BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 ALBERT GALLATIN, 
 
 RKS'UBUSHED FROM 
 
 THE DEMOCRATIC REVIEW, FOR JUNE, 1843. 
 
 \ 
 
 c^NEW YORK: 
 
 J. & H. G. LANGLEY, 57 CHATHAM STREET, 
 
 MDCCCXLIII. 
 

ALBERT GALLATIN 
 
 We are happy to embellish the pre- 
 sent Number of the Democratic Re- 
 view with an engraving of one of the 
 most illustrious of the Patriarchs of the 
 Republican Party, one of its founders, 
 and for a long period one of its most 
 powerful and efficient leaders — the 
 only survivor of the cabinets of Jeffer- 
 son and Madison. To discuss the im- 
 portant public occurrences in which 
 this Nestor of American statesmanship 
 directly and powerfully participated, or 
 with which he was incidentally con- 
 nected, would be to write the history 
 of the country for no small segment of 
 the period embraced within the annals 
 of its present form of government ; and 
 in attempting sucb a notice as is con- 
 sistent with the limits of a periodical, 
 we shall in a great measure be confined 
 to a summary of some of the leading 
 events of Mr. Gallatin's political life. 
 Long distant be the day when the de- 
 parture of the venerable sage and pa- 
 triot, from the midst of a generation 
 already a posterity to him, to that repose 
 where all the glorious compeers of his 
 earlier career have now preceded him, 
 shall afford the occasion for that more 
 extended memoir, that cannot fail to 
 constitute one of the most interesting 
 contributions to the public history of 
 the country to which his life has been 
 equally an ornament and a benefaction. 
 Alhekt Gallatin was born at Ge- 
 neva, in Switzerland, on the 29th of 
 January, 1761, of a family and in a 
 social position of the highest respecta- 
 bility. Having been left an orphan in 
 his infancy, he was educated under the 
 maternal care of an enlightened and 
 distinguished lady, a distant relation 
 and intimate friend of his mother. He 
 pursued his studies with an earnest ap- 
 plication of those talents of which all 
 his subsequent career has given such 
 conspicuous evidence, and with all the 
 excellent advantages afforded by the 
 academical institutions of his native 
 
 city ; so that when he graduated in 
 1779, at the university of Geneva, few 
 young men of the day entered upon the 
 stage of the world better prepared, by 
 both the discipline and the acquire- 
 ments of education, for the perform- 
 ance of an honorable and prominent 
 part there. His historical courses were 
 made under Miiller. One of his class- 
 mates was the celebrated Dumont, the 
 friend of Mirabeau, and the translator 
 of Bentham. 
 
 The little precincts of his native re- 
 public afforded no worthy scope for 
 either the energies or the aspirations of 
 a young man just quitting the retire- 
 ment of academical study, modestly 
 conscious of his own capabilities, and 
 deeply imbued with the bold and libe- 
 ral spirit of the times. Nor are the 
 instances rare in \yhich Geneva has 
 made noble contributions by the genius 
 of her sons to the service of other 
 states. It will suffice to allude, in pass- 
 ing, to Neckar and Benjamin Constant. 
 Declining offers of advantageous and 
 honorable employment under one of 
 the sovereigns of Germany, and pos- 
 sessed by those political sentiments im- 
 bibed with his education, and of which 
 his whole public career has been the 
 expression, it was to the young repub- 
 lic of the west, just then struggling into 
 being, that he turned the preference of 
 his heart, and the eager devotion of his 
 services. Unrestrained by any parent- 
 al control, though in opposition to the 
 wishes of his family, he emigrated to 
 the United States, bringing with him 
 to the country of his adoption an irre- 
 proachable character and the warm re- 
 grets of his friends. He arrived in 
 Boston on the 14th of July, 1780. The 
 following letter, which we find in the 
 8th volume of Sparks' Franklin, page 
 454, may be worth quoting, for the tes- 
 timony it furnishes to the spirit in 
 which was taken this decisive step in 
 the life of the subject of this notice: 
 
ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 
 " FROM THE DUKE DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD D'EN- 
 VILLE TO B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 " La Rpchegtiyon, 22d May, 17S0. 
 
 *' Sir, — The residence of your grandson 
 at Geneva makes me hope that tlie citi- 
 zens of that town may have some claim 
 to your kind attention. It is with this 
 hope that I ask it for two young men, 
 whom the love of glory and of liberty 
 draws to America. One of them is named 
 Gallatin, he is nineteen years of age, well 
 informed for his age, of an excellent cha- 
 racter thus far, with much natural talent. 
 The name of the other is Serre. They have 
 concealed their project from their rela- 
 tives, and therefore we cannot tell where 
 they will land. It is supposed, however, 
 that they are going to Philadelphia, or to 
 the continental army. One of my friends 
 gives me this information, with the request 
 that I will urge you to favor them with 
 a recommendation. I shall share in his 
 gratitude, and I beg you, sir, to be assured 
 of the sentiments with which I have the 
 honor to be, &c. 
 
 " La Rochefoucauld D'Enville." 
 
 Soon after his arrival he proceeded 
 to Maine, and resided till the end of 
 1781 at Machias and Passamaquoddy, 
 where he served as a volunteer under 
 Col. John Allen, commander of the fort 
 at Machias, and made advances to the 
 government for the support of the gar- 
 rison. In the spring of 1782, he was 
 chosen by Harvard University, through 
 the friendship of Dr. Cooper, instructor 
 in the French language; which situa- 
 tion, however, he left for the south in 
 the following year, soon after the peace. 
 In the winter of 1783 — 4, he was en- 
 gaged at Richmond in prosecuting the 
 claim of a foreign house for large ad- 
 vances to the State of Virginia. This 
 brought him into contact with many 
 eminent members of the Executive and 
 Legislature ; in his intercourse with 
 whom he gave such evidences of capa- 
 city as secured to him a highly favor- 
 able consideration, and attracted in 
 particular the attention of Patrick 
 Henry, from whom he received several 
 marks of personal friendship. He pre- 
 dicted that Mr. Gallatin would rise to 
 distinction as a statesman, and strongly 
 advised him to settle in tlie west, — 
 which in those days did not imply a 
 inore remote residence than the neigh- 
 borhood of the Ohio. 
 
 In 1784—5, Mr. Gallatin having re- 
 ceived his patrimony from Europe, pur- 
 chased some large tracts of land in the 
 
 western counties of Virginia, on which 
 he intended to form an extensive settle- 
 ment. He was prevented, by the re- 
 newed hostilities of the Indians, from 
 carrying this project into execution, 
 and induced to take up a temporary 
 residence within the settlements. In 
 the spring of 1786 he purchased for 
 that purpose a farm on the banks of 
 the Monongahela, in Fayette county, 
 Pennsylvania, on the borders of Vir- 
 ginia. The Indian war having been 
 protracted for several years, he here 
 became so identilied with his neigh- 
 bors and the associations of the place, 
 that he abandoned his former project, 
 and that which had been intended 
 as his temporary became his perma- 
 nent home. 
 
