DIFFICULTIES OF ADMINISTRATION. =269. Washington’s First Term.=—At the appointed time, before the expiration of his first term, Washington was elected unanimously for a second. During his first term, in which North Carolina and Rhode Island were reconciled to the Union, and Vermont and Kentucky added to it, only two events of great importance took place. These were St. Clair’s defeat and the outbreak of the French Revolution. This latter event was destined to complicate domestic politics in America after Washington had begun his second administration. =270. St. Clair’s Defeat.=—The Northwestern Indians had been giving trouble since 1786, and in 1791 had destroyed the settlement of Big Bottom, in Ohio. In order to check them, it was determined to construct a line of forts from Cincinnati to Lake Michigan. General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, was beginning the work when he was entrapped in ambush, and suffered a crushing defeat (1791). He resigned, and Washington, who was moved to indignation and grief by the catastrophe, appointed “Mad Anthony” Wayne, another Revolutionary veteran, as his successor (§ 198). Wayne, a thorough soldier, proceeded cautiously, and two years later (1793) broke the power of the tribes in a battle near Vincennes. The treaty of Greenville (1795) relieved eastern Ohio from Indian menaces. =271. Genet’s Indiscretions.=—Early in 1793 war was declared between France and England, and the Democratic-Republican party wished to involve America in the struggle, directly or indirectly, in the interests of her former ally. We had a treaty binding us to defend French colonies, like those in the West Indies, but this treaty had been concluded with the French monarchy, not with the Republic that had overthrown Louis XVI. After some discussion in the Cabinet, Washington issued a proclamation of strict neutrality, which naturally disappointed the French revolutionists greatly. Their minister to America, Edmond Charles Genet, landed in Charleston and began to fit out privateers and enlist men in plain defiance of the President’s proclamation. He counted on the sympathy of the people with France, and was, indeed, received with enthusiasm by many visionary citizens. But Washington stopped his privateers, and treated all his demands with such firmness that he soon lost ground. He had the insolence to make a public appeal against the administration. This foolhardy act could lead to but one result—his recall, at the request of the United States. Genet, however, though recalled, chose not to run the risk of returning to France, where the guillotine was in full operation. [Illustration: JOHN JAY.]