papers affecting the negotiation with Great Britain were laid before the senate, when the treaty itself was communicated, for their consideration and advice.

"The course which the debate has taken leads to some observations on the mode of making treaties under the constitution of the United States.

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Having been a member of the general convention, and knowing the principles on which the constitution, was formed, I have ever entertained but one opinion upon this subject, and from the first establishment of the government to this moment my conduct has exemplified that opinion-1 hat the power of making treaties is exclusively vested in the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur, and that every treaty so made and promulgated, thenceforward becomes the law of the land. It is thus that the treaty-making power has been understood by foreign nations; and in all the treaties made with them, we have declared, and they have believed, that when ratified by the president, with the advice and consent of the senate, they become obligatory. In this construction of the constitution, every house of representatives has heretofore acquiesced, and, until

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until the present time, not a doubt or suspicion has appeared, to my knowledge, that this construction was not the true one. Nay, they have more than acquiesced, for, until now, without controverting the obligation of such treaties, they have made all the requisite provisions for carrying them into effect.

"There is also reason to believe that this construction agrees with the opinions entertained by the state conventions when they were deliberating on the constitution, especially by those who objected to it; because there was not required in commercial treaties the consent of two-thirds of the whole number of the members of the senate, instead of two-thirds of the senators present; and because, in treaties respecting territorial and certain other rights and claims, the concurrence of three-fourths of the whole number of the members of both houses respectively was not made necessary.

"It is a fact, declared by the general convention, and universally understood, that the constitution of the United States was the result of a spirit of amity and mutual concession. And it is well known that under this influence the smaller states were admitted to an equal representation in the senate with the larger states, and that this branch of the

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vernment

vernment was invested with great powers; for on the equal participation of those powers the sovereignty and political safety of the smaller states were deemed essentially to depend.

"If other proofs than these, and the plain letter of the constitution itself, be necessary to ascertain the point under consideration, they may be found in the journals of the general convention, which I have deposited in the office of the department of state.

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In

these journals it will appear that a proposition was made, that no treaty should be binding on the United States, which was not ratified by a law,' and that the proposition was explicitly rejected.

"As therefore it is perfectly clear to my understanding, that the assent of the house of representatives is not necessary to the validity of a treaty; as the treaty with Great Britain exhibits in itself all the objects requiring legislative provision, and on these the papers called for can throw no light; and as it is essential to the due administration of the

government that the boundaries, fixed by the constitution, between the different departments, should be preserved ; a just regard to the constitution, and to the duty of my office, under all the circumstances of this

case, forbid a compliance with your request."

Though the call for papers was unsuccessful, the favourers of the resolution for that purpose opposed the appropriations necessary to carry the treaty into effect.. But from the firmness of the president the ground was altered. The treaty was ratified, and proclaimed to the public, as constitutionally obligatory. To refuse appropriations for carrying it into effect, would not only incur the high responsibility of breaking the public faith, but make a schism in the government between the executive and legislative departments. After long and vehement debates, in which argument and passion were both resorted to with a view of exposing the merits and demerits of the treaty, the resolution, for bringing in the laws necessary to carry it into effect, was carried by a majority of three. Though in this discussion Washington had no direct agency, yet the final result in favour of the treaty was the consequence of the measures he had previously adopted; for, having ratified the treaty, and published it to the world as the law of the land, and having, in his answer to the request of the house of representatives, proved that he had a constitutional right so to do,

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the laws necessary for giving effect to the treaty could not be withheld, without hazarding the most serious consequences. The treaty which was thus carried into operation produced more good and less evil than was apprehended. It compromised ancient differences, produced amicable dispositions, and a friendly intercourse; it brought round an amicable surrender of the British posts, and compensation for American vessels illegally captured. Though it gave up some favourite principles, and some of its articles relative to commerce were deemed unequal, yet from Great Britain, as a great naval power, hold ing valuable colonies and foreign possessions, nothing better either with or without the treaty could have been obtained, After the lapse of ten years has cooled the minds both of the friends and enemies of the treaty, most men will acknowledge that the measures adopted by Washington, with respect to it, were founded in wisdom, proceeded from the purest patriotism, were carried through with uncommon firmness, and finally operated in greatly advancing the interests of his country,

Thorny and difficult as was the line of policy proper to be pursued by Washington with respect to Great Britain, it was much more so in regard to France. The revolution