WASHINGTON'S PROGRESSES. 367 year Rhode Island had entered the Union, and the President made a visit to the State. In 1791, he went through the Southern States, going as far as Savannah, and returning by way of Augusta, Columbia, and towns in North Carolina and Virginia. It has been said that Washington desired to have THE HOUSE OF JOHN HANCOCK, BEACON STREET, BOSTON. (REMOVED IN 1863.) the President bear the title "high mightiness," which was used in the United Netherlands; but be that as it may, it is certain that the etiquette of his life gave him much trouble, which was settled by his commit ting such matters to Colonel Humphreys, formerly one of his aids, and General Knox, who was much at the Presidential mansion. Jefferson, who was not an impartial observer, thought the former was captivated by the ceremonials of European courts, and the latter "a man of parade." In addition, Washington propounded a series of questions to the able men about him, such as Adams, Hamilton, Jay and Madison. The influence of the advice of Adams may be seen in the stateliness adopted, for he considered that "the office by its legal authority defined in the Constitution, hath no equal in the world excepting those only which are held by crowned. heads; nor is the royal authority in all cases to be compared with it." He adds, "If the state and pomp essential to this great department are not in a good degree preserved, it will be in vain for America to hope for consideration with foreign powers." Hamilton was careful to say that though the Presidentia. dignity should be insured, he believed it would be satisfactory to the people to know that there "is some body of men in the State who have a right of continual communication with the President." He would have confined this right to the heads of departments and members of the Senate. Mr. Samuel Breck in his Recollections gives a glimpse into the state of social affairs in Philadelphia at this time. He began to live there in the autumn of 1792, and says, "The city was all alive, and a round of entertainment was kept up by the following families: Robert Morris, William Bingham, John Ross, Henry Hill, Thomas Moore, Walter Stewart, Governor Thomas Mifflin, ex-Governor John Penn, Samuel Powel, Benjamin Chew, Phineas Bond, Thomas Ketland, Pierce Butler, Langton Smith, General Knox, Samuel Breck, Alexander Hamilton, etc. Besides these, General Washington, who was President of the United States, and John Adams, who was Vice-President, saw a great deal of company. Philadelphia contained then about fifty thousand inhabitants, and a much larger society of elegant and fashionable and stylish people than at the present day (January, 1842), with its two hundred and seventy thousand souls in city and country. There was more attention paid then to the dress of servants and general appearance of equipages. Dinners were got up in elegance and good taste. Besides Bingham,' and Morris, and the President, who had French cooks, as well as most of the foreign ministers, there was a most admirable artist by the name of Marinot, who supplied the tables of private gentlemen when they entertained, with all that the most refined gourmands could desire. General Washington had a stud of twelve or fourteen horses, and occasionally rode out with six horses to his coach, and always two footmen behind. his carriage. He knew how to maintain the dignity of his station. None of his successors, except the elder Adams, has set a proper value on a certain degree of display that seems suitable for the chief magistrate of a great nation. I do not mean pageantry, but the decent exterior of a well-bred gentleman.' Breck, whose foreign education and personal tastes caused him to lay much stress upon "style," and the ability of one's cook, states that Mr. Bingham "lived in the most showy style of any American." CHAPTER XVIII. FEDERALIST AND REPUBLICAN. ΤΗ HE twelve years that followed the administration of the first President were years of bitter party strife. The chief magistrate at first was John Adams, the Federalist, and then for two terms, Thomas Jefferson, the anti-Federalist, or Republican. During this period, the states of Europe were in a condition of ferment, and it seemed as if the people of the United States were more interested in foreign affairs than in those matters which belonged to the growth and progress of their own Commonwealth, and the status of our statesmen, or perhaps, more properly, politicians, was determined more by their stand in regard to European affairs than by their views of home matters. The first foreign embarrassment came from France, where the Directory, (no less than the members of the "French party" at home,) were complaining of the moderate treaty effected by Jay with England, as though it were an evidence of too great sympathy with that country. A minister sent out by Washington, Charles C. Pinckney, had been refused an audience at Paris, and ordered to leave French territory, in February, 1797, and when Congress, convened in extra session by President Adams in May of the same year, sent out Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry, with THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS. 371 power to adjust all questions between the countries, they were not received, though an intimation was made that for a pecuniary consideration Talleyrand would consent to enter into relations with them. It was on this occasion that Pinckney gave utterance to the words that afterwards became proverbial: "Millions for defence, but not one cent for tribute." Almost immediately after the accession of Adams, the Directory had issued orders to French war-ships to molest American commerce, though there was no actual declaration of war on either side. Congress made preparations for war, however, by enlarging the army and navy, and by placing Washington at the head of the forces. There were, of course, no collisions on land, but at sea American privateers drove French privateers from our coast, and took many prizes that enriched private owners, and the United States frigate Constellation captured L'Insurgente, a French war frigate, in the West Indies. Congress passed two acts, called the Alien and Sedition laws, under which the President was empow ered to send from the country such foreigners as he should think dangerous to the United States, and fines and imprisonment were threatened against all conspirators and all publications tending to defame Congress or the President, and all efforts to stir up sedition, or to aid foreign nations against the United States. These acts were but temporary, the first to expire in 1800, and the second in March, 1801, on the close of the administration of Adams. The Sedition act was enforced from time to time, but the Alien act did not lead to the sending of any dangerous foreigners from the country; it was, in fact, deemed unconstitu |