, Mr. Sedgwick, of
Massachusetts, arose and moved "that provision ought to be made by law
for carrying into effect, with good faith, the treaties lately concluded
with the dey and regency of Algiers, the king of Great Britain, the king
of Spain, and certain Indian tribes northwest of the Ohio." The
opposition were completely surprised by this unexpected movement, and an
angry altercation ensued. They complained loudly of the manner in which
an attempt was made to force action upon the four treaties together, and
resented what they deemed the ungenerous sharp practice of their
opponents, because it was in contravention of the solemn vote of the
house lately recorded upon their journals, declaratory of their right to
exercise a free discretion over the subject. It was contended, on the
other hand, that, as the four treaties formed part of one system, if one
was rejected, it might be expedient to reject the others also. After a
warm debate, it was agreed to dispose of the other treaties before
taking up that with Great Britain. In accordance with this
determination, the action of the house on the other treaties was such as
not to contradict the claim set up by Blount's resolutions, and they
were disposed of without any difficulty.

The treaty with Great Britain was taken up on the fifteenth of April.
Its friends, in and out of Congress, supposing that on a subject which
had so long agitated the community, the mind of every member was
settled, and that an attempt to make converts by either party through
debates would be futile, urged an immediate decision of the matter. They
felt confident that the majority would not dare to meet the country on
such an issue as the withholding of means for the execution of the
treaty; but that majority, though knowing they had the power to break
the treaty, were unwilling to do so without first embracing an
opportunity for giving satisfactory reasons for their action. They
therefore called for discussion. "The expectation," says Marshall,
"might not unreasonably be entertained, that the passions belonging to
the subject would be so inflamed by debate as to produce the expression
of a public sentiment favorable to their wishes; and if in this they
should be disappointed, it would be certainly unwise, either as a party
or as a branch of the legislature, to plunge the nation into
embarrassments in which it was not disposed to entangle itself, and from
which the manner of extricating it could n