RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “W S Shaw Janry / 15th / 1799.”

Not found.

Shaw likely sent AA the Philadelphia American Daily Advertiser, 14, 15 Jan., which covered the 10 Jan. debate in the House of Representatives over the Logan Act, where John Nicholas and Samuel Whittlesey Dana both read from The Political Green-House, For the Year 1798, Hartford, Conn., [1799], Evans, No. 36133.

The “Guillotina, For the Year 1799” was published in the Connecticut Courant, 7 January. The poem recapped the previous year’s major political events from a Federalist viewpoint, in particular the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the appointment of George Washington as commander in chief, and Dr. George Logan’s unauthorized mission to France. The poem accused Thomas Jefferson of instructing Logan to go to France and in Jefferson’s name: “‘Tell them, to make impression far, / That they would fain avoid a war; / Such demo plans must surely thrive, / In spite of our Executive. / ’Tis thus they’ll raise our chop-fall’n party, / And gain a host 361 of friends full hearty— / Fly, speed your course, and Satan bless, / Your Mission with complete success’” (lines 285–292).

The Political Green-House, For the Year 1798 described the Battle of the Nile, in part: “The Gallic navy foil’d and torn, / With pale discomfiture forlorn, / Wide scatter’d o’er Rosetta’s bay, / In prostrate ruin helpless lay; / Two shatter’d fly; the rest remain / To wear the valiant victor’s chain; / While o’er the wreck-obstructed tide / The British ships in triumph ride” (lines 721–728).

Shaw was quoting from AA’s letter to JA, 6 Jan., above.

Congress had tried throughout the 1790s to pass bankruptcy legislation without success. The issue gained urgency, however, after the financial failure and imprisonment of Robert Morris. Debate on the most recent bill, which dealt with large commercial debtors, hinged on ideological differences between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans over whether the country was primarily commercial or agrarian. Despite a Federalist majority in the House, the bill failed by three votes on 15 Jan. 1799 (Bruce H. Mann, Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence, Cambridge, 2002, p. 168–169, 205–214, 327).

For the Blount affair, see vol. 12:x–xi. William Blount refused to appear at his trial before the Senate on 3 Jan. and instead was represented by Jared Ingersoll and Alexander James Dallas, who argued that the Senate lacked the jurisdiction to try him. James Asheton Bayard and Robert Goodloe Harper,the managers from the House, argued that Blount was subject to impeachment as a civil officer as the term was used in the Constitution; however, Ingersoll and Dallas prevailed, and after three days of debate a motion to overrule Blount’s plea was rejected, and the case was dismissed on 14 Jan. (William H. Masterson, William Blount, Baton Rouge, La., 1954, p. 339, 341–342; Annals of Congress , 5th Cong., 3d sess., p. 2245–2319).

In his 8 Dec. 1798 speech to Congress, JA said he would submit dispatches on French affairs that had been received since the close of the previous session. Despite this assertion and JA’s repeated requests, Timothy Pickering had been holding the papers, primarily Elbridge Gerry’s correspondence with Talleyrand, ostensibly because he was drafting a report to accompany the dispatches. Unaware of the reasons for the delay, Albert Gallatin on 8 Jan. 1799 introduced a resolution requesting the dispatches because he did not believe the House should consider legislation on Franco-American relations without them. On Harper’s belief that the information was forthcoming, the resolution was laid aside until 16 Jan. when Gallatin repeated his motion but again agreed to postpone it. The dispatches were finally submitted on 18 Jan. ( Annals of Congress , 5th Cong., 3d sess., p. 2421, 2572–2573, 2677, 2725; Amer. State Papers, Foreign Relations , 2:204–229; Elkins and McKitrick, Age of Federalism , p. 613–614). For Pickering’s report, submitted on 21 Jan., see Shaw to AA, 21 Jan., and note 2, below.