The president, in the course of the spring, made an excursion through some of the southern states, and, on his route, made selection -in accordance with provisions before mentioned-of a site for the federal capital. A city was laid out, for this purpose, upon a grand scale, and much speculative enterprise was displayed in the purchase of lands and erection of buildings. The increase of the city, and, consequently, of the value of property within its extensive limits, have fallen far short of the sanguine expectations of its founders. Great commercial facilities can alone build up large cities in a new country. During the summer of this year, several attempts were made to check the depredations of the Indians on the Ohio, but nothing was accomplished further than the destruction of a few villages and cornfields. Expeditions on so small a scale only served to irritate the savages, and to render the condition of the frontier more unsafe. Upon the conclusion of peace with Great Britain, a considerable portion of the Iroquois retired into Canada, where lands were appropriated to their use on Grand river; those remaining within the limits of the United States, by solemn treaty, at Fort Stanwix, ceded their claims in eastern New York. The noted Seneca chief and orator, Red-Jacket, strenuously opposed this treaty, but was overruled by the influence of his superior in age and authority, O'Bail, or Corn-Planter. The Six Nations continued in communication with the western tribes, and were generally inimical to the American settlers. In the autumn of 1791, General Arthur St. Clair, with more than two thousand men, marched from Fort Washington, the site of the present city of Cincinnati, into the Indian territory. Having established and garrisoned two forts, on his route, he encamped fifteen miles from the Indian towns, on the Miami, on the 3d of November. The movements of the army had been slow, and the confederate tribes of the west-Hurons, Potawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Miamies, Delawares, Shawanees, Iroquois, and others-under the guid ance of Michikinaqua (Little Turtle), and, as is supposed, of Joseph Brant, had full opportunity to collect their warriors and form their plans for defence. "Before the rising of the sun, on the following day (November 4th), the savages fell upon the camp of the whites. Never was a more decisive victory obtained. In vain did the American general and his officers exert themselves to maintain order, and to rally the bewildered troops. The Indians, firing from covert, thinned the ranks, and picked off the officers by a continuous and murderous discharge. A disorderly retreat was the result: artillery, baggage, and no small portion of the arms of the militia, fell into the hands of the exultant pursuers. Fort Jefferson was nearly thirty miles distant, and thither the defeated army directed its flight. The Indians followed close upon the fugitives, cutting down and destroying at will, until, as is reported, one of their chiefs called out to them 'to stop, as they had killed enough.' "The temptation offered by the plunder to be obtained at the camp, induced the Indians to return, and the remnant of the invading army reached Fort Jefferson about sun-set. The loss, in this battle, on the part of the whites, was no less than eight hundred and ninetyfour in killed, wounded, and missing. Thirty-eight officers and five hundred and ninety-three non-commissioned officers and privates were slain or missing. The Indians lost but few of their men-judging from a comparison of the different accounts, not much over fifty."* Upon the coming together of congress, in October of 1791, the condition of Indian affairs was brought before that body, and representations of the necessity for an increase in the army were urged Party spirit, at this time, was growing more virulent; the republicans, at the head of whom stood Secretary Jefferson, eyed the movements of the federalists with great suspicion, continually discovering or imagining a tendency towards a monarchical system in all their plans and operations. Of Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, and leader of the federal party, an English writer observes: "Each step, indeed, which this minister took, seemed in the traces of British policy; and, however salutary or requisite they may have been, he certainly showed little caution in the manner of adopting, successively, the several parts of machinery belonging to a monarchical government." A strong effort was made at this session, to increase the number of members in the house of representatives, by including in the computation of population the fractional remainder which existed in each state after a division by thirty thousand. The bill passed both houses, but, being sent back with objections, by the president, was reconsidered and lost. The census returns of the first enumeration of the population, exhibited a total of 3,921,326, of which nearly seven hundred thousand were slaves. *Indian Races of America. CHAPTER IV. WASHINGTON'S SECOND TERM: HIS DISINCLINATION TO OFFICE AT the election of president and vice-president, for the term commencing in March, 1793, Washington was reelected without a shadow of opposition. He felt great disinclination to continue longer in office, and only consented to comply with the wishes of the electors and the people, for the purpose of calming the turbulence of the great political parties. His high character and popularity could not shield him entirely from the animadversions of those of the republican party who suspected him of aristocratic predilections. It is said that, on one occasion, subsequent to his rëelection, in an outbreak of feeling, excited by some personal attack, he declared, "that he had never repented but once the having slipped the moment of resigning his