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            <title>Elbridge Gerry</title>
            <author>William Plumer</author>
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            <p>The Plumer Project</p>
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         <sourceDesc>
            <p>Information about the source</p>
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         	<pb n="1" facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_008.jpg"/>
            <head><title>Elbridge Gerry.</title></head>
				<p><lb/>The son of Thomas Gerry, a native of Newton, England, but
				<lb/>emigrated to this country in 1730, was born at Marblehead,
				<lb/>Massachusetts, the 17th of July 1744. He entered Harvard college
				<lb/>before he was fourteen years of age, &amp; graduated there in 1762.
				<lb/>He was at first destined to the profession of medicine, to which
				<lb/>he was strongly attached; but soon after he left college he engaged
				<lb/>in the same business his father followed &amp; at his request, that of a
				<lb/>merchant; &amp; for sometime attended the routine of mercantile pur=
				<lb/>=suits in his native town. The knowlege he acquired of commerce &amp; the
				<lb/>modes of transacting that branch of business was useful to him in future
				<lb/>life.
				<fw>[July 7, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='2' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_009.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>The strong political excitements of the times attracted his
				<lb/>attention from the compting house, tho for the time he was successful,
				<lb/>&amp; terminated his connection with commerce, to which he had little
				<lb/>partiality. In the intervals of public employment he did indeed
				<lb/>resume the avocation, but as might be expected, when not steadily
				<lb/>pursued with no great satisfaction or advantage; &amp; after a few
				<lb/>years he finally abandoned it for other objects more congenial to
				<lb/>his mind.</p>
				<p><lb/>He made his first appearance in public life as a represen=
				<lb/>=tative of his native town in May 1772-a period when the
				<lb/>royal government &amp; people were in a high state of acrimony &amp;
				<lb/>almost open collision. The next year he was re-elected, &amp; tho one of
				<lb/>the youngest members, was appointed a member of the standing
				<lb/>committee of correspondence &amp; enquiry with the other colonies; &amp;
				<lb/>of the committee to prepare an address to the provinces. He was
				<lb/>distinguished for his zeal &amp; firmness in support of the rights of his
				<lb/>country. His spirit was nourished by close communion with the
				<lb/>Adamses, the Hancocks, &amp; the Warrens of those days. He entered early,
				<lb/>from principle, in opposition to British encroachments, &amp; continued
				<lb/>one of the most uniform republicans to the end of the contest. During
				<lb/>the revolution, beside his own personal exertions, which were unre=
				<lb/>=mitted &amp; indefatigable, he did not hesitate, in many cases, to advance
				<lb/>his own funds, when immediate payment was required, &amp; to
				<lb/>incur responsibities on his own credit, which the government was
				<lb/>then unable to redeem, &amp; which in fact, occassioned him in the end
				<lb/>heavy pecuniary losses.</p>
				<p><lb/>In 1774, in consequence of difficulties which arose in Marblehead on
				<lb/>account of the small pox, he declined a re-election to the legislature.
				<lb/>But in October he was elected member of an assembly which met at
				<lb/>Salem, &amp; adjourned to Concord, where they assumed the form of a legisla=
				<lb/>=tive assembly under the name of the provincial congress.</p>
				<p><lb/>In 1775 he was a member of the provincial congress of Massachusetts
				<lb/>which virtually destroyed the royal authority in that province. He was
				<lb/>chairman of the committee of supplies to provide ammunition &amp; pro=
				<lb/>=visions, &amp; to deposit them in some place of safety for future use. This
				<lb/>trust he executed with great punctuality &amp; unwearied industry. On the
				<lb/>18th of April the British troops on their march to Lexington, in the middle
				<lb/>of the night, passed the house in which the committee held their ses=
				<lb/>=sion. After the foremost of the troops passed, Gerry from his bed saw
				<lb/>a portion of them preparing to surround the house, he sprang from
				<lb/>his bed, &amp; half dressed escaped undiscovered &amp; concealed himself in a
				<lb/>cornfield, till the troops entered &amp; searched the house &amp; bed chambers, and
				<lb/>joined the main body &amp; marched off; Gerry then returned, &amp; tho his
				<fw>[July 8, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='3' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_010.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>bed had been rumpled, he found his clothing &amp; watch safe.
				<lb/>Being ardent &amp; persevering in his measures to oppose the public
				<lb/>enemy, early in November he proposed that the provincial congress
				<lb/>should raise a committee upon the subject of fitting out armed
				<lb/>vessels &amp; establishing a court for the trial &amp; condemnation of assizes.
