amencan EDITED BY JOHN T. MORSE, JR. JAMES MONROE IN HIS RELATIONS TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE DURING HALF A CENTURY 1776 TO 1826 BY DANIEL C. OILMAN PRESIDENT OF THE JOHNS^flQMUJiSjailVEaSITY, BALTIMORE BOSTON HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street (Cfre tf toersifce press, Camfcri&ge 1883 Copyright, 1883, BY DANIEL C. OILMAN ^.// rz ^/tfs reserved. The Riverside Press, Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by II. 0. Houghton & Co. PKEFACE. IN the preparation of this volume free use was made of Monroe manuscripts which had not been published. To those which are in the Department of State I have had access by permission of the Secretary, Hon. James G. Elaine, and transcripts of some of them were made for me, with his sanction, by the direc tion of Mr. Theodore F. D wight, Librarian of the Department. I am under still greater ob ligations to Mrs. S. L. Gouverneur, Jr., of "Washington, who has in her possession an in valuable collection of letters addressed to Mon roe, the grandfather of her husband, from Madison, Calhoun, Rush, Wirt, Lafayette, and many other distinguished men, together with original drafts of letters written to them and to others by Monroe. I am far from having exhausted these rich mines. Both collections are imperfectly arranged, and without a much greater expenditure of time than could be given on the spot their contents could not be mas- vi PREFACE. tered ; and I had not the right to expect or to ask unlimited permission to make copies. It is obviously most desirable that this private col lection should be bought by the government, and that the two groups should be combined, arranged, and illustrated with memoranda, for consultation if not for publication. They throw much light upon this first half century of our political progress. The papers controlled by Mrs. Gouverneur would greatly enhance the value of the more public documents now owned by the State Department. During the summer vacation in which the principal part of this work was prepared for the press I was under special obligations to the librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, C. A. Cutter, Esq., and to the librarian of the Free Public Library in Worcester. S. S. Green, Esq., for permission to make use of books in their charge ; and at home I had like favors from the Maryland Historical Society, through the courtesy of J. W. M. Lee, Esq., the librarian, and Mr. John Gatchell, the assistant. The readiness with which the younger school of librarians endeavor to make their collections serviceable to students at a distance, as well as within the walls of the library, deserves most grateful recognition. Mr. W. E. Foster, of the PREFACE. vii Providence Free Public Library, was so good as to prepare for his excellent series of Refer ence Lists a guide to the study of the times of Monroe, but was afterwards led to adopt the more comprehensive scheme of references to the historical period covered by the " American Statesmen " series. For the transcript of some of Washington s notes on Monroe, hitherto not printed, thanks are due to the President of Cornell University, Hon. A. D. White. R. H. Brock, Esq., of Richmond, Judge Watson, of Charlottesville, and Prof. J. M. Garnett, of the University of Virginia, have also rendered valuable aid, which is acknowledged on subsequent pages. I am also under very special obligations to Mr. J. F. Jameson, Ph. D., of the Johns Hop kins University, for his careful scrutiny of the text, for his abstract of the presidential mes sages, and for the elaborate bibliography which is given in the Appendix. D. C. G. CONTENTS. PAGE ANNALS OF MONROE S LIFE . . . . . . xi CHAPTER I. STUDENT AND SOLDIER 1 CHAPTER II. LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA . . .17 CHAPTER III. ENVOY IN FRANCE . . . ... .36 CHAPTER IV. ENVOY IN FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND . . . 74 CHAPTER V. SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR . . . .104 CHAPTER VI. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES . . . .125 CHAPTER VII. THE MONROE DOCTRINE . . . . . .156 CHAPTER VIII. PERSONAL ASPECT AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS . .175 CHAPTER IX. RETROSPECT REPUTATION ... . 200 x CONTENTS. APPENDIX. PAGE I. THE MONROE GENEALOGY 218 II. WASHINGTON S NOTES ON THE APPENDIX TO MON ROE S " VIEW OF THE CONDUCT OF THE EXECU TIVE" 221 ill. SYNOPSIS OF MONROE S PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGES . 229 IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MONROE AND THE MONROE Doc- 253 ANNALS OF MONROE S LIFE. BOYHOOD AND MILITARY SERVICE. 1758. Born in Westmoreland Co., Virginia, April 28. 1765. Stamp Act passed. AGS 1774. Enters William and Mary College 16 1776. Declaration of Independence. 1776. In the Continental Army, at Haerlem, etc. . . 18 1777. Aide to Lord Stirling 19 1778. Returns to Virginia 20 1780. Military Commissioner from Virginia to the Southern army 22 BEGINNING OF CIVIL SERVICE. U. S. SENATOR. 1780. Student of law, under Jefferson 22 1782. Chosen to the Assembly 24 1782. Member of the Executive Council 24 1783. Treaty of Peace with England. 1783. Member of the Continental Congress (till 1786) . 25 1785. Proposes his Commercial Resolutions 27 1786. Marries Miss Kortwright of New York, Feb ruary 27 1786. Practices law in Fredericksburg 28 1787. Chosen again to the Assembly 29 1787. Formation of the Constitution. 1788. Member of the Virginia Convention to ratify the Constitution 30 1790. United States Senator (till 1794) 32 Xll ANNALS OF MONROE S LIFE. FIRST DIPLOMATIC EXPERIENCE. GOVERNOR. AGE 1794. Commissioned Minister to France (May 28) . . 36 1794. Fall of Robespierre, July 28. 1794. Arrives in Paris (August 2) and is received by the National Convention (August 15) ... 36 1796. Recalled to this country (August 22) 38 1796. Takes leave of the French Government (Decem ber 30) 38 1797. Publishes his " View, etc." 39 1798. Alien and Sedition Acts passed. 1799. Chosen Governor of Virginia (twice reflected, holding office till 1802) 41 1799. Death of Washington. 1801. Election of Jefferson. SECOND DIPLOMATIC EXPERIENCE. GOV ERNOR. 1803. Commissioned Minister to France and to Spain (January 11) 44 1803. Arrives in Paris (April 12) 44 1803. Commissioned Minister to England (April 18) . . 44 1803. Signs the treaty ceding Louisiana (April 30) . . 45 1803. Leaves Paris (July 12) 45 1804. Napoleon becomes Emperor. 1804. Goes from London to Madrid, to negotiate about Florida . 46 1805. Takes leave of the Spanish Court (May 21) . . 47 1806. Commissioned, withPinkney, to negotiate a treaty with England 47 1806. Berlin and ]\Iilan Decrees 1806. Treaty negotiated (December 31) . .... 48 1807. Leaves England (October 29) 49 1807. British Orders in Council. 1808. Addresses Madison on the rejected treaty (Feb ruary 28) 49 ANNALS OF MONROE S LIFE. xiii AGE 1810. Chosen the third time to the Assembly .... 52 1811. Again chosen Governor of Virginia 53 IN THE CABINET OF MADISON. 1811. Appointed Secretary of State (till 1817) . ... 53 1812. Declaration of war against England. 1814. Appointed Secretary of War (till 1815) . ... 56 1814. Capture of Washington by the British .... 56 1814. Treaty of Ghent, PRESIDENT. 1817. Inaugurated President (March 4) 58 1817. Tour to the Eastern States (June 2 to September 17) 59 1819. Cession of Florida 61 1820. Missouri admitted 61 1821. Inaugurated President for a second term ... 62 1822. Independence of Mexico, etc., recognized ... 63 1823. Enunciation of "the Monroe Doctrine," Message of December 2 65 1824. Reception of Lafayette 66 OLD AGE. 1825. Retires from the office of President and from public life 66 1826. Elected a Visitor of the University of Virginia . 67 1826. Death of Adams and of Jefferson. 1829. Member of Virginia Constitutional Convention . 71 1830. Death of Mrs. Monroe. 1831. Dies in New York (July 4) 73 1836. Death of Madison. 1858. Reinterred in Richmond, on the centennial of his birth. A UNIVERSITY JAMES MONROE CHAPTER I. STUDENT AND SOLDIEE. THE name of James Monroe, fifth President of the United States, is associated with the chief political events in the history of this country during a period of somewhat more than fifty years. He served with gallantry in the army of the Revolution and was high in office during the progress of the second contest with Great Britain, and during the Seminole war ; he was a delegate and a senator in Congress ; he was called to the chief legislative and executive sta tions in Virginia; he represented the United States in France, Spain, and England ; he was a prominent agent in the purchase of Louisiana and Florida; he was a member of Madison s cabinet, and directed (for a while simultane ously) the departments of State and War ; he was twice chosen president, the second time with an almost unanimous vote of the electoral l 2 JAMES MONROE. college ; his name is given to a political doc trine of fundamental importance; his adminis tration is known as " the era of good feeling : " yet no adequate memoir of his life has been written, and while the papers of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison his four pre decessors in the office of president have been collected and printed in a convenient form, the student of Monroe s career must search for the data in numerous public documents, and in the unassorted files of unpublished correspondence. Monroe is not alone among the illustrious Virginians whose memory it is well to revive. Many years ago, St. George Tucker wrote to William Wirt, in a half-playful, half-earnest tone, that Socrates himself would pass unno ticed and forgotten in Virginia, if he were not a public character and some of his speeches preserved in a newspaper. " Who knows any thing," he asks, " of Peyton Randolph, once the most popular man in Virginia? Who re members Thompson Mason, esteemed the first lawyer at the bar ; or his brother George Mason, of whom I have heard Mr. Madison say that he possessed the greatest talents for de bate of any man he had ever heard speak? What is known of Dabney Carr but that he made the motion for appointing committees of -correspondence in 1773? Virginia has pro- STUDENT AND SOLDIER. 