USA > Virginia > The history of the Virginia federal convention of 1788, with some account of eminent Virginians of that era who were members of the body, Vol. I > Part 26
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The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, "more particularly for the purpose of receiving information con- - concerning the transactions of Congress relative to the Mis- sissippi." Wythe took the chair, and, on motion, the acts and resolutions of the Assembly relative to the Mississippi were read.
We now proceed to record a scene which our fathers were wont to rehearse to their sons in subdued tones, as if the crisis were imminent, which nearly involved the fate of the Federal Constitution, and which, even at this day, when viewed through
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the mirage of seventy summers, appears one of the most intensely interesting and thrilling scenes in our history. We are to record the spectacle of a people, in their highest sovereign capacity, holding an inquest into the conduct of their representatives on an occasion of vital importance to their own welfare and to the welfare of their posterity. It will have been seen that the navi- gation of the Mississippi had often been alluded to in debate, and had been discussed at some length on both sides of the House. At the present day, if we look to the West, we will see many young, populous, and prosperous republics, which feel a more direct interest in that river than we can possibly feel; for while we can only regard it mainly in a national view, they regard it as the source of daily personal convenience and profit as well as in its national aspect ; but it was far otherwise with our fathers. They cherished the right to navigate that river as the apple of their eye. It was with a just pride that they looked to the extended limits of the State. Often has the young Virginian, when visiting the picturesque seats on the Thames, told to won- dering Englishmen how the eastern frontier of the great Com- monwealth from which he came rested on the Atlantic, and how the western, instead of being traced, as now, by an imaginary line running through obscure forests and over hills and creeks,197 was bounded by that majestic stream, whose many waters, spring- ing from the recesses of far distant and inaccessible mountains, whose base the foot of civilized man had never approached, and in their course of thousands of miles through an illimitable region, into which the fearless La Salle had not ventured to launch his canoe, nor the saintly Hennepin to hold up the cross of his Heavenly Master, gathering tributes from streams vaster than their own, flowed past its entire extent in their triumphal progress to the sea. The present Commonwealth of Kentucky, then a district of Virginia, was divided into six counties, which, like the other counties of the State, sent a delegation of two members each to the present Convention. To the prosperity, nay, almost
197 The word "creek " is an instance of the truth with which the origin of a people may be traced in their use of words. It is properly applicable to salt water œestuaries only, and its use in connection with water-courses a thousand miles distant from tide, shows that the ances- tral stock came from the seaboard, and, perhaps, from an island, where the word necessarily abounds more than on the mainland.
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to the very existence of that territory, which was soon to become a State, the navigation of the Mississippi was indispensable ; and it was now believed that the twelve members from the district held the fate of the Constitution in their hands. If they voted for that instrument in a body, its ratification was certain ; and if they gave an united vote against it, its rejection was deemed almost certain. There were other contingent interests connected with the subject which were of grave moment. The emigrants to the district were principally Virginians, the sons and daughters, and, in some cases, the fathers and mothers, of those whom they left behind in their quest of the cheap and fertile lands of the west. There was another tie which bound the people of Virginia to the new land of promise, even stronger than that of consan- guinity. They lived by agriculture ; and the wide area of land, shelving gradually from the Blue Ridge to the ocean, had been for nearly two centuries in cultivation, and had long ceased to retain the virtues of the virgin soil. While such was the case, with some exceptions, generally, it was especially so in the country not far above tide and nearly all below it, a region of country which embraced much of the active capital of the State. Large speculations had already taken place in western lands, and more than one prominent member of the Convention was cast- ing his eyes to Kentucky as the future home of himself and of his posterity. But all these flattering hopes would be instantly blasted with the loss of the navigation of the Mississippi. The poor man might indeed build his cabin in the district, and rear his family on the products of his farm and from the chase ; but capital there could find no employment unless the proceeds of labor could be made to mingle with the commerce of the world. It had been well known that the cession of that river to Spain had been recently under discussion, and had received the coun- tenance of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, who, it was said, was acting in friendly union with Guardoqui, the Spanish minister. Rumors only reached the public ear ; for, as the proceedings of Congress were secret, no reliable intelligence on the subject was generally known. An alarm faintly to be expressed by words seized the people generally, irrespective of their place of resi- dence. The Kentuckians were maddened almost to desperation. And it was plain that Kentucky would not only refuse to be a party to a treaty of cession, but to acknowledge its obligation.