				<lb/>The committee was appointed, a bill reported, &amp; passed; &amp; soon after the
				<lb/>council appointed him, under the authority of that Act, maritime judge
				<lb/>for the counties of Suffolk, Middlesex, &amp; Essex; but thinking he could
				<lb/>be more useful as a legislator &amp; preferring it to that of a judge,
				<lb/>he declined the appointment.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 18th of January 1776 he was elected a delegate to the general
				<lb/>congress, &amp; on the 9th of February following took his seat, &amp; continued
				<lb/>such under other elections till the 5th of July 1780. As a delegate he was
				<lb/>constantly attentive, active, industrious, exact, &amp; tenacious of public &amp;
				<lb/>private honor, &amp; rendered great service to the nation. He was a zealous
				<lb/>&amp; able advocate for the independence of this country, &amp; signed the declara=
				<lb/>=tion of it. From his first entrance into congress, till the organization
				<lb/>of the treasury board in 1780, he continued to be a member, &amp; generally
				<lb/>chairman of the committee of the treasury. In his capacity of presiding
				<lb/>officer of the board of the treasury, he rendered himself particularly
				<lb/>invidious to general Arnold, whose extravagant accounts he rejected
				<lb/>with a spirit which deserves admiration, as Arnold was then known
				<lb/>only as a gallant soldier, whose skill &amp; courage had been conspicu=
				<lb/>=ously exerted for his country, &amp; the liberality with which such talents &amp;
				<lb/>activity were then promptly rewarded, inclined men to a favorable
				<lb/>consideration of his claim. To Arnold&apos;s abusive appeal to congress,
				<lb/>for he appealed there, Mr Gerry replied, and after exhibiting with great
				<lb/>calmness the reasons of his decisions on his accounts, concluded with
				<lb/>a severe reprehension of the conduct of his assailant. &quot;If,&quot; said he,
				<lb/>&quot;the faithful discharge of our official duty, unpleasant enough in
				<lb/>itself, is to bring with it the liability of personal attack of men who
				<lb/>have neither honesty in their public dealings nor curtesy in private
				<lb/>life, it might be well to abolish all guards on the treasury, &amp; admit
				<lb/>rapacity &amp; crime to help themselves at pleasure.&quot; This was intrepid lan=
				<lb/>=guage at the period, &amp; must be sound doctrine at all times.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 14th of January 1778, in a letter to a friend, he says, &quot;I am worn
				<lb/>down with fatigue, &amp; have been waiting with some impatience to return
				<lb/>to Massachusetts; but I have wished to see certain measures accomplished
				<lb/>before I left congress; when those were finished, others presented themselves
				<lb/>equally important &amp; I waited for them, &amp; so on; but this mode of travelling
				<lb/>will never get me home. I must therefore determine at all events to leave
				<lb/>this place in the spring.&quot; The 24th of April he says, &quot;I wish to see a return of
				<fw>[July 11, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='4' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_011.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>some of my colleagues, in order to obtain such relaxation from business,
				<lb/>as at length has become indispenably necessary for preserving my health.
				<lb/>Two years constant attention to the business of congress &amp; the board of
				<lb/>the treasury, the members of which have been unequal in number to the
				<lb/>duties required, with opportunity for very little exercise, is
				<lb/>rather hazardous to the constitution, &amp; I feel the effects of it.&quot; The
				<lb/>26th of May he says, &quot;I had before this thot to have set off for Massa=
				<lb/>chusetts, but have not been able to break away from the incessant la=
				<lb/>=bors which occupy me day &amp; night much of this time &amp; close application
				<lb/>was devoted to forming &amp; vindicating the articles of confederation between
				<lb/>the States.&quot; Near the close of 1779 he was appointed at the head of the com=
				<lb/>=mittee chosen by Massachusetts to meet delegates from other states
				<lb/>at Philadelphia, to devise a corrective for the deplorable state of the
				<lb/>paper currency.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 19th of February 1780, upon the question of proportioning sup=
				<lb/>=plies to be furnished by the several states &amp; the value of them,  he moved
				<lb/>that the prices should conform to those agreed upon by a convention
				<lb/>previously held at New Haven. This motion was objected to as being
				<lb/>out of order; on the question of order, he requested the yeas &amp; nays, but congress
				<lb/>refused to record them. This course he considered improper &amp; injurious
				<lb/>to Massachusetts, who he thot was required to contribute more then her equal
				<lb/>proportion to the common cause. He therefore on the 5th July left congress
				<lb/>where he had devoted, without recess or intermission four years &amp; a half to
				<lb/>his official labors for which he received about four thousand dollars specie
				<lb/>value.</p>
				<p><lb/>Soon after his return to Massachusetts, he made his complaint to their
				<lb/>general assembly; the house approved of his conduct, &amp; voted to sustain his
				<lb/>complaint but the council probably thinking the opinion expressed by the
				<lb/>popular branch would answer all the purposes proposed by the measure
				<lb/>let the resolve lie on the table. This course did not satisfy Mr Gerry. In
				<lb/>November he was re-elected delegate to congress, but declined the appoint=
				<lb/>=ment, assigning as a reason that the rights &amp; prerogatives of the state had
				<lb/>been invaded in his person, &amp; no redress had on his own application, &amp; no
				<lb/>demand had been made by his constituents. The court resolved that they
				<lb/>approved of the high sense which he had of his right of priviledge, and
				<lb/>instructed their delegates to make such representation to congress as the im=
				<lb/>=portance of the subject required. Their delegates accordingly presented a
				<lb/>remonstrance &amp; protest against the proceedings of congress, which was
				<lb/>placed in their files. Tho Mr Gerry was absent, congress appointed him a
				<lb/>member of the committee to visit the army.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 31st of January 1781 he was elected a member of the American
				<lb/>Academy of Arts &amp; Sciences. In October he was elected a representative
				<lb/>by the inhabitants of Marblehead, &amp; a senator by the county of Essex, to
				<lb/>the Massachusetts legitature. The office of senator he declined, but that
				<fw>[July 11, 1831]</fw>			
					<pb n='5' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_012.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>12</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry</fw>
				<lb/>of representative he accepted. In April 1782 he was again elected
				<lb/>senator, but again declined the office.</p>
				<p><lb/>The 21st of June 1781 he was again elected a delegate to the congress of the
				<lb/>United States; but the controversy which induced him to leave congress the
				<lb/>preceeding year not being settled, nor such measures adopted by the
				<lb/>State in relation to it as he thot satisfactory, he formally declined the
				<lb/>appointment; but the legislature did not accept his decline. In June 1782
				<lb/>the legislature re-appointed him delegate to congress; &amp; in June 1783 they
				<lb/>again re-appointed him. Yielding to the solicitations of personal &amp; political
				<lb/>friends, &amp; satisfied at length with the measures which had been ta=
				<lb/>=ken on his remonstrance, he resumed his seat in congress on the
				<lb/>third of November following, where he remained till some time in
				<lb/>September 1785, when he closed his career in the old congress. It is said
				<lb/>that at the age of less than forty two years he had been longer a mem=
				<lb/>=ber of congress than any other man in it. He was opposed to the society
				<lb/>of Cincinnati-he considered it too aristocratical for our institutions,
				<lb/>&amp; as having a tendency to introduce an order of nobility into the country.
