Yeas.—John Allen, George Baer, jr., Bailey Bartlett, James A. Bayard, Jonathan Brace, David Brooks, Stephen Bullock, Christopher G. Champlin, John Chapman, James Cochran, William Craik, Samuel W. Dana, John Dennis, William Edmond, Thomas Evans, Abiel Foster, Dwight Foster, Jonathan Freeman, Henry Glenn, Chauncey Goodrich, William Gordon, Roger Griswold, William Barry Grove, Robert Goodloe Harper, Thomas Hartley, William Hindman, Hezekiah L. Hosmer, James H. Imlay, Samuel Lyman, James Machir, William Matthews, Daniel Morgan, Lewis R. Morris, Harrison G. Otis, Isaac Parker, Thomas Pinckney, John Read, John Rutledge, jr., James Schureman, Samuel Sewall, William Shepard, Thomas Sinnickson, Nathaniel Smith, Peleg Sprague, George Thatcher, Richard Thomas, Mark Thompson, Thomas Tillinghast, John E. Van Allen, Peleg Wadsworth, Robert Waln, and John Williams.
Nays.—Abraham Baldwin, David Bard, Thomas Blount, Richard Brent, Robert Brown, Samuel J. Cabell, Thomas Claiborne, William Charles Cole Claiborne, Matthew Clay, John Clopton, Thos. T. Davis, John Dawson, George Dent, Joseph Eggleston, Lucas Elmendorph, William Findlay, John Fowler, Nathaniel Freeman, jr., Albert Gallatin, James Gillespie, Andrew Gregg, John A. Hanna, Carter B. Harrison, Jonathan N. Havens, Joseph Heister, David Holmes, Walter Jones, Edward Livingston, Matthew Locke, Matthew Lyon, Nathaniel Macon, Blair McClenachan, Joseph McDowell, Anthony New, John Nicholas, Josiah Parker, Thompson J. Skinner, Samuel Smith, William Smith, Richard Sprigg, Richard Stanford, Thos. Sumter, Abram Trigg, John Trigg, Philip Van Cortlandt, Joseph B. Varnum, Abraham Venable, and Robert Williams.
Mr. McDowell then moved an adjournment; which was negatived—55 to 38.
The question was then taken on the second resolution, upon which the yeas and nays were exactly the same as upon the first.
The question on the third was concurred in, 61 votes being for it.
Mr. Otis called the order of the day on the bill vesting the power of retaliation, in certain cases, in the President of the United States; when
Mr. Dent moved to postpone the consideration of this bill until the next session of Congress; which motion was negatived—35 to 32.
The House then went into a Committee of the Whole on this bill, and after some discussion, and an amendment being introduced into the preamble of the bill by Mr. Dayton, (the Speaker,) to make it apply generally to any acts of severity that may be committed by the French Republic in pursuance of any violent decree, instead of applying particularly to the decree declaring American citizens, found on board vessels of their enemy, pirates, and liable to suffer death, the committee rose, and the amendment was concurred in.
The question being, "Shall this bill pass?"
Mr. Livingston complained that this bill went to place the power of life and death in the hands of the President, with respect to every Frenchman in this country, in case the French Government should commit any act of violence against one of our citizens. He doubted, indeed, whether he would not have this power, in case of any American citizen being killed in battle on board a British ship. The Legislature, he said, had no right to vest this power, except in case of war; nor did he believe it would ever be exercised, if given. And as the decree complained of had been two years in existence without being carried into effect, he thought there was no need now to create an alarm about it. Indeed, the last decree having been suspended, he considered the first to be so also.
Mr. Edmond was sorry, at this late hour, to occupy a single moment of the time of the House; but he found himself called upon to say a few words. It was a painful reflection, he said, that any nation in the world should deliberately pass a legislative act for the purpose of authorizing the commission of murder; for the arrêt of the French Republic was nothing less than a law for putting innocent men to death. An instance like it could not be found on record. In time of war retaliation is found necessary to prevent the enormities of an enemy. Indeed, the intention of retaliation is always to prevent cruelty. This decree was said to be suspended; but if it were not intended to give it future operation, it would have been repeated. It might be convenient to suspend the decree for a time; but when a nation is so depraved as to pass a decree of this kind, what security have we that the decree will not be brought into operation in the recess of Congress. If it is not, the present law can have no effect. Mr. E. believed no one but the gentleman from New York could have supposed that this law was meant to retaliate for men killed in battle. If he examines the bill, he will find that the person must have been put to death pursuant to a decree of the French Republic. And whilst we suffer our humanity to be touched with respect to French citizens here, we ought not to forget American citizens, whose blood may be spilt in France under this decree.
