inal session. Philadelphia was in glee over the
transfer of the departments. The convention which framed the new state
Constitution met here in the fall, and the legislature was also holding
its sessions. The atmosphere was political. The national and local
representatives met each other at all times and in all places, and the
public affairs were the chief topic in and out of doors. In this busy
whirl Gallatin made many friends, but Philadelphia was no more to his
taste as a residence than Boston. He was disgusted with the
ostentatious display of wealth, the result not of industry but of
speculation, and not in the hands of the most deserving members of the
community. Later he became more reconciled to the tone of Pennsylvania
society, comparing it with that of New York; he was especially pleased
with its democratic spirit, and the absence of _family influence_. "In
Pennsylvania," he says, "not only we have neither Livingstons, nor
Rensselaers, but from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the banks of the
Ohio I do not know a single family that has any extensive influence. An
equal distribution of property has rendered every individual
independent, and there is amongst us true and real equality. In a word,
as I am lazy, I like a country where living is cheap; and as I am poor,
I like a country where no person is very rich."

Hamilton's excise bill was a bone of contention in the national and
state legislatures throughout the winter. Direct taxation upon anything
was unpopular, that on distilled spirits the most distasteful to
Pennsylvania, where whiskey stills were numerous in the Alleghanies. To
the bill introduced into Congress a reply was immediately made January
14, 1791, by the Pennsylvania Assembly in a series of resolutions which
are supposed to have been drafted by Mr. Gallatin, and to have been the
first legislative paper from his pen. They distinctly charged that the
obnoxious bill was "subversive of the peace, liberty, and rights of the
citizen."

Tax by excise has always been offensive to the American people, as it
was to their ancestors across the sea. It was characterized by the first
Continental Congress of 1774 as "the horror of all free States."
Notwithstanding their warmth, these resolutions passed the Assembly by a
vote of 40 to 16. The course of this excitement must be followed; as it
swept Mr. Gallatin in its mad current, and but for his self-control,
courage, and adroitness would have wrecked him on th