do it. It is also lawful to carry with them any quantity of
provisions, arms, and ammunition; and if the act is lawful in itself,
there is nothing but the particular intention with which it is done
that can possibly make it unlawful. But I know of no law which
inflicts a punishment on intention only; or any criterion by which to
decide what would be sufficient evidence of that intention, if it was
a proper subject for legal censure.

"I shall, upon all occasions, be averse to the exercise of any power
which I do not consider myself as clearly and explicitly invested
with, much less would I assume power to exercise it against men whom I
consider as friends and brethren, in favour of a man whom I view as an
enemy and a tyrant. I shall also feel but little inclination to take
an active part in punishing or restraining any of my fellow citizens
for a supposed intrusion only, to gratify or remove the fears of the
minister or a prince who openly withholds from us an invaluable right,
and who secretly instigates against us a most savage and cruel enemy."

Upon the receipt of this extraordinary letter, the President directed
General Wayne to establish a military post at Fort Massac, on the
Ohio, for the purpose of stopping by force, if peaceful means should
fail, any body of armed men who should be proceeding down that river.

This precaution appears to have been necessary. The preparations for
the expedition were, for some time, carried on with considerable
activity; and there is reason to believe that it was not absolutely
relinquished, until Spain ceased to be the enemy of France.[23]

[Footnote 23: Intercepted letters were laid before the
President, showing that this expedition had been
communicated to some members of the national convention and
approved. It was stated that Mr. Genet, with the rank of
major general, was to be Commander-in-chief of all forces
raised on the American continent, and to direct their
movements.]

The proceedings of the legislature of South Carolina embarrassed those
who had planned the invasion of the Floridas, but did not entirely
disconcert them. In April, a French sloop of war arrived on the
confines of Georgia and East Florida, with a small body of troops, who
were landed on one of the islands on the coast, south of the St. Mary,
and who declared themselves to be part of a larger force, which might
soon be expected. Upon their arrival, several small c