3 duced few men of finer talents, as I have re peatedly heard. I might name a number of others," continues Tucker, " highly respected and influential men, . . . yet how little is known of one half of them at the present day ? " Certainly in this second " era of good feeling " the impartial study of such lives is a most inviting field of biographical research, and may especially be commended to advanced stu dents in our universities who can, by careful delineations, each of some one career, contrib ute to the general stock of historical knowl edge, and acquire, at the same time, a vivid personal interest in the progress of past events. I shall not attempt to give in detail the per sonal and domestic history of Monroe, nor can I, in the space at command, do justice to his volum inous writings; but I shall endeavor to show what he was in public, how he bore himself in the legislative, diplomatic, and administra tive positions to which he was called, and what influence he exerted upon the progress of this country. It will be necessary for the complete ness of the study to inquire into the early train ing which gave an impulse to his life, and to examine, in conclusion, the opinions pronounced upon his conduct by those who knew him and by those who came after him. Another hand will doubtless draw a more elaborate portrait ; 4 JAMES MONROE. I shall only try to give a faithful sketch of an honest and patriotic citizen as he discharged the duties of exalted stations. James Monroe, according to the family tradi tion recorded by his son-in-law, came from a family of Scotch cavaliers, descendants of Hec tor Monroe, an officer of Charles I. 1 His parent age on both sides was Virginian. The father of James was Spence Monroe, and his mother was Eliza Jones, of King George County, a sis ter of Joseph Jones, who was twice sent as a delegate from Virginia to the Continental Con gress, and afterwards, in 1789, was appointed judge of the district court in the same State. Westmoreland County, where the future Presi dent was born, lies on the right bank of the Potomac, between that river and the Rappa- hannock. It is famous for the fertility of its soil, and for the eminent men who have been among its inhabitants. Near the head of Mon roe s Creek, which empties into the Potomac, James Monroe was born, April 28, 1758. Not far away, nearer the Potomac, was the birth place of George Washington. In the same vi cinity dwelt Richard Henry Lee and his noted brothers, and also their famous cousin, Henry Lee, known as " Light Horse Harry," whose 1 See Appendix. STUDENT AND SOLDIER. 5 still more famous son, Robert E. Lee, led the Confederate army in the recent war. Here also was the early home of Bushrod Washington. The birthplace of James Madison was in the same peninsula, though not in the same county. It is not strange that the enthusiastic antiqua ries, half a century ago, Martin, Barber, and the rest, should speak of this region as the Athens of Virginia, an expression which may not be regarded as exact by classical scholars, but cannot be called unpatriotic ! The ascend ancy of this region is not without its parallel. 1 During Monroe s boyhood his neighbors and friends were greatly excited by the passage of the Stamp Act. In 1766, several of them, in cluding Richard Henry Lee, Spence Monroe, and John Monroe, joined in a remonstrance against the execution of the act, and in many 1 A recent writer (Hon. F. J. Kingsbury) on old Connecti cut makes the following remark : "From the earliest settle ment of Connecticut down to the end of the first quarter of the present century, agriculture was the important branch of our industry, and land was the source as well as the represen tative of most of our wealth. For two hundred years it is safe to say that the good land governed the State. Every where it was only necessary to know the soil in order to know also the character of the people. The best soil bore every where the best men and women, and that seed which had been winnowed out of the granaries of the old world to plant in the new, did not take unkindly to the strong uplands and rich bottoms of the great river and its tributaries." 6 JAMES MONROE. other ways showed their hostility to the arbi trary rule of the British government. Lee had received an academic training about ten years before at an academy in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and was a correspondent of men of station in London. He suggested to his neighbors, in 1767, that they should subscribe for a portrait of Camden, then Lord High Chancellor, as a token of their admiration for his opposition to the Stamp Act. The amount which they raised, 76 8s., was sent to Mr. Edmund Jennings, Lincoln s Inn, London, with a request that he would take the requisite steps to procure the portrait. Reynolds was " the limner " selected by the Virginians, but Lee did not hesitate to give his personal opinion that " Mr. West, being an American, ought to be preferred in this matter." Lord Camden, wrote Jennings, " having appointed several different times for Mr. West s attending on him, hath at length, it seems, totally forgot his promise. . . . Draw for the money, and should his lordship at any time recollect his engagement, and be worthy of your approbation and honoring, I shall beg the gentlemen [of Westmoreland] to accept from me his portrait." The Virginians were also eager to have a portrait of Lord Chatham, and their correspondent, Mr. Jennings, had a fine likeness copied and sent to the old Dominion. STUDENT AND SOLDIER. 7 Lee wrote from Chantilly, in 1769, that the gen tlemen of Westmoreland returned their thanks " for the very genteel present of Lord Chat ham s picture. It arrived in fine order, and is very much admired. They propose to place it in the court house, thinking the Assembly may furnish themselves with his lordship s picture." He adds that his brother, Dr. Lee, can show Mr. Jennings " the proceedings of our last As sembly, by which you may judge how bright the flame of liberty burns here, and may surely con vince a tyrannous administration that honesty and equity alone can secure the cordiality and affection of Virginia." Under influences like these the young Monroe was trained in the love of civil liberty. Indeed, Bishop Meade declares that Virginia had been fighting the battles of the Revolution for one hundred and fifty years before the Declaration. 1 The College of William and Mary had been in existence, with varying fortunes, not far from one hundred and fifteen years, when James Monroe entered it as a student, a short time before the beginning of the war. Its historian claims that it was then the richest college in North America, having an annual income of <4,000. A scholar cannot read the early ac counts of that venerable foundation, next in age 1 Old Churches, etc., of Virginia, i. 15. 8 JAMES MONROE. to Harvard, and examine the list of those who have been trained for their country s service within its walls, without deep regret that the fire and the sword have so often interfered with its prosperity, or without the wish that restitu tion may be made in full for some of its most recent losses. When Monroe began his college studies, Wil- liamsburg, the strategic point of the peninsula between the James and the York, was the seat both of the colonial government and of the col lege. Bishop Meade, with conscious exaggera tion, speaks of the capital as a miniature copy of the Court of St. James, " while the old church and its grave-yard, and the college chapel were si licet cum magnis componere parva the Westminster Abbey and the St. Paul s of London, where the great ones were interred." At the signal of rebellion against the British authority, three of the professors and between twenty -five and thirty students are said to have joined their comrades from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in the military ranks. Among the volunteers John Marshall and James Mon roe were found. In allusion to these young patriots, Hon. H. B. Grigsby, in his historical discourse on the Virginia Convention of 1776, spoke as follows : STUDENT AND SOLDIER. 9 u I see that generous band of students who at the beginning of the Revolution hurriedly cast aside the gown and sallied forth to fight the battles of the United Colonies, . . . and when the struggle was past I see two tall and gallant youths, who had been classmates in early youth, and whose valor had shone on many a field, enter their names on your lists and, after an abode beneath your roof, depart once more to serve their country in the Senate and in the most celebrated courts of Europe, crowning their past ca reer by filling, one the chief magistracy of the Union, the other the highest of the federal judiciary." It is also worthy to be mentioned here, that the Phi Beta Kappa Society, whose chapters have been established in so many colleges, was formed at William and Mary, December 5, 1776. The first meeting, we are told, was held in the Apollo Hall of the old Raleigh tavern, a room in which the burning words of Henry had been heard. In the printed list of orig inal members the names of John Marshall and Bushrod Washington appear, but I do not find James Monroe s. 1 The public career of James Monroe began in 1776 with his joining the continental army at the headquarters of Washington near New York, as a lieutenant in the third Virginian regiment under Colonel Hugh Mercer. He was with the 1 See the History of the College of William and Mary, 1874. 10 JAMES MONROE. troops at Haerlem (September 16), and at White Plains (October 28), and at Trenton, where he received an honorable wound (December 26). His part in the last mentioned engagement is described by General Wilkinson in his printed memoirs, and with slightly different language in a manuscript preserved in the Gouverneur papers. From this statement it appears that, as the British were forming in the main street of Trenton, the advanced guard of the Amer ican left was led by Captain William Wash ington and Lieutenant James Monroe. The British were driven back and two pieces of artillery were captured. Captain Washington was wounded through the wrist, and Lieuten ant Monroe through the shoulder. " These par ticular acts of gallantry," says the narrative, " have never been noticed, yet they cannot be too highly appreciated, since to them may, in a great measure, be ascribed the facility of our success." During the campaigns of 177778 Monroe served as a volunteer aid, and with the rank of major, on the staff of the Earl of Stirling, and took part in the battles of Brandywine (Sep tember 11), Germantown (October 4), and Monmouth (June 28). l His temporary promo- 1 He is said to have been with Lafayette when the latter was wounded. STUDENT AND SOLDIER. 11 tion appears to have been an obstacle to his permanent preferment, for by it he lost his place in the continental line. Strong influ ences were brought to bear in Virginia to se cure for him some suitable position in the forces of that State. Lord Stirling gave him testimonials, and the Commander-in-Chief wrote a long letter, addressed to Archibald Gary, and doubtless intended for other eyes, rehearsing in terms of careful commendation the merits of young Monroe. These are the words of Washington : " The zeal he discovered by entering the service at an early period, the character he supported in his regiment, and the manner in which he received a wound, induced me to appoint him to a captaincy in one of the additional regiments. This regiment fail ing, from the difficulty of recruiting, he entered into Lord Stirling s family and has served two campaigns as a volunteer aid to his lordship. He has in every instance maintained the reputation of a brave, active, and sensible officer. As we cannot introduce him into the continental line, it were to be wished that the State could do something for him." But even the possession of a good record, and the encouragement of Washington, with the in dorsements of Lord Stirling and the patronage of Jefferson, could not effect everything. Mr. Adams says the exhausted state of the country 12 JAMES MONROE. prevented the raising of a new regiment, and the active military services of Monroe were afterwards restricted to occasional duties as a volunteer in defence of the State against the distressing invasions with which it was visited. Once, after the fall of Charleston, S. C., in 1780, according to the same writer, he repaired, at the request of Governor Jefferson, as a mili tary commissioner to collect and report informa tion with regard to the condition and prospects of the Southern army, a trust which he dis charged to the satisfaction of the authorities. 