitution of most countries
when Christianity appeared ; and the reason that
s ^ r
a K ;
224 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
its precepts did not expressly condemn or pro
hibit slavery was, because soliciting admission
into all nations, it abstained from meddling with
the civil institutions of any. Then follows the
passage quoted by the newspaper writer That
the discharging of slaves from all obligation to
o o o
their masters, which is the consequence of pro
nouncing slavery unlawful, would have no better
effect than to let loose one half of mankind on the
other. Slaves would have been tempted to em
brace a religion which asserted their right to free
dom ; masters would hardly have been persuaded
to consent to claims founded on such authority ;
the most calamitous of all contests, a bellum ser
vile, might probably have ensued, to the reproach,
if not the extinction, of the Christian name. He
then asserts that emancipation should be gradual,
and by the provisions of laws, and under the pro
tection of civil government. Christianity can
only operate as an alterative. By the mild dif
fusion of its light and influence, the minds of men
are insensibly prepared to perceive and correct
the enormities which folly, weakness or accident
have introduced into the public establishments.
Thus, proceeded Mr. B., justice is done to this
worthy philosopher, and my own sentiments are
more concisely and explicitly set forth than I could
have done without it.
" But when gentlemen attempt to justify this
unnatural traffic, and prove the lawfulness of sla
very, they should advert to the genius of our
SLAVERY. 225
Government, and the principles of the Revolu
tion. By the declaration of Congress, in 1775,
setting forth the causes and necessity of taking
up arms, they say : If it was possible for men
who exercise their reason to believe that the Di
vine author of our existence intended a part of
the human race to hold an absolute property in,
and an unbounded power over others, marked out
by His infinite goodness and wisdom, as the ob
jects of a legal domination never rightfully resisti
ble, however severe and oppressive, the inhabi
tants of these colonies might at least require from
the Parliament of Great Britain some evidence
that this dreadful authority over them had been
granted to that body. And by the Declaration
of Independence in 1776, Congress declare: We
hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Cre
ator with certain inalienable rights ; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
" This, then, is the language of America, in the
day of distress. Mr. Chairman, I would not be
understood to contend the right of Congress at
this time to prohibit the importation of slaves,
whatever might have been the principles of the
Revolution or the genius of the Government; by
the present Constitution we are clearly and posi
tively restrained till the year 1 808, and I am sure
that no gentleman in this committee would have
o
the most distant wish to wound this instrument
of our connection.
VOL. II.
226 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
" But there is a wide difference between justi
fying this ungenerous traffic, and supporting a
claim to property, vested at the time of the con
stitution, and guaranteed thereby. Besides, it
would be inhumanity itself to turn these unhappy
people loose to murder each other, or to perish
for the want of the necessaries of life. I never
was an advocate for so extravagant a conduct.
" Many arguments were pointed against the
danger of our emancipating these slaves, or even
holding up an idea that we had a power so to do,
and much time has been taken up to disprove this
ri^ht in Congress. As no claim of this kind is
O D
contended for, and the resolutions already passed
expressly contradict it, I shall make no further
observations on them.
" But the characters of the signers of these
O
memorials are called in question, as an argument
against the adoption of the resolution on the ta
ble. One of these memorials was signed by the
Society of people called Quakers ; the other by
Dr. Franklin, as President of a private Society in
Philadelphia. The indiscriminate abuse that has
been thrown out against Quakers, without dis
tinction, has not comported with the honor or
dignity of this House. Not only their characters,
but their very names, have been called upon, and
private anecdotes, relating to individuals, been
mentioned on the floor. Many of the Quakers I
have long lived in the habits of friendship with,
and can testify to the respectability of their char-
AID FROM QUAKERS. 227
acters and the regularity of their lives. Their
conduct in the late war has been arraigned, and
they have been condemned in the lump. I have
known many of them during the war, and impar
tial justice requires it from me, to give the com
mittee some official information on the subject.
I had the honor of serving the United States at
the commencement of the war as Commissary
General of prisoners. Congress not being able
to afford them supplies, those unhappy men in
this town were reduced to the very depths of dis
tress, without food, or raiment, without blankets
or firing, they suffered everything that human
nature could bear. In this situation many of the
Quakers of this city exercised such humanity
towards them as did honor to human nature.
The miserable prisoner not only felt the happy
effects of their exertions in his favor, but partici
pated in their money, their food, and clothing.
Nay, such were the jealousies created by this con
duct, in the British army here, that an armed
force entered the house of one of them, seized his
books, and though a man of great property and
large commercial dealings, on finding that he had
loaned large sums of money to our distressed
prisoners, he was turned out of their lines, and
with his family was a refugee during the whole
of the war afterwards, separated from his business
and property.
" To whom was the care of our prisoners in
Philadelphia committed? To a Quaker: and I
228 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
have, been witness to the just tribute of gratitude
and thankfulness paid by great numbers of our
unhappy fellow-citizens to that gentleman for his
kindness and humanity. And is this indiscrimi
nate charge without the least respect to char
acters, a decent or a just return for a conduct
like this ? Where is the denomination amongst
us, that did not furnish opposers to our glorious
Revolution ? Were not hundreds of Presbyte
rians, Episcopalians and almost of every other
denomination among our enemies ? What de
nomination formed the thousands of new levies
that endeavored to deluge our country in blood ?
On the other hand, were not a Greene and a
Mifrlin furnished from the Society of the Quakers ?
" In short, I rejoice to say that our cause was
not carried on by fanaticism or religious zeal, but
a general stru^le for the rights of human nature.
o oo o
Then why all this abuse of this particular sect
without discrimination ? Can any solid argument
against the resolution on the table arise from a
conduct of this kind? I am at a loss to know
what other argument has been used to show the
impropriety of the resolution before you. It goes
to declare the power of Congress to prohibit for
eigners from fitting out vessels in our ports, to
supply foreigners with slaves from Africa. For
my part, I think it a prudent, a humane, and a
Constitutional resolution. It will render further
interference on this subject, perhaps, unnecessary
when it is known that the power of Congress
NATIONAL BANK. 22Q
extends to remedy the evil. They will hardly
venture to risk a voyage that may be ruined be
fore its being finished.
" The gentleman last up (Mr. Smith) said, that
it was now acknowledged, that one of the memo
rials had asked something contrary to the Con
stitution. I have never acknowledged this. The
language is, that Congress would go to the very
verge of the Constitution to accomplish the busi
ness, but there is no request to exceed it.
" The character of the celebrated signer of the
last memorial, Dr. Franklin, has been touched
upon. The firmness of his mind has been sus
pected. An ingenious parable of his has been
read to the committee, but its application totally
mistaken. If the Supreme Being has borne with
the unhappy subjects of our consideration, not
for one hundred, but for thousands of years, in
their own native land ; has provided them with
climate, soil, and social comforts, in which they
rejoice; must we be discontented, and suppose,
by adding to their misery, we can add to their
happiness ? " 1
BANK OF THE UNITED STATES.
Friday, February 4th, 1791.
The bill for a national bank advocated by the
Secretary of the Treasury and sent down from
the Senate was opposed by Mr. Madison, Mr.
Giles, Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Stone, chiefly on the
1 Annals of Congress, vol. ii. p. 1466.
230 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ground that Congress had no constitutional right
to pass such a bill. The bill was supported by
Mr. Ames, Mr. Sedgwick, Mr. Smith of South
Carolina, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Gerry, and Mr. Vin-
ing. Mr. Boudinot spoke in its favor as follows :
" Mr. Boudinot said he meant to confine himself
to two or three great points on which the whole
argument appeared to him to rest. He considered
the objections to the bill as pointed against its
constitutionality and its expediency. It was es
sential, he observed, that every member should
be satisfied, as far as possible, of the first ; for
however expedient it might be, if it was clearly
unconstitutional, the bill should never receive the
sanction of the representatives of the people. He
would, in a great measure refer its expediency, if
constitutional, to the experience of every gentle
man of the House, as the most satisfactory proof
on that head, and he conceived there w r as no need
of much argument in support of its decision.
The first question then was, is Congress vested
with a power to grant the privileges contained in
the bill ? This is denied, and ought to be proved.
In order to show in what manner this subject had
struck his mind, he first laid down these princi
ples :
" Whatever power is exercised by Congress
must be drawn from the Constitution, either from
the express words or apparent meaning, or from a
necessary implication arising from the obvious in
tent of the framers.
NATIONAL BANK. 231
" That whatever powers (vested heretofore in
any individual State) not granted by this instru
ment are still in the people of such State, and
cannot be exercised by Congress. That what
ever implication destroys the principle of the
Constitution ought to be rejected. That in con
struing an instrument, the different parts ought
to be so expounded as to give meaning to every
part which will admit of it.
" Having stated these preliminaries, Mr. B. pro
ceeded to inquire what were the powers attempted
to be exercised by this bill ? For, until the powers
were known, the question of constitutionality could
not be determined. By it Congress was about to
exercise the power of incorporating certain indi
viduals, thereby establishing a banking company
for successfully conducting the finances of the
nation. The next inquiry is, what rights will this
Company enjoy in this new character that they
do not enjoy independent of it? Every individual
citizen had an undoubted right to purchase and
hold property, both real and personal, to any
amount whatever; to dispose of this property to
whom and on what terms he pleased, to lend his
money on legal interest to any person willing to
take the same, and indeed to exercise every power
over his property that was contained in the bill.
Individual citizens, then, having these powers,
might associate together in company or copart
nerships, and jointly exercising the same rights
might hold lands in joint tenancy, or as tenants
232 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
in common, to any amount whatever; might put
any sum of money into joint stock ; might issue
their notes to any amount; might make by-laws
or articles of copartnership for their own govern
ment ; and, finally, might set up a bank to any
amount, however great, and no authority in the
Government could legally interfere with the exer
cise of these rights. The great difference between
this private association of citizens, in their indi
vidual capacities, and the company to be created
by this bill, and which it held up in so dangerous
a light, is, that the one exposes the company to
the necessity of using each individual s name in
all their transactions ; suits must be brought in all
their names ; deeds must be taken and given in
like manner ; each one in his private estate is
liable for the default of the rest; the death of a
member dissolves the partnership as to him ; and
for want of a political existence the union may
be dissolved by any part of its members, and of
course many obvious inconveniences must be
suffered merely of an official kind. By the bill,
these difficulties are to be removed by conveying
three qualities to them.
" ist. Individuality, or constituting a number
of citizens into one legal artificial body, capable
by a fictitious name of exercising the rights of an
individual.
" 2d. Irresponsibility in their individual capa
city, not being answerable beyond the joint capital.
" 3d. Durability, or a political existence for a
NATIONAL BANK. 233
certain time, not to be affected by the natural
death of its members.
" These are the whole of the powers exercised,
and the rights conveyed. It is true these are con
venient and advantageous to the company, but of
trifling importance when considered as a right of
power exercised by a National Legislature for the
benefit of the Government. Can it be of any im
portance to the State whether a number of its
citizens are considered, in legal contemplation, as
united in an individual capacity, or separately as
so many individuals, especially if the public weal
is thereby promoted? By their irresponsibility
being known, every person dealing with them
gives his tacit consent to the principle, and it be
comes part of the contract. And by political
duration their powers and abilities are limited, and
their rights restricted, so as to prevent any danger
that might arise from the exercise of their joint
natural right, not only as to the amount of their
capital but as to the by-laws they may make for
their government.
"A private bank could make contracts with the
Government and the Government with them, to all
intents and purposes, as great and important as
a public bank, would their capital admit of it ;
though they would not possess such qualities as
to justify the confidence of Government, by de
pending on them in a time of danger and neces
sity. This might put it in the power of any indi
vidual to injure the community in its essential
234 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
interests by withdrawing the capital when most
needed. To prevent this, and many other incon
veniences, it is necessary that a bank for the pur
poses of Government should be a legally artificial
body, possessing the three qualities above men
tioned.
" Mr. B. then took up the Constitution, to see if
this simple power was not fairly to be drawn by
necessary implication from those vested by this
instrument in the legislative authority of the
United States. It sets out in the preamble with
declaring the general purposes for which it was
formed : the insurance of domestic tranquillity,
provision for the common defense, and promotion
of the general welfare. These are the prominent
features of this instrument, and are confirmed
and enlarged by the specific grants in the body
of it, where the principles on which the Legis
lature should rest, after their proceedings are
more fully laid down, and the division of power
to be exercised by the general and particular
Governments distinctly marked out By the 8th
Section, Congress has power to levy taxes, pay
debts, provide for the common defense and general
welfare, declare war, raise and support armies,
provide for and maintain a navy, and as the
means to accomplish these important ends to
borrow money, and finally, to make all laws
necessary and proper for carrying into execution
the foregoing powers. Let us then, inquire, is
the constituting a public bank necessary to these
NATIONAL BANK. 235
important and essential ends of government ? If
so, the right to exercise the power must be in the
supreme Legislature.
" He argued that the power was not contained
in express words, but that it was necessarily de-
clucecl by the strongest and most decisive implica
tion, because he contended that it was a necessary
means to attain a necessary end. Necessary im
plication had led Congress under the power to
lay and collect imposts and taxes, to establish offi
cers for the collection, to inflict penalties against
those who should defraud the revenue, to oblige
vessels to enter at one port and deliver in another ;
subjected them to various ceremonies in their
proceedings, for which the owners were made to
pay, and he conceived that it was not so great an
exertion of power by implication to incorporate a
company for the purpose of a bank. He also
deduced the right from the power of paying debts,
raising armies, providing for the general welfare
and common defense, for which they were to bor
row money. All these necessarily include the
right of using every proper and necessary means
to accomplish these necessary ends. It is certain,
he said, that money must be raised from the peo
ple. This could not be done in sums sufficient
for the exigencies of Government in a country
where the precious metals were as scarce as in
this. The people in general are poor when com
pared with European nations; they have a wil
derness to subdue and cultivate ; taxes must be
236 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
laid with prudence, and collected with discretion ;
the anticipation of the revenues, therefore, by bor
rowing money becomes absolutely necessary. If
so, then as the Constitution had not specified the
manner of borrowing, or from whom the loan was
to be obtained, the supreme Legislature of the
Union were at liberty; it was their duty to fix on
the best mode of effecting the purposes of their
appointment. For it was a sound principle that
when a general power is granted, and the means
are not specified, they are left to the discretion of
those in whom the trust is reposed, provided they
do not adopt means expressly forbidden. The
public defense, or general welfare resting on the
annual supplies from uncertain revenues, would
expose the very existence of the community. It
is the duty of those to whom the people have
committed this power to prepare in time of peace
for the necessary defense in a time of war. The
United States are now happily in a state of peace ;
but it was impossible for any one to say how long it
would continue. By prudent management it might
be long preserved ; but this prudence consisted in
being always found in a state of preparation to
defend our country.
" The Constitution contemplates this very duty
by authorizing Congress to provide for the com
mon defense by borrowing money. Why borrow
money? Are not the annual revenues sufficient?
It might be so, if nothing was to be attended to
but internal wants, but the common defense and
NATIONAL BANK. 237
general welfare loudly call for that provision which
will produce a constant guard on external enemies
and internal insurrections. To this necessary end
it becomes Congress to provide that the necessary
means may be always at hand, by being able to
arm their citizens and provide their support
while engaged in the defense of their common
country. This can be done only by borrowing
money, which is usually of citizens or foreigners ;
if of the first, it must be from individuals or from
private banks ; will it be prudent to trust to
either ? Loans from individuals were attempted
during the war when patriotism produced a will
in some leaders, and others were ^lad to 2fet rid of
C> O
a depreciating paper currency almost on any terms
whatever.
" But even these loans, arising from this paper
medium with which the market was glutted, were
altogether insufficient, and by one change of cir
cumstances every hope was precluded of being
any way successful in procuring money from that
source. The circumstances of individuals, too, in
this country are such, when compared with the
wants of a nation, as to render the source too
vague and uncertain to rely upon ; and it would
be a most improvident execution of the powers
granted for the express purpose of the common
defense and general welfare. Private banks are
almost as inadequate to the object, and for rea
sons already given, were neither to be depended
on for will or capital as to the supply for the
238 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
principal wants of Government. They are gen
erally established for commercial purposes and
on capitals not always sufficient for them. If
they should be prevailed upon at any time to
attempt to supply the demands of a nation at
war, it must be from a general combination of
their whole stocks, to the destruction of the ori
ginal design of their several institutions. This
ought not to be expected ; for as far as it goes
to the depression of the mercantile interests, so
far it is injurious to the Government; besides, a
dependence upon such a combination would be
impolitic, both from its slowness and uncertainty.
The votes of a few individuals affected by local
selfish, or adverse politics, might endanger the
whole people. Such a dependence ought not to
be attributed to the wise framers of the Constitu
tion, neither does the language warrant it. But
foreign loans have been mentioned as a proper
source for this purpose. The imprudence of
placing the common defense of a nation on the
will of those who have no interest in its welfare,
is a good answer to this observation. Would
it be prudent to trust a foreigner, perhaps a rival,
if not an enemy, with your supply of what has
emphatically been called the sinews of war?
Would it not expose us to exorbitant demands,
and often a refusal ? Many adventitious circum
stances of a war, increasing demands from all
quarters, scarcity of coin, and difficulty of com
munication, as well as the intrigues of courts, all
NATIONAL BANK. 239
loudly oppose the measure as contrary to the
spirit and meaning of a provision for the common
defense and general welfare. The only resort,
then, he conceived, was by a timely provision to
secure institutions at home from which loans
might be obtained at all times on moderate terms,
and to such amount as the necessity of the State
might require. But gentlemen say that the Con
stitution does not expressly warrant the establish
ment of such a corporation. If by expressly, ex
press words are meant, it is agreed that there are
no express words ; and this is the case with most
of the powers exercised by Congress, for if the
doctrine of necessary implication is rejected, he
did not see what the supreme Legislature of the
Union could do in that character. If this power
is not clearly given in the Constitution by neces
sary implication, then is a necessary end proposed
and directed, while the common and usual neces
sary means to attain that end are refused, or at
least not granted.
" Mr. B. was firmly of opinion that a National
Bank was the necessary means, without which
the end could not be obtained. Theory proved
it so in his opinion, and the experience of the
Union in a day of distress had fully confirmed
the theory. The struggles of the friends of free
dom during the late contest had nearly been ren
dered abortive for want of this aid. That danger
which was then so hardly avoided became a sol
emn memento to this House to provide against
240 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
a similar case of necessity. This was the time
to do it with advantage, being in such profound
peace. He had not heard any argument by
which it was proved that individuals, private
banks, or foreigners, could with safety and pro
priety be depended on as the efficient and neces
sary means for so important a purpose. Although
money was at present plentiful in Europe, and
might be borrowed on easy terms, it might not
be so to-morrow in case a war should break out
and our necessities become pressing. He again
enumerated the harmless qualities with which it
was proposed to vest the bank corporation by
the bill on the table, for the important purposes
of the common defense and general welfare.
Gentlemen had not yet pointed out any danger
arising to the community, neither did he think it
possible that any could ever be mentioned equal
to those of suffering the Government to depend
on individuals or private banks for loans in a day
of distress.
" But it was said that this bill gave the corpora
tion a right to hold real property in a State, which
Congress had no power to do. The terms of the
bill are misapprehended : this is a right which
has been already shown attaches to the citizens
individually, or in their associated capacity; the
bill, therefore, does no more than to vest a num
ber with an artificial single capacity under a fic
titious name, and by that name to hold lands,
make by-laws, &c. All which they might have
NATIONAL BANK. 241
done before as citizens in a collective capacity.
So far from giving a new power, their original
individual rights are limited for the public safety
as to the amount of their stock and the duration
of their existence.
" Mr. B. then proceeded to cite numerous in
stances of powers exercised by Congress during
the last two years, deduced under the Constitu
tion by necessary implication, to show the utter
impossibility of carrying any one provision of that
authority into execution for the benefit of the peo
ple without this reasonable latitude of construc
tion. He also adverted to some instances of the
conduct under the former Confederation. It had
been urged that the new Congress had no rights
or powers but what had been vested in and given
to them by the individual States, and therefore
they could not accept a cession from Great Brit
ain by the treaty of peace, of the lands extending
to the Lake of the Woods, because not before
included in any individual State. Every member
was soon convinced of the absurdity of the argu
ment, and by a necessary implication established
the power of the Confederated Legislature. Dur
ing the war the Commander-in-chief gave a pass
port to a British officer to transmit clothing to
the British prisoners at Lancaster. He accord
ingly conveyed a very large quantity of British
goods into Pennsylvania for that purpose, which
being directly against an express law of that State,
they were seized and condemned by the proper
VOL. II.
242 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
magistrate. On a complaint to the Legislature
of the State, they referred the same to their Ju
dicial officers, upon whose report (that Congress
being vested with the power of declaring war, the
right of giving safe passports to an enemy was
necessarily implied, which, therefore, was duly
exercised by their Commander-in-chief, though no
express power was given to him for that purpose,)
the Legislature declared their law directing the
condemnation of the goods void ab initio, and
the judgment of condemnation had no effect.
" This was also the rule that governed this
House with regard to the removability of officers
by the President, and the authority given to a
Council to legislate for the Western Territory.
In fine, he concluded that it was universally un
derstood that whenever a general power was given,
especially to a supreme Legislature, every neces
sary means to carry it into execution was necessa
rily included. This was the common sense of
mankind, without which it would require a multi
tude of volumes to contain the original powers of
an increasing Government that must necessarily
be changing its relative situation every year or two.
" If power was given to raise an army, the mak
ing provision for all the necessary supplies and
incidental charges was included. If a navy was
to be formed, the manning and supplying the
warlike stores are necessarily included. If a
power is given to borrow money, a right to mort
gage or pledge the public property to secure the
NATIONAL BANK. 243
repayment is understood to be vested in the bor
rower. Take up the present statute book and
every page will afford evidence of this doctrine.
Examine the law with regard to crimes and pun
ishments. Under the power of establishing courts,
we have implied the power of punishing the steal
ing and falsifying the records, and ascertained the
punishment of perjury, bribery, and extortion.
Under the power of regulating trade, we have
accepted cessions of real estate, and built light
houses, piers, &c. All this is under the doctrine
of necessary implication for the public good, and
in cases not so strong as the present, and on the
exercise of which no gentlemen thought proper to
start this objection.
" This construction appears so natural and ne
cessary that the good sense of every gentleman on
the floor has hitherto led him to proceed on this
principle ever since we began to legislate. What
principle of the Constitution does it destroy ? It
gives nothing that can affect the rights of any
State or citizen. Indeed, it has been said that it
is exercising a high act of power. He thought
it had been shown to be rather of the inferior
kind ; but allow the position, and who so proper
as the Legislature of the whole Union to exercise
such a power for the general welfare ? It has
also been said that this power is a mere conven-
iency for the purpose of fiscal transactions, but
not necessary to attain the ends proposed in the
Constitution. This is denied, and at best is mere
244 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
matter of opinion, and must be left to the discre
tion of the Legislature to determine.
" Mr. B. said he should now conclude what he
had to say, had not an honorable gentleman (Mr.
Jackson) brought forward the observations of the
Author of the Federalist, vol. ii. pp. 72, 73, 74, to
show a different contemporaneous exposition of
the Constitution, and charged the author, who he
alleged was said to be also the author of the
present plan before the House, with a change of
sentiment. As this gentleman is not here to
speak for himself, he ought to have the next best
chance by having what he then wrote candidly
attended to, especially as gentlemen allow him to
be a good authority. Mr. B. read only part of the
730! page, referred to by Mr, Jackson, in these
words : Had the Convention attempted a posi
tive enumeration of the powers necessary and
proper for carrying their other powers into effect,
the attempt would have involved a complete di
gest of laws on every subject to which the Con
stitution relates ; accommodated, too, not only to
the existing state of things, but to all the possible
changes which futurity may produce ; for in every
new application of a general power, the particular
powers which are the means of attaining the gen
eral power must always necessarily vary with that
object, and be often properly varied whilst the
object remains the same. How these sentiments
can be said to be a different contemporaneous
exposition must be left to the House to determine.
NATIONAL BANK. 245
" Mr. B. then begged the indulgence of the
House to hear the same gentleman when arguing
expressly on that part of the Constitution now
under consideration; and then read pp. 144, 145
and 146 of the ist volume of the Federalist, which
are too long to be inserted. He declared that in
his opinion, it was impracticable to put together
language in the same length that could more for
cibly and pointedly elucidate and prove the con
struction contended for in support of the bill on
the table. There remained yet but two objec
tions, to answer which Mr. B. would detain the
House a little longer.
" The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jackson)
had charged the measure with establishing the
commercial interests, to the great injury of the
agricultural. If this was true, he never would
agree to it, for he considered the agricultural
interests of America as its great and sure depen
dence. Mr. B. confessed that so far from seeing
these measures in this point of light, he could not
bring his mind to comprehend how the commer
cial interests of a country could be promoted
without greatly advancing the interests of agri
culture. Will the farmer have any temptation to
labor if the surplus of what he raises beyond his
domestic consumption is to perish in the barn for
want of a market? Can a market be obtained
without the merchant? If commerce flourishes,
the merchants increase, and of course the demand
for the produce of the land ; but if the mercantile
246 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
interests fail, there is none to export the surplus
produced by agriculture. If the farmer should
undertake to export his own produce, he could
not give his whole attention to his affairs ; or, if
the merchant should attempt to raise the grain he
wanted, he could not carry on his merchandise.
The one interest depends on the other; a separa
tion destroys both.
" But the incapacity of the bank to extend its
influence to the extremes of the Union has been
aimied from the gentleman never having seen a
o o o
note of the present Bank of North America in
Georgia, he therefore concludes that bank has
never been of any service to her agricultural inter
ests. Mr. B. said that he drew very different con
clusions from this fact. He supposed that by
means of the bank the traders with Georgia had
been enabled to send her the precious metals,
while the bank paper had answered their purpose
nearer home, where it circulated with undoubted
credit. He instanced a case of a Philadelphia
merchant, who was possessed of ^100 in gold,
and ^"100 credit at the bank; the merchant
wanted ^100 worth of rice of a Georgia planter,
and the like value in flour of a Pennsylvania
farmer. When he purchased the one of the
Georgian, he could safely pay him the whole in
gold, while he found the Pennsylvania!! would as
readily receive the bank paper for his flour; but had
there been no bank, he could have purchased but
worth of each, and the Georgian and Penn-
NATIONAL BANK. 247
sylvanian both would have gone without a market
for the residue. In short, the whole Union may
be likened to the body and limbs ; you cannot aid
or comfort one but the other must be likewise
benefited.
" He said it was, however, difficult and impracti
cable to show that every measure adopted by the
Government should have an effect perfectly equal
over so extensive a country as that of the United
States ; it " was sufficient if, upon the whole, the
measures of Government, taken all together, pro
duced the desired equality.
" The last objection was, that by adopting this
bill we exposed the measure to be considered and
defeated by the Judiciary of the United States,
who might adjudge it to be contrary to the Con
stitution, and therefore void, and not lend their
aid to carry it into execution. This, he alleged,
gave him no uneasiness. He was so far from
controverting this right in the Judiciary, that it
was his boast and his confidence. It led him to
greater decision on all subjects of a Constitutional
nature, when he reflected that if, from inattention,
want of precision, or any other defect, he should
do wrong, that there was a power in the Govern
ment which could constitutionally prevent the
operation of such a wrong measure from affecting
his constituents. He was legislating for a nation
and for thousands unborn ; and it was the glory
of the Constitution that there was a remedy even
for the failures of the supreme Legislature itself.
248 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
" Upon the whole, then, he said, that on taking
the power in question in every point of view, and
giving the Constitution the fullest consideration,
under the advantage of having the objections
placed in the strongest point of light by the great
abilities of the gentlemen in the opposition, he was
clearly in favor of the bill ; as to its expediency,
there could be little doubt in the minds of any gen
tleman ; and unless more conclusive arguments
could be adduced to show the unconstitutionality,
he should in the end vote for passing the bill." 1
1 Annals of Congress, vol. ii. p. 1919.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
On the Petition of the Officers of the late Continental Army for further
Compensation. On Official Conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury.
PAY OF THE LATE ARMY.
Second Congress, Second Session.
"ON Monday, January 14,1793, the House be
ing in Committee of the Whole took into consid
eration the memorial of the officers of the several
lines of the late Army, on the subject of a defi
ciency of their pay.
" Mr. Boudinot assured the committee that he
had determined not to trouble them on this sub
ject, and he should have carried that determina
tion into execution, did he not find that the
question was likely to be taken in a manner not
altogether pleasing to him. He had expected
that the claims of the officers would have been
fairly met, and, if decided in the negative, those
gentlemen would have gone away fully satisfied
that their claims had received a fair and candid
discussion. But he feared, from the arguments
of gentlemen, that the idea that the United States
had unjustly failed in performing the contract
with the Army, would take place, and an un
grounded imputation of partiality (at least in the
minds of the petitioners) would be left on the
250 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Government, when Mr. B. thought a fair state
ment of the matter would undoubtedly put a very
different face on the whole subject. The officers
of the Army had come forward as creditors of the
United States in a decent and becoming manner,
and presented their claims founded on former
contracts, which they conceived had not been ful
filled, and therefore they called on Government
to do what was right and just on the occasion.
Congress were the independent representatives of
the whole Union, to whom every citizen ought to
have free access ; and where every citizen was to
be considered as equally entitled to an impartial
hearing. If, on examination, it should appear
that justice required a further compensation to
the petitioners as a class of public creditors, when
considered on a general scale, no man in the
House would be more ready than himself to give
his voice for such a measure. But if it should
appear that the contract on the part of the public
had been complied with, as far as distributive
justice would permit, he wished the petitioners to
be convinced of it, and that those losses they had
met with were such as had been equally borne by
other creditors of the Union, and therefore a gen
eral burden, by which he hoped they would re
ceive full satisfaction on this subject.
" Mr. B. while he acknowledged the patriotism
and virtue of the American Army, and subscribed
fully to their eminent services and patient suffer
ings, he could not join in decrying the essential
PAY OF THE LATE ARMY. 251
services and sufferings of the other public creditors
of the United States, who, in the day of her dis
tress, had administered their property to the sup
port of that Army and the defense of the Union.
"All public creditors who presented themselves
in the day of distress to the relief of the Union,
w r ere equally entitled to the attention of Congress;
but, as the officers in their Memorials had applied
in behalf of the Army alone, he wished to con
sider their case, in the first instance, abstractly,
without connecting it with any other class of
creditors, and then compare it with others of their
fellow-citizens.
"He undertook, therefore, in the first place, to
state the public conduct towards the Army from
the beginning of the war to the commencement
of the present Government. He would then ex
amine the conduct of the present Government;
and lastly, supposing their claim just, inquire into
the practicability of satisfying it. The Committee
were well acquainted with the rise and progress
of the late war. At the first alarm the patriotic
citizens of the Colonies flew to their arms, and
formed in the field, without terms or stipulations
as to their services. In 1775, Congress turned
their attention to the Army as the first great ob
ject, and having organized it, fixed the pay at the
rate of fifty dollars for a Colonel, and twenty dol
lars for a Captain. In 1776, desirous of encourag
ing citizens who were so zealous in their country s
service, they gave a bounty of twenty dollars to
252 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
each private, amounting in the whole to upwards
of two hundred thousand dollars, besides a prom
ise of one hundred acres of land ; and to the offi
cers at the rate of five hundred acres to a Colonel,
and the rest in proportion. In October of the
same year, desirous of keeping up the zeal of the
officers, they increased the pay in the proportion
of seventy-five dollars to a Colonel, and forty dol
lars to a Captain, and gave a suit of clothes per
annum to every private, or twenty dollars in cash.
In December, 1777, Congress showed their desire
of encouraging the service, by giving a month s
extra pay to the Army. The officers, anxious for
their future support after the war was over, ex
pressed an earnest desire of having some pro
vision of this sort anticipated, and Congress, in
compliance with their desires, after a considera
tion of three months, or more, agreed in May,
1778, to give each officer half-pay for seven years
after the end of the war, on condition that they
did not hold any office of profit under any indi
vidual State, and eighty dollars to each private.
In November, following, they gave to each super
numerary officer one year s pay extraordinary, and
increased the allowance for every retained ration
to 2s. 6d. in money. The Army not being satis
fied with this provision, in August, 1779, a com
mittee, appointed for the purpose, reported fur
ther provision of half-pay for life, without any
condition in favor of those who should continue
to the end of the war and recommended to the
PAY OF THE LATE ARMY. 253
States to provide for widows of officers and sol
diers who should be killed in the service. Con
gress likewise increased the allowance of monthly
subsistence for officers to five hundred dollars for
a Colonel, a Captain two hundred dollars, and a
private ten dollars, and, added to all this, Congress
allowed the officers to receive from the public
stores one hat, a watch-coat, body coat, four vests,
four pair of breeches, four shirts, four stocks, six
pair of stockings, and four pair of shoes, per
annum, nearly at former prices ; and the soldiers
in proportion. The half-pay for life was adopted,
to the great offense of individual States, who sent
forward petitions against the measure as impol
itic and unjust. The war continuing, the dis
tresses of the country increased, which reduced
the public credit so low as to produce great un
easiness among all classes of public creditors,
both in the Army and country.
"The gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Hart
ley) in his argument, represented (in Mr. B s.
opinion) his own feelings on the occasion, rather
than a comparative view of the sufferings of the
citizens at large ; for it is not uncommon, when
gentlemen are connected with a particular class
of sufferers, to view what he sees and hears as an
exclusive and peculiar evil, without considering
what passes elsewhere. Thus, the soldier con
siders the sacrifice of the Army as the only intol
erable burden ; while the merchant, knowing his
own losses best, considers others complaints as
254 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
trifling compared to his ; and the farmer, who
earns every farthing by the sweat of his brow,
blames the Government for not giving him the
first place in all their systems. Yet the fair con
clusion is, that the burden has been generally
nearly equal, and a common tax for the defense
of our country. And although Mr. B. readily
subscribed to the great sufferings and patriotic
exertions of the Army, yet they should also give
credit for the attention of their country to the ut
most of her abilities. As the gentleman from
o
Pennsylvania is best acquainted with the line of
his own State, Mr. B. undertook to mention what
was done by Pennsylvania for her own officers in
addition to the allowance of Congress. During
the war stores were provided, from which they re
ceived a partial supply at the hard money prices.
The depreciation of their pay was fully made up
to them ; at the sales of the confiscated estates
their certificates were received as hard money ;
the same for lands in the land office ; the interest
of six per cent, was paid on their certificates for a
number of years ; an additional bounty of land
was given to them, ready surveyed and free from
expense, and when the Funding System took
place they had their three per cent, and deferred
debt made good to six per cent, by additional cer
tificates from the State, which were afterwards re
deemed at about fifty and thirty-seven per cent,
in hard money.