Mr. Gallatin observed, that three arguments had been used in favor of passing this bill. One of them was, that it would afford protection to our seamen; the second, to give sufficient cause of irritation by repelling every hostile measure of the French Government by one of a similar nature; the third, to prevent the people of America having any belief in either the sincerity of France or the probability of a negotiation.
Mr. G. did not believe that this bill would give the protection expected to our seamen; and as to the power of retaliation, well knowing, both from the character of the President and the general character of America, that retaliation would be repugnant to his feelings, and the feelings of the public at large, he did not believe a single case would ever happen in which it would be exercised. What, said Mr. G., would be the degree of proof necessary to carry into effect this law? A man must have been taken on board a British vessel, or some other vessel at war with France, and put to death or ill-treated by the French. It must also be proved to have been done in pursuance of a French decree. In the next place, he must be an American citizen, and have been compelled to go on board such ship; and Mr. G. did not know how all this information was to come to the President.
If, said Mr. G., it be really our intention to give protection to our seamen, instead of authorizing the proposed retaliation, we ought to go to the source of the evil, and endeavor to prevent the impressment of our seamen by the British, which alone brought them into this situation. This bill does not comprehend any American who goes on board of a British ship of war voluntarily; they are not entitled to our protection by the law of nations; they must seek protection from the country under whose flag they sail. Those American citizens only, therefore, who have been forced on board a British ship of war, and who have been obliged to fight their battles against their will, are by this bill to be protected, so far as retaliation can protect them.
Mr. G. said, he had been induced to mention this point, not only because it naturally flows from the subject, but from one of the documents which had been submitted to the House. He alluded to Lord Grenville's letter to Mr. King, our Minister at London. [Mr. G. read an extract of that letter.]
Mr. G. observed, upon this document, that it contained a very extraordinary acknowledgment. Lord Grenville says, "the King feels the protection due to those who sail under his flag." Thereby openly acknowledging that there are a number of American seamen who do sail under his flag. And, as not many of our seamen had selected his service in preference to that of their own country; as our own seamen, if left to their choice, would sooner sail on board of our own ships than those of His British Majesty, it is therefore an explicit avowal of the impressment of American seamen. That identical document which communicates the offensive decree of France, is also the occasion of this bill.
This acknowledgment, said Mr. G., leads to more than one consequence. If we pass this bill, it will amount to this, that knowing American seamen were impressed by the British, the fact having been thus confessed, we choose rather to pass a retaliatory law against the French for punishing our seamen found in a situation into which they were arbitrarily forced by the British, than apply a remedy to the root of the evil.
Again, another part of this letter of Lord Grenville, when connected with this measure, made an extraordinary impression on his mind. The acknowledgment having been made, it might have been supposed Lord Grenville would have ordered all such American seamen to have been released; but he does not do this, but says the King will cause retaliation to be exercised. To do this might have some effect whilst these men remained on board of the King's ships; it would, therefore, increase his power, and prolong the time during which such seamen will remain on board. But Lord Grenville does not stop here. He says, the "King leaves it with the different powers to take measures accordingly." So that he gives us advice what we ought to do, and we are about to do it. Mr. G. had said, this bill was not likely to produce any effect; yet, if it should be put in force, by referring once more to Lord Grenville's letter, it will appear that the retaliation of which he speaks is to be confined to French prisoners, whom the fortune of war had thrown into the power of Great Britain; and he believed the present law should be confined to persons who should be captured by vessels of the United States. And it would be most effectual in this way; because if it were to operate against other French citizens in this country, the French Government would not be concerned about it, since ninety-nine out of a hundred of those citizens are probably emigrants, or persons for whose safety they have no interest.
If by meeting every hostile act of the French Government by a measure of a similar kind, we could render this country more respectable, Mr. G. should be in favor of it; but, in the present case, he did not think the measure applicable. There was a great difference, he said, between measures of hostility and retaliation. Measures of retaliation could do no good, except as preventives; and as the decree in question had already been two years in force without being carried into effect, it could scarcely be expected that it would now be exercised.
