The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 | Page 5

same unanimity, the President was advised to receive a
minister from the republic of France; but, on the question respecting a
qualification to his reception, a division was perceived. The secretary
of state and the attorney general were of opinion, that no cause existed
for departing in the present instance from the usual mode of acting on
such occasions. The revolution in France, they conceived, had
produced no change in the relations between the two nations; nor was
there any thing in the alteration of government, or in the character of
the war, which would impair the right of France to demand, or weaken
the duty of the United States faithfully to comply with the engagements
which had been solemnly formed.
The secretaries of the treasury, and of war, held a different opinion.
Admitting in its fullest latitude the right of a nation to change its
political institutions according to its own will, they denied its right to
involve other nations, absolutely and unconditionally, in the
consequences of the changes which it may think proper to make. They
maintained the right of a nation to absolve itself from the obligations
even of real treaties, when such a change of circumstances takes place
in the internal situation of the other contracting party, as so essentially
to alter the existing state of things, that it may with good faith be
pronounced to render a continuance of the connexion which results
from them, disadvantageous or dangerous.
They reviewed the most prominent of those transactions which had
recently taken place in France, and noticed the turbulence, the fury, and
the injustice with which they were marked. The Jacobin club at Paris,
whose influence was well understood, had even gone so far, previous to

the meeting of the convention, as to enter into measures with the
avowed object of purging that body of those persons, favourers of
royalty, who might have escaped the attention of the primary
assemblies. This review was taken, to show that the course of the
revolution had been attended with circumstances which militate against
a full conviction of its having been brought to its present stage, by such
a free, regular, and deliberate act of the nation, as ought to silence all
scruples about the validity of what had been done. They appeared to
doubt whether the present possessors of power ought to be considered
as having acquired it with the real consent of France, or as having
seized it by violence;--whether the existing system could be considered
as permanent, or merely temporary.
They were therefore of opinion, not that the treaties should be annulled
or absolutely suspended, but that the United States should reserve, for
future consideration and discussion, the question whether the operation
of those treaties ought not to be deemed temporarily and provisionally
suspended. Should this be the decision of the government, they thought
it due to a spirit of friendly and candid procedure, in the most
conciliating terms, to apprize the expected minister of this
determination.
On the questions relative to the application of the clause of guarantee to
the existing war, some diversity of sentiment also prevailed. The
secretary of state and the attorney general conceived, that no necessity
for deciding thereon existed, while the secretaries of the treasury, and
of war, were of opinion that the treaty of alliance was plainly defensive,
and that the clause of guarantee did not apply to a war which, having
been commenced by France, must be considered as offensive on the
part of that power.
Against convening congress, the opinion appears to have been
unanimous.
The cabinet being thus divided on an important part of the system
which, in the present critical posture of affairs, ought to be adopted by
the executive, the President signified his desire that the ministers would
respectively state to him in writing the opinions they had formed,

together with the reasoning and authorities by which those opinions
were supported.
The written arguments which were presented on this occasion, while
they attest the labour, and reflect honour on the talents of those by
whom they were formed, and evince the equal sincerity and zeal with
which the opinions on each side were advanced, demonstrate an
opposition of sentiment respecting the French revolution, which
threatened to shed its influence on all measures connected with that
event, and to increase the discord which already existed in the cabinet.
So far as respected the reception of a minister from the French republic
without qualifying that act by any explanations, and the continuing
obligation of the treaties, the President appears to have decided in
favour of the opinions given by the secretary of state and the attorney
general.
[Sidenote: Proclamation of neutrality.]
The proclamation of neutrality which was prepared by the attorney
general, in conformity with the principles which had been