ENVOY TO FRANCE
My dearest life, continue to write to me, as my heart clings with
delight only to what comes from you. (Marshall to his wife.)
He is a plain man, very sensible and cautious. (Adams.)
Our poor insulted country has not before it the most flattering
prospects. (Marshall at Antwerp.)
"PHILADELPHIA July 2^{nd} 1797.
"MY DEAREST POLLY
"I am here after a passage up the bay from Baltimore.... I dined on
saturday in private with the President whom I found a sensible plain
candid good tempered man & was consequently much pleased with him. I am
not certain when I shall sail.... So you ... my dearest life continue to
write to me as your letters will follow me should I be gone before their
arrival & as my heart clings with real pleasure & delight only to what
comes from you. I was on friday evening at the faux hall of
Philadelphia.... The amusements were walking, sitting, punch ice cream
etc Music & conversation.... Thus my dearest Polly do I when not engaged
in the very serious business which employs a large portion of my time
endeavor by a-[muse]ments to preserve a mind at ease & [keep] it from
brooding too much over my much loved & absent wife. By all that is dear
on earth, I entreat you to do the same, for separation will not I trust
be long & letters do everything to draw its sting. I am my dearest life
your affectionate
"J MARSHALL."[549]
[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A LETTER FROM JOHN MARSHALL TO HIS WIFE
(_Facsimile_)]
So wrote John Marshall at the first stage of his journey upon that
critical diplomatic mission which was to prove the most dramatic in our
history and which was to be the turning-point in Marshall's life. From
the time when Mary Ambler became his bride in 1783, Marshall had never
been farther away from his Richmond home than Philadelphia, to which
city he had made three flying visits in 1796, one to argue the British
Debts case, the other two to see Robert Morris on the Fairfax deal and
to hasten the decision of the Supreme Court in that controversy.
But now Marshall was to cross the ocean as one of the American envoys to
"the terrible Republic" whose "power and vengeance" everybody
dreaded.[550] He was to go to that now arrogant Paris whose streets were
resounding with the shouts of French victories. It was the first and the
last trans-Atlantic voyage Marshall ever undertook; and although he was
to sail into a murky horizon to grapple with vast difficulties and
unknown dangers, yet the mind of the home-loving Virginian dwelt more on
his Richmond fireside than on the duties and hazards before him.
Three days after his arrival at Philadelphia, impressionable as a boy,
he again writes to his wife: "My dearest Polly I have been extremely
chagrined at not having yet received a letter from you. I hope you are
well as I hear nothing indicating the contrary but you know not how
solicitous how anxiously solicitous I am to hear it from yourself. Write
me that you are well & in good spirits & I shall set out on my voyage
with a lightened heart ... you will hear from me more than once before
my departure."
The Virginia envoy was much courted at Philadelphia before he sailed. "I
dined yesterday," Marshall tells his wife, "in a very large company of
Senators & members of the house of representatives who met to celebrate
the 4th of July. The company was really a most respectable one & I
experienced from them the most flattering attention. I have much reason
to be satisfied & pleased with the manner in which I am received here."
But flattery did not soothe Marshall--"Something is wanting to make me
happy," he tells his "dearest Polly." "Had I my dearest wife with me I
should be delighted indeed."[551]
Washington had sent letters in Marshall's care to acquaintances in
France commending him to their attention and good offices; and the
retired President wrote Marshall himself a letter of hearty good wishes.
"Receive sir," replies Marshall, "my warm & grateful acknowledgments for
the polite &, allow me to add, friendly wishes which you express
concerning myself as well as for the honor of being mentioned in your
letters."[552]
A less composed man, totally unpracticed as Marshall was in diplomatic
usages, when embarking on an adventure involving war or peace, would
have occupied himself constantly in preparing for the vast business
before him. Not so Marshall. While waiting for his ship, he indulged
his love of the theater. Again he tells his wife how much he misses her.
"I cannot avoid writing to you because while doing so I seem to myself
to be in some distant degree enjoying your company. I was last night at
the play & saw the celebrated Mrs. Mary in the character of Juliet. She
performs that part to admiration indeed but I really do not think Mrs.
Westig is far her inferior in it. I saw," gossips Marshall, "Mrs.
Heyward there. I have paid that lady one visit to one of the most
delightful & romantic spots on the river Schuylkil.... She expressed
much pleasure to see me & has pressed me very much to repeat my visit. I
hope I shall not have time to do so."
Marshall is already bored with the social life of Philadelphia. "I am
beyond expression impatient to set out on the embassy," he informs his
wife. "The life I lead here does not suit me I am weary of it I dine out
every day & am now engaged longer I hope than I shall stay. This
dissipated life does not long suit my temper. I like it very well for a
day or two but I begin to require a frugal repast with good cold
water"--There was too much wine, it would seem, at Philadelphia to suit
Marshall.
"I would give a great deal to dine with you to day on a piece of cold
meat with our boys beside us to see Little Mary running backwards &
forwards over the floor playing the sweet little tricks she [is] full
of.... I wish to Heaven the time which must intervene before I can
repass these delightful scenes was now terminated & that we were looking
back on our separation instead of seeing it before us. Farewell my
dearest Polly. Make yourself happy & you will bless your ever
affectionate
"J. MARSHALL."[553]
If Marshall was pleased with Adams, the President was equally impressed
with his Virginia envoy to France. "He [Marshall] is a plain man very
sensible, cautious, guarded, and learned in the law of nations.[554] I
think you will be pleased with him,"[555] Adams writes Gerry, who was to
be Marshall's associate and whose capacity for the task even his
intimate personal friend, the President, already distrusted. Hamilton
was also in Philadelphia at the time[556]--a circumstance which may or
may not have been significant. It was, however, the first time, so far
as definite evidence attests, that these men had met since they had been
comrades and fellow officers in the Revolution.
The "Aurora," the leading Republican newspaper, was mildly sarcastic
over Marshall's ignorance of the French language and general lack of
equipment for his diplomatic task. "Mr. Marshall, one of our extra
envoys to France, will be eminently qualified for the mission by the
time he reaches that country," says the "Aurora." Some official of great
legal learning was coaching Marshall, it seems, and advised him to read
certain monarchical books on the old France and on the fate of the
ancient republics.
The "Aurora" asks "whether some history of France since the overthrow of
the Monarchy would not have been more instructive to Mr. Marshall. The
Envoy, however," continues the "Aurora," "approved the choice of his
sagacious friend, but very shrewdly observed 'that he must first
purchase Chambaud's grammar, English and French.' We understand that he
is a very apt scholar, and no doubt, during the passage, he will be able
to acquire enough of the French jargon for all the purposes of the
embassy."[557]
Having received thirty-five hundred dollars for his expenses,[558]
Marshall set sail on the brig Grace for Amsterdam where Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney, the expelled American Minister to France and head
of the mission, awaited him. As the land faded, Marshall wrote, like any
love-sick youth, another letter to his wife which he sent back by the
pilot.
"The land is just escaping from my view," writes Marshall to his
"dearest Polly"; "the pilot is about to leave us & I hasten from the
deck into the cabin once more to give myself the sweet indulgence of
writing to you.... There has been so little wind that we are not yet
entirely out of the bay. It is so wide however that the land has the
appearance of a light blue cloud on the surface of the water & we shall
very soon lose it entirely."