" In August, 1782, a Memorial from the State of
PAY OF THE LATE ARMY. 255
Pennsylvania called loudly on Congress for fresh
exertions towards" the settlement of all accounts
and making provision for the paying off the pub
lic debt. It is supposed the Army took the hint,
and, in December following, a deputation of field
Officers, with a strong Memorial on behalf of
the Army, waited on Congress. The substance
of their request was, first, some present pay, sec
ondly, a settlement of their accounts and security
for their balances ; and thirdly, a commutation of
their half-pay for life ; as they found that the
measure was odious to their fellow-citizens, and
would prevent the happy intercourse they ex
pected on their return to private life. The pres
ent pay and settlement of accounts were imme
diately provided for, and as to security for the
balances, Congress resolved, As to what relates
to the providing of security for what shall be
found due on such settlement, that the troops of
the United States, in common with all the credi
tors of the same have an undoubted right to ex
pect such security, and that Congress will make
every effort in their power to obtain from the
respective States substantial funds adequate to
the object, &c. As to the commutation, it was
urged, on the part of the Army, that five or six
years full pay was but a reasonable sum to make
good their sufferings, not only on account of the
deficiency of their pay, but also on other accounts,
and that it would be more agreeable to their fel
low-citizens, than that they should be pensioners
256 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
for life. Mr. B. mentioned this from his memory,
which he said was confirmed by the Journals of
Congress of February, 1783, when a resolution
proposed was prefaced in this manner : Whereas,
in consequence of the faithful services of the offi
cers of the Army of the United States, and of
their great sufferings, not only on account of the
deficiency of their pay, but on ot/ier accounts,
Congress have, by divers resolutions, promised
them half-pay, &c. The want of money having
been raised as an objection against this measure,
the officers contended that they expected nothing
more than certificates for their balances, in the
same manner as other creditors of the United
States had received. Congress finally determined
to grant their request, but to prevent the Army
from alienating their certificates at an under rate,
and thereby affecting the public credit, it was
proposed that they should not be made transfera
ble. As soon as the delegation from the Army
were made acquainted with this, they spurned at
the idea, and justly asked if they were not free
men, if the balances were not their own property,
whether they had not the same right to dispose
of their property as they pleased, with every other
citizen ? They therefore insisted to be put on
a footing with every other creditor who had re
ceived certificates. The reasoning was too forci-
e!?
ble to be answered with propriety, and therefore
Congress, on the 22d of March, 1783, resolved,
That such officers, &c., shall be entitled to re-
PAY OF THE LATE ARMY. 257
ceive th.e amount of five years full pay in money
or securities on interest at six per cent, per an
num, as Congress shall find most convenient,
instead of the half-pay promised for life; the said
securities to be siich as shall be given to other credi
tors of the United States, provided it is at the
option of the lines of the respective States to accept
or refuse the same. That with regard to the re
tiring officers, the commutation, if accepted by
them, shall be in lieit of whatever may be now due
as well as what might hereafter become duel &c.
This commutation amounted to $4,500 to a Colo
nel, and $2,400 to a Captain.
" Mr. B. alleged his privity to this arrangement,
having been in Congress at the time and of
o o
course one of the parties to the contract. He
also observed very particularly on this measure
originating with the Army and especially the ne
gotiable property of the certificates ; that in this
transaction all former demands were involved,
and the express stipulation of the Army and the
assent of Congress was, not to pay a specific sum
in specie, but to give such securities for balances
as should be given to the other creditors of the
o
United States. Here, then, was no difference
between creditors ; all were put on a footing, and
every citizen who had made advances for the
Government, or had fought her battles, was con
sidered equally entitled to the attention of Gov
ernment. From this time the demands of the
Army put on the face of a settled debt, and re-
VOL. II.
258 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
quisitions were made to the different States for a
fund on which to found a certainty of payment,
at least of the interest, from year to year. All
the States but one having made the necessary
arrangements, the plan was frustrated ; but many
of the individual States made provision for, and
did actually pay, the interest of six per cent, for
several years. Notwithstanding these partial pay
ments the public credit suffered much, and among
other causes the great number of these negotiable
securities brought to market was not the least.
The distresses of some, the different objects of
pursuit of others which required capital, the debts
of others which called for payment as soon as the
war was over, and the fears of others for the fate
of the Government, all conspired to bring on a
general bankruptcy. These securities fell from
six shillings and eight pence to two shillings and
six pence in the pound, and transfers were as
common as any other merchandise. The public
fears, and the universal complaint of creditors
finally brought about a change of the Govern
ment, and the new Constitution was formed, in
which two material articles applied to all credi
tors: one, that the new Government was to be
liable for the debts of the old ; and another, that
all contracts should be carried into effect agree
ably to the terms of them. The old Congress had
so far complied with their engagements as to
give the securities required by the contract, and
to apply to the individual States for the funds
PAY OF THE LATE ARMY. 259
promised. The new Government, at the earnest
request of her creditors, turned an early attention
to the public debt. She found the contracts were
with the original creditor, bearer, or assignee.
The holder was equally a party to the contract,
and demanded the whole debt, without regard to
the sum paid for it to the original holder ; on the
other hand, many contended for the right of
the first creditor as an equitable demand to the
surplus (or at least a part of it), after paying the
principal and interest of the sum for which it was
transferred. To this it was answered, that Con
gress could not consider themselves as a Court
of Law or Equity to determine these claims.
They were bound to A, B, or bearer, or his as
signee. The holder of the evidence of the public
debt could alone, in Law or Equity, give a dis
charge of the debt, that it would be unconstitu
tional to destroy the contract of the parties, when
made bona fide, and it was agreed that fraud
could vitiate every contract for which the Courts
of Justice were adequate: therefore it was, that
all discrimination was refused ; first, as a matter
without the jurisdiction of Congress ; secondly,
as a matter unjust, on the principle of a fair con
tract made on a risk to be run ; and, lastly, as
impracticable in its very nature. In consequence
of this, propositions were made to the holders of
the public securities on the principles of the Fund
ing System, the substance of which was, that as
the Government in its infancy could not embrace
26O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
a discharge of the debts, or, indeed, a payment of
full interest without risking the public credit as
heretofore, and by this means again exposing the
creditor to loss, it was therefore advisable to new-
modify the debt, so that the creditor should give
up three per cent, upon the interest, and two per
cent, on the principal for ten years, for which
he should receive an equivalent in the following
manner: it was a very reasonable conjecture, in
case the new Government succeeded and public
credit was restored, that interest would fall in
five years to five per cent, and in ten years to
four per cent, in which case Congress might, by
new loans, at that rate of interest, pay off the
whole national debt; but on the present plan, she
would secure to the holder full four per cent, on
the principal for ten years, and afterwards six per
cent, for a certain number of years on terms, with
three per cent, on the interest let the common
rate of interest be what it might. This was ac
cepted by the creditors as a reasonable equiva
lent, and the debt was subscribed.
"The event proved the truth of the supposition,
and the value of the Funded Debt at one time
rose to twenty-five shillings on the pound on six
per cent, while loans have been made by the
United States at from four to five per cent. Con
gress then gave a certainty of six per cent, for a
number of years, on the terms of the loans for a
partial reduction for ten years, and a less interest
on the arrears of interest then due. This was
PAY OF THE LATE ARMY. 26 1
certainly a full and generous equivalent, and the
only advantage gained by the public was a modi
fication of the debt, by which the burden would
be divided, and the increased number of citizens,
during fourteen or fifteen years, would bear their
proportion of the expense of a war in the benefit
of which they so essentially participated. At the
time of funding the public debt, the irredeemable
quality was considered as a full equivalent and a
compliance with the public faith. Mr. B. alleged
that he was then a public creditor, and considered
it in that point of light. He W 7 as a creditor that
had a right to feel a loss as much as any man.
He was a creditor of 1776, when the Army could
not be sent to Canada without hard money. He
was a creditor in 1777, when the prisoners were
perishing for want of food and clothing, and the
Government could not furnish a single suit, or
a tolerable supply, for their extreme distress.
He was a creditor of 1778, when, at the Valley
Forge, the tracks of the soldiers were marked
with blood for want of shoes, which he collected in
different parts of the State by his own exertions,
and at his own expense, without fee or reward,
and was not repaid till 1779. He was a large
creditor of 1779, when Congress sent to all parts
of the Union earnestly calling on the friends of
their country to come forward with loans for the
public exigencies ; and he was a creditor as an
officer of the Army in which he had served.
Under this view of the subject, Mr. B. acknow-
262 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
leclged that he had entertained great jealousies
lest some other end was aimed at by the present
resolution than the ostensible one; this was raised
when he heard gentlemen found the success of
the resolution on the savings made by the Fund
ing System, when those gentlemen had for years
past been continually representing that system as
founded on an extravagant waste of public treas
ure ; that the irredeemability of the debt was a
tax on the Government which ought never to
have been admitted, as moneys might have been
loaned at four per cent, and by that means one
third of the debt saved to the Union. What
ideas, then, must we form of a resolution calcu
lated to raise the hopes of the Memorialists, which
in the end would certainly turn out a mere
shadow, and worse than a shadow? This really
was trifling with the complaints of our fellow-
citizens. There had been no savings. The cred-
o
itors who had possession of the public contracts
had received a full equivalent for their demand by
their own free consent, at twenty shillings in the
pound. Where, then, was room for a demand on
the Government for any saving ? If there was a
foundation for a claim, it must be against the pos
sessors of the certificates; but however just it
might be, it was merely illusory to form the reso
lution on principles that had no existence.
"The losses sustained by the line of the Army
were not peculiar to them as creditors of the
United States. All classes of citizens who had
PAY OF THE LATE ARMY. 263
generously advanced their money for the support
of this very Army in food, clothing, arms, and
ammunition, as well as that of the Government
itself at home and abroad, had been equal suffer
ers without the emolument which the Army had
received, in the most distressing times of the war.
The army had been a refuge for many gentlemen
driven from their homes, while other citizens were
obliged to wander for a considerable time without
employment or relief. He extended his observa
tions to other citizens who had suffered during
the war, and particularly mentioned the sufferers
at Falmouth, Charlestown, New York, Norfolk,
Yorktown, and South Carolina, as those who were
of the first class in the United States ; as also the
aged, the widows and the orphan creditors, who
had suffered without receiving any advantage
whatever from the public bounty.
" Mr. B. then proceeded to consider the practi
cability of the measure, supposing its equality and
justice to be fairly established. As the applica
tion was now founded on the savings on each
man s individual certificate, the principle equally
reached every public creditor. Suppose, then, A,
B, C, D, and E, received their certificates to
gether: A sold his at six shillings and eight pence
in the pound to raise a capital to purchase public
lands, which, at one time in this city, sold at six
pence per acre; B sold his certificate at two shil
lings and six pence in the pound, to save a wife
and children from starving; C sold his to raise a
264 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
capital to go into the speculating line ; D sold on
one day from necessity, but replaced it the next
day, and kept it till the Funding System took
place, and then sold at twenty shillings in the
pound; while E, having confidence in the Gov
ernment, and not being under a necessity of sell
ing, funded it under the present system. How
could a discrimination take place here ? or would
it be fair equally to remunerate all these original
holders ? But suppose some had sold at twenty
shillings, and also had received all the emolu
ments of the Pennsylvania line ; where would be
the distributive justice of the measure now pro
posed ? If you extend this doctrine to the public
at large, it will appear in a strong point of light.
It is well known that the common practice of the
Government during the war was to issue certifi
cates in fictitious names the names of clerks in
office, of heads of departments, or other persons
merely to make them answer the purpose of a
paper currency : as they were payable to bearer,
the name was never thought to be material. The
person doing the service or lending his money
received these certificates, and was really the ori
ginal holder, yet the face of the certificate spoke a
different language. In this case a discrimination
would be impossible ; and much the largest part
of the public debt was contracted in this way, after
the war was over. Many debts had been paid by
merchants and others to their foreign creditors
and others, in certificates at their nominal value;
PAY OP^ THE LATE ARMY. 265
and, in other cases, individuals had failed, and the
loss had wholly fallen on their creditors. Mr. B.
earnestly contended that the expense of a discrim
ination would exceed the revenues of the United
States. The nature of transferable stock, which
is designed to operate as current money, forbids
the idea of a discrimination, and all public credit
must necessarily fail if such a doctrine was to pre
vail in the finances of the Union. This was a
very serious and important idea, worthy the atten
tion of the applicants who certainly were inter
ested in the public weal. The right of freemen
to dispose of their own property as they please
was involved in the question, for if the Govern
ment was to make up every loss on a transfer,
then it ought not to be made without their con
sent. Mr. B. hoped he would not be understood
to deny either the services or the sufferings of the
Army; but he alleged the promised recompense
was given, which had been transferred with all the
legal and equitable right to the holder, who had
received from Government the full value, and
therefore no further demand either in law or
equity remained against the Government. The
negotiable quality was a principle in the securities
insisted on by the Army, and which they had
used as they chose, for different purposes and for
different views. He acknowledged that the gen
erosity, benevolence, and humanity of Congress
had been addressed : to this he answered that
they were but stewards of the people s property,
266 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
for which they were answerable ; that they were
not sent here to show their generosity ; it was to
do justice and that not to one class, but to every
description of citizens. He knew of but one rule
for every citizen of the United States. They were
all equally represented in that House ; but at all
events it became them to be just before they were
generous.
" Mr. B. assured the House that he had taken
up so much of their time, because he found that no
one had come forward fairly to meet the question,
and he had too ^reat a regard for the Memorial-
o o
ists to wish them to go away under the idea that
anything had been refused to them which ought
in propriety to have been done. At any rate,
he had candidly and above-board given the rea
sons of his vote on this important occasion, which
would be against the question proposed by the
gentleman from Virginia. 1 *
DEBATE OX MR. GILES* RESOLUTIONS.
" On February 28 Mr. Giles in a series of resolu
tions, nine in all, made an attack upon the Offi
cial conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury and
moved that they should be referred to a com
mittee of the whole house. Mr. W. Smith op
posed the referring of the resolutions, on the
ground that the first resolutions involved abstract
principles to be applied to facts yet to be estab-
1 Annals of Congress, " 2cl Congress, 1791-1793," pp. 813-822; and
The A r atio>ial Gazette, P. Freneau, No. 28 of vol. ii.
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 267
lished and tending to mislead the house, and de
fended the Secretary s alleged infraction of the
law. Mr. Smith also said that he should object
to referring the last resolution, viz., That a copy
of the foregoing resolutions be transmitted to the
President, as the object of that resolution meant
clearly to direct the President to remove the
Secretary from office ; the foregoing were to
determine the guilt, the last to inflict the pun
ishment, and both the one and other without the
accused being heard in his defense. When the
violation of the Constitution was so uppermost
in our minds, it would be indeed astonishing that
o
we should be so hoodwinked as to commit such a
palpable violation of it in this instance." Mr.
Murray followed in the same strain. Mr. Page
made a reply to Mr. Smith in favor of retaining
all the resolutions. On a vote the two first and
the last resolutions were stricken out, the remain
ing resolutions being referred. The House in
committee of the whole thereupon took into con
sideration the words following, of the third resolu
tion, viz. : Resolved, That the Secretary of the
Treasury has violated the law, passed the fourth of
August one thousand seven hundred and ninety,
making appropriations of certain moneys author
ized to be borrowed by the same law, in the fol
lowing particulars, to wit : "
" i. By applying a certain portion of the princi
pal borrowed to the payment of the interest falling
due upon that principal, which was not authorized
by that or any other law.
268 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
" 2. By drawing part of the same moneys into
the United States without the instructions of the
President of the United States."
" In the course of his remarks Mr. Barn well said,
I cannot refrain from saying that I am extremely
happy that in passing through the medium of that
gentleman s (Mr. Giles) examination this subject
has changed its hue from the foul stain of pecula
tion to the milder coloring of an illegal exercise
o o
of discretion and a want of politeness in the Sec
retary of the Treasury. He argued that the Sec
retary was acting under orders from the President
and that the latter had discretionary power. A
sum of money was due abroad for the interest of
1791 and 1792 to be paid out of the domestic
revenues of 1791 and 1792. The United States
had an offer to make a payment in part of what
was due to France, for which money had been
borrowed and was already on hand, abroad in a
supply of provisions from here to the Island of St.
Domingo ; the Secretary, therefore, and doubtless
with the consent of the President, instead of trans
mitting either bills or money from this country to
France, in order to pay the interest due there and
bringing the money borrowed to pay the French
debt into this country, in order to furnish supplies
for St. Domingo has committed the great crime of
directing the money borrowed, and already upon
the spot, to be applied to the interest due, and has
taken the sums applicable to the payments of that
interest, which was already here, and made use of
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 269
it to pay the debt due to France in the produce
of the United States.
" Mr. Findley and Mr. Mercer joined with Mr.
Giles in the attack upon the Secretary when Mr.
Boudinot interrupted Mr. Mercer as being out of
order.
" After some remarks from Mr. Lee, Mr. Bou
dinot said he considered it as the duty of the
Committee in the discussion of the charges
brought forward to confine themselves strictly to
the points in question. The present examination
differed from ordinary Legislative business. Spe
cific charges are brought forward against a highly
responsible officer ; the facts brought forward to
support those charges should be understood and
considered, to form a right judgment on them.
The Secretary is charged with having violated a
law, by paying the interest due on a loan out of the
principal of that loan. He went into some state
ments and calculations to show that the money
paid on account of foreign loans, as stated in
official documents, could not have been paid on
account of interest of the late loans, from the dis
proportion of the sums.
" He need say nothing more, he conceived, to
show that the first charge in the resolution im
mediately before the Committee is unfounded.
If what he said was not sufficient to disprove it,
he asked where is the evidence to support it ?
" He next turned to the second charge in the
resolution, viz. : that the Secretarv had made
270 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the drafts complained of without the President s
instructions. Here he noticed a mistake some
gentlemen had fallen into, when speaking of the
call of the House for information. This was a re
quest to the President, and not an order to the Sec
retary. From the information communicated in
consequence of this call, it did not appear that the
Secretary had acted without or contrary to in
structions, and he insisted, that he ought to be
presumed innocent till he was proved guilty.
" He argued, that the authority given to the
President in the subject put it in his power to
draw the whole fourteen millions to this country,
if he thought fit ; it could not, therefore, be con
tended, he insisted, that the amount of the drafts
had passed the limits of the authority given. It is
not denied, he proceeded, that there was a right to
draw for the two millions appropriated for the re
duction of the Public Debt. Well, it has appeared,
on a certain occasion to the House, that our Minis
ter in France negotiated a contract with the Na
tional Assembly, or their officers, for the payment of
$800,000 of the debt due them, here ; then cer
tainly, the exigency of the case required that this
sum should be drawn here for the purchase of
provisions for St. Domingo, in which this pay
ment was to be made. Here then was a positive
necessity of drawing for $2,800,000, and as a dis
cretionary power in the subject had been left to
the Executive, they might have found it advisable,
perhaps, under an expectation of additional pay-
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 271
ments in the same manner, to have drawn over as
much more as they might have thought prudent.
" He adverted to the application of the Secre
tary to the Legislature to declare whether the loan
obtained, for an interest of five per cent, exclusive
of douceurs, might be considered as borrowed
under authority of the #2,000,000 act. It was his
(Mr. Boudinot s) opinion at the time that no ex
planatory law was necessary, and that the Execu
tive had power to construe the act in that sense.
This was also the Secretary s opinion, and in con
sequence of that opinion he had drawn bills. He
thought it, however, right to apply to the House
and have every doubt removed, and the Legisla
ture sanctioned his construction of the law r .
" It had been said that if the Legislature had a
right to confirm, they also had a right to reject,
the construction put upon the law by the Execu
tive. This, he conceived, they \vould not have
been warranted in doing, after a contract agree
ably to that construction had been made : such a
proceeding must have involved a breach of con
tract.
" It had been repeatedly asserted, and strenu
ously insisted on, that the Legislature were totally
in the dark as to the drafts from Europe. To
disprove this assertion, he read several items from
sundry reports of the Secretary, where sums re
ceived on account of loans are specified. It had
also been said that there was no evidence that
any part of the loan was applied to, or intended
for the purchase of, the public debt.
272 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
" This also appears unfounded from a note dated
25th of August, 1790, laid before the trustees for
purchasing the public debt, which expressly men
tions that a loan had been negotiated, part of
which was destined for the purchase of the public
debt, and that some points relative thereto were
before the President for his approbation. This
also showed that the President had knowledge
of such intentions. His speech, and the report
of the Secretary in consequence of part of that
speech, which had been so repeatedly referred to,
also unequivocally prove this point.
"He recapitulated the heads of his arguments,
and concluded, that if nothing further could be
brought in support of the charges now before the
committee, they should have his decided negative.
" Mr. Madison : He washed not, he said, to
waste a moment of the small portion of time left
by regretting its insufficiency for a full discus
sion of the subject before the Committee. But
he thought it due to truth, and to the honorable
and independent motives of his colleague (Mr.
Giles) in proposing the resolutions, to remark,
that the lateness of the day to which they had
been postponed did not justify the strictures
which had been made on it. If the delay was
not to be considered as unavoidable, some blame,
at least, would fall elsewhere. The inquiries in
which the whole matter originated had been
moved by his colleague, and passed the House
some weeks ago. The reports in answer to these
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 273
inquiries had not been finally made and printed
a single day before the present resolutions were
submitted to the House. He admitted that it
might have been impracticable to report the
information called for as early as was desired by
the House. He was sensible of the anxiety that
would be naturally felt by the Officer called upon
to present every consideration that might place
his conduct in the most favorable point of view;
yet, with all these allowances, it was impossible to
deny that the reports contained things which did
not belong f o them, and therefore consumed time
which belonged to the period for discussion. He
would mention one instance on which there could
not possibly be a difference of opinion, viz., the
vindication, formally undertaken by the Secre
tary, of the policy of borrowing money abroad.
Whether this policy was right or wrong, the
Legislature had themselves decided in favor of it ;
and it was the duty of the Secretary, in comply
ing with the orders of the House, to inform the
House how the law had been executed, not why
it had been made ; to explain his own conduct,
not to justify that of the Legislature.
" It had been asked why the call for informa
tion had not been sooner made. The answer
was obvious and simple. It was not sooner per
ceived by the House that there was such a
necessity for it. The want of information was
first suggested by the bill for paying $2,000,000
to the bank, although $200,000 only were imme-
VOL. II.
-.
274 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
diately due, and for authorizing another foreign
loan to the amount of $2,000,000. From the
dawn of light thrown by some circumstance inci
dent to the occasion, on the darkness in which the
House had remained, proceeded those doubts and
inquiries which had led to the information now
possessed. His colleague had great merit in hav
ing brought about this development. He had
rendered a service highly valuable to the Legis
lature, and no less important and acceptable to
the public. One good effect of the information
had been that it prevented the passage of the bill
for borrowing $2,000,000 as an anticipated pay
ment to the Bank. The bill had dropped from the
hand of its patron with the first light that broke
in upon the House. What other measures would
have been prevented or varied, if a like knowledge
of our funds and finances had been sooner ob
tained, was a matter of serious consideration.
"Another consequence of the Reports, taken
together, was, that the face of them presented to
his colleague an evidence of the charges contained
o o
in the resolutions. Whether, at so late a day, it
was best to leave the subject as exhibited by the
various documents in print for the examination
and opinion of the public, or to press it on the
consideration of the House, was a point which
every member had a right to decide for himself.
His colleague had viewed the positions stated in
his motion as too important to be suspended, and
as supported by such clear and authentic proofs
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 275
that a small portion of time would suffice for the
subject. Under this impression, what was his
right became his duty ; and he had discharged it
by offering his resolutions to the House.
"As the House had refused to commit the two
introductory resolutions, which established the
rule of judgment to be applied to the case, and
the last also, which declared the inference to be
drawn, the task of the committee was limited to a
simple inquiry into the facts stated. They were
to make out and report a special verdict of these,
and leave it to the House to pronounce the proper
judgment arising from them.
" The resolution immediately before the commit
tee imported, that the Secretary of the Treasury
had violated the law passed on the 4th of August,
1790, making appropriations of certain moneys,
first, by applying a certain portion of the prin
cipal borrowed to the payment of interest on that
principal; secondly, by drawing part of the same
moneys into the United States without the in
struction of the President.
" The questions here are questions of fact ; and
whatever quality may be attached by different gen
tlemen to the several facts, it would seem as if the
facts themselves are too clearly supported by the
reports of the Secretary, and the documents at
tending them, to be denied or controverted.
"The law of August 4, 1790, authorized the
President to cause to be borrowed $12,000,000,
to be applied to the foreign debt of the United
276 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
States. A subsequent law of August 12, 1790,
authorized another loan of $2,000,000, to be ap
plied to the domestic debt of the United States.
A power to make these loans was delegated, on
the 28th of August, 1790, to the Secretary, by a
general commission, in the usual form, referring
to the several acts above mentioned, but without
any further discrimination of the loans to be
made. As the law, however, for applying loans
to the foreign object was prior in date, the pre
sumption would rather be that it was to have a
priority of execution ; that the first money bor
rowed was to belong to the first object provided
for. It was unnecessary, however, to dwell on
this consideration, because the President had re
moved all uncertainty by the precise explanations
and instructions which accompanied the power to
the Secretary, and which ought, in truth, to be
deemed a part of the commission. The instruc
tion having been more than once read to the
O
Committee, he would content himself with refer
ring to it.
" The part referred to is in the following words :
I do hereby make known to you that, in the ex
ecution of the said trust, you are to observe and
follow the orders and directions following, viz. :
Except where otherwise especially directed by me,
you shall employ in the negotiations of any loan
or loans which may be made in any foreign coun
try William Short, Esq. ; you shall borrow, or
cause to be borrowed, on the best terms which
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 277
shall be found practicable, and within the limita
tions prescribed by law as to time of repayment
and rate of interest, such sum or sums as shall be
sufficient to discharge, as well as all instalments or
parts of the principal of the Foreign Debt, which
are now due, or shall become payable to the end
of the year of 1791, as all interest and arrears of
interest which now are, or shall become due, in
respect to the said Debt, to the same end of the
year 1791. And you shall apply or cause to be
applied, the moneys which shall be so borrowed,
with all convenient despatch, to the payment of
the said instalments, and parts of the principal
and interest, and arrears of interest of the said
Debt. You shall not extend the amount of the
loan which you shall make, or cause to be made,
beyond the sum which shall be necessary for com
pleting such payment, unless it can be done upon
terms more advantageous to the United States
than those upon which the residue of the said
Debt shall stand or be. But if the said residue,
or any part of the same, can be paid off by new
loans, upon terms of advantage to the United
States, you shall cause such further loans as may
be requisite to be made, and the proceeds thereof
to be applied accordingly. And for carrying into
effect the objects and purposes aforesaid, I do
hereby further empower you to make, or cause to
be made, with whomsoever it may concern, such
contract or contracts, being of a nature relative
thereto, as shall be found needful and conducive
to the interest of the United States.
278 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
" By this formal act, issued along with the com
mission to the Secretary, the President desig
nated the object to which the loans to be made
were to be applied ; and by declaring the object to
be that provided for by the act of August 4,
1 790, he expressly placed the loan under the
authority and provision of that act ; so that the
moment the money should be borrowed, it was to
stand legally appropriated to its specified object,
as much as if another law authorizing another
loan for another purpose had not existed.
" This arrangement of the President was the
more proper, not only because provision for the
payment of the Foreign Debt had been the pri
mary object of the Legislature, and the payment
of the French Debt the anxious wish of their con
stituents, but because payments to France were
no longer matter of option, but of strict and posi
tive obligations on the United States. In proof of
this, he stated that the debt to France, calculated
to the end of 1791, and computing the livre at
5/0 to a dollar, amounted to $4,814,814, whilst
the payments actually made, computing the florin
at 2.} to a dollar, amounted to more than
$3,372,717, leaving as a balance, at the end of
1791, $1,442,097. Adding to this balance the
installments due for 1792, amounting to $638,888,
there were to be paid within that year $2,080,985.
The entire payments, however, composed of
$656,500 in Europe, and $726,000 put to the
account of St. Domingo (although, $444,263.83
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 279
were actually paid), amounted to $1,382,500, leav
ing due at the end of 1792 a balance of $698,485.
" Here Mr. M. adverted to and read a para
graph in the Report of the Secretary, page 16,
where in allusion to the measure of drawing bills
o
in the latter part of 1792, he says: I feel myself
the more at liberty to do it, because it did not
interfere with a complete fulfilment of the public
engagements in regard to the Foreign Debt. It
could be done consistently with a full reimburse
ment of all arrears and instalments which had
accrued on account of that Debt.
" Mr. M. observed that, as he could not reconcile
this paragraph with the calculations which he had
stated, and which were drawn from official docu
ments, he must regard it as an unquestionable
error, produced by some hasty view of the subject.
" Returning to the Commission, Mr. M. repeated
that all the money which that instrument, defined
and qualified by the instruction annexed to it,
authorized the Secretary to borrow was actually
and specifically appropriated to the payment of
the Foreign Debt, and under circumstances par
ticularly urgent in relation to a part of it.
"In what manner had this trust been carried
into execution ? It was to be observed with
regret that on the very day on which the com
mission and instruction issued from the Presi
dent, the Secretary commenced his arrangement
for diverting part of a loan, accepted and ratified
by virtue of his commission, to a purpose dif-
280 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ferent from that specified and required by his
instruction. That a fact of so extraordinary a
complexion might be grounded on the most un
exceptionable proof, Mr. M. said he should take
the liberty of supporting it by the authority of
the Secretary himself. Here he read from the
Secretary s Letter dated August 28, 1790, to the
Dutch houses from whom the Loan had been
accepted, the following passages, viz. :
" I should also wish for particular reasons, that
the business may be so regulated as to give it the
form of two loans one for two millions under
the first act, and the other for one million under
the second. But neither about this, am I so so
licitous as to be willing that it should constitute
an embarrassment.
" I destine a million and a half of this sum as
a payment to France, under the direction of Mr.
Short, our Charge d Affaires at that Court, w 7 hose
orders for that purpose you will please to follow.
" The aspect here presented by a comparison of
the several documents was singular and remarka-
o
ble. The subordinate officer appeared in direct
opposition to the Chief Magistrate. The agent
was seen overruling, by his ow r n orders, the orders
of his principal. The language of the President
was : By virtue of the power vested in me by
law, I destine the money to be borrowed to the
discharge of the instalments and interest of the
Foreign Debt. The language of the Secretary
was : I destine a part of the money only to that
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 281
purpose, and a part to be brought to the United
States for other purposes. He left every mem
ber to make his own reflections on the subject.
He would only observe, in general, that it demon
strated the truth asserted in the proposition that
the Secretary had violated both the law of August
4, 1 790, and the instruction of the President relat
ing to it.
o
" He then proceeded to a more distinct view of
the two points particularly stated in the resolu
tion. The first was : That a certain portion of
the principal borrowed under the act of August
4, 1790, had been applied to the payment of the
interest falling due on that principal. As the
fact would not, he presumed, be denied, he fore-
bore to quote that part of the documents which
admitted and authenticated it. He would, how
ever, premise to any observation on it a cursory
view of the nature of appropriations.
" It was unnecessary to repeat the emphatic re
marks on this subject which had fallen from the
member from Pennsylvania, Mr. Findley. It was
sufficiently understood. He concluded that ap
propriations of money were of a high and sacred
character; that they were the great bulwark
which our Constitution had carefully and jeal
ously established against executive usurpations.
He meant only to take notice of the different plans
into which appropriations might be moulded, and
of the particular operation which ought to be
given to them.
282 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
" One of the plans was that of appropriating
specified funds to specified objects, in which the
supposed certainty of the funds was adjusted to
the supposed importance of the objects.
" The other plan formed all the branches of rev
enue into an aggregate fund, on which the several
objects should have a priority of claim according
to their superiority of importance. It was evi
dent that in both of these cases, the Legislature
alone possessed the competent authority. The
exclusive right of that department of the govern
ment to make the proper regulations was the
basis of the utility and efficacy of appropriations.
" There was a third question incident to the
doctrine of appropriations, viz. : Whether, under
specific appropriations, such as had been adopted
by Congress, the executive authority could, with
out special permission of the law, apply the excess
of one fund to the aid of a deficient one, or bor
row from one fund for the object of another. On
this question, there might perhaps be a difference
of opinion. He would only remark that, admit
ting such a discretion to be implied in the trust
of executing the laws, it would still be requisite
that the due sanction of the Executive should be
given, that a regular account should be kept be
tween the different funds, and that all advances
from one to the other should be replaced as soon
as possible. This was equally necessary to the
preservation of order in the public finances and
to a proper respect for the authority of the laws.
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 283
" In the present case it did not appear that the
moneys taken at different times from the loans
designated by the President, and thereby placed
under the appropriation of the act of August 4,
1790, to the Foreign Debt, had ever been replaced.
It did not appear that any such replacement was
regularly planned or provided for. It was par
ticularly worthy of observation, moreover, that
the only use within the United States for which
any loan in Europe could be assigned, was that
of the Sinking Fund; that the Trustees of this
Fund had never been even informed of the drafts ;
that if the moneys drawn had been carried to
the Sinking Fund, the limited sum of $2,000,000
would have been exceeded ; and that the state
ments and accounts had, in fact, been so wound
up, as mentioned by the Secretary, that not a sin
gle dollar of the money laid out in purchasing
the Public Debt had been charged on loans drawn
into the United States, although such was the
only purpose to which they were legally applica
ble, and such the principal reason assigned for
making the drafts.
" He did not go into a particular proof that the
sum drawn into the United States, after subtract
ing the whole sum placed to a foreign account,
exceeded the sum of $2,000,000, because the fact
had been conceded on the other side, particularly
by the statement of the member from Connecticut,
Mr. Hillhouse.
" Thus it appeared clearly, in confirmation of
284 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the first point, that the application of a certain
portion of the principal borrowed in Europe, to
payment of the interest, was not a mere transpo
sition of moneys, to prevent the sending them
backwards or forwards, nor an advance of money
from an overflowing fund in favor of a deficient
one ; but an absolute diversion of appropriated
money, and consequently a violation of the law
making the appropriation.
" The second point in the resolution related to
the drawing of moneys into the United States
without the instructions of the President. This
point had been fully established by the documents
and explanations applied to the first. They had
done more : they had demonstrated that the in
structions of the President, which dedicated the
loans to be made under his commission to a foreign
o
object, were an express prohibition of drafts for
any domestic object. It was sufficient, therefore,
to refer to the instructions of the President, and
to the contradictory steps taken by the Secretary.
Two attempts had been made to elude the force
of these official proofs. The first appealed to the
President s speech at the opening of the session
in 1790; to the report of the Secretary, made in
consequence of it, to the House ; and to the sup
plementary act of Congress passed in conformity
to the report.
" Had the circumstances involved in this trans
action been attended to by those \vho s.eemed to
rely on it, Mr. M. was persuaded that a reference
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 285
to it would never have been made by gentlemen
on that side. As they had thought fit, however,
to draw arguments from that source, it was proper
to give an answer to them ; and the best answer
would be a naked statement of facts.
" The instruction of the President to the Secre
tary was given, as has been seen, on the 28th clay
of August, 1790. The letter of the secretary
contravening this instruction was dated, as has
also been seen, on the same 28th day of August,
1790. The actual drawing of bills by the Secre
tary commenced the i5th day of December, 1790.
The law now pleaded in justification of the con
duct of the Secretary passed on the 3d of March,
1791.
" There are other facts material to a correct and
full view of the subject. The speech of the Presi
dent was delivered on the 8th day of December,
1790. It briefly informed the two Houses that
* a loan of 3,000,000 of florins, towards which
some provisional measures had previously taken
place, had been completed in Holland, and that
the Secretary of the Treasury had discretion to
communicate such further particulars as might be
requisite for more precise information. The con
sequent report of the Secretary, recommending
the provision in the supplementary act, was not
received till the 25th of February, 1791, six days
only before the constitutional dissolution of the
House. In the interval between the speech of
the President and the Secretary s report, he had
286 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
proceeded to draw bills to the amount of 793,392
florins. His report, notwithstanding what had
been said of it, contained not a word from which
it could be known that a single florin had actually
been drawn over to the United States.
" The other attempt to elude the evidence be
fore the committee recoiled with equal force on the
gentlemen who had hazarded it. In the report
lately made by the Trustees of the Sinking Fund
is a statement laid before them by the Secretary,
in which it is noted that the acceptance of the
loan of 3,000,000 florins, and the application of
one third of it to the purpose of that fund, was
under the consideration of the President. From
this fact, it had been inferred not only that the
Secretary had withheld no proper information
from the Trustees, but that the result of the
President s deliberations on the subject had varied
the purpose signified by his first instructions to
the Secretary.
" It happened, however, most unfortunately for
the gentlemen who exulted in this argument, that
they had entirely overlooked the dates of the two
papers. The paper laid before the Trustees, and
alleged to have explained the final purpose of
the President, was dated on the 25th of August,
1 790. The paper relied on by the other side, as
the final as well as the most formal designation
of the will of the President, was dated the 28th
of August, 1790. The gentlemen, therefore, in
stead of the inference they had made, should have
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 287
reversed their premises, and joined with their op
ponents in concluding that the President was led
by a consideration of the subject, not to do what
the Secretary in his note to the Trustees seemed
to anticipate, but what had been evinced by the
President s own act of posterior date.
