Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/585

GALLATIN 573 1795. He directed his attention particularly to financial questions, and besides maintaining his views in debate published two pamphlets, "A Sketch of Finances" (1796), and "Views of Public Debt," &c. (1800). He made im- portant speeches on "Foreign Intercourse," March 1, 1798; on the "Alien Law," March 1, 1799; and on the "Navy Establishment," Feb. 9 and 11, 1799. On May 15, 1801, he was appointed by President Jefferson secretary of the treasury, which office he held under him and Madison till 1813. He was eminently successful in his management of the treasury department, and soon attained a reputation as one of the first financiers of the age. His an- nual reports exhibit great ability, and had the highest influence upon the general legislation of the republic. He opposed the increase of the national debt, and prepared the way for its gradual extinction. He systematized the mode of disposing of the public lands, and was a zealous advocate of internal improvements, particularly the national road and the coast survey. He also exercised great influence on the other departments of the government, and on the politics of the country. In 1809 Presi- dent Madison offered him the state depart- ment, which he declined. He was opposed to going to war with Great Britain in 1812, and as a member of the cabinet exerted himself strenuously to restore amicable relations with the British government. An offer having been made by the Kussian government to me- diate between the United States and Great Britain, President Madison, March 8, 1813, nominated as ministers to negotiate, Gallatin, James A. Bayard of the senate, and John Quincy Adams, at that time American minis- ter at St. Petersburg. Gallatin and Bayard in May sailed for St. Petersburg in a private ship, with a cartel from the British admiral, granted at the request of the Russian ambassador at Washington. The senate, on meeting in extra session a few weeks later, refused to confirm Gallatin's appointment, because it was incom- patible with his secretaryship. The attempt at mediation resulted in nothing, but in Jan- uary, 1814, an offer was received from the British government proposing a direct negotia- tion for peace. President Madison nominated as commissioners John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, Bayard, and Gallatin. Gallatin was still abroad, and to obviate the objection of the senate on account of his hold- ing the office of secretary of the treasury, he resigned that post definitively. It was finally decided that the negotiations should be con- ducted at Ghent. In the discussions which resulted in the treaty of peace, Dec. 24, 1814, and in the commercial convention with Great Britain a short time afterward, Gallatin had a prominent and honorable share. In 1815 he wus appointed minister to France, where he remained till 1823. During this period he was twice deputed on special missions of impor- tance, to the Netherlands in 1817 and to Eng- land in 1818. While in this office he ren- dered some essential service to Mr. Alexander Baring in the negotiation of a loan for the French government. Mr. Baring in return pressed him to take a part of the loan, offering him such advantages in it that without ad- vancing any funds he could have realized a fortune. "I thank you," was Gallatin's re- ply; "I will not accept your obliging offer, because a man who has had the direction of the finances of his country as long as I have should not die rich." On his return from France he refused a seat in the cabinet, and declined to be a candidate for vice president, to which he was nominated by the democratic party. In 1826 he was appointed by Presi- dent Adams envoy extraordinary to Great Britain. After negotiating several important commercial conventions, he returned to the United States in December, 1827, and took up his residence in the city of New York. Soon after his return he prepared the argument in behalf of the United States to be laid before the king of the Netherlands as an umpire on the Maine boundary question. In 1830 he was chosen president of the council of the univer- sity in New York. In 1831 he published " Con- siderations on the Currency and Banking Sys- tem of the United States," in which he advo- cated the advantages of a regular bank of the United States. He was a member of the free trade convention at Philadelphia in 1831, and prepared for that body the memorial which was submitted to congress. From 1831 to 1839 he was president of the national bank in the city of New York, and on resigning the office was succeeded by his son James Gallatin. The remainder of his life was devoted to literature, and especially to historical and ethnological researches. In 1842 he was one of the chief founders, and was chosen first president, of the ethnological society. He was president of the New York historical society from 1843 till his death. During the controversy with Great Britain on the northeastern boundary, he pub- lished a pamphlet on the subject, which display- ed great research. Again, in 1846, during the Oregon difficulties, he published letters on the " Oregon Question," distinguished by impar- tiality, moderation, and power of reasoning. He was strongly opposed to war, and during the war with Mexico he wrote a pamphlet of which 150,000 copies were printed, and which bad a marked influence on public opinion. At an early period Mr. Gallatin turned his attention to the ethnological and philological character- istics of the American Indians. His first essay on this topic was written in 1823 at the request of Humboldt. He afterward published " Sy- nopsis of the Indian Tribes within the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, and in the British and Russian Possessions in North America," forming vol. ii. of the Archceologia, Americana (American antiquarian society, Worcester, 1836) ; and the subject was one of the last that occupied him in a work on the