1 He thus attained to the rank of lieutenant- colonel, and here his military services were in terrupted. It is not surprising to discover that the young officer, who had quickly attained distinction, was paralyzed by inactivity. " Till lately," he writes to Lord Stirling in September, 1782, apologizing for a long epistolary silence, " I have been a recluse. Chagrined with my dis appointment in not attaining the rank and command I sought, chagrined with some disap pointments in a private line, I retired from soci ety with almost a resolution never to return to it again." In this state of mind he thought of going abroad, and Jefferson wrote a letter introducing 1 Eulogy by J. Q. Adams. STUDENT AND SOLDIER. 13 him to Franklin, then resident in Paris. After wards, like many others in adversity, he sought solace in books, and recurred to the studies which had been interrupted by the breaking out of the war. There is still extant an interesting letter addressed to Monroe, in the time of his despondency, by Judge Jones, whose name has already been mentioned. It is the earliest I have seen in a long series preserved among the Gouverneur manuscripts combining the shrewd remarks upon political affairs of a man in public life, with the confidential sugges tions of an uncle to the nephew whom he was watching with almost paternal affection. It is much to be desired that the letters of Monroe, at this period, should be recovered, but even without them we may learn, by reflection from the correspondence of the judge, much which was passing in the young man s mind. Mon roe had consulted his uncle as to whether it would be best for him to follow the lectures on law to be given by Mr. Wythe, in the col lege at Williamsburg, or to follow the fortunes of Mr. Jefferson, then governor, at Richmond. The advice which was given betrays the sagac ity of the counsellor. 14 JAMES MONROE. JOSEPH JONES TO JAMES MONROE, MARCH 7, 1780. " This post will bring you a letter from me, account ing for your not hearing sooner what had been done in your affairs. If your overseer sends up before next post-day you shall hear the particulars. Charles Lewis, going down to- the college, gives me an oppor tunity of answering, by him, your inquiry respecting your removal with the Governor, or attending Mr. Wythe s lectures. If Mr. Wythe means to pursue Mr. Blackstone s method I should think you ought to attend him from the commencement of his course, if at all, and to judge of this, for want of proper in formation, is difficult ; indeed I incline to think Mr. Wythe, under the present state of our laws, will be much embarrassed to deliver lectures with that per spicuity and precision which might be expected from him under a more established and settled state of them. The undertaking is arduous and the subject intricate at the best, but is rendered much more so from the circumstances of the country and the im perfect system now in use, inconsistent in some in stances with the principles of the Constitution of the national government. Should the revision be passed the next session, it would. I think, lighten his labors and render them more useful to the student ; other wise he will be obliged to pursue the science under the old form, pointing out in his course the inconsis tency with the present established government and the proposed alterations. Whichever method he may like, or whatever plan he may lay down to govern STUDENT AND SOLDIER. 15 him, I doubt not it will be executed with credit to himself and satisfaction and benefit to his auditors. The Governor need not fear the favor of the commu nity as to his future appointment, while he continues to make the common good his study. I have no in timate acquaintance with Mr. Jefferson, but from the knowledge I have of him, he is in my opinion as proper a man as can be put into the office, having the requisites of ability, firmness, and diligence. You do well to cultivate his friendship, and cannot fail to entertain a grateful sense of the favors he has con ferred upon you, and while you continue to deserve his esteem he will not withdraw his countenance. If, therefore, upon conferring with him upon the subject he wishes or shows a desire that you go with him, I would gratify him. Should you remain to attend Mr. Wythe, I would do it with his approbation, and under the expectation that when you come to Rich mond you shall hope for the continuance of his friend ship and assistance. There is likelihood the cam paign will this year be to the South, and in the course of it events may require the exertions of the militia of this State ; in which case, should a considerable body be called for, I hope Mr. Jefferson will head them himself ; and you no doubt will be ready cheerfully to give him your company and assistance, as well to make some return of civility to him as to satisfy your own feelings for the common good." No one will be surprised to find that under such circumstances, and with such advice, the 16 JAMES MONROE. young aspirant became attached to the Gov ernor. He writes to Lord Stirling, in the let ter already quoted, " I submitted the direction of my time and plan to my friend Mr. Jeffer son, one of our wisest and most virtuous repub licans, and aided by his advice I have hitherto, of late, lived." I am strongly inclined to believe that the in timacy with Jefferson, the early stages of which are here described, was the key to Monroe s po litical career. On many subsequent occasions the support and counsel of the older statesman had a marked influence upon the life of the younger. Their friendship continued till it was broken by Jefferson s death. Fifty years after the incidents here narrated the teacher and the pupil, having both served in the office of Presi dent, were associated with a third ex-President, the life-long friend of both, in the control of the University of Virginia, and repeatedly met in council at Charlottesville. CHAPTER II. LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. MONROE was called into service as a legis lator at a very early period of his life. If his public career had been restricted to such opportunities of influence he would have been conspicuous among the statesmen of Virginia. He was first a delegate to the Assembly and a member of the executive council ; he went to the fourth, fifth, and sixth Congresses of the Confederation ; for a second time he was re turned to the Assembly ; he was a member of the convention in Virginia which adopted the United States Constitution ; he was a senator of the United States before his diplomatic ser vice began ; and after long interruptions, and the attainment of national eminence, his pres ence gave dignity to the convention which adopted the Constitution of 1830, though age and infirmities precluded an active participation in the proceedings. Eleven years of his early life were nearly all devoted to legislative work, but so far as this related to the affairs of Vir ginia I do not discover any traces of notewor- 2 18 JAMES MONROE. thy influence. A letter of his to Jefferson (in 1782), when the latter in an aggrieved mood was absenting himself from the House of Delegates, has been printed, and the reply which it drew forth. 1 The plainness of Mon roe s words and the frankness of the reply which he received, indicate a continuance of the intimacy already referred to. It was like wise to Monroe that Jefferson wrote, three years later, from Paris, explaining why he did not publish his printed notes on Virginia : " I fear the terms in which I speak of slavery and of our Constitution will do more harm than good; " and again, "I sincerely wish you may find it convenient to come here ; the pleasure of the trip will be less than you expect, but the utility greater. It will make you adore your own country, its soil, its climate, its equality, liberty, laws, people, and manners." On the other hand, as a delegate yi Congress Monroe was conspicuous, and the record of his service is closely involved with those important discussions which revealed the imperfection of the Confederation. His term of service ex tended from 1783 to 1786, and he attended the sessions which were held in Annapolis, where he saw Washington resign his commission, Trenton, and New York. During this period 1 Jefferson s Works, i. 316. Randall s Jefferson, I 413. LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 19 he corresponded intimately (sometimes using a cipher) with Joseph Jones, Madison, and Jeffer son, and a large part of his letters are still ex tant, with many of the answers. Soon after the war it became evident that the powers of the Confederation were quite inade quate for the proper regulation of commerce, and Congress, as well as the public men who were not in Congress, was seriously engaged in searching for the requisite remedy. Monroe took a prominent part in the discussions, and the noteworthy motion which he made upon the subject was referred to a special commit tee, who reported a recommendation, that the ninth of the articles of confederation be so al tered as to secure to Congress the power to regulate commerce, with the assent of nine States in Congress assembled. 1 He favored a regulation that all imposts should be collected under the authority and accrue to the use of the State in which the same might be payable. The report embodying this proviso was read in Congress March 28, 1785, and the copy of it preserved in the pub lic archives has a few corrections in Monroe s 1 This subject has been carefully studied by Mr. Bancroft, and presented in his new volumes with so much fulness that I can only follow his guidance. See his Hist, of the U. S. Const, i. 192-196. Cf. Sparks, Washington, ix. 503-507. 