It must be allowed, Mr. G. said, that some change had taken place in our situation with respect to France; but it seemed as if gentlemen wished, by the passing of this bill, to take off any impression of this kind which might have been made on the people by the late appointment of Ministers to treat with France. Mr. G. did not mean to express any opinion on the probable issue of that nomination. He believed the President had taken certain measures; and that nothing which he could do or say would either accelerate or delay those measures. He wished to leave them uncontrolled, to have the effect they may, whatever it may be. Yet, in relation to what had been said with respect to Guadaloupe, he believed that captures had taken place; yet, when we speak of information, there was a letter written by one of the commanders of our vessels, which says, that a number of vessels go there for the purpose of being taken, in order to carry on a trade contrary to the laws of the United States. [The Speaker called to order.] Mr. G. said he was about to conclude. He considered this bill as calculated to have but little effect, and had it not been for the arguments of the gentleman from Massachusetts, he should have been at a loss to have known for what reason it was passed.
Mr. Dana said, "with what measure you mete, the same shall be measured to you again," was a doctrine long since established. It was a doctrine which injured man had assumed in all countries, and the justice of which had been universally admitted.
An appeal to this national sentiment, and to the writers on this subject, would be a sufficient answer to the gentleman's humanity for Frenchmen, to the forgetfulness of his fellow-citizens.
The general principles of the law are too just to be questioned. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, well knowing that the national feelings of man must approve of the principle, undertakes to distinguish away the subject. Instead of coming forward to the point, he has gone into complaints against British inhumanity. But why speak of British inhumanity, if not to embarrass this bill? This bill is intended against the French nation. If the gentleman wished a similar law against the British, neither he nor his followers could be suspected of any attachment to that nation, which would have prevented him or them from bringing forward such a measure. The gentleman knew such a measure would be embarrassed with difficulties; and, if it failed, it would deprive him of the argument he now makes use of. Shall we, said Mr. D., because our seamen have been first injured by Great Britain, when France uses them still worse, abandon them? Because they have been once injured with impunity, shall we turn our backs upon them for ever? The doctrine is too inhuman, too absurd, to be countenanced.
The gentleman from Pennsylvania assigns another reason against this bill. To make it effectual he says certain information must be given to the President, viz: that the person ill-treated is an American seaman; and that he has received his ill-treatment in pursuance of a decree of the French Government. Has the gentleman to learn that, when the officers of the French Government do an act of violence, which the principles of humanity and the law of nations condemn, if the nation does not punish its officers for the act, it must be done in pursuance of the orders of Government?
The gentleman's other objection was honorable to Americans. It was that the humanity of the President, and of the people of this country, would not suffer the law, if passed, to be carried into effect. Mr. D. said it was difficult to reason on this subject, but, admitting the fact, it affords a decisive proof that this power will never be abused, and at the worst, the law could only be ineffectual, and it might have the good effect of preventing the unprincipled murder of our countrymen.
The gentleman from Pennsylvania had said that the decree of the British Cabinet might have had some effect in procuring a suspension of the decree of the Executive Directory.
[Mr. Gallatin denied having said that the French Government had suspended their decree on account of the threats of the British. Mr. King's first letter is dated the 27th of November, and his second, mentioning the suspension of the decree, the 28th, so that that was impossible.]
The gentleman has taken an opportunity of referring to the note of Lord Grenville. If the gentleman was disposed to make a philippic against Lord Grenville, Mr. D. said, he had no reason to vindicate him; but, when the gentleman went so far beside the question to do it, it showed he had little respect for his audience. But the gentleman from Pennsylvania was certainly incorrect, when he said the note of Lord Grenville was a direct admission that impressed American seamen were held on board the British fleet. He would state a case in which American seamen would be liable to the effects of the French decree, where the British Government could not be censurable. Suppose an American vessel captured and plundered by the French, and some of our seamen, to escape the severities of a French dungeon, had escaped and got on board of a British ship of war, hoping by that means, in time, to get to their own country. Such cases, he had no doubt, had happened, and in such, the gentleman must allow, our citizens must be liable to suffer as pirates, without any blame resting on the conduct of the British.
Mr. Otis said, it had been so long unfashionable to vindicate the conduct of France, or to make apologies in her behalf, that those who now wished to do it, attempt to excite hatred against another nation. The gentleman from Pennsylvania has gone altogether upon this principle. He has said but little against the principle of the bill. His only objection to it was that it was not sufficiently extensive. Admitting the injuries to exist with respect to Great Britain, and that many of our seamen have been impressed by them, did the gentleman wish us to retaliate by impressing British seamen? No, he would be the first to oppose such a law; and yet this is the only just kind of retaliation that could be adopted, for he would not wish us, because the British have impressed our seamen, to put the first British subject we meet to death; and to talk of impressing their seamen, would be perfectly ridiculous.
