Volume III Part 19 (1/2)

[395] It must be borne in mind that the American Const.i.tution declares that, in and of itself, it is law--the supreme law of the land; and that no other written const.i.tution makes any such a.s.sertion.

[396] See _infra_, chap. IV.

[397] Jefferson to Mrs. Adams, Sept. 11, 1804, _Works_: Ford, X, footnote to 89.

[398] See _infra_, chap. VIII.

[399] Jefferson to Jarvis, Sept. 28, 1820, _Works_: Ford, XII, 162. Yet, at the time when he was founding the Republican Party, Jefferson had written to a friend that ”the laws of the land, administered by upright judges, would protect you from any exercise of power unauthorized by the Const.i.tution of the United States.” (Jefferson to Rowan, Sept. 26, 1798, _ib._ VIII, 448.)

[400] Jefferson to Gallatin, July 12, 1803, _Works_: Ford, X, 15-16. It should be remembered that most of the banks and the financial and commercial interests generally were determined opponents of Jefferson and Republicanism. As a sheer matter of ”practical politics,” the President cannot be fairly criticized for thus trying to weaken his remorseless foes.

[401] See Channing: _U.S._ IV, 313-14.

[402] Talleyrand to Decres, May 24, 1803, as quoted in Adams: _U.S._ II, 55.

[403] Morison: _Otis_, I, 262; see also Adams: _U.S._ II, 56.

[404] See instructions to Livingston and Monroe, _Am. State Papers, Foreign Relations_, II, 540.

[405] Adams: _U.S._ I, 442-43.

[406] _Ib._ II, 120-28.

[407] _Works_: Ford, X, 3-12.

[408] American Insurance Company _et al._ _vs._ Canter, 1 Peters, 511-46, and see vol. IV, chap. III, of this work.

[409] See _U.S. Statutes at Large_, II, 283; and _Annals_, 8th Cong. 2d Sess. 1597.

[410] For instance, Senator Plumer, two years later, thus stated the old Republican doctrine which the Federalists, in defiance of their party's creed and traditions, had now adopted as their own: ”We cannot admit a new partner into the Union, from without the original limits of the United States, without the consent, first obtained, of each of the partners composing the firm.” (Plumer to Smith, Feb. 7, 1805, Plumer, 328.)

[411] Jefferson to Nicholas, Sept. 7, 1803, _Works_: Ford, X, 10.

[412] Jefferson to Breckenridge, Aug. 12, 1803, _ib._ 7.

[413] Jefferson to Madison, Aug. 18, 1803, _ib._ 8.

[414] ”The medicine for that State [North Carolina] must be very mild & secretly administered.” (Jefferson to Nicholas, April 7, 1800, _ib._ IX, 129; and see Adams: _U.S._ III, 147.)

[415] ”The millenium was to usher in upon us as the irresistible consequence of the goodness of heart, integrity of mind, and correctness of disposition of Mr. Jefferson. All nations, even pirates and savages, were to be moved by the influence of his persuasive virtue and masterly skill in diplomacy.” (Eaton's account of a call on President Jefferson, 1803, _Life of the Late Gen. William Eaton_: Prentiss, 263; also quoted in Adams: _U.S._ II, 431.)

[416] Cabot to King, July 1, 1803, King, IV, 279. The Louisiana Purchase was first publicly announced through the press by the _Independent Chronicle_ of Boston, June 30, 1803. (Adams: _U.S._ II, 82-83.)

[417] Ames to Gore, Oct. 3, 1803, Ames, I, 323-24.

[418] Tracy to McHenry, Oct. 19, 1803, Steiner: _Life and Correspondence of James McHenry_, 522.

[419] Oct. 20, 1803, Plumer, 285.