20 JAMES MONROE. handwriting. Many interesting papers are ex tant which bear upon this question, among them a letter from James McHenry to Wash ington, and the latter s reply. The Virginia Assembly also engaged in the discussion of a series of propositions which tended in the same direction. On April 12 Monroe wrote to Jef ferson, sending him the committee s report, and saying that he thinks it best to postpone action on it for a time. " It hath been brought so far," he adds, " without a prejudice against it. If carried farther here, prejudices will take place." He thinks it better that the States should act separately upon the measure. A few weeks later he wrote again to Jefferson as follows : " The report upon the ninth article hath not been taken up ; the importance of the subject and the deep and radical change it will create in the bond of the union, together with the conviction that something must be done, seems to create an aversion or rather a fear of acting on it." Then, as if he foresaw the coming concentration of powers in the general government, he expresses a belief that the proposed change, if adopted, will certainly in troduce " the most permanent and powerful principle in the Confederation." 1 A month later (July 15) Jefferson was again told how 1 Bancroft, Hist, of the U. S. Const, i. 450-455. LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 21 the debate went forward. " In my opinion," says Monroe, " the reasons in favor of changing the ninth article are conclusive, but the opposition is respectable in point of numbers as well as talents. What will be done is uncertain." To Madison he afterwards writes, summing up quite carefully the arguments on both sides. December came and Congress did not act. " The advocates for the measure will scarcely succeed," said Randolph to Washington, " so strong are the apprehensions in some minds of an abuse of the power." At the end of the month, Monroe, still sure of the necessity of committing to the United States the power of regulating trade, wrote once more to Madison. In February the prospect was no better. In May there was a gleam of light. The plan of a convention at Annapolis (which in March Monroe himself had not favored) had taken the subject from before Congress. " As it orig inated with our State," he writes, " we think it our duty to promote its object by all the means in our power. Of its success I must confess I have some hope. . . . Truth and sound state policy in every instance will urge the commission of the power to the United States." Thus it was that Congress by its own lack of power was led to the convention which formed the Constitution, and, in a far 22 JAMES MONROE. wiser manner than that originally suggested, provided for the regulation of trade. But in August Monroe was despondent. " Our affairs," he writes, " are daily falling into a worse situ ation ; " there is a party, he says, ready to dis member the confederacy and throw the States eastward of the Hudson into one government. He urges Madison to use his utmost exertions in the convention to obtain good as well as to prevent mischief, and adds to his appeal this pregnant postscript : " I have always consid ered the regulation of trade in the hands of the United States as necessary to preserve the Union ; without it, it will infallibly tumble to pieces ; but I earnestly wish the admission of a few additional States into the confederacy in the Southern scale." The question, it is well known, was finally settled in the conven tion at Philadelphia, Delaware and South Car olina voting with the North against Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. 1 In March, 1784, Monroe, with Jefferson, Hardy, and A. Lee, delivered to Congress a deed which ceded to the United States Virginia s claims to the northwest territory, and thence forward the government of that region con tinued to be one of the subjects in which he took most interest. During the summer recess 1 Bancroft, ii. 162. LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, 23 of Congress he made an extended tour of obser vation. To Jefferson, July 20, he wrote as fol lows : " The day after to-morrow I set out upon the route through the western country. I have changed the direction and shall commence for the westward upon the North River by Albany. I shall pass through the lakes, visit the posts, and come down to the Ohio and thence home." Thus he hopes " to acquire a better knowledge of the posts which we should occupy, the cause of the delay of the evacuation by British troops, the temper of the Indians toward us, as well as of the soil, waters, and in general the natural view of the country." He wrote to Governor Harrison as to what had taken place in Canada ; and to Madison, November 15, on the impor tance of garrisoning the western forts, about to be given up by the British. On December 2 John Marshall congratulated him on " a safe return to the Atlantic part of the world." Some months later, when a conference was to be held at the mouth of the Great Miami with the Shawnees, Monroe again went beyond the Alleghanies, as far as Fort Pitt, and began the descent of the Ohio, but abandoned the expe dition on account of the low state of the water, and returned to Richmond. These two jour neys had a marked influence upon his action in Congress, as the careful narrative of Ban- 24 JAMES MONROE. croft, already repeatedly quoted, shows most clearly. On the motion of Monroe a grand committee was appointed by Congress to con sider the division of the western territory, and their report was presented March 24. A little later, another committee, of which Monroe was chairman, was appointed to consider and report a form of temporary government for the Wes tern States. His report, which said nothing of slavery, failed of adoption. A year later a new committee prepared a new ordinance, which embodied the best parts of the work of their predecessors. I will give the rest of the story in Bancroft s own language : " The ordinance contained no allusion to slavery ; and in that form it received its first reading and was ordered to be printed. Grayson, then presiding offi cer of Congress, had always opposed slavery. Two years before he had wished success to the attempt of King for its restriction ; and everything points to him as the immediate cause of tjie tranquil spirit of disinterested statesmanship which took possession of every Southern man in the assembly. Of the mem bers of Virginia, Richard Henry Lee had stood against Jefferson on this very question ; but now he acted with Grayson, and from the States of which no man had yielded before, every one chose the part which was to bring on their memory the benedictions of all coming ages. Obeying an intimation from the LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 25 South, Nathan Dane copied from Jefferson the pro hibition of involuntary servitude in the territory, and quieted alarm by adding from the report of King a clause for the delivering up of the fugitive slave. This, at the second reading of the ordinance, he moved as a sixth article of compact, and on the thir teenth day of July, 1787, the great statute forbidding slavery to cross the river Ohio was passed by the vote of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, all the States that were then present in Congress. Pennsylvania and three States of New England were absent ; Maryland only of the South." At the next Assembly in Virginia, a commit tee of which Monroe was a member " brought forward the bill by which Virginia confirmed the ordinance for the colonization of all the ter ritory then in the possession of the United States by freemen alone." Among other subjects in which Monroe took a deep interest while a delegate in Congress, the navigation of the Mississippi was prominent. The treaty with Great Britain had stipulated that this river from its source to its mouth should be open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States. Spain objected. Some parties were ready to surrender this right, but among those who persistently refused to do so were the Virginia delegates, 26 JAMES MONROE. including Monroe, who wrote a memoir in 1786 to prove the right of the inhabitants of the western country to a free navigation of the Mississippi. Positive action was postponed until the new government was about to be or ganized, and Congress then declared its opinion in clear and bold terms. It was due to the foresight and firmness of a few strong men that the claims of Spain were not acknowledged, and that the acquisition of the territory in volved was finally completed after Monroe be came president. Near the end of the year 1784 Monroe was selected as one of nine judges to decide the boundary dispute in which Massachusetts and New York were involved, and after some delib eration he accepted the position ; but the case being postponed, he resigned and another com missioner was chosen. The court, it is said, never met ; but Monroe s relation to the mat ter has been the subject of comment. Mr. Adams gives this statement in respect to it : that Monroe had been conspicuous above all others in proceedings which concerned the navi gation of the Mississippi, and had taken the lead in opposition to Jay, who proposed a compro mise with Spain ; and that it was in the heat of temper kindled by this discord that Monroe resigned his commission. 1 1 J. Q. Adams, Eulogy, pp. 225-232. LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 27 In the Virginia convention of 1788, the party favoring the United States Constitution was led by Madison, Marshall, and Edmund Randolph. The leader of the opposition was Patrick Henry, and James Monroe stood by his side in company with W. Grayson and G. Ma son. Two of his speeches as reported in the Debates are worthy of mention here. 1 In the first of them, delivered June 10, he made an elaborate historical argument in which the experience of the Amphictyonic council, the Achasan league, the Germanic system, the Swiss cantons, and the New England confederacy were successively referred to, a theme which seems to have been the germ of a posthumous publica tion, to which reference will hereafter be made. He assumes the value of the Union, to which 44 the people from New Hampshire to Georgia, Rhode Island excepted, have uniformly shown attachment." Examining the proposed Consti tution, he claims that there are no adequate checks upon the exercise of power ; he foresees conflict between the national and state author ities. As for the President, he foresees that 44 whence he is once elected he may be elected forever." In closing the speech he says that he regards 1 Debates of the Convention of Virginia, 1788, reported by- David Robertson, p. 154. 