New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-02-23

The third and fourth volumes Of Mr.. Adams S
mastery history of JehersOnS administrators
treat of events the interest Of which is profound
and their value as Obcct-leSsOns incalcuiabc.
The course and failure of the philosophic lec'S-
lator has seldom been so Strikingly eNemplihed
as in the second administration of Jefferson.
No doubt personal peculiaritcs had their par; IN
the evolution Of the most tortuous ana neon
SiStent of policies: but behind these influences
will always be found those theories of government
which had become as necessary 10 him as the
air he breathed and his faith in which ever
prompted him 10 further extremes by suggesting
that the true cause of his failures was want Of
thoroughncss in the application Of his pana"eaS
lie entered upon his second administration under
apparently favorable Omens, and with every
visible means in his grasp for maintaining his
power and enforcing his views. No PRESIDENT
of the United States was so fully and personally
responsible for his administration as Thomas
Jefferson: for no President has had al his com
mand so doclc and obedicnt majority in both
houses Of the Congress- or has exercised 50 master
full a sway over the representatives OF the peopf'
Neither has any other President gone 10 the sam"
lengths in the management of both foreign an"
domestic affairs. jefferson undertook no, merely
he was pursuing. but Congress also: and he even
threw upon the latter the full responsibility for
measures which he was not willing 10 lndorse
publicly himself-and sometimes not even 10
WOW openly.
No other Congress, perhaps, would nave en-
lured treatment which more closely rcSemhled
Russian autocracy than American repuhicaniSm
let Jefferson was right in lis belief that secrecy
vas essential 10 the success of his thcorcs-as-
uming for the moment that they were prac-
ticable al all To have preached his purposes t.
The country would, he wei! knew, have insured
their population and failure. His only plan was
TO hold all the threads of diplomacy and intrigue
in his own hands. and to use the party Esh
freely for the coercion Of Congress, while re
rusing to the people any information concerning
1is intentions. As usual with such characters
ais personal conviction Of the wisdom ard right
,ousness of his policy gave him stuhborlncSS
and an inslstenCe which were themselves power
ful weapons: for one man who knows exactly
what he wants and pushes his projects un"c2S-
ingly must always be more than match for a
multitude who do not know what he Is aiming
at and whose minds are as confused rs their
councils are divided Nevertheless JciicrS'n's
second administration was SEXES of disasters
humiliations insults and rebuNS ending in
catastrophe: and he owed this dismal outcome
largely to the obstinate strength Of his confidence
in political ideas which not only all human eN-
perience but thousand details of his own day.
showed to be mpractcable The conspiracy of
Burr, which occupies considerable space in The
third Of Mr.. AdamsS volumes, was destined =
prove mischievous to the Administration, not
because ii was at any time really formidable, bu'
because Jefferson permitted il to be organized
under his eyes because he left the suppress OF
it to a man whose fidelity and integrity he had
cogent reasons for doubling; because at The last
he was forced to support and protect tins double
traitor and discredited kn0vc. and 50 TO make
the Administration responsible for him. In the
trial Of Burr. tOO he invited and sustained still
deeper humiliation, for he once more plt,c! him
self against Chief Justice Marshall, and once
more he was beaten. He had shown his desire
TO shackle the Supreme Court, and he WAS now
compelled to expose his impotence. Yet IN H."
course of his long public career ne might have
grown used TO this kind of modification, for bis
foreign policy from first 10 last consisted in alter
nations from defiance TO submission. and both
brought insult
Resolved he was not 10 60 10 war. Il Is
curious 10 note his constant inability 10 reallz"
that this notorious policy was sure 10 bc fully
understood and as fully discounted by the Euro
pean Powers Yet il was this defect Of iudg-
ment which caused him to attempt the impossi-
BILE, by using mcnacing language 10 foreign gov
cnmentS in the Ingenious expectation Il NJ they
would not look 10 see whether lis brave words
represented any material force in The background.
While Systematically starving the Navy and keep
ing the Army down to the lowest possible terms,
this champion of peace did not hesitate 10 threaten
Great Britain, even after Trafalgar, and hc used
such naughty language to Napoleon when the
latter was in the full flush of his conquernG
career as must have made the CorSicGn smile bad
lie possessed any sense of humor OF course
neither France nor England paid any attention
TO Jehersons tall talk They knew that he
would not fight if he could, and that he could not
fight if he would. Monroe suffered the fate of
the scapegoat on the Continent and vicariously
bore the burden of the Presidents sins. The
Florida negotiations, which were marked through
out by equal meannoss and faulty, which. be-
gun in the base hope of bullying n weak power
into submission TO robbery, ended in compulsory
submission to strong power disposed TO Jet no one
rob but itself, caused poor Monroe 10 be almost
kicked out of every court in Europe Madrid, Paris
London in turn snubbed him and the Govern
ment represented by him, and in every instance
this treatment was caused by that practice Of de
handing hopeless conditions which jefferson lost
no opportunity of repeating. Mr.. Adams, indeed,
makes Jeiierson's course still more indcfcnsible
by assibins TO him political motives, and, un-
happily, there is no DOUBT Of the justice Of the
charge. Monroe was candidate for the Prc>-
dency, but jefferson meant Madison tn be his
successor, and therefore he and his Secretary Of
state digged pitfalls into which the Minister
Plenipotentiary could not avoid falling. Mon
roe made a desperate effort 10 release himself,
and rather than return home without treaty
from London disobeyed his instructions and made
concessions which only gave Jefferson stronger
ground for rejecting the treaty.
The history Of the Chesapeake and Leopard
affair, most graphically narrated by Mr. Adams.
shows how severe strain was at that iuncturc
put upon the Presidents peace policy Yet even
then. the strain was more appnrcnt tLnn real. for