It was not incumbent upon him, Mr. O. said, to enter into any argument to distinguish between the injuries which we have received from the French and British Governments, nor to palliate the conduct of any nation which has done us wrong; but when things perfectly clear are violently distorted, to excite undue prejudices, with a view of diverting the attention of the House from the subject before them, it becomes necessary to notice the attempt. Let it be granted that Great Britain impresses our seamen; she renounces every right to do so. She perseveres, it is true, in her right to reclaim her own seamen from on board our vessels, and in making this claim, some abuses may have taken place.
If the gentleman from Pennsylvania had seen fit to do justice to Lord Grenville, he would have turned to another document laid before Congress by the Secretary of State last year, wherein he says that Great Britain had never assumed the principle of impressing American seamen. His friend from South Carolina (Mr. Pinckney) affirmed what he said, and showed that the great difficulty was in preventing false passports from being given. This was verified in the conduct of Captain Loring and the Baltimore sloop of war. The difference, Mr. O. said, between the conduct of France and Great Britain towards us was palpable. Great Britain never refused to rectify grievances; she never heaped outrages upon us. If she had, he should have been for vengeance and war against that country, and the cry would certainly have been echoed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. O. said he disdained that sort of sensibility which his friend from Connecticut (Mr. Dana) seemed to think redounded to the honor of the people of this country. He owned it would not wound his feelings, in the smallest degree, to see the law of retaliation executed upon any French citizen in America. If one American citizen fell a sacrifice to the decree of France, it would altogether absorb his sympathies for Frenchmen. There is a French citizen, said he, now living in the neighborhood of New York, who originally came here as Ambassador from the French Republic; and I must say that I should not feel the least sensibility if he should fall a victim to this law! Indeed, there were French citizens enough on whom to execute the law; though he joined gentlemen on all sides of the House in hoping that there would be no occasion to carry it into effect.
The gentleman from New York says that a law of this kind ought not to be passed, except in time of war; and yet, said Mr. O., the gentleman will not let us go to war, and in the mean time our citizens may suffer with impunity under the bloody decrees of France. But he believed Congress had clearly the power, from those words of the constitution which say, "they shall grant letters of marque and reprisal"—reprisal, doubtless, not only against ships, but against property and persons, to pass a law of this kind. Mr. O. thought it necessary, therefore, to show to the French Republic that we are not negotiating through fear; that we are desirous of keeping peace with all the world, so long as we can do it consistent with our honor and independence; but no longer.
Mr. S. Smith wished to have postponed this bill till the next session. He thought it improper as it originally stood; as the decree which was passed two years ago was never acted upon. Indeed he had somewhere seen that American seamen were released on application of Mr. Skipwith, our Consul in France. The bill, as amended, is far less objectionable, yet he wished it were postponed till next session, because he never wished to see a law of this kind on our code. He agreed with the gentleman from Connecticut that it was legalizing murder.
Mr. S. believed the gentleman from Massachusetts mistaken in many respects. He himself believed France was disposed to make peace. Mr. S. proposed an amendment to the bill confining the retaliation to persons captured in pursuance of any of the laws of the United States. If this amendment was agreed to, the bill would be less exceptionable; for, though the gentleman from Massachusetts had said he should not regret the murder of any French citizen, under this law, nothing surely but the heat of argument could have led him to say this; he must own he should: nor did he believe that that gentleman, or any other, could lay hold of an unfortunate Frenchman, and put him to death, though one of our citizens might have suffered unjustly and cruelly in France.
The amendment was carried.
Mr. Macon did not wish to see this law in our code. In his opinion nothing but the utmost necessity ought to induce us to pass it. Nor could he believe that the gentleman from Massachusetts could see any man, even if taken in arms, put to death in cold blood! Though it might be right to punish those who passed the decree, if they could be laid hold of, it was a mournful thing to retaliate upon innocent persons the offences of the guilty.
The gentleman from Connecticut had quoted a scriptural passage—"With the same measure that you mete, the same shall be measured unto you." In the same volume, Mr. M. said, he would also find, "Do unto others as ye would they should do unto you;" and a law of this kind could not be justified upon the latter principle.