" The second point, then, as well as the first,
rests on the most solid proofs, taken from a col
lective view of authentic documents.
" Much has been said on the necessity of some
times departing from the strictness of legal appro
priations, as a plea for any freedoms that may
have been taken with them by the Secretary.
He would not deny that there might be emergen
cies, in the course of human affairs, of so extraor
dinary and pressing a nature as to absolve the
Executive from an inflexible conformity to the in
junctions of the law. It was, nevertheless, as es
sential to remember, as it was obvious to remark,
that in all such cases the necessity should be
palpable ; that the Executive sanction should flow
from the supreme source ; and that the first op
portunity should be seized for communicating to
the Legislature the measures pursued, with the
reasons explaining the necessity of them. This
early communication was equally enforced by pru
dence and by duty. It was the best evidence of
the motives for assuming the extraordinary power;
it was a respect manifestly clue to the legislative
authority; and it was more particularly indispen
sable, as that alone would enable the Legislature,
288 ELIAS BOUDINOTo
by a provident amendment of the law, to accom
modate it to like emergencies in future.
" In the proceedings falling under the present
inquiry, no necessity appeared for the liberties
which had been taken, the money appropriated in
Europe being more wanted there than at home.
It appeared that the instructions of the Supreme
Executive, instead of warranting those liberties,
had precluded them; nor had the proper explana
tions been disclosed in due time to the Legisla
ture. To place the subject in a more distinct
point of view, it was proper to advert to the pre
cise authorities and duties of the Secretary, as his
office is defined by the act establishing the Treas
ury Department. For this purpose, Mr. M. read
the second section of that act, which is in the
words following :
"That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of
the Treasury to digest and prepare plans for the
improvement and management of the revenue,
and for the support of public credit ; to prepare
and report estimates of the public revenue and
the public expenditures; to superintend the col
lection of the revenue ; to decide on the forms of
keeping and stating accounts and making re
turns, and to grant, under the limitations herein
established, or to be hereafter provided, all war
rants for moneys to be issued from the Treasury,
in pursuance of appropriations bylaw; to execute
such services relative to the sale of the lands be
longing to the United States as may be by law
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 289
required of him; to make report and give infor
mation to either branch of the Legislature, in
person or in writing (as he may be required), re
specting all matters referred to him by the Senate
or House of Representatives, or which shall ap
pertain to his office ; and generally to perform all
such services relative to the finances as he shall
be directed to perform.
" This establishment of the office evidently had
no reference beyond the case of superintending
the regular and ordinary collection of the revenue,
and granting warrants for moneys issued from the
Treasury, in pursuance of appropriations by law.
The case of loans, as an occasional and extraordi
nary resource, was left to be provided for by par
ticular laws for the purpose. The authority, with
respect to the loans in question, was accordingly
committed to the President, in order to secure for
so special a trust the highest responsibility to be
found in the government. And when it was con
sidered that the whole sum contemplated was no
less than fourteen millions of dollars, and when
the latitude as to the terms and contracts was
combined with the vastness of the sum, it might
well be questioned whether so great a power
would have been delegated to any man in whom
the Legislature and the people of America had
less confidence than they so justly reposed in the
existing chief Magistrate, and whether an equal
power will ever be committed to a successor.
This distinction between the case of ordinary
VOL. II.
290 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
revenue and that of loans is not only consonant
to the actual policy of our laws, but is founded in
obvious and solid considerations. In the collec
tion and disbursement of the ordinary revenues
arising from taxation, the business flows in offi
cial channels, is subject in every stage to official
checks, and the money, being in constant influx
and efflux, nowhere accumulates in immense sums.
The case of loans is, in all these respects, differ
ent ; in settling the terms and arranmn^ the ne^o-
o o o o
tiations there is always an important discretion
involved. When the loans are foreign as well as
great, regulations concerning the bills of exchange
form another occasion where great latitude is im
plied in the trust ; w r hilst the magnitude of the
sums falling under the same direction at the same
moment present a further and material variance
between the two cases.
" The tendency of these observations is to show
that, as the permanent law establishing the Treas
ury Department does not extend the authority of
the Secretary to the case of loans, and as the law
authorizing loans exacts for special reasons a re
sponsibility from the President himself, the author
ity of the Secretary, in executing the loans and
the appropriation of them, must be derived from
the President ; and, consequently, where that au
thority fails, there can be no resort to the law
establishing the Department, much less to any
general discretion incident to his official charac
ter. It is evident that the President, although no
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 29 I
doubt guided by the most proper considerations
in employing the agency of the Secretary of the
Treasury in the business of the loans, might, if
he had judged fit, have substituted the agency
of another ; and that, whatever agency he might
prefer, his own instructions would always regu
late the extent and exercise of the power con
ferred. The want of any apparent authority from
the President had led several gentlemen to insist
on presumed authorities, superseding the instruc
tions joined with the commission to the Secre
tary. But here, again, the fair inference was to
be reversed. A communication of the authori
ties given by the President to the Secretary, as
to the application of the foreign loans, had been
expressly requested by the vote of the House. It
was not to be supposed that the Secretary, if he
had received further authorities or instructions,
would have failed to produce them, or to refer
to them, in the justification of his conduct. Far
less could it be presumed that the President, if
he had given any superseding authorities or in
structions, would not have caused them to be com
municated to the House, or that he would have
suffered a partial communication to mislead the
House into an error as to so important a fact.
The President was the last man in the w r orld to
whom any measure whatever of a deceptive ten
dency could be credibly attributed.
" Thus far (said Mr. M.) his observations had
departed as little as possible from the question in
ELIAS BOpDINOT.
its strictest sense. He should now avail himself
of the opportunity afforded by the terms of the
last clause, which spoke of drafts generally, to
take a more particular notice of those recently
made ; in doing which he considered himself safe
within the rules of the House which were so
rigorously enforced against the affirmative side
o J o
of the question. The whole amount of foreign
loans transferred directly or indirectly to the
United States appeared from the several state
ments to be about $3,000,000. The amount of
the direct drafts was $2,304,769.13. Of the
drafts made since the i6th of April, 1792, and
sold by the bank, the proceeds now in the bank,
or payable into it before the ist of April next,
amounted to $1,220,476.01. Of this sum $510,000
have been drawn in the course of the present ses
sion of Congress. With respect to the times and
the amount of these drafts, hitherto absolutely
unknown to the Legislature, because the account
of them had remained in the books of the Bank
without ever appearing in the books of the Treas
urer, Mr. M. confessed that he had found no
explanations that were satisfactory to him. He
had looked through all the reports and all the
communications before the House, without dis
covering either that they had been made by the
authority or with the knowledge of the President,
or had been required for or applied to the pur
chase of the Public Debt, or had been ever com
municated to the trustees of the Sinking Fund,
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 293
who had the direction of such purchases, or that
they were the effect of any necessity that could
justify them; and if there was no evident neces
sity for the proceeding, it was the more to be la
mented that, whilst we were everywhere sympa
thizing with our allies in their arduous stru^les
o oo
for liberty, and echoing from every part of the
Union our congratulations and good wishes, the
pecuniary succors so critically necessary to their
cause, and the most substantial proof of the sin
cerity of our professions, should be silently with
drawn across the Atlantic from the object for
which they were intended, succors, too, which
were not merely a tribute of gratitude, of gener
osity, or of benevolent zeal for the triumph of
liberty, but a debt, moreover, of strict and positive
obligation, for value acknowledged and received.
o o
In contemplating the subject in this point of
view, he felt a pain which he could not easily
express and to which he persuaded himself the
breast of no other member could be a stranger.
Laying aside, however, all these unfavorable con
siderations, the important question still remained,
why the Legislature had been uninformed of the
moneys so unexpectedly drawn into the bank,
and to so very great an amount ? If the drafts
had received every requisite sanction, if they had
been produced by the most justifiable causes, the
existence of $1,220,476, in a situation so different
from what had been contemplated, was a fact
which the representatives of the people had a
294 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
right to know, which it was important to them
and their constituents that they should know,
and which it was the indispensable duty of the
officer charged with it to have made known.
This omission was the more remarkable when
considered in relation to the measure above men
tioned, of paying off at once the whole sum of
$2,000,000, payable to the bank by installments
in ten years. A bill for this purpose had been
introduced, and was on its passage ; the object
of it had been patronized by a report of the Sec
retary not" long since made. In one of his last
reports he expressly states, among the induce
ments to such extensive drafts of money from
Europe, that they were made with an eye to
placing within the reach of the Legislature the
means necessary for this object. Was it not
extraordinary, was it not unaccountable, that so
important a message should be recommended,
and be actually introduced, and that money other
wise appropriated in Europe should be trans
ferred to this country and deposited in the Bank,
in order that it might be within the reach of
being applied by the Legislature to that measure,
and yet that no disclosure should be made to the
Legislature of the fact that the money was so
drawn and lay at the Bank, within their reach, to
be so applied ? If anything could heighten aston
ishment on this occasion it must be the reason
assigned by the Secretary for any obscurity that
might have hung over our finances, that, till
OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 295
the last resolutions, no call has been made on the
Department which rendered it proper to exhibit
a general view of the public moneys and funds,
or to show 7 the amount and situation of such as
were unapplied. Mr. M. would not decide that
the Legislature \vas free from blame in not using
more full and efficacious means of obtaining such
information as would have removed all obscur
ity. But, whatever degree of blame might fall on
them, it never could be admitted that their calls
on the Department had furnished no proper oc
casion for exhibiting a full view of the public
finances. He referred generally to the various
resolutions which, without the least force of con
struction, would have extended to every proper
article of information. He reminded the Com
mittee of the latitude of reports under certain
other orders of the House, and asked whether
less freedom of construction was to be allowed
when information was to be given than when
power or discretion was to be exercised ? But
independently of this view of the matter, Mr. M.
held it to be clear and palpable that the very
situation of the money afforded an occasion
which rendered it proper that the House should
be informed of it. If a liberty could be taken of
removing money from Europe, where it stood
appropriated by law, to this country, where there
was no legal object that required it, and with an
eye, as was stated, to an object to which no money
was applicable without the authority of the Legis-
296 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
lature, how could it possibly be supposed improper
to take the further liberty of communicating what
was done to the Legislature ? He concluded
with recurring to the particular form in which
the subject presented itself to the Committee, and
repeating that, whatever quality might be attached
to the facts charged, or however improper it
might be thought by some to proceed in haste
to any affirmative decision on them, it appeared
irreconcilable with the evidence which had been
produced, to decide, by a negative vote, against
the truth of the facts.
" Mr. Ames followed with a few remarks in
defense of the Secretary, and Mr. Findley again
censured the Secretary.
" Mr. Bouclinot replied to the opposition with
the following facts and arguments : He called
o o
the attention of the Committee to the change in
the usual situation of the House. They were no
longer acting in a Legislative capacity, but were
now exercising the important office of the grand
inquest of the Nation. It was necessary to advert
to this circumstance, to prevent running into the
diffuse mode of argument that had improperly
been adopted on this occasion. A gentleman of
this Committee had thought proper to institute an
inquiry into the conduct of an officer of the Gov
ernment in a very important and highly responsi
ble station. He had exhibited his charges against
o o
him in writing had reduced them to certain and
o
specific facts. To these, and to these alone, he
VINDICATION OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 297
had pointed his evidence, and we were bound in
honor and in conscience to give a just and deci
sive opinion on each independent charge. In the
first place, the truth of the facts must be settled
and established ; if in their favor, the criminality
would then necessarily require a second consid
eration. The honor and reputation of the officer
thus charged, as well as the respect due to the
gentleman who had brought forward the accusa
tion, required a steady, uniform, and disinterested
examination of every question from us. Under
this view of the subject, Mr. B. said he should
avoid the desultory mode of argumentation that
had been run into on both sides, and confine him
self to the nature of the facts charged, and the
evidence adduced in support of them. The short
time that yet remained of the session was too
precious to waste in collateral arguments, or the
consideration of merely presumptive proofs. The
first charge in the resolution now before the Com
mittee was, " that the Secretary of the Treasury
has violated the law passed on the 4th of August,
1790, making appropriations of certain moneys
authorized to be borrowed by the same law in the
following particulars, to wit: ist. By applying a
certain portion of the principal borrowed to the
payment of interest falling due upon that princi
pal, which was not authorized by that or any other
law. 2(1. By drawing part of the same moneys
into the United States, without the instruction of
the President." These specific charges make it
298 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
necessary for us to understand determinately the
terms of the act mentioned in the resolution, and
the nature of the proof offered in its support.
By the act of the 4th August, 1 790, section 2 :
" The President of the United States is author
ized to cause to be borrowed a sum or sums not
exceeding in the whole twelve millions of dollars ;
and that so much of this sum as may be neces
sary to the discharge of the arrears of interest on
loans heretofore made by the United States in
foreign countries, and the installments of the prin
cipal of the said Foreign Debt, and (if it could be
effected upon terms advantageous to the United
States) to the paying off the whole of the said
Foreign Debt, be appropriated solely to these pur
poses ; and the President was moreover further
authorized to cause to be made such other con
tracts respecting the said debt as should be found
for the interest of the said States. "
"It is asserted by the prosecutor of these
charges that this act contained an emphatic ap
propriation of the whole of the twelve millions
of dollars to the payment of the Foreign Debt.
By a letter to Mr. Short, of May 9th, 1791, read
in the Committee, it appears that a loan of three
millions of florins had been made, and that one
half only was appropriated to the payment of our
debt to France, and that eight hundred thousand
florins were to be drawn to this country. This
was said to be contrary to the terms of the appro
priation, and without authority; and the Secre-
VINDICATION OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 299
tary s Report of January 3d, 1793, folio 3, was
referred to in proof of the fact that the interests
arising on the principal borrowed under this act
was paid out of that principal ; when, by the
same law, part of the domestic revenues of the
United States was appropriated to that purpose.
The words of the Report are payments on ac
count of other Foreign Loans made, and to be
made, to the ist January, 1793, inclusive. Febru
ary ist, 1791, two hundred and eighty-nine thou
sand seven hundred and eighty-three florins, six
stivers, with several other payments on the same
terms, till January ist, 1793, amounting in the
whole to one million eight hundred and thirty-
three thousand one hundred and eighty-nine flor
ins two stivers eight deniers. These payments
were asserted to be on account of interest on the
principal borrowed, but without further proof.
By the report, folio 4, it appears that on the ist
of February, 1 790, there was borrowed no more
than one million one hundred and sixty-seven
thousand florins, on which was due the ist of
February, 1791, one year s interest, amounting at
five per cent, to fifty-eight thousand three hun
dred and fifty florins ; but this evidence proves
that two hundred and eighty-nine thousand seven
hundred and eighty-three florins were paid on
that day. Can gentlemen be serious when they
assert that this was for interest on this princi
pal borrowed, being almost twenty-five per cent.
per annum instead of five. This certainly is
3OO ELIAS BOUDINOT.
an inattention to the subject that the serious
nature of the charge cannot justify. Mr. B. then
asserted that, on a critical examination of these
items they will be found to be instalments of the
Dutch loans made by the old Congress, and which
this money was expressly appropriated to dis
charge ; but he said he did not mean to avoid the
fact had it been proved, but he denied that any
evidence of it arose from this testimony. The
President was generally authorized to make the
loans. Money arising from a domestic fund was
appropriated to pay the interest. It happened
that the loan was made in Europe to the amount
of three million of florins ; part of it was to be
drawn to this country, but before that event inter
est became due; this was paid out of the moneys
intended to be drawn into this country, and re
paid by the fund here, to prevent the unnecessary
sending the moneys from one country to the
other. Mr. B. asked, if the Secretary had done
otherwise, would any man in his senses have
thought him worthy of the trust committed to
him ? But the gentleman has proceeded on this
charge (and has so expressed himself) as if this
loan was exclusively made under the act of the
4th August, mentioned in the resolution before
us and therefore was wholly appropriated by law
to the payments of the Foreign Debt, and ought
not, in any part, to have been drawn into this
country for other purposes. This brings to con
sideration the act of the i2th August, 1790, passed
VINDICATION OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 30!
eight days after the act alluded to. By the 4th
section of this act the President of the United
States is authorized to cause to be borrowed a
sum or sums not exceeding two millions of dollars
at an interest not exceeding five per cent, and
that the interest should be applied to the pur
chase of the debt of the United States. The dif
ference between these acts was, by that of the 4th
of August, the President had a discretion as to
o
the application of the sum borrowed towards pay
ment of the whole of the Foreign Debt, over and
above the installments, depending upon terms of
advantage to the United States. By the second
act there was no discretion, the whole moneys
being positively directed by law to be applied to
wards the purchasing of the Domestic Debt. By
the first there was no restriction, in point of inter
est, to be paid, but an injunction that the terms
of repayment should be stipulated within fifteen
years. By the second, interest was restricted to
five per cent., and no terms of repayment en
joined. By the preamble to the first law, the
object of it appears to be the doing of justice and
supporting public credit by the payment of the
Foreign Debt ; by that of the second, the reduc
tion of the Public Debt, which would be beneficial
to the credit of the Union by raising the price of
their stock, and be productive of savings to the
United States. By virtue of these acts the Pres
ident thought proper to constitute the Secretary
of the Treasury his agent to make the loans ; and
302 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
accordingly, on the 28th of August, 1790, by a
commission under his hand and seal, reciting both
the said laws, authorized him, by himself or any
other person or persons generally, to borrow,
within the United States or elsewhere, a sum or
sums not exceeding in the whole fourteen millions
o
of dollars, subject to the restrictions and limitations
in the said several acts contained. With this
commission the Secretary received instructions
relative to the said loans, in these words : You
shall borrow or cause to be borrowed, on the best
terms which shall be found practicable, and within
the limitations prescribed by law, as to the time of
repayment and rate of interest, such sum or sums
as shall be sufficient to discharge as well all in
stallments or parts of the principal of the Foreign
Debt which now are due, or shall become payable
to the end of the year 1791, as all interest and
arrears of interest which now are or shall become
due, in respect to the said Debt, to the same end
of the year 1791. And you shall apply, or cause
to be applied, the moneys which shall be so bor
rowed, with all convenient despatch, to the pay
ment of the said installments and parts of the prin
cipal and interest, and arrears of the interest of
the said Debt. You shall not extend the amount
of the said loan beyond the sum which shall be
necessary for completing such payment, unless
upon terms more advantageous to the United
States, &c.
" These instructions related solely to the appli-
VINDICATION OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 303
cation of the twelve millions, the two millions, as
before observed, being applied by law, without
any discretionary power, to the reduction of the
Public Debt. Under this commission, it is in
proof the Secretary caused three millions of florins
to be borrowed in Europe generally, without ex
pressing particularly under which law, but reciting
under them both. He directed half of this sum
to be applied to the payment of the Foreign Debt,
and part of the other half he appropriated, for
the purpose mentioned, towards the reduction
of the Public Debt. But it is insisted that the
whole of this money was borrowed under the act
of the 4th August, and therefore it was highly
criminal to apply any part of it to the discharge
of the interest arising on the principal so bor
rowed, there being another fund designed for that
purpose. But it has clearly appeared that the
Secretary made this loan in Europe, where the in
terest was to be paid and had become due ; the
fund for its payment was in this country ; and
therefore, if he was authorized to draw any part
of that principal into the United States, it was a
more economical operation, to pay the interest
there out of those moneys on the spot, and repay
them out of moneys here, where they were to
be applied, and by that means prevent the loss
of insurance and interest, that must have arisen
by another negotiation. This question, then, de
pends wholly on the fact whether this money was
borrowed by virtue of both acts, or under that of
the 1 2th of August exclusively.
304 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
"The Loan was made at five per cent, subject to
charges and douceurs of four and a half per cent
on the whole. The Secretary thought this within
the act of the twelfth of August, limiting him
to an interest not exceeding five per cent. This
was the opinion of others besides the Secretary.
Mr. B. himself had been of that opinion and at
the time thought an application to the Legisla
ture unnecessary. But the prudence and caution
of the Secretary led him to state this fact to Con
gress, for their consideration and determination,
who, by an act of the 3rd of March, 1791, declared
their sense of the act of the i2th of August, and
that the Loan was legally made under that act.
The preamble to this act removes all doubt on
this question :
" Whereas it has been made known to Congress
that the President of the United States, in conse
quence of an act making provision for the reduc
tion of the Public Debt (that is, that of the twelfth
of August), hath caused a certain loan to be made
in Holland, on account of the United States, to
the amount of three millions of florins, bearing
an interest of five per cent, &c., And whereas
it hath been also stated to Congress that the
charges upon said loan have amounted to four
and a half per cent, whereby a doubt hath arisen,
whether the said loan be within the meaning of
O
the said last-mentioned act, which limits the rate
of interest to five per cent per annum. And
whereas it is expedient that the said doubt should
VINDICATION OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 305
be removed, be it enacted, &c., that the loan
aforesaid shall be deemed and construed to be
within the true intent and meaning of the said act
making provision for the reduction of the public
debt; &c.
" This puts an end to any dispute on this sub
ject; and if this money was borrowed under both
acts, jointly, or exclusively under the act of the
twelfth August, there can be no propriety or
justice in the charge, that the Secretary had vio
lated the act of the fourth of August in applying
part of this money to the purposes of the act of
the twelfth of August, under which the Loan, as
to a greater sum was certainly made. By this act
also the opinion of the Secretary of the meaning
of the act of the twelfth of August as to the re
striction of the interest to five per cent was con
firmed, and of course all his proceedings under it.
There can, then, be no foundation for the charge,
and it remains unsupported by proof.
" The next part of the accusation attempted to
be supported was, the drawing part of the same
moneys of the United States without instruc
tions from the President. The instructions from
the President as to the making the loans and
applying them were only called for, he has there
fore only reported these to the House ; from this
negative testimony, it was presumed that no
other instructions have been given. This is weak
support, indeed, to a criminal charge of this na
ture. I know it has been urged by one gentle-
VOL. II.
306 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
man (Mr. Mercer) that the Secretary has been
called upon for the instructions, and if he has
failed to report them to the House, he ought to
suffer : this shows how fallible gentlemen s mem
ories are. There has been no call whatever of
the House on the Secretary for this purpose -
our Journals do not show any. The requisition
was to the President, and he has complied with
the terms of it. But if we are to rest on presump
tive evidence, the presumption is in favor of the
Secretary. The President has not made objec
tions to the conduct of his agent. He has men
tioned the loans to Congress, without disappro
bation. The agent was properly accountable to
him, and he has not found fault with him ; but in
his Speech at the opening of this and the last
session of Congress, has expressed great satisfac
tion in the state of public affairs. But if the
gentlemen who advocate this prosecution really
believed this fact, had they it not in their power
to have rendered the evidence certain to demon
stration, by requesting, by resolutions of the
House, that the President would declare whether
this money was or was not drawn in consequence
of his instructions, or with his approbation and
consent ? Can any man suppose that so respon
sible an agent as the Secretary of the Treasury
would presume (for his own sake) to proceed in
so important a negotiation, without the know
ledge, approbation, and directions of the President
of the United States? But, for argument sake,
VINDICATION OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 307
suppose the fact to be true, is not the Secretary
an officer to superintend the collection of the
public revenue ? As soon as this Loan was made
under the act of the twelfth August, was it not
his duty, without further instructions, to draw the
money into the United States for the purpose
mentioned in the act? Would he not have been
highly culpable if he had left this money in Hol
land till the next session of Congress, and waited
for a law authorizing him so to do ? It is really
a reflection on the whole Legislature to suppose
they would have directed a Loan which should
remain inactive on an interest of five per cent
without giving a power of application.
" But it has been said that a larger sum, viz.,
almost three millions of dollars, has been drawn
into this country, which was more than the Pres
ident himself was authorized to do. If this is
meant to criminate the President, we ought to
know it. How does the fact stand ? It is agreed
that the President had a right to draw the moneys
loaned under the act of the twelfth of August
$2,000,000.00
"He had a right to make such
other contracts respecting the debt
as should be for the interest of
the United States, in consequence
whereof the agent in Europe agreed
with the National Assembly or the
Executive of France, for the pay
ment of four millions of livres, part
308 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
$2,OOO,OOO.CO
of their debt, in the produce of the
United States, for the supply of St.
Domingo. 800,000.00
" The interest to foreign officers
amounted to about 191,316.90
2,991,316.90
"This, then, makes about the sum that is proved
was drawn for by the Secretary, and shows that
he did not exceed the powers vested in the Presi
dent for this purpose.
" It has been also held up as highly criminal in
the Secretary, that although he began to draw
for this money in December, 1790, yet he never
gave information to Congress or to the Trustees
for purchasing the Public Debt on the subject ;
but left them wholly in the dark with respect to
so important a measure, when it was his duty
particularly to have kept the House constantly
informed, and that this could only have happened
for the purpose of covering some improper de
sign, or aiding individuals with the public moneys
of the United States.
"To this charge Mr. B. said, he had paid serious
attention, for as on the one hand, he would ever
be ready to bring every defaulter in public office,
however exalted in character, to condign punish
ment, where found guilty ; on the other hand,
he wished ever to be found giving full support
to every good officer of Government against un-
VINDICATION OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 309
founded charges of peculation and mismanage
ment of the public revenue. He had satisfied
his mind on the subject, not being able to find
a scintilla of evidence to support the charge, but
abundant testimony to the contrary.
" i. Congress knew that this money was appro
priated to the payment of the debts in this coun
try, that the Loan was made in Holland, and there
fore that it must necessarily be drawn here for the
purposes of the act.
" 2. By the Report of the Trustees of the Sink
ing Fund, folio 12, under the date of the 25th of
August, 1 790, is the following entry :
" It is probable that it will be deemed advisa
ble to pay the interest for the year 1791 on the
amount of the foreign debt out of foreign loans.
There is one now matured for the acceptance of
the United States, amounting to three millions
of florins, the proceeds of which may be at com
mand in the course of the present year. The
expediency of an acceptance of the loan, and of
an application of one third of it to the purpose
of the act, for the reduction of the Public Debt, is
under the consideration of the President of the
United States. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary
of the Treasury.
" This entry affords strong presumption against
all the suggestions of the want of instructions
from the President, or his ignorance of the pro
ceedings of the Secretary.
"3. The Speech of the President delivered to
3IO ELIAS BOUDINOT.
both Houses of Congress, on the 8th of Decem
ber, 1 790, has the following paragraph :
"In conforming to the powers vested in me by
the acts of the last session, a Loan of three mil
lions of florins, towards which some provisional
measures had previously taken place, has been
completed in Holland. The Secretary of the
Treasury has my directions to communicate such
further particulars as may be requisite for more
precise information.
"4. The Report of the Secretary in conformity to
that direction, dated 24th February, 1791, mention
ing terms of the Loans and application of moneys.
" 5. The preamble of the act of 3d March, 1791,
already read.
"6. In the Report of the Secretary of the Treas
ury of the receipts and expenditures from the
commencement of the Government to the 3ist
December, 1791, is the following article of re
ceipts :
" Foreign Loans.
" From the President, Directors Co.
of the Bank of North America, be
ing the produce of bills of exchange
drawn on the agents for negotiating
Foreign Loans in Holland, $229,269.47
" From the President, Directors Co.
of the Bank of New York, being
the produce of bills of exchange
drawn on the agents aforesaid 132,121.87
VINDICATION OF SECRETARY OF TREASURY. 3 1 I
" 7. In the Treasurer s account, commencing
January i, 1792, and ending on the 3ist March,
1792, are found the following entries of receipts:
" On the proceeds of bills of exchange, drawn
on Willhelm & Jan Willink, Nicholas and Jacob
Van Staphorst & Hubbard, of Amsterdam on
account of Loans made for the United States, per
statement, $402,902.89.
"In his account commencing on the ist of April,
1792, and ending on the 3Oth of June, 1792 :
" On the proceeds of bills of exchange, &c. in
same words, $1,400,000.
" In his account commencing on the ist of July,
1 792, and ending on the 3Oth of September, 1792:
" On the proceeds of bills of exchange, &c., in
same words, $1,000,000.
" Mr. B., after reading these vouchers, proceeded:
These, Mr. Chairman, are the facts that have
convinced my mind, at first much alarmed at the
severity of the charges and the positive assertions
of gentlemen that discoveries would be made
O
showing corruption at the very heart of the Gov
ernment; these have convinced me fully that this
prosecution has been rashly brought forward, with
out proper examination of the transaction. My
mind, in a conscientious research into the facts,
has not been able to raise a doubt on which to
found even a suspicion of the integrity or abili
ties of the Secretary in this whole negotiation.
So far am I from considering those charges sup
ported by testimony, that I consider the conduct
312 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
of the officer concerned in this transaction not
only wholly cleared up, but the measures he has
pursued as stamped with wisdom and official
knowledge. So far am I from judging him rep
rehensible for the manner in which he has nego
tiated and applied these loans, that I think him
deserving of the thankful approbation of his coun
try for his economy and strict attention to the
true interests and credit of the United States. I
rejoice, sir, that after so full and zealous an inves
tigation, this officer, though unheard, appears to
be free from even a suspicion of malconduct in
the whole transaction ; this is not only honorable
to him, but does credit to our country. On the
whole, therefore, I am decidedly against the pres
ent resolutions, and shall give them my hearty
negative." ]
MR. BOUDINOT TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
After passing through a fiery ordeal, I suppose
you have a few moments to breathe a milder air.
The part the country in general take in your
triumph over the envious and malicious enemies
to the Government, as well as yourself, must
convince you that the influence of these beings
extends but a little way out of their own selfish,
narrow circle.
1 Annals of Congress, 2d Congress, 1791-1793, P- 932.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
On relief of French emigrants from St. Domingo. On commerce of the
United States.
Third Congress, First Session.
FRENCH EMIGRANTS FROM ST. DOMINGO.
Friday, January roth, 1794.
MR. BOUDINOT declared, that he had never been
able to discover any difficulty in the matter. By
the law of Nature, by the law of Nations in a
word, by every moral obligation that could influ
ence mankind, we were bound to relieve the citi
zens of a Republic who were at present our allies,
and also had formerly been our benefactors. He
could not for a moment endure the idea of a hesi
tation on such a question. When a number of
our fellow-creatures had been cast upon our sym
pathy, in a situation of such unexampled wretch
edness, was it possible that gentlemen could make
a doubt whether it was our duty to relieve them ?
It had been said that the House was not, by the
Constitution, authorized to give away money for
such purposes. He was satisfied, that to refuse
the assistance requested would be to act in direct
opposition both to the theory and practice of the
Constitution. In the first place, as to the prac
tice, it had been said that nothing of this kind
had ever occurred before under the Federal Con-
314 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
stitution. He was astonished at such an affirma
tion. Did not the Indians frequently come down
to this city, on embassies respecting the regulat
ing of trade, and other business and did not
the Executive, without consulting Congress at
all, pay their lodgings for weeks, nay, for whole
months together? and was not this merely be
cause the Indians were unable to pay for them
selves ? Nobody ever questioned the propriety
of that act of charity. Again, when prisoners
of war were taken, there was no clause in the
Constitution authorizing Congress to provide for
their subsistence ; yet it was well known that they
would not be suffered to starve. Provision was
instantly made for them, before he could tell
whether the nation to whom they belonged would
pay such expenses, or would not pay them. It
was very true that an installment would soon be
due to France, nor did he object to reimburse
ment in that way if it could be so obtained. But,
in the mean time, relief must be given, for he was
convinced that we had still stronger obligations
to support the citizens of our allies than either
Indians or prisoners of war. In the second place,
as to the theory of the Constitution, he referred
gentlemen to the first clause of the eighth section
of it. By that clause Congress were warranted
to provide for exigencies regarding the general
welfare, and he was sure this case came under
that description. 1
1 Annals of Congress, 3d Congress, 1793-1795, p. 172; Abridgment of
the Debates of Congress, p. 463, H. of R.
COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. 315
COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES.
Friday, January 24th, 1794.
Mr. Boudinot lamented the want of practical
commercial knowledge, when called upon to give
an opinion on subjects of so great magnitude and
essential importance to this country.
But it was with pleasure he took an opportunity
of acknowledging the obligation he was under to
the gentlemen who had gone before him, for their
collection of facts, their calculations and strong
reasoning, on the subject, by which his misfortune
was greatly alleviated.
The calm and dispassionate discussion of so
great and interesting a question, must be produc
tive of great public advantage, as well as do great
honor to this Committee. It was with the greatest
attention that he had heard the various reasonings
throughout this lono- debate. He had examined
o o
the facts, he had compared and applied the cal
culations, he had weighed every argument, and
had endeavored to draw some final conclusions
to direct his judgment. That which had made
the most forcible impression on his mind, and
was equally deducible from the arguments used
by either side of the House, was " that every wise
nation, under the consideration of all circum
stances, endeavored to make their own individ
ual interest the pole-star by which to direct their
conduct, whether of a political or commercial
nature."
316 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
He observed, that it appeared to him as clear
as any mathematical proposition, that in all the
commercial regulations of the nations of Europe,
this one object influenced every action. This was
plainly seen in all the favorable circumstances
attending the arrets of France in our favor. This,
and this alone, had penned every commercial re
striction against us by Great Britain. From the
whole, then, of the debate, without going into
comparison of one nation and her conduct towards
us with another, which sometimes led into invid
ious distinctions, Mr. B. said he had drawn this
obvious and determinate conclusion from the
acknowledged attention of old and wise nations
to their own particular interests, and which he
should make the rule of his conduct on this great
question "to go and do likewise."
But, before he proceeded to the resolutions on
the table, he thought proper to premise the pro
priety of laying out of the debate the charge of
the enmity of Great Britain and the friendship
of France, as far as either respected the former
Government. Politicians and legislators should
not indulge passion; the circumstances of the
present Government were those that demanded
their attention, and by going so far back, they
would be exposed to greater mistakes. He said
he had already found it very easy to mistake or
misapprehend facts of an important nature, when
relative to subjects that engage the passions as
well as the judgment.
ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 317
Mr. B. said he was not desirous of becoming
the panegyrist of Great Britain ; he had known
too much, he had felt too much, to execute such
an office with propriety. He should not over
value the friendship of France in the aid we
had received from her, because he knew that it
was not from the Nation, but the Monarch, that
the whole of it was brought about. He knew
that his sole motive was the best interests of
his Crown, and that when he fought us side by
side he had fought his own battles in our country
instead of his own.
It was interest that led America to ask, it
was interest that led him to comply. But, not
withstanding circumstances of this nature, he
was desirous that the whole truth should prevail.
He did not approve of half truths, he wished the
whole to be known. Great Britain had been
repeatedly charged with originating the Indian
war. She had been (it was said) always averse
to entering into a commercial treaty with us.
These facts Mr. B. disputed ; nay, he did not
believe them. Gentlemen had founded many
strong arguments upon them, but it would have
been best first to have produced the evidence, to
prove their existence.
As to the originating the Indian war, so far
from its being originated by Great Britain, he
knew that it had originated in the false policy of
Congress in 1783. This was no new idea; he had
then foreseen it ; he had then foretold it, with its
318 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
consequences. He did not deny that the officers
and agents of Great Britain had since encouraged
and increased it ; that they had not done what they
ought to have done to prevent it. They had
claimed the right of aiding the Indians by presents ;
we also, as a nation, had claimed the right of aid
ing the French Republic, in every way consistent
with our neutrality. As to her being always averse
to a commercial treaty, this also should be taken
with some restriction. The facts should be truly
stated. In September, 1779, Congress thought it
prudent to authorize and instruct their Commis
sioners to enter into a Commercial Treaty with
Great Britain, in case of a Peace. In July, 1781,
when a negotiation for peace was likely to take
place, Congress, on the principle that our true
commercial advantages were not well understood,
thought it best to avoid all unnecessary European
connections ; and therefore, in the month of July,
1781, repealed the Commissioners authority to
enter into a Commercial Treaty, and withdrew
their instructions. At this critical moment, when
Great Britain had acceded to our Independence,
and was impressed with the danger of losing our
commerce, she came forward, and (if his informa
tion was right) proposed a Commercial Treaty,
on rational and generous terms, which, for want
of authority, was refused by our Commissioners.
