XVII. Nor did he admit that, by taxing the importation, Con- CHAPTER gress legalized or countenanced the traffic. The importation was not legalized by Congress, but by South Car- 1804. olina, Congress not yet having the power to prohibit it. The tax would tend to check a traffic which, in four years, might add a hundred thousand slaves to those already in the Union. in the country than ever, and the opening of the trade by South Carolina would virtually amount to a general opening; for, African slaves once introduced into one state, would find their way into all others in which slavery was allowed. The thirst for gain was more alive Smilie wished to steer clear of the question of morality; at the same time, he could not but think that the whole Union had a direct interest in the measure adopted by South Carolina, inasmuch as it tended to weaken the common defense of the country. Every slave brought in must be regarded in the light of an imported enemy. Stanton, of Rhode Island, insisted strenuously on the tax. Nor did he confine his reprobation to the foreign slave trade merely; he described, in very strong terms, his emotions at meeting, on his way to the seat of government, twenty or thirty negroes chained together and driven like mules to market. The resolution was also supported by Findley, Dr. Mitchill, and Southard of New Jersey. The Southern members exhibited in this debate decidedly less of overbearing arrogance than on any former occasion on which the subject of slavery had come into discussion. Every body, even her own representatives, seemed to be ashamed of the conduct of South Carolina. But on this as on most former occasions, the anti-slavery speeches came principally from the Pennsylvania members. Griswold, the leader of the Federalists, opposed the resolution on CHAPTER the old ground formerly taken by Sherman and Ames, XVII. and already suggested by Lowndes, that to derive a rev1804. enue from the African slave trade might seem to be giving it a certain countenance. But there is too much reason to believe, both in Griswold's case and that of his New England predecessors-since neither he nor they were at all fettered, in general, by captious scruplesthat this was a mere decent pretext for not giving offense to South Carolina, which, perhaps, he might still hope to lure back to the Federal ranks. It was suggested, on the other side, by way of palliating this objection, that all the proceeds of the tax might be specially appropriated to purposes of humanity, such as might tend to alleviate the evil of slavery itself. Randolph, the leader of the Virginia Democrats, indeed the acknowledged leader of the administration party in the House, was silent. Eppes, the son-in-law of Jefferson, zealously supported the resolution; and, notwithstanding an attempt at postponement, on the ground that perhaps South Carolina would re-enact her old prohibitory law, it was finally agreed to by the House, and was referred to a committee to bring in a bill. That bill was reported, read twice, and referred to a Committee of the Whole. But the entreaties of the South Carolina members, and their promises of what the state would do, arrested any further action. Just previous to the commencement of this debate, New Jersey, the seventh and the last of the old confederation to do so, had joined the circle of the free states, Feb. 15. by an act, passed by an almost unanimous vote, securing freedom to all persons born in that state after the fourth of July next following; the children of slave parents to become free, males at twenty-five, and females at twenty-one-a law which gave great satisfaction to Gov XVII. ernor Bloomfield, who had been from the beginning a CHAPTER zealous member of the New Jersey society for the abolition of slavery. A new effort was also made in Penn- 1804. sylvania to hasten the operation of the old act for gradual abolition by giving immediate freedom to all slaves above the age of twenty-eight years; but this attempt failed as before. By another act, relating to the public domain, all the region south of the State of Tennessee was annexed to the Territory of Mississippi, which, as originally constituted, had been bounded on the north by a line stretching due east from the mouth of the Yazoo. Into this act an appropriation was inserted for exploring the newly-acquired Territory of Louisiana, and under it the expedition of Lewis and Clarke was presently undertaken. The New England Mississippi Company, successors, by purchase, to the Georgia Mississippi Company, one of the four great companies to which the famous Yazoo sales of 1795 had been made, now appeared, by its agents, to solicit a settlement. These agents had been judiciously selected, one being Granger, the post-master general, and the other Perez Morton, a leading Democrat of Massachusetts. This claim, however, encountered a virulent, and, for the present, a successful opposition from John Randolph. Having happened to be in Georgia on a visit during the agitation for the repeal of the Mississippi grants, he had espoused that side of the question with all the natural vehemency of his temperament. The corrupt means alleged to have been employed in obtaining the grants furnished a most congenial theme for his vituperative eloquence. The fact that a large share in these grants had ultimately passed, though at a very great advance, into the hands of New Englanders, his hatred toward whom was not less bitter than Jef CHAPTER ferson's, furnished to his vindictive and spiteful soul amXVII. ple reason, notwithstanding a claim equitable if not le1304. gal, why the government should never pay a farthing. In this view of the subject Randolph was very warmly supported by Duane of the Aurora; for however far Randolph might be separated from Duane on the aristocratical side of his character, on the Jacobinical side there was a perfect sympathy and a very great similarity between them. The proposal to amend the Constitution so as to give to the electors of president and vice-president the right of designating the candidates for those offices, though supported by the legislative resolutions of several states, had failed to obtain in the last Congress the requisite majority of two thirds. In this Congress it succeeded better; though it required the speaker's vote to carry it through the House. The opposition was based on the alleged constitutional rights of the small states, whose weight in presidential elections would, it was thought, be diminished by the change. One of the Massachusetts members suggested, pending the debate, that if any change were to be made in the Constitution, the first thing to be done ought to be to strike out that provision which allowed slave property to be represented, thus adding eighteen extraneous members to the House, and eighteen to the number of presidential electors. The news of the capture of the Philadelphia by the Tripolitans having reached Washington, it led to an act by which all goods subject to ad valorem duties were to pay an additional two and a half per cent. during the continuance of hostilities in the Mediterranean, to constitute a fund to be exclusively applied to expenses occasioned by the Barbary powers. Two additional cruisers, of not more than sixteen guns each, were to be procured, and XVII. the president was also authorized to accept on loan, from CHAPTER any Mediterranean power, as many gun-boats as he might think proper; toward which expenses, in addition to the 1804. produce of the new Mediterranean fund, a million of dollars were appropriated. The means thus provided, preparations were made for fitting out several additional frigates. Simultaneously, almost, with the passage of this act, a bold exploit had somewhat repaired the credit of the American navy. Shortly after the loss of the Philadelphia, Preble, in the Constitution, accompanied by the Enterprise, commanded by Lieutenant Decatur, having reconnoitered the harbor of Tripoli, and communicated with Bainbridge, had put across to Syracuse. The capture by the Enterprise, on this passage, of a small Tripolitan vessel bound to Constantinople with a present of female slaves for the sultan, facilitated the execution of a project which Bainbridge had suggested, and which Preble had readily adopted, for destroying the Philadelphia, then refitting in the harbor of Tripoli. The immediate conduct of this operation was intrusted to Decatur, who assumed it with great zeal. The captured vessel was taken into service, and named the Intrepid. Manned by volunteers from the Enterprise, she sailed from Syracuse, escorted by the Syren, which had recently joined the squadron. The two vessels having made the Tripolitan offing, the Intrepid, as evening came on, favored by a light breeze, Feb. 16. stood directly into the harbor. About midnight she began to approach the Philadelphia, directly toward which she steered, all but two or three of her crew laying flat upon the deck. Being hailed, the linguist answered that they were from Malta, on a trading voyage; and that, having lost their anchors in a late gale, they beg ged permission to make fast to the frigate's side for the |