It is said we ought to show that we do not act from fear. He thought this one of the last measures the House should pass to evince that. Mr. M. hoped, that on the last evening of the session, a bill of this kind would not be pressed. The members had heretofore been accustomed to part in good humor, at the close of the session, however they might have differed in the course of it. He hoped they should not now depart from this custom. He therefore moved to postpone the bill till next session.
The question for postponement was negatived—48 to 37.
After a few observations from Mr. McDowell, against the bill, it was ordered to be read a third time and passed—yeas 56, nays 30.
A motion was made by Mr. Livingston, to adjourn till ten in the morning, as it would be impossible to get through the business to-night, and he understood the Senate were about to adjourn to that time.
Mr. Dana proposed to adjourn till seven in the evening; but that motion being negatived, the House adjourned till ten o'clock on Sunday morning.
Several reports were made by the Committee of Enrolment, and sundry messages communicated from the Senate relative to the bills in their passage.
Mr. Champlin rose and addressed the House as follows:
"Sensible as I am of the importance of the duties that at all times attach to a gentleman who presides over the deliberations of this assembly, and more especially in times of imminent danger; impressed with the able and honorable manner in which those duties have been discharged by the gentleman who now fills the chair; and believing the sentiments I entertain on this occasion to be in perfect unison with those of every member of this House—I beg leave to submit a resolution expressive of the sense of the House on this subject:"
He then moved the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the thanks of this House be presented to Jonathan Dayton, in testimony of their approbation of his conduct in discharging the arduous and important duties assigned him whilst in the chair."
This motion was received by the Clerk, and the question being put upon it by him, there appeared for it 40, against it 22.
The resolution being carried, the Speaker rose and addressed the House as follows:
No language, gentlemen, can do justice to those feelings which this second vote of approbation of my conduct, after four years' presidency in the House of Representatives, has excited in my breast. It would be unjust in me not to acknowledge, that to the support uniformly afforded, and to the confidence unremittedly reposed in me, rather than to any merit of my own, is to be ascribed the success with which you are pleased to declare that the duties of the chair have been executed.
Permit me to say, that far from being displeased, I have, on the contrary, been very much gratified at hearing that the resolution of thanks has not been passed, as a mere matter of form, unanimously. As in all public bodies, there have ever been found men whose approbation must be considered by the meritorious as a censure, so in this body, there are, unhappily, some whose censure will be regarded by all whose esteem I value, as the highest testimony of merit. About to abandon the seat which I have held in this branch of the General Legislature for eight successive years, I take advantage of the moment which precedes our separation to bid you, gentlemen, an affectionate farewell.
Mr. Macon moved the usual resolution appointing a joint committee with the Senate, to inform the President, that Congress is ready to adjourn without day, unless he has any further communication to make them; which being agreed to, Messrs. Otis, Macon, and Brooks, were appointed a committee on the part of this House.
Mr. Otis, from the committee appointed to wait upon the President, informed the House that they had performed that service; and he informed them "that he had no further communication to make, except to express his wish for the health and happiness of the members, and a pleasant journey home to their families and friends."
The Speaker then adjourned the House without day.
The fifth Congress, the first under the administration of Mr. John Adams, was wholly occupied with measures of defence against France, and incurred debt and taxes in these preparations which greatly impaired its popularity, and contributed to the overthrow of the federal party: but there was great necessity for these exertions at that time, and both national honor, and national interest, and national safety required them to be made. Besides the insults which went to our honor, and the depredations which affected our commerce, there were threats of attack and invasion not to be despised. The Directory, inflated with the successes of Buonaparte in Italy, with the subjugation of several small powers, the transformation of several principalities and kingdoms into republics, the peace with the Emperor of Germany, the neutralization of some kingdoms and the alliance of others: exalted with so much success, and anxious to bring the United States into their system and especially into the war with Great Britain, had recourse to all the means of accomplishing its purpose—first, by entreaties; afterwards by insults and outrages; and finally by threats of war. It is difficult for general history to give a view of these proceedings, and it is only in contemporary sources that they can be adequately studied. The Debates of Congress are one, and the largest one, of these sources; documents on which the debates are founded are another: and it is often desirable, in after time, to produce these documents in greater extent than used in the debate. That is the case with these debates on French affairs during the time of which we speak, and the communications of our Ministers sent to Paris furnish the documentary evidence necessary to complete them—evidence too well known to require copious quotation at the time, but now little known to the subsequent generation. This note then, in the nature of an appendix to the debates of the fifth Congress, will contain extracts from the dispatches of the Ministers of that day: and first of General Pinckney.
