the establishment of the
Confederacy, and called, unofficially, upon the heads of the several
departments to report, in writing, the condition of things connected
with the operations of their respective bureaux. In this pursuit he
labored almost incessantly, examining with care the archives of the
departments, making notes of important foreign correspondence, and
collating his garnered facts so as to make them most convenient for use.

The foreign relations of the United States were, on the whole,
satisfactory. With the exception of England, the feeling of the European
powers toward the new republic was friendly. The resentments caused by
the long war with the mother-country were blunted, but by no means
deprived of their strength; and the fact that the British government
still held possession of western posts, in violation of treaty
stipulations, to which allusion has already been made, was a cause of
much irritation on the part of the Americans. And this was increased, as
we have observed, by the supposed malign influence of British officers
over the tribes of Indians between the lakes and the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers, whose military strength was computed at five
thousand warriors, one third of whom were, at the time in question,
standing in open hostility to the United States. In the far southwest,
the powerful Creeks, six thousand strong, were at war with Georgia,
while the entire regular force of the United States did not exceed six
hundred men.

We have already alluded to the relative position of the Spaniards in the
southwest, and their disposition to exclude the Americans from the
navigation of the southern Mississippi to its mouth. An attempt to open
that navigation by treaty had failed; and there was an almost
undefinable boundary-line between the Spanish possessions and those of
the United States, about which a dispute had arisen that threatened
unpleasant relations with Spain.

France, the old ally of the new republic, was still friendly; but its
government was then shaken by a terrible revolution just commenced, in
which Lafayette took a conspicuous part. Of this we shall speak
hereafter.

Up to the time in question, the representatives of France in America had
exhibited the most friendly disposition. Count de Moustier, the
successor of the Chevalier de Luzerne, was assiduous in his attentions;
and Washington had scarcely commenced the exercise of his executive
functions, before that embassador, who