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Fortunately, several of the members of Congress were also members of the Convention, and from them the true state of the case might be ascertained. What enhanced the interest of the present occasion was the belief that the " six easternmost States" had seemed to acquiesce in the suggestion of Mr. Jay, the Secre- tary of Foreign Affairs, of a cession of the river to Spain for five and twenty years ; and that, under the new system, as had been shown by Grayson, it was possible that as ten members might constitute a quorum of the Senate competent to make a treaty, and as those ten were returned by five States, the five New Eng- land States might seize the lucky moment, and accomplish the ruin of the West. The subject was also regarded with peculiar emotions by the Convention as a body. The friends of the Constitution viewed the whole affair as a plot deliberately de- signed for their overthrow, and although they felt the deepest indignation, and knew that, though they might lose everything, they could not possibly gain a single advantage, they were com- pelled from policy to assent to this public exposition. Quite different were the feelings of the opponents of the new scheme. They regarded that scheme as fraught with untold evils to the country, and were ready to avail themselves of all legitimate means to prevent its adoption. The navigation of the great river of the West had hung by a hair, and the safety of that invaluable right alone was of sufficient importance to make or to unmake constitutions. They also believed that not only was this great right insecure, but that all the other great rights which society was formed to protect were in peril from the proposed scheme of government. That the scene might not lack the proper complement in a solemn public inquisition, Henry acted as Attorney for the Commonwealth, and the zeal, the tact, and the keenness which he displayed in his self-assumed office, made him no unmeaning figure in that exciting drama.
The members of the Convention who had been in Congress during the Mississippi affair were Henry Lee and Madison, who were friendly to the Constitution, and Grayson and Monroe, who were opposed to it. It is probable that Madison, who was an expert parliamentarian, had arranged that Lee should first address the committee, reserving for himself the closing of the discussion. Lee accordingly took the floor.
Of the appearance of this brilliant soldier as he then was, in
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the prime of manhood, we have already spoken. Now there was an evident confusion in his manner. He disliked the subject, he disliked the purposes for which it had been introduced, and he disliked himself; for he had written to Washington when the subject was before Congress, intimating plainly that he was not indisposed to cede the river to Spain for a term of years.198 He said a few words only, but strongly asserted that it was the deter- mined resolution of Congress not to give up that river, and that they earnestly wished to adopt the best possible plan of securing it. The testimony of Lee was strictly true, but it was the testi- mony of a tactician, not of a statesman. It was true that Con- gress did not intend to surrender the right of navigating the Mississippi, and that they wished to secure it in what they deemed the best possible manner, but it was also true that the assent of only three States was wanting to vote the surrender of the navi- gation for the term of twenty-five years-a period at the expira- tion of which half the present population of the globe would be in their graves.
Monroe, who was two years younger than Lee, having just en- tered his thirtieth year, and who well deserved the compliment of honest and brave which Mr. Jefferson had paid him, was called upon to speak. He said he had heretofore preserved silence on the subject, and, although he acknowledged his duty to obey the wishes of the General Assembly, that body had relieved him, at his request, from the necessity of making any disclosure. The right of the Convention was even paramount to that of the As- sembly ; but he wished it had not been exercised by going into committee for that purpose. He objected to the partial repre- sentations which had been made in debate as likely to lead into error. The policy of Virginia in respect of the navigation of the Mississippi had always been the same. It is true that at a se- vere crisis she had agreed to surrender the navigation ; but it was at a time when the Southern States were overrun and in possession of the enemy. Georgia and South Carolina were prostrate. North Carolina made but a feeble resistance. Vir- ginia was then greatly harassed by the enemy in force in the heart of the country, and by impressments for her own defence and for the defence of other States. The finances of the Union