Marshall assures his wife that his "cabin is neat & clean. My berth a
commodious one in which I have my own bed & sheets of which I have a
plenty so that I lodge as conveniently as I could do in any place
whatever & I find I sleep very soundly altho on water." He is careful to
say that he has plenty of creature comforts. "We have for the voyage,
the greatest plenty of salt provisions live stock & poultry & as we lay
in our own liquors I have taken care to provide myself with a plenty of
excellent porter wine & brandy. The Captain is one of the most obliging
men in the world & the vessel is said by every body to be a very fine
one."
There were passengers, too, who suited Marshall's sociable disposition
and who were "well disposed to make the voyage agreeable.... I have then
my dearest Polly every prospect before me of a passage such as I could
wish in every respect but one ... fear of a lengthy passage. We have met
in the bay several vessels. One from Liverpool had been at sea nine
weeks, & the others from other places had been proportionately long....
I shall be extremely impatient to hear from you & our dear children."
Marshall tells his wife how to direct her letters to him, "some ... by
the way of London to the care of Rufus King esquire our Minister there,
some by the way of Amsterdam or the Hague to the care of William Vanns
[_sic_] Murr[a]y esquire our Minister at the Hague & perhaps some
directed to me as Envoy extraordinary of the United States to the French
Republic at Paris.
"Do not I entreat you omit to write. Some of your letters may miscarry
but some will reach me & my heart can feel till my return no pleasure
comparable to what will be given it by a line from you telling me that
all remains well. Farewell my dearest wife. Your happiness will ever be
the first prayer of your unceasingly affectionate
"J. MARSHALL."[559]
So fared forth John Marshall upon the adventure which was to open the
door to that historic career that lay just beyond it; and force him,
against his will and his life's plans, to pass through it. But for this
French mission, it is certain that Marshall's life would have been
devoted to his law practice and his private affairs. He now was sailing
to meet the ablest and most cunning diplomatic mind in the contemporary
world whose talents, however, were as yet known to but few; and to face
the most venal and ruthless governing body of any which then directed
the affairs of the nations of Europe. Unguessed and unexpected by the
kindly, naïve, and inexperienced Richmond lawyer were the scenes about
to unroll before him; and the manner of his meeting the emergencies so
soon to confront him was the passing of the great divide in his destiny.
Even had the French rulers been perfectly honest and simple men, the
American envoys would have had no easy task. For American-French affairs
were sadly tangled and involved. Gouverneur Morris, our first Minister
to France under the Constitution, had made himself unwelcome to the
French Revolutionists; and to placate the authorities then reigning in
Paris, Washington had recalled Morris and appointed Monroe in his place
"after several attempts had failed to obtain a more eligible
character."[560]
Monroe, a partisan of the Revolutionists, had begun his mission with
theatrical blunders; and these he continued until his recall,[561] when
he climaxed his imprudent conduct by his attack on Washington.[562]
During most of his mission Monroe was under the influence of Thomas
Paine,[563] who had then become the venomous enemy of Washington.
Monroe had refused to receive from his fellow Minister to England, John
Jay, "confidential informal statements" as to the British treaty which
Jay prudently had sent him by word of mouth only. When the Jay Treaty
itself arrived, Monroe publicly denounced the treaty as
"shameful,"[564] a grave indiscretion in the diplomatic representative
of the Government that had negotiated the offending compact.
Finally Monroe was recalled and Washington, after having offered the
French mission to John Marshall, appointed Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
of South Carolina as his successor. The French Revolutionary authorities
had bitterly resented the Jay compact, accused the American Government
of violating its treaty with France, denounced the United States for
ingratitude, and abused it for undue friendship to Great Britain.
In all this the French Directory had been and still was backed up by the
Republicans in the United States, who, long before this, had become a
distinctly French party. Thomas Paine understated the case when he
described "the Republican party in the United States" as "that party
which is the sincere ally of France."[565]
The French Republic was showing its resentment by encouraging a
piratical warfare by French privateers upon American commerce. Indeed,
vessels of the French Government joined in these depredations. In this
way, it thought to frighten the United States into taking the armed side
of France against Great Britain. The French Republic was emulating the
recent outrages of that Power; and, except that the French did not
impress Americans into their service, as the British had done, their
Government was furnishing to America the same cause for war that Great
Britain had so brutally afforded.
In less than a year and a half before Marshall sailed from Philadelphia,
more than three hundred and forty American vessels had been taken by
French privateers.[566] Over fifty-five million dollars' worth of
American property had been destroyed or confiscated under the decrees of
the Directory.[567] American seamen, captured on the high seas, had been
beaten and imprisoned. The officers and crew of a French armed brig
tortured Captain Walker, of the American ship Cincinnatus, four hours by
thumbscrews.[568]
When Monroe learned that Pinckney had been appointed to succeed him, he
began a course of insinuations to his French friends against his
successor; branded Pinckney as an "aristocrat"; and thus sowed the seeds
for the insulting treatment the latter received upon his appearance at
the French Capital.[569] Upon Pinckney's arrival, the French Directory
refused to receive him, threatened him with arrest by the Paris police,
and finally ordered the new American Minister out of the territory of
the Republic.[570]
To emphasize this affront, the Directory made a great ado over the
departure of Monroe, who responded with a characteristic address. To
this speech Barras, then President of the Directory, replied in a
harangue insulting to the American Government; it was, indeed,
an open appeal to the American people to repudiate their own
Administration,[571] of the same character as, and no less offensive
than, the verbal performances of Genêt.
And still the outrages of French privateers on American ships continued
with increasing fury.[572] The news of Pinckney's treatment and the
speech of Barras reached America after Adams's inauguration. The
President promptly called Congress into a special session and delivered
to the National Legislature an address in which Adams appears at his
best.
The "refusal [by the Directory] ... to receive him [Pinckney] until we
had acceded to their demands without discussion and without
investigation, is to treat us neither as allies nor as friends, nor as a
sovereign state," said the President; who continued:--
"The speech of the President [Barras] discloses sentiments more alarming
than the refusal of a minister [Pinckney], because more dangerous to our
independence and union....
"It evinces a disposition to separate the people of the United States
from the government, to persuade them that they have different
affections, principles and interests from those of their fellow citizens
whom they themselves have chosen to manage their common concerns and
thus to produce divisions fatal to our peace.
"Such attempts ought to be repelled with a decision which shall convince
France and the world that we are not a degraded people, humiliated under
a colonial spirit of fear and sense of inferiority, fitted to be the
miserable instruments of foreign influence, and regardless of national
honor, character, and interest.
"I should have been happy to have thrown a veil over these transactions
if it had been possible to conceal them; but they have passed on the
great theatre of the world, in the face of all Europe and America, and
with such circumstances of publicity and solemnity that they cannot be
disguised and will not soon be forgotten. They have inflicted a wound in
the American breast. It is my sincere desire, however, that it may be
healed."
Nevertheless, so anxious was President Adams for peace that he informed
Congress: "I shall institute a fresh attempt at negotiation.... If we
have committed errors, and these can be demonstrated, we shall be
willing to correct them; if we have done injuries, we shall be willing
on conviction to redress them; and equal measures of justice we have a
right to expect from France and every other nation."[573]
Adams took this wise action against the judgment of the Federalist
leaders,[574] who thought that, since the outrages upon American
commerce had been committed by France and the formal insult to our
Minister had been perpetrated by France, the advances should come from
the offending Government. Technically, they were right; practically,
they were wrong. Adams's action was sound as well as noble
statesmanship.