office, and that was every moment since; that by God he had rather be in his grave than in his present situation; that he had rather be on his farm than be made emperor of the world; and yet that they were charging him with wanting to be a king." In opposition to Adams, the candidate for vice-president, the republicans set up George Clinton: the federalists obtained the larger vote. This defeat aggravated the rancour of some of the leading liberals, and it was with difficulty that the influence of the president could calm unseemly strife between the opposing heads of departments. At this period, a new and important element in the political controversy of America, arose from a difference in feeling and sympathy excited by the stormy events of the French revolution. It became a matter of deep interest to inquire how far the United States should allow themselves to be implicated in the general agitation which threatened Europe. One of the first questions to be decided was, what force did a treaty, concluded with the king of France, possess upon the overthrow of his government, and under the rule of the republic. Popular enthusiasm was strongly aroused in favour of the revolution, a feeling not to be effectually damped by intelligence of the blood-thirsty fanaticism which was exhibited by too many of its supporters. The arrival at Charleston (in the month of April, 1793) of Genet, the first ambassador commissioned by the republic to negotiate with the United States, rendered some decisive action imperative. After consultation with the cabinet, in which views diametrically opposite were entertained by the leaders of the opposite parties, the president issued a proclamation of neutrality, expressly forbidding citizens of the United States to fit out vessels for the purpose of lending aid to either of the belligerent nations, or in any other manner to take share in hostilities so long as this neutral position should be maintained. The French minister was enthusiastically received at Charleston, where he spent some time in the preparation of two cruisers, to the commanders of which he filled out commissions, under authority of the republic, to prey upon British commerce. After this highhanded proceeding, Genet travelled by land to Philadelphia, welcomed at every town, on his passage, by the most flattering exhibition of popular feeling. His conduct at Charleston, after a cabinet consultation, was declared illegal by government; the service of American citizens, under French commissions, was pronounced a public offence; and restitution was ordered of prizes taken in American waters. So far was the French minister encouraged by the sympathy of the powerful republican party, that, in many instances, he set at nought the claims and decisions distinctly made by the American government. His reception by the president was courteous, but the avowed neutrality of the United States was carefully guarded in all diplomatic intercourse. Disinclination to break with an old and powerful ally, the force of national antipathies and predilections, and the influence of the popular feeling, checked that exertion of executive power which the occasion seemed to require. Privateers were fitted out at various ports in the United States; numerous prizes were brought in openly, and condemned by the decisions of the French consuls, acting under powers granted by Genet, on behalf of his own government. In one case, a British vessel, the Little Sarah, seized by the French frigate in which Genet had first come over from France, was fitted out as a privateer at Philadelphia, and, after being rechristened, the Little Democrat, proceeded to sea, notwithstanding a promise, virtual or expressed, on the part of that minister, that she should remain until the claims of those interested in the vessel could be adjusted. The government moderately, but firmly, persisted in maintaining a neutral position, and in respecting the rights of Great Britain. Toward the close of the summer, guaranty of indemnity was formally announced for all losses by British owners from previous illegal seizures within the waters of the United States, the distance thenceforth protected being fixed at one league from shore, and including, of course, all bays and harbours within the federal jurisdiction. The French government, at the same time, was required to give up all prizes already illegally taken, and a direct requisition was made for a recall of the arrogant Genet. The violence and insolence of this official had greatly diminished the popular favour which greeted him on his first arrival. The wiser and more far-sighted politicians looked upon him as a dangerous man; his course of conduct tended to involve the states in unnecessary difficulties with England; and he was, undoubtedly, engaged in machinations for the organization of expeditions against the Spanish possessions in Louisiana and Florida. Any movement towards the effecting of a free exit from the Mississippi met with great favour from the settlers on the western waters. To add to other difficulties in maintaining a position of neutrality, the commerce of the states began to suffer severely from the effect of regulations instituted both by France and England respecting the rights of neutrals to carry on trade with the enemy. By the law of nations, supplies destined for a blockaded port may be liable to seizure; but the declaration that all the ports of an enemy are in a state of blockade, affords but a shallow excuse for the plunder of a neutral nation. Against Great Britain another cause of complaint existed, if of less political importance than this interference with trade, yet of a nature to excite far greater bitterness of private animosity. This was the continual impressment of British seamen, serving on board of American vessels, and-either through error or |