28 JAMES MONROE. the proposed government as dangerous, and calculated to secure neither the interests nor the rights of our countrymen. " Under such an one I shall be averse to embark the best hopes of a free people. We have struggled long to bring about this revolution by which we enjoy our present freedom and security. Why then this haste, this wild precipitation ? " At a later stage Monroe explained the Con gressional disputes about the Mississippi, the purport of which was to show that the western country would be less secure under the Consti tution than it was under the Confederation. He finally assented to a ratification of the Con stitution by Virginia upon the condition that her amendments should be accepted. Many years later he thus, in a letter to Andrew Jack son, gave his recollections of the monarchical tendencies which were shown by his contempo raries before and after the adoption of the Con stitution. He writes as follows : December, 1816. "We have heretofore been di vided into two great parties. That some of the lead ers of the Federal party entertained principles un friendly to our system of government, I have been thoroughly convinced ; and that they meant to work a change in it by taking advantage of favorable cir cumstances, I am equally satisfied. It happened that I was a member of Congress under the confedera- LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 29 tion, just before the change made by the adoption of the present Constitution, and afterwards of the Sen ate, beginning shortly after its adoption. In the former I served three years, and in the latter rather a longer term. In these stations I saw indications of the kind suggested. It was an epoch at which the views of men were most Hkely to unfold them selves, as, if anything favorable to a higher toned government was to be obtained, that was the time. The movement in France tended, also, then, to test the opinions and principles of men, which was dis closed in a manner to leave no doubt on my mind of what I have suggested. No daring attempt was ever made, because there was no opportunity for it. I thought that Washington was opposed to their schemes, and not being able to take him with them, that the} were forced to work, in regard to him, un der-handed, using his name and standing with the nation, as far as circumstances permitted, to serve their purposes. The opposition, which was carried on with great firmness, checked the career of this party, and kept it within moderate limits. Many of the circumstances on which my opinion is founded took place in debate and in society, and therefore find no place in any public document. I am satisfied, however, that sufficient proof exists, founded on facts and opinions of distinguished individuals, which be came public, to justify that which I had formed. . . . " My candid opinion is that the dangerous purposes I have adverted to were never adopted, if they were known, especially in their full extent, by any large 30 JAMES MONROE. portion of the Federal party, but were confined to certain leaders, and they principally to the eastward. The manly and patriotic conduct of a great propor tion of that party in the other States, I might, per haps, say all who had an opportunity of displaying it, is a convincing proof of this fact." Jefferson, referring to the same period, spoke as follows in the introduction to his " Ana : " " The contests of that day were contests of principle between the advocates of republican and those of kingly government. Notwithstanding Monroe s opposition to the adoption of the new Constitution he was among the earliest to take office under it. The first choice of Virginia for senators fell on Richard Henry Lee and William Grayson. The latter died soon after his appointment, and Monroe was selected by the Legislature to fill the va cant place, instead of John Walker, who had been chosen by the Executive of the State. He took his seat in the Senate December 6, 1790, and held the position until May, 1794. It does not appear that he was conspicuous as a debater ; but he made himself felt in other ways, and was regarded as among the most de cided opponents of Washington s administra tion. He was particularly hostile to Hamilton, and on one occasion, when the latter was talked LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 31 about as likely to be sent to England, trans gressed the limits of senatorial courtesy by ad dressing a letter to the President with intima tions of what he could say if an opportunity were afforded him. He was opposed to the measures which were carried for establishing on a sound basis the national finances. He pro posed a suspension of the fourth article of the definitive treaty with Great Britain until that power complied with her stipulations. He strongly objected to the selection of Morris and Jay as ministers respectively to France and England. Indeed, during all this period he appears in the part of one who doubted the wisdom of the dominant views in respect to the new order of government, and who did not hesitate to put obstacles in the way of those who were endeavoring to give dignity and force to the new United States. He was therefore surprised, and so were many others, that he was selected while still a senator to be the successor of Gouverneur Morris as minister to France. He had objected to Jay s appointment partly on the ground that such an office should not be given to one of the federal judiciary, and the wiseacres were not slow to taunt him for accepting, in place of his senatorial rank, the dignity of a diplomatic station. The rest of this story will be told in the following chapter. 32 JAMES MONROE. Although it is not next in oyder, it is con venient to place here the little which is to be said of the executive station to which Mon roe, on his return from diplomatic services, was twice called in his native State. He was first chosen governor of Virginia in 1799 (after his recall from France), and served for a period of three years. He was again chosen in 1811, held the office for part of a year, and gave it up in order to enter the cabinet of Madison. His first election was opposed by John Breck- enridge, who received 66 votes, while Monroe received 101. The Richmond " Federalist " of December 7 declared the day before to be " a day of mourning." Virginia s " misfortunes may be comprised in one short sentence, Mon roe is elected governor ! " During his first administration a conspiracy among the slaves was brought to light, and was suppressed by his power as governor. The in cident has recently been called to mind by a widely read novel in which there is a graphic picture of a servile insurrection and its timely discovery. 1 Howison s story is as follows. 2 Not far from Richmond dwelt Thomas Prosser, who owned a number of slaves, among them one who became known as " General Gabriel," a l Homoselle, by Mrs. Tiernan. a Howison, History of Virginia, p. 390. LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 33 man " distinguished for his intelligence and his influence with his class." Near by lived another slave called " Jack Bowler." By their agency nearly a thousand slaves, it was supposed, were secretly enlisted in a plot to attack Richmond by night and there begin a war of extermina tion against the whites. Just before the pro posed assault a slave named " Pharaoh " es caped from the conspirators during a storm and revealed the project to the people of Richmond. The tidings were carried to Governor Monroe, the alarm was given, the militia called out, and preparations were made to meet the assailants. The streams were so swollen by the fall of rain that the movements of the insurgents were de layed, and they soon perceived that their secret had been discovered. The ringleaders were sub sequently found and punished ; and so many others, that a reaction took place in public feel ing, and a merciful arrest of justice occurred before all the guilty had been reached. For several years, after 1806, John Randolph was a frequent correspondent of Monroe. He urges him to come back from England ; he guards him against compromitment to men in whom he cannot wholly confide ; he gives him, a dark hint of " the stage effect " he will be made to produce ; he flatters him with expecta- 3 34 JAMES MONROE. tions of the next nomination to the presidency ; he disparages Madison ; he says that Monroe will hardly know the country when he arrives ; " intrigue has arrived at a pitch which I hardly supposed it would have reached in five cent uries ; " " life has afforded me few enjoyments which I value in comparison with your friend ship." These flattering words, tempered with insinuations against Madison, were addressed to Monroe in the belief and wish that he could be brought forward as a candidate for the presi dency at the close of Jefferson s term. Ran dolph s purpose failed, Madison became presi dent and Monroe governor (after brief service in the Assembly). A little later Randolph quarrelled with Monroe, because, as he thought, the latter was inclined to repudiate the views he had held on his return from England. He charged him with tergiversation in order to be come chief magistrate of the Commonwealth. The climax of their disagreement was reached when Monroe was called to the cabinet of Madison. Many years later (in 1814) Randolph, still quarrelsome, attacked Monroe s conscription project by pointing out the course of the latter in respect to Federal usurpation when he was governor, charging upon him the fact that the LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 35 grand armory at Richmond was built to enable Virginia to resist encroachment upon her indis putable rights. 1 1 For all this story in detail, and many original letters, see the life of John Randolph by Henry Adams. CHAPTER III. ENVOY IN FBANCE. MONROE S career as a diplomatist exhibits first the misfortune and then the good fortune which may attend ministerial action in a foreign land, when long periods must elapse before let ters can be interchanged with the government at home. In critical junctures responsibility must be assumed by the representative of a na tion, who runs the risk that his words and actions, however wise and necessary they ap pear to him, will not be approved by those who sent him abroad. In quiet days a foreign embassy is an enviable position, but Monroe was neither the first envoy nor the last who has found in troublesome times that it is difficult to act with a near-sighted view of the field so as to keep the support of those who are far-sighted. His first mission to France began brilliantly and ended with an irritation of his spirit which he carried with him, like the bullet received at Trenton, to the very end of his life ; his sec ond mission to France, undertaken with some distrust, led to a fortunate negotiation which brightened all his subsequent days. ENVOY IN FRANCE 37 While a senator in Congress, Monroe was se lected, as we have seen, to represent the United States in Paris, after it became necessary for Gouverneur Morris to give way. Washington s first choice for the position was Thomas Pinck- ney, whom he would have transferred from England to France if Jay had consented to re main the minister in England. As this project was not successful, the appointment was offered to Robert R. Livingston, who did not accept it. A few weeks later (May 28, 1794) Monroe was commissioned. He was far from agreeing with the administration, as was perfectly well known ; but he held such opinions in respect to the French that a favorable reception for him might reasonably be expected. Washing ton s position was one of much responsibility. There was great danger that the United States, scarcely beginning to recover from the revolu tionary struggle, and with the experiment of the Constitution not yet five years old, would be involved in war with France or England in consequence of their unjustifiable reprisals and their attitude in respect to the commerce of neu trals. It was most important for the safety of the Union as well as for the prosperity of the people that war should be averted, and much appeared to depend upon the envoys. So Jay was sent to England and Monroe to France. 