To this source was the proclamation of the King
of Great Britain owing, by which we are cut off
from the West India trade. Before this mistake
COMMERCIAL TREATY. 319
could be rectified, our disunion as to commercial
regulations and weakness as to national objects,
were fully known to Great Britain ; since which,
he believed, she had wholly omitted to enter into
further treaty with us.
He said he had carefully examined the Journals
of Congress as to the granting and repeal of the
power of the Commissioners ; but as to the offer
ing and refusing the Commercial Treaty he de
pended on a Confidential letter he had received
in 1783 and which was read in Congress the ist
of October of that year ; and as he would not
vouch for the authenticity of those facts but chose
that the Committee should have all the evidence
he had, he would trouble them with reading the
substance of it. Mr. B. then read some parts of
a letter dated September 28th, 1783, which in
substance was "I left Paris the i5th June; the
day before which Mr. Hartley had communicated
to the American Plenipotentiary and to me a de
spatch which he had received from Mr. Secretary
Fox, authorizing Mr. Hartley to agree to a Treaty
of Commerce, allowing a free trade to the West
Indies to the vessels and citizens of the United
States, under the single restriction of not carry
ing the produce of those Islands to Great Britain ;
that Congress would best know the reasons that
induced the Commissioners to object to that re
striction, and which had eventually frustrated the
expectation of a Commercial Treaty with Great
Britain. And you will undoubtedly have seen
32O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
the Proclamation which in consequence thereof,
had been issued by his Britannic Majesty, whereby
the vessels of the United States v are, in effect, pre
cluded from all access to the British West Indies.
But as the ultimate intentions of the British Min
ister on that subject appeared doubtful, and as it
seemed highly important that they should be
known to Congress as soon as possible, and as I
had occasion on Friday, the 8th of August, to see
my Lord North respecting a matter of private
property, I availed myself of that opportunity of
conversing thereon with his Lordship who, with
great apparent candor, told me that the Proclama
tion and the principles of it would undoubtedly be
adhered to during the continuance of the act of
Parliament; that Parliament must then determine
respecting future measures ; that the Navigation
Act had been the source and support of the
British naval power, and must not be infringed
without urgent necessity ; that he was desirous of
promoting a good understanding with the United
States by all means compatible with the interest
of Great Britain, but that the Americans, after
making themselves independent, were unreason
able, desiring privileges which never had been
granted to any independent people, especially as
they appeared to have neither the inclination nor
the ability to give any adequate advantages to
Great Britain in return. I intimated the proba
bility that the United States would retaliate, and
prevent their produce being carried to the West
BRITISH WEST INDIES. 321
Indies in British vessels. To which his Lordship
replied, that the United States doubtless had the
right to adopt such a measure, but in so doing
they would necessarily deprive themselves of the
best, and indeed the only sufficient market for
their produce ; obstruct the growth, agriculture,
and prosperity of their own country and injure
themselves much more than they could possibly
injure Great Britain. That in war Great Britain
was exposed to much expense and difficulty in de
fending- her West India Colonies, and at all times
O
giving them exclusively the benefit of her market,
depriving herself in their favor of the advantage
of purchasing the sugars c. of other countries,
and thereby enabling British West India planters
to obtain higher prices for their produce than the
planters of any other nation ; and that unless
Great Britain in return for these favors could ex
clusively enjoy the benefits of their navigation ;
it would, in his private opinion, be much better
to let them become independent like the United
States. His Lordship did not request, and I
presume he did not expect I would keep this con
versation secret, and you are at liberty to com
municate it to Congress ; though as I do not wish
to be cited on political subjects, I beg it may be
confined to that honorable body. I indeed thought
it expedient before I left London, to write an ac
count of it to the American Plenipotentiary in
Paris " &c.
Mr. B., then proceeded and said, that these
VOL. II.
322 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
facts had convinced him that the charge was too
general, especially as by the late communications
we are informed that a negotiation was now again
in train on the same subject.
That in his opinion Great Britain had enough
to answer for that \vas justly chargeable to her
account, without relying on bare suggestions
without proof. Her breach of the Treaty by
carrying away our negroes, contrary to the ex
press words and withholding the posts, without
a shadow of excuse, are sufficient evidence of her
want of public faith ; but let us not found our
acts on those facts, which, if inquired into, we
cannot support. Mr. B. observed, that he had
made these observations to remind gentlemen
that though this nation had at times done us
wrong, yet that we had not been without fault;
therefore, he added, let us dispassionately con
sider the resolutions on the table, on the principle
of our present situation among the nations, or as
it has been, since our present Government. It
cannot be denied that our trade has been in a
flourishing condition ever since the year 1790.
Let any gentleman who doubts this cast his eye
on the Reports from the Treasury Office for sev
eral years past: it is fast pressing to perfection.
Mr. B. was of opinion with the gentleman
who had gone before him, that it was possible to
carry our navigation too far, when considered in
proportion to our agricultural interest, but that
point has yet to come. He acknowledged that
RESTRICTIONS ON COMMERCE. 323
since the late war in Europe, we had been the
sufferers ; that our ships had been piratically de
spoiled (if he might be allowed the expression)
by the privateers of England, Spain, and France ;
that our citizens justly looked up to their Gov
ernment for protection and recompense. The
usual established mode among civilized nations
was, in the first instance, remonstrance and nego
tiation ; this was not the duty of the Represen
tatives of the people, but belonged to another
department; we were officially informed that this
was done, a negotiation was on foot, and our
Executive officer had fixed the ist day of De
cember last, when our Minister at the Court of
London was to give a positive and decided ac
count of the state of the negotiation. Would
it then be prudent for the Committee, until the
issue of that negotiation is known, to interfere,
or perhaps run counter to our Executive ?
The departments of Government should be
kept separate and not one counteract the other.
He at length adverted to the resolution before
the Committee, and said it consisted of two parts :
one relative to higher duties on the manufactures
of foreign nations not having any treaty with us,
the other, to further restrictions on the shipping
of those nations. To these, then, Mr. B. said he
would confine himself, and thereby greatly narrow
the debate. The first inquiry that obviously pre
sented itself, in order to determine the effect, is,
On whom will these higher duties fall ? The
324 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
general principle agreed on all hands is, that
the consumer pays the duty. The citizens of the
United States are the consumers ; the citizens of
the United States must, therefore, pay the higher
duties. This reasoning proceeds on the fact that
our citizens purchased the manufactures. The
articles mentioned are either necessaries or su
perfluities ; if necessaries, our citizens must have
them; if superfluities, as freemen, they will have
them, if they choose them ; they will lay out their
money as they please, unless restricted by laws
founded on the interests of the nation.
But it may be said, that they may be supplied
from home manufactures, or from nations in alli
ance with us. The first cannot be true, as will
be evident from the present state of our manufac
tures. The supply equal, or bearing any reason
able proportion to the demand, is impossible for
many, many years to come. As to other nations,
it may fairly be said, with regard to the supply,
that France and Holland are the only nations that
can be contemplated. It would be cruel in the
extreme to put France to the test, under the pres
ent critical and distressing situation. She has
called all her citizens into the field ; if any can be
spared, it must be for the purpose of her agricul
ture, or the manufacture of arms alone. It would
expose her to the charge of inability, without
giving her the chance of a fair experiment. Every
gentleman on the floor knows that Holland, inde
pendently considered, has no possible way of yield-
DUTIES ON IMPORTS. 325
ing us a supply. If she does it, it must be as a
medium between Great Britain and us ; so that,
directly or indirectly, we should receive the sup
ply from Great Britain, which would evade the
intended effect of the measure. The next inquiry
is, How will increasing the duties on our own citi
zens affect the Government of Great Britain, so as
to accomplish the desired end ? If their manufac
turers obtain their price, if their merchants receive
their commissions, how will it affect them that
our citizens pay high duties on the articles here
before they are consumed ? It may be answered
by lessening the consumption ; by increasing our
own manufactures ; by encouraging other nations
to cease a competition in our markets. If we
judge from past experience, our habits of econ
omy are not such as will produce this effect to
any considerable purpose. Our citizens seldom
refuse gratifying themselves on account of a dif
ference of sixpence or a shilling in the yard ; if
they earn their money hardly, they will spend it
at their pleasure. During the late war, we know
the prices were increased one hundred per cent,
yet neither the obligation of law, the love of their
country, or even, in some cases, the risk of life,
will deter from gratifying themselves in the enjoy
ment of foreign manufactures. The increase of
our home manufactures is a most desirable object,
and there was no gentleman of the committee
more desirous of promoting them than he was.
But this could only be accomplished by time. It
326 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
was a progressive work, and was now hasten
ing to perfection as fast as was compatible with
a due attention to agriculture, but no gentle
man would pretend to say that even the hope
of a competent supply was rational for many years
to come ; nay, he verily believed that, if all the
wool of the fifteen States was brought together, it
would not afford a supply of woollens for one
State. But it was proper to look to the encour
agement already given to our manufactures. The
importations of the United States amounted to
twenty millions of dollars; the duties already laid
amount to four millions ; this, on an average, was
twenty per cent. This was a very serious duty,
indeed ; and, though principally designed to raise
a revenue, yet it also acted as bounties to our
manufactures ; and, when added to the freight,
insurance, commissions, and interest paid by the
importer of foreign manufactures, every gentle
man must conclude that our citizens would not
patiently submit to greater burdens without the
most obvious necessity. He added that, if the
specific articles referred to in the resolutions were
individually considered, the duties would amount
to about fifteen per cent, when imported in for
eign bottoms, which would be found very heavy
on those articles, and sufficient to encourage our
home manufactures consistently with the ease of
the citizens. Do not these duties already bear a
sufficient proportion to the capitals of our mer
chants? Some gentlemen have objected to the
CREDIT IN GREAT BRITAIN. 327
easy credit afforded our merchants in Great Brit
ain, and yet, in the same breath, are for demand
ing the small capitals of their own in duties, and
refuse them the advantage of foreign capitals,
where they can be obtained. He confessed that
he was not convinced of the dangers arising from
o o
public credit, which was so warmly urged by the
gentleman from Virginia. When he looked at
o o
that gentleman, and attended to the zeal he dis-
o
covered, in what he thought so essential to the
welfare of his country, it afforded an answer to
every objection so ably supported by him. The
gentleman had acknowledged and lamented the
O O
prevalence of credit, and that from Great Britain.
In the State he came from he said it universally
prevailed, and had its effect on the importing
merchant ; from him to the country shop keeper,
and thence to the farmer, so that the dependence
on the merchant in Great Britain was to be feared
through every part of the community, and the
most dangerous influence of English politics was
to be dreaded. But was there a State in the
Union where the policy of Great Britain was rep
robated more than in the State of Virginia? Was
not the conduct of that gentleman in the present
debate, as well as that of his colleagues, full proof
that the credit he complained of did not produce
the fatal effect he feared? Was not Virginia the
largest, and, if we might judge from her visible
capital (slaves) the richest State in the Union?
And yet she had always been in the habit of
unbounded credit in Great Britain.
328 ELI AS BOUDINOT.
Mr. B. then reminded the Committee of the
nature of the trade with Great Britain. Did the
British merchant bring hi s manufactures and offer
o
them for sale in this country? No; the Amer
ican merchant employed the merchant in Eng
land to purchase of the manufacturers, on a com
mission of five or ten per cent. The goods were
exported at the risk of the American merchant;
and whether the consumer paid a high or low
duty on them, on their arrival in this country, was
a matter of but secondary consideration to the
British merchant. Mr. B. then, observing on the
patriotic conduct of our merchants with regard
to their obedience to the revenue laws, which he
thought did them greater honor than could be
o o
claimed by those of any other country, warned the
Committee against carrying the matter too far:
O J O
he warned them not to make it the best trade on
fair calculation, that one merchant could pursue,
to defraud the Government of the duties. When
once smuggling became a business, which the
merchants generally thought themselves justified
in, it would be like powerful assailants getting
possession of a strong fortress : it would not be
easy to dislodge them. It was out of the power
of laws to prevent smuggling if the merchants
once determined to adopt it.
He said he had carefully avoided saying any
thing about the Algerines, because, although in
his private opinion he thought circumstances
bore hard against Great Britain, yet as a legis-
ALGERINES. 329
lator, he could not lay his finger on the evidence,
and say this or that proves the fact ; and, as he
believed some facts had been mistaken, he was
afraid of acting without adequate proof. Besides,
although he was at first affected by the sugges
tion, yet, on carefully investigating the process of
the business, he thought he could see reasons
which might render it possible that Great Britain
had a good excuse for her conduct, independent
of American considerations. Every gentleman
knows that Holland had a considerable trade
with Portugal which she was obliged to carry on
with a convoy of men-of-war, on account of the
Algerines. Portugal had three or four ships con
tinually cruising on the same account.
Great Britain (with these States) was engaged
in a war with France, whose fleet, notwithstanding
all her difficulties, was rather superior to that of
Great Britain. It became then a considerable
object with Great Britain to emancipate these
ships of her allies from other services, so as to
operate with her in the common cause. Again,
it was possible that Great Britain, by promoting
this truce with Holland and Portugal, might find
it easier to persuade the Algerines to declare war
against France, the common enemy ; this, we are
told, has been accomplished ; and, if so, must
have been a considerable object with Great Brit
ain. If, then, these reasons might have operated
with Great Britain without respect to America
we ought at least to wait till we are better ac-
330 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
quainted with facts, and this we may soon reason
ably expect from our foreign Ministers, especially
when we are officially told that the British agent
who accomplished this truce had not heard from
his court for eighteen months.
On the whole, Mr. B. observed that, while the
duties already laid on the farmer, mechanic, la
borer, and other citizens of the United States,
were sufficiently high for the support of Govern
ment and the protection and encouragement of
our home manufactures, while higher duties must
in the end fall on those who are already oppressed
with those duties that are necessary, while our
citizens cannot avoid the duties by a supply from
home manufactures, or those of foreign nations
in alliance with us, while he was of opinion that
nations not in alliance cannot be affected by
duties paid by our citizens, he did not think this
the time to increase the duties on articles which
must be consumed in the United States for pur
poses which it cannot clearly and indubitably be
proved will answer very essential and important
ends to our Government and its citizens. As to
the second object of the resolution, he had been
always of opinion that it is the true way of accom
plishing the ends proposed. He had ever joined
the gentleman who brought this forward, in con
sidering the regulating of foreign shipping a prin
ciple of great importance to the interest of the
United States, and, whenever an answer shall be
obtained from our Minister abroad, by which the
RECIPROCITY. 331
state of the present negotiation shall appear to
be unfavorable to the United States, he would
be ready to enter fully into the measure, and
hoped then, there would be a perfect unanimity
in that Committee, which would greatly insure
the efficacy of the measure. But as there was
reason to expect the issue of the negotiations in
a short time, he should be unwilling to agree to
any measure of this nature, having a principle of
retaliation for its object till the real grievance
could be known, and of course the Committee
better capable of judging of the adequate remedy.
He was averse from forcing any nation into a
commercial treaty with us. It ought to be a vol
untary act, and he was for allowing the same
freedom of action to other nations we claimed
for ourselves. But when we could not obtain a
reciprocity of benefits he thought we had the
undoubted right of conferring a reciprocity of
restrictions. His idea was, when we did proceed
on this principle, we should make old and wise
nations our example, and copy their acts. This
could give no reasonable offence ; but, if offence
was taken, the answer would be obvious and con
vincing. Great Britain, by her commercial regu
lations, had risen to power and opulence ; this
gave us a right to copy her example ; and, when
ever the Executive gave us information that ne
gotiation was ineffectual, he was ready to pursue
this remedy as the only salutary and effectual
one ; but, as this period had not yet arrived, he
332 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
should wait with some degree of patience for
the issue, which, as a friend to both countries,
he hoped would be a favorable one, and should
accordingly vote, for the present, against the
resolution now before the Committee. 1
1 Annals of Congress, 3d Congress, 1793-1795, P- 302.
CHAPTER XXXV.
On sequestration of British debts. On non-intercourse with Great Brit
ain. On defense of the frontiers. On reduction of salaries. On
claims of Thomas Person and others to lands on frontier of North
Carolina. Special committees on which Mr. Boudinot served. Mo
tion for day of Thanksgiving. First entry of the Supreme Court of
the United States.
Third Congress, First Session.
SEQUESTRATION OF BRITISH DEBTS.
Thursday, March 27th, 1794.
MR. BOUDINOT said, he had not intended to
take part in the debate at this early stage of it ;
but what had fallen from the member last up,
convinced him that the House should not go into
a consideration of the subject at this time. It
should be considered with coolness, and all pas
sions put out of the question.
No doubt we have a right to make reprisals,
as the Legislature has a right to declare war ;
but he doubted whether the United States, in
their present situation, would find it their interest
to go into such measures. The authority read
from Vattel by the member last up, he observed,
made against that member s opinion. Vattel
expressly says that reprisals should not be made
on property intrusted to public faith. The debts
of British subjects here are in that predicament.
He had heard that gentleman, not long since,
334 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
with pleasure, expatiate with warmth on the
advantage of credit, especially to this country.
Should that credit be destroyed (he asked) by
destroying the confidence of foreigners in our
faith ? But, even if this retaliation is lawful, will
it be the interest of the citizens, or rather of the
Government, to take such a step at the present
time ? We have no doubt been cruelly treated,
but have we made proper application for redress,
and received an answer? We should first send a
special envoy and insist on an immediate answer.
This would be the mode of securing peace ; at
least, it offers the best chance of securing it.
The aggressions on our commerce made by
Great Britain are no doubt enough to rouse any
American s feelings ; but the Legislature ought
not to be swayed by passions ; they should discuss
the subject calmly and deliberately. He hoped
the Committee would rise and allow time, at least
to take the necessary measures of defense ; for,
could the Legislature justify to their constituents
this step of retaliation, should immediate hostili
ties, warlike hostilities, be the consequence ? To
justify a measure of this kind time should be
given for the defensive system adopted to be
carried into operation. 1
1 Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, p. 484, H. of R.
RESOLUTION OF MR. CLARK. 335
NON-INTERCOURSE WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
Friday, April nth, 1794.
The House again resolved itself into a Com
mittee of the whole House on the motion of the
7th instant, to prohibit all commercial intercourse
between the citizens of the United States and the
subjects of the King of Great Britain, so far as
the same respects articles of the growth or manu
facture of Great Britain or Ireland.
Mr. Boudinot first rose this day, and said : Mr.
Chairman, in a question of so much national im
portance, there needed no apology from any mem
ber of the Committee for claiming their attention,
while he gave the reasons for his vote. The im
patience shown by his colleague (Mr. Clark) or
any other gentleman, for the question, ought not
to influence any member of the Committee. When
the fate of a nation of as much consequence as
the United States, appeared to be suspended on
a vote, the least to be expected from gentlemen
was to act with freedom, deliberation and inde
pendence. He supposed he should be among
those who, at the taking of the question, would
probably be found in the minority. That this
would be his vote, if he was convinced that he
should be single and alone. He felt himself
deeply and seriously affected with a view of the
precipice on which, in his apprehension, his
country seemed to stand, and he wished, for his
own part, to take a full and deliberate view of
336 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
it, before he joined in precipitating a leap, that
might not add to her safety or happiness. Rea
soning and not declamation should be expected
from gentlemen in favor of the Measure under
consideration.
He said, he would address himself to the judg
ments and not to the passions of the Commit
tee. He acknowledged it might fall to his lot to
mistake the true and essential interests of his
country; but, if this should be the case, he had
the satisfaction of knowing that it would arise
from the most honest and upright intentions. It
was, therefore, on these principles, that he should
proceed in giving his opinion on the important
resolution on the Table.
But, before lie went further, he could not for
get the respectful compliment paid yesterday by
his honorable friend from Maryland (Mr. Smith)
to his moderation and gray hairs ; indeed, he
should not have taken it to himself, as he had the
honor of having white instead of gray hairs, had
not Mr. Smith s attention been immediately fixed
on him. If either age or moderation would com
mand his worthy friend s close consideration of
this subject, he besought him, as well as the other
gentleman of the Committee, to join in attending
to it calmly and seriously for a few moments, be
fore the die was cast. He said, he owed much,
on behalf of his country, to that gentleman for
his services in the field during the late war, when
both his zeal and his passions were rendered so
NON-INTERCOURSE WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 337
eminently useful, that he could with pleasure
apologize at all times for his warmth and anima
tion on any subject where their common country
was not to be affected. But would he permit him,
earnestly to request that, with other members, he
would call to mind that they were now the Repre
sentatives of four millions of people ? that per
haps the lives of thousands of their fellow-citizens
were depending on a single vote ? that the wel
fare of a country dearer to them than life was at
stake. Gentlemen must therefore agree, that the
question was a serious one, and deserved to be
treated with the most serious and deliberate con
sideration. Judgment and not resentment should
direct the final determination, let it be what it
may, and give a sanction to all their measures.
He observed that gentlemen against the ques
tion had been accused of want of propriety in
looking calmly, and without the exercise of their
passions, on the sufferings of the unhappy prison
ers at Algiers, and the piratical spoliations of our
fellow-citizens in the West Indies. Yes, sir, said
he, when he knew that it was neither passion nor
declamation that could afford effective relief to
these suffering members of the political body, he
should continue to persist in that steady, serious
and deliberate line of conduct that, in his estima
tion, was only calculated to produce that perma
nent and efficient aid and relief which their ex
treme distress so loudly called for; but, in his
turn, he asked gentlemen to give up their warmth
VOL. II.
338 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
on this occasion, that they might also reflect, even
without passion, on the number of their fellow-
citizens that must fall a sacrifice in the most suc
cessful war. Will not gentlemen weigh well that
vote that may possibly increase the number of
mourning widows and helpless orphans ?
These considerations have led him to consider
the measure now proposed as of great moment
and importance, and to wish it might be rea
soned on and considered in a manner becom
ing Legislators and Representatives of United
America, who have been sent here as her coun
selors and trustees, and to whom she has com
mitted her best and most sacred interests. He
said, for argument s sake, and to simplify the de
bate, lest he should be drawn into unnecessary
disputation, he should concede for the present,
the constitutionality of the resolution proposed;
the right of the Committee to originate and deter
mine on the measure ; the unprovoked aggres
sions of Great Britain, to warrant and justify the
prohibition.
These arguments had been repeated and urged
with great apparent force, by gentlemen in favor
of the affirmative side of the question ; but were
the principles arising from these facts sufficient
to justify a determination in favor of so harsh and
unprecedented a proceeding, without previously
demanding an explanation and full indemnifica
tion, agreeably to the custom and usages of other
nations ?
NON-INTERCOURSE WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 339
Would arguments of this kind satisfy our con
stituents if they should suddenly find themselves
plunged into an expensive and ruinous war?
Would it not very naturally be asked, why were
not the true interests of the United States under
these existing circumstances carefully inquired
into, and made the principal and leading object
of attentive consideration ? In his opinion, this
should peculiarly be the sum of their present
inquiry. Was it not the duty of the Committee
critically to examine into the preparation they
were in for a step that, in the imagination of
some gentlemen of character and reputation, at
the last might precipitate our country into an im
mediate war ? Were our ports and harbours in
any tolerable state of defense ? Were our maga
zines and arsenals properly supplied ? Were our
citizens in a state of organization as a militia ?
In short, did not the measure threaten a sudden
transition from a state of profound peace and
happiness, unequaled by any nation, into a state
of war and bloodshed, without taking those pre
vious and prudent measures that might probably
lead to an avoidance of this national evil, or, at all
events, enable us to meet it with decision and
effect ?
Gentlemen had referred the Committee to the
conduct of America in 1776, and the success of
the late war has been urged for our encourage
ment. The non-importation agreement had been
recurred to as a precedent in point. He said he
34O ELIAS BOUDINOT.
was well acquainted with most of the events of
the late Revolution. The first motions towards
it found him engaged in the common cause, and
his best endeavors to complete and secure it had
never since been wanting. He well remembered
the consequences of the non-importation agree
ment, and the sufferings of our brave fellow-citi
zens from that imprudent measure. He had
tracked them over the frozen ground by their
blood, from the want of shoes, and was sensible
that many had perished by the inclemency of the
season, for want of tents and clothing; that agree
ment was universally reprobated, as a measure
imprudently entered into on the principle of
expecting to be involved in a war, which, had
it been then contemplated, nothing could have
justified. Mr. B. appealed to the knowledge of
many men who heard him, that this agreement
had often been urged to Great Britain, as a con
clusive evidence, that at the time of its adoption,
America had not the least intention of indepen
dence, or a separation from the mother country,
otherwise she could never have been guilty of so
impolitic a resolution. He asked, then, if the
Committee would now repeat the mistake with
their eyes open, and expose our country to the
same misfortunes, and our fellow r -citizens to a
repetition of sufferings, by a measure that prom
ised not one important advantage to the Union
that he had heard of? In the late war, America
had all the ports and harbours of the other Eu-
NON-INTERCOURSE WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 341
ropean nations open to her, but now circum
stances would be altered ; in case of a war the
very reverse would be our position, excepting as
to those of France.
Mr. B. confessed^ that his arguments were
founded on his conviction that the resolution was
a measure that would necessarily produce war,
immediate, inevitable war.
His reasons were drawn from the present state
of Great Britain, being in alliance with the prin
cipal powers of Europe, and under treaties to
make all wars, arising from the united opposition
to France a common cause.
The necessity she would have of employing
her supernumerary hands, if not in manufactures,
in her armies and navies, to prevent trouble at
home, added to her old grudge against us on
account of principles that promise much trouble
to all the Monarchs of Europe: her late conduct
with regard to our trade, founded on the instruc
tions of the 8th June, and 6th November last;
her withholding the posts, contrary to every prin
ciple of justice and good faith, and against the
most positive assurances ; and lastly from the
anxiety to regain the territory between the Lakes
and the Mississippi ; he agreed that neither of
these singly, nor even the whole together, could
justify her in her own opinion, on making an
open attack upon us, but might tempt her to
construe the measure before the Committee into
an act of hostility on our part, as contrary to
34 2 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
our professed neutrality. He said, it was a point
conceded in the Laws of Nations, that granting to
one of the belligerent powers advantages in your
ports which were refused to another was a breach
of neutrality.
The object with Great Britain would be, to
convince her allies, that the aggression arose
on account of the war with France, to prevail on
them to make it a common cause ; and in this
they would not want plausible evidence. It was
not sufficient, he alleged, that we knew ourselves
innocent of the charge. We should be pru
dently careful not unnecessarily to give reason
to justify the construction. If the previous steps
of negotiation, used by all civilized nations, were
neglected, they would have the advantage of the
argument and we should injure ourselves. He
asked if any gentleman \vould say that a prohi
bition of commerce at the eve of a war or even
the apprehension of it, was wisely calculated to
clothe our army, replenish our magazines, supply
our arsenals, or provide a revenue by which to
support a war ?
He wished every member had taken the
trouble he had clone, of looking into their stores,
inquiring what was on hand, calculating what
would be absolutely necessary, and reflecting se
riously and dispassionately on the sources of sup
ply. If they had, he doubted not but that they
would find something more than passion and
resentment necessary to meet the probable con
sequences of so premature a determination.
NON-INTERCOURSE WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 343
It was no uncommon thing for gentlemen to
differ on important measures ; and he would not
even insinuate, that he might not be found wrong
in these ideas, and wholly mistaken in his con
jectures on this occasion, but he begged members
to consider the different ground on which the
two sides of the House stood. If the minority,
of whom he expected to be one, should in the
end be found to have been alarmed with conse
quences altogether unfounded, and that the issue
proved successful to the peace of our common
country, they would have the happiness of rejoi
cing with the majority in their superior wisdom
and foresight ; and though even they should suf
fer in character, yet the country would be saved.
But if the minority should in the end be right,
and our country should be deluged in a destruc
tive war, and her best interests be endangered by
the discovery of the mistake too late for redress,
gentlemen in favor of the resolution would se
riously regret that they had not at least used
more caution.
He said, as at present advised, he should give
his vote against the resolution. It would be from
a thorough conviction, on the most careful ex
amination, that the resolution was against the
interest and welfare of the United States, all
circumstances considered. And this he should
do, wholly regardless of the malevolent insinua
tions, that Britain had an influence in that House.
He felt a conscious dignity of mind, a virtuous
344 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
pride of heart, in believing that not all the wealth
of that opulent nation could purchase his influ
ence to a single measure injurious to his country;
and under that conviction, he could not believe
there was a member of the Committee in a differ
ent predicament.
He again repeated, that he should most sin
cerely rejoice if this measure should be adopted,
to find, in the end, that his mind had viewed it
as productive of consequences that were wholly
unfounded; and, although under his present view
of the subject, considering it as inimical to his
country, he was bound in conscience to vote
against it, yet the councils of America were di
rected by superior wisdom, and that this country
had reaped the rich harvest of peace and happi
ness. But it might now be asked, if it was meant
passively to submit to the injuries acknowledged
on all hands to have been sustained by the impe
rious and overbearing conduct of Great Britain?
o
He answered No, by no means.
He would follow the example and pursue the
measures of other nations in like circumstances
examples and measures founded in policy and
sound understanding. He would by a special
Envoy, make known to that Court our sense of
her unwarrantable aggressions ; he would demand
immediate indemnification for the present, and
security against future sufferings of the like na
ture insist on a categorical answer, after apply
ing to her justice and best interests; and if at
NON-INTERCOURSE WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 345
last a war must be the only means of obtaining
justice, he would then (being previously prepared)
meet it as became a free and independent nation,
trusting to the righteousness of her cause.
By this means, the other nations of Europe
would be made acquainted with our complaints
become witnesses to our love of peace, and bear
testimony to the justice of our appeal to arms.
He said, he had fully considered the question
he had viewed it in every point of light he had
endeavored to consider the consequences which
most probably would arise from it, and he could
not convince his mind that the measure would be
productive of any good to the United States, while
it offered many reasons to conclude that it might
be frausrht with the greatest evil. In case of the
O
most successful war, America had nothing to gain,
while her loss of blood and treasure was sure and
certain. He had once flattered himself that this
was the only country on the globe, whose interest
it was to be at peace with all the world, and at
the same time the interest of all the world, to be
at peace with us. But he feared we had been
so much actuated by a resentment of injuries re
ceived, as to lose sight of our true interests under
existing circumstances, and, therefore, should be
hurried into measures we might hereafter have
reason seriously to lament. 1
1 Annals of Congress, 3d Congress, 1793-1795, p. 571.
346 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Third Congress, Second Session.
DEFENSE OF THE FRONTIERS.
Monday, January I2th, 1795.
Debate on message from the President :
Mr. Boudinot was entirely satisfied both as to
the propriety of the matter contained in the letter
of the Secretary and as to the manner in which it
had been introduced into that House. That the
President had a right to consult the Heads of
Departments, there could be no kind of doubt.
Mr. Boudinot then read the following passage
from the Constitution : " The President shall be
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of
the United States, and of the Militia of the sev
eral States. He may require the opinion in
writing of the principal officer in each of the
Executive Departments, upon any subject relat
ing to the duties of their respective officers."
Mr. B. defended the message in all its circum
stances, and in the most pointed terms. It was
perfectly proper, and peculiarly so at this time.
By the Constitution, and by the rules and prac
tice of the House, the President had a right to
offer his advice regarding Legislative Acts. 1
1 Annals of Congress, 3d Congress, 1793-1795, p. 1073.
INSUFFICIENT COMPENSATION. 347
REDUCTION OF SALARIES.
Tuesday, January 27th, 1795.
Mr. Boudinot observed, that he should not
have troubled the committee on this question,
had it not been for several considerations par
ticularly applicable to himself. He was as im
partial on the present debate as any member on
the floor. After the close of this session of Con
gress, he never expected to receive a farthing of
public money again, and therefore no interest
of his own could sway his judgment improperly
to object against the resolution on the table, tie
had been among the number of those members
who originally were for fixing the compensation
of members of Congress at a less sum than six
dollars ; not because he thought it beyond the
amount of their expenses, but from an idea of
the then deranged state of the finances, and that,
if sacrifices were to be made, they should begin
with this House. He appealed to his uniform
conduct for six years past, to prove that he had
always opposed an increase of salaries or other
public expenses, when the interest of the Union
did not require it. He did not doubt that the
gentleman who brought forward this resolution
thought he was doing his duty in advocating it ;
and Mr. B. thought it was equally the duty of the
committee to be convinced that they were not
wasting their time in unnecessarily proceeding
in business without having some foundations for
rational inquiry.
348 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Mr. B. did not doubt but there were unin
formed individuals, who might object to six dol
lars per day ; but he was confident that the well
informed among the citizens of the United States,
and those who reflected on the subject, would
think (at the present day at least) it was not more
than would barely pay the reasonable expenses
of gentlemen who attended to their duty here in
a proper manner. Almost every article of con
sumption was from twenty to thirty per cent
higher now than it was at the commencement of
the Government.
The Constitution of the United States, as the
act of the people and the public voice, contem
plated a compensation to the members of Con
gress. Did not this mean something more than
the bare discharge of their expenses ? Yet Con
gress had not gone beyond it.
When Congress sat at New York, Mr. B. said
that he was in a situation more favorable in point
of expense than any gentleman on the floor, who
did not reside in the city. He boarded with
a near relation, and was in a manner in his own
family, and although he paid the usual price
of boarding, as at other places, yet there were
a thousand nameless small articles which saved
him money advances. He was within sixteen
miles of his own family, from whence he received
many things that prevented his laying out money.
During three sessions, he kept an exact and faith
ful account of his expenditures, and at the end
INSUFFICIENT COMPENSATION. 349
of that time the balance was but 435. 4cl. ; but on
which side of the question his memory did not
allow him to say. At present, he was also under
very peculiar advantages, yet he was confident
that, at the end of the session, he should not have
any balance in his favor from his compensation
as a member.
Mr. B. appealed to every gentleman s know
ledge, and particularly to the gentleman who
made the motion, if he thought that what he
received would more than pay his expenses.
Gentlemen were often crying out against an
Aristocracy in this country ; yet measures of this
kind tended to establish one by reducing the com
pensation of members, so that no citizen but the
rich and affluent could attend as a representative
in Congress. This certainly was the most effec
tual way of bringing about a dangerous Aristo
cracy in the United States. Should not men of
abilities, though in the middle walks of life, be
encouraged to come forward and yield their ser
vices to their country, without being dependent
on any person or set of men whatever? Is it not
sufficient that their time and talents are given to
the public ? Must they pay their expenses, too ?
Mr. B. was aware that the resolution proposed
related to the officers of Government as well as
members of Congress, but he had confined his
remarks to the last, as the part of the subject he
was best acquainted with. He begged gentlemen
to look around and point out the public officer
350 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
who received more than a reasonable reward for
his services. Professional men of the first abilities
were absolutely necessary to carry on the public
business ; and could any one fit for his office be
shown who could not do full as well, if not much
better in the exercise of his profession in private
life than he did in the public service, if pecuniary
matters were his only object? In short (Mr. B.
said) this House was placed between Scylla and
Charybdis. The public officers were complaining,
and even resigning, for want of sufficient com
pensation for their services ; on the other hand,
an attempt was now made to reduce their salaries
still lower, on the supposed clamors of the people.
Mr. B. did not believe they could be denominated
those of the people, neither did he see any evi
dence of the fact. He did not consider the com
plaints of a few individuals as the public voice.
Ou<Hit not the o entlemen to come forward with
o o
some kind of calculations or estimates to have
shown that certain salaries were too hicrh, or more
O
than the services performed were entitled to ?
This had not been done; but the committee were
urged, at this important moment, to proceed to
an inquiry which every gentleman on the floor
already knew as well as he could do by the most
labored investigation. He therefore concluded
that, to agree to the resolution, w r ould be a waste
of the short time that yet remained of the session,
and an unwise measure. Mr. B. would have con
tented himself with joining the Committee in a
RIGHTS OF SALE AND PRE-EMPTION. 351
silent vote on this subject, but he thought the
observations made in support of the measure
ought to receive some answer, if not to convince
the Committee, yet to satisfy their constituents
that there could exist no necessity for a present
inquiry of this nature. 1
THOMAS PERSON AND OTHERS.
Thursday, January 29th, 1795.
Mr. Boudinot imagined that Mr. Smith had
furnished a new and forcible argument against his
<D o
own cause. This claim of North Carolina to sell
the lands was wrong, and this doctrine had been
the cause of all the disputes in which the Federal
Government had been engaged. The Crown of
Great Britain had never pretended to any right
of this kind, nor ever thought it had a title to
any lands till they were first purchased from the
Indians. The question before the committee was,
Have the United States taken away any claim
which the purchasers of these lands had? And
the answer is, that the United States have not.
The State of North Carolina only had a right to
sell the privilege of pre-emption. This was the
only right which the purchasers obtained, and
this right they still possess. As to the certificates,
they were not those of the United States, but
those of North Carolina. They were not Conti
nental certificates, and for that reason Continental
1 Annals of Congress, 3d Congress, 1793-1795, p. 1138; Abridgment of
the Debates of Congress, H. of R.
35 2
ELIAS BOUDINOT.
officers would not accept them ; but North Caro
lina has since brought these certificates into her
account against the General Government. The
Commissioners, in 1786, had done a very great
service to North Carolina by settling a line of
boundary and putting an end to the Indian war.
He thought that the best way would be for the
claimants to apply to the Executive, and agree
among themselves to extinguish, by an interfer
ence of that kind, the Indian right. This would
be much better than for the House to involve
itself in the purchase of an immense tract of land,
at an expense of seven or eight hundred thou
sand dollars (or how much more Mr. B. could
not tell) when there was so much occasion for
the money to pay the National Debt. He again
declared that he should think it the best way
to obtain the good offices of the Executive in
extinguishing the Indian right. The Six Nations
possessed part of the Territory of Pennsylvania.
This State also may apply to the General Gov
ernment for redress, if North Carolina were to get
payment for these lands. The State of New
York may do so, for the same reasons as North
Carolina. This would be involving the Govern
ment in an endless labyrinth. He was as unwill
ing as any gentleman in the House to interfere
with the rights of the Legislature of North Caro
lina. But he did not wish to see the House going
blindfold into the business. The United States
have too much land already. 1
1 Annals of Congress, 30! Congress, 1793-1 795> P- H5 2>
SPECIAL COMMITTEES. 353
Congress of the United States begun and held
in the city of New York.
April 7, 1789.
Special committees on which Mr. Boudinot
served :
One of the committee to receive the President
and conduct him to the house formerly occupied
by the President of Congress.
" Reported from committee to prepare such
rules and orders of proceedings as may be proper
to be observed in this House."
On committee of eleven to prepare a bill for
the establishment of Department of Foreign Af
fairs, Treasury Department, and Department of
War.
Reported from committee to attend the confer
ence with the Senate on the subject of the amend
ments between the two Houses.
The bill entitled an act imposing duties on
tonnage.
For conducting business between the two
Houses.
For registering and clearing vessels.
A bill for allowing compensation to members
of the Senate and House of Representatives, and
to the officers of both Houses.
Of amendments to the Constitution.
An act to establish judicial courts in the United
States.
A bill to provide for the safe-keeping of the
VOL. II.
354 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
acts, records, and seal of the United States. For
the due publication of the Acts of Congress,
authentication of records, for making out and
recording commissions. Establishing fees of offi-
o o
cers for such.
July 19, 1790, Mr. Boudinot, chairman of the
committee appointed for the purpose, presented
a bill more effectually to provide for the national
defense by establishing a uniform militia through
out the United States.
To establish a seat of Government.
On committee of three to wait upon the Presi
dent to request him to appoint a day of thanks
giving.
To regulate trade and intercourse with the
Indians.
Duties on distilled spirits.
To promote agriculture.
Bills to establish a uniform system on the sub
ject of bankruptcy throughout the United States.
Bills which relate to the improvement of har
mony with the Indian nations.
Fees in United States courts.
Fees in Admiralty proceedings.
Regarding bullion in the Mint. On committee
for securing copy-rights to Authors, presented an
amendatory bill.
On September 25, 1789, Mr. Boudinot made
the following motion: Resolved, that a commit
tee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the
President of the United States, to request that he
FIRST ENTRY OF SUPREME COURT. 355
would recommend to the people of the United
States a clay of public thanksgiving and prayer,
to be observed by acknowledging with grateful
hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God,
especially by affording them an opportunity peace
ably to establish a Constitution of Government for
their safety and happiness.
The following is a copy of the first entry of
the Supreme Court of the United States sitting
in New York.
Friday, February 5, 1790.
. Present.
The Honorable. JOHN JAY, Esqr. Chief Justice.
The Honorable WILLIAM GUSHING
JAMES WILSON
JOHN BLAIR
Associate Justices.
Proclamation is made and the Court opened
ELIAS BOUDINOT of New Jersey
THOMAS HARTLEY of Pennsylvania
RICHARD HARRISON of New York
are severally sworn as by law required and are
admitted Counsellors of the Court.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Oration before the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey.
"A Star in the West." Other publications.
AT a meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati
in the State of New Jersey, held at Princeton, 23rd
September, 1783, "His Excellency Elias Boudi-
not, Esq r . President of Congress " was elected an
honorary member ; it is evident that he took
great interest in the Society, as he attended its
meetings with regularity, and was chosen one
of its delegates to the General Society in 1785,
1786, 1788, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1795, 1796, iSn,
1812, 1814, and 1815.
At the meeting of the Society held 4th July,
1793, the following was adopted: "Resolved that
the thanks of this Society be given to the
Hon blc . Elias Boudinot, Esq r . Doctor of Eaws, for
his excellent and well adapted Oration, delivered
this clay in celebration of the Anniversary of the
Independence of the United States of Amer
ica, and that he be desired to furnish the Soci
ety with a copy thereof to be deposited in their
Archives;" and at the meeting held 4th July,
1810, the following was adopted: "Resolved that
the thanks of this Society be presented to Doct r .
Boudinot, the venerable and much respected Ora
tor of the day, for his very appropriate, instructive,
SPEECH BEFORE THE CINCINNATI. 357
and excellent Oration, and that he be requested
to give a copy to be placed in the Archives of the
Society as a precious Legacy."
For broad and liberal views touching upon
questions of the present time, the following ora
tion delivered by Mr. Boudinot in 1793 might
have been written in 1893.
GENTLEMEN, BRETHREN, AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:
Having devoutly paid the sacrifice of prayer to
that Almighty Being, by whose favor and mercy
this clay is peculiarly dedicated to the commemo
ration of events which fill our minds with joy and
gladness, it now becomes me, in obedience to the
resolutions of our Society, to aim at a further
improvement of this festival, by leading your
reflections to the contemplation of those special
privileges which attend the happy and important
situation you now enjoy among the nations of the
earth.
Is there any necessity, fellow-citizens, to spend
your time in attempting to convince you of the
policy and propriety of setting apart this anni
versary for the purpose of remembering, with
gratitude, the unexampled event of our political
salvation ?
The cordial testimony you have borne to this
institution for seventeen years past, supersedes
the necessity of an attempt of this kind ; and,
indeed, if this had been the first instance of our
commemorating the day, the practice of all nations,
358 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
and of all ages, would have given a sanction to the
measure.
The history of the world, as well sacred as pro
fane, bears witness to the use and importance of
setting apart a day as a memorial of great events,
whether of a religious or political nature.
No sooner had the great Creator of the heavens
and the earth finished his almighty work, and
pronounced all very good, but He set apart (not
an anniversary, or one day in a year, but) one day
in seven, for the commemoration of his inimitable
power in producing all things out of nothing.
The deliverance of the children of Israel from
a state of bondage to an unreasonable tyrant was
perpetuated by the Paschal Lamb, and enjoining
it on their posterity as an annual festival for ever,
with a " remember this day, in which ye came out
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
The resurrection of the Saviour of mankind is
commemorated by keeping the first day of the
week, not only as a certain memorial of his first
coming in a state of humiliation, but the positive
evidence of his future coming in glory.
Let us then, my friends and fellow-citizens, unite
all our endeavors this clay to remember with rever
ential gratitude to our supreme Benefactor, all the
wonderful things He has done for us, in our mirac
ulous deliverance from a second Egypt another
house of bondage. " And thou shalt show thy
son on this clay, saying, this day is kept as a day
of joy and gladness, because of the great things
MEMORIALS. 359
the Lord hath done for us, when we were deliv
ered from the threatening power of an invading
foe. And it shall be a sign unto thee, upon
thine hand, and for a memorial between thine
eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy
mouth, for with a strong hand hast thou been
o
delivered from thine enemies. Thou shalt there
fore keep this ordinance in its season, from year
to year, for ever."
When great events are to be produced in this
our world, great exertions generally become neces
sary ; men are therefore usually raised up with
talents and powers peculiarly adapted to the pur
poses intended by Providence, who often, by their
disinterested services and extreme sufferings, be
come the wonder as well as the examples of their
generation.
The obligations of mankind to these worthy
characters increase in proportion to the impor
tance of the blessings purchased by their labors.
It is not then an unreasonable expectation
which, I well know, generally prevails, that this
day should be usually devoted to the perpetuat
ing and respectfully remembering the dignified
characters of those oreat men with whom it has
o
been our honor to claim the intimate connection
of Fellow-Citizens men who have purchased
our present joyful circumstances at the invaluable
price of their blood.
But you must also acknowledge with me, that
this subject has been so fully considered, and so
360 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ably handled, by those eloquent and enlightened
men who have gone before me in this honorable
path, that had their superior abilities fallen to
my lot, I could do but little more than repeat
the substance of their observations and vary their
Forgive me, ye spirits of my worthy, departed
fellow-citizens ! Patriots of the first magnitude,
whose integrity no subtle arts of bribery and cor
ruption could successfully assail ; and whose for
titude and perseverance no difficulties or dangers
could intimidate ! whose labors and sufferings in
the common cause of our country whose ex
ploits in the field, and wisdom in the cabinet, I
have often been witness to, during a cruel and
distressing war ! Forgive, O Warren ! Mont
gomery ! and all the nameless heroes of your
illustrious group ! Forgive, that I omit, on the
present occasion, to follow the steps of those com
patriots who have preceded me, but had rather
spend this sacred hour in contemplating those
great purposes which animated your souls in the
severe conflict, and for which you fought and
bled !
Were you present to direct this day s medita
tions, would you not point to your scarred limbs
and bleeding breasts, and loudly call upon us to
reward your toils and sufferings, by forcibly incul
cating and improving those patriotic principles
and practices which led you to those noble achieve
ments that secured the blessings w^e now enjoy ?
HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION. 361
Yes, ye martyrs to liberty! ye band of heroes!
ye once worthy compatriots and f ellow- citizens !
we will obey your friendly suggestion, and greatly
prize that freedom and independence, purchased
by your united exertions, as the most invaluable
gem of our earthly crown!
The late revolution, my respected audience, in
which we this day rejoice, is big with events, that
are daily unfolding themselves, and pressing in
thick succession, to the astonishment of a won
dering world !
It has been marked with the certain charac
teristic of a Divine over-ruling hand, in that it
was brought about and perfected against all hu
man reasoning, and apparently against all human
hope ; and that in the very moment of time when
all Europe seemed ready to be plunged into com
motion and distress.
Divine Providence, throughout the government
of this world, appears to have impressed many
great events with the undoubted evidence of his
own almighty arm. He putteth down kingdoms,
and He setteth up whom He pleaseth, and it has
been literally verified in us, that " no king pre-
vaileth by the power of his own strength."
The first great principle established and se
cured by our revolution, and which since seems
to be pervading all the nations of the earth ; and
which should be most zealously and carefully im
proved and glorified by us, is the rational equality
and rights of men, as men and citizens.
362 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
I do not mean to uphold the absurd idea
charged upon us, by the enemies of this valua
ble principle, and which contains in it inevitable
destruction to every government, " that all men
are equal, as to acquired or adventitious rights."
Men must and do continually differ in their gen
ius, knowledge, industry, integrity, and activity.
Their natural and moral characters - - their
virtues and vices their abilities, natural and ac
quired together with favorable opportunities for
exertion, will always make men different among
themselves, and of course create a pre-eminency
and superiority one over another. But the equal
ity and rights of men here contemplated are nat
ural, essential and unalienable ; such as the secu
rity of life, liberty, and property. These should
be the firm foundation of every good government,
as they will apply to all nations, at all times, and
may properly be called a universal law. It is
apparent that every man is born with the same
right to improve the talent committed to him, for
the use and benefit of society, and to be respected
accordingly.
We are all the workmanship of the same Di
vine hand. With our Creator, abstractly con
sidered, there are neither kings nor subjects
masters nor servants, otherwise than stewards of
his appointment, to serve each other according to
our different opportunities and abilities, and of
course accountable for the manner in which we
perform our duty He is no respector of persons
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. 363
He beholds all with an equal eye, and although
" order is Heaven s first law," and He has made it
essential to good government and necessary for
the welfare of every community, that there should
be distinctions among members of the same so
ciety, yet this difference is originally designed for
the service, benefit, and best good of the whole
and not for their oppression or destruction. 1
It is our duty then, as a people acting on
principles of universal application, to convince
mankind of the truth and practicability of them,
by carrying them into actual exercise, for the hap
piness of our fellow r -men, without suffering them
to be perverted to oppression or licentiousness.
The eyes of the nations of the earth are fast
opening, and the inhabitants of this globe, not
withstanding it is 1700 years since the promul
gation of that invaluable precept " Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself," are but just beginning
to discover their brotherhood to each other, and
that all men, however different with regard to
nation or color, have an essential interest in each
other s welfare.
Let it then be our peculiar constant care, and
vigilant attention, to inculcate this sacred princi
ple, and to hand it down to posterity, improved
1 Lactinus, lib. 5, cap. 14, fol. 501, speaking of the universal equality
of mankind, says : Equitatem dico secum ceteris coequandi, quam
Cicero aequabilitatem voceat Deus enim qui bonimes generat et in-
spirat omnes equos, id est, pares esse voluit; eanclem conditionem
vivendi omnibus posuit Omnes ad sapientiam genuit ; omnibus im-
mortalitatem spopondit Nemo apud Deum servus est, nemo Dominus.
364 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
by every generous and liberal practice, that .while
we are rejoicing in our own political and religious
privileges, we may with pleasure contemplate the
happy period, when all the nations of the earth
shall join in the triumph of this day, and one
universal anthem of praise shall arise to the Uni
versal Creator, in return for the general joy.
Another essential ingredient in the happiness
we enjoy as a nation, and which arises from the
principles of our revolution, is the right that every
people have to govern themselves in such a man
ner as they judge best calculated for the common
benefit.
It is a principle interwoven with our Constitu
tion, and not one of the least blessings purchased
by that glorious struggle, to the commemoration
of which this day is specially devoted, that every
man has a natural right to be governed by laws
of his own making, either in person or by his rep
resentative ; and that no authority ought justly to
be exercised over him that is not derived from the
people, of whom he is one.
This, fellow-citizens ! is a most important prac
ticable principle, first carried into complete exe
cution by the United States of America.
I tremble for the event, while I glory in the
subject.
To you, ye citizens of America ! do the inhab
itants of the earth look with eager attention for
the success of a measure on which their happi
ness and prosperity so manifestly depend.
DUTY OF CITIZENSHIP. 365
To use the words of a famous foreigner, " You
are become the hope of human nature, and ought
to become its" great example. The asylum opened
in your land for the oppressed of all nations must
console the earth."
On your virtue, patriotism, integrity, and sub
mission to the laws of your own making, and the
government of your own choice, do the hopes of
men rest with prayers and supplications for a
happy issue.
Be not therefore careless, indolent, or inatten
tive in the exercise of any right of citizenship.
Let no duty, however small or seemingly of little
importance, be neglected by you.
Ever keep in mind that it is parts that form the
whole, and fractions constitute the unit. Good
government generally begins in the family, and if
the moral character of a people once degenerate,
their political character must soon follow.
A friendly consideration of our fellow-citizens,
who by our free choice become the public ser
vants, and manage the affairs of our common
country, is but a reasonable return for their dili
gence and care in our service.
The most enlightened and zealous of our public
servants can do little without the exertions of pri
vate citizens to perfect what they do but form, as
it were, in embryo. The highest officers of our
government are but the first servants of the peo
ple, and always in their power ; they have there
fore a just claim to a fair and candid experiment
366 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
of the plans they form and the laws they enact
for the public weal. Too much should not be
expected from them ; they are but men and of
like passions and of like infirmities with our
selves ; they are liable to err, though exercising
the purest motives and best abilities required for
the purpose.
Times and circumstances may change, and
accidents intervene to disappoint the wisest meas
ures. Mistaken and wicked men (who cannot live
but in troubled waters) are often laboring with
indefatigable zeal, which sometimes proves but
too successful, to sour minds and derange the
best formed systems. Plausible pretensions, cen
sorious insinuations, are always at hand to trans
fer the deadly poison of jealousy, by which the
best citizens may for a time be deceived.
These considerations should lead to an atten
tive solicitude to keep the pure, unadulterated
principles of our Constitution always in view; to
be religiously careful in our choice of all public
officers ; and as they are again in our power at
very short periods, lend not too easily a patient
ear to every invidious insinuation or improbable
story, but prudently mark the effects of their
public measures, and judge of the tree by its
fruits.
I do not wash to discourage a constant and
o
lively attention to the conduct of our rulers. A
prudent suspicion of our public measures is a
great security to a republican government ; but a
DUTY OF CITIZENSHIP. 367
line should be drawn between a careful and crit
ical examination into the principles and effects of
regular systems, after a fair and candid trial, arid
a captious, discontented, and censorious temper,
which leads to find fault with every proposition
in which we have not an immediate hand ; and
raises obstacles to rational plans of government
without waiting a fair experiment. It is gen
erally characteristic of this disposition to find
fault without proposing a better plan for con
sideration.
We should not forget that our country is
large and our fellow-citizens of different manners,
interests, and habits ; that our laws, to be right,
must be equal and general ; of course, the differing
interests must be combined, and brotherly concil
iation and forbearance continually exercised, if we
will judge with propriety of those measures that
respect a nation at large.
While we thus enjoy, as a community, the bless
ings of the social compact in its purity, and are all
endeavoring to secure the valuable privileges,
purchased by the blood of thousands of our
brethren, who fell in the dreadful conflict, let us
also be careful to encourage and promote a lib
erality and benevolence of mind toward those
whom they have left behind, and whose unhappy
fate it has been to bear a heavier proportion of
the expensive purchase in the loss of husbands,
parents, or children, perhaps their only support
and hope in life.
368 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Mankind, considered as brethren, should be
dear to each other; but fellow-citizens, who have
together braved the common clanger who have
fought side by side who have mingled their
blood together, as it were in one rich stream
who have labored and toiled with united efforts
to accomplish the same glorious end, must surely
be more than brethren it is a union cemented
by blood.
I can no longer deny myself the felicity, my
beloved friends and fellow -citizens, members of
a society founded in these humane and benevo
lent principles, of addressing myself more partic
ularly to you on a day which, in so peculiar a
manner, shines with increasing lustre on you,
refreshing and brightening your hard-earned lau
rels, by renewing the honorable reward of your
laborious services in the gratitude of your rejoi
cing fellow-citizens.
]\ lethinks I behold you on the victorious banks
of Hudson, bowed down with the fatigues of an
active campaign and the sufferings of an inclem
ent winter, receiving the welcome news of ap
proaching peace and your country s political sal
vation, with all that joy of heart and serenity of
mind that became citizens who flew to their arms,
merely at their country s call, in a time of common
danger.
The war-worn soldiers, reduced to the calam
ities of a seven years arduous service, now sol
emnly pause and reflect on the peculiarity of their
ORIGIN OF THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 369
critical situation. The ravages of war had been
extended through a country clearer to them than
life, and thereby prevented that ample provision
in service, or reasonable recompense on their
return to private life, that prudence required and
gratitude powerfully dictated.
They thought that the distresses of the army
had before been brought to a point, " that they
had borne all that men could bear; their prop
erty expended, their private resources at an end,
their friends wearied out and disgusted with in
cessant applications." But another trial, severer
than all, still awaits them. They are now to be
disbanded, and a separation to take place, more
distressing than every former scene ! Till now
the severe conflict was unseen, or unattended to.
Poverty and the gratitude of their country are
their only reward.
True, they are to return to their friends and
fellow-citizens with blessings on their heads. The
general liberty and independence are now secured
but yet want and dire distress stare many in
the face. They are to return to wives and chil
dren, long used to dependence on the cold hand
of chanty, in hopes of a sure support from the
success of the common cause, when their hus
band, father, or child returned glorious from the
field of conquest. Alas ! these flattering hopes
now are no more.
Their country s exhausted treasury cannot yield
them even the hard-earned pittance of a soldier s
VOL. II.
370 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
pay. Being urged on one hand by the subtle
poison of inflammatory, violent, and artful ad
dresses, under the specious mark of pretended
friendship (the last expiring effort of a conquered
foe) warned on the other hand by the experi
ence, wisdom, and rational conduct of their be
loved Commander, their father and long-tried
friend they solemnly deliberate.
Some guardian angel, perhaps the happy gen
ius of America, ever attendant on the subject of
her care, raises the drooping head, wipes the in
dignant falling tear from the hardy soldier s eye,
and suggests the happy expedient !
Brotherly affection produces brotherly relief
the victorious bands unite together, they despise
the infamous idea, they refuse to listen to the
Siren s song, they form the social tie, they cast
in the remaining fragment of their scanty pay,
and instead of seizing their arms, and demand
ing their right by menace and violence, they
refuse " to lessen the dignity or sully the glory
they had hitherto maintained. They determine
to give one more proof of unexampled patriotism
and patient virtue, rising superior to the pressure
of their complicated sufferings, and thereby afford
an occasion to posterity to say, had that day been
wanting, the world had not seen the last stage of
political perfection to which human nature is
capable of attaining."
The glorious certainty of peace, purchased by
their sufferings and perseverance, now rouses the
ORIGIN OF THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 371
patriotic fire. They again rejoice in the event;
they unite in a firm, indissoluble bond, " grate
fully to commemorate the event which gave inde
pendence to America, to inculcate to latest ages
the duty of laying down in peace, arms assumed
for public defense in war, to continue their
mutual friendship, which commenced under the
pressure of common danger, and to effectuate
every act of beneficence, dictated by a spirit of
brotherly kindness, to any of their number and
their families who might unfortunately be under
the necessity of receiving them," and by this
unanimous act establish this sacred truth, " that
the glory of soldiers cannot be completed without
acting well the part of citizens."
This, gentlemen, is your origin as a Society
the source from whence you sprang, and this day
we are carrying on the work first begun in these
social principles.
With a heart filled with unfeigned gratitude to
the Author of all our mercies, and overflowing
with the most affectionate friendship towards you,
suffer me to congratulate you on this seventeenth
anniversary of our happy independence. Long,
long, even to the remotest ages, may the citizens of
this rising empire enjoy the triumphs of this day !
may they never forget the invaluable price which
it cost, as well as the great purposes for which it
was instituted, and may a frequent recurrence to
the first principles of our constitution, on this
anniversary, be a constant source of security and
372 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
permanence to the rising fabric ! May the rights
of men and the purity of a free, energetic, and
independent government, be continually cherished
and promoted by every Son of Cincinnatus ! May
the remembrance of those worthy heroes, once
our beloved companions, whose lives they did not
hold dear, when required for their country s safety,
animate us to preserve inviolate what they pur
chased at so high a rate ! May we, by the uniform
conduct of good citizens, and generous, faithful
friends, show ourselves worthy of such valuable
connections !
Long, long, may you live to enjoy the reward
of your labors, in the exercise of the duties of this
honorable anniversary ; and after a long life of
service to your country, usefulness to your soci
ety, and happiness to yourselves, may you leave
your generation in the full enjoyment of peace
and a sound constitution, justified by experience,
for the example of which nations yet unborn shall
rise up and call you blessed !
And now, my respected audience, we appeal to
your candor and generosity ; you have heard our
origin you have known our conduct our soci
ety is designed for the benefit and happiness of
mankind we have no secrets, we claim no sepa
rate privileges we ask no independent immuni
ties we are embarked in one common cause
with you we glory in one perfect political equal
ity, all \ve wish for is the pleasure of renewing
ancient friendships of the mutual remembrance
LOOKING FORWARD. 373
of past labors and sufferings the liberal exercise
of that celestial principle charity, and one common
interest with you in the security of our liberty,
property, and independence.
We profess to be a band of brethren, united
to our fellow-citizens by every tie of interest, grat
itude, and love. Let us then go hand in hand
with you, in looking forward to the happy state
of our country during a long succession of ages
yet to come.
We are encouraged in this animating hope
by the numerous advantages arising to us, in a
peculiar manner, from the happy resolution we
commemorate this day ; they are conspicuous in
every quarter to which the view can be directed.
If we turn our attention to the strong hope of
every community, the rising generation, the world
has yet enjoyed nothing equal to their advantages
and future prospects.
The road to honors, riches, usefulness, and fame
in this happy country is open equally to all. The
equality of citizens in its true sense must raise the
most lively hopes, prompt the noblest exertions,
and secure a certainty of success to all who shall
excel in the service of their country, without re
spect of persons.
The meanest citizen of America educates his
beloved child with a well-founded hope, that if he
should become equal to the task, he may ration
ally aspire to the command of our armies, a place
in the cabinet, or even to the filling of the presi-
374 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
dential chair: he stands on equal ground, in re
gard to the first honors of the state, with the rich
est of his fellow-citizens.
The child of the poorest laborer, by enjoying
the means of education (afforded in almost every
corner of this happy land) is trained up for, and
is encouraged to look forward to a share in the
legislation of the Union, or of a particular State,
with as much confidence as the noblest subject
of an established monarchy.
This is a peculiar happiness of our highly-
favored republic, among the nations of the earth,
proceeding from the successful revolution in which
we this day rejoice.
Suffer me, fair daughters of New Jersey, to call
on you also, in a special manner, to add your in
vigorating smiles to the mirth and festivity of this
day. Our happiness can be but half completed if
you refuse to crown the whole with your kind
approbation.
Have you not at all times, and do you not still
continue to participate deeply in the multiplied
blessings of our common country? Raised from
the humiliating state of your sex in most other
countries, you also breathe the sacred air of
Freedom, and nobly unite your exertions for the
general good.
The Rights of Women are no longer strange
o o o
sounds to an American ear; they are now heard
as familiar terms in every part of the United
States ; and I devoutly hope that the day is not
THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 375
far distant when we shall find them dignifying,
in a distinguishing code, the jurisprudence of the
several States in the Union,
But in your domestic character, do you not also
enjoy the most delightful contemplations, arising
from the Revolution of Seventeen Hundred and
Seventy-Six?
Can you look on the children of your tenderest
care, and reflect on the cheerful prospects opening
upon them through life, without feeling the most
lively emotions of gratitude for the inestimable
privileges conferred on the citizens of America?
-Are not your resolutions strengthened, and
your endeavors redoubled, to furnish them with
every qualification, both mental and personal, for
the future service of a country thus rendered dear
to you ?
But your share of the joy of this day does not
rise from a single source. To whom are we more
o
indebted for the origin of our present happiness
than to your delicate and discerning sex. In vain
did Columbus, our great founder and discoverer,
after settling the principles of his sound philo
sophy, apply to the wise men of his country, in
vain did he solicit, in strains of the most suppli
ant humiliation, the different thrones of Europe,
where kings considered themselves as God s vice
gerents here below. Despised by the ignorant,
traduced by the malevolent condemned by
the great laughed at by pretended philosophers
and trifled with by the arrogance of ministers
376 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
and their hirelings ; all his hopes, and those of a
New World, had at last sunk in despair, and we
this day might have mingled our fate with the
slaves of the Old World had not the penetrating
wisdom and persevering magnanimity of the fair
but undaunted Isabella, the ornament of your sex
and the jealousy of ours, saved this Western
World from the oblivion of more than five thou
sand years. Did they employ the excess of use
ful treasures in this happy adventure ? No!
After the refusal of her husband despising the
appendages of brilliant royalty, when compared
with the general good of mankind, her enlarged
mind, incapable of being confined by the shackles
of the age, found a resource in her costly Jewels,
which she freely offered as a pledge, to accom
plish the glorious discovery of the Four Quarters
of the Globe !
To your sex, then, ladies, we are obliged to
yield the palm. Had this great event depended
altogether on our sex, it is not easy to guess what
our united fate had been at this moment. In
stead of our present agreeable employment, we
might have been hewers of wood and drawers of
water to some mighty Pharaoh, whose tender mer
cies would have been cruelty. Your right, then,
my Fair Auditors, to a large portion of the gen
eral joy must be acknowledged to be of a superior
kind.
Do you, my worthy fellow-citizens of every de
scription, wish for more lasting matter of pleasure
FUTURE GREATNESS. 377
and satisfaction in contemplating the great events
brought to your minds this day? Extend, then,
your views to a distant period of future time.
Look forward a few years, and behold our ex
tended forests (now a pathless wilderness) con
verted into fruitful fields and busy towns. Take
into view the pleasing shores of our immense
lakes, united to the Atlantic States by a thousand
winding canals, and beautified with rising cities,
crowded with innumerable peaceful fleets, trans
porting the rich produce from one coast to
another.
Add to all this, what must most please every
humane and benevolent mind, the ample pro
vision thus made by the God of all flesh for the
reception of the nations of the earth, flying from
the tyranny and oppression of the despots of the
Old World, 1 and say, if the prophecies of ancient
times are not hastening to a fulfillment, when this
wilderness shall blossom as a rose the heathen
be given to the Great Redeemer, as his inher
itance, and these uttermost parts of the earth for
his possession.
1 It is worthy the attention of every serious mind, who carefully traces
the secret footsteps of Divine Providence, that if the late Revolution had
not taken place, and America had still continued under the dominion of
Great Britain, the unhappy sufferers in the cause of Freedom, both in
Europe and the West Indies, would not now have had a spot on the
globe to which they could, with propriety and safety, have retired, in
case of a failure of their exertions in favor of Universal Liberty. Neither
can any European nation afford so complete an asylum as the United
States for the opposition, in case they should finally be driven from a
country which might conceive itself essentially injured by their hostile
conduct in the day of her distress.
378 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
Who knows but the country for which we have
fought and bled may hereafter become a theatre
of greater events than yet have been known to
mankind.
May these invigorating prospects lead us to the
exercise of every virtue, religious, moral, and polit
ical. May we be roused to a circumspect conduct
to an exact obedience to the laws of our ow r n
making to the preservation of the spirit and
principles of our truly invaluable constitution
to respect and attention to magistrates of our own
choice ; and, finally, by our example as well as pre
cept, add to the real happiness of our fellow-men,
and the particular glory of our common country.
And may these great principles, in the end,
become instrumental in bringing about that happy
state of the world, when, from every human breast,
joined by the grand chorus of the skies, shall
arise with the profoundest reverence, that divinely
celestial anthem of universal praise " Glory to
God in the highest Peace on earth Good
will towards men."
"A STAR IN THE WEST.
In 1815, in his seventy- fifth year, Mr. Bou-
dinot wrote and published " A Star in the West,"
in which are collected many interesting facts re
lating to our Indian tribes, with the purpose of
showing the similarity of their rites and customs
to those of the ancient Hebrews, and the proba
bility of their being the lost tribes of Israel.
1 From publication of the New Jersey Society of Cincinnati.
A STAR IN THE WEST. 379
He was led to the consideration of it, he says,
in the first instance, by a conversation with a
very worthy and reverend clergyman of his ac
quaintance, who, having an independent fortune,
undertook a journey, in company with a brother
clergyman desirous of attending him into the
wilderness, between the Alleghany and Missis
sippi rivers, some time in or about the years 1 765
or 1766, and before the white people had settled
beyond the Laurel Mountains. " His desire was
to meet with native Indians who had never seen
a white man, that he might satisfy his curiosity by
knowing from the best source what traditions the
Indians yet preserved relative to their own his
tory and origin. This, these gentlemen accom
plished with great danger, risque and fatigue
On their return one of them related to the writer
the information they had obtained, what they saw
and what they heard. He has not ceased since,
to improve every opportunity afforded him, by
personal interview with Indians reading the
best histories relating to them, and carefully ex
amining our public agents resident among them
as to facts reported in the several histories,
without letting them know his objects, so as not
only to gratify his curiosity by obtaining all the
knowledge relating to them in his power, but
also to guard against misrepresentation as to any
account he might thereafter be tempted to give of
them. He claims no merit in this labour but
that of integrity, attention and industry in search-
380 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
ing after the truth and preserving the facts which
have come to his knowledge, that others may have
all the aid he can afford them in the future pur
suit of this interesting investigation." He felt
culpable in putting off this business to so ad
vanced a period of his life, as to leave him small
hopes of accomplishing his intentions and lest the
facts collected should be entirely lost.
He says : " In the general mode of estimating
the savage character, we may perceive a vast
degree of vulgar prejudice and passionate exag
geration without any of the temperate discussion
of true philosophy."
Among others, Mr. Boudinot cites the follow
ing examples of the customs and modes of thought
in which the early inhabitants of our native for
ests resemble the ancient Hebrews.
" They believed in one Supreme Being, and
considered themselves his chosen people - - They
reckoned time after the manner of the Hebrews
Many words of their language are identical or
similar, while repeatedly the construction is the
same certain tribes possessed a sacred ark car
ried by men sanctified & purified for the ofHce,
the ceremonial of which was like that of the Jews
up to a certain epoch some of the tribes prac
tised circumcision, their feasts and fasts corre
sponding in great degree with those of the lost
Tribes --They abstained from eating the mex-
ican hog the sea cow or turtle and many ani
mals & birds which they held as unclean They
A STAR IN THE WEST. 381
had also their Cities of Refuge called old be
loved, holy or white towns. "
Mr. Boudinot gives many interesting anecdotes
connected with his o\vn interviews with the Indi
ans, as well as of others who could be relied on.
One especially, where he witnessed a religious
clance by twenty or thirty Indians ; " keeping
time to an instrument like a drum beaten by the
oldest sachem, they made a very solemn and
slow procession round the room in which they
were assembled, in the most profound silence, the
sachem directing their motions with the drum ;
at the second round they began to sing in unison
the syllable ha & so on in each round a syllable
in the word ha le lu jah then all joining in a
very lively and joyous chorus, they sang the entire
word Hallelujah / "
Mr. Boudinot was present at a dinner given by
General Knox, in 1 789, in New York, to a party
of Indians who had come on a mission to the
President from their nations. " The house was in
Broadway; the drawing-room being up-stairs, two
or three of the sachems with their Chief stepped
out upon a balcony at the front of the house,
from which could be seen the city, harbor, Long
Island &c &c ; remaining for a short time, they
returned to the drawing-room looking sad and de
jected. General Knox took notice of this, and
addressing the chief said, " Brother, what has hap
pened to you, you look sorry ; is there any
thing to distress you?" He answered, "I ll
382 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
tell you, brother, I have been looking at your
beautiful city the great water your fine coun
try and see how happy you all are. But then I
could not help thinking that this fine country and
this great water were once ours : our ancestors
lived here they enjoyed it as their own in peace.
It was the gift of the Great Spirit to them and to
their children ; at last the white people came
here in a great canoe. They asked only to let
them tie it to a tree, lest the waters should carry
it away we consented. They then said some
of their people were sick and they asked permis
sion to land them and put them under the shade
of the trees. The ice then came and they could
not go away. They then begged a piece of land
to build wigwams for the winter we granted it
to them. They then asked for some corn to
keep them from starving, we kindly furnished it
to them, they promising to go away when the ice
was gone ; when this happened we told them
they must now go away with their big canoe, but
they pointed to their big guns round their wig
wams and said they would stay there and we
could not make them go away ; afterwards more
came. They brought spirituous and intoxicating
liquors with them, of which the Indians became
very fond. They persuaded us to sell them some
land, finally they drove us back from time to time
into the wilderness, far from the water and the
fish and the oyster ; they have destroyed the
game, our people have wasted away, and now, we
INDIAN TRAITS. 383
live miserable and wretched, while you are enjoy
ing our fine and beautiful country ; this makes
me sorry, brother, and I cannot help it."