 In October, 1789, he was, without 
 any effort on his part, elected by the 
 people of the county of Fayette, a 
 member of the Convention to amend 
 the Constitution of Pennsylvania ; and 
 from that moment he devoted all his 
 faculties to the political career in which 
 he was thrown. In that Convention 
 he united himself to the Democratic 
 party, in opposing all the attempts to 
 intercept the voice of the people, either 
 by the substitution of intermediate 
 electors in lieu of a direct election, or by 
 a representation in the Senate, founded 
 on the respective v/ealih of the coun- 
 ties. He was an advocate for the ex- 
 tension of the right of suffrage, with- 
 out excepting the African race ; and 
 was desirous that it should be founded, 
 not on taxation, but on a longer time 
 of residence than is now deemed suf- 
 ficient. 
 
 In the year 1790, he was elected 
 member of the House of Ptepresenta- 
 tives of the State, by the same county, 
 and continued afterwards to be re-elect- 
 ed without any opposition, till betook 
 his seat in Congress. His faculties 
 were perhaps better calculated for prac- 
 tical purposes than for the discussion of 
 speculative opinions, and in a very 
 short time he became the most promi- 
 nent member of the Legislature. He 
 applied himself principally to the ar- 
 rangement of the fiscal concerns of 
 the State, on the basis of a faithful 
 payment of all its engagements, and 
 of the annihilation of the State paper 
 money. His quick and indefatigable in- 
 dustry, in making himself thoroughly 
 acquainted with all the subjects under 
 discussion, acquired him an exlraordi- 
 
ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 
 nary influence ia the Legislature, and 
 Avith members of both parties, though 
 a decided and strenuous supporter of 
 his own. Of this no better proof can 
 be given than iiis being elected mem- 
 ber of the Senate of the United States 
 in February, 1793, after only three 
 years' service in the Assembly, by a 
 Legislature of whom a small majori- 
 ty were his political opponents, and 
 though he had himself stated that 
 there might be some doubts respecting 
 his eligibility. 
 
 The principal question was, whe- 
 ther, having been an inhahitant of one 
 of the States more than nine years prior 
 to his election, he had become thereby 
 entitled, in conformity with the Arti- 
 cles of Confederation, to all the privi- 
 leges of citizens in the several States. 
 It was admitted that this was a defect 
 in the Articles of Confederation which 
 was corrected in the Constitution of the 
 United States, by the substitution of 
 the word " citizens," for " inhabitants ;" 
 it having been provided by this last in- 
 strument that " the citizens of each 
 State should be entitled to all privi- 
 leges of citizens in the several States." 
 It was insisted, that this provision 
 could have no retrospective effect on 
 those who claimed citizenship under 
 the Articles of Confederation. He had 
 undoubtedly acquired a legal domicil 
 in Massachusetts in 1782, even if not 
 in 17S0. It was urged, on the other 
 side, that Mr. Gallatin had not relied 
 himself on that ground, since he had 
 been actually naturalized under the 
 laws of Virginia, in the year 1785 ; 
 though in truth this had been only as a 
 measure of abundant caution in refer- 
 ence to the title of the lands Avhich he 
 had purchased in that State at that pe- 
 riod. On a petition against his eligi- 
 bility, the question was discussed with 
 great ability in the Senate, and, though 
 properly a purely legal question, decid- 
 ed against Mr. Gallatin — already an 
 object of dread to the Federalists of 
 that body — by a strict party vote of 
 fourteen to twelve, in February, 1794. 
 He thus occupied his seat in the Sen- 
 ate only two months, during which 
 time he performed a not inactive part 
 in its business. It was on this occa- 
 sion that the doors of the Senate were 
 for the first time open to the public. 
 
 Considering that Mr. Gallatin was, 
 at that time, barely of the constitu- 
 tional age, that he had come to this 
 
 country an isolated individual, a for- 
 eigner by birth, and was entirely un- 
 supported by early associates or family 
 connexions, we cannot well conceive 
 of any greater compliment than that 
 conferred on him by the Legislature of 
 Pennsylvania ; nor does the subsequent 
 decision of the Senate in the slightest 
 degree affeci its value. It is, on the 
 contrary, a confirmation of the consid- 
 eration to which he had already attain- 
 ed with the country at large; no ordi- 
 nary person would have lost his place 
 for the reasons assigned for depriving 
 Mr. Gallatin of his, reasons which de- 
 pended entirely on a technical question 
 as to the period from which his citi- 
 zenship should date. 
 
 Mr. Gallatin returned to Fayette 
 county in May, 1794, after an absence 
 of eighteen months, on account of pub- 
 lic business and of his marriage with 
 the daughter of Commodore Nichol- 
 son, a distinguished officer of our rev- 
 olutionary war. The western insur- 
 rection against the excise broke out 
 shortly after in the county of Allega- 
 ny about fifty miles from his place of 
 residence. It originated in the forci- 
 ble resistance to the serving of writs 
 against delinquent distillers, returna- 
 ble to the district court at Philadelphia. 
 Forty such Avrits had been issued, of 
 which thirty-four were against distil- 
 lers in Fayette county, and had been 
 served without the slightest opposition. 
 The distillers had therefore met, and 
 agreed- to engage counsel for their de- 
 fence, and for the future either to cease 
 distilling or to enter their stills accor- 
 ding to law. The spirit of opposition 
 which had been exhibited against the 
 serving of the remaining writs spread 
 however with great rapidity. A se- 
 ries of excesses ensued, which threat- 
 ened to involve all the Western coun- 
 ties of the State in actual insurrection 
 and treason. 
 
 In that emergency, Mr. Gallatin, 
 relying on the undivided support of his 
 own county, and on that of the peace- 
 able citizens everywhere, determined 
 to meet and oppose the storm. He 
 attended for that purpose by invita- 
 tion a general meeting of delegates 
 from all the townships west of the Alle- 
 gany mountains, ostensibly called to 
 take into consideration the state of the 
 country. He there opposed boldly and 
 openly, and prevented the adoption of 
 any warlike or treasonable resolutions. 
 
6 
 
 ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 
 The fortunate arrival of commissioners 
 on the part of the United States antl of 
 the State, was followed by the appoint- 
 ment, on the part of the general meeting, 
 of conferees to meet with them. The 
 subsequent and unremitted efforts of Mr. 
 Gallatin and his associates, arrested the 
 progress of the insurrection, and pre- 
 vented any further acts of violence or 
 opposition ; but sufficient assurances of 
 an entire submission could not be ob- 
 tained within the short time necessa- 
 rily allowed for that purpose. 
 
 Mr. Gallatin was, on the 14th of 
 October, again elected, by the concur- 
 ring vote of all parties, member of the 
 Legislature for his own county. And, 
 on the same day, he was most unex- 
 pectedly, and without his knowledge, 
 elected member of Congress for the ad- 
 jacent district of Washington and Alle- 
 gany counties, in which he did not 
 reside. The remaining active insur- 
 gents had their own candidate, who 
 did not obtain three hundred votes ; 
 each party had as usual its regularly 
 nominated candidates. The gentleman 
 who had been previously nominated by 
 the Republicans, Mr, Brackenridge, 
 was upright and capable, and he was 
 as much opposed to the insurrection as 
 Mr. Gallatin himself; but the peculiar 
 circumstances in which he found him- 
 self placed, in the very heart of the in- 
 surrection, had prevented him from 
 taking, at first, as open a part in oppo- 
 sition to it as Mr. Gallatin. To use 
 his own words, " My conduct during 
 the early part of the insurrection was 
 of such a nature, that except with con- 
 fidential persons, it was not understood, 
 and must have been thought to have 
 been equivocal." This made him un- 
 popular, and induced some members of 
 the Republican party, at a meeting 
 held three days before the election, to 
 recommend Mr. Gallatin, who, not- 
 withstanding the shortness of the no- 
 tice, was elected, on the sole ground of 
 his early and bold efforts to arrest the 
 insurrection — having himself no notice 
 of the fact until after his election. 
 