38 JAMES MONROE. Looking back on these appointments, nearly forty years afterwards, John Quincy Adams declared them to be among the most memo rable events in the history of this Union. To understand this in our day, we must remember the bitter relations, " tinged with infusions of the wormwood and the gall," which then di vided France and England ; and the partisan feelings which already separated Republicans from Federalists. The state of feeling in Congress prior to Monroe s mission is familiar enough to all his torical readers ; but I have before me a long file of letters which have never been made pub lic, exhibiting in the intimacy of fraternal corre spondence the current of opinion in Congress ; and I make from them the following ex tracts to give a fresh and original record of a tale which has often been told : l January, 1794. I think we are in no danger of being drawn into the European war unless the French should be mad enough to declare war against everybody that will not fraternize with them. January, 1794. It may, I believe, fairly be pre sumed that we shall not get into a wrangle with tho French nation. 1 These extracts are from letters by Joshua Coit of New London, Conn., a representative iii Congress, to his brother, Daniel L. Coit. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 39 January 25, 1794. We have announced to us in a letter from the President this day, that he has from the French Court assurances that M. Genet s conduct here has met with unequivocal disapproba tion, and that his recall will be expected as soon as possible. I give it you nearly in the words of his letter. Why he has not before made the communi cation as it arrived by the Dispatch (a sloop of about thirty tons) last week ; whether he has letters from the French ministry or only from Mr. Morris, I am without information. January 31, 1794. A strange portion \_sic~\ of French frenzy is working in this country. We see much of it in Congress, principally among the South ern members. It enters, as you will see, into the debates on Mr. Madison s propositions. I have men tioned it to you, I believe, in a former letter. One would have expected from these owners of slaves and men of large fortunes a different complexion ; but our rankest democratical principle is all from the South, and they consider us New England men as aristocrats. I feel more apprehension of the gen eral government being too weak than that it will gather a strength dangerous to the liberties of the people. I would hope, however, that no more of party is mixed in our composition than may be whole some. Mr. M. s resolutions have now been under discussion for about a fortnight. Gentlemen take an amazing latitude in their discussions, and from the debates one would be led to suppose we were forming commercial treaties that were to embrace all the in- 40 JAMES MONROE. terests of the United States. The first resolution is a mighty vague, general thing, and will apply to any alteration of our revenue system almost; perhaps this may be carried, but I think the others or any thing like them cannot ; they have engrossed all the time of Congress for this fortnight past. February 15, 1794. The fact is, I think, every day more and more evinced, that some of our South ern gentlemen, Virginians especially, have a most un conquerable aversion for the British nation, and partiality for France. The debts due from that country to G. B. may have their effect in fomenting and keeping up their animosity, and they seem to wish to fix some immovable obstructions to a friend ly intercourse between the two countries, and there is but too much reason to fear that the measures they pursue are in good degree influenced by their dissatisfaction at some steps that have been taken since the establishment of the present government, the funding system and bank especially. They pro fess peace that energetic measures are those only by which it can be preserved. Britain is to be so afflicted with our non-importation agreement that, to persuade us to give it up, she is to do everything which we may demand of her ; and if, on the contrary, she is disposed to fight she is exhausted and weakened by the war in which she is now engaged, and with the help of France we shall give her the worst of it. I still hope peace ; but if this measure is carried through, I shall then despair. March 7, 1794. The measures you mention are ENVOY IN FRANCE. 41 regarded as very extraordinary ; equally so is that of the French detaining our ships in their ports. T is perhaps fortunate for us that we are ill-treated by both the belligerent powers; experiencing no favor from either, we shall be less an object of jealousy from either, and probably less in danger of rushing into the war than if we were ill-treated by one only. I believe we had better suffer almost anything than get into the war. Time and patience will, I hope, cure all. March 13, 1794. It seems to me the British nation must contemplate some inconvenience in the loss of our trade in case of a rupture, and that the fair and honorable neutrality we have preferred should command their respect. But they apprehend we feel a partiality for the French, and nations at war very readily regard as enemies those who are not their friends, and they very naturally contemplate the going to war with another nation with much less reluctance than changing from peace to war. No measures will be taken hastily on the subject by us, I believe. The infancy of our government and our revenue depending almost altogether on foreign commerce, which would by a war be greatly de ranged if not cut off, make the evils to be appre hended by us in this event peculiarly serious. But if they will fight with us we must do the best we can. March 24, 1794. The minds of people are so much agitated, and resentments are so warm, that there is reason to fear that we shall be hurried into the torrent that is ravaging Europe. 42 JAMES MONROE. March 25, 1794. If the embargo gets through I shall be almost inclined to think the Rubicon is passed and that war is inevitable. Not so much that the British will regard it as a hostile measure, but that it will tend to sharpen the minds of people, and precipitate us, from the heat of our passions, into tho war. March 27, 1794. If we must enter into a war I should feel very unhappy to enter it under the au spices of an act which would appear to me a compli cation of villainy and bad policy. March 28, 1794. We have a mad proposition before the House, brought in yesterday, for seques tering British debts to form a fund for compensation to the sufferers by British spoliations. I feared it would pass, but the fever of the mind seems to be cooling a little, and I begin to hope for better things. April 8, 1794. I am still persuaded that the threatening appearances will blow over and leave us at peace, in spite of the unaccountable proceedings of the British in the West Indies. I do not believe they mean to go to war with us. April 13, 1794. A minister to the Court of London is still talked of, but this is not determined on, and these people appear to be very anxious to have something done which, as they say, shall give weight to negotiation, but their views and professions are apprehended to be widely different, and that in stead of wishing to give effect, they would prefer doing something that should impede the negotia tion. The President, with whom alone lies the ENVOY IN FRANCE. 43 power, is very cautious ; perhaps fortunately so for the country, as well as for his own reputation, but unluckily, (as it is more with the Legislature to lay the grounds by which negotiation might be facilitated or impeded, and to determine the popularity of the measure,) I suspect he hesitates and waits to see how the discussion in our House will issue. Had he already sent a negotiator it would have furnished an argument for our leaving things as they were when the negotiator left the country. April 16, 1794. Mr. Jay is nominated. There is not perhaps a man in the United States whose character as a negotiator stands on higher ground. The appointment marks a disposition in the Presi dent to come forward before mischief is done, and to try the ground of negotiation fairly with G. Brit ain before any obstruction is thrown in the way by our confiscating British debts, or passing a non-im portation act. April 19, 1794. The embargo is again on, to last till the 25th of May in the same way as be fore ; passed House of Representatives day before yesterday, and in Senate yesterday. I had not ex pected it. April 22, 1794. It is a doubt with many whether our present form of government continue many years. The jealousies which exist in the Southern States re specting the funding system and most of the meas ures of consequence which have been adopted, added to some strange and fantastical notions about liberty which they entertain, approaching nearly to French 44 JAMES MONKOE. extravagance of liberty and equality absolute, render the continuance of our Union for many years, even of peace, doubtful. But should a war take place I think we have scarcely ground to hope a continu ance of the Union. April 24, 1794. We have perhaps as much to fear from the fever of French politics taking too strong a hold of the minds of the people of this country as from any other source. There is an interruption in the file of letters from which these extracts are taken, and I find in them no mention of the envoy to France. Monroe s instructions, as given to him by Randolph, were very minute, and contained the following pregnant sentences as the conclusion : " To conclude. You go, sir, to France, to strengthen our friendship with that country ; and you are well acquainted with the line of freedom and ease to which you may advance without betray ing the dignity of the United States. You will show our confidence in the French Republic without be traying the most remote mark of undue complaisance. You will let it be seen that, in case of war with any nation on earth, we shall consider France as our first and natural ally. You may d.well upon the sense which we entertain of past services, and for the more recent interposition in our behalf with the Dey of Algiers. Among the great events with which the world is now teeming, there may be an opening for ENVOY IN FRANCE. 45 France to become instrumental in securing to us the free navigation of the Mississippi. Spain may, per haps, negotiate a peace, separate from Great Britain, with France. If she does, the Mississippi may be acquired through this channel, especially if you con trive to have our mediation in any manner solicited." Monroe arrived in Paris just after the fall of Robespierre. Notwithstanding his out-spoken good-will for the popular cause, the Committee of Public Safety hesitated to receive him. His proceedings in consequence were full of ro mance. Not another civilized nation upon earth, says Mr. Adams, had a recognized repre sentative in France at that time. " I waited," says Monroe, " eight or ten days without pro gressing an iota, and as I had heard that a min ister from Geneva had been here about six weeks before me, and had not been received, I was fearful I might remain as long and, per haps, much longer in the same situation." He therefore addressed a letter to the President of the Convention, " not knowing the competent department nor the forms established by law for my reception." A decree was passed at once that the minister of the United States " be introduced into the bosom of the Conven tion to-morrow at two P. M." Accordingly he appeared before the Convention, August 15, 1794, and presented an address in English, 46 JAMES MONROE. with a translation of it into French, which lat ter was read by a secretary, together with two letters from Edmund Randolph, Secretary of State, acknowledging the letter to Congress from the Committee of Public Safety. Monroe s address was as follows : " Citizens, President, and Representatives of the French People, My admission into this assembly, in presence of the French nation (for all the citizens of France are represented here) to be recognized as the representative of the American Republic, im presses me with a degree of sensibility which I can not express. I consider it a new proof of that friend ship and regard which the French nation has always shown to their ally, the United States of America. "Republics should approach near to each other. In many respects they have all the same interest; but this is more especially the case with the Amer ican and French republics. .Their governments are similar ; they both cherish the same principles, and rest on the same basis, the equal and unalienable rights of man. The recollection, too, of common dan gers and difficulties will increase their harmony and cement their union. America had her day of oppres sion, difficulty, and war ; but her sons were virtuous and brave, and the storm which long clouded her po litical horizon has passed, and left them in the enjoy ment of peace, liberty, and independence. France, our ally and our friend, and who aided in the contest, has now embarked in the same noble career ; and I ENVOY IN FRANCE. 47 am happy to add, that whilst the fortitude, magnan imity, and heroic valor of her troops command the admiration and applause of the astonished world, the wisdom and firmness of her councils unite equally in securing the happiest result. \ " America is not an unfeeling spectator of your affairs at the present crisisT] I lay before you, in the declarations of every department of our government, declarations which are founded in the affections of the citizens at large, the most decided proof of her sincere attachment to the liberty, prosperity, and happiness of the French Republic. Each branch of the Congress, according to the course of proceeding there, has requested the President to make this known to you in its behalf ; and, in fulfilling the desires of those branches, I am instructed to declare to you that he has expressed his own. |^" In discharging the duties of the office which I am now called to execute, I promise myself the high est satisfaction, because I well know that, whilst I pursue the dictates of my own heart in wishing the liberty and happiness of the French nation, and which I most sincerely do, I speak the sentiments of my own country ; and that, by doing everything in my power to preserve and perpetuate the harmony so happily subsisting between the two republics, I shall promote the interest of both. To this great object, therefore, all my efforts will be directed. If I can be so fortunate as to succeed in such manner as to merit the approbation of both republics, I shall deem it the happiest event of my life, and retire 48 JAMES MONROE. hereafter with a consolation which those who mean well, and have served the cause of liberty, alone can feel." A comparison of this speech with Randolph s injunctions, already quoted, will show how far Monroe was carried by the enthusiasm of his youth and the unparalleled circumstances in which he was placed. That speech of ten minutes, received with applause and translated into both languages, " the American and the French," was the occasion of many a pang in his after life. The account of Monroe s reception may read ily be found in the American State Papers, 1 but a document, hitherto hidden, was lately brought to light by Mr. Washburne, the Amer ican minister, who looked up, in the national archives of France 2 the proces verbal on the day referred to, August 15, 1794. Here is the interesting extract which he sent to Mr. Fish " to fill the gap " in the diplomatic records of that period. 2 Extract from the "proces verbal" of the National Con vention of August 15, 1794. Translation. The Citizen James Monroe, minister plenipoten tiary of the United States of America near the 1 Vol. i. p. 672. 2 Foreign Relations of the U. S. 1876. Mr. Washburne to Mr. Fish, Paris, October 23, 1876. French Republic, is admitted in ting of the National Convention. He takes his place in the midst of the representatives of the people, and remits to the President with his letters of cre dence, a translation of a discourse addressed to the National Convention ; it is read by one of the secre taries. The expressions of fraternity, of union be tween the two people, and the interest which the people of the United States take in the success of the French Republic, are heard with the liveliest sensi bility and covered with applause. Reading is also given to the letters of credence of Citizen Monroe, as well as to those written by the American Congress and by its President, to the National Convention and to the Committee of Public Safety. In witness of the fraternity which unites the two peoples, French and American, the President l gives the accolade (fraternal embrace) to Citizen Monroe. Afterward, upon the proposition of many members, the National Convention passes with unanimity the following decree : ARTICLE I. The reading and verification being had of the powers of Citizen James Monroe, he is recognized and proclaimed minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America near the French Republic. ARTICLE II. The letters of credence of Citizen James Monroe, minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America, those which he has remitted on the part of the American Congress and its President, ad- 1 Merlin de Douai. 4 50 JAMES MONROE dressed to the National Convention and to the Commit tee of Public Safety, the discourse of Citizen Monroe, the response of the President of the Convention, shall be printed in the two languages, French and American, and inserted in the bulletin of correspondence. ARTICLE III. The flags of the United States of America shall be joined to those of France, and dis played in the hall of the sittings of the Convention, in sign of the union and eternal fraternity of the two people. Mr. Washburne calls attention to the phrase, "the two languages, French and American," as illustrating the hatred of the English ; and he gives to Secretary Fish the following amus ing interpretation of the accolade, based upon Ms own experience in the new republic. " For many days," he says, " after I had, by your in structions, recognized the republic, which was pro claimed on the 4th of September, 1870, regiment after regiment of the national guard marched to the legation to make known to our government, through me, their profound appreciation of its prompt action in recognizing the government of the national de fence. Forming on the corner of the rue de Chaillot and the avenue Josephine, they would send up cheers and cries of " Vive la Republique," till I would ap pear on the balcony to make my acknowledgments. Then some officers of the regiment would be deputed to call upon me in the chambers of the legation, to .tender me their personal thanks for my agency in the matter of recognition of their new government, and to give me the fraternal embrace (" accolade "), which ENVOY IN FRANCE. 51 was carried out in letter and spirit, and sometimes much to the amusement of the numerous visitors who were present on the occasion." A short time after his reception Monroe pre sented an American flag to the Convention, intrusting its carriage to Captain, afterwards Commodore, Barney, an officer of the United States Navy, with whom Monroe had crossed the Atlantic. Captain Barney made a brief speech on the occasion in the presence of the Convention, received an accolade from the President, and was complimented with a pro posal to enter the naval service of France. When the body of Rousseau was deposited in the Pantheon, this flag, borne by young Bar ney and a nephew of Monroe, preceded the column of Americans. The American minis ter and his suite, we are told, were the only persons permitted to enter the Pantheon with the National Convention to witness the conclu sion of the ceremony. Several months later (March 6, 1795) Mon roe makes this casual mention of the flag in his dispatch : " I had forgotten to notify you officially the pres ent I had made to the Convention of our flag. It was done in consequence of the order of that body for its suspension in its hall, and an intimation from I 52 JAMES MONROE. the President himself that they had none, and were ignorant of the model." Near the close of his life Monroe said that when he first arrived in France his situation was the most difficult and painful he had ever experienced. War with the United States was seriously menaced. He tells us that he could make no impression on the Committee of Pub lic Safety, and so he determined to appeal to the real government, the People, through the nom inal one, the Convention, and thus fairly bring the cause before the nation. He knew that their object was liberty, and that many French citizens had brought home from America the spirit of our struggle and infused it among their countrymen. At the head of our gov ernment stood one who was rightly held in the highest veneration by the French people ; and he felt sure that if he brought before them con vincing proofs of Washington s good wishes for their success, supported by that of the other branches of our government, the hostile spirit of the French government would be subdued and his official recognition would follow. On this principle he spoke to the Convention with the desired effect. As this address was the subject of severe animadversions at home, and as he was charged with going beyond his in structions, the following extract from a long ENVOY IN FRANCE. 