				<lb/>He preserved his habits of industry, &amp; close attention to every subject
				<lb/>that was moved in congress; he transcribed with his own hands their
				<lb/>public &amp; private proceedings during every day of his attendance. Congress
				<lb/>appointed him one of the commissioners to settle with the contractors
				<lb/>of the army; but he declined the appointment.</p>
				<p><lb/>Before he left congress, but after he was more than forty years old, he
				<lb/>married a daughter of James Thompson of New York. By her he had
				<lb/>a numerous family of children. She, and three sons, &amp; six daughters
				<lb/>survived him.</p>
				<p><lb/>In May 1785 he was elected a member of the Senate of Masachusetts,
				<lb/>but declined the office; observing he was elected a representative, which
				<lb/>he intended to accept as soon as his term of delegate to congress should
				<lb/>expire.</p>
				<p><lb/>In 1786 he was appointed by the legislature of Massachusetts one of their
				<lb/>delegates to meet delegates from the other States at Annapolis the first of
				<lb/>September, to consider the commerce of the United States, &amp; how far a
				<lb/>uniform system of commercial regulations was necessary, &amp; to report a
				<lb/>bill upon the subject to congress. The delegates from Massachusetts con=
				<lb/>=sidered the plan too limited &amp; inefficient for the purpose, &amp; severally declined
				<lb/>the appointments. At the meeting only five States attended at Annapolis;
				<lb/>&amp; nothing was done, except recommending the States to appoint a convention
				<lb/>to meet the next year at Philadelphia.</p>
				<p><lb/>The general court of Masachusetts appointed him a delegate to the con=
				<lb/>=vention, which met at Philadelphia &amp; formed the constitution of the United
				<lb/>States. On the 29th of May 1787 he attended &amp; took part in the business and
				<lb/>debates of that assembly; but having arrived at the conclusion in his own mind
				<lb/>that it did not comport with the well being of the country, with regret. but
				<fw>[July 11 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='6' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_013.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>without hesitation, he declined signing the constitution. In his letter
				<lb/>of the 18th of October following to the president of the Senate &amp; speaker of
				<lb/>the house of representatives of Massachusetts, he stated his objections
				<lb/>to the constitution in a frank &amp; candid manner, addressed to their
				<lb/>understanding, not their passions. &quot;My principal objections,&quot; he says,
				<lb/>&quot;to the plan are, there is no adequate provision for a representation
				<lb/>of the people; that they have no security for the right of election; that
				<lb/>some of the legislature are ambiguous, &amp; others indefinite &amp; dangerous,
				<lb/>that the executive is blended with, &amp; will have an undue influ=
				<lb/>=ence over, the legislature; that the judicial departments will be
				<lb/>oppressive; that treaties of the highest importance may be formed by
				<lb/>the president with the advice of two thirds of a quorum of the Senate;
				<lb/>&amp; that the system is without the security of a bill of rights.&quot; But
				<lb/>in the conclusion he says, &quot;I shall only add, that as the public
				<lb/>welfare requires a better constitution than the confederation, I
				<lb/>shall think it my duty, as a citizen of Massachusetts, to support
				<lb/>that which shall be finally adopted, sincerely hoping it will
				<lb/>secure the liberty &amp; happiness of America.&quot;</p>
				<p><lb/>The convention of Massachusetts, which met the 9th of January 1788,
				<lb/>to decide the question whether they would ratify the constitution, on
				<lb/>the 14th of that month voted that Mr Gerry &quot;be requested to take a
				<lb/>seat in the convention, to answer any questions of fact from time
				<lb/>to time, that the convention may ask, respecting the passing of the
				<lb/>constitution;&quot; &amp; appointed a committee to request him to attend, &amp; he
				<lb/>attended accordingly. On the 18th the convention voted that his an=
				<lb/>=swers should be in writing; with which he complied. On the 22d he
				<lb/>wrote a long letter to the convention respecting the constitution; to
				<lb/>which objections &amp; some pointed remarks were made; &amp; no further
				<lb/>communications appear to have been made by him. His opposition
				<lb/>to the constitution exposed him to the censure of many of his former
				<lb/>political friends, &amp; to much abuse in the journals of the day. He felt
				<lb/>severely the revulsion of public opinion, &amp; the loss of popularity.</p>
				<p><lb/>At the first election of representatives to congress under that consti=
				<lb/>=tution, he was brot forward as a candidate; but at the first meetings
				<lb/>in Middlesex there was no choice, &amp; previous to the second his friends
				<lb/>again named him. He then published, under his own signature, a
				<lb/>manly address to the electors, requesting such of them as were dispo=
				<lb/>=sed to vote for him to turn their attention to some other candidate ex=
				<lb/>=plicitly declaring that an election would by no means be agreeable to him.