Arriving at Paris the 5th of December 1796, he immediately waited on the Minister of Exterior Relations (Citizen Charles De la Croix) in company with Mr. Monroe, according to an appointment previously made, and had an interview with him; of which he gives this account in a dispatch to Mr. Pickering, Secretary of State: (Extracts only are given.)
Mr. Monroe and myself, with my secretary, Major Rutledge, about two o'clock, waited upon M. De la Croix, and I was introduced by Mr. Monroe as the person appointed as his successor. The Minister at first received us with great stiffness, but afterwards, on our conversing on some general subjects, he unbent and behaved with civility; and, on receiving the official copies of our letter of credence and recall, said he would deliver them, without delay, to the Directory. He desired Major Rutledge to let him have our names of baptism, and our ages, that cards of hospitality might be made out, which he said were necessary to reside here unmolested. This requisition was immediately complied with, and he promised to send the cards the next morning. When this interview was known, the reports which had been spread abroad before my arrival, of my not being received by the Directory, vanished, and the general idea seemed to be that there would be no objection to receive me as Minister from America. At 11 o'clock, on Monday, December 12, Mr. Prevost (Mr. Monroe's secretary) called upon me, and told me that Mr. Monroe had just received a letter from M. De la Croix, and desired to know if I had received one. I said no. He then showed me M. De la Croix's to Mr. Monroe, which was as follows: [Date, Dec. 9.
Citizen Minister: I hasten to lay before the Executive Directory the copies of your letters of recall, and of the letter of credence of Mr. Pinckney, whom the President of the United States has appointed to succeed you, in the quality of Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States near the French Republic. The Directory has charged me to notify you "that it will not acknowledge nor receive another Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States, until after the redress of the grievances demanded of the American Government, and which the French Republic has a right to expect from it." [Date, Dec. 11.
I waited until next morning, expecting to receive a notification from M. De la Croix, when, not hearing from him, I wrote him the following letter:
Citizen Minister: Colonel Monroe has been so good as to communicate to me your letter to him of the 21st Frimaire, wherein you inform him that you had submitted to the Executive Directory his letters of recall, and my letters of credence as Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, and that the Directory had instructed you to notify him "qu'il ne reconnoitra et ne recevra plus de Ministre Plenipotentiaire des Etats Unis jusqu'après le redressement des griefs demandé au Gouvernement Americain, et que la République Françoise est en droit d'en attendre." [That it will not acknowledge nor receive any Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States, until after the redress of the grievances demanded of the American Government, and which the French Republic has a right to expect from it.] This communication has filled me with real sorrow, as I am thoroughly convinced that the sentiments of America and its Government—for they are one—are misunderstood, and that I am not permitted even to attempt to explain them, or, in the terms of my letters of credence, to endeavor "to efface unfavorable impressions, to banish suspicions, and to restore that cordiality which was at once the evidence and pledge of a friendly union." Devoted, as I am, to the liberty, prosperity, and independence of my own country, the freedom, happiness, and perfect establishment of the French Republic, have always been dear to me, and to have been instrumental in cementing the good understanding which, from the commencement of their alliance, has subsisted between the two nations, would have been the height of my ambition. I most fervently pray that there may be a speedy and candid investigation of those points in which you differ from us, that affection may banish distrust, and that the alliance of the two Republics may be perpetual.
In your letter to Colonel Monroe you do not desire him to make any communication to me, and I am indebted to his politeness for the knowledge I have of the intentions of the Directory. I submit to you, citizen Minister, that, as the letters of recall had been received by Mr. Monroe, and official copies of his letters of recall, and my letters of credence, had been delivered to you, that the sentiments of the Directory should be communicated by you immediately to me, that I may, without delay, transmit them as from the Executive of this Republic to the Government of the United States; and that I may be informed by you, whether it is the intention of the Directory that I should immediately quit the territories of the Republic, or whether I and my family may remain until I hear from my Government. As I have not received the cards which, in your interview, you said I ought to possess in order to enable me to reside here, and that they should be transmitted to me next morning, I am the more doubtful on this subject than I should otherwise be. Accept my best wishes. [Dec. 13.