53 letter to Judge Jones (April 4, 1794) l may be taken as evidence that the envoy acted accord ing to his understanding of the instructions he had received. " I inclose you a copy of my address, eie., to the Convention upon my introduction, and of the Presi dent s reply. I thought it my duty to lay those papers before the Convention as the basis of my mis sion, containing the declaration of every department in favor of the French revolution, or implying it strongly. My address, you will observe, goes no farther than the declarations of both houses." Flattered by his reception in the Convention, Monroe was destined to a profound disappoint ment when he received a dispatch from home, written by Randolph " in the frankness of friendship," criticising severely the course he had pursued. " When you left us," said the Secretary of State, " we all supposed that your reception as the minister of the United States would take place in the private chamber of some committee. Your letter of credence contained the degree of profession which the govern ment was desirous of making ; and though the lan guage of it would not have been cooled, even if its subsequent publicity had been foreseen, still it was natural to expect that the remarks with which you might accompany its delivery would be merely oral, 1 Gouverneur MSS. 54 JAMES MONROE. and therefore not exposed to the rancorous criticism of nations at war with France. " It seems that, upon your arrival, the downfall of Robespierre and the suspension of the usual routine of business, combined, perhaps, with an anxiety to demonstrate an affection for the United States, had shut up for a time the diplomatic cabinet, and ren dered the hall of the National Convention the thea tre of diplomatic civilities. We should have sup posed that an introduction there would have brought to mind these ideas : The United States are neutral ; the allied Powers jealous ; with England we are now in treaty; by England we have been impeached for breaches of faith in favor of France ; our citizens are notoriously Gallican in their hearts ; it will be wise to hazard as little as possible on the score of good humor ; and, therefore, in the disclosure of my feelings, something is due to the possibility of fos tering new suspicions. Under the influence of these sentiments, we should have hoped that your address to the National Convention would have been so framed as to leave heart-burning nowhere. If pri vate affection and opinions had been the only points to be consulted, it would have been immaterial where or how they were delivered. But the range of a public minister s mind will go to all the relations of our country with the whole world. We do not per ceive that your instructions have imposed upon you the extreme glow of some parts of your address ; and my letter in behalf of the House of Representatives, which has been considered by some gentlemen as too ENVOY IN FRANCE. 55 strong, was not to be viewed in any other light than as executing the task assigned by that body. "After these remarks, which are never to be inter preted into any dereliction of the French cause, I must observe to you that they are made principally to recommend caution, lest we should be obliged at some time or other to explain away or disavow an excess of fervor, so as to reduce it down to the cool system of neutrality. You have it still in charge to cultivate the French Republic with zeal, but without any unnecessary eclat ; because the dictates of sin cerity do not demand that we should render notorious all our feelings in favor of that nation." A little later Randolph took a more concili atory tone, and Monroe believed that he would never have spoken so severely if all the dis patches had reached him in due order. Early in his residence the American minis ter was involved in a discussion with respect to Mr. Morris s passports, of so delicate a charac ter that the story was privately communicated by Monroe to Washington. 1 This letter illus trates the delays of correspondence, for it is dated November 18i and acknowledges Wash ington s of June 25, " which would have been answered sooner if any safe opportunity had offered for Bordeaux, from whence vessels most 1 Gouverneur MSS. 56 JAMES MONROE. frequently sail for America." Such delays had a significant bearing upon the continuous mis understandings between the administration and its distant representative. 1 Monroe was also engaged in a complex correspondence with ref erence to the release of Lafayette from impris onment at Olmiitz, and concernirig pecuniary assistance to Madame Lafayette, in whose re lease he was instrumental. Many of our ves sels had been seized and condemned with their cargoes, and hundreds of our citizens were then in Paris and the seaports of France, many of them imprisoned, and all treated like ene mies. This involved the American minister in weighty responsibilities, and employed his utmost energy. His effort to secure the re lease of Thomas Paine from imprisonment was another noteworthy transaction, to which fre quent reference was made in subsequent days, both by friends and opponents. " Mr. Paine," he wrote, September 15, 1795, "has lived in my house for about ten months past. He was, upon my arrival, confined in the Luxembourg, and released on my application ; after which, being sick, he has remained with me. . . . The i On February 15, 1795, the Secretary of State acknowl edges Monroe s last date, September 15, 1794, which had been received November 27. Monroe s dispatches of August 11 and 25 were received between December 2 and 5. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 57 symptoms have become worse, and the prospect now is that he will not be able to hold out more than a month or two at the farthest. I shall certainly pay the utmost attention to this gentleman, as he is one of those whose merits in our Revolution were most distinguished." It was not long before Monroe became en tangled in a much more serious complication. A treaty with Great Britain had been negoti ated by Jay ; so much as this was positively known in Paris near the close of 1794, and more was inferred in respect to it. Citizen Merlin de Douai (the one who gave Monroe the accolade a few months before) and four of his associates in the Committee of Public Safety demanded a copy of the treaty. This was their letter (December 27, 1794) : " We are informed, Citizen, that there was lately concluded at London a treaty of alliance and com merce between the British government and Citizen Jay, Envoy Extraordinary of the United States. " A vague report spreads itself abroad that in this treaty the Citizen Jay has forgotten those things which our treaties with the American people, and the sacrifices which the French people made to ren der them free, gave us a right to expect, on the part of a minister of a nation which we have so many motives to consider as friendly. " It is important that we know positively in what 58 JAMES MONROE. light we are to hold this affair. There ought not to subsist between two free peoples the dissimulation which belongs to courts ; and it gives us pleasure to declare that we consider you as much opposed, per sonally, to that kind of policy as we are ourselves. " We invite you, then, to communicate to us as soon as possible the treaty whereof there is question. It is the only means whereby you can enable the French nation justly to appreciate those reports so injurious to the American government, and to which that treaty gave birth." In reply to this and other demands for exact information Monroe pleaded ignorance, and he refused to receive from Jay confidential and in formal statements in respect to the treaty. He contented himself with general expressions in reference to the purport of the English mission, and with strenuous efforts to allay the French excitement. When the treaty reached him he wrote to Judge Jones, " Jay s treaty surpasses all that I feared, great as my fears were of his mission. Indeed, it is the most shameful trans action I have ever known of the kind." l The language in which he reported to the au thorities at home, a few months before, the con dition of affairs, is this (January 13, 1795) : " After my late communications to the Committee of Public Safety, in which were exposed freely the 1 Gouverncur MSS. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 59 object of Mr. Jay s mission to England, and the real situation of the United States with Britain and Spain, I had reason to believe that all apprehension on those points was done away, and that the utmost cordiality had now likewise taken place in that body towards us. I considered the report above recited, and upon which the decree was founded, as the unequivocal proof of that change of sentiment, and flattered my self that, in every respect, we had now the best pros pect of the most perfect and permanent harmony be tween the two republics. I am very sorry, however, to add, that latterly this prospect has been some what clouded by accounts from England, that Mr. Jay had not only adjusted the points in controversy, but concluded a treaty of commerce with that gov ernment. Some of those accounts state that he had also concluded a treaty of alliance, offensive and de fensive. As I knew the baneful effect which these reports would produce, I deemed it my duty, by re peating what I had said before of his powers, to use my utmost endeavors, informally, to discredit them. This, however, did not arrest the progress of the re port, nor remove the disquietude it had created, for I was finally applied to, directly, by the committee, in a letter, which stated what had been heard, and requested information of what I knew in regard to it. As I had just before received one from Mr. Jay, announcing that he had concluded a treaty, and which contained a declaration that our previous treaties should not be affected by it, I thought fit to make this letter the basis of my reply. And as it is neces- 60 JAMES MONROE. sary that you should be apprised of whatever has passed here on this subject, I now transmit to you copies of these several papers, and which comprise a full statement thereof, up to the present time. " I cannot admit, for a moment, that Mr. Jay has exceeded his powers, or that anything has been done which will give just cause of complaint to this re public. I lament, however, that he has not thought himself at liberty to give me correct information on that subject ; for until it is known that their interest has not been wounded, the report will certainly keep alive suspicion, and which always weakens the bonds of friendship. I trust, therefore, you will deem it expedient to advise me on this head as soon as possi ble." The irritation of the French, when at length they discovered the actual purport of Jay s treaty, was very great. In February, 1796, it appeared that the Directory considered the alli ance between France and the United States as ceasing to exist from the moment the treaty was ratified, and intended to send a special envoy to the United States in order to express their ex treme dissatisfaction. Monroe succeeded in changing their purpose, and elicited from M, