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 the breakers at the outset of his political voyage.