This letter I sent by Major Rutledge, who delivered it to M. De la Croix, and made the following report of what passed between them, which he immediately reduced to writing:
"I this day waited upon M. De la Croix, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, at two o'clock, as bearer of a letter from General Pinckney. I was admitted immediately on sending in my name, and delivered the letter. Having informed him from whom it came, and that there was a French translation annexed, he opened it and proceeded to read the letter in my presence, which, when he had finished, he desired me to return to General Pinckney as his answer: That the Executive Directory knew of no Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, since the presentation of Mr. Monroe's letters of recall, and that the Executive Directory had charged him to notify to Mr. Monroe (here he read the quotation contained in the letter) qu'il ne reconnoitra et ne recevra plus de Ministre Plenipotentiaire des Etats Unis, jusqu'après le redressement des griefs demandé au Gouvernement Americain, et que la République Françoise est en droit d'en attendre. Which notification the Directory relied upon Mr. Monroe's imparting to his own Government, as well as communicating to General Pinckney."
On the 25th of Frimaire, (15th of December,) about three o'clock in the afternoon, a Mr. Giraudet called on me, and said he was chief secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs; that he came on the part of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to signify to me that, with respect to my letter to him, (which he produced, together with the translation,) he could not directly communicate with me on it, as such direct communication would be acknowledging me as Minister, when the Directory had determined not to receive me; that, as to the other part of my letter, relative to remaining here, that he supposed I was acquainted with the laws of France, as they applied to strangers. I told him that I was not acquainted with the local laws of the Republic; he said that there was a decree which prevented all foreigners from remaining at Paris without particular permission, which, as the Directory did not mean to grant to me, of course the general law would operate. I answered, that I could not conceive the having a direct communication with me would involve the consequences he stated; that if Mr. Monroe had died before my arrival, the information that they would not acknowledge me, must, of course, have been made to myself. Mr. Monroe having received his letter of recall from our Government, could not now act officially any more than if he had ceased to exist; that I was indebted to Mr. Monroe's politeness for the information I had received of the intention of the Directory not to acknowledge me, but that he had not intended it as an official communication. That, with regard to the laws of France relative to strangers, the law which he had cited did not apply to the requisition of my letter, which was to know whether it was the intention of the Directory that I should quit the territories of the Republic; or whether I might remain here until I should hear from my Government. He said he rather believed that it was the intention that I should quit the territories of the Republic; but, as it admitted of a doubt, he would mention it to the Minister, with whom he was to dine, and acquaint me with the result in the evening. I told him I should be obliged to him, should it be the intention of the Directory that I should quit the Republic, to inform me in what time I was to set out, as my baggage was not arrived from Bordeaux; that I meant not to ask any personal favor, but to have the intention of the Directory clearly expressed, as it related to me, in the situation in which I came to France. He said he would, and expressed a regret at being the bearer of disagreeable information, and then departed. His behavior and manners were very polite.
In the evening, about eight o'clock, he returned, and informed me that, in answer to the doubt which had been entertained in the morning, (a doubt, he observed, which had proceeded from his own inattention to the words of M. De la Croix,) the Minister could only reply that he understood the Directory to mean the territory of the Republic, and not Paris alone, which was to be quitted; that as to the time in which it was necessary to depart, the Minister could not designate it, but that he would have another communication with the Directory, and that their intentions should be made known to me in a more explicit manner upon both points; that, at the same time, he must inform me that, in all probability, M. De la Croix would not be the organ through which they would be addressed, as the Minister of the Police Générale would be the officer under whose department my case would come. I replied that I apprehended M. De la Croix was the proper organ through which information should come to me, as he knew the capacity in which I had come to France; whereas, the Minister of Police might regard me as a mere stranger, and throw me into confinement; that it was in the power of the Directory to receive me, or not: but they could not divest themselves of the knowledge which they had of the public character in which I came to France; and that, in that character, I was entitled to the protection of the laws of nations, whether the Directory received me or not. If they permitted me to remain until I heard from my Government, I was under the protection of those laws; if they ordered me to quit the territories of the Republic, I was still entitled to letters of safe conduct, and passports on my journey out; that this was the case even with Ministers of belligerent powers, much more ought it to apply between us, who were at peace. Since this conversation, I have not heard from the Directory, or any of the Ministers or their agents. My situation, as you may easily conceive, is unpleasant; but if I can ultimately render any services to my country, I shall be fully compensated: at all events, it shall be my study to avoid increasing the discontent of this Government, without committing the honor, dignity, and respect due to our own. Should I fail in doing this, or should I err in the measures I pursue to accomplish it, the failing will not be in my zeal, but should be charged to my want of ability. At present, I think the ground I have taken has puzzled them: they wish me gone, but they apprehend that it would be too harsh a measure to send off, in a peremptory manner, the Minister of my country; though there is no saying what their conduct will ultimately be, as I am informed that they have already sent off thirteen foreign Ministers: and a late emigrant, now here, has assured them that America is not of greater consequence to them, nor ought to be treated with greater respect, than Geneva or Genoa. Those who regard us as being of some consequence, seem to have taken up an idea that our Government acts upon principles opposed to the real sentiments of a large majority of our people, and they are willing to temporize until the event of the election of President is known; thinking that, if one public character is chosen, he will be attached to the interest of Great Britain; and that, if another character is elected, he will be (to use the expression of Du Pont de Nemours, in the Council of Ancients) devoted to the interest of France; entertaining the humiliating idea that we are a people divided by party, the mere creatures of foreign influence, and regardless of our national character, honor, and interest.