				<lb/>After mentioning the unjust accusations &amp; abuse which had been
				<lb/>heaped upon him, for acting according to his own judgment re=
				<lb/>=specting the constitution of the United States, he says, &quot;Some
				<lb/>have endeavored to represent me as an enemy to the 
				<lb/>constitution; than which nothing is more remote from truth
				<fw>[July 12, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='7' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_014.jpg"/>
				<fw>14.</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry</fw>
				<fw>1814.</fw>
				<lb/>Since the commencement of the revolution, I have been solicitious
				<lb/>for an efficient federal government, conceiving that without it we
				<lb/>must be a divided &amp; unhappy people. A government too democratical
				<lb/>I have deprecated; but wished for one that possessed powers sufficient
				<lb/>for the welfare of the union, &amp; at the same time so balanced as to se=
				<lb/>=cure the governed from the rapacity &amp; domination of lawless &amp; insolent
				<lb/>ambition. To an unconstitutional ratification I was therefore opposed,
				<lb/>because thereby every necessary amendment would be precarious.</p>
				<p><lb/>But as the system is adopted, I am clearly of opinion that every citi=
				<lb/>=zen of the ratifying States is in duty bound to support it, &amp; that an
				<lb/>opposition to a due administration of it would not only be unjustifiable
				<lb/>but highly criminal.</p>
				<p><lb/>&quot;Amendments every citizen has a right to urge without enciting a
				<lb/>spirit of prosecution, which is unnecessary in a good cause, &amp; never gains
				<lb/>proselytes in a bad one. Every friend of a vigorous government, as I
				<lb/>conceive, must be desirous of such amendments as will remove the
				<lb/>just apprehensions of the people, &amp; secure their confidence &amp; affection. To
				<lb/>defeat amendments of this description, must be in effect to defeat the
				<lb/>constitution itself. When the question on amendments shall have
				<lb/>received a constitutional decision; I shall cheerfully acquiese, &amp; in any
				<lb/>event, shall be happy to promote the interests of the respectable county
				<lb/>of Middlesex, of this commonwealth, &amp; of the United States.</p>
				<p><lb/>&quot;The part, which I have had to act, &amp; the uncandid treatment, &amp; the
				<lb/>which I have received in this matter will, I trust, justify me in being
				<lb/>thus explicit, for I am conscious that every part of my political conduct
				<lb/>has had for its object, the public welfare.&quot;</p>
				<p><lb/>At the second meeting he was elected by a small majority. In his letter of
				<lb/>acceptance to the governor he says. &quot;I am deeply impressed with the
				<lb/>honorable testimony of the electors of Middlesex, after I had repeatedly
				<lb/>informed them of my declining the appointments. This however has placed
				<lb/>me in a situation, which of all others I wished to avoid; being thereby
				<lb/>reduced to the disagreeable alternative of disappointing my fellow
				<lb/>citizens; who have conferred on me their suffrages, or of filling a place,
				<lb/>which the most cogent reasons had urged me to decline. Under these
				<lb/>circumstances, in the critical state of public affairs, I have preferred
				<lb/>the latter, being determined to sacrifice every personal consideration,
				<lb/>to the acceptance of the office; that desirous as I am of the establishment
				<lb/>of a federal government, no act of mine may have the least appearance
				<lb/>of impeding it.&quot; To his confidential friends he wrote on this subject in
				<lb/>the same strain; &amp; there is not the slightert reason to doubt the
				<lb/>truth &amp; sincerty of his declaration.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 8th of April 1789 he took his seat in congress. When some
				<lb/>of the members were for considering the subject of amendements.
				<lb/>before they had passed the laws necessary to carry the new
				<fw>[July 12, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='8' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_015.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>government into full effect, he opposed that object. In the course of
				<lb/>debate he said, &quot;I am of opinion that we should dispatch the important
				<lb/>subjects now on the table, &amp; reserve the great questions concerning the
				<lb/>constitution; to a period of tranquility &amp; leisure. It is indeed a mo=
				<lb/>=mentuos subject, &amp; very near my heart, &amp; I shall be glad to set
				<lb/>about it as speedily as possible; but I would not stay the operation of
				<lb/>government on that account. I think our political ship should first be
				<lb/>got under way, &amp; that she be not suffered to rot at the wharf, till she
				<lb/>beats off her rudder, or runs a wreck on the shore. I wish an early
				<lb/>day may be assigned for the consideration of amendments, to prevent the
				<lb/>necessity, which the States may feel themselves under of calling a new con=
				<lb/>=vention. I am not one of those facinated admirers of the system who
				<lb/>consider it all perfection; I am not so blind or so uncandid, that I
				<lb/>cannot see, or will not acknowlege it has beauties. It partakes of hu=
				<lb/>=manity; there is blended in it virtue &amp; vice, excellence &amp; error. If it
				<lb/>is referred to a new convention, we risk some of its best properties.
				<lb/>My opinion was openly given, that it ought not to have been ratified
				<lb/>without amendments, but as the matter now stands, I am firmly of
				<lb/>opinion that the salvation of America depends on the establishment
				<lb/>of this government, whether amended or not. If this constitution, which
				<lb/>is now ratified, be not supported, I despair of ever having a government
				<lb/>for these United States.&quot;</p>
				<p><lb/>In 1791 he was re-elected a representative to congress, &amp; held the office
				<lb/>till the 3d of March 1793. Having served four years, he declined a
				<lb/>re-election.</p>
				<p><lb/>In the years 1796 &amp; 1804 he was chosen an elector of president &amp; vice presi=
				<lb/>=dent of the United States.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 22d of June 1797 he was appointed envoy extraordinary jointly with
				<lb/>Pinkney &amp; Marshall to France. Nothing could have been more unexpected
				<lb/>to him than this appointment, which he reluctantly accepted; &amp; on the
				<lb/>9th of August following embarked for that country. On the 4th October
				<lb/>the thee envoys met in Paris, &amp; the next day announced then arrival
				<lb/>to Talleyrand the minister of foreign affairs, &amp; requested an opportunity
				<lb/>to present their letters of evidence. Three days after they had an interview
				<lb/>with the minister, delivered the letters of evidence, &amp; received cards of hos=
				<lb/>=pitality. In a day or two the private &amp; confidential secretary of the mi=
				<lb/>=nister intimated to the secretary of one of the envoys, that some part
				<lb/>of the president&apos;s speech to congress required an explanation; &amp; that the
				<lb/>envoys would not probably have an audience tell the negotiation was
				<lb/>finished. Anonymous persons, afterwards designated by X.Y.&amp;Z, called
				<lb/>upon the envoys, &amp; proposed that they should give a softening turn to the
				<lb/>presidents speech; make a loan of some millions of money to the French
				<lb/>treasury &amp; a gratuity of fifty thousand pounds sterling to certain high officers of
				<lb/>government, for distribution to prominent individuals. The envoys promptly
				<lb/>resolved they would not purchase the right of negotiation. It was intimated
				<fw>[July 12, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='9' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_016.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814.</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>to Mr Gerry thot Talleyrand expected to have seen the American envoy
				<lb/>&amp; to have conferred with them individually on the affairs of the mission.
				<lb/>Gerry communicated the fact to Pinkney &amp; Marshall; they advised him to
				<lb/>call, but declined going themselves. He reluctantly consented, &amp; had several
				<lb/>interviews with Tallyrand, at which they occasionally discussed the
				<lb/>relations of the United States &amp; France.</p>
				<p><lb/>After waiting thirty days, one of the envoys proposed to address the mi=
				<lb/>=nister in an official note, requesting his attention to their situation,
				<lb/>&amp; demanding that measures should be taken to open the negotiation.
				<lb/>Mr Gerry was of opinion it would be useless; but signed with the other
				<lb/>envoys a letter to the minister. To this letter no answer was returned;
				<lb/>but they were given to understand it was laid before the executive
				<lb/>directory, who would command their minister what steps to pursue.
				<lb/>Talleyrand informed Mr Gerry that no treaty would be made with
				<lb/>the envoys, without an apology for the presidents speech, or an equa=
				<lb/>= valent; but that a voluntary offer of a loan would be accepted as
				<lb/>an equavalent. In consequence of Gerry&apos;s visit to Talleyrand, the latter
				<lb/>invited the former to one of his customary dinners, &amp; Mr Gerry afterwards
				<lb/>returned the civility; but his separation from his colleagues was
				<lb/>so unpleasant, that with a single exception he afterwards declined
				<lb/>all personal attention to Talleyrand. All three of the envoys signed
				<lb/>a report to the government of the United States, that there was no prospect
				<lb/>of effecting the object of their mission, without the payment of a large
				<lb/>sum of money.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 4th of February 1798, Talleyrand invited Mr Gerry to call upon
				<lb/>him; at their meeting Talleyrand, after enjoining profound secrecy, informed
				<lb/>Gerry that the directory had determined not to treat with Pinkney &amp; Marshall
				<lb/>but were willing to commence negotiations with him. On the 27th
				<lb/>of that month the envoys demanded of Tallyrand an audience; &amp; on
				<lb/>the 2d &amp; 6th of March were admitted. He insisted on a loan. Pinkney and
				<lb/>Marshall were decidedly against it; but Gerry appeared, at the conferences,
				<lb/>silent on the subject. But when the envoys were together by themselves,
				<lb/>Gerry stated his opinion, that he thot a loan preferable to a war, &amp; was
				<lb/>therefore willing to open negotiation upon the basis of a loan, &amp; when
				<lb/>a treaty was formed not agree to it without the sanction of our govern=
				<lb/>=ment; but the other two envoys met the proposition with an un=
				<lb/>=qualified negative. On the 18th of that month Talleyrand in an official
				<lb/>letter to the envoys avows the opinion that the directory will not treat
				<lb/>with the three envoys, but with one of them. The envoys not being accredited,
				<lb/>but exposed to personal &amp; official mortifications of a humiliating kind,
				<lb/> requested that letters of safe post should be granted to them individually
				<lb/>or to such as they pleased. Letters were accordingly granted to Pinkney
				<fw>[July 12, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='10' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_017.jpg"/>			
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>&amp; Marshall, but not to Gerry; &amp; the two former soon after embarked
				<lb/>for the United States.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 3d of April Talleyrand wrote Gerry that he believed the other two
				<lb/>envoys had withdrawn from the French territories, &amp; expressed a desire
				<lb/>to resume communications with him upon the interests of France &amp;
				<lb/>the United States. The next day Gerry informed him that as an indi=
				<lb/>=vidual he would confer, but the commission being jointly to three
				<lb/>envoys, as a minister he had no authority. On the 20th he wrote Talley=
				<lb/>=rand, That as his colleagues from necessity had left Paris; to prevent a
				<lb/>rupture between the two nations he had consented to remain; but
				<lb/>his conferences must be informal-&amp; that he should communicate them
				<lb/>to his government, but without official authority. Talleyrand abandoned
				<lb/>the demand of a loan, &amp; the explanation of the president&apos;s speech; and
				<lb/>announced the willingness of the government to give Mr Gerry a public
				<lb/>reception.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 3d of May Mr Gerry in a letter to Mr King says, &quot;I cannot say
				<lb/>what will be the opinion of the president, or of his constitutients, re=
				<lb/>­=specting my conduct in remaining here, but I will do nothing that
				<lb/>I cannot justify to my own mind, &amp; which I am not clearly convinced
				<lb/>ought to merit their approbation. I have no personal views in re=
				<lb/>=maining, &amp; the moment I can reconcile this government to my
				<lb/>departure, I shall embark for the United States.&quot;</p>
				<p><lb/>The circumstance of his remaining in France after the other envoys
				<lb/>had left it, &amp; the apprehension that he would do something that would
				<lb/>compromit the honor or interest of our country, excited the people to
				<lb/>censure him with great severity. To a gentleman who had forwarded
				<lb/>to him, by express, the dispatches published in the United States, advising
				<lb/>him to withdraw from France before their contents were made known
				<lb/>&amp; urging the danger of his situation, he writes, &quot;I have received your
				<lb/>letter with copies of the dispatches enclosed. The prospect of a ten year&apos;s
				<lb/>imprisonment would not induce me to quit this country as a fugitive.&quot;
				<lb/>In his conferences with Talleyrand he displayed tatents, information,
				<lb/>industry, prudence, &amp; uncompromising integrity. On the eve of hostilities
				<lb/>between the two nations his zeal, his penetration, &amp; cool perseverance,
				<lb/>laid the foundation for an accomodation. The minister having given
				<lb/>him a positive assurance of the reception of another minister, with the
				<lb/>respect due to the nation he should represent, he on the 10th of June de=
				<lb/>=manded his pass-ports; but the government of France, under various pre=
				<lb/>=tents, delayed it till the 26th of July, when he left Paris for Havre.
