Page:Henry Adams' History of the United States Vol. 4.djvu/264

254 thought advisable to ask the favor of your Excellency, after the receipt of this letter, to discontinue issuing any other certificates, that we may not unnecessarily administer facilities to the evasion of the embargo laws."

That Massachusetts already on the brink of rebellion should tolerate such dictation could hardly be expected; and it was fortunate for Jefferson that the Federalists had failed to elect a governor of their own stripe. Even Sullivan, Democrat as he was, could not obey the President's request, and excused his disobedience in a letter which was intended to convince Jefferson that the people of Massachusetts were the best judges of the amount of food they needed.


 * "The seaport towns," Sullivan wrote, "are supported almost entirely by bread from the Southern and Middle States. The interior of this State live on a mixture of Indian corn and rye in common regimen, but their fine bread and pastry depend on the importations from the southward, carted into the interior.  The country towns consume more imported flour than is equivalent for all the grain they carry to market in the seaport towns.  Their hogs and poultry consume much Indian corn.  The rice imported here from the southward, since the Embargo Act, has been very inconsiderable.  The Indian corn is in greater quantities, but that would not find a market in the British or French dominions if there was no embargo.  This is an article of great demand here,