As Mr. Boudinot says: " It is a matter of fact
proved by most historical accounts that the Indi
ans at our first acquaintance with them generally
manifested themselves kind, hospitable, and gen
erous to the Europeans as long as they were
treated with justice and humanity, but when they
were, from a thirst of gain, overreached on every
occasion, their friends and relations treacherously
entrapped and carried away to be sold for slaves,
themselves injuriously oppressed, deceived, and
driven from their lawful and native possessions,
what ought to have been expected but inveterate
enmity, hereditary animosity, and a spirit of per
petual revenge ? To whom should be attributed
the evil passions, cruel practices, and vicious habits
to which they are now changed but to those who
first set them the example ; laid the foundation
and then furnished the continual means for prop
agating and supporting the evil ? "
Mr. Boudinot was one of the corresponding
members of a society in Scotland for promoting
the gospel among the Indians. To further this
work they educated two young men as mission
aries and sent them with a letter to the Dela
ware nation, then on the northwest of the Ohio.
The letter which they carried, couched in Indian
style, informed the red men that their white breth
ren, over the great water, had been especially
384 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
favored by the Great Spirit and that they wished
to share with them the knowledge vouchsafed to
them as to the mode the Great Spirit had chosen
for his worship and the enlightenment and happi
ness of his creatures " The Chiefs of the Na
tion were called together. They spent fourteen
days in council and then dismissed the Mission
aries very courteously with an answer to us
The Answer made great acknowledgments for the
favour w r e had done them They rejoiced ex
ceedingly at our happiness in thus being favoured
by the Great Spirit and felt very grateful that we
had condescended to remember our brethren in
the wilderness : But they could not help recollect
ing that we had a people among us who, because
they differed from us in colour, we had made
slaves of and made them suffer great hardships
and lead miserable lives ; now they could not see
any reason, if a people being black entitled us
thus to deal with them, why a red .colour would
not equally justify the same treatment. They
therefore had determined to wait to see whether
all the black people amongst us were made thus
happy and joyful before they could put confi
dence in our promises, for they thought a peo
ple who had suffered so much and so long by our
means, should be entitled to our first attention,
that therefore they had sent back the Mission
aries with many thanks, promising that when they
saw the blacks among us restored to freedom
and happiness they would gladly receive our Mis-
INDIAN TRAITS. 385
sionaries." Mr. Boudinot adds, " This is what in
any other case would be called close reasoning,
and is too mortifying a fact to make further ob
servations upon."
Father Charlevoix, who traveled early and for
a long time among the Indians from Quebec to
New Orleans, and had great opportunities, which
he made it his business to study and improve,
tells us, speaking of the real character of the In
dian Nations, " that with a mien and appearance
altogether savage and with manners and customs
which favour the greatest barbarity, they enjoy all
the advantages of society At first view one
could imagine them without form of Government,
laws or subordination and subject to the wildest
caprice. Nevertheless they rarely deviate from
certain maxims and usages, founded on good
sense alone which holds the place of law and sup
plies in some sort the want of legal authority -
They manifest much stability in the engagements
they have solemnly entered upon patience in
affliction as well as submission to what they ap
prehend to be the appointment of Providence ; in
all this they manifest a nobleness of soul and con
stancy of mind, at which we rarely arrive, with all
our philosophy and religion - - They are neither
slaves to ambition nor interest, the two passions
that have so much weakened in us the sentiments
of humanity (which the kind author of nature has
engraven on the human heart) and kindled those
VOL. IT.
386 ELIAS BOUDINOT.
of cove tousn ess which are yet generally unknown
among them."
" It is notorious that they are generally kinder
to us than we to them, though they despise us."
The " History of New Jersey" informs us that in
nearly a century the Indians of that State had all
alono; maintained an intercourse of creat cordial-
o o
ity and friendship with the inhabitants. 1
Mr. Pen n also, at his first coming among them,
spoke and wrote of them in high terms as a kind
and benevolent people.
Mr. Boudinot also wrote and published:
" The Age of Reason," 1793.
"Second Advent of the Messiah," 1815.
An address delivered before the New Jersey
Bible Society in 1815.
In 1706, a Fourth of July oration, delivered at
Elizabethtown before the New Jersey Society of
the Cincinnati.
" A Life of the Rev. William Tennent."
An oration on Washington.
1 Smith, History of A\"w Jersey, p. 440.
APPENDIX.
A. BENEVOLENT BEQUESTS IN MR. BOUDINOT S WILL.
AFTER providing for his family, friends, and servants, Mr.
Boudinot bequeathed of his estate to benevolent purposes the
following :
i st. To the society for ameliorating the state of the Jews
in the State of New York of which he was President, Fifty
acres in Warren Co. Penn a apiece to each of fifteen families
provided they cleared fifteen acres built a house and remained
upon it for fifteen years
2d. For civilizing and Christianizing the Indians $2000.
3d. To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
three houses in Locust and nth Sts. Philadelphia, the rents
from which to be used for the purchase of books.
4th. To the Presbyterian Seminary 6000 acres of land in
Lucerne Co. Penn a the rents accruing therefrom to be used
in support of students of the Seminary.
5th. To the American board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions, land to the amount of 4542 acres in Lycoming Co.,
Penna.
6th. Lands containing 4589 acres in Luzerne Co. Penna.
to the American Bible Society.
yth. Land containing 3270 acres in the county of Brad
ford, Penna. to the public hospital of Phila. to enable poor
foreigners to comply with the rules of the hospital for ad
mission.
8th. To the Magdalen Societies of New York and Phila.
each $500.
9th. To the Institution for educating the heathen in Corn
wall, in the State of Connecticut $500.
loth. To the Mayor and corporation of Phila. to provide
fuel for the poor of the City of Phila. 13 thousand acres of
land on the Susquehanna river in Penna. being fine wood
land of chestnut timber.
388 APPENDIX.
nth. $5000. To the support of a city missionary to hos
pitals, prisons, &c.
The rest of his estate he leaves to his residuary legatee,
the corporation of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church, to be paid out to such members known by the name
of the Synod of New Jersey to increase insufficient salaries. 1
B. COMMITTEES IN THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS ON
WHICH MR. BOUDINOT SERVED.
1778. July 7. Mr. Elias Bouclinot, a delegate from New
Jersey, attended and took his seat. He served on the fol
lowing special committees :
On a letter of June 25 from Governor Livingston.
July 9. On petition from the prisoners in New York.
July IT. On letter of the loth from Silas Deane, Esq., and
furnishing Count d Estaing with a sufficient number of skill
ful pilots.
July 27. On Courts of Admiralty.
August i. On two letters from General Washington, one
dated June 18 and the other July 25, with copy of one from
the Inspector-General.
1781. July 23. Mr. Elias Bouclinot, a delegate from the
State of New Jersey, attended and produced the credentials
of his appointment.
August 3. Chairman of committee appointed to take into
consideration the state of the prisoners in the power of the
enemy.
August 21. Report, as chairman, on a letter of the 8th from
General Washington regarding exchanges at Germantown in
June, 1778.
September 29. On letter of i6th from Brigadier-General
Moultrie.
October 18. On the committee to confer with the Honour
able the Minister Plenipotentiary of France. Reported the
draft of a letter to his Most Gracious Majesty.
1 Mr. Boudinot mentions in his will, beside other gifts, to his nephew,
Elias E. Boudinot, " my small original profile of his late Excellency Lieut.
Gen l. Washington, being one of the last for which he sat, at my partic
ular request and in my opinion the best profile likeness ever taken of
him ; " " also my Diploma from the Cincinnati."
APPENDIX. 389
October 24. On the correspondence between General
Washington and the Earl Cornwallis on the surrender of
York and Gloucester and the articles of capitulation ; and
on the mode of communicating the thanks of Congress to
General Washington, Count de Rochambeau, and Count de
Grasse, and of paying respect to the merit of Lieutenant-
Colonel Tilghman, aid-de-camp of General Washington.
October 30. On estimates of the Board of War, and on
States to be called upon to furnish their quotas for the War
Department and Civil List for the ensuing year.
On sketch of emblems of the alliance between his Most
Gracious Majesty and the United States, to be inscribed on
the column at the town of York.
On letter of the 2yth of October from General Washington,
and presentation of a sword to Colonel Humphrey, aid-de
camp of General Washington.
November 14. On dispute between the States of Connecti
cut and Pennsylvania.
November 28. On letter of October 13 from Capt. John
Barry.
1782. January 28. On a letter of the i4th from E. Haz
ard, inspector of dead letters.
On releasing the President from unnecessary business.
February n. On memorial of James Wilson.
February 13. On a letter of the 23d of August from Perez
Morton to Mr. Lowell.
February 18. Chairman of committee to empower the
commander-in-chief to negotiate cartels with the enemy for
safe-keeping, exchanging, and better treating of prisoners of
war.
February 19. On New Hampshire grants.
April 29. Chairman of committee on the death of Captain
Joshua Huddy.
May 5. Chairman of committee on the letter of the com
mander-in-chief to the Secretary at War of the 27th of April,
regarding cruelty to American citizens, and to consider enlist
ment of German prisoners wishing to enter into the service
of the United States.
May 7. On letter of the 24th of April from the Governor
of Connecticut.
390 APPENDIX.
May 8. On ceremony to be used at a public audience
accorded the French Minister.
June 12. On marine courts-martial.
June 14. On letter of June 6 from General Washington,
with sundry papers relative to his proceedings in consequence
of the resolutions of the Legislature of South Carolina, etc.
June 17. Chairman of committee to whom the report of
the commissioners for settling cartel was referred.
June 21. Chairman of committee recommending to the
States to extend pardon to refugees under certain conditions.
October i. On measures to be taken by Legislature of
New Jersey regarding the payment of their troops.
October 1 1. On a letter of the 26th of September from the
commander-in-chief, and the letter of the 2ist of September
from General Schuyler. 1
C. GENEALOGICAL NOTES.
JBoudinot Family.
The old Protestant registers of baptisms, marriages, and
interments at Marans are preserved in the archives of the
Consistory of La Rochelle. I am indented to the kind
courtesy of M. Meschinet cle Richmond, of La Rochelle, an
honorary member of the Huguenot Society of America, for a
copy of all the entries in these registers bearing the name
Boudinot. A manuscript History of the Reformed Church
at Marans, by M. Ernest Chatonet, is in the library of the
Protestant Historical Society in Paris. The references to
the Boudinots are here given. These are chiefly accounts of
prosecutions, etc., for a brief period immediately preceding
the Revocation.
JEAN BOUDINOT, m. Marie Suire : his name appears in the
registers, Oct. 17, 1669; an entry, Sept. 15, 1680, speaks of
him and his wife as deceased. Their children were : Jean,
m. Marie Brechet ; Pierre, m. Jeanne Guis ; ELIE, m. Jeanne
Baraud ; Judith, m. Pierre Vigoreux ; Esther; Marie. To
1 MSS. Journal of Congress ; Secret Journal of Congress; Report of
Committees, No. 24, p. 57 ; No. 28, pp. 57, 71, 77, 105-239.
APPENDIX. 391
the name of each brother, and of the brother-in-law Vigoreux,
le sieur is prefixed.
ELIE BOUDINOT (ist), son of the preceding-, born at Ma-
rans, d. New York, 1702, in. Jeanne Baraud. Their children,
born in France, were : Pierre, b. 27 Feb., 1674 ; ELIE, b.
Nov. u, 1674; Abraham, b. Oct. 30, 1676, died Nov. 6,
1677 ; Jwn, b. Sept. 6, 1682 ; Mary. His wife died before
he left France. In London, m. Nov. 9, 1686, Suzanne Papin,
widow of Benjamin d Harriette. The children by the second
marriage were : Madelaine, m. Thomas Bayeux, and left issue,
Madelaine, b. May 21, 1706; Thomas, b. July 5, 1708 ; ,5V/-
zanne, b. July 12, 1689, in. Feb. 2, 1706, Charles U Val, after
ward in. David Minvielle, and left issue, child b. May 22,
1713 ; Jean, b. Nov. 10, 1692, m. Jeanne Tongrelou, and had
issue, Jean, b. Oct. 4, 1710 ; Benjamin, b. May 19, 1694. The
children by the first wife all died before their father, except
Elie, as he is mentioned in his father s will as the only son
living of the first marriage. Pierre s name occurs in the
church register, 1692, 1697.
ELIE BOUDINOT (20!), son of the preceding, b. at Marans,
Nov. n, 1674, d. 1719, came with his father to New York,
1687, m. Sept. 10, 1699, Marie Catharine Carre e, daughter of
Louis Carree. Their children were: Marie, b. Jan. 12, 1701,
m. John Emott, and left three daughters, viz., Elizabeth, m.
Col. Win. Ricketts, and left issue, John, Jacob, and Jane
Ricketts ; Mary, m. John Chetwood, Esq., afterward a Justice
of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and left several children ;
Jane, m. Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chandler, Episcopal min
ister at Elizabeth, N. J., and left one daughter, who m. Bishop
Hobart, and another daughter, who m. Major William Day
ton, and lived to be " one of the most venerable and interest
ing Christian ladies of Elizabethtown, N. J. ;" Suzanne, b.
Aug. 19, 1703, m. Pierre Vergereau, of New York, and left
issue, Pierre, in. Abigail Hetfield ; Suzanne, b. Dec. 21, 1743,
m. Rev. William Tennent, Presbyterian minister of Charles
ton, S. C., and left several children ; ELIAS (3d), b. Aug. 8,
1706; Madelaine, b. May 2, 1709; Jean, b. 1710; David, b.
March 5, 1714.
ELIAS BOUDINOT (3d), son of the preceding, b. 1706, d.
July 4, 1770, in. in Antigua Catharine Williams (b. 1714, d.
392 APPENDIX.
1765), daughter of a Welsh planter. Their children who
survived infancy were: John,\). in Antigua, Jan. 10, 1734,
baptized by Mr. Francis Byam, minister of St. John s parish,
studied medicine, m. Catharine Van Norden, left issue, Elias,
Tobias, John, Jane ;. Annis, b. July i, 1736, in. Richard Stock
ton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and their
daughter Julia m., 1776, Dr. Benjamin Rush, whose son,
Richard Rush, b. 1780, was Attorney-General of the United
States, Minister to England, Secretary of the Treasury, and
Minister to France; ELIAS (4th), b. April 21, 1740, d. Oct.,
1821, baptized by the Rev. George Whitefield, m. April 21,
1762, Hannah Stockton (b. July 21, 1736, d. Oct. 28, 1808),
sister of Richard Stockton ; besides one child who d. in in
fancy, left one child, Susan Vergereau (b. Dec. 21, 1764, d.
Nov. 30, 1854), m. Oct., 1784, William Bradford, Attorney-
General of the United States under Washington ; Mary, b.
Nov. 7, 1742, m. Abner Hetfield, brother of above-mentioned
Abigail Hetfield, and left issue, Mary, m. Rev. Jos. G. Bend,
Episcopal minister of Baltimore, and Abigail, m. William
Griffith, Esq.; ELISHA, b. Jan. 2, 1749 (see below); Lewis
Carree, b. Sept. 1753, lost at sea, 1786.
ELISHA BOUDINOT, son of Elias Bouclinot (3d), b. Phila
delphia, Jan. 2, 1749, d. Oct. 17, 1819, m. Oct. 14, 1778,
Catharine Smith (b. Dec. 16, 1749, d. Aug. 30, 1797), daugh
ter of William Peartree Smith, of Elizabethtown. Their chil
dren were : Anna Maria, b. Nov. 26, 1780, d. Aug. 29, 1811 ;
Catharine, b. Dec. 2, 1781, d. June 24, 1877,111. Sept. 12, 1803,
Lewis Atterbury, then of Baltimore (b. April 2, 1779, d. Aug.
31, 1872) ; Eliza, b. April 2, 1783, d. Aug. 7, 1783 ; Susan, b.
July 31, 1784, m. in advanced life Mr. Salmon; Julia, b.
Sept. 6, 1785, d. 1812 ; Eliza Emelia Stockton, b. March 178-,
d. young; William,\>. Feb. u, 1788, d. Jan. 17, 1789; Anna
Emelia, b. Feb. n, 1789, d. Aug. 9, 1793 ; Elias E., b. March
n, 1791, d. May 21, 1863, m. Jane M. Kip; Eliza Pintard,
b. Feb. 21, 1792, m. John Colt, of Paterson, N. J. ; William
Alexander Hamilton, b. Feb. 20, 1795, d. Sept., 1795.
29 8 bre , 1669, enterrement d Ester fille cle Jean Boudinot et
de Marie Brechet, 4 ans | de cede e d hier. 14 De cembre,
1669, enterrement de Suzanne, soeur d Ester, 2 ans \ de ce dee
APPENDIX. 393
d hier. V Septembre, 1670, enterrement de Pierre, fils de
Pierre Boudinot et de defunte Jeanne Guis 5 ans, dece de e
d hier. 23 Octobre, 1672, bapteme d Henriette fille de Jean
Boudinot et de Marie Bre chet, parrain Philippe Franchard,
marraine Judith Boudinot. n Mars, 1674, bapteme de Pierre
fils d Elie Boudinot et de Jeanne Barraud, p. Pierre Auboi-
neau, m. Marie Bre chet, femme de Jean Boudinot. 17 9 bre ,
1674, bapteme d He lie, frere du precedent. 19 Avril, 1676,
bapt. d Estienne, fils de Jean Boudinot et de Marie Bre chet.
i 9 bre , 1676, bapteme d Abraham fils d Elie Boudinot et de
Jeanne Barreau. 6 9 bre , 1677, enterrement du dit Abraham,
i an et 8 jours. 1
D. PROCES-VERBAL DE M R . LE SENECHAL DE MA-
RANS CONTRE CEUX DE LA R. P. R., 1682.
(Resume de ce Froces- Verbal.)
Pour une reunion en un jour inaccoutume des Protestants
dans leur Temple, aux fins de rendre leurs tres-humbles re-
merciments a Dieu de la Grace qu il a fait a ce Royaume de
lui donner un nouveau Prince et pour lui demander instam-
ment qu il espende ses plus precieuses benedictions sur cet
enfant Royal, ensemble pour la prosperite de la famille Roy-
alle et de 1 Estat comrae en peuvent rendre te moignage Mess.
les Senechal et Syndic qui ont assiste a la dite priere.
Signe :
AMIAND, MAROLLES, J. BIZURD, BURJAND, VIGOUREUX,
L. BOUDINOT, PINSON, FAVREAU, CHABIRAUD ET JEANORET.
Proces-verbal dresse conformement a une nouvelle ordon-
nance de 1 Intendant Arnoue de Vaneresson en date a Roche-
fort du 28 Juillet, 1685.
Resume :
Proces-Verbal de Publication a ceux de la R. P. R. de
1 ordonnance de M r . L Intendant sus date e, leur interdisant
la celebration de leur culte suivant un arre t du Conseil
d Etat du xi Decembre, 1684.
Et sont comparus au parquet a deux heures de rellevee ;
les S rs Andre Marolles, Jean Burgeaud et Heslye Boudinot
1 Les anciens registres protestants de Marans conserves dans les
archives du consistoire de La Rochelle.
394 APPENDIX.
anciens du consistoire de ceux de la d e R. P. R. et deux autres
quy sont les S rs Pierre Vigoureux, apoticq 1 " 6 Simon Pinson
chirurgien estant absantz et ont encore comparu les S rs Pierre
Ponguet, Estienne Margault, Daniel Suire, Pierre Jiffre ,
Pierre Gillois, Jean Boudinot, Frangois Gebert et David le
conte, tons habittans de la d e R. P. R. ausquels en presence
dud. Procureur avons fait la publication de Fordonnance de
mond. Seig r .
Proces-verbal contre ceux de la R. P. R. de Marans qui
instruisent les enfants, 1685 :
. . . Et ayant apres qu un homme refugie depuis quelque
temps en sea dans la maison d Elie Boudinot marchand de ce
lieu faisoit la mesme fonction et instruisoit ses enfants, nous
nous y sommes transportes et estant monte dans une cham-
bre haulte nous y aurions trouve le d. homme faisant son exer-
cisse et fonction instruisant les enfants dud. Boudinot du
quel homme les dits gardes de mond. Seigneur Fintendant
se sont saisis. . . .
E. JEAN PHILLIPPEAU MARCIIAND DE CE LIEU
AAGE DE CINQUANTE DEUX ANS . . . VA. . . .
(Comme si dessus] Va. . . .
ENQUIS . . . VA. . . .
Et sur les faits de la plainte a despoze qu il y a un mois ou
environ questant a la boutique de Baudoin sur le bord de la
riviere de ce lieu il vit dans le chaix de Jean Boudinot mar
chand de ce lieu plusieurs personnes assemblies et y remarqua
le dit Jean Boudinot, Helie Boudinot son oncle, Andre Ma-
rolles et trois autres du Poictou quil ne cognut point mais
sestant informe au nomine Robin portefaix de ce lieu il luy
auroit dit quil y en avoit un quy estoit beau frere du d. Boudi
not lequel estoit ministre de la R. P. R. et quil avoit presche
dans le temple de Fontenay et questant tous sorty dud. chaix
sur les quatre a cinq heures du soir ils furent joint par
Pierre Vigoureux aposticaire de ce lieu et s en furent du coste
des halles. Quy est tout ce quil a dit et lecture faitte de sa
despozition y a persiste et signe.
Signe :
MICHEAU CHARRON PHILLIPEAU.
INDEX.
ABTNGTON, Lord, quoted, i. 168.
Adams, John, completes treaty of
commerce with Netherlands, i.
281, 284; opens a loan, i. 281,
284 ; resignation, i. 299 ; expect
ing recall, i. 361 ; treaties of com
merce needed, i. 363, 369 ; con
cerning mediation of the two
imperial courts, i. 363, 364 ; on
national pride, i. 364 ; on public
opinion of America in Europe,
i. 365 ; member of commission for
making treaty of commerce, i.
368 ; recommends Mr. Dumas for
secretary of legation at the Hague,
i. 369 ; on foreign newspapers, i.
371-3/3; 375 383; necessity of
treating with all foreign powers,
i. 385; especially with the Bar-
bary powers, i. 385 ; forwards
copy of treaty with Netherlands, i.
389; in England, ii. 3; president,
ii. 122; entertained by Boudinot,
ii. 145.
Adams, Major, i. 190.
Adams, Mrs. Abigail, ii. 135, 141.
Adet, French minister, ii. 119.
" Alarm " of Watertown, Mass., i. 7.
Algerines, interfere with European
commerce, ii. 328, 329.
Allen, Col. Ethan, a prisoner in
New York, i-93; to be exchanged
for Colonel Campbell, i. 113.
Ambassador, French, arrival of, i.
127.
Ambassadors, American, received
by France, i. 132.
America, public opinion of, in Eu
rope, i. 365.
American Bible Society, Elias Bou
dinot founders, ii. 166 ; John Jay s
address before, ii. 177.
American Whig Society of Prince
ton College, i. 28.
Amsterdam, burgomasters acknow
ledge independence of the United
States, i. 177.
Andre, Major, corresponds with Ar
nold, i. 192 ; goes up the Hudson,
i. 193; meets Arnold, i. 193;
plans for giving up West Point,
i. 193; views the works with Ar
nold, i. 194; sets out for New
York, i. 194; capture,!. 195; at
tempts to bribe his captors, i.
195, 196; sent to headquarters, i.
198; trial, i. 199; reprieved at
General Clinton s request, i. 199;
execution, i. 200 ; effect of his
capture and execution at New
York, i. 200.
Antigua, remonstrance from gov
ernor of, i. i ii.
Arbuthnot, Admiral, expected at
New York, i. 185.
Army, American, situation at close
of war, i. 300; commutation of
half-pay, i. 302 ; troops compos
ing, i. 340; Congress thanks and
disbands, i. 418.
Army, the late, memorial of officers,
ii. 249; as creditors of the gov
ernment, ii. 250; their pay during
the war, ii. 251, 252 ; extra com
pensation at close of the war, ii.
252; half-pay, ii. 253; action of
Pennsylvania, ii. 254; certificates
not transferable, ii. 256; commuta
tion of half-pay, ii. 257 ; placed on
a footing with other creditors, ii.
257 ; demands of the army be
come a settled debt, ii. 257 ; losses
of the line not peculiar to them
as creditors, ii. 262.
Arnold, (Jen. Benedict, corresponds
with Major Andre, i. 192 ; pro
poses to give up West Point, i.
192 ; asks fora personal meeting,
i. 192; meets Andre, i. 193; ar
ranges to give up his post, i. 193 ;
and to seize Washington, i. 193;
views the works with Andre, i.
194 ; furnishes Andre with a
horse and passport, i. 194; in-
39 6
INDEX.
formed of Andre s capture, i. 197 ;
escape, i. 197 ; made a brigadier-
general in the British army, i.
200; receives the reward of a
traitor, i. 201.
Articles of Confederation, debts
contracted under, ii. 215-217.
Asgill, Captain, chosen by lot to
suffer in retaliation, i. 247 ; sent
to Washington at Morristown, i.
248 ; officers of his corps allowed
to remonstrate to their general, i.
248; British request delay of ex
ecution, i. 248 ; Congress consid
ers the matter, i. 248; Wash
ington s position regarding, i.
248 ; preliminary articles of peace
change the ground, i. 249; his ex
ecution stayed, i. 249 ; majority of
Congress determined on his exe
cution, i. 249; a minority opposes,
i. 250 ; letter from king and queen
of France in his behalf, i. 250;
and from his mother to the queen,
i. 250; Congress moved, i. 250;
his life given as a compliment to
king of France, i. 251 ; release,
i. 251 ; sails for England, i. 251 ;
subsequent behavior, i. 251 ; letter
of Count de Vergennes regard
ing, i. 252; Washington s reply,
Bache, B. F., the Cerberus of De
mocracy, ii- i 14.
.Bache, Theophilus, i. 174.
Bank of North America, ii. 246.
Bank, national, advantage of, to
Government, ii. 239.
Banks, private, ii. 233, 237, 238,
240.
Barber, Francis, school at Eliza-
bethtown, i. 164.
Barbary powers, necessity of treat
ing with, i. 385.
Barnet, Isaac C., ii. 155, 156.
Baskingridge, N. J., Boudinot re
moves to, i. 53; 118, 175.
Bayard, Andrew, ii. 140.
Bayard, Col. John, ii. 83.
Bayard, Madame Anna, ii. 82.
Bayard, Mrs., letter from Mrs. Bou
dinot to, ii. 132 ; 176.
Bayard, Peter, ii. 83.
Bayard, Samuel, ancestry, ii. 82 ;
marries Martha Pintard, ii. 83;
studies law with William Brad
ford, ii. 83 ; agent for American
claims in London, ii. 83; judge,
ii. 83 ; friendship with the Bou-
dinots, ii. 83 ; on affairs in Eu
rope, ii. 92-97 ; to William Brad
ford from London, ii. 98-101 ; re
garding his return home, ii. 127 ;
intimacy with Dr. Romayne, ii.
127; arrival in America, ii. 132;
"Bayard intrigues," ii. 142 ; polit
ical address, ii. 154; lawsuit de
termined in his favor, ii. 168.
i Beatty, Major, nominated as com
missary of prisoners, i. 121.
Beaumarchais, Caron de, letters
from Silas Deane to, i. 205, 206;
letter to Deane, i. 205.
Beckwith, Captain, i. 190.
Beekman, Catherine, third wife of
Klisha Boudinot, i. 33.
Beekman, James, i. 33.
Benozet, Anthony, on the slave
trade, ii. 221.
Berand, Janice, i. 25.
Biddle, Colonel, ii. 22, 23.
Bird, Ii. M., offers security for
American claimants at London,
ii. 97 ; shows British government
the consequences of a rupture
| with United States, ii. 99.
! Bissel, Israel, charged to alarm the
country, i. 7 ; his route, i. 7.
Blount, Governor, treasonable prac
tices of, ii. 125; expelled from the
Senate, ii. 126; impeached by the
House, ii. 126; gives bail, ii. 126;
escape, ii. 126.
! Board of Treasury of the Confed
eration, ii. 205, 206.
Bohemia, i. 132.
Bohemia Manor, ii. 82.
Border warfare, ii. 81, 85.
i Boston, consequences of Act of Par
liament relative to, i. 4.
, Boudinet, i. 25. See Boudinot.
I Boudinot, Annis, i. 28. See Stock
ton.
i Boudinot, Flias, grandfather, i. 25.
i Boudinot, Elias, father of Elias and
Flisha, i. 25.
Boudinot, Elias, member of Com
mittee of Correspondence for Es
sex County, N. J., i. 3; member
of committee appointed by Pro
vincial Congress, i. 5 ; deputy to
Provincial Congress, i. 5, 13;
sent to Continental Congress, i.
5, 13; Governor Franklin s ac
cusation against, i. 6 ; receives
copy of " Alarm " from Water-
town, Mass., i. 6 ; chairman of
INDEX.
397
committee of Elizabethtown, i. j
10 ; forwards powder to Wash
ington at Cambridge, i. 10; aid-
de-camp to General Livingston,
i. 12; furnishes lodgings for the
general, i. 12 ; among the first to
oppose Great Britain, i. 13; trus
tee of the College of New Jersey,
i. 14 ; ii. 177 ; attends meeting at
Princeton, i. 14; stops at New
Brunswick on his way home, i.
14 ; attends a meeting there, i. 15 ;
speaks in opposition to Dr. With-
erspoon, i. 16, 17 ; speech in the
first Provincial Congress of New
Jersey, i. 18-21 ; moves that the
sessions of Congress be opened
with prayer, i. 21 ; birth and
home training, i. 22 ; law studies,
i. 23 ; admission to the bar, i. 23;
ancestry, i. 25; ii. 390; courtship,
i. 26 ; marries Hannah Stockton,
i. 27 ; Washington requests him
to accept commission as Com
missary General of Prisoners, i.
42; consents, i. 42; Congress
grants the commission, i. 43 ; pay
and rank, i. 43 ; empowered to
appoint deputies, i. 43; empow
ered to make contracts for supply
of prisoners, i. 43 ; exertions to
obtain supplies, i. 44 ; uses his
own means, i. 44 ; Washington s
encouragement and promise to
divide loss. i. 44 ; warrants in his
favor for money borrowed, i. 45 ;
writes to Richard Peters regard
ing prisoners on Long Island, i.
46-48 ; to Governor Livingston
about retreat of the British army,
i. 49 ; on surprise of General Lin
coln, i. 50; case of the fanner
spy. i. ^o ; reproved by Washing
ton, i. 51 : scolded by British Com
missary Loring, i. 52 ; removes
his family to Baskingridge, i. 53;
letter from camp near New Wind
sor, i. 54; does not enjoy his
wandering life, i. 54 ; tells his wife
about the battle of Brandywine,
i. 57 ; arranges for the safety of
his family, i. 59 ; letter from
camp near Schuylkill, i. 59 ;
change of post, i. 61 ; describes
Wayne s surprise, i. 61 ; awaiting
remonstrance to Howe, i. 63 ;
loses a young horse, i. 64 ; ex
pects to lock up all the prisoners,
i. 64 ; his quarters, i. 64 ; advises
his daughter, i. 65, 66 ; recalled
from journey by letter from Howe,
i. 67; at Whitemarsh, i. 68 ; his
peculiar looking visitor, i. 68 ; her
information, i. 68 ; interview with
Washington, i. 68 ; opinion of
Howe s design, i. 68 ; quoted by
Sparks, i. 71 ; describes escape of
the army at Morristown, i. 72-74 ;
election to Congress, i. 74, 214,
215; appointed member of the
commission for settling treaty of
exchanges of prisoners, i. 75, 106;
goes to Congress, i. 77 ; account
of treatment of prisoners in Phil
adelphia, i. 84-87 ; to Mr. Fergu
son, i. 87 ; receives permission to
go to New York. i. 88 ; goes
there, i. 90; difficulty in landing,
i. 90 ; threatens to return, i. 90 ;
reception by Commissary Loring,
i. 91 ; meets General Robertson, i.
91 ; lodgings, i. 91 ; breakfasts with
the general, i. 91 ; his line of con
duct, i. 92 ; meets Ethan Allen, i.
93 ; examines prisoners, i. 93 ;
cases of cruel treatment, i. 94-
98 ; has a political conversation
with General Robertson, i. 98-
102; visits his family, i. 104;
reaches Valley Forge, i. 104; the
horrid journey, i. 105; playing bo-
peep with the enemy, i. 105 ;
misses his bed, i. 105; bitter
weather, i. 105 ; longs to be with
his family, i. 107, 108, 1 14 ; Wash
ington remonstrates against his
leaving the army, i. 109 ; return
from a consultation, i. no: on
Susan s excuses, i. 1 1 1 ; arranging
for exchange of officers, i. 112;
getting ready to leave the army,
i. 115 ; goes to New York
with Colonel Campbell, i. nS:
treated with uncommon civility,
i. 118; the exchange completed,
i. 118; getting his accounts in
order,] . nS; wishes to know if
his successor has been nominated,
i. 119; Washington requests his
presence in camp, i. 120, 121 ;
again at camp, i. 122 ; meets Gen
eral Robertson to exchange Hes
sian prisoners, i. 124; conversa
tion regarding peace, i. 125 ; tests
General Roberts s good faith, i.
126; a second jaunt to German-
town,!. 128; needs black ribbon
for his hair, i. 130; surprised at a
398
INDEX.
postscript to Mr. Loring s letter, !
i. 133; to Washington, i. 137;
pushing on to York, i. 138 ; ne
cessity of going to Congress, i. j
138 ; anxious for the safety of his
family, i. 138; in New York, i.
140; breakfasts with General
Lee, i. 140 ; refuses to take Lee s
message to Congress, i. 142 ; en
deavors to negotiate Lee s ex- :
change, i. 142; his success, i. 144;
interview with Lee, i. 145 ; sus-
picious of Lee, i. 146 ; takes his
seat in Congress, i. 151 ; his new
scene of labor, i. 152; ill with
fever, i. 153, 154; has a visit from
the French minister, i. 155; set-
tljment of his accounts, i. 159-
161 ; describes reception of
French minister, i. 161, 162;
friendship with Hamilton, i. 164 ;
defends Hamilton, i. 165; view
of Sullivan, i. 166; letter from
William Peartrec Smith, i. 167-
17 r; reply, i. 171-174; Dr. Scudder
tells him of the surprise of Flat-
bush, i. 174 ; expiration of his
term in Congress, i. 175 ; joins his j
family at Baskingridge, i. 175; ;
still active in the patriot cause, i.
175; journey from Princeton to
Philadelphia, i. 177 ; hears that
his house has been burned, i. 177 ;
foreign news, i. 177 ; in Philadel
phia,!. 178; longs to see Basking
ridge, i. 179 ; trying to get his ac
counts settled, i. 179; offered an
office, i. 179; to arrange for get
ting information, i. 181 ; believes
some extraordinary movement on
foot, i. 182; hears of expedition
to the South, i. 185 ; address at
burial of Rev. James Caldwell, i.
189 ; British destroy his flag-
boat, i. 190; wants compensa
tion, i. 191 ; his friendly feeling
for Deane, i. 207 ; informs Wash
ington of revolt of Pennsylvania
line, i. 207 ; to his daughter, i.
209-212; Cormvallis s surrender,
i. 2 r2 ; to Dr. Scudder, i. 116;
describes novel war vessels build
ing at New York, i. 218; in Con
gress without a vote, i. 220 ; an
invidious distinction, i. 221 : a mis-
prision of the clerk, i. 221 ; lodg
ings in Philadelphia, i. 223; feels
his inadequacy, i. 224 ; reelection
to Congress, i. 228 ; helps to pay 1
the messenger from Yorktown, i.
235 ; as president of Congress
compliments Count de Grasse, i.
236 ; opposes Mr. Middleton s
motion, i. 243 ; sees no prospect
of peace, i. 244 ; his cash all gone,
i. 244 ; amused at report of evac
uation of Charleston, i. 245; a
vigorous campaign of the enemy
in view, i. 246; champions Cap
tain Asgill s cause in Congress, i.
249 ; to his daughter, i. 253 ; no
thing new in the gay world, i.
254; to Governor Livingston, i.
254; wants instructions tram the
Legislature, i. 255, 259 ; the Yer-
mont dispute, i. 255 ; the ques
tions before Congress, i. 258;
interest of New Jersey in the dis
pute, i. 258; his claim to land in
Vermont, i. 259; about Conti
nental money, i. 200 ; to his
daughter, i. 260; accepts presi
dency of Congress, i. 263 ; direc
tions to his wife for removing to
Philadelphia, i. 263-265, 267 ; ac
cepts his brother s congratula
tions, i. 266; hopes for independ
ence and peace, i. 266; letter to
Robert Morris about a coach, i.
272 ; honored by Washington s
congratulations, i. 273 ; sends
commission to George Read, i.
275 ; writes to governor of Rhode
Island, i. 275; asks Washington
to forward letter to Thomas Chit-
tenden, i. 278 ; presents commis
sion to John Lowell, i. 278 ; com
municates approbation of Con
gress to Count de Rochambeau,
i. 285 ; congratulates Urigadier-
General Dayton, i. 286 ; to Wash
ington, giving account of peace
negotiations, i. 292 ; and signing
of definitive treaty, i. 302; to
James Robinson, 1.311; friend
ship for Lord Drummond i. 311 ;
to John Hanson, i. 313 ; to Lafay
ette, i. 315 ; to Washington, i. 318 ;
to his brother, i. 319; to Count de
Grasse, on transmitting two field-
pieces, i. 320; to Franklin, i. 320;
circulars to the governors of the
States, i. 322 ; to Oliver Pollock,
i. 323; to Washington, i. 323 ; to
the ministers plenipotentiary, i.
325 ; to Franklin, inclosing an
official letter, i. 326 ; acting as Sec
retary for Foreign Affairs, i. 326 ;
INDEX.
399
uses a cipher, i. 326 ; receipt of
medals, i. 326, 387 ; notifies Wash
ington of mutiny of Pennslyva-
nia troops, i. 332 ; issues proclama
tion, i. 334 ; to his brother, i. 336 ;
why Congress left Philadelphia,
i. 341 ; letter introducing Count
del Verme, i. 342 ; to Dr. Wil
liam Burner,, thanking citizens of
Newark, i. 344 ; to Col. Joseph
Phillips, on address of New Jer
sey militia, i. 344 ; to Thomas
Willing, on address of citizens of
Philadelphia, i. 345 ; asks Wash
ington to visit Congress, i. 346,
349 ; to Sir Guy Carleton about
counterfeiters, i. 347; to Franklin,
inclosing treaty with Sweden, i.
352 ; to inhabitants of New Bruns
wick acknowledging a patriotic
address, i. 354 ; to Washington,
i. 355 ; begs cannon for Count de
Grasse, i. 357 ; to Franklin, with
duplicate of ratification of treaty
with Sweden, i. 373 ; to Robert
R. Livingston, i. 390, 393 ; to
Washington, i. 392 ; communica
tion to Philosophical Society, i.
396 ; asks General Carleton for re
turn of papers belonging to Rich
ard Stockton, i. 397 ; congratu
lates Netherlands minister on his
arrival, {.400 ; answer to address
of the minister, i. 408-410 ; to the
commissioners, i. 410 ; preparing
to vacate President s chair, i. 410 ;
impression of Netherlands min
ister, i. 412; his term of office
expired, ii. i ; desires to retire to
private life, ii. 2 ; congratulates
Legislature on the establishment
of peace, ii. 2 ; to Henry Laurens,
ii. 7 ; to John Adams, ii. 8 ; to the
ministers plenipotentiary, ii. 10 ;
reply to the burgomasters of
Hamburg, ii. 1 1 ; to Francis Dana,
accompanying act of Congress, ii.
13; receives thanks of Congress,
ii. 14; returns to his home in
P7iizabethtown. ii. 14 ; to John Jay,
ii. 15; elected member of the
Society of the Cincinnati, ii. 16,
356 ; to Washington on his retire
ment to Mount Vernon, ii. 18 ; to
Charles Thomson, asking for
news from friends in Congress, ii.
20; to General Lincoln, ii. 21;
allusion to his daughter s mar
riage, ii. 21 ; procures seed for
Washington, ii. 22 ; gives di
rections for sowing, ii. 23 ; the
old story, ii. 24; dark days, but
cheerful spirits, ii. 25 ; must go
to New York, ii. 25 ; journey into
Pennsylvania, 11.27-30; letter to
John Caldwell, ii. 30 ; warns him
against change of faith, ii. 33 ;
a representative in the United
States Congress, ii. 35 ; arrival in
New York, ii. 37 ; disposition of
his time, ii. 39 ; remembrances to
friends, ii. 40 ; describes recep
tion of President Washington, ii.
40-44 ; describes the debate on
funding system, ii. 6r ; buys land
in Pennsylvania, ii. 62 ; receives
thanks of Pennsylvania Society
for promoting Abolition of Sla
very, ii. 69 ; to his son-in-law as
to accepting judgeship, ii. 75 ; to
his brother, ii. 81 ; asks Washing
ton s opinion of an oration, ii. 84;
to Samuel P>ayard about troubles
with the Indians, ii. 85 ; to Oliver
Wolcott about position of naval
officer, ii. 100 ; letter on the death
of his son, ii. 104; makes a tour
into New England, ii. 105 ; visits
Dr. Samuel Johnson, ii. 105 ; ap
pointed director of the Mint, ii.
1 06 ; letter accepting appoint
ment, ii. 107 ; residence, ii. 109 ;
wants to buy blanks for cents
in London, ii. 109; to Samuel
Bayard, ii. 118 ; bids Washington
farewell, ii. 121 ; on absurd con
duct of France, ii. 123 ; his opin
ion of Congress, ii. 123, 126;
wants a good gardener, ii. 128 ; to
President Adams, announcing
death of Dr. Nicholas Way, ii.
130 ; suggests Dr. Rush for treas
urer of the mint, ii. 130; to Timo
thy Pickering, with applications
for treasurership, ii. 131 ; at the
President s, ii. 135 ; absence of his
wife, ii. 136, 139; participates in
welcome to John Marshall, ii.
141 ; entertains President Adams,
ii. 145; his brother s illness, ii. 147-
149 ; to Washington on purchase
of wine, ii. 148, 152; at meeting
of trustees of Princeton College,
ii. 149; his time for agreeable
epistolary correspondence passed,
ii. 150; to Samuel Bayard regard
ing place of master in chancery,
ii. 151 ; to Tobias Lear about
400
INDEX.
wine, ii. 153; to Madison about
an appointment, ii. 155; objec
tions to Mr. Leslie s method of
coining, ii. 158 ; the mint the sub
ject of complaint, ii. 160; asks
government to provide for ex- I
employees of the Mint, ii. 161 ;
presents President Jefferson with j
specimens of animated oats, ii. j
162 ; resigns the directorship of
the Mint, ii. 165; home in Bur
lington, N. J., ii. 165 ; founder of
the American Bible Society, ii.
166; opposed to an extension of
slavery, ii. 172, 173; to Samuel
Bayard about discontinuance of
Bible Society, ii. 174; death, ii.
175 ; portraits, ii. 175; Jay s allu
sion to, ii. 177 ; gifts to Princeton
College, ii. 178; a lover of trees,
ii. I7<S ; bequest to the Fuel Fund
for the poor of Philadelphia, ii.
178; speeches, duties on im
ports, ii. 180-193; duties on ton
nage, ii. 193-197 ; favors high
taxation of rum, ii. 197; debate ,
on hem]), ii. 197, 198; Indian
commerce, ii. 198, 199 ; on amend- j
mcnt of the Constitution, ii. 199-
203 ; on establishing executive
departments, ii. 203-207 ; on re
movals from office, ii. 208-213;
on maintaining the public credit, j
ii. 2i.j-2i8 ; on subject of slavery,
ii. 218-229 ; in favor of a national
bank, ii. 229248 ; on the .pay of
the late army, ii. 249-266 ;. vindi
cation of Hamilton, ii. 296-312;
on relief of French emigrants
from St. Domingo, ii. 313, 314; I
on the commerce of the United
States, ii. 315-332 ; on sequestra
tion of British debts, ii. 333, 334;
on non-intercourse with Great
Brkain, ii. 335-345 ; on defense of
the frontiers, ii. 346 ; on reduction
of salaries, ii. 347-351 ; on claims
to land on northern frontier of
North Carolina, ii. 351, 352;
special committees on which he
served, ii. 353, 354 ; oration before
the Society of the Cincinnati, ii.
356-378 ; his book, " A Star in the
West," ii. 378; other writings, ii.
386 ; benevolent bequests, ii. 387 ;
committees on which he served in
Continental Congress, ii. 388-390.
Boudinot, Klias L., letters to, ii.
172, 173; ii. 174.
Boudinot, Elie, 5. 25, 26 ; one of the
founders of the French church in
New York, i. 26; protests against
acts of Lieut. -Gov. Leisler, i. 26;
buys lands in Bergen County, N.
J., i. 26.
Boudinot, Elisha, characterization
of, by Judge Bradley, i. 24 ; birth,
i. 32; law studies, i. 32 ; marries
daughter of William Peartree
Smith, i. 32 ; his second wife, Ra
chel Bradford, i. 33 ; his strong
personality, i. 33 ; elected com
missary of prisoners for New
Jersey, i- 33 ; one of Committee
of Correspondence for Newark, i.
34; letter to Captain Ross, ap
proving of his conduct, i. 34;
with Rev. A. McWhorter, writes
to Governor Livingston about the
militia, i. 35; Governor Living
ston asked to appoint him deputy
surrogate, i. 36 ; declines an office,
i. 37; to Col. Alexander Hamil
ton about movements of General
Clinton s army, i. 38 ; his home
in Newark, i. 39; i. 56, 61 ; i. 128 ;
letters to, i. 225, 243, 244, 246;
letter to, acknowledging congrat
ulations, i. 266 ; letter to, giving
foreign news, i. 292 ; congratulates
Washington on establishment of
independence, i. 304 ; another
daughter in his family, i. 319;
letter to, about mutiny of Penn
sylvania troops, i. 336; advocates
cause of a slave, ii. ^9; letter to,
concerning law business, ii. 81 ;
illness, ii. 146-149.
Boudinot genealogy, ii. 390-393.
Boudinot, Mrs., letters to, i. 54, 57,
59, 60, 63, 67, 74, 104, 1 06, 1 08,
no, 113, 117, 127, 128, 131, 138,
IS 1 - 1 55. 1/6, 179... 2I2 . 223, 263,
264, 267 ; illness, ii. 52, 54 ; letter
to Mrs. Bayard, ii. 132.
Boudinot, Susan V., and Mrs.
Washington, story about, i. 52 ;
at tea at Governor Franklin s, i.
52 ; i. 56, 58, 61 ; advice from her
father, i. 65 ; he will send her a
parody song, i. 66 ; he wishes her
to be instructed in music, i. 66;
i. 109; her negligence in writing,
i. in; 114; story about, i. 115;
118, 128, 130, 132, 138, 152, 176,
178, 180; in Dr. Rush s family in
Philadelphia, i. 208 ; letter from
her father, i. 209 ; he thanks her
INDEX.
401
for copies of sermons sent him,
i. 210; on her birthday, i. 211 ; on
evil speaking, i. 211; her return
home, i. 212 ; i. 246; letter on her
" launching into life," i. 260, 318 ;
marries William Bradford, ii. 45 ;
46, 63 ; letters to, ii. 63, 66, 79 ;
71, 91, 105; illness, ii. 131 ; letter
to Mrs. Bayard, ii. 133 ; 135; one
of a bridal party, ii. 169; letter
to Samuel Bayard about her fa
ther s health, ii. 170; 174, 176,
177.
Bound Brook, General Lincoln sur
prised at, i. 50.
Burgoyne, General, i. 158, 159.
Bradford, Mrs. See Boudinot, Su
san V.
Bradford, Rachel, second wife of
Elisha Boudinot, i. 33.
Bradford, Rachel, ii. io5, 109 ; let
ter to Samuel Bayard, ii. in; on
the loss of her brother, ii. 112;
Mr. Bayard s prospects, ii. 113;
business embarrassments, ii. 113;
family news, ii. 115-118.
Bradford, William, parents, ii. 47 ;
sketch of his life, ii. 47, 48 ; resi
dence in Philadelphia, ii. 48 ; esti
mate of, ii. 48; treatise on capital
punishments, ii. 48; at Washing
ton s fireside, ii. 49 ; in Philaclel- ,
phia, ii. 51 ; deluged with busi
ness, ii. 51 ; friends, ii. 51 ; about
Mrs. Boudinot s illness, ii. 52 ; on
filling judiciary department, ii.
53 ; about funding the public debt,
ii. 56 ; Pennsylvania Constitu
tional Convention, ii. 57 ; de
scribes a May Day morning, ii.
63; servants, ii. 64; rival queens,
ii. 65 ; goes to the theatre, ii. 67 ;
incident of the Jew, ii, 6; ; dines
with Dr. Rush, ii. 67 ; asks Bou
dinot s advice as to accepting
judgeship, ii. 71; reply, ii. 75; i
illness of his wife, ii. 79 ; on the
Whiskey Insurrection, ii. 86-91 ; !
member of commission to visit
the rioters, ii. 88.
Bradley, Justice, reminiscence, i. 23.
I randy wine, battle of, i. 57.
Brimstone Hill, capitulation, i. 245.
British West Indies, restriction of ,
trade with, ii. 319-321.
Brown, Charles, collector of |
Georgetown, ii. 100.
Bruen, Caleb, i. 36.
Buckingham, Marquis of, ii. 97.
Burner, Dr. William, i. 34; thanked
by Congress, in behalf of citi
zens of Newark, i. 344.
Burnet, Mrs. William, i. 39, 59.
Burr, Aaron, ii. 119.
Butt, Captain Jonathan, i. 62.
Cadiz, capture of English fleet near,
i. 226, 227 ; large Spanish fleet
sails from, i. 243.
Caisse d Escompte, failure of, ii. 4.
Caldwell, Elias B., i. 189.
Caldwell, lames B., judge, i. 189.
Caldwell, John, son of Rev. James,
protege of Lafayette, ii. 30, 32 ;
Boudinot s advice to, ii. 30 ; warns
him against a change of faith,
ii- 33-
Caldwell, Rev. James, pastor in
Elizabethtown, i. 187 ; chaplain,
i. 187 ; served as commissary, i.
187 ; his church used as a hos
pital, i. 187; his church burned, i.
1 88 ; his wife shot while praying
with her children, i. 188 ; shot, i.
188; burial, i. 189; his children,
i. 189 ; story of the defense of his
church, i. 189; town in Liberia
named in his honor, i. 189.
Caldwell, Mrs., death of, i. iSS.
Caldwell, town in Liberia, i. 189.
Calvet, Pierre du, case of, ii. 5.
Cambridge, Mass., powder sent to,
from Elizabethtown, N. J., i.
10.
Campbell, Colonel, to be exchanged
for Colonel Allen, i. 113; "sir
William Howe wishes him sent
to Philadelphia, i. 116; accom
panies Boudinot to New York,
i. Ti8; interests himself in Amer
ican prisoners there, i. 119; be
haves as a man of strict honor, i.
251.
Campbell, General, i. 190.
Campbell, James, i. 34.
Campbell, Sir Archibald. See
Campbell, Colonel.
Canada, schemes for holding the
frontier, i. 412.
Cannon, Dr., recollections of the
Boudinot brothers, i. 23, 24.
Caree, Mary Catherine, i. 25.
Carleton, Sir Guy, arrival at New-
York, i. 248 ; sends the king s
proclamation of peace to Con
gress, i. 314; letter to, about
counterfeiters, i. 347 ; has orders
to evacuate New York, i. 357 ;
402
INDEX.
expects to evacuate New York,
ii. ii.
Carmichael, William, makes recom
mendations for honorary mem
bership in Philosophical Society,
i. 396.
Carolina, mutiny among British,
troops in, i. 226.
Carol inas, French merchantmen at,
i. in.
Charleston, evacuated by the Brit
ish, i. 287.
Charlevoix, Father, ii. 385.
Chatham, Lord, i. 117.
Chestnut Hill, i. 70.
Chittenden, Thomas, i. 278.
Church, First Presbyterian, of Eliz-
abethtown, N. J., petitions Con
gress, i. 2.
Cincinnati. See Society.
Clinton, Governor, ii. 43.
Clark, Abraham, member of Conti
nental Congress from New Jersey,
i. 151.
Clinton, Sir Henry, sets off for
Rhode Island, i. 38 ; at Red
Bank Fort, i. 64 ; 88 ; succeeds
Sir William Howe, i. 117; 122,
131; sends Andre up the Hud
son, i. 193; asks for his reprieve,
i. 199 ; effect of Andre s death, i.
200 ; bewildered and misguided
by Washington, i. 231-233; inci
dent of a cipher letter sent to
Cormvallis, i. 2:5.
Commerce, commission for making
treaty of, i. 380 ; European na
tions to make treaties, i. 381 ;
what success of negotiations with
England means, i. 381 ; distrust
of United States abroad, i. 382;
instructions of Congress to com
missioners, ii. 318; authority of
commissioners repealed, ii. 318 ;
restriction in trade with British
West Indies, ii. 319-321 ; effect
of restrictive duties on, ii. 325-
328 ; regulation of foreign ship
ping, ii. 3^0; reciprocity, ii. 331.
Commerce, East Indian, should be
protected, ii. 198, 199.
Commissioners, English, attempt to
bribe Joseph Reed, i. 127.
Commissioners to Congress from
England, i. 129 ; like to have been
mobbed by British soldiers, i.
130; brought a snuff-box for Gen
eral Washington, i. 130; answer
of Congress to, i. 132.
Committee of Correspondence for
Essex County, N. J., resolution
of, i. 3, 4.
j Concord, Mass., i. 8 ; damage done
by the British at, i. 9.
Congress, Continental, sends a com
mittee to reform the army, i. 76;
passes an insulting resolution, i.
77 ; ashamed of their action, i.
77 ; English commissioners to, i.
129; sends an answer to them, i.
132 ; too poor to pay messenger
from Vorktown, i. 235 ; approves
of retaliatory measure, i. 247 ; de
termined on execution of Captain
Asgill, i. 249 ; Vermont dispute be
fore, i. 255-258 ; reports of com
mittees on household expenses of
President, i. 268-272 ; ^ends dep
utation to Rhode Island, i. 276;
need of money, i. 276; proposes
to procure loans from abroad, i.
277 ; obliged to the most dis
agreeable parsimony, i. 290 ; em
barrassed situation of, i. 299 ;
sensible of the obliging conduct
of Count D Estaing, i. 316 ; ac
cepts portrait of Dr. Bermando
de Galvez, i. 323 ; insulted by
body of armed troops, i. 330 ;
members wish protection, i. 333 ;
meeting of, at Princeton, called,
i. 334 ; reasons for leaving Phila
delphia, i. 341 ; addresses to, i. 344,
345; Washington asked to visit,
i. 346 ; proposes an address to
Washington, i. 350; ratifies treaty
with Sweden, i. 353 ; address to,
from inhabitants of New Bruns
wick, i. 354; holds an audience
for congratulating Washington, i.
358 ; the President s address, i.
359 ; Washington s reply, i. 360 ;
should make overtures for treaties
of commerce, i. 381 ; necessity
for sending ministers to foreign
courts, i. 381 ; gives audience to
Netherlands minister, i. 404 ; ii.
2 ; letter from States General to,
i. 407-410 ; determines to have
two capitals, i. 411 ; ii. 7 ; General
Mifrlin chosen president, i. 413;
ratifies treaty with France, i. 415 ;
recommends a day of thanksgiv
ing, i. 41^; thanks and disbands
the army, i. 418; removes to
Princeton, ii. 7 ; adjourns for
Annapolis, ii. 7 ; have not come
to any determination about John
INDEX.
403
Adams s resignation, ii. 8; but
few ministers to be employed in
Europe, ii. 8 ; will not be in a
hurry to send minister to Eng
land, i. 8 ; receives communica
tion from burgomasters of Ham
burg, i. ii ; reply, ii. 12; has no
Minister of Foreign Affairs, ii.
13; thanks Boudinot, ii. 14.
Congress, Provincial, of New Jer
sey, called to meet at Trenton, i.
5; sends deputies to the Conti
nental Congress, i. 5, 13.
Congress, United States, ii. 36 ; its
first session, ii. 179; counts vote
for President and Vice- Presi
dent, ii. 179; report of committee
to receive the President, ii. 179;
bound for debts of the Confeder
ation, ii. 214-218; power exer
cised by, must be drawn from the
Constitution, ii. 230 ; cannot ex
ercise powers vested in the States,
ii. 231 ; powers of, ii. 234, 235.
Connecticut, buys Continental
money of Virginia, i. 260.
Connecticut Farms, burning of, i.
1 88.
Constitution, powers implied in, ii.
2 35>. 2 39> 24 1 -243. ?
Constitution, Virginia applies for a
convention to report amendments
to, ii. 199; debate on in House of
Representatives, ii. 199-202; ap
plication placed on file, ii. 203.
Continental Army. See Army.
Continental Congress. See Con
gress.
Continental money, a large portion
in treasury of Massachusetts, i.
260; Connecticut makes pur
chases of, i. 260.
Cooper s Ferry, i. 134, 135.
Cornwallis, Lord, surprises General
Lincoln at Bound Brook, i. 50 ;
given American countersign by a
fanner, i. 50 ; at Red Bank Fort,
i. 64 ; Americans try to draw him
to battle, i. 67 ; returns to Phila
delphia, i. 67 ; 123; Lafayette s
attack on, i. 222 ; Wayne gives
him a drubbing, i. 224; retires to
Portsmouth, i. 224 ; capitulates
at Vorktown, i. 235 ; predicts suc
cess for Lafayette at Charleston,
i. 241 ; behaved with great cruelty
in the South, i. 242 ; his execution
proposed in Congress, i. 242 ; mo
tion for his detention, i. 243.
Corporation and association of citi
zens, ii. 232.
Courtland, Major, i. 90.
Credit, public, ii. 214-218.
Creditors of the United States,
Congress not judges of their
claims, ii. 215-217, 259; army
officers as, ii. 256; no difference
between, ii. 257 ; holders of se
curities, ii. 259, 263-265; the gov
ernment s proposition to, ii. "259,
260.
Cunningham, British provost mar
shal, ill-treats prisoners, i. 85, 94,
95> 97 5 sells prisoners rations, i.
86; removal, i. 86.
Dana, Francis, i 160; letter to, ii.
13-.
Darning-needle, story of, i. 175.
Dayton, Elias, appointed brigadier-
general, i. 286; letter to, acknow
ledging membership in Society of
the Cincinnati, ii. 16.
Deane, Silas, i. 127 ; reception by
Mons. de Vergennes, i. 203; his
unreliability, i. 204 ; his situation
in France embarrassing, i. 204 ;
letters to Caron de Beaumarchais,
i. 205, 206; letter to Conrad A.
Gerard, i. 206.
Dearborn, General, ii. 165, 168.
Debt, distinction between foreign
and domestic, ii. 217, 218.
Debt, funded, value of, ii. 260.
Debt, public, Congress parties to,
not judges of, ii. 215-216.
Debts of British subjects, seques
tration of, ii. 333, 334.
Debts, English, American mer
chants need time for paying, i.
317, 321.
Denmark, proposes a treaty with
the United States, i. 388 ; treaty
pending, ii. 5, 6.
De Barras, M., captures English
fleet off Cadiz, i. 226, 227.
D Fstaing, Count, i. 153; pursues
Lord Howe s fleet, i. 163; 168,
172, 302; obliging conduct of, i.
316.
De Grasse, Count, threatens to
withdraw his troops before York-
town, i. 233 ; Lafayette endeav
ors to dissuade him, i. 234 ; his
orders positive,!. 234; but stays
to enjoy the surrender, i. 235;
Boudrnot, as president of Con
gress, compliments him, i. 236 ;
404
INDEX.
Washington s letter to, 237-240 ;
Lafayette and De Grasse, i. 240,
241 ; takes possession of St. Kitts,
i. 243; Congress presents two
field-pieces to, i. 320.
Dickinson, Gen. Philemon, asked
to escort Netherlands minister
with a troop of horse, i. 403.
Digby, Admiral, thought announce
ment of peace designed to mis
lead him, i. 316.
Dress, gayety in, i. 178.
Drummond, Lord, Boudinot s
friendship for, i. 311.
Duane, Mr., op.poses retaliation on
Lord Cornwallis, i. 243; cham
pions Captain Asgill s cause in
Congress, i. 249 ; Washington
writes to, i. 252.
Duer, William, i. 160.
Dumas, Mr., recommended for sec
retary of legation at the Hague, i.
369.
Dunham, Azariah, letter addressed
to I 354-
Duquesin, Captain, bearer of dis- ;
patches from Lafayette, i. 315, 316. j
Duties on imports, ii. 189; paid by
the consumer, ii. 324 ; restrictive,
effect of, ii. 325-328.
Eggleston, Captain, successful raid
of, i. 225, 226.
Elizabethtown, N. J., sends powder (
to Washington s camp at Cam
bridge, i. 10.
Elliot, Dr. Andrew, letter to, 413.
Elmore, Dr., member of Congress, <
i. 156; without a vote, i. 220.
England, declares war against
France, i. 127; change of minis- j
try in, i. 293 ; finances of, i. 293,
298 ; wishes to treat for separate
peace, i. 294 ; finds no encourage- [
ment, i. 294 ; sends commissioner
to treat with France, i. 294, 295 ; !
and with Dr. Franklin, i. 294;
acknowledges independence of j
the United States, i. 295; sends j
commissioner to treat with United
States, i. 295 ; her concessions,
i. 295 ; jealousy against France,
i. 296 ; signs treaty without know- ;
ledge of France, i. 296; Spain in- j
sists on cession of Gibraltar, i.
297 ; ultimatum of France, i. 297 ;
Holland s demands, i. 297 ; her j
finances call for immediate peace,
i. 298 ; the king s proclamation,
i. 314; did not originate the In
dian war, ii. 317; negotiations for
a commercial treaty with, ii. 319-
321 ; cut off the United States
from the West Indian trade, ii.
318 ; retaliation suggested, ii. 320,
321 ; effect of restrictive duties
against, ii. 325-328 ; credit of
Virginia in, ii. 327 ; her European
troubles, ii. 329; non-intercourse
with, ii. 335-345-
English fleet bound South, i. 185.
English, take American vessel on
French coast, i. 132.
Essex County committee of ladies,
i- 39-
Essex County, N. J., resolutions of,
i- 3. 4-
Europe, hostilities cease in, i. 302 ;
public opinion of America in, i.
365; commercial connections with,
necessary, i. 367.
Exchange of prisoners. See Pris
oners.
Executive departments, establish
ment of, ii. 203-207.
Expenses of the President, ii. 213.
Extravagance in Philadelphia, i.
178.
Farland, Mr. and Mrs., of Plainfield,
Mass., i. 9.
Female Charitable Society of New
ark, i. 39.
Ferguson, Henry. II., British pro
vost marshal, i. 86; letter from,
regarding exchange of prisoners,
i. 1 06.
Finances of England, i. 293, 298.
Finances of United States, i. 290,
299.
Fires in the United States, ii. 120.
First Presbyterian Church, peti
tions Congress for indemnifica
tion, i. 1-3.
Fiske, John, quoted, i. 148, 301.
Fitzgerald, British commissioner
to treat with France, i. 295.
Fitzpatrick, Captain, British ex
change commissioner, i. 75, 82.
Flatbush, L. I., surprise of, i. 174.
Fox, Charles J., wants reciprocity,
i. 355 ; what reciprocity meant, i.
356; ii. 319; eulogy on President
Washington, ii. 98.
France, England declares war
against, i. 127 ; receives Ameri
can ambassadors, i. 132 ; demands
American vessel taken on her
INDEX.
405
coast, i. 132 ; action of king on
refusal, i. 132 ; England wishes
to treat for peace with, i. 294 ;
objection of United States, i. 294 ;
commissioner sent to, i. 295;
alarmed at American claims, i.
295 ; fears England will grant
United States too much, i. 295 ;
endeavors to foment divisions,
i. 296; her ultimatum in behalf
of Spain, i. 297 ; loan obtained
from, i. 299 ; king offended, i.
301; treaty with, ratified,!. 414;
failure of Caisse d Escompte, ii.
4 ; money unaccountably scarce,
ii. 4 ; government proposes a lot
tery, ii. 4 ; the Republic, ii. 93,
96 ; trials in Paris, ii. 93, 96 ; ab
surd conduct of, ii. 123 ; debt to,
ii. 268, 278, 280, 298.
France, king and queen of, inter
cede for Captain Asgill, i. 249.
Franklin, Benjamin, letter to, re
commending Colonel Ogden, i.
320; letter to, on ratification of
treaty with Sweden, i. 352 ; mem
ber of commission for making
treaty of commerce, i. 368 ; letter
to, with duplicate of ratification
of treaty with Sweden, i. 373 ; i.
383 ; to Boudinot, i. 386 ; sends
medal to Grand Master of Malta ;
i. 388 ; receives a note from the
Pope s nuncio, i. 389 ; friendly
action of Count cle Vergennes, i.
389 ; sends sundry memorials to
Congress, i. 389 ; sends copy of
definitive treaty, i. 395 ; new com
mission not at hand, ii. 3 ; cannot
obtain a loan in France, ii. 4;
presents petition to Congress
against slave trade, ii. 226, 229.
Franklin, Governor, disapproves of
Boudinot s course, i. 6 ; 12; ex
change of, i. 106 ; responsibility
for Captain Huddy s execution, i.
248.
Franklin, Thomas, i. 152.
Franks, Major, Arnold s aid, i. 202.
Frederick the Great. See Prussia.
Freehold, skirmish at, i. 147.
Freidrell, General, letter to, about
the exchange of his family, i. 131.
Frelinghuysen, Col. Frederick,
asked to read the Netherlands
minister s credentials, i. 402 ; ii.
59-
French ambassador, arrival of, i.
127.
French, anxious to lessen the hor
rors of war, i. 245.
French count, scandal about, ii. 15 r.
French fleet, arrival of, i. 127, 153;
takes an English frigate, i. 127.
French Directory, ii. 119, 123, 141.
French merchantmen, at the Caro-
linas, i. in.
Frenchman, crimes of a, i. 102, 103.
Frontiers, defence of, ii. 346.
Funding system, debates on, in Con
gress, ii. 61.
Gage, General, i. 5; did not believe
the story about scarcity of pow
der in Washington s camp, i. n ;
treats informant as a spy, i. n.
Galloway, Joseph, i. 6.
Galvez, Dr. Bermando de, portrait
of, presented to Congress, i. 323.
Gates, Gen. Horatio, letter to, about
exchange of prisoners, i. 112.
Georgia, English to take possession
of, i. 185.
Gerard, Conrad A., French minis
ter, i. 161 ; reception of, by Con
gress, i. 162.
Gibbs, Colonel, i. 22.
Gibraltar, cession of, demanded by
Spain, i. 297.
Gloucester, N. J., i. 134, 135.
Grant, General, i. 137.
Grayson, Colonel, commissioner to
arrange for exchange of prison
ers, i. 75, 78; he "manages" the
British commissioners, i. 79.
Great Britain. See England.
Greene, Gen. Nathanael, i. 64; at
Monmouth, i. 149; 165; raises
siege of Ninety-Six, i. 225; but
obliges Lord Rawdon to evacu
ate, i. 225 ; waiting for evacua
tion of Charleston, i. 278.
Grenada, capture of, by the French,
ii. 99.
Grenville, Thomas, mission to
France, i. 294.
Haddonfield, N. J., i. 134.
Haldiman, General, i. 256.
Hale, Nathan, i. 33.
Hall, Dr. James, ii. 131.
Hamburg, sends a letter to Con
gress, i. 388; the President s re
ply, ii. n.
Hamilton, Alexander, informed of
Clinton s movements, i. 38 ; on
commission to arrange exchange
of prisoners, i. 75 ; takes charge
406
INDEX.
of General O Hara at Yorktown, ]
i. 82 ; letter to, about exchange
of prisoners, i. 122; view of
Washington, Greene, and Stir
ling, i. 149; opinion of Lee, i.
150; champions Baron Steuben,
i. 155; friendship with the Boudi-
nots, i. 164; \vatches over the
body of Boudinot s child, i. 164;
inspires prayers at the Boudinot
family gatherings, i. 165 ; de
fended by Boudinot, i. 165; fires
on Arnold s barge at Verplanck s
Point, i. 198; recognizes Andre,
i. 199; i. 202; report on the
Sinking Fund republished in Eng-
land, ii. 103; attack on, as Secre
tary of the Treasury, ii. 266-269,
272-296; Boudinot s vindication
of, ii. 296-312.
Hamilton, J. C., i. 164.
Hancock, John, i. 12.
Hanson, John, made President of
Congress, i. 228; Boudinot con
veys thanks of Congress to, i. 265 ;
false reports of his death, i. 314.
Harrison, Mr., American agent at
Cadiz, i. 278.
Hartley, David, i. 355, 356, 368,
370, 375-378; 3 3 J 9-
Ileddon, Joseph, Jr., recommends
the appointment of Elisha Boudi
not as deputy surrogate, i. 36.
Hemp, debate on, ii. 197, 198.
Hetfield, Polly, ii. 52.
Holland. See Netherlands.
Hornblower, Mrs. Josiah, i. 39.
Howe, Lord, peace proposals from,
i. 99. TOO ; had authority to grant
pardons only, i. 100; at Rhode
Island, i. 163; 172.
Howe, Sir "William, i. 44, 45; re
treats from Brunswick, i. 49 ;
surprises Wayne, i. 61, plans to at
tack Washington at Whitemarsh
revealed, i. 68 ; checkmated by
Washington, i. 69, 70; retreats to
Philadelphia, i. 7 1 ; sends a spy
into Washington s camp at Mor-
ristown, i. 72 ; treatment of Col
onel Luce, i. 73; Washington
threatens with retaliation in treat
ment of prisoners, i. 86; removes
Provost Marshal Cunningham, i.
86; forbids admission of provi
sions for prisoners, i. 86; re
verses his orders, i. 98 ; author
ized to make peace, i. 99; i. 106,
116; recalled, i. 117.
Huddy, Captain, taken prisoner by
a party of refugees, i. 247 ; hanged
under pretence of retaliation for, i.
247 ; proposed retaliation, i. 247 ;
officer commanding the party ar
rested, i. 248 ; prisoner found
guilty, i. 248 ; acted under or
ders, i. 248 ; Governor Franklin
the culprit, i. 248.
Hyder Ali, i. 281, 283.
Import duties, duration of, ii. 191-
193-
Independence of the United States
acknowledged by England, i. 280,
283, 295.
Indian chief, story of, ii. 381-383.
Indian commerce, ii. 198, 199.
Indian funds, private direction of,
i. 165, 1 68.
Indian war, origin of, ii. 317.
Indians, waste the frontiers, i. 127,
] 53-
Interest the pole-star of nations, ii.
3 1 S-
Ireland, in a perturbed state, ii. 94 ;
Earl Fitzwilliams s viceroyship,
ii. 94.
Jameson, Lieutenant-Colonel, An
dre taken to, i. 196; ordered to
notify Arnold of extraordinary
happenings, i. 196; acquaints him
with the capture of Mr. Ander
son, i. 197; sends captured pa
pers to Washington, i. 197.
Jay, John, commissioner for making
treaty of commerce, i. 368; 383;
in England, ii. 3; letter to, ii. 15;
83 ; address before American
Bible Society, ii. 177.
Jefferson, Thomas, on his way to
Europe, i. 289; on legislation as
to consular fees, ii. 68 ; authen
tications abroad, ii. 69; 119; let
ter about improved method of
coining, ii. 157.
Johnson, Col. Francis, nominated
to be commissary-general of pris
oners, i. 120; refuses the appoint
ment, i. 121.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, ii. 105.
Jones, Gen. Daniel, in command at
New York, i, 1 18.
Jones, Gen. Valentine, command-
clant of New York city, i. 118.
Raines, Lord, foretells American
independence, i. 13.
INDEX.
407
Knox, Gen. Henry, in command at
West Point, i. 340 ; ii. 41 ; and the
Indian chief, ii. 381.
Knyphausen, General, i. 190.
Lafayette, Marquis, i. 133 ; Lee
quarrels with, i. 147 ; takes one of
Rev. James Caldwell s children
to France, i. 189; gains great
laurels in his attack on Cormval-
lis, i. 222 ; refreshing his troops
and covering the country, i. 224;
at Yorktown, i. 234; and De
Grasse, i. 237, 238 ; 302 ; letter
from Boudinot, i. 315; ii. 21.
Lands, public, sales by North Car
olina, ii. 351, 352.
Lancaster, Pa., mutiny at, i. 329, 332.
Laurens, Henry, President of Con
gress, i. 77; i. 166; on peace
commission, observations about
negotiations, i. 355, 356; letter to,
ii. 7.
Laurens, John, i. 299.
Lear, Tobias, letter to, ii. 153.
Lee, Colonel, i. 225, 226.
Lee, Gen. Charles, i. 53, 112; his
capture, i. 139 ; sent to New York,
i. 139; requests a committee of
CoiTgress sent him, i. 139; his re
quest refused, i. 139; Boudinot
breakfasts with, at New York, i.
140; complains of Congress, i.
140; would have disclosed the
British plans to the committee, i.
140 ; his information not needed,
i. 140 ; reads his manuscript, i.
141 ; his insane plan, i. 141 ; ne
gotiations for his exchange, i.
142 ; General Howe s objections,
i. 142 ; sent to Philadelphia, i.
143; Washington desirous for his
exchange, i. 143 ; quite new prop
ositions made, i. 143; Washing
ton confirms his exchange,!. 144;
Lee s reception, i. 144 ; dines
with Mrs. Washington, i. 144 ;
given command of the right wing
of the army, i. 145 ; abuses Wash
ington, i. 145 ; goes to Congress,
i. 146 ; disgusts President Lau
rens, i. 146; returns to the army,
i. 147 ; cabals against Washing-
ton, i. 147 ; quarrels with Lafay
ette, i. 147; skirmish at Free
hold,!. 147; disgraceful conduct
at Monmouth, i. 148, 150; an
extraordinary question, i. 148;
beaten, i. 148.
1 Lee, Richard Henry, i. 160, 204.
Leisler, Lieutenant-Governor, pro
test against his oppressive acts,
i. 26.
Leslie, Mr., wishes his method of
coining tried, ii. 157; Boudinot s
objections, ii. 158.
Lexington, battle of, i. 7-9.
Lincoln, General, surprised at
Bound Brook, i. 50 ; makes good
his retreat, i. 51 ; asked to visit
Congress, i. 287; asked to be pres
ent at a reception of Netherlands
minister, i. 402.
Livingston, Mrs. Gov., i. 39.
Livingston, Robert R., resignation
as Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
i. 325, 326; letter to, about for
eign matters, i. 390 ; Boudinot
sends him a medal, i. 390 ; 394 ;
letter to, about the conduct of
the people of his State, i. 393.
j Livingston, William, his conduct
disapproved of by Governor
Franklin, i. 6 ; elected governor
of New Jersey, i. 1 1 ; elected brig
adier-general, i. ii; letter to,
from Rev. A. McWhorter and
Elisha Boudinot about the mili
tia, i. 35 ; asked to appoint Elisha
Boudinot deputy surrogate, i. 36 ;
letter to, about movements of the
army, i. 49; letter to, on appre
hended invasion of Pennsylvania,
i. 226; about pedlars, i. 227;
about the Vermont dispute, i.
2 55-
Loring, Joshua, British commissary
for prisoners, writes about distress
among American prisoners, i. 45 ;
scolds Boudinot, i. 52 ; gives
Boudinot permission to go to New
York, i. 88 ; writes to Boudinot
about exchange of prisoners, i.
116; letter to Colonel Hamilton
about a general exchange of pris
oners, i. 122 ; letter to Boudinot,
i- r 33-
Low, J. S., i. 9.
Lowell, John, appointed Judge of
Court of Appeals, i. 278.
Luce, Colonel, prisoner at Morris-
town, i. 73; plays the spy and
breaks his parole, i. 73 ; communi
cates with Howe, i. 73 ; charged
with deception, i. 73 ; chagrin and
end, i. 74.
Luttrel, Temple, speech of, i. 117.
Luzerne, Chevalier, i. 201.
408
INDEX.
MacComber, Captain, i. 289.
Madison, James, letter to, ii. 155;
attack on Hamilton, ii. 272-296.
Madras, taken by the French, i. 281,
283.
Malta, Grand Master of, niedal^
sent to, i. 388.
Manufactures, home, increase of,
a desirable object, ii. 325 ; high
duties act as bounties to, ii. 326.
Mariner, Mr., i. 174.
Marion, Gen. Francis, surprises
post at Monk s Corner, i. 225, 226.
Marshall, John, reception to, on his
return from Europe, ii. 141 ; his
opinion of the French Directory,
ii. 141.
Martinique, American vessels enter
at custom house, i, in.
Maryland, tonnage duties in, ii.
194.
Massachusetts, relinquishes her
right in Vermont, i. 255; has a
large amount of Continental
money in her treasury, i. 260; op
poses duty on molasses, ii. 180;
as a producer of rum. ii. 183.
Massachusetts Bay, colony of, i. 5.
Maxwell, General, i. 184.
Maypoles, ii. 63.
McDougal, General, i. 59.
McIIenry, Dr., i. 102.
McWhorter, Rev. Alexander, rec
ommends changes in the militia,
1 35-
Meade, Colonel, i. 179.
Mealy, Captain, and Mr. Noel, take
a 32-gun frigate, i. 56.
Merchant, Mr., member of Con
gress from Rhode Island, opposes
claim for support of prisoners, i.
1 60.
Merchants, American, need time
for paying English debts, i. 317,
Middleton, Mr., motion for deten
tion of Lord Cornwallis, i. 243.
Mifflin, Gen. Thomas, chosen Presi
dent of Congress, i. 413 ; governor
of Pennsylvania, ii. 48.
Mincot, Andre, i. 25.
Molasses, duty on, ii. 181-183.
Money, Continental, depreciation,
i. 178, 260 ; a large amount in
treasury of Massachusetts, i. 260;
Connecticut makes a purchase of,
from Virginia, i. 260.
Monk s Corner, post at, surprised, i.
225, 226.
Monmouth, battle of, i. 148, 149.
Montorieff, Major, i. 174.
Montserrat, capture of, by the
French, ii. 99.
Morocco, friendly disposition of, i.
* 381 ; ready to receive minister
from United States, i. 381.
Morris, Gouverneur, nominated
minister to France, ii. 82 ; ill in
London, ii. 102.
Morris, Robert, i. 70, 126; relieves
the distress of Washington s
army, i. 232 ; Boudinot writes to,
about a coach, i. 272 ; resigns his
office, i. 300; asked to be pres
ent at reception of Netherlands
minister, i. 401.
Morristown, reduced condition of
American army at, i. 72 ; how
Washington prevents this being
known, i. 72 ; a spy _ in camp, i.
72; deceived by -Washington, i.
72, 73 ; Colonel Luce, prisoner,
plays the spy at, i. 73.
Morven, country seat of Richard
Stockton, i. 130.
Mount Holly, N.J., i. 136.
Muhlenberg, Speaker, ii. 37.
National Bank, debate on bill to
establish, ii. 229-248.
Netherlands, John Adams com
pletes treaty with, i. 281, 284; a
loan opened in, i. 281, 284; copy
of treaty with, forwarded to Con
gress, 1.389; arrival of minister
from, i. 402; letter of States Gen
eral to Congress, i. 407-410 ; rev
olution in, ii. 93 ; 95.
Newark, letter thanking citizens of,
i- 344-
New Brunswick, N. J., British re
treat to, i. 49 ; they leave the
town, i. 49 ; the town almost en
tirely destroyed, ii. 50.
New Hampshire, claims to Ver
mont, i. 255 ; Vermont encroaches
on, i. 256.
New Hampshire Grants. See Ver
mont.
New Jersey during the Revolution
ary War, i. i, 2.
New Jersey militia, address to Con
gress, 1^344.
Newton, Sir Isaac, ii. 109.
New York (city), retention of, by
the British, i. 327 ; ministry in no
haste to evacuate, i. 328.
New York (state), claims to Ver
mont, i. 255 ; encroachment of
INDEX.
409
Vermont o,n, i. 206 ; conduct of
the people of, i. 393.
Ninety-Six, Fort, i. 225.
Noel, Mr., brings in a Jamaicaman,
i. 56.
Non-importation agreement, conse
quences of, ii. 340.
Non-intercourse with Great Britain,
ii- 335-345-
North Carolina, sales of public
lands by, ii. 351, 352.
North, Lord, hung in effigy by Brit
ish soldiers, i. 130; 172; ii. 320.
Oats, animated, Boudinot s experi
ments with, ii. 163, 164.
Officers, British, did not keep their
word, i. 251.
Officers, exchanged, anxious for em
ployment, i. 119.
Ogden, Aaron, ii. 59.
Ogden, Colonel, of New Jersey, i.
320, 321 ; brings news of comple
tion of definitive treaty, i. 412.
Ogden, Isaac, i. 37.
Ogden, Lewis, i. 34.
O Hara, Colonel, British exchange
commissioner, i. 75 ; did not
consider Germantown neutral
ground, i. 79 ; his candid state
ment about the insufficiency of
the commission s powers, i. So,
8 1 ; his leave-taking of the Amer
ican commissioners, i. 82; inci
dent at surrender of Yorktown, i.
82.
Oration before the Society of the
Cincinnati, ii. 357-378.
Oswald, Richard, British commis
sioner to treat for peace, i. 280,
283.
Paley s " Moral Philosophy," quot
ed, ii. 224.
Palfrey, W., Paymaster- General of
Continental Army, i. 45.
Palmer, J., i. 7.
Paper money, depreciation, i. 178,
260.
Papin, Susanne, i. 25.
Patterson, Robert, director of the
Mint, ii. 167.
Peace, propositions for, should
come from England, i. 99, 125;
promoter of, to be rewarded by
British government, i. 99 ; Lord
Howe claimed authority to make,
i. 99 ; had power to grant pardons
only, i. 100; a dukedom to ten
thousand sterling per annum, i.
125; General Robertson s carte
blanche, i. 125; a delusive offer,
i. 125 ; Boudinot s test, i. 125 ; ar
rival of commissioners at Phil
adelphia, i. 123, 129; their pro
posals to Joseph Reed, i. 128;
like to have been mobbed by
British soldiers, i. 130.
Peace, negotiations for, at Paris, i.
280 ; commissioners refuse to
treat as from thirteen colonies, i.
280, 283, 294; will treat as from
an independent state, i. 281, 283;
294; points of discussion, i. 295;
alarm of France, i. 295 ; provi
sional treaty secretly signed, i. 296;
surprise of Count de Vergennes,
i. 296 ; definitive treaty signed, i.
302,360,374; the king s procla
mation,!. 314; cessation of hos
tilities on part of America to be
proclaimed, i. 314 ; terms give
universal satisfaction, i. 317, 321.
See Treaty, definitive.
Peace, Sir Guy Carleton brings pre
liminary articles of, i. 248.
Peartree, William, i. 32.
Pedlars, British carry on secret cor
respondence by, i. 227.
Pemberton, James, sends thanks of
Abolition Society to Mr. Bou-
dinot, i. 69.
Pennsylvania, attitude of Assembly
toward Continental Congress, i.
6; tonnage duties in, ii. 194.
Pennsylvania line, revolt of, i. 207-
209.
Pennsylvania troops, mutiny of, i.
329 ; they march to Philadelphia,
i. 329, 330 ; resolution of Con
gress concerning, i. 330 ; com
mittee to confer with governor, i.
330 ; Hamilton chairman, i. 331 ;
his view of the situation, i. 331 ;
Washington notified, i. 332 ; de
mands of mutineers, i. 331 ; meet
ing of Congress at Princeton
called, i. 334 ; Washington sends
relief to Congress, i. 338 ; punish
ment of mutineers, i. 374.
i Person, Thomas, claim of, ii. 351,
352.
Peters, Richard, letter to, regarding
prisoners, i. 46-48.
Philadelphia, Cornwallis in, i. 67 ;
treatment of American prisoners
in, i. 84-87, 121 ; prisoners in, to
be exchanged, 1.122; arrival of
410
INDEX.
British commissioners at, i. 123-
129; to be evacuated, i. 127 ; dis
tress of its inhabitants, i. 129;
British army leaves the city, i.
134; Americans enter it, i. 135;
increasing in extravagance, i. 178 ;
Boudinot offered an office in, i.
179; prices in, i. 178-180; filled
with Georgia and Carolina refu
gees, i. 223 ; apprehensions for
the safety of, i. 227 ; " our most
vulnerable post," i. 227 ; expense
of living in, i. 228 ; French nobil
ity in, i. 254; reply to address of
citizens to Congress, i. 345 ; yel
low fever in, ii. 129; merchants
subscribe for two warships, ii.
136.
Phillippe, Jean, deposition of, ii.
394-
Phillips, Col. Joseph, letter to, on
address of officers of militia, i.
344-
Phillips, Major-general, letter to,
about a flag-boat, i. 190.
Philosophical Society, in Philadel
phia, recommendations for hon
orary membership in, i. 396.
Pickering, Timothy, letters to, ii.
107, 129, 131 ; Spanish minister s
attack on, ii. 129.
Pigot, Admiral, i 278.
Pigot, General, i. 37.
Pinckney, C. C., refused by the
French Directory, ii. 122.
Pinckney, Thomas, nominated min
ister to England, ii. 82.
Pintard, Lewis, deputy commissary
of prisoners, i. 46, 97, 184, 213,
319; ii. 82, 83, 152, 154; his fa
ther, ii. 83.
Pintard, Marsden, commercial agent
at Madeira, ii. 15.
Pitt, William, ii. 97.
Popular assemblies, interference
with affairs of state by, i. 379.
Portail, Gen. du, arrival, i. 284 ;
Boudinot s letter to, i. 284.
Portsmouth, Va., Cornwallis at, i. j
222, 224.
Portugal, considers plan of a treaty I
with the United States, ii. 5.
Preemption, ii. 351.
Prescott, British major - general,
prisoner of war, i. 142.
President, vote for, in 1796, ii. 119.
Prices in Philadelphia, i. 178-180.
Priestley, Dr., candidate for chap
lain of Congress, ii. 119.
Princeton, first legislature meets at,
i. ii ; meeting of trustees of col
lege at, i. 14; Mrs. Boudinot vis
its at, i. 132 n. ; Congress to meet
at, i. 334 ; ii. 7.
Prisoners of war, treatment by the
British, i. 41 ; Boudinot accepts
commission as commissary-gen
eral of, i. 42 ; distress of, in New
York, i. 46 ; condition of, on
Long Island, i. 46-48 ; exchange
of, called for by both armies, i.
75 ; commissioners appointed to
arrange for, i. 75, 106 ; to meet at
Germantown, i. 76, 77, 107 ; com
mittee from Congress objects to
cartel, i. 76 ; further meddling of
Congress, i. 77 ; Washington
takes the risk of making the ex
change, i. 77 ; British commis
sioners attend a ball, i. 78 ; breach
of faith, i. 79; another meeting at
Newtown, i. 80 ; Colonel O Hara s
revelations, i. 80, 81 ; "insuffi
cient powers " of the commission
ers, i. 81 ; letter on "subject of
exchange," i. 82, 83 ; treatment of,
in Philadelphia, i. 84-87 ; a Brit
ish officer s remonstrance, i. 85 ;
Washington threatens retaliation,
i. 86; Howe forbids admission of
provisions for, i. 86 ; blankets fur
nished to, i. 87 ; British prisoners
to be supplied from without Amer
ican lines, i. 87 ; cases of cruel
treatment of, in New York, i. 94,
95 ; Mr. Ferguson writes about
exchange of officers, i. 106 ; Boudi
not effects an exchange of, i. 119;
better treatment for, i. 119; a
general exchange to be made, i.
1 20, 122; the exchange settled, i.
128; British will take prisoners
when leaving Philadelphia, i. 133 ;
a breach of faith, i. 133; prison
ers embarked, i. 135.
Proces-verbal, ii. 393.
Prussia, king of, has entered Bohe
mia, i. 132.
Public credit, ii. 214-218.
Public lands, sales by North Caro
lina, ii. 35!, 352.
Quakers, abuse of, ii. 226; their
conduct in the Revolutionary
War, ii. 227 ; exertions in behalf
of prisoners, ii. 227, 228 ; petition
against fitting out of slavers, ii.
226, 228.
INDEX.
411
Rapelque, Mr., i. 59.
Rawdon, Lord, forced by Greene to
evacuate Fort Ninety-Six, i. 225;
abandons his post on the Conga-
ree, i. 225 ; and falls back on Or-
angeburg, i. 225.
Read, George, appointed Judge of
Court of Appeals, i. 275, 279.
Reciprocity, from a British stand
point, i. 356.
Reciprocity, ii. 331.
Red Bank Fort, evacuated, i. 64.
Reed, Joseph, attempt to bribe, i.
127.
Removals from office, ii. 208-213.
Resolutions of Essex County, i. 5 ;
of other counties, i. 5.
Retaliation, Washington proposes
an act of, i. 247 ; approval of
Congress, i. 247 ; prevented by
arrival of preliminary articles of
peace, i. 249.
Revenue, collection of, ii. 188.
Revenue system, advantages of, ii.
i So.
Revolt of Pennsylvania line, i. 207-
209.
Rhode Island, Clinton s army sets
out for, i. 38 ; Lord Howe s fleet
at, i. 163, 1 68 ; i. 172; refusal to
concur in establishment of duty
on imports, i. 275; Congress
sends deputation to, i. 276 ; need
of money to be explained to Leg
islature, i. 276.
Robardeau, General, ii. 47.
Robertson, General, i. 87, 89, 90;
reception of Boudinot at New
York, i. 91 ; promises that authors
of cruelty should be punished, i.
96 ; has a political conversation
with Boudinot, i. 98-102 ; meets
Boudinot for exchange of Hessian
prisoners, i. 1 24 ; converses about
peace, i. 125 ; tries to bribe Boudi
not, i. 125; 159.
Robinson, General, i. 133, 139.
Robinson, James, letter to, i. 311.
Rochambeau, Count de, receives
the approbation of Congress, i.
285 ; left America without taking
notice of it, i. 316.
Romayne, Dr., ii. 126, 127.
Ross, Captain, letter approving of
his conduct, i. 34.
Ross, J., member of commission to
visit whiskey insurrectionists, ii.
87.
Rum as an export, ii. 183 ; duties on,
in Great Britain, ii. 190 ; a high
taxation of, favored, ii. 197.
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, i. 213; ii. 104,
130, I37 138-
Rush, Mrs. Julia, i. 141 ; letter to
Mrs. Boudinot, i. 212; accident
to, 137, 138; ii. 145.
Rush, Richard, ii. 48.
Russia, ready to make commercial
treaty with United States, i. 381.
Russia, empress of, refuses aid to
England,*!. 177.
Russians and Turks fighting, i. 132.
St. Christopher. See St. Kitts.
St. Clair, General, i. 333.
St. Domingo, provisions sent to, ii.
268, 270; relief for French emi
grants from, ii. 313.
St. Kitts, Count de Grasse takes
possession of, i. 243 ; fort on
Brimstone Hill capitulates, i.
244 ; enjoys right of trade to all
the world, i. 245.
St. Vincent, capture of, by the
French, ii. 99.
Salaries, reduction of, ii. 347-351.
Scudder, Dr. Nathaniel, member of
Congress, i. 151 ; letter to Boudi
not, i. 174; on his way to Con
gress,!. 175; letter from Boudi
not regarding election to Con
gress, i. 216.
Secretary of Finance, ii. 204.
Shippen, Edward, ii. 47, ^3, ^4.
Shotwell, Joseph, on establishment
of a post-office, ii. 58 ; case of a
negro man set free, ii. 58, 59.
Slave trade, Congress could not
prohibit, ii. 219; should be taxed,
ii. 219 ; attempts to justify, ii. 220-
222 ; Paley made to countenance,
ii. 220, 224; his real opinion, ii.
223, 224 ; power of Congress to
prohibit fitting out slavers, ii. 229.
Slavery, and the principles of the
Revolution, ii. 225.
Slavery, Pennsylvania Society for
promoting abolition of, ii. 69.
Smith, Belcher, i. 169-172.
Smith, Dr. Isaac, ii. 108.
Smith, Thomas, i. 45.
Smith, William, of" Woodbridge, i.
13-
Smith, William Peartree, sent to
Continental Congress from New
Jersey, i. 5 ; attends meeting at
New Brunswick, i. 14-16; 24 ; 32 ;
thinks Parliament will soon give
4 I2
INDEX.
up the contest, i. 168; conjecture |
about Count D Estaing, i. 168 ;
wishes a position for his son,
i. 169 ; a piece of secret intelli
gence, i. 170; his "Ode on the
Peace," i. 307.
Society of the Cincinnati, Boudinot
elected a member of, ii. 16, 356;
oration before, ii. 357-3/8.
South Carolina, a State frigate,
takes prizes, i. 246.
South Carolina, English to take
possession of, i. 185; tonnage j
duties in, ii. 195; her incum-
branccs, ii. 195, 196.
South, English expedition to, i. 185. I
Spain, demands Gibraltar of Eng
land, i. 297 ; what she is willing
to give in exchange, i. 297.
Spanish fleet sails from Cadiz, i.
2 43-
Sparks, Jared, quoted, i. 71.
Spruce Run Park Association, ii.
178.
States, inactivity of , i. 244.
States General, letter of, to the
Congress of the United States, i.
407-410.
Steuben, Baron, i. 132; discon
tented with his situation, i. 155,
156; opposition to him, i. 156;
given temporary command of a
division, i. 156; thanked in gen
eral orders, i. 157; ought to have
a permanent command, i. 157;
303; sent to Canada, i. 411.
Stevens, Colonel, British exchange
commissioner, i. 75.
Stevens, John, Vice-President, let
ters to, regarding seat in Con
gress, i. 215, 220, 228.
Stewart, Eord Henry, accident to,
ii. 137, 138.
Stirling, Lord, writes to President
Hancock, i. 12 ; at Monmouth,
i. 149; death, i. 288.
Stockton, Annis, saves important
state papers, at Princeton, i. 28;
sends poetical epistles to Wash
ington, i. 28 ; Washington writes
to, i. 29 ; ode on the announce
ment of peace, i. 29; Washing
ton s reply to, i. 30-32 ; he
praises her compositions, i. 176.
Stockton, Hannah, i. 27.
Stockton, Richard, i. 23 ; marries
Annis Boudinot, i. 28.
Stormont, Eord, keeps watch on
Silas Deane, i. 204.
Stuyvesant, Peter, ii. 82.
Sullivan, General, at Rhode Island,
i. 163 ; Hamilton s view of, i.
165.
Supreme Court of the United
States, first entry of, ii. 3^5.
Sweden, treaty with, i. 352 ; pro
claimed, i. 392.
Tarrytown, scene of Andre s cap
ture, i. 194,
Tennant, Rev. William, ii. 100.
Thanksgiving, day of, Congress rec
ommends, i. 415; Boudinot s res
olution concerning, ii. 354.
Thaxter, Mr., 362 ; private secre
tary of John Adams, i. 375; sai>s
for America, ii. 3.
Thompson, General, i. 184.
Thomson, Charles, Secretary of
Congress, i. 393 ; letter to, ii. 20.
Ticonderoga, evacuated, i. 56.
Tonnage, duties on, ii. 193-196.
Tories, recommendation concern
ing, i. 380.
Toussard, Mr., i. 166.
Treasury Department, debate on
bill to establish, ii. 205-207 ; its
head must be an American, ii.
207.
Treaty of commerce. See Com
merce.
Treaty of peace, definitive, signed
at Paris, i. 302, 360, 374 ; in terms
of the provisional articles, i. 37 S ;
Hartley s authority, i. 375, 376;
his propositions, i. 375, 376 ; Brit
ish Cabinet would not adopt
them, i. 376 ; American commis
sioners expecting instructions
about commercial regulations, i.
376; American ports open to
British vessels, i. 376; instruc
tions never came, i. 377 ; Hartley s
zeal for friendly systems exceeded
his authority, i. 377 ; draft of a
treaty sent to British court, i. 377 ;
Hartley instructed to sign treaty
in terms of provisional articles, i.
377 ; intention of British court
not clear, i. 377 ; why it was signed
at Paris, i. 378 ; Hartley s con
gratulatory letter, 1.378 ; influence
of affairs in America, i. 378 ; arti
cle respecting Tories humiliating
to Britain, i. 379; interference of
towns and States in national af
fairs, i. 379, 380; United States
should act as a nation, i. 382.
INDEX.
413
United States, independence of, ac
knowledged by England, i. 280,
283, 295 ; peace negotiations with
England, i. 295 ; her claims, i.
295; France alarmed at, i. 295;
boundaries defined, i. 295 ; share
in fisheries, i. 295 ; refused to
compensate Tories, i. 296; provi
sional treaty of peace signed, i.
296 ; obtains a loan in France, i.
299 ; distrust of, abroad, i. 382 ;
fires in, ii. 120; finances of, ii. 290,
299 ; negotiations for a commer
cial treaty with Great Britain, ii.
318-321 ; cut off from the West
Indian trade, ii. 318; effect of re
strictive duties on citizens of, ii.
3-5-323.
Valley Forge, i. 40, 74, 75; Boudi-
not reaches, i. 104; condition of
army at, i. 105.
Van Berckel, P. J., Netherlands
minister, arrival of, i. 402 ; ar
rangements for his reception, i.
401-403 ; audience with Congress,
i. 404 ; address to Congress, i. 404-
407.
Veal Town, Pennsylvania line en
camped at, i. 208.
Vergennes, Count de, i. 203, 204 ;
chagrin at secret signing of treaty,
296; his understanding of articles
in treaty with United States, i.
383 ; his friendly action in refus
ing to sign treaty, i. 389.
Verme, Count del, i. 342.
Vermont, the dispute of, i. 222 ; un
der the consideration of Congress,
i. 255; claims of New Hampshire
and New York, i. 255; of Massa
chusetts relinquished, i. 255; peo
ple of Vermont urged their inde
pendence de facto, i. 256 ; extends
her jurisdiction into New Hamp
shire, i. 256; people defending
themselves by force of arms, i.
256 ; terms agreed on for a sub
mission to Great Britain, i. 256;
terms sent to commissioners for
peace at New York, i. 256; Clin
ton s stress on this measure, i.
256; Congress passes resolutions
concerning, i. 257 ; terms of the
resolutions imprudently rejected,
i. 257 ; Assembly complies with
terms, i. 257 ; sends delegates to
Congress, i. 257 ; committee of
conference appointed, i. 257 ; no
determination could be obtained,
i. 257 ; questions to be considered
by Congress, i. 258.
Verplanck s Point, fort at, i. 198.
Virginia, sells Continental money to
Connecticut, i. 260; tonnage duties
in, ii. 194; wishes the Constitution
amended, ii. 199; her credit in
Great Britain, ii. 327.
Wadsworth, Jeremiah, declines ap
pointment as commissary of pris
oners, i. 62.
Walderson, General, knew of no
peace between America and Eng
land, i. 412.
Wallace, Horace Binney, ii. 105.
Wain, Richard, relates cases of ne
groes illegally held, ii. 59.
Ward, Major, i. 186.
Washington, Gen. George, i. 9, 10;
his troops at Cambridge short of
powder, i. ii; writes to Annis
Stockton, i. 29 ; ode addressed
to, i. 29; his reply, i. 30; 41 ; re
quests Boudinot to accept com
mission as commissary-general of
prisoners, i. 42 ; offers to share
losses, i. 44 ; harassing the enemy,
i. 49; treatment of a suspected
spy, i. 51 ; watching the enemy, i.
54; informed of Howe s plan to
attack him at Whitemarsh, i. 68 ;
his opinion of Howe s design, i.
69 ; prepares a reception for
Howe, i. 69 ; his opinion verified,
i. 70; criticised by a committee
from Congress, i. 70; determined
to attack the enemy, i. 70 ; de
ceives a spy at Morristown, i. 72 ;
opposes a committee from Con
gress, i. 76 ; receives an insulting
resolution from Congress, i. 77 ;
takes the risk of an exchange of
prisoners, i. 77 ; charges Howe
with a breach of faith, i. 80;
threatens retaliation, i. 86 ; carried
in effigy in London, i. 117 ; letter
from Boudinot, i. nS; requests
Boudinot s presence in camp, i.
120, 121 ; English commissioner
brings a snuff-box for, i. 130; let
ter from Boudinot, i. 138; anx
ious for Charles Lee s exchange, i.
140, 143 ; reception of Lee, i. 144 ;
abused by Lee, i. 145; overtakes
the British at Freehold, i. 147 ;
gives command of the advance to
Lee, i. 147 ; saves the day at
414
INDEX.
Monmouth, i. 148, 149; thanks
Baron Steuben in general orders,
i. 157 ; letter to Boudinot, i. 176;
feels flattered by Mrs. Stockton s
composition, i. 176; wishes to
see Boudinot, i. 176; wants intel
ligence of the enemy s strength
and motions, i. 180; suggests a
mode of corresponding, i. 181 ;
letter from Boudinot regarding
enemy s movements, i. 182 ; had
heard of the suggestions from
New York, i. 182 ; informed of
the enemy s expedition to the
South, i. 185; gone into Connec
ticut, i. 193 ; his capture planned
by Arnold and Andre, i. 193; re
turn from Connecticut, i. 197 ; at
Arnold s quarters, i. 197; goes in
search of Arnold, i. 197 ; is given
the captured papers, i. 198 ; his
wrath, i. 198 ; calls a council of
officers, i. 199 ; his kind treat
ment of Andre, i. 199; account
of Arnold s treachery, i. 201-203;
letter from Boudinot, i. 218 ; plans
taking of New York, i. 229 ; com
municates with the French gen
eral, i. 230 ; makes requisitions for
men, i. 230 ; lets Lafayette into
his designs, i. 230 ; his letter inter
cepted, i. 273 ; his numbers not
sufficient to justify attack on New
York, i. 231 ; prepares to march,
i. 231 ; sends to Philadelphia for
heavy cannon, i. 231 ; erects large
ovens at Chatham, i. 231 ; gets
information from an old inhabit
ant of New York, i. 231 ; marches
apparently for Princeton, i. 202 ;
passes the Delaware,!. 232; his
army discontented, i. 232 ; needs
money, i. 232 ; supplied by Rob
ert Morris, i. 232; appears be
fore Yorktown, i. 233 ; his let
ters to Rochambeau intercepted
and carried to Clinton, i. 233 ;
much trouble taken to mislead
Clinton, i. 233 ; expedient to
bring about the surrender of
Yorktown, i. 234 ; letter to De
Grasse, i. 237-240 ; directed to
detain Lord Cornwallis, i. 242;
expects next campaign to be the
most important, i. 244; proposes
to retaliate for death of Captain
Ruddy, i. 247 ; sends notice to
Congress, i. 247 ; and to British
commander, i. 247 ; sends copy
of proceedings of British court-
martial to Congress, i. 248 ; re
ceives letter from king and queen
of France, i. 250; and from Mrs.
Asgill, i. 250 ; sends them to
Congress, i. 250 ; letter from
Count de Vergennes regarding
case of Captain Asgill, i. 252 ; re
ply, i. 253 ; writes to Duane, i.
252 ; letters from Boudinot, i.
273, 277 ; writes about subscrip
tion for Rev. James C aid well s
children, i. 282 ; informed of
evacuation of Charleston, i. 287 ;
his management of the Vermont
business, i. 289 ; letter laid before
Congress, i. 290 ; letter from
Boudinot giving account of peace
negotiations, i. 292 ; and signing
of definitive treaty, i. 302 ; asks
for the continuance of Boudinot s
friendship, i. 303 ; congratulatory
letter from Klisha Boudinot, i.
304 ; his reply, i. 309 ; letter from
Boudinot, i. 323 ; anxious for re
tirement, i. 328 ; army arrange
ments made, i. 328; notified of
mutiny of Pennsylvania troops,
i. 332 ; sends relief to Congress,
i. 338 ; indignation at folly of the
mutineers, i. 339 ; admiration for
his soldiers, i. 339 ; list of troops
composing the army, i. 340 ; Bou
dinot gives reasons of Congress
for leaving Philadelphia, i. 341 ;
letter to, introducing Count del
Yerme, i. 342 ; asked to visit
Congress, i. 346, 349 ; proposed
address by Congress, i. 350 ; pre
pares for his journey, i. 351 ; ad
dress of Congress to, i. 359 ; reply,
i. 360; admitted to the secret
papers of Congress, i. 392 ; returns
to Mount Vernon, ii. 18 ; Boudi
not procures seed for, ii. 22 ; and
sends directions for sowing, ii.
23; reception at New York, ii.
40-44 ; congratulates President
Adams, ii. 122; leaves for Mount
Vernon, ii. 122 ; his death, ii.
154.
Washington, Mrs., guest of the
Boudinots, i. 53 ; anecdote of, i.
53 ; i. 105 ; gives Mr. Boudinot
cotton seed, "i. 112; i. 115,176;
illness, i. 219; i. 282, 290, 301,
303, 310, 324, 328, 347, 351, 355;
ii. 1 8, 19, 22, 23, 84, 122, 152, 153.
Washington, packet, brings budget
INDEX.
415
of news, i. 292 ; first American
ship with English passport, i.
299.
Watertown, Mass., "Alarm" of,
i. 7.
Way, Dr. Nicholas, death of, ii. 129.
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, attempted
surprise of, on the west of Schuyl-
kill, i. 6 1 ; sent against the en
emy near Chestnut Hill, i. 70 ;
Howe hears of his advance, i. 70 ;
135 ; tries to suppress mutiny of
the Pennsylvania line, i. 207 ; di
rects the militia to parade, i. 208 ;
gives Lord Rawdon a drubbing,
i. 224 ; quells an Indian outbreak
in the West, ii. 85.
Webster, Noah, extract from Wash
ington s letter to, i. 233.
West Indies, British, restriction of
trade with, ii. 319-321.
West Indies, French captures in,
ii. 99.
West Point, i. 192 ; troops at, i.
340-
Weymouth, Lord, i. 205.
Whiskey Insurrection, ii. 86-97.
Whitemarsh, American army at, i.
68 ; General Howe s plan to at
tack, i. 68 ; his plans frustrated, i.
69, 70.
Williams, Catherine, i. 25.
Williams, Dr. Conover J., ii. 131.
Williams, Eb., i. 9.
Willing, Thomas, letter to, on ad
dress of citizens of Philadelphia,
i- 345-
Wilson, Dr. Peter, i. 23 ; letter to,
regarding seat in Congress, i.
221.
Winds, Lieut.-Col., i. 12.
Witherspoon, Rev. John, president
of College of New Jersey, i. 14;
absent from meeting of trustees,
i. 14; author of call fora meet
ing at New Brunswick, i. 15, 16;
his speech at the meeting, i. 15,
16; opposed by Boudinot, i. 16 ;
his reply, i. 17 ; hrs propositions
rejected, i. 18; member of the
Continental Congress, i. 151, 220,
221.
Wolcott, Oliver, letter to, about po
sition of naval officer, ii. 100.
Woodbury, N. J., burned by the
British, i. 64.
Wyoming massacre, i. 153.
Yellow fever in Philadelphia, ii.
129.
York, Pa., British prisoners de
tained at, i. i T 2 ; 113; exchange of
prisoners to be made at, i. 116.
Yeates, Mr., member of commission
to visit whiskey insurrectionists,
ii. 87.
Yorktown, siege of, accidental, i.
229; Washington s army appears
before, i. 233 ; the French troops
absolutely necessary at, i. 233 ;
Count cle Grasse threatens to
withdraw from, i. 233 ; Washing
ton s expedient to keep him, i.
234 ; capitulation, i. 235.
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