195 Sparks' Washington Correspondence, IV, 137.
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were totally exhausted, and France, our ally, was anxious for peace. The object of the cession was to unite Spain in the war with all her forces, and thus bring the contest to a happy and speedy conclusion. Congress had learned from our minister at the Spanish court that our Western settlements were viewed with jealousy by Spain. All inferior objects must yield to the safety of society itself. Congress passed an act authorizing the ces- sion, and our minister at the court of Spain was authorized to relinquish this invaluable right to that power on the condition already stated. But what was the issue of this proposition ? Was any treaty made with Spain that obtained an acknowledg- ment of our independence, although she was then at war with England, and such acknowledgment would have cost her noth - ing? Was a loan of money accomplished? In short, does it appear that Spain herself thought it an object of any import- ance?, So soon as the war was ended, this resolution was re- scinded. The power to make such a treaty was revoked. So that this system of policy was departed from only for a short time, for the most important object that can be conceived, and resumed again as soon as it possibly could be.
After the peace, continued Monroe, Congress appointed three commissioners to make commercial treaties with foreign powers, Spain inclusive ; so that an arrangement for a treaty with Spain had been already taken. While these powers were in force, a representative from Spain arrived, who was authorized to treat with the United States on the interfering claims of the two na- tions respecting the Mississippi, and the boundaries and other concerns in which they were respectively interested. A similar commission was given to the honorable the Secretary of Foreign Affairs on the part of the United States, with these ultimata : That he enter into no treaty, compact, or convention whatever, with the said representative of Spain which did not stipulate our right to the navigation of the Mississippi, and the boundaries as estab- lished in our treaty with Great Britain. Thus the late negotia- tion commenced under the most flattering auspices. Was it not presumable that she intended, from various circumstances, to make a merit of her concession to our wishes? But what was the issue of this negotiation? Eight or ten months elapsed with- out any communication of its progress to Congress, when a let- ter was received from the Secretary, stating that difficulties had
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arisen in his negotiation with the representative of Spain, which, in his opinion, should be so managed as that even their existence should remain a secret for the present, and proposing that a committee be appointed with full power to direct and instruct him in every case relative to the proposed treaty. As the only ultimata in his instructions respected the Mississippi and the boundaries, it readily occurred that these occasioned the difficul- ties alluded to, and were those which he wished to remove. And for many reasons, said Monroe, this appeared to me an extra- ordinary proposition. By the Articles of Confederation, nine States are necessary to enter into treaties. The instruction is the foundation of the treaty; for if it is formed agreeably thereto, good faith requires that it be ratified. The instructions under which our commercial treaties have been made were carried by nine States. Those under which the Secretary now acted were passed by nine States. The proposition then would be, that the powers, which, under the Constitution, nine States only were competent to exercise, should be transferred to a committee, and that the object of the transfer was to disengage the Secretary from the ultimata in his existing instructions. In this light the subject was taken up, and on these principles discussed. The Secretary, Mr. Jay, summoned before Congress to explain the difficulties mentioned in his letter, presented the project of a treaty of commerce containing, as he supposed, advantageous commercial stipulations in our favor, in consideration of which we were to contract to forbear the use of the navigation of the Mississippi for the term of twenty-five or thirty years ; and he earnestly advised the adoption of it by Congress. The subject now took a decided form. All ambiguity was at an end. We were surprised that he had taken up the subject of commerce at all .. We were still more surprised that it should form the prin- cipal object of the project, and that a partial or temporary sacri- fice of the very interest, for the advancement of which the nego- tiation was set on foot, should be the consideration to be given for it. The Secretary urged that it was necessary to stand well with Spain; that the commercial project was highly beneficial ; that a stipulation to forbear the use, contained an acknowledgment on the part of Spain of our right ; that we were in no condition to take the river, and therefore gave nothing for it ; and for other reasons. We differed with the Secretary almost in every respect.
