3i8 The Winning of the West 



professed to hold dear, and of showing that their 

 warfare on the Federalists had been waged on behalf 

 of principles which they were obliged to confess 

 were shams the moment they were put to the test. 

 But the Federalists of the Northeast, both in the 

 Middle States and in New England, at this juncture 

 behaved far worse than the Jeffersonian Republi- 

 cans. These Jeffersonian Republicans did indeed 

 by their performance give the lie to their past prom- 

 ise, and thereby emphasize the unworthiness of their 

 conduct in years gone by; nevertheless, at this junc- 

 ture they were right, which was far more important 

 than being logical or consistent. But the Northeast- 

 ern Federalists, though with many exceptions, did 

 as a whole stand as th)e opponents of national 

 growth. They had very properly, though vainly, 

 urged Jefferson to take prompt and effective steps 

 to sustain the national honor, when it seemed prob- 

 able that the country could be won from France 

 only at the cost of war; but when the time actually 

 came to incorporate Louisiana into the national 

 domain, they showed that jealous fear of Western 

 growth which was the most marked defect in North- 

 eastern public sentiment until past the middle of 

 the present century. It proved that the Federalists 

 were rightly distrusted by the West; and it proved 

 that at this crisis the Jeffersonian Republicans, in 

 spite of their follies, weaknesses, and crimes, were 

 the safest guardians of the country, because they 

 believed in its future, and strove to make it greater. 

 The jeremiads of the Federalist leaders in Con- 



