wishes, and believing every thing he desires to be true, has kept the
President's mind constantly poisoned with his forebodings. That the
President wishes the revolution may be established, I believe from
several indications. I remember, when I received the news of the King's
flight and capture, I first told him of it at his assembly. I never saw
him so much dejected by any event in my life. He expressed clearly, on
this occasion, his disapprobation of the legislature referring things to
the Heads of departments.

Written March the 12th.

Eodem die. Ten o'clock, A. M. The preceding was about nine o'clock. The
President now sends Lear to me, to ask what answer he shall give to
the committee, and particularly, whether he shall add to it, that, 'in
making the communication, it was not his expectation that the House
should give any answer.' I told Mr. Lear, that I thought the House had
a right, independently of legislation, to express sentiments on other
subjects. That when these subjects did not belong to any other branch
particularly, they would publish them by their own authority; that in
the present case, which respected a foreign nation, the President being
the organ of our nation with other nations, the House would satisfy
their duty, if, instead of a direct communication, they should pass
their sentiments through the President: that if expressing a sentiment
were really an invasion of the executive power, it was so faint a one,
that it would be difficult to demonstrate it to the public, and to a
public partial to the French revolution, and not disposed to considered
the approbation of it from any quarter is improper. That the Senate,
indeed, had given many indications of their wish to invade the executive
power: the Representatives had done it in one case, which was indeed
mischievous and alarming; that of giving orders to the Heads of the
executive departments, without consulting the President; but that the
late vote for directing the Secretary of the Treasury to report ways and
means, though carried, was carried by so small a majority, and with the
aid of members so notoriously under local influence on that question,
as to give a hope that the practice would be arrested, and the
constitutional course be taken up, of asking the President to have
information laid before them. But that in the present instance, it was
so far from being clearly an invasion of the executive, and would be
so little approved by the gene