				<lb/>There he received an arrete from the French government restraining
				<lb/>the irregular &amp; vexatious conduct of privateers in the West Indian Seas
				<lb/>&amp; assurances given that all other anangements should conform to the
				<fw>[July 12, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='11' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_018.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>just expectations of the United States. The benefits which Mr Gerry
				<lb/>considered as resulting from his residence in that country was, an express
				<lb/>renunciation on the part of France of loans; of reparation for the presi=
				<lb/>=sidents speech; a renuniciation of a demand for the United States to
				<lb/>assume debts due her citizens; a disclaimer of any desire that we
				<lb/>should dissolve the British treaty; an admission of our claim for captures
				<lb/>on the want of a role d&apos;equipage; advances towards a new negotia=
				<lb/>=tion; &amp; the actual preservation of peace.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the first day of October he arrived at Boston; &amp; on the 18th of
				<lb/>that month in a letter to the secretary of State, giving an account of
				<lb/>his mission says_ &quot;I was informed that an immediate rupture
				<lb/>would be the result of my departure from France; &amp; the same com=
				<lb/>=munication being again made, with information, that if I was
				<lb/>determined not to negotiate seperately, this government would be
				<lb/>satisfied with my residence here, untill the government of the United
				<lb/>States could take their measures. I consented to this from public con=
				<lb/>=siderations solely; for every private one was opposed to it. In my
				<lb/>embarrassed situation, not losing sight of the great object of our
				<lb/>mission, a reconciliation with this powerful republic. I have taken
				<lb/>a position, by which I meant to ascertain, if possible, without com=
				<lb/>­=promitting the government of the United States, or myself, the ulti=­
				<lb/>=timate views of France with respect to them. It would have
				<lb/>been impossible for me under existing circumstances to have consented
				<lb/>to a seperate negotiation, had the provision been made in our powers
				<lb/>&amp; instructions: for two of my colleagues, one from the southern, &amp; the
				<lb/>other from the middle states, having been sent back, I could have had
				<lb/>no prospect of forming a treaty, which would have given general
				<lb/>satisfaction to my country; &amp; I could never undertaken any nego=
				<lb/>=ciation, without that prospect. It is therefore incumbent on me to
				<lb/>declare, that should the result of my endeavors present to our govern=
				<lb/>­=ment more pleasing prospects, it is nevertheless, my firm determi=
				<lb/>=nation to proceed no further in this negotiation.&quot;</p>
				<p><lb/>Tho the mission was very unpleasant to each of the envoys, it was
				<lb/>useful to the United States-it opened a way for the termination of
				<lb/>hostile feelings, &amp; the preservation of the peace &amp; honor of our country. Pre=
				<lb/>=sident Adams, the elder, some years after says, Mr Gerry &quot;finally
				<lb/>saved the peace of the nation, for he alone discovered &amp; furnished evi=
				<lb/>=dence that X.Y &amp;Z. were employed by Talleyrand; &amp; he alone
				<lb/>brot home the direct, formal, &amp; official assuran=
				<lb/>=ces upon which the subsequent commission proceeded &amp; peace made.&quot;
				<lb/>After his return from France a number of his friends were desirous
				<fw>[July 13. 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='12' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_019.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>that he should be candidate for representative to congress; but
				<lb/>he positively declined it. In April 1800 &amp; 1801 he was supported
				<lb/>as candidate for governor of Massachusetts, but the opposing can=
				<lb/>=didate succeeded by a small majority: in the last of those years
				<lb/>of 45,816 votes Gerry had 20,169.</p>
				<p><lb/>He spent his time at his farm in Cambridge in philosophical
				<lb/>retirement, attending to his favorite pursuits, the education of his
				<lb/>children, &amp; the cultivation of his land. But in his retirement he
				<lb/>was unfortunate. A friend for whom he had become surety
				<lb/>for a large amount, failed, &amp; left him with a weight of pecuniary
				<lb/>obligation, from which he was never able to extricate himself.