 Under the temporary excitement oc- 
 casioned by that event, both houses of 
 the Legislature of the State, by an 
 arbitrary vote, and in open violation of 
 the Constitution, set aside the elections 
 for the Legislature. This had no other 
 effect but the immediate re-election of 
 the ejected members, and to give an 
 opportunity to Mr. Gallatin, in a speech 
 
 published at the time, to state publicly 
 all the facts connected with the insur- 
 rection, none of which facts were then 
 or have ever since been denied or con- 
 troverted. 
 
 Mr. Gallatin took his seat in Con- 
 gress in December, 1795, and continued 
 there during three Congresses, always 
 re-elected by the same district; and he 
 had been re-elected for a fourth term, 
 when, on the accession of Mr. Jeffer- 
 son to the Presidency, he was made 
 Secretary of the Treasury. From the 
 time when he became member of Con- 
 gress, his public life is too well known 
 to render it necessary to enter into de- 
 tails. He became at once one of the 
 most prominent members of the Repub- 
 lican party. In fact, his position soon 
 was distinctly recognized as its "lead- 
 er" in Congress, though the youngest 
 man of the body. Madison, himself, and 
 Giles, were the three who then stood in 
 the first rank of the great party struggle 
 of which, during that period, Congress 
 was the arena. Of these, Giles, though 
 an able debater, was deficient in indus- 
 try and the faculty of analysis. Madi- 
 son's powers were, of course, of the 
 highest eminence ; and Mr. Gallatin, in 
 his conversation, has always ascribed 
 to him a superiority which, with a no- 
 ble modesty, he has always been proud 
 and glad to acknowledge. Madison 
 was undoubtedly the greatest man 
 that ever sat in the American Con- 
 gress. Yet he wanted that thorough 
 and extensive knowledge of the gen- 
 eral subject of political economy, 
 and especially finance, and that 
 patient energy of industry, with that 
 faculty of concentration on the strong 
 points of his own and the weak ones 
 of the adverse side, which, coupled 
 with a rich and ready eloquence, inva- 
 riable coolness and courtesy, and ad- 
 mirable parliamentary dexterity, made 
 Gallatin the main reliance of the Re- 
 publican party in Congress. Kor were 
 they there for more than the first two 
 years of that period, namely, the last 
 two years of Washington's adminis- 
 tration. Afterwards, Edward Livincs- 
 ton, of New York, and John Nicholas, 
 of Virginia, were the only aids on whom 
 he had to rely — both, and especially 
 the former, men of fine parliamentary 
 ability, yet leaving to him still the re- 
 sponsibility of sustaining the chief 
 brunt of the battle. John Randolph 
 came in at the close of the period in 
 
ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 
 question. It was there and then, dur- 
 ing the four years of Mr. Adams's ad- 
 ministration, that the revolution of 1801 
 was in truth fought and wrought ; and 
 it was undoubtedly true that there was 
 no other man in the country to whose 
 exertions its triumphant achievement 
 was more to be ascribed than Mr. Gal- 
 latin. Jefferson during this period, as 
 Vice-President, sat as the presiding 
 officer of the Senate. On the other 
 side, there was arrayed a host of men 
 of a high order of ability and elo- 
 quence, — Fisher Ames, Otis and Sedg- 
 wick, of Massachusetts; Hillhouse, 
 Tracy, Griswold and Dana, of Connec- 
 ticut; Sitgreaves, of Pennsylvania; 
 James A. Bayard, of Delaware; Smith 
 and Harper, of South Carolina, and 
 John Marshall of Virginia, after- 
 wards the Chief Justice. It is hardly 
 necessary to add that during that strug- 
 gle, Mr. Gallatin became extremely 
 popular with the Republicans, and 
 equally obnoxious to the Federalists. 
 In fact, his parliamentary career, 
 though known only by tradition to the 
 present generation, was one of a splen- 
 dor unsurpassed by any known to our 
 history. He spoke on every subject of 
 debate that arose, and was, as we have 
 already remarked, the main reliance of 
 his side of the house on all. Such was 
 the dread of his arguments, that the 
 Federalists adopted a resolution pro- 
 hibiting any one from speaking more 
 than twice on any one subject, aimed 
 solely at him, and designed to slacken 
 the fire of his formidable and ever 
 ready batteries of debate — a resolution 
 which he soon, however, made them 
 glad to rescind. They even tried to 
 exclude him from the floor of Congress 
 through an amendment of the Constitu- 
 tion, so as to require actual native citi- 
 zenship for eligibility to that body ; but 
 though they passed resolutions to that 
 effect through the legislatures of all the 
 New England States, the ball was ar- 
 rested in New York and Pennsylvania, 
 and they did not venture the attempt of 
 proceeding any further south. Through 
 all this his opposition was always as 
 fair, manly and patriotic, as it was 
 skilful and eloquent ; never degenerat- 
 ing into factiousness or petulance, and 
 never leading him to give more than a 
 single vole that the calmest retrospec- 
 tion has led him to regret. 
 
 We feel here tempted to insert a few 
 quotations from authorities already in 
 
 a public form before the country, in 
 illustration of the view we have here 
 slightly sketched of Mr. Gallatin's 
 position and services in Congress. 
 
 In Jefferson's Correspondence (Vol. 
 iv., page 434-5,) he says: 
 
 " There is one particular service ren- 
 dered by me the most important in its 
 consequences, of any transaction in any 
 portion of my life ; to wit, the head I per- 
 sonally made against the federal princi- 
 ples and proceedings, during the adminis- 
 tration of Mr. Adams. Their usurpations 
 and violations of the Constitution, at that 
 period, and their majority in both houses 
 of Congress, was so great, so decided, 
 and so daring, that after combating their 
 aggressions, inch by inch, without being 
 able in the least to check their career, the 
 Republican leaders thought it would be 
 best for them to give up their useless efforts 
 there, go home, get into their respective 
 legislatures, embody whatever of resist- 
 ance they could be formed into, and if in- 
 effectual, to perish there as in the last 
 ditch. All, therefore, retired, leaving Mr. 
 Gallatin alone in the House of Represent- 
 atives, and myself in the Senate, where I 
 then presided as Vice-President. Re- 
 maining at our posts, and bidding defiance 
 to the brow-beatings and insults by which 
 they endeavored to drive us ofl' also, we 
 kept the mass of Republicans in phalanx 
 together, until the Legislatures could be 
 
 brought up to the charge No 
 
 person who was not a witness to the scenes 
 of that gloomy period, can form any idea 
 of the afflicting persecutions and personal 
 indignities we had to brook. They saved 
 our country however." 
 
 John Randolph, in a speech in the 
 House of Representatives, April 15, 
 1824, thias alluded to Mr. Gallatin: 
 
 " What he now had to say upon this 
 subject, although more and better things 
 had been said by others, might not be the 
 same that they had said, or might not be 
 said in the same manner. He here borrow- 
 ed the language of a man (Mr. Gallatin) 
 who had been heretofore conspicuous in 
 the councils of the country ; of one who 
 was unrivalled for readiness and dexterity 
 in debate; who was long without an 
 equal on the floor of this body ; who had 
 contributed as much to the revolution of 
 1801, as any man in this nation, and had 
 derived as little benefit from it ; — as, to 
 use the words of that celebrated man, 
 ' what he had to say was not that which 
 had been said by others, and would not be 
 said in then: manner,' " &c. 
 
8 
 
 ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 
 And in a note appended at the men- 
 tion of Mr. Gallatin's name adds: 
 
 " Albert Gallatin, < the apostle of truth 
 and the favorite votary of liberty,' as he 
 was hailed by the companion of my early 
 manhood. This gentleman might say, of 
 the place in which he finds himself, what 
 was said of a certain Doge of Genoa, I 
 think, whom the arrogance of Louis XIV. 
 ordered to Paris to make an apology, in 
 his own person, for some oflence on the 
 part of that once proud republic, against 
 the dignity of the grand monarque. 
 
 " Had Montgomery, instead of falling 
 on the heights of Abraham — where Mont- 
 calm and Wolfe, congenial spirits, also 
 
 ' Forsook 
 
 Their mansions in this fleshly nook,' 
 
 survived to see the revolution of 1778-9 
 brought about, would it have ever been 
 objected to him, that, by birth, he was an 
 Irishman ? Would his foreign descent 
 have stood in the way of his claims to the 
 chief magistracy of the country ? 
 
 " Were Mr. Gallatin a French or Eng- 
 lishman, there would be some color to 
 this objection. But he is a native of Ge- 
 neva, and no good Genevese can worship 
 at the shrine of a Bonaparte or a Bourbon. 
 I think that it must be his citizenship of 
 Virginia that stands mostly in the way of 
 the elevation of this extraordinary man, 
 who sees himself postponed to persons in 
 no respect considerable, except for the 
 modesty of their pretensions, who had 
 never, and can never, render a tithe of his 
 public services, and whose names were 
 not known out of their own parish, so late 
 as the acquisition of Louisiana, and the 
 commencement of Mr. Jefferson's second 
 term of presidential service. No foreign- 
 er, be it remembered, can ever become 
 president, who was not a citizen at the 
 time of the adoption of the new constitu- 
 tion of 1787. The door will soon be closed 
 against them for ever, be their merits and 
 services what they may." 
 
 And the author of the celebrated 
 Letters of Curtius, (John Thompson, 
 of Petersburg, Virginia), thus gives an 
 eloquent expression to the enthusiasm 
 of admiration and gratitude of which 
 Mr. Gallatin's noble services to the re- 
 publican cause made him at that time 
 the object: 
 
 " Nicholas, Livingston and Gallatin, 
 were the most distinguished opponents of 
 the alien and sedition bills. These en- 
 lightened patriots have long been objects 
 of abhorrence and terror to all the ene- 
 mies of our constitution and liberty. The 
 
 splendid ability with which they have de- 
 fended the interests, and vindicated the 
 rights of the people, has endeared them to 
 every admirer of genius, eloquence and 
 virtue, whilst it has rendered them emi- 
 nently obnoxious to all the partizans of 
 usurpation and monarchy. The noble 
 exertions of these illustrious men will 
 never be forgotten whilst patriotism and 
 talents are admired in the world. Their 
 names will descend with renown to pos- 
 terity, when their enemies and slanderers 
 will be consigned to oblivion's deepest 
 grave. In spite of the envenomed and 
 execrable calumnies of venal printers, in 
 spite of the rancorous and malignant in- 
 vectives of licentious orators, in spite of 
 the yells of an infuriated faction, and in 
 spite of the senseless clamors of deluded 
 multitudes, even the present generation 
 will do ample justice to the small but in- 
 trepid phalanx who have exerted the sub- 
 limest energies of the human mind in de- 
 fence of liberty. I am not accustomed to 
 panegyric, and the energy of language 
 cannot express the gratitude and affection 
 with which my heart overflows, when I 
 reflect upon the services of these most 
 excellent men. 
 
 " When I select the names of Gallatin, 
 Livingston, and Nicholas, I am not un- 
 mindful of the merits and talents of many 
 other gentlemen. I have selected them 
 because they have been exposed to the most 
 cruel obloquies of your parly. Mr. Galla- 
 tin has been persecuted with all the de- 
 testable rancor of envy and malice. The 
 accuracy of his information, the extent of 
 his knowledge, the perspicuity of his style, 
 the moderation of his temper, and the irre- 
 sistible energy of his reasoning powers, 
 render him the ablest advocate that ever 
 appeared in the cause of truth and liberty. 
 Patient and persevering, temperate and 
 firm, no error escapes his vigilance, no 
 calumny provokes his passions. To ex- 
 pose the blunders and absurdities of his 
 adversaries, is the only revenge which he 
 will condescend to take for their insolent 
 invectives. Serene in the midst of clamors, 
 he exhibits the arguments of his opponents 
 in their genuine colors, he divests them of 
 the tinsel of declamation and the cobwebs 
 of sophistry, he detects the most plausible 
 errors, he exposes the most latent absurdi- 
 ties, he holds the 'mirror up' to folly, 
 and reasons upon every subject with the 
 readiness of intuition and the certainty of 
 demonstration. Elevated above the in- 
 trigues of parties, and the weaknesses of 
 the passions, he is never transported into 
 any excess by the zeal of his friends, or 
 the virulence of his enemies. His object 
 is the happiness of the people, his means 
 economy, liberty and peace, his guide the 
 
ALBERT GALLATIN, 
 
 constitution. The sympathies whichfasci- 
 natc! the heart and mislead the understand- 
 ing, liave never allured him from the ardu- 
 ous pursuit of truth, through her most in- 
 tricate mazes. Never animated by the 
 impetuous and turbulent feelings which 
 agitate popular assemblies, he preserves, 
 in the midst of contending factions, that 
 coolness ol" temper and that accuracy of 
 thought, which philosophy has hitherto 
 claimed as the peculiar attribute of her 
 closest meditations. He unites to the ener- 
 gy of eloquence and the confidence of in- 
 tegrity, the precision of mathematics, the 
 method of logic, and the treasures of ex- 
 perience. His opponents slander him and 
 admire him, they assail him with ignorant 
 impertinence and pitiless malice, and yet 
 they feel that he is the darling of philoso- 
 phy, the apostle of truth, and the favorite 
 votai7 of liberty. Their hatred, like the 
 rebellion of Satan, proceeds from the im- 
 patience of any superiority. There is a 
 daily beauty in his life which makes them 
 ugly. Instead of imitating his excellence 
 they attempt to conceal it by a mass of ob- 
 loquy ; instead of reverencing his unparal- 
 leled wisdom and virtue, they sharpen the 
 dagger of falsehood, and prepare the poi- 
 soned arrows of envy. The men who are 
 supported by a foreign faction have the 
 effrontery to vilify him because he is a 
 foreigner. Virtue and genius are not pecu- 
 liar to America. They have flourished in 
 every country and in every age. The 
 merits of men are not to be ascertained by 
 geographical boundaries. The mind has 
 no country but the universe. Patriotism 
 is not a narrow and illiberal prejudice in 
 favor of the soil upon which we happen 
 to be born. It is a rational and noble at- 
 tachment to the country which gives us 
 protection, and which secures our happi- 
 ness. It is not incompatible with univer- 
 sal philanthropy ; on the contrary, it is a 
 modification of benevolence, softened by 
 society and strengthened by gratitude. 
 Mr. Gallatin is attached to the constitu- 
 tion because it is free, to the people be- 
 cause they are generous and amiable, and 
 to the country because he has found in it 
 an asylum from oppression and misery. 
 
 " Are not these ties at least as binding 
 as the shackles of prejudice and habit ? 
 But the conduct of Mr. Gallatin is his best 
 vindication. This foreigner has defended 
 the constitution against the attacks of na- 
 tive Americans, and has displayed a noble 
 ardor in the defence of his adopted coun- 
 try, whilst many of her sons repose in in- 
 glorious apathy, and whilst others assail 
 her with detestable treachery and unnatu- 
 ral hatred. I will not compare your po- 
 litical conduct with that of this much vili- 
 fied foreigner," &c. 
 2 
 
 We have mentioned that in all the 
 debates of those times, Mr. Gallatin, 
 with a most extraordinary versatility, 
 took an active share in the discussion 
 of every important subject, foreign or 
 domestic, which was agitated. But 
 there was one branch, which, from the 
 beginning of his political career and 
 through the whole of it, engrossed his 
 principal attention, and which he seems 
 almost to have appropriated to himself. 
 
 When he came into public life, in 
 the year 17S9, the state of the public 
 finances was the engrossing topic of 
 statesmen abroad and at home, though 
 Mr. Gallatin has often been heard to 
 remark that it was astonishing how 
 little it was understood even by the 
 men of the best general abilities in 
 Congress, and especially in his own 
 party. The modern system of public 
 credit and of a growing public debt 
 had already made alarming progress. 
 In France it was the proximate cause 
 of the Revolution. In England, efforts 
 had been made, since the peace of 
 1783, to arrest its progress, which the 
 war with France soon rendered abor- 
 tive. At home the inefficiency of the 
 Federal Government had, since the 
 peace, caused a vast increase of the 
 debt created by the war of independ- 
 ence. Deeply impressed with the 
 threatened progress of this system, 
 believing that a public debt was for a 
 nation, as it is for individuals, apositive 
 evil of great magnitude ; that under 
 the most lavorable circumstances its 
 tendency is to increase by artificial 
 means the inequality of fortunes; and 
 that, if permitted to become an ordi- 
 nary state of things, the payment of 
 interest, however just, becomes a per- 
 manent tax on industry in favor of 
 idleness, Mr. Gallatin devoted from the 
 beginning his faculties to the ultimate 
 extinguishment of the public debt, 
 first of his own State and then of the 
 United States. But he would have 
 this be done in conformity with strict 
 justice. There must be a payment in 
 good faith and without exception, of 
 all the public engagements. The 
 influence of his Genevan education 
 was apparent in his whole public 
 course on this subject, as well as in the 
 religious care with which he has al- 
 ways, in his private affairs, abhorred 
 and shunned any form of debt; havino- 
 never, notwithstanding his relations 
 with banks and the banking system. 
 
10 
 
 ALBERT GALLATIN- 
 
 had the accommodation of a single 
 cent from any of them. In Geneva a 
 pitblic opinion has long prevailed on 
 the subject of debt and bankruptcy, 
 which presents a lamentable contrast 
 to thai of which so much disgraceful 
 and disastrous evidence has of late ap- 
 peared amongst us. The law of the 
 republic to which Montesquieu de- 
 votes a chapter, under the title of " the 
 good law," is doubtless familiar to 
 many of our readers, by which the 
 children of any bankrupt were held 
 disqualified for all public employment 
 so long as any of their father's debts 
 were left unpaid. Mr. Gallatin brought 
 with him this salutary idea into our 
 public affairs; and the success which 
 attended his labors to infuse it into the 
 minds of both parties, and into the 
 legislation of the country, was perhaps 
 the most important of the many servi- 
 ces of which the praise is due to him. 
 In the Legislature of Pennsylvania, he 
 rejected at once the pretence that the 
 depreciation in the price of the public 
 securities, caused by the temporary 
 inability to pay the interest, was a rea- 
 son for not paying their full amount to 
 the holders. And at the time when 
 this was made the subject of decla- 
 mation against the funding system, he 
 insisted that funding was only ]irovid- 
 ing for the payment of that wfiich was 
 due; and that the defect of the plan 
 adopted, consisted in the conversion of 
 the arrears of interest into a three per 
 cent, stock, which was tantamount to 
 a reduction of fifty per cent, on that 
 part of the debt; in the postponement 
 for ten years of the interest on one 
 third of the principal; and in the as- 
 sumption of State debts to an arbitrary 
 amount, without having previously 
 ascertained by the settlement of ac- 
 counts what was actually and justly 
 due to each State. It is well known 
 that this last measure, which Avas a 
 subject of much contention, was de- 
 fended partly from political considera- 
 tions, partly in order to give immediate 
 relief to some of the States who were 
 laboring, as they thought unjustly, 
 under the weight of oppressive taxa- 
 tion. 
 
 The state of the finances of Penn- 
 sylvania was favorable, and Mr. Gal- 
 latin found but little difficulty in carry- 
 ing his views there into effect. He 
 proposed that the creditors of the Slate 
 should be paid in full conformity with 
 
 the pledged public faith, and that for 
 that purpose the State should pay to 
 them the difference (amounting to 
 more than twenty-five per cent.) be- 
 tween the nominal amount of their 
 just demands, and that which the said 
 creditors would receive from the United 
 States, by subscribing to the assump- 
 tion of the State debts. This measure, 
 which was carried, by a considerable 
 majority, was sustained by all the 
 members of the Pvepublican party, not 
 a single one of whom was known to be 
 personally interested in the result. 
 
 Similar views were generally enter- 
 tained by the same party in Congress ; 
 but at that time they counted more 
 men of talent than of business among 
 themselves. They had not sufficiently 
 analyzed the facts, and their move- 
 ments in that respect had been vague 
 and desultory. It is a curious circum- 
 stance, in illustration of this, and of 
 the manner in which almost every- 
 thing was left to the executive depart- 
 ments, that prior to Mr. Gallatin's en- 
 trance into Congress, there had been 
 no Committee of Ways and Means in 
 the House of Representatives. The 
 body depended for all information and 
 all investigation of questions connected 
 with the public finances, upon the 
 Treasury Department, in which were 
 in point of fact performed most of the 
 important duties now appertaining to 
 that committee. One of Mr. Galla- 
 tin's first acts, in 1795, was to procure 
 its appointment. Mr. Gallatin became 
 thoroughly acquainted with the subject 
 in all its details. He explained his 
 views in "A Sketch of Finances," pub- 
 lished in 1796; and during the whole 
 time of his serving in Congress, he 
 embraced every opportunity to impress 
 the necessity of a reduction of all un- 
 necessary expenses, of a system of 
 rigid economy, and of applying, in 
 preference to every other object, all 
 surplus revenue to the reduction of the 
 public debt. This was urged so often, 
 in so many shapes, and with such ear- 
 nesmess, that it gradually became the 
 primary object of ihePtepublican party. 
 On their accession to power in ] 801, he 
 was selected — without having a single 
 competitor, either named or thought of 
 by any — for the office of Secretary of 
 the Treasury, principally for the pur- 
 pose of carrying into effect that policy 
 for which the Republicans had pledged 
 themselves. With what fidelity and 
 
ALBERT GALLATIN, 
 
 11 
 
 success the pledge was redeemed is 
 well known. 
 
 The public debt, on the first of April, 
 1801, amounted to $80,000,000, and 
 the annual interest on the same, to 
 $4,180,000. During the first four years 
 of Mr. JefiTerson's administration, an 
 additional debt of $15,000,000 was in- 
 curred, for the purchase of Louisiana ; 
 and a further sum of £600,000 ster- 
 ling became due to Great Britain, in 
 satisfaction of British private debts, 
 the payment of which had been as- 
 sumed by the treaty of 1794. 
 
 Mr. Gallatin, in his first annual re- 
 port to Congress, proposed a perma- 
 nentannual appropriation of $7,300,000 
 on account of the payment of the in- 
 terest, and gradual reimbursement of 
 the principal of the debt; and that 
 this should have the priority of all 
 others. This amount was subsequently 
 increased to $8,000,000, on account of 
 the purchase of Louisiana. A law to 
 that effect was passed by Congress, 
 who at the same lime lessened the 
 revenue by a repeal of all the internal 
 taxes. The only addition to that reve- 
 nue, till the year 1812, consisted of an 
 additional duty, of two and a lialf per 
 cent., on goods paying duties ad valo- 
 rem. 
 
 The reimbursements on account of 
 the principal of the ])ublic debt, be- 
 tween the first of April, 1801, and the 
 first of January, 1812, (including the 
 above-mentioned £600,000 sterling, 
 and $3,750,000, on account of the pur- 
 chase of Louisiana), amounted to 
 $52,400,000. And the public debt was, 
 on the last- mentioned day, reduced to 
 $45,120,000, bearing an interest of only 
 $2,220,000, and consisting of the fol- 
 lowing items, viz. : 
 
 Old debt at 3 per cent. 16,150,000 
 " at 6 per cent. 17,720,000 
 
 $33,870,000 
 Louisiana debt balance, 11,250,000 
 
 $45,120,000 
 
 Nothing can be more self-evident 
 than the utter impossibility of dis- 
 charging a de!)t, unless there be an 
 actual excess of receipts over current 
 expenditures: that a so-called "Sink- 
 ing Fund" becomes a perfect mockery, 
 whenever Government borrows more 
 than it does pay ; that an appropria- 
 
 tion without a corresponding surplus 
 would have been purely nominal; and 
 that a most rigid system of economy 
 was indispensable, in order to produce 
 that surplus. In enforcing this with 
 unabated perseverance, Mr. Gallatin 
 was uniformly sustained by public 
 opinion and by Congress. The pro- 
 gress of redemption, slow at first, in- 
 creases afterwards with great com- 
 pound rapidity ; and a few years more 
 would have been sufficient fo eflfect 
 the reimbursement of the whole debt. 
 The war of 1812 necessarily arrested 
 that progress, and again swelled the 
 debt to more than $120,000,000. But 
 the impulse had been given. The 
 total extinguishment of the debt had 
 become a fundamental principle of the 
 Government. The original plan of Mr. 
 Gallatin was pursued, with no other 
 alteration than an increase of the an- 
 nual appropriation from eight to ten 
 millions of dollars. And by steadily 
 persevering in that course, the whole 
 debt was extinguished within about 
 twenty years after the conclusion of 
 the peace. 
 
 Nothing great can be performed 
 without a singleness of purpose, which 
 disregards all other objects as subor- 
 dinate. And it may be that if the re- 
 demption of the public debt had been 
 less rapid during Mr. Gallatin's ad- 
 ministration, the country might have 
 been better prepared for war Avhen it 
 took place. Mr. Gallatin had, how- 
 ever, the sagacity to know that it 
 would make but little difference in the 
 degree of preparation of national de- 
 fences and means of contest, for which 
 it is impossible ever to obtain consid- 
 erable appropriations before the near 
 approach of the danger that may ren- 
 der them necessary. He knew that the 
 money thus well and wisely devoted to 
 the payment of the debt was only res- 
 cued from a thousand purposes of ex- 
 travagance and mal-application, to 
 which all our legislative bodies are so 
 prone, whenever they have the com- 
 mand of surplus funds. It is a lamen- 
 table fact, which Mr. Gallatin has 
 been condemned to witness in his old 
 age, that scarcely had the United States 
 been relieved from that burthen, 
 through the operation of the policy 
 originated and established by him, be- 
 fore the several States, in their indi- 
 vidual capacity, incurred in a few 
 years a debt exceeding in amount that 
 
12 
 
 ALBERT GALLATIN, 
 
 which had been contracted during two 
 wars. 
 
 It has always been the concurring 
 testimony of all parties, that ihe Trea- 
 sury Department has never been better 
 adrninisiered than by Mr. Gallrttin. 
 Jefi'er&on's own testimony to l!ii? ellect 
 will be seen in the following extracts 
 of letters written at the close of his 
 Presidency, which we take from his 
 published correspondence : 
 
 "MR. JEFFERSON TO MR. GALLATl N, nCT. 11, 1809. 
 
 " I hope that you will 
 
 consider the eight years to come as essen- 
 tial to your political career. I should cer- 
 tainly consider any earlier day of your 
 retirement, as the most inauspicious day 
 our new Government has ever seen. In 
 addition to the common interest in this 
 question, I feel particularly for myself the 
 considerations of gratitude which I per- 
 sonally owe yon, for your valuable aid 
 during my administration of the public 
 affairs, a just sense of the large portion of 
 the public approbation which was earned 
 by your labors, and belongs to you, and 
 the sincere friendship and attachment 
 which grew out of our joint exertions to 
 promote the common good." — Correspon- 
 dence, vol. iv., p. 136. 
 
 " MR. JF.FFERSON TO MR. JDNES, M.\RCH 5. ISIO. 
 
 " Were we to believe the ue\vsi)apers 
 which portend that Mr. Gallatin will go 
 out, that indeed W(Hdd be a day of 
 mourning for the United States." — Ibid., 
 vol. iv., p. 143. 
 
 His official reports present models of 
 clearness combined with conciseness. 
 His well known Report on Roads and 
 Canals in 1808, presented a valuable 
 mass of accurate statistical knowledge, 
 and gave his views at large on the 
 subject of Internal Improvements, of 
 which he was a friend, considered 
 chiefly with a view to strengthen the 
 Union, by facilitating communications 
 and shortening distances. Mr. Galla- 
 tin was the sole author of the National 
 Road, intended as a model, and to 
 show that the Alleganies interposed 
 no real barrier between the Eastern 
 and Western Slates. The credit of the 
 organization of the Coast Survey on 
 scientific principles, is also in a great 
 degree his. In the execution of the 
 law passed for that purpose, Mr. Gal- 
 latin made the wise selection of Mr. 
 Hassler to conduct it, and sent him to 
 Europe for the necessary instruments. 
 
 The full value of this great work re- 
 mains yet to be appreciated by the 
 people of this country. INor, in this 
 slight allusion to a few of the greai 
 measures through which Mr. Gallatin 
 has so deeply impressed the stamp of 
 his hand upon the policy and destinies 
 of his country, ought we to omit tli« 
 Public Land system, which wa& de- 
 vised, digested, and carried into execu- 
 tion by him. As the holder of the 
 purse, he at the same time exercised 
 what may almost be termed a control- 
 ling influence over most of the other 
 departments of the administration. 
 
 As the preservation of peace was a 
 necessary ingredient for the accom- 
 plishment of the great object Mr. Gal- 
 latin had in view, it cannot be won- 
 dered that he should lo the last mo- 
 ment have been opposed to the war, 
 which public opinion forced on Mr. 
 Madison's administration. But he was 
 from principle a sincere lover of peace ; 
 he had entertained almost Utopian 
 hopes, that the geographical position 
 and political institutions of the Unit- 
 ed States might enable them to pre- 
 serve it for an indefinite period of time. 
 And the last years of his political life, 
 in the diplomatic service of the coun- 
 try, were employed in promoting that 
 object. 
 
 On the offer of the Russian media- 
 tion in 1813, Mr. Gallatin was eager 
 that the opportunity of securing an 
 honorable peace should be taken ad- 
 vantage of; and he retired from the 
 seat in the Cabinet which he had filled 
 with so much honor and usefulness 
 during the Presidencies of Jefferson 
 and Madison, to take part in the ne- 
 gotiations of Ghent, in order to bring 
 his earnest efforts to bear upon that 
 object. He performed an active part, 
 with his distinguished associates, on 
 that occasion. He then proceeded to 
 Ldndon, where, in conjunction with 
 Messrs. Adams and Clay, he negotiat- 
 ed the commercial convention between 
 the two countries, that succeeded the 
 war. The rest of his public life has 
 been passed in the diplomatic service 
 In all his subsequent missions to Eng- 
 land, France, and the Netherlands, 
 whilst sustaining with great force of 
 argument the just riijhtsof the United 
 States, he successfully used his best 
 endeavors in settling as far as practi- 
 cable existing differences, and in 
 strengthening the bonds of amity and 
 
ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 
 13 
 
 mutual good will between America 
 and foreign countries. 
 
 In France, wiiere he resided as min- 
 ister from 1816 to 1823, (a most inter- 
 esting period in the history of Europe, 
 and of the internal affairs of France in 
 particular, and when her capital, from 
 which Englishmen had been so long 
 excluded, became the centre of attrac- 
 tion for the whole civilized world), he 
 paved the way for the existing com- 
 mercial arrangements, and for the ul- 
 timate recognition of the indemnities 
 justly due to American citizens. With- 
 in this period he was twice deputed on 
 extraordinary missions: in 1817, to the 
 Netherlands, where he was associated 
 with Dr. Eustis, and in 1818 to Eng- 
 land, with Mr. Rush, to which coun- 
 try he was again appointed Minister 
 Plenipotentiary in 1826. In England 
 he succeeded in arranging in a satis- 
 factory manner the difficult question 
 respecting the fisheries; in obtaining 
 the abandonment of the British claim to 
 the navigation of the Mississippi, com- 
 pensation for the slaves carried away 
 contrary to the provisions of the Treaty 
 of Ghent, and the recognition of the 
 forty-ninth degree of latitude as the 
 boundary between the two countries, 
 from the Lake of the Woods to the 
 Rocky Mountains. On other subjects, 
 wc may reicr with satisfaction and 
 pride to his correspondence with Mr. 
 Canning respecting the West India in- 
 tercourse, to his statement of the claims 
 of the United States to the Oregon 
 Territory, published by order of Con- 
 gress, and to his conclusive arguments 
 respecting the North-Eastern Bounda- 
 ry, which it was agreed to refer to ar- 
 bitration. 
 
 With respect to the estimation in 
 which Mr. Gallatin was held through- 
 out his diplomatic career, we may 
 safely say thai no American abroad in 
 that capacity ever maintained a higher 
 position, in every point of view. He 
 was uniformly considered, in the two 
 great capitals of Europe, as one of 
 the most distinguished members of 
 the diplomatic corps. His eniinent 
 talents, extent and minuteness of 
 general information, and fine conversa- 
 tional powers, could not fail every- 
 where to attach to his person the most 
 distinguisiied social consideration; 
 while on the part of the governments 
 to which he was accredited, the manly 
 uprightness and good faith character- 
 
 izing all his official conduct, in the full 
 spirit of the American diplomacy, se- 
 cured to him the highest respect and 
 confidence. A peculiar elegance of 
 courtesy and tact, maintained without 
 compromise of the high-toned republic- 
 anism of his political sentiments, also 
 served in no small degree to conciliate 
 the good-will and good feeling of all 
 parties, as well to the country as to its 
 representative — of which he had, on 
 more than one occasion, striking and 
 gratifying proofs. 
 
 On Mr. Gallatin's last return to the 
 United States, in December, 1827, he 
 chose the city of New York as his 
 residence; and, with the exception of 
 the preparation of the argument as 
 one of the agents of the United States, 
 to be laid before the king of the Nether- 
 lands, which occupied him for the first 
 two years, he has not held any public 
 office. 
 
 But his career since that time has 
 been far from inactive. His interest in 
 public atlairs did not cease with his 
 having a direct participation in their 
 management. His essay, published in 
 1840, on the North-Eastern Boundary, 
 in which the fallacies, by which the 
 English had attempted to complicate a 
 very plain proposition, are refuted, was 
 the amusement of his leisure hours; 
 while his essay on the map of Mr. 
 Jay, before the New York Historical 
 Society, recently published, will be the 
 final discussion of a question, rendered 
 by ihe Treaty of Washington matter 
 of historical instead of diplomatic re- 
 search. 
 
 He has published within that period 
 two elaborate and able pamphlets on 
 the subject of the Currency, which we 
 can cheerfully admit to have been 
 valuable contributions to the general 
 discussion of that subject, though in 
 some particulars their views vary from 
 those of the school, political and eco- 
 nomical, supported by ourselves. Mr. 
 Gallatin has been more friendly to the 
 banking system, including a national 
 bank, than we think it has deserved ; 
 though it should not be forgotten that 
 his opinions on this point had their 
 origin in a period when the general 
 subject was much less clearly under- 
 stood, and was regarded by parties in 
 very different lights than, with the aid 
 of the great national experiences 
 through which we have passed, is now 
 the case. Looking only to the health- 
 
14 
 
 ALBERT GALLATIN, 
 
 fill use of the system, under pure ad- 
 ministration— (and, especially jn reler- 
 eace to ilie earlier poverty of the coun- 
 try, when the stimulus and aid of the 
 artificial capital thus created were 
 perhaps beneticial where an altered 
 state of things makes tliem now perni- 
 cious) — Mr. Gallatin did not, we think, 
 rest his attention suthciently upon the 
 fatal evil of its liability and tendency 
 to abuse. We believe that his opinions 
 have undergone some material modifi- 
 cations within a recent period. But 
 though he disapproved of the course 
 of General Jackson's administration in 
 relation to the currency, and remem- 
 bering the creation of the late Bank of 
 the ifnited States by the Republican 
 party itself, saw in such an institution 
 a safe and convenient fiscal machine 
 for the transactions of the General 
 Government, yet he was always very 
 severe against the abuses of its man- 
 agement, and strong in denouncing the 
 overaction into which the system ran ; 
 and his views of the proper functions^ 
 of banks, and the proper principles of 
 true commercial banking, partook of 
 the clear and comprehensive sagacity 
 which his mind has always applied to 
 every subject that it touched. In fact, 
 a National Bank being out of the ques- 
 tion — which recommended itselfto him 
 merely as a restraining check upon the 
 existing system, and as a fiscal machine 
 for the Government— Mr. Gallatin ap- 
 pears in the publications referred to, m 
 his own word, as an " ultra-buUionist." 
 He proposed to limit the issues of a 
 national bank to notes of denominations 
 not less than one hundred dollars — a 
 limit beyond the suggestions of many 
 of the strenuous opponents of banks and 
 paper money. Without claiming any 
 right to speak authoritatively as to his 
 opinions, we have indeed but little 
 doubt that if Mr. Gallatin should again 
 give to the country any further publi- 
 cations on this subject, they would be 
 found to be very nearly, if not entirely, 
 in harmony with those now generally 
 prevalent in the Democratic party. 
 
 One valuable public service rendered 
 by Mr. Gallatin has not been spoken 
 of We refer to his agency in effect- 
 ing the return to specie payments by 
 the banks of New York, in May. 1838. 
 It may well be doubted whether that 
 event would have taken place at that 
 time without him. After his settle- 
 meat ia New York, he had accepted 
 
 the presidency of one of the local banks, 
 which he had directed in such a man- 
 ner that by forcing payment to ithy its 
 debtor banks, it might have withstood 
 the storm of the preceding year, could 
 any public good have been effected by 
 such a course at that time. This capa- 
 city gave him the opportunity to apply 
 his influence and efforts to the great 
 object of the resumption. In the two 
 conventions of bank presidents held in 
 New York, he was the chief advocate 
 of that course, insisting upon it always 
 on the highest grounds of moral obliga- 
 tion, without regard to any conse- 
 quences of profit or loss. In this course 
 he was well seconded by several of his 
 associates, among whom it will not be 
 invidious to name in particular Mr. 
 Newbold, of the Bank of America, and 
 Mr. Lawrence of that of the State of 
 New York. 
 
 Mr. Gallatin is, as he has always 
 been, a strong Free Trade man — an 
 early disciple of the Adam Smith school. 
 These views may be seen in his essay on 
 the Finances, in 1796, and in his report 
 on Manufactures to Congress in 1810. 
 They were repeated with great force 
 and ability in the memorial to Con- 
 gress on behalf of the Free Trade Con- 
 vention of 1831, the preparation of 
 which Avas committed to Mr. Gallatin. 
 
 We may here, in passing, allude to 
 the interesting historical fact, that one 
 of the first propositions brought for- 
 ward by the Republican party, on 
 coming into power in 1801, was for the 
 abolition of those restrictions on the 
 freedom of navigation, which had be- 
 fore been maintained on the ground of 
 retaliatory discrimination. This pro- 
 position, which was more than once in- 
 troduced into Congress by Gen. Smith, 
 of Maryland, was resisted and defeated 
 bv the Federalists. It was not till after 
 a lapse of fourteen years that that party 
 came to understand better the true in- 
 terests of the country, when the mea- 
 sure which they had thus opposed was 
 now brought forward by one of their 
 own number. Mr. Dana, of Connecti- 
 cut, was the author of the well known 
 law of March 3, 1815, which, short as 
 it is in its terms, has ever since con- 
 stituted the basis of the navigation 
 policy of the United States, and which, 
 with the exception of a comparatively 
 trifling modification, h,verbati/n etlite- 
 raiim, the proposition of General Smith 
 of December 14th, 1801. The Com- 
 
ALBERT GALLATIN, 
 
 15 
 
 mercial Convention with England, in 
 1815, above referred to, was the first 
 application to practice of the principle 
 of that altered and more liberal policy; 
 and that instrument has continued the 
 model of the subsequent conventions of 
 a similar character with other coun- 
 tries. We trust that no serious danger 
 is portended to the stability of this pol- 
 icy, by the recent demonstrations we 
 have seen, of a desire to cloak the ob- 
 noxious principle of tariff protection 
 under the disguise of retaliatory dis- 
 criminations, withdrawn from the ac- 
 tion of the mort' popular branch of our 
 government by being put in the form 
 of treaty stipulations. 
 
 Nor has ihe retirement of Mr. Gal- 
 latin been devoted exclusively to sub- 
 jects connected with his public remi- 
 niscences. With a memory tenacious 
 in the extreme, and to which all histor- 
 ical knowledge seems to be tributa- 
 ry, and with most accurate scientific 
 attainments, no one can be admitted lo 
 Lis intercourse, without being convinc- 
 ed that his learning is deep and vari- 
 ous. In 1836, Mr.' Gallatin published, 
 in the Transactions of the American 
 Antiquarian Society, a "Synopsis of 
 the Indian Tribes in the United States 
 east of the Rocky Mountains, in the 
 British and Russian possession," the 
 materials of which he had been for 
 many years collecting — a work of vast 
 labor, which will long remain as a 
 valuable contribution to the literature 
 of the country to whose political affairs 
 its author's life had been devoted, as 
 well as a very remarkable monument 
 of the zeal and industry in scientific 
 research, which no weight of years 
 seems able to weaken. He is now 
 understood to be engaged in a similar 
 work with respect to those of Mexico. 
 
 In the course of the present year he 
 has allowed himself to be elected Pre- 
 sident of the New York Historical So- 
 ciety, and he holds the same relation 
 to the Ethnological Society, which has 
 been recently organized under his aus- 
 pices. 
 
 We are conscious of the meagrcness 
 and imperfection of this sketch of the 
 life of one of the most able, useful and 
 eminent of the great statesmen whose 
 names adorn the annals of our country. 
 We have left unnoticed many things 
 which would have sufficed to make the 
 honorable lame of many other men. 
 Mr. Gallatin still continues the charm 
 and the light of every circle in the 
 midst of which his presence shines — 
 not more venerable for those grey hairs 
 which constitute the crown of glory 
 and of beauty to the head of age — out- 
 numbered as they are by the public 
 honors and services crowded into the 
 years by which they have thus been 
 whitened — than delightful in the rich- 
 ness, instructiveness and elegance of 
 his conversation. The faculties of his 
 mind appear not less vigorous and vi- 
 vacious than they could have been in 
 the prime of youth. We have only to 
 fear that that indulgent kindness which 
 is rarely if ever appealed to in vain by 
 the young, may be somewhat too se- 
 verely taxed by the liberties of praise 
 which we have ventured to take with 
 his name; and which all but its subject 
 will recognize as only an inadequate 
 and unworthy expression of the vene- 
 ration which he cannot but inspire, to 
 all who, after reading his history in the 
 history of the country, can enjoy the 
 privilege of access to the society of so 
 noble a relic and memorial of its better 
 days. 
 

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