denly called to Mount
Vernon by the death of Mr. Whiting, the manager of his estates. During
his brief absence from the seat of government, occurred the case of
the Little Sarah. This was a British merchant vessel which had been
captured by a French privateer, and brought into Philadelphia, where
she had been armed and equipped for privateering; manned with one
hundred and twenty men, many of them Americans, and her name changed
into that of _Le Petit Democrat_. This, of course, was in violation of
Washington's decision, which had been communicated to Genet.

General Mifflin, now Governor of Pennsylvania, being informed, on the
6th of July, that the vessel was to sail the next day, sent his
secretary, Mr. Dallas, at midnight to Genet, to persuade him to detain
her until the President should arrive, intimating that otherwise force
would be used to prevent her departure. Genet flew into one of the
transports of passion to which he was prone; contrasted the treatment
experienced by him from the officers of government, with the
attachment to his nation professed by the people at large; declared
that the President was not the sovereign of the country, and had no
right, without consulting Congress, to give such instructions as he
had issued to the State Governors; threatened to appeal from his
decision to the people, and to repel force by force, should an attempt
be made to seize the privateer.

Apprised of this menace, Governor Mifflin forthwith ordered out one
hundred and twenty of the militia to take possession of the privateer,
and communicated the circumstances of the case to the cabinet.

Mr. Jefferson now took the matter in hand, and, on the 7th of July, in
an interview with Genet, repeated the request that the privateer be
detained until the arrival of the President. Genet, he writes,
instantly took up the subject in a very high tone, and went into an
immense field of declamation and complaint. Jefferson made a few
efforts to be heard, but, finding them ineffectual, suffered the
torrent of vituperation to pour on. When Genet had subsided into
coolness, Jefferson pressed the detention of the Little Sarah until
the President's return; intimating that her previous departure would
be considered a very serious offence. Genet made no promise, but
expressed himself very happy to be able to inform Mr. Jefferson that
the vessel was not in a state of readiness; she had to change her
position that day, he said, and fall down