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We wished to stand well with Spain, but wished to accomplish that end on equal terms. We considered the stipulation to for- bear the use as a species of barter unbecoming the magnanimity and candor of a nation, and as setting a precedent which might be applied to the Potomac, the Hudson, or the Chesapeake. We thought that there was a material distinction between a stipu- lation to forbear the use, and an inability to open the river. The first would be considered by the inhabitants of the Western coun- try as an act of hostility ; the last might be justified by our weakness. And with respect to the commercial part of the pro- ject, we really thought it an ill-advised one on its own merits solely. The subject was referred to a Committee of the Whole. The delegates from the seven easternmost States voted that the ultimata in the instructions of the Secretary should be repealed ; which was reported to the House, and entered on the Journal by the Secretary of Congress, as affirming the fact that the question was carried. Upon this entry a constitutional question arose to this effect : nine States being necessary, according to the Arti- cles of Confederation, to give an instruction, and seven having repealed a part of an instruction so given for the formation of a treaty with a foreign power, so as to alter its import and autho- rize, under the remaining part thereof, the formation of a treaty on principles altogether different from what the original instruc- tion contemplated, can such remaining part be considered as in force and constitutionally obligatory? We pressed on Congress for a decision on this point often, but we pressed in vain. Not- withstanding this, I understood, said Monroe, that it was the intention of the Secretary to proceed and conclude a treaty in conformity with his project with the Spanish minister. At this stage I left Congress. "I thought it my duty," he said, "to use every exertion in Congress for the interest of the Southern States. With many of those gentlemen to whom I always considered it my particular misfortune to be opposed, I am now in habits of correspondence and friendship ; and I am concerned for the necessity which has given birth to this relation. Whether the delegates of those States spoke the lan- guage of their constituents ; whether it may be considered as the permanent interest of those States to depress the growth and increasing population of the Western country, are points which I cannot pretend to determine." He concluded with the expres-
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sion of the opinion that the interest of the Western country would not be as secure under the proposed Constitution as under the Confederation; because under the latter system the Mississippi could not be relinquished without the consent of nine States ; whereas by the former a majority of seven States could yield it. His own opinion was that it would be given up by a majority of the senators present in the Senate, with the president, which would put it in the power of less than seven States to surrender it; that the Northern States were inclined to yield it; that it was their interest to prevent an augmentation of Southern influence and power; and that, as mankind in general, and States in par- ticular, were governed by interest, the Northern States would not fail of availing themselves of the opportunity afforded by the Constitution of relinquishing that river in order to depress the Western country, and prevent the Southern interest from preponderating.
Now, little did Monroe reflect, as that august assembly was eagerly watching every word that fell from his lips, how vain in respect of the future is the wisdom of the wise, and how rarely the vaticinations of politicians, founded on the most subtle pro- cesses of logical deduction, are fulfilled ! How little did he dream that in a few short years Spain should, in an agony of terror, cede her dearly cherished province of Louisiana with all its appendages to France ; that in less than fourteen years from the time when he was speaking, not only the right of navigating the Mississippi should be acquired by the United States, but the exclusive title to the river itself; and not only the exclu- sive title to the river itself, but the exclusive title to the superb realm drained by its waters ; that the beneficent treaty which was to accomplish such results, which was to settle so many dangerous disputes, and which was destined to confer upon untold generations the choicest blessings of heaven, should be mainly negotiated by himself, and should be ratified by a con- stitutional majority of that Senate which he now viewed with such stern distrust; that, before the expiration of the term stipulated by Mr. Jay, he should preside in the Federal Govern- ment, and that he should, in a heedless moment, in a time of pro- found peace, and when surrounded by a Southern cabinet, 199
199 Mr. Monroe's cabinet consisted of Mr. Adams of Massachusetts ; Mr. Crawford, of Georgia ; Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina ; Mr.