				<lb/>Indeed, at his discease he left to his family only his example and
				<lb/>his fame.</p>
				<p><lb/>Immediately after the attack made in 1808 by the British ship
				<lb/>Leopard upon the American frigate Chesapeake, there was a great
				<lb/>meeting held in Boston on the occasion. Mr Gerry being there,
				<lb/>but not in the assembly, was appointed presiding officer. After
				<lb/>being conducted to the chair, he observed &quot;I had not anticipated
				<lb/>that at my time of life, there could have been a scene like of
				<lb/>the present, but I yield to the call that is made on me, as I hold
				<lb/>it to be the duty of every citizen, tho he may not have but one day
				<lb/>to live, to devote that day to his country.</p>
				<p><lb/>In August 1810 Harvard college conferred on him the degree of doctor
				<lb/>of laws; the people, in the preceeding April, having elected him governor
				<lb/>of Massachusetts, on the duties of which he entered the 2d of June. In
				<lb/>appointments to office, he respected the claims of his political friends
				<lb/>whom he found to have been heretofore almost entirely excluded;
				<lb/>but of the incumbents holding their place at the will of the exe=
				<lb/>=cutive, no one was disturbed in the enjoyment of his situation.
				<lb/>A strong effort was made by influential individuals to change the
				<lb/>governor&apos;s policy in this respect, &amp; there were not wanting those
				<lb/>who expressed their dissatisfaction at the tolerance he was disposed
				<lb/>to observe. But their disapprobation was without effect: his policy
				<lb/>was to effect a conciliation between the people &amp; the administration
				<lb/>of the government of the United States.</p>
				<p><lb/>In April 1811 he was re-elected governor. The opposition of the fede=­
				<lb/>=ralists of Massachusetts, to the administration of the government
				<lb/>of the Unted States, had become not only active but violent. The go=
				<lb/>=vemor in his speech, of the 7th of June, to the legislature, speaking
				<lb/>of the appointments he had made, says, &quot;To diminish, &amp; if possible to
				<lb/>exterminate party spirit, the executive of this commonwealth, during
				<fw>[July 13, 1836]</fw>
					<pb n='13' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_020.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>in the last year, has confirmed in his place, or re-appointed within
				<lb/> or requisite, every state officer under his control, who has been correct in
				<lb/>his conduct, &amp; faithful to his trust; disregarding his polities, &amp; requir=
				<lb/>­=ing only his support of the federal &amp; state constitutions, govern=
				<lb/>=ments &amp; laws, with a due regard to the rights of officers and
				<lb/>individuals subject to his official discretion. But it cannot
				<lb/>be expected of any executive, so far to disregard the sound obli=
				<lb/>=gations of duty &amp; honor, as to preserve in official stations such
				<lb/>individuals as would abuse the influence of their public characters,
				<lb/>by sanctioning resistance to laws, or by such other conduct as will
				<lb/>beguile peaceable &amp; happy citizens into a state of civil warfare.
				<lb/>In all the branches of the government the republicans had a de=
				<lb/>=cided majority, &amp; to aid their partizans passed laws removing she=
				<lb/>=riffs &amp; clerks of court from office, &amp; requiring the governor and
				<lb/>council to appoint men to fill those offices. Impelled by the
				<lb/>considerations mentioned in his speech &amp; the zeal of his partizans,
				<lb/>he turned out some men from office &amp; appointed some others, which
				<lb/>if left to the unbiased exercise of his own judgment it is proba=
				<lb/>­=ble he would not have done.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 25th of April 1812, in compliance with a requisition from
				<lb/>the government of the United States, he promptly issued orders to the
				<lb/>militia officers to detach ten thousand men to be organized and
				<lb/>ready to march at a moments warning for the defence of the coun=
				<lb/>=try. In a private letter of that date he says, &quot;We have been long
				<lb/>enough at peace; we are loosing our spirit, our character, &amp; our
				<lb/>independence. We are degenerating into a mere nation of traders,
				<lb/>&amp; are forgetting the honor of our ancestors, &amp; the interest of poste=
				<lb/>=rity. We must be roused by some great event that may stir up
				<lb/>the ancient spirit of the people. Policy has kept us quiet till it
				<lb/>ceases to be policy. Weakness &amp; exhaustion prevented us from noble
				<lb/>daring, &amp; it was wise in us to temporize untill we gained strength
				<lb/>&amp; vigor. We have now grown to manhood, &amp; it will be shameful in
				<lb/>the man to bear what the child might submit to without dishonor.&quot;
				<lb/>At the April election this year for governor, of 104,156 votes he had
				<lb/>51,326, but the opposing federal candidate was elected by a majority
				<lb/>of 1,370.</p>
				<p><lb/>He possessed a sagacity, a fortitude, an inflexibility, &amp; an indefatigable
				<lb/>application which few men can equal. Forming his opinions with
				<lb/>deliberation, he yielded them with reluctance. Feeling the conviction
				<lb/>arising from thorough investigation, it was not easy to change his results.
				<fw>[July 13, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='14' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_021.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>The tenacity with which he clung to such sentiments as his judgment
				<lb/>approved was at times too determined, &amp; probably obstinate. This tendency
				<lb/>was increased by another, which was the weakest trait of his mind.
				<lb/>He was habitually suspicious, &amp; this habit increased as he advanced
				<lb/>in years. There was little in such a state of mind of the art of acquiring
				<lb/>popularity, &amp; still less in letting it be seen. They who were associated
				<lb/>with him were often oppressed with a conviction that he was doubtful
				<lb/>of their sincerity, &amp; this feeling on their part, generated a state of things
				<lb/>which otherwise would not have existed. It is something anomalous
				<lb/>in the history of character, that an individual punctiliiously upright
				<lb/>in his own conduct, should entertain so many doubts of the sincerity
				<lb/>of others.</p>
				<p><lb/>In religion he was a liberal episcopalian-willing that those who
				<lb/>differed from him should conform to their own opinions. In his temper
				<lb/>he was naturally ardent &amp; impetuous; but subjected his passions to the
				<lb/>dictates of his judgment. Belonging to that school of manners, which
				<lb/>commenced under the royal government, &amp; perfected its pupils in the
				<lb/>camp &amp; cabinet of the revolution, regulating the deportment with
				<lb/>curtesy towards others, &amp; a personal dignity that never lost its self=
				<lb/>respect, lofty without arrogance, affable without familiarity, he
				<lb/>was at all times &amp; under all circumstances, entitled to the character of
				<lb/>a real gentleman.</p>
				<p><lb/>On the 8th of June 1812, at a meeting of severty six members of congress,
				<lb/>all but two of them voted to nominate him as a candidate for vice
				<lb/>president of the United States; &amp; a committee immediately wrote him reque=
				<lb/>=ting his consent. In his letter to them, of the 11th he consented, observing
				<lb/>&quot;That in a republic, the service of each citizen is due to the state, even
				<lb/>in profound peace, &amp; much more so when the nation stands on the
				<lb/>threshold of war.&quot; On the first wednerday of December of 217 electoral votes
				<lb/>he had 131, &amp; was elected; &amp; on the 4th March 1813 took the oath of office
				<lb/>at his own house. He was a zealous, firm, effective supporter of the war
				<lb/>to it he devoted his time &amp; all the energies of his mind. The
				<lb/>24th of May, the first day of the session, he took his seat as presiding officer in the Senate of
				<lb/>the United States, &amp; continued till the senate adjourned on the 2d of
				<lb/>August. As a presiding officer he was not distinguished; but he rendered
				<lb/>great service in supporting the government &amp; the rights of the nation.
				<lb/>During his residence at Washington, the private letter he received from
				<lb/>his friends, &amp; from applicants for office, were numerous. The mere read=
				<lb/>=ing was fatiguing &amp; oppressive, &amp; often deprived him of both
				<lb/>rest &amp; exercise. He politely answered as many of them as he was able.
				<fw>[July 13, 1831]</fw>
					<pb n='15' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_022.jpg"/>
				<fw>1814</fw>
				<fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>There was a town in Massachusetts incorporated by his name
				<lb/>but in 1814 the town petitioned legislature to change its name
				<lb/>to Phillipstown, alledging that Gerry while chief magistrate had
				<lb/>rendered &quot;the name itself a term of odium &amp; reproach,&quot; &quot;&amp; requesting
				<lb/>that it might no longer bear his hateful name.&quot; That a town should
				<lb/>use such virulent language against a man strictly honest &amp; the
				<lb/>second officer in the government of the nation, &amp; that the legislature
				<lb/>should so far approve of it as to grant their request, can be imputed
				<lb/>only to the blindness &amp; madness of party spirit, which then prevailed
				<lb/>in both. Such proceedings reflect more distance on the petitioners &amp; the
				<lb/>legislature, than reproach on Mr Gerry.</p>
				<p><lb/>Mr Gerry attended the second &amp; third sessions of the Senate; and
				<lb/>on the 22nd of November 1814 provided during the whole of a long debate, with his
				<lb/>usual spirit, &amp; in the enjoyment of accustomed health. On returning
				<lb/>to his lodgings he complained of slight indisposition, but amused
				<lb/>himself thro the evening in arranging the letters of the day, &amp; in a
				<lb/>cheerful conversation with the immates of the house. He conversed
				<lb/>about his family in Massachusetts, &amp; taking from his bosom a minia=
				<lb/>=ture, which was always suspended round his neck when the
				<lb/>original was absent, &amp; had hitherto, with a peculiar delicacy of
				<lb/>feeling, been his own personal secret, he spoke of it with an in=
				<lb/>=terest which shew that altho the surpassing beauty delineated
				<lb/>on the picture might have first charmed the imagination, more
				<lb/>enduring qualities had left the impress of affection on his heart.
				<lb/>He rested well thro the night, &amp; breakfasted as usual with the fa=
				<lb/>=mily on the morning of the 23rd, &amp; altho he spoke of some vague
				<lb/>indications of disease, he did not consider them sufficient to prevent
				<lb/>his taking his seat in the Senate, at the hour in which it was to
				<lb/>meet. The carriage coming to cany him to the capitol rather earlier
				<lb/>than usual, he directed the coachman on his way there, to stop at the
				<lb/>office of the register of the treasury, at which he had some business that
				<lb/>required his attention. This being arranged he returned to his carriage,
				<lb/>&amp; had proceeded but a short distance, when a sudden extravasation
				<lb/>of blood took place upon the lungs, &amp; terminated his life in twenty
				<lb/>minutes, almost without a struggle, &amp; apparently without pain, in the
				<lb/>seventy first year of his age.</p>
				<p><lb/>The next day he was buried, under the direction of a committee of
				<lb/>the Senate, in the city of Washington. Congress afterwards erected a
				<lb/>monument of white marble over his remains, with the following in=
				<lb/>=scription. &quot;The tomb of Elbridge Gerry. vice president of the United
				<lb/>[July 13, 1831]
					<pb n='16' facs="https://leaf.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-12/plumer_vol5_023.jpg"/>
				<lb/><fw>1814</fw>
				<lb/><fw>Elbridge Gerry.</fw>
				<lb/>States, who died suddenly in this city, November 23, 1814, on his way
				<lb/>to the capitol as president of the Senate, aged seventy years. Thus
				<lb/>fulfilling his own memorable injunction. It is the duty of every
				<lb/>man, tho he may have but one day to live, to devote that day to the
				<lb/>good of his country.</p>
				
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