I have seen Mr. Monroe very often since my arrival: his conduct has been open and candid, and I believe he has made me every communication which he thought would be of service to our country. He undoubtedly felt himself hurt at his being superseded; but I am convinced he has not, on that account, left any thing undone which he thought would promote the objects of my mission. The Directory and Ministers had, for some time before they were informed of his removal, treated him with great coolness; but as soon as they heard of his recall, their attentions to him were renewed. Should this Government attempt to make any further communications to me, through him, he has promised me to inform them that he cannot comply with their desire, as his powers have ceased. I remain, with great respect, &c. [Dec. 15.
Major Rutledge having called on the Minister of Exterior Relations on another affair, and finished, inquired of the Minister if he had heard any thing further from the Directory, in relation to General Pinckney's remaining where he was:
"He answered, with marks of great surprise, that he thought he had already explained himself with sufficient clearness on the subject; that he had signified to General Pinckney, long since, the impossibility of his staying; that he thought he had exercised much "condescendance" in having been so long silent; which he had been induced to do by General Pinckney's having complained of the delay of his baggage, which, he supposed, must, by this time, have arrived from Bordeaux; that, in short, he should be sorry if his further stay should compel him to give information to the Minister of the Police. To this I replied, that General Pinckney had refused to regard himself in any other light than the one in which he had entered France, which had not been in a private capacity, but in a public character; which circumstance had been officially announced to the Directory, by his having delivered to the Minister of Foreign Affairs a copy of his letters of credence and by other acts. That this precluded all laws relative to strangers from operating on him, and put him under the protection of the law of nations, which he claimed in his favor. That Mr. Giraudet had taken leave with a promise to communicate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs the ground which General Pinckney had taken. That he returned again in the evening, and then said, that the Minister would again lay General Pinckney's letter before the Directory, and that their intentions should be made known to him as soon as possible. All this had, no doubt, been faithfully related to him by his secretary. He answered that General Pinckney must have mistaken Mr. Giraudet as to his intention of again laying his letter before the Directory. I told him that it was impossible; for that I had been present at both conversations, in which the material points had passed in English, and been repeated in French. He then said Mr. Giraudet had acted without his authority. I replied, that General Pinckney had, however, waited until this moment in expectation of hearing from him, agreeably to Mr. Giraudet's promise; that he was very far from intending to dispute the will of the Executive Directory; what he wanted was a communication of their wishes in writing. He said that it had already been given. I desired to know when; he answered in the notification which he had made, by their order, to Mr. Monroe; that it had contained their sentiments on Mr. Pinckney's staying, inasmuch as that his not being received, implied that he should depart. I denied that it was a fair deduction; he insisted that it was; I declared that it had not struck General Pinckney or any person with whom he had conversed; but that, however, if such was the construction which he had put upon it, I flattered myself that he could have no objection to throwing his idea upon paper, that General Pinckney might have something more substantial, than the authenticity of the word of his secretary to justify himself to his own Government, for quitting a spot to which he had come in obedience to their orders. The Minister here turned from me with some warmth, and said that he should do no such thing; that General Pinckney might make his own deductions; he desired to have no more communication with him. I only replied by a bow, satisfied to end a conversation which had already lasted near half an hour; during which I had not been admitted to the honor of a seat." [Dec. 26.
The written order to quit the territory of the Republic did not come: General Pinckney would not depart without it: the Police Générale did not molest him; two months elapsed, when Buonaparte having gained a great victory over the Austrians in Italy, the day after the arrival of the news of it in Paris, he received the following notification from the Minister, De la Croix: