For his part in the transaction McGillivray was commissioned an agent of the United States with the rank of brigadier-general, a position which he sustained with dignity.  He was six feet tall, spare in frame, erect in carriage.  His eyes were large, dark, and piercing; his forehead, wider at the top than just above the eyes, was so high and broad as to be almost bulging.  When he was a British colonel, he wore the uniform of that rank; when in the Spanish service, he wore the military dress of that country; and after Washington appointed him a brigadier-general he sometimes wore the uniform of the American army, but never in the presence of Spaniards.  In different parts of his dominions he had good houses where he practised generous hospitality.  His influence was shaken by his various political alliances, and before he died in 1793 he had lost much of his authority.

In the course of these negotiations Washington had an experience with the Senate which thereafter affected his official behavior.  The debates of the constitutional convention indicated an expectation that the Senate would act as a privy council to the President; and Washington—­intent above all things on doing his duty—­tried to treat it as such.  In company with General Knox he went to the Senate chamber, prepared to explain his negotiations with the Indian chiefs, but he forthwith experienced the truth of the proverb that although you may lead a horse to water you cannot make him drink.  In his diary for August 22, 1789, Maclay gave a characteristic account of the scene.  Washington presided, taking the Vice-President’s chair.  “He rose and told us bluntly that he had called on us for our advice and consent to some propositions respecting the treaty to be held with the Southern Indians.  Said he had brought General Knox with him who was well acquainted with the business.”  A statement was read giving a schedule of the propositions on which the advice of the Senate was asked.  Maclay relates that he called for the reading of the treaties and other documents referred to in the statement.  “I cast an eye at the President of the United States.  I saw he wore an aspect of stern displeasure.”  There was a manifest reluctance of the Senate to proceed with the matter in the President’s presence, and finally a motion was made to refer the business to a committee of five.  A sharp debate followed in which “the President of the United States started up in a violent fret.  ‘This defeats every purpose of my coming here’ were the first words that he said.  He then went on to say that he had brought his Secretary of War with him to give any necessary information; that the Secretary knew all about the business, and yet he was delayed and could not go on with the matter.”  The situation evidently became strained.  Maclay relates:  “A pause for some time ensued.  We waited for him to withdraw.  He did so with a discontented air.”