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virtually cede to Spain a vast and fertile dominion of the South, which a succeeding generation, at the sacrifice of thousands of valuable lives and of more millions than made up the debt of the Revolution, should recover; but not until an infant then puling in the nurse's arms in an humble homestead in Orange (General Zachary Taylor) had won a series of dazzling victories on the soil of the enemy, and not until another Virginia boy, then run- ning barefoot on a farm in Dinwiddie (General Winfield Scott), had landed, from the decks of ships which had already won dis- tinction in contests with the ships of the greatest naval power of the globe, his brilliant battalions on the hostile shore, and, mark- ing his encampments by battles, and his battles by victories, should close his campaign by unfurling in the proud capital of the enemy, above those gorgeous structures from which the once terrible lions of Spain had for two centuries bade defiance to the world, the standard of his country.
The speech of Monroe was well received. It made upon the House a strong impression, which was heightened by the modesty of his demeanor, by the sincerity which was reflected from every feature of his honest face, and by the minute knowledge which he exhibited of a historical transaction of surpassing interest to the South. But if the impression was felt by the members gen - erally, it was felt most keenly by those who were anxious about the sales of their crops and for the prosperity of their families. The members from the West were furious. They had just learned for the first time the imminent hazard to which their most valued privilege had been exposed,200 and they did not conceal their indignation. And that indignation was neither unbecoming nor uncalled for. That a Secretary of State, instructed strictly to negotiate a treaty for the security of an object of vital importance to the South and West, should lose sight of that object altogether
Thompson, of New York; and Mr. Wirt, of Virginia, as attorney-gen- eral; including Mr. Monroe himself, it was a strong Southern adminis- tration.
200 In 1788 information traveled slowly. In fact, the intelligence divulged by Monroe, in compliance with the wishes of the Convention, could have been known but to few. Humphrey Marshall saw the numbers of The Federalist for the first time in the hands of George Nicholas, whom he fell in with on his way from Kentucky to attend the present Convention .- Butler's History of Kentucky, 167.
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and propose a treaty relating to an object of lesser importance, which was beyond his powers, and which, insignificant and value- le-s in itself, could only be obtained by a sacrifice of the invalua- ble rights which he was expressly instructed to secure, and that such a project should be sanctioned by seven Eastern States in direct contravention of the Articles of Confederation, might well arouse the astonishment and anger of the West. Nor was the time of danger past. The treaty may have been already made, and might then be on its way to Spain.
The alarm thus raised soon extended to the new Constitution. For it was plain that the seven States which had so recently voted to cede the right of navigating the Mississippi, and which might be supposed to retain their opinions unchanged, would certainly constitute a majority of the new Senate if every member was in his seat, and might at some unexpected moment and in a thin house, accomplish by a vote of two-thirds of a quorum their . decided purpose. Such was the excitement in the Convention that men whose opinions were entitled to respect declared after- wards that, if the final vote on the Constitution had then been pressed, that instrument would have been lost by a majority fully as large as that which ultimately adopted it.
Grayson rose next to give his testimony in the case. In age, in eloquence, and in breadth of statesmanship, he stood nearly in the same relation to Monroe, to Lee, and to Madison, that in a body which sat forty years later in this city Watkins Leigh and Chapman Johnson stood to Dromgoole, to Goode, to Mason of Southampton, to Mason of Frederick, to Miller of Botetourt, and to Moore of Rockbridge. He said that, like Monroe, he felt a delicacy in disclosing what had occurred in secret session ; but he declared that he had protested against the injunction of secrecy on a great constitutional question. He coincided in the statement just made, and said that Spain claimed not only the absolute and exclusive navigation of the Mississippi, but one-half of the State of Georgia and one-half of the district of Kentucky ; and that this was the reason of the limitation imposed on the Secretary relative to the boundaries recognized in our treaty with Great Britain. He said that the Southern States were opposed to a surrender of the Mississippi ; that the Northern States were once opposed to give it up, but that was when they were apprehensive about their fisheries, on which their very 16
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