Thus came about the extraordinary mission, of which Marshall was a
member, to adjust our differences with the French Republic. The
President had taken great care in selecting the envoys. He had
considered Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison,[575] for this delicate and
fateful business; but the two latter, for reasons of practical politics,
would not serve, and without one of them, Hamilton's appointment was
impossible. Pinckney, waiting at Amsterdam, was, of course, to head the
commission. Finally Adams's choice fell on John Marshall of Virginia and
Francis Dana, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts; and
these nominations were confirmed by the Senate.[576]
But Dana declined,[577] and, against the unanimous advice of his
Cabinet,[578] Adams then nominated Elbridge Gerry, who, though a
Republican, had, on account of their personal relations, voted for Adams
for President, apologizing, however, most humbly to Jefferson for having
done so.[579]
No appointment could have better pleased that unrivaled politician.
Gerry was in general agreement with Jefferson and was, temperamentally,
an easy instrument for craft to play upon. When Gerry hesitated to
accept, Jefferson wrote his "dear friend" that "it was with infinite joy
to me that you were yesterday announced to the Senate" as one of the
envoys; and he pleaded with Gerry to undertake the mission.[580]
The leaders of the President's party in Congress greatly deplored the
selection of Gerry. "No appointment could ... have been more
injudicious," declared Sedgwick.[581] "If, sir, it was a desirable thing
to distract the mission, a fitter person could not, perhaps, be found.
It is ten to one against his agreeing with his colleagues," the
Secretary of War advised the President.[582] Indeed, Adams himself was
uneasy about Gerry, and in a prophetic letter sought to forestall the
very indiscretions which the latter afterwards committed.
[Illustration: PART OF LETTER OF JULY 17, 1797, FROM JOHN ADAMS TO
ELBRIDGE GERRY DESCRIBING JOHN MARSHALL (_Facsimile_)]
"There is the utmost necessity for harmony, complaisance, and
condescension among the three envoys, and unanimity is of great
importance," the President cautioned Gerry. "It is," said Adams, "my
sincere desire that an accommodation may take place; but our national
faith, and the honor of our government, cannot be sacrificed. You have
known enough of the unpleasant effects of disunion among ministers to
convince you of the necessity of avoiding it, like a rock or
quicksand.... It is probable there will be manoeuvres practiced to
excite jealousies among you."[583]
Forty-eight days after Marshall took ship at Philadelphia, he arrived at
The Hague.[584] The long voyage had been enlivened by the sight of many
vessels and the boarding of Marshall's ship three times by British
men-of-war.
"Until our arrival in Holland," Marshall writes Washington, "we saw only
British & neutral vessels. This added to the blockade of the dutch fleet
in the Texel, of the french fleet in Brest & of the spanish fleet in
Cadiz, manifests the entire dominion which one nation [Great Britain] at
present possesses over the seas.
"By the ships of war which met us we were three times visited & the
conduct of those who came on board was such as wou'd proceed from
general orders to pursue a system calculated to conciliate America.
"Whether this be occasion'd by a sense of justice & the obligations of
good faith, or solely by the hope that the perfect contrast which it
exhibits to the conduct of France may excite keener sensations at that
conduct, its effects on our commerce is the same."[585]
It was a momentous hour in French history when the Virginian landed on
European soil. The French elections of 1797 had given to the
conservatives a majority in the National Assembly, and the Directory was
in danger. The day after Marshall reached the Dutch Capital, the troops
sent by Bonaparte, that young eagle, his pinions already spread for his
imperial flight, achieved the revolution of the 18th Fructidor (4th of
September); gave the ballot-shaken Directory the support of bayonets;
made it, in the end, the jealous but trembling tool of the youthful
conqueror; and armed it with a power through which it nullified the
French elections and cast into prison or drove into exile all who came
under its displeasure or suspicion.
With Lodi, Arcola, and other laurels upon his brow, the Corsican already
had begun his astonishing career as dictator of terms to Europe. The
native Government of the Netherlands had been replaced by one modeled on
the French system; and the Batavian Republic, erected by French arms,
had become the vassal and the tool of Revolutionary France.
Three days after his arrival at The Hague, Marshall writes his wife of
the safe ending of his voyage and how "very much pleased" he is with
Pinckney, whom he "immediately saw." They were waiting "anxiously" for
Gerry, Marshall tells her. "We shall wait a week or ten days longer &
shall then proceed on our journey [to Paris]. You cannot conceive (yes
you can conceive) how these delays perplex & mortify me. I fear I cannot
return until the spring & that fear excites very much uneasiness & even
regret at my having ever consented to cross the Atlantic. I wish
extremely to hear from you & to know your situation. My mind clings so
to Richmond that scarcely a night passes in which during the hours of
sleep I have not some interesting conversation with you or concerning
you."
Marshall tells his "dearest Polly" about the appearance of The Hague,
its walks, buildings, and "a very extensive wood adjoining the city
which extends to the sea," and which is "the pride & boast of the
place." "The society at the Hague is probably very difficult, to an
American it certainly is, & I have no inclination to attempt to enter
into it. While the differences with France subsist the political
characters of this place are probably unwilling to be found frequently
in company with our countrymen. It might give umbrage to France."
Pinckney had with him his wife and daughter, "who," writes Marshall,
"appears to be about 12 or 13 years of age. Mrs. Pinckney informs me
that only one girl of her age has visited her since the residence of the
family at the Hague.[586] In fact we seem to have no communication but
with Americans, or those who are employed by America or who have
property in our country."
While at The Hague, Marshall yields, as usual, to his love for the
theater, although he cannot understand a word of the play. "Near my
lodgings is a theatre in which a french company performs three times a
week," he tells his wife. "I have been frequently to the play & tho' I
do not understand the language I am very much amused at it. The whole
company is considered as having a great deal of merit but there is a
Madame de Gazor who is considered as one of the first performers in
Paris who bears the palm in the estimation of every person."
Marshall narrates to his wife the result of the _coup d'état_ of
September 4. "The Directory," he writes, "with the aid of the soldiery
have just put in arrest the most able & leading members of the
legislature who were considered as moderate men & friends of peace. Some
conjecture that this event will so abridge our negotiations as probably
to occasion my return to America this fall. A speedy return is my most
ardent wish but to have my return expedited by the means I have spoken
of is a circumstance so calamitous that I deprecate it as the greatest
of evils. Remember me affectionately to our friends & kiss for me our
dear little Mary. Tell the boys how much I expect from them & how
anxious I am to see them as well as their beloved mother. I am my
dearest Polly unalterably your
"J MARSHALL."[587]
The theaters and other attractions of The Hague left Marshall plenty of
time, however, for serious and careful investigations. The result of
these he details to Washington. The following letter shows not only
Marshall's state of mind just before starting for Paris, but also the
effect of European conditions upon him and how strongly they already
were confirming Marshall's tendency of thought so firmly established by
every event of his life since our War for Independence:--
"Tho' the face of the country [Holland] still exhibits a degree of
wealth & population perhaps unequal'd in any other part of Europe, its
decline is visible. The great city of Amsterdam is in a state of
blockade. More than two thirds of its shipping lie unemploy'd in port.
