ready, and on the 5th of November, 1799, the commissioners sailed. By this time the Corsican, Napoleon Bonaparte, was at the head of affairs, and having no interest in the quarrels of those through whom he had placed himself in power in France, a treaty was readily effected with him. The treaty, with the exception of one article, was ratified by the Senate. This was

signed by the President as ratified by the Senate, but with the expressed conviction that it was more desirable in the form in which it came from the commissioners. The rejected article actually annulled the troublesome features of the old French treaty, and the question of indemnity to America for losses under the nefarious practices of the "Directory" was left for future adjustment. Napoleon agreed to the Senate changes in the form of the treaty on the condition. that pretensions on both sides be abandoned. And the right to reclaim millions of property was lost. But peace was gained; the army which Hamilton and his friends were attempting to establish with no welldefined purpose to the country, and which Mr. Adams dreaded, was disbanded; and the dangers of this Nation becoming involved in a fatal war alliance with Great Britain, or entangled in European dissensions, were prevented. As to the part Mr. Adams took in this whole matter, and the great and invaluable benefits of his course to the country, there is now no division of sentiment. Any other course would have lain in the way to the ruin of the Nation.

After the death of General Washington, it became necessary for some action to be taken as to the chief command of the army. Although believing in Alexander Hamilton's military ability, Mr. Adams did not

think he should take the place of Washington, for reasons which he considered sufficient. And although still apparently having faith in the general good intentions of the factious Cabinet ministers, Mr. Adams now felt sure that his own purposes could not be executed with the consent of two of them at least, and after the contest over the mission to France, he saw that there had been a struggle on the part of the Cabinet for supremacy over him, and he believed the success of the Administration now required a change in his council.

An occasion was soon presented by an open rupture between himself and Mr. McHenry, an affair not in keeping with his own idea of personal dignity, and certainly disgraceful to the high office of President of the United States. Mr. McHenry resigned at once, and Mr. Pickering was invited to do the same, in this

manner :

“PHILADELPHIA, May 10, 1800.

"SIR, AS I perceive a necessity of introducing a change in the administration of the office of State, I think it necessary to make this communication of it to the present Secretary of State, that he may have an opportunity of resigning, if he chooses. I should wish the day on which his resignation is to take place, to be named by himself. I wish for an answer to this letter, on or before Monday morning, because the nomination of a successor must be sent to the Senate as soon as they sit.

"With esteem, I am, Sir, your most obedient and humble servant, JOHN ADAMS."

On the 12th, Mr. Pickering returned answer that he did not feel it to be his duty to resign; to which the President wrote:

"PHILADELPHIA, May 12, 1800.

66 'SIR,-Divers causes and considerations, essential to the administration of the Government, in my judgment, requiring a

change in the Department of State, you are hereby discharged from any further service as Secretary of State.

"JOHN ADAMS,

"President of the United States."

The bulk of the evidence in this whole affair is on the side of the President, and it does appear that it was through his tolerance and unsuspecting disposition that these men were enabled to hold their places so long in his Cabinet.

Although complaint had been made that the members of the Cabinet were men of inferior capacity, the charge is not sustained in the history of the time. They were all really men of fine ability, and the ground of Mr. Adams's objection certainly did not extend in that direction. With the organization of the army in 1798, came the first serious indications of trouble in the Cabinet. The President was disposed to set aside the order of army appointments. This brought a remonstrance from the Cabinet, and a reply from him at Quincy, in an unworthy tone; nor did he relinquish his determination to ignore the order of appointments until a letter from General Washington apprised him of the condition on which he had accepted the command of the army, and even then the commissions were issued as confirmed by the Senate by the authority of the Cabinet and the desire of Washington.

It must be conceded that Mr. Adams might have taken his opposition to Hamilton on public grounds, yet it appears quite as certain that he had a kind of insatiable madness towards Hamilton, and his conduct was not up to his usual standard of ingenuousness toward General Washington. Mr. Adams was

not blameless for the course pursued by his ministers, yet while that course was sometimes a necessity, their secret opposition and machinations against his character were censurable to the highest degree, shameful, and abominable.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE PRESIDENT AND THE CABINET-FOURTH ANNUAL SPEECH-CLOSING SCENES IN THE PRESI

DENCY OF MR. ADAMS.

LIVER WOLCOTT remained at the head of the

treasury department, and although he reported all the affairs of the President to Mr. Hamilton, and was probably not behind McHenry or Pickering in his favors to Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Adams retained his confidence in him, and died without knowing that it had been misplaced.

Mr. Wolcott, however, felt it to be policy on his part to resign his place two months before the close of the term, and was rewarded by Mr. Adams for what he supposed to be his deserving services under General Washington and himself, by an appointment as judge of the circuit court of the United States, a position which Mr. Wolcott gladly accepted.

On the 13th of May, 1800, John Marshall, of Virginia, afterwards Chief Justice, and one of the first men of America, was appointed Secretary of State, and held that position until the close of Mr. Adams's Administration. On the same date Samuel Dexter, of Massachusetts, was appointed Secretary of War, Mr. McHenry's resignation taking place on the first day of June, although he had rented a house with a view of removing with the Administration to Wash