Other seaports suffer tho' not in so great a degree. In the meantime the
requisitions made [by the French] upon them [the Dutch] are enormous....
"It is supposed that France has by various means drawn from Holland
about 60,000,000 of dollars. This has been paid, in addition to the
national expenditures, by a population of less than 2,000,000.... Not
even peace can place Holland in her former situation. Antwerp will draw
from Amsterdam a large portion of that commerce which is the great
source of its wealth; for Antwerp possesses, in the existing state of
things, advantages which not even weight of capital can entirely
surmount."
Marshall then gives Washington a clear and striking account of the
political happenings among the Dutch under French domination:--
"The political divisions of this country & its uncertainty concerning
its future destiny must also have their operation....
"A constitution which I have not read, but which is stated to me to have
contain'd all the great fundamentals of a representative government, &
which has been prepar'd with infinite labor, & has experienc'd an
uncommon length of discussion was rejected in the primary assemblies by
a majority of nearly five to one of those who voted....
"The substitute wish'd for by its opponents is a legislature with a
single branch having power only to initiate laws which are to derive
their force from the sanction of the primary assemblies. I do not know
how they wou'd organize it.... It is remarkable that the very men who
have rejected the form of government propos'd to them have reëlected a
great majority of the persons who prepar'd it & will probably make from
it no essential departure.... It is worthy of notice that more than two
thirds of those entitled to suffrage including perhaps more than four
fifths of the property of the nation & who wish'd, as I am told, the
adoption of the constitution, withheld their votes....
"Many were restrain'd by an unwillingness to take the oath required
before a vote could be receiv'd; many, disgusted with the present state
of things, have come to the unwise determination of revenging themselves
on those whom they charge with having occasion'd it by taking no part
whatever in the politics of their country, & many seem to be indifferent
to every consideration not immediately connected with their particular
employments."
Holland's example made the deepest impression on Marshall's mind. What
he saw and heard fortified his already firm purpose not to permit
America, if he could help it, to become the subordinate or ally of any
foreign power. The concept of the American people as a separate and
independent Nation unattached to, unsupported by, and unafraid of any
other country, which was growing rapidly to be the passion of Marshall's
life, was given fresh force by the humiliation and distress of the Dutch
under French control.
"The political opinions which have produc'd the rejection of the
constitution," Marshall reasons in his report to Washington, "& which,
as it wou'd seem, can only be entertain'd by intemperate & ill inform'd
minds unaccustom'd to a union of the theory & practice of liberty, must
be associated with a general system which if brought into action will
produce the same excesses here which have been so justly deplor'd in
France.
"The same materials exist tho' not in so great a degree. They have their
clubs, they have a numerous poor & they have enormous wealth in the
hands of a minority of the nation."
Marshall interviewed Dutch citizens, in his casual, indolent, and
charming way; and he thus relates to Washington the sum of one such
conversation:--
"On my remarking this to a very rich & intelligent merchant of Amsterdam
& observing that if one class of men withdrew itself from public duties
& offices it wou'd immediately be succeeded by another which wou'd
acquire a degree of power & influence that might be exercis'd to the
destruction of those who had retir'd from society, he replied that the
remark was just, but that they relied on France for a protection from
those evils which she had herself experienc'd. That France wou'd
continue to require great supplies from Holland & knew its situation too
well to permit it to become the prey of anarchy.
"That Holland was an artificial country acquired by persevering industry
& which cou'd only be preserv'd by wealth & order. That confusion &
anarchy wou'd banish a large portion of that wealth, wou'd dry up its
sources & wou'd entirely disable them from giving France that pecuniary
aid she so much needed. That under this impression very many who tho'
friends to the revolution, saw with infinite mortification french troops
garrison the towns of Holland, wou'd now see their departure with equal
regret.
"Thus, they willingly relinquish national independence for individual
safety. What a lesson to those who wou'd admit foreign influence into
the United States!"
Marshall then narrates the events in France which followed the _coup
d'état_ of September 4. While this account is drawn from rumors and
newspapers and therefore contains a few errors, it is remarkable on the
whole for its general accuracy. No condensation can do justice to
Marshall's review of this period of French history in the making. It is
of first importance, also, as disclosing his opinions of the Government
he was so soon to encounter and his convictions that unrestrained
liberty must result in despotism.
"You have observed the storm which has been long gathering in Paris,"
continues Marshall. "The thunderbolt has at length been launch'd at the
heads of the leading members of the legislature & has, it is greatly to
be fear'd, involv'd in one common ruin with them, the constitution &
liberties of their country.... Complete & impartial details concerning
it will not easily be obtained as the press is no longer free. The
journalists who had ventur'd to censure the proceedings of a majority of
the directory are seiz'd, & against about forty of them a sentence of
transportation is pronounced.
"The press is plac'd under the superintendence of a police appointed by
& dependent on the executive. It is supposed that all private letters
have been seiz'd for inspection.
"From some Paris papers it appears, that on the first alarm, several
members of the legislature attempted to assemble in their proper halls
which they found clos'd & guarded by an arm'd force. Sixty or seventy
assembled at another place & began to remonstrate against the violence
offer'd to their body, but fear soon dispersed them.
"To destroy the possibility of a rallying point the municipal
administrations of Paris & the central administration of the seine were
immediately suspended & forbidden by an arrêté of the directoire, to
assemble themselves together.
"Many of the administrators of the departments through France elected by
the people, had been previously remov'd & their places filled by persons
chosen by the directory....
"The fragment of the legislature convok'd by the directory at L'Odéon &
L'école de santé, hasten'd to repeal the law for organizing the national
guards, & authoriz'd the directory to introduce into Paris as many
troops as shou'd be judg'd necessary. The same day the liberty of the
press was abolish'd by a line, property taken away by another & personal
security destroy'd by a sentence of transportation against men unheard &
untried.
"All this," sarcastically remarks Marshall, "is still the triumph of
liberty & of the constitution."
Although admitting his lack of official information, Marshall "briefly"
observes that: "Since the election of the new third, there were found in
both branches of the legislature a majority in favor of moderate
measures & apparently, wishing sincerely for peace. They have manifested
a disposition which threaten'd a condemnation of the conduct of the
directory towards America, a scrutiny into the transactions of Italy,
particularly those respecting Venice & Genoa, an enquiry into the
disposition of public money & such a regular arrangement of the finances
as wou'd prevent in future those dilapidations which are suspected to
have grown out of their disorder. They [French conservatives] have
sought too by their laws to ameliorate the situation of those whom
terror had driven out of France, & of those priests who had committed no
offense."
Marshall thus details to Washington the excuse of the French radicals
for their severe treatment of the conservatives:--
"The cry of a conspiracy to reëstablish royalism was immediately rais'd
against them [conservatives]. An envoy was dispatched to the Army of
Italy to sound its disposition. It was represented that the legislature
was hostile to the armies, that it withheld their pay & subsistence,
that by its opposition to the directory it encourag'd Austria & Britain
to reject the terms of peace which were offer'd by France & which but
for that opposition wou'd have been accepted, & finally that it had
engag'd in a conspiracy for the destruction of the constitution & the
republic & for the restoration of royalty.
"At a feast given to the armies of Italy to commemorate their fellow
soldiers who had fallen in that country the Generals address'd to them
their complaints, plainly spoke of marching to Paris to support the
directory against the councils & received from them addresses
manifesting the willingness of the soldiers to follow them.
"The armies also addressed the directory & each other, & addresses were
dispatched to different departments. The directory answer'd them by the
stronge[st] criminations of the legislature. Similar proceedings were
had in the army of the interior commanded by Gen^l. Hoche. Detachments
were mov'd within the limits prohibited by the constitution, some of
which declar'd they were marching to Paris 'to bring the legislature to
reason.'"
Here follows Marshall's story of what then happened, according to the
accounts which were given him at The Hague:--
"Alarm'd at these movements the council of five hundred call'd on the
directory for an account of them. The movement of the troops within the
constitutional circle was attributed to accident & the discontents of
the army to the faults committed by the legislature who were plainly
criminated as conspirators against the army & the republic.
"This message was taken up by Tronçon in the council of antients & by
Thibideau in the council of five hundred. I hope you have seen their
speeches. They are able, & seem to me entirely exculpated the
legislature.
"In the mean time the directory employed itself in the removal of the
administrators of many of the departments & cantons & replacing those
whom the people had elected by others in whom it cou'd confide, and in
the removal generally of such officers both civil & military as cou'd
not be trusted to make room for others on whom it cou'd rely.
"The legislature on its part, pass'd several laws to enforce the
constitutional restrictions on the armies & endeavored to organize the
national guards. On this latter subject especially Pichegru, great &
virtuous I believe in the cabinet as in the field, was indefatigable. We
understand that the day before the law for their organization wou'd have
been carried into execution the decisive blow was struck."
Marshall now relates, argumentatively, the facts as he heard them in the
Dutch Capital; and in doing so, reveals his personal sentiments and
prejudices:--
"To support the general charge of conspiracy in favor of royalty I know
of no particular facts alleged against the arrested Members except
Pichegru & two or three others.... Pichegru is made in the first moment
of conversation to unbosom himself entirely to a perfect stranger who
had only told him that he came from the Prince of Conde & cou'd not
exhibit a single line of testimonial of any sort to prove that he had
ever seen that Prince or that he was not a spy employ'd by some of the
enemies of the General.
"This story is repel'd by Pichegru's character which has never before
been defil'd. Great as were the means he possess'd of personal
aggrandizement he retir'd clean handed from the army without adding a
shilling to his private fortune. It is repel'd by his resigning the
supreme command, by his numerous victories subsequent to the alleged
treason, by its own extreme absurdity & by the fear which his accusers
show of bringing him to trial according to the constitution even before
a tribunal they can influence & overawe, or of even permitting him to be
heard before the prostrate body which is still term'd the legislature &
which in defiance of the constitution has pronounc'd judgment on him.
"Yet this improbable & unsupported tale seems to be receiv'd as an
established truth by those who the day before [his] fall bow'd to him as
an idol. I am mortified as a man to learn that even his old army which
conquer'd under him, which ador'd him, which partook of his fame & had
heretofore not join'd their brethren in accusing the legislature, now
unite in bestowing on him the heaviest execrations & do not hesitate to
pronounce him a traitor of the deepest die."
Irrespective of the real merits of the controversy, Marshall tells
Washington that he is convinced that constitutional liberty is dead or
dying in France:--
"Whether this conspiracy be real or not," he says, "the wounds inflicted
on the constitution by the three directors seem to me to be mortal. In
opposition to the express regulations of the constitution the armies
have deliberated, the result of their deliberations addressed to the
directory has been favorably received & the legislature since the
revolution has superadded its thanks.
"Troops have been marched within those limits which by the constitution
they are forbidden to enter but on the request of the legislature. The
directory is forbidden to arrest a member of the legislature unless in
the very commission of a criminal act & then he can only be tried by the
high court, on which occasion forms calculated to protect his person
from violence or the prejudice of the moment are carefully prescrib'd.
"Yet it has seized, by a military force, about fifty leading members not
taken in a criminal act & has not pursued a single step mark'd out by
the constitution. The councils can inflict no penalty on their own
members other than reprimand, arrest for eight & imprisonment for three
days. Yet they have banished to such places as the directory shall chuse
a large portion of their body without the poor formality of hearing a
defense.
"The legislature shall not exercise any judiciary power or pass any
retrospective law. Yet it has pronounc'd this heavy judgment on others
as well as its own members & has taken from individuals property which
the law has vested in them."
Marshall is already bitter against the Directory because of its
violation of the French Constitution, and tells Washington:--
"The members of the directory are personally secur'd by the same rules
with those of the legislature. Yet three directors have depriv'd two of
their places, the legislature has then banished them without a hearing &
has proceeded to fill up the alledg'd vacancies. Merlin late minister of
justice & François de Neufchatel have been elected.
"The constitution forbids the house of any man to be entered in the
night. The orders of the constituted authorities can only be executed in
the day. Yet many of the members were seiz'd in their beds.
"Indeed, sir, the constitution has been violated in so many instances
that it wou'd require a pamphlet to detail them. The detail wou'd be
unnecessary for the great principle seems to be introduc'd that the
government is to be administered according to the will of the nation."
Marshall now indulges in his characteristic eloquence and peculiar
method of argument:--
"Necessity, the never to be worn out apology for violence, is
alledg'd--but cou'd that necessity go further than to secure the persons
of the conspirators? Did it extend to the banishment of the printers &
to the slavery of the press? If such a necessity did exist it was
created by the disposition of the people at large & it is a truth which
requires no demonstration that if a republican form of government cannot
be administered by the general will, it cannot be administered against
that will by an army."
Nevertheless, hope for constitutional liberty in France lingers in his
heart in spite of this melancholy recital.
"After all, the result may not be what is apprehended. France possesses
such enormous power, such internal energy, such a vast population that
she may possibly spare another million & preserve or reacquire her
liberty. Or, the form of the government being preserved, the
independence of the legislature may be gradually recover'd.
"With their form of government or resolutions we have certainly no right
to intermeddle, but my regrets at the present state of things are
increased by an apprehension that the rights of our country will not be
deem'd so sacred under the existing system as they wou'd have been had
the legislature preserved its legitimate authority."[588]
Washington's reply, which probably reached Marshall some time after the
latter's historic letter to Talleyrand in January, 1798,[589] is
informing. He "prays for a continuance" of such letters and hopes he
will be able to congratulate Marshall "on the favorable conclusion of
your embassy.... To predict the contrary might be as unjust as it is
impolitic, and therefore," says Washington, "mum--on that topic. Be the
issue what it may," he is sure "that nothing which justice, sound
reasoning, and fair representation would require will be wanting to
render it just and honorable." If so, and the mission fails, "then the
eyes of all who are not willfully blind ... will be fully opened." The
Directory will have a rude awakening, if they expect the Republicans to
support France against America in the "dernier ressort.... For the mass
of our citizens require no more than to understand a question to decide
it properly; and an adverse conclusion of the negotiation will effect
this." Washington plainly indicates that he wishes Marshall to read his
letter between the lines when he says: "I shall dwell very little on
European politics ... because this letter may pass through many
hands."[590]
Gerry not arriving by September 18, Marshall and Pinckney set out for
Paris, "proceeding slowly in the hope of being overtaken" by their tardy
associate. From Antwerp Marshall writes Charles Lee, then
Attorney-General, correcting some unimportant statements in his letter
to Washington, which, when written, were "considered as certainly true,"
but which "subsequent accounts contradict."[591] Down-heartedly he
says:--
"Our insulted injured country has not before it the most flattering
prospects. There is no circumstance calculated to flatter us with the
hope that our negotiations will terminate as they ought to do.... We
understand that all is now quiet in France, the small show of resistance
against which Napoleon march'd is said to have dispersed on hearing of
his movement."
He then describes the celebration in Antwerp of the birth of the new
French régime:--
"To-day being the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic, was
celebrated with great pomp by the military at this place. Very few
indeed of the inhabitants attended the celebration. Everything in
Antwerp wears the appearance of consternation and affright.
"Since the late revolution a proclamation has been published forbidding
any priest to officiate who has not taken the oath prescribed by a late
order. No priest at Antwerp has taken it & yesterday commenced the
suspension of their worship.
"All the external marks of their religion too with which their streets
abound are to be taken down. The distress of the people at the calamity
is almost as great as if the town was to be given up to pillage."[592]
Five days after leaving Antwerp, Marshall and Pinckney arrived in the
French Capital. The Paris of that time was still very much the Paris of
Richelieu, except for some large buildings and other improvements begun
by Louis XIV. The French metropolis was in no sense a modern city and
bore little resemblance to the Paris of the present day. Not until some
years afterward did Napoleon as Emperor begin the changes which later,
under Napoleon III, transformed it into the most beautiful city in the
world. Most of its ancient interest, as well as its mediæval
discomforts, were in existence when Marshall and Pinckney reached their
destination.
The Government was, in the American view, incredibly corrupt, and the
lack of integrity among the rulers was felt even among the people. "The
venality is such," wrote Gouverneur Morris, in 1793, "that if there be
no traitor it is because the enemy has not common sense."[593] And
again: "The ... administration is occupied in acquiring wealth."[594]
Honesty was unknown, and, indeed, abhorrent, to most of the governing
officials; and the moral sense of the citizens themselves had been
stupefied by the great sums of money which Bonaparte extracted from
conquered cities and countries and sent to the treasury at Paris. Time
and again the Republic was saved from bankruptcy by the spoils of
conquest; and long before the American envoys set foot in Paris the
popular as well as the official mind had come to expect the receipt of
money from any source or by any means.
The bribery of ministers of state and of members of the Directory was a
matter of course;[595] and weaker countries paid cash for treaties with
the arrogant Government and purchased peace with a price. During this
very year Portugal was forced to advance a heavy bribe to Talleyrand and
the Directory before the latter would consent to negotiate concerning a
treaty; and, as a secret part of the compact, Portugal was required to
make a heavy loan to France. It was, indeed, a part of this very
Portuguese money with which the troops were brought to Paris for the
September revolution of 1797.[596]
Marshall and Pinckney at once notified the French Foreign Office of
their presence, but delayed presenting their letters of credence until
Gerry should join them before proceeding to business. A week passed; and
Marshall records in his diary that every day the waiting envoys were
besieged by "Americans whose vessels had been captured & condemned. By
appeals & other dilatory means the money had been kept out of the hands
of the captors & they were now waiting on expenses in the hope that our
[the envoys'] negotiations might relieve them."[597] A device, this, the
real meaning of which was to be made plain when the hour should come to
bring it to bear on the American envoys.
Such was the official and public atmosphere in which Marshall and
Pinckney found themselves on their mission to adjust, with honor, the
differences between France and America: a network of unofficial and
secret agents was all about them; and at its center was the master
spider, Talleyrand. The unfrocked priest had been made Foreign Minister
under the Directory in the same month and almost the day that Marshall
embarked at Philadelphia for Paris. It largely was through the efforts
and influence of Madame de Staël[598] that this prince of intriguers
was able to place his feet upon this first solid step of his amazing
career.
Talleyrand's genius was then unknown to the world, and even the
Directory at that time had no inkling of his uncanny craft. To be sure,
his previous life had been varied and dramatic and every page of it
stamped with ability; but in the tremendous and flaming events of that
tragic period he had not attracted wide attention. Now, at last,
Talleyrand had his opportunity.
Among other incidents of his life had been his exile to America. For
nearly two years and a half he had lived in the United States, traveling
hither and yon through the forming Nation. Washington as President had
refused to receive the expelled Frenchman, who never forgave the slight.
In his journey from State to State he had formed a poor opinion of the
American people. "If," he wrote, "I have to stay here another year I
shall die."[599]
The incongruities of what still was pioneer life, the illimitable
forests, the confusion and strife of opinion, the absence of National
spirit and general purpose, caused Talleyrand to look with contempt upon
the wilderness Republic. But most of all, this future master spirit of
European diplomacy was impressed with what seemed to him the sordid,
money-grubbing character of the American people. Nowhere did he find a
spark of that idealism which had achieved our independence; and he
concluded that gold was the American god.[600]
Fauchet's disclosures[601] had caused official Paris to measure the
American character by the same yardstick that Talleyrand applied to us,
when, on leaving our shores, he said: "The United States merit no more
consideration than Genoa or Genève."[602]
The French Foreign Minister was not fairly established when the American
affair came before him. Not only was money his own pressing need, but to
pander to the avarice of his master Barras and the other corrupt members
of the Directory was his surest method of strengthening his, as yet,
uncertain official position. Such were Talleyrand's mind, views, and
station, when, three days after Gerry's belated arrival, the newly
installed Minister received the American envoys informally at his house,
"where his office was held." By a curious freak of fate, they found him
closeted with the Portuguese Minister from whom the very conditions had
been exacted which Talleyrand so soon was to attempt to extort from the
Americans.
It was a striking group--Talleyrand, tall and thin of body, with pallid,
shrunken cheeks and slumberous eyes, shambling forward with a limp, as,
with halting speech,[603] he coldly greeted his diplomatic visitors;
Gerry, small, erect, perfectly attired, the owl-like solemnity of his
face made still heavier by his long nose and enormous wig; Pinckney,
handsome, well-dressed, clear-eyed, of open countenance;[604] and
Marshall, tall, lean, loose-jointed, carelessly appareled, with only his
brilliant eyes to hint at the alert mind and dominant personality of the
man.
Talleyrand measured his adversaries instantly. Gerry he had known in
America and he weighed with just balance the qualities of the
Massachusetts envoy; Pinckney he also had observed and feared nothing
from the blunt, outspoken, and transparently honest but not in the least
subtle or far-seeing South Carolinian; the ill-appearing Virginian, of
whom he had never heard, Talleyrand counted as a cipher. It was here
that this keen and cynical student of human nature blundered.
Marshall and Talleyrand were almost of an age,[605] the Frenchman being
only a few months older than his Virginia antagonist. The powers of
neither were known to the other, as, indeed, they were at that time
unguessed generally by the mass of the people, even of their own
countries.
[Illustration: TALLEYRAND]
A month after Talleyrand became the head of French Foreign Affairs,
Rufus King, then our Minister at London, as soon as he had heard of
the appointment of the American envoys, wrote Talleyrand a conciliatory
letter congratulating the French diplomat upon his appointment. King and
Talleyrand had often met both in England and America.
"We have been accustomed," writes King, "to converse on every subject
with the greatest freedom"; then, assuming the frankness of friendship,
King tries to pave the way for Marshall, Pinckney, and Gerry, without
mentioning the latter, however. "From the moment I heard that you had
been named to the Department of Foreign Affairs," King assures
Talleyrand, "I have felt a satisfactory Confidence that the Cause of the
increasing Misunderstanding between us would cease, and that the
overtures mediated by our Government would not fail to restore Harmony
and Friendship between the two Countries."[606]
King might have saved his ink. Talleyrand did not answer the letter; it
is doubtful whether he even read it. At any rate, King's somewhat
amateurish effort to beguile the French Foreign Minister by empty words
utterly failed of its purpose.
The Americans received cold comfort from Talleyrand; he was busy, he
said, on a report on Franco-American affairs asked for by the Directory;
when he had presented it to his superiors he would, he said, let the
Americans know "what steps were to follow." Talleyrand saw to it,
however, that the envoys received "cards of hospitality" which had been
denied to Pinckney. These saved the Americans at least from offensive
attentions from the police.[607]
Three days later, a Mr. Church, an American-born French citizen,
accompanied by his son, called on Gerry, but found Marshall, who was
alone. From Thomas Paine, Church had learned of plans of the Directory
concerning neutrals which, he assured Marshall, "would be extremely
advantageous to the United States." "Do not urge your mission now,"
suggested Church--the present was "a most unfavorable moment." Haste
meant that "all would probably be lost." What were these measures of the
Directory? asked Marshall. Church was not at liberty to disclose them,
he said; but the envoys' "true policy was to wait for events."
That night came a letter from the author of "Common Sense." "This
letter," Marshall records, "made very different impressions on us. I
thought it an insult which ought to be received with that coldness which
would forbid the repetition of it. Mr. Gerry was of a contrary opinion."
Marshall insisted that the Directory knew of Paine's letter and would
learn of the envoys' answer, and that Pinckney, Gerry, and himself must
act only as they knew the American Government would approve. It was
wrong, said he, and imprudent to lead the Directory to expect anything
else from the envoys; and Paine's "aspersions on our government" should
be resented.[608] So began the break between Marshall and Gerry, which,
considering the characters of the two men, was inevitable.
Next, Talleyrand's confidential secretary confided to Major
Mountflorence, of the American Consulate, that the Directory would
require explanations of President Adams's speech to Congress, by which
they were exasperated. The Directory would not receive the envoys, he
said, until the negotiations were over; but that persons would be
appointed "to treat with" the Americans, and that these agents would
report to Talleyrand, who would have "charge of the negotiations."[609]
Mountflorence, of course, so advised the envoys.
Thus the curtain rose upon the melodrama now to be enacted--an episode
without a parallel in the history of American diplomacy. To understand
what follows, we must remember that the envoys were governed by careful,
lengthy, and detailed instructions to the effect that "no blame or
censure be directly, or indirectly, imputed to the United States"; that
in order not to "wound her [France] feelings or to excite her
resentment" the negotiations were to be on the principles of the British
Treaty; "that no engagement be made inconsistent with ... any prior
treaty"; that "no restraint on our lawful commerce with any other nation
be admitted"; that nothing be done "incompatible with the complete
sovereignty and independence of the United States in matters of policy,
commerce, and government"; and "_that no aid be stipulated in favor of
France during the present war_."[610]
We are now to witness the acts in that strange play, known to American
history as the X. Y. Z. Mission, as theatrical a spectacle as any ever
prepared for the stage. Indeed, the episode differs from a performance
behind the footlights chiefly in that in this curious arrangement the
explanation comes after the acting is over. When the dispatches to the
American Government, which Marshall now is to write, were transmitted to
Congress, diplomatic prudence caused the names of leading characters to
be indicated only by certain letters of the alphabet. Thus, this
determining phase of our diplomatic history is known to the present day
as "The X. Y. Z. Affair."
FOOTNOTES:
[549] Marshall to his wife, July 2, 1797; MS.
[550] Sedgwick to King, June 24, 1797; King, ii, 192.
[551] Marshall to his wife, July 5, 1797; MS.
[552] Marshall to Washington, July 7, 1797; MS., Lib. Cong.
[553] Marshall to his wife, July 11, 1797; MS.
[554] This, of course, was untrue, at that time. Marshall probably
listened with polite interest to Adams, who was a master of the subject,
and agreed with him. Thus Adams was impressed, as is the way of human
nature.
[555] Adams to Gerry, July 17, 1797; _Works_: Adams, viii, 549.
[556] _Aurora_, July 17, 1797.
[557] _Aurora_, July 19, 1797. For documents given envoys by the
Government, see _Am. St. Prs., For. Rel._, Class I, ii, 153.
[558] Marshall to Secretary of State, July 10, 1797; Memorandum by
Pickering; Pickering MSS., in _Proc._, Mass. Hist. Soc., xxi, 177.
[559] Marshall to his wife, "The Bay of Delaware," July 20, 1797; MS.
[560] Washington's remarks on Monroe's "View"; _Writings_: Ford, xiii,
452.
[561] See McMaster, ii, 257-59, 319, 370. But Monroe, although shallow,
was well meaning; and he had good excuse for over-enthusiasm; for his
instructions were: "Let it be seen that in case of a war with any nation
on earth, we shall consider France as our first and natural ally." (_Am.
St. Prs., For. Rel._, Class I, ii, 669.)
[562] "View of the Conduct of the Executive of the United States, etc.,"
by James Monroe (Philadelphia, Bache, Publisher, 1797). This pamphlet is
printed in full in Monroe's _Writings_: Hamilton, iii, as an Appendix.
Washington did not deign to notice Monroe's attack publicly; but on the
margin of Monroe's book answered every point. Extracts from Monroe's
"View" and Washington's comments thereon are given in Washington's
_Writings_: Ford, xiii, 452-90.
Jefferson not only approved but commended Monroe's attack on Washington.
(See Jefferson to Monroe, Oct. 25, 1797; _Works_: Ford, viii, 344-46.)
It is more than probable that he helped circulate it. (Jefferson to
Eppes, Dec. 21, 1797; _ib._, 347; and to Madison, Feb. 8, 1798; _ib._,
362; see also Jefferson to Monroe, Dec. 27; _ib._, 350. "Your book was
later coming than was to have been wished: however it works
irresistibly. It would have been very gratifying to you to hear the
unqualified eulogies ... by all who are not hostile to it from
principle.")
[563] Ticknor, ii, 113.
[564] For a condensed but accurate and impartial statement of Monroe's
conduct while Minister, see Gilman: _James Monroe_ (American Statesmen
Series), 36-73.
[565] Paine to editors of the _Bien-Informé_, Sept. 27, 1797;
_Writings_: Conway, iii, 368-69.
[566] _Am. St. Prs., For. Rel._, ii, 55-63.
[567] See condensed summary of the American case in instructions to
Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry; _ib._, 153-57.
[568] _Ib._, 64; and for numerous other examples see _ib._, 28-64.
[569] Ticknor, ii, 113.
[570] Pinckney to Secretary of State, Amsterdam, Feb. 18, 1797; _Am. St.
Prs., For. Rel._, vii, 10.
[571] See Barras's speech in _Am. St. Prs., For. Rel._, ii, 12.
[572] See Allen: _Naval War with France_, 31-33.
[573] Adams, Message to Congress, May 16, 1797; Richardson, i, 235-36;
also, _Works_: Adams, ix, 111-18.
[574] Gibbs, ii, 171-72.
[575] Hamilton proposed Jefferson or Madison. (Hamilton to Pickering,
March 22, 1797; Lodge: _Cabot_, 101.)
[576] _Works_: Adams, ix, 111-18.
[577] _Ib._
[578] Gibbs, i, 467, 469, and footnote to 530-31.
[579] Austin: _Gerry_, ii, 134-35.
[580] Jefferson to Gerry, June 21, 1797; _Works_: Ford, viii, 314. This
letter flattered Gerry's vanity and nullified Adams's prudent advice to
him given a few days later. (See _infra._)
[581] Sedgwick to King, June 24, 1797; King, ii, 193.
[582] McHenry to Adams, in Cabinet meeting, 1797; Steiner, 224.
[583] Adams to Gerry, July 8, 1797; _Works_: Adams, viii, 547-48.
Nine days later the President again admonishes Gerry. While expressing
confidence in him, the President tells Gerry that "Some have
expressed ... fears of an unaccommodating disposition [in Gerry] and
others of an obstinacy that will risk great things to secure small ones.
"Some have observed that there is, at present, a happy and perfect
harmony among all our ministers abroad, and have expressed apprehension
that your appointment might occasion an interruption of it." (Adams to
Gerry, July 17, 1797; _ib._, 549.)
[584] Marshall took the commission and instructions of John Quincy Adams
as the American Minister to Prussia (_Writings, J.Q.A._: Ford, ii,
footnote to 216), to which post the younger Adams had been appointed by
Washington because of his brilliant "Publicola" essays.
[585] Marshall, to Washington, The Hague, Sept. 15, 1797; Washington
MSS., Lib. Cong. See citations _ib._, _infra_. (Sparks MSS., _Proc._
Mass. Hist. Soc., lxvi; also _Amer. Hist. Rev._, ii, no. 2, Jan., 1897.)
[586] Pinckney and his family had been living in Holland for almost
seven months. (Pinckney to Pickering, Feb. 8, 1797; _Am. St. Prs., For.
Rel._, ii, 10.)
[587] Marshall to his wife, The Hague, Sept. 9, 1797, MS. Marshall's
brother had been in The Hague July 30, but had gone to Berlin. Vans
Murray to J. Q. Adams, July 30, 1797; _Letters_: Ford, 358. Apparently
the brothers did not meet, notwithstanding the critical state of the
Fairfax contract.
[588] Marshall to Washington, The Hague, Sept. 15, 1797; _Amer. Hist.
Rev._, ii, no. 2, Jan., 1897; and MS., Lib. Cong.
[589] See _infra_, next chapter.
[590] Washington to Marshall, Dec. 4, 1797; _Writings_: Ford, xiii,
432-34.
[591] To justify the violence of the 18th Fructidor, the Directory
asserted that the French elections, in which a majority of conservatives
and anti-revolutionists were returned and General Pichegru chosen
President of the French Legislature, were parts of a royal conspiracy to
destroy liberty and again place a king upon the throne of France. In
these elections the French liberals, who were not in the army, did not
vote; while all conservatives, who wished above all things for a stable
and orderly government of law and for peace with other countries,
flocked to the polls.
Among the latter, of course, were the few Royalists who still remained
in France. Such, at least, was the view Marshall took of this episode.
To understand Marshall's subsequent career, too much weight cannot be
given this fact and, indeed, all the startling events in France during
the six historic months of Marshall's stay in Paris.
But Marshall did not take into account the vital fact that the French
soldiers had no chance to vote at this election. They were scattered far
and wide--in Italy, Germany, and elsewhere. Yet these very men were the
soul of the Revolutionary cause. And the private soldiers were more
enraged by the result of the French elections than their generals--even
than General Augereau, who was tigerish in his wrath.
They felt that, while they were fighting on the battlefield, they had
been betrayed at the ballot box. To the soldiers of France the
revolution of the 18th Fructidor was the overthrow of their enemies in
their own country. The army felt that it had answered with loyal
bayonets a conspiracy of treasonable ballots. It now seems probable that
the soldiers and officers of the French armies were right in this view.
Pinckney was absurdly accused of interfering in the elections in behalf
of the "Royalist Conspiracy." (Vans Murray to J. Q. Adams, April 3,
1798; _Letters_: Ford, 391.) Such a thing, of course, was perfectly
impossible.
[592] Marshall to Lee, Antwerp, Sept. 22, 1797; MS., New York Pub. Lib.
[593] Gouverneur Morris to Washington, Feb., 1793; Morris, ii, 37. While
Morris was an aristocrat, thoroughly hostile to democracy and without
sympathy with or understanding of the French Revolution, his statements
of facts have proved to be generally accurate. (See Lyman: _Diplomacy of
the United States_, i, 352, on corruption of the Directory.)
[594] Morris to Pinckney, Aug. 13, 1797; Morris, ii, 51.
[595] Loliée: _Talleyrand and His Times_, 170-71.
[596] King to Secretary of State, Dispatch no. 54, Nov. 18, 1797; King,
ii, 243.
[597] Marshall's Journal, official copy, Pickering Papers, Mass. Hist.
Soc., 1.
[598] Loliée: _Talleyrand and His Times_, 147; and Blennerhassett:
_Talleyrand_, ii, 256-57.
[599] Talleyrand to Mme. de Staël, quoted in McCabe: _Talleyrand_, 137.
[600] _Memoirs of Talleyrand_: Broglie's ed., i, 179-82; also see
McCabe's summary in his _Talleyrand_, 136-38. Talleyrand was greatly
impressed by the statement of a New Jersey farmer, who wished to see
Bingham rather than President Washington because he had heard that
Bingham was "so wealthy.... Throughout America I met with a similar love
of money," says Talleyrand. (_Memoirs of Talleyrand_: Broglie's ed., i,
180.) In this estimate of American character during that period,
Talleyrand did not differ from other travelers, nor, indeed, from the
opinion of most Americans who expressed themselves upon this subject.
(See vol. I, chaps. VII, and VIII, of this work.)
[601] Talleyrand as quoted in Pickering to King, Nov. 7, 1798;
_Pickering_: Pickering, ii, 429.
[602] _Am. St. Prs., For. Rel._, ii, 158.
[603] _Memoirs of Talleyrand_: Stewarton, ii, 10.
[604] Pinckney was the only one of the envoys who could speak French. He
had received a finished education in England at Westminster and Oxford
and afterward had studied in France at the Royal Military College at
Caen.
[605] Marshall and Talleyrand were forty-two years of age, Pinckney
fifty-one, and Gerry fifty-three.
[606] King to Talleyrand, London, Aug. 3, 1797; King, ii, 206-08.
[607] _Am. St. Prs., For. Rel._, ii, 158; Marshall's Journal, Official
Copy; MS., Mass. Hist. Soc., 2. The envoys' dispatches to the Secretary
of State were prepared by Marshall, largely, from his Journal. Citations
will be from the dispatches except when not including matter set out
exclusively in Marshall's Journal.
[608] Marshall's Journal, Oct. 11, 2-4.
[609] _Am. St. Prs., For. Rel._, ii, 8-11, and 158. Fulwar Skipwith was
consul; but Mountflorence was connected with the office.
[610] _Am. St. Prs., For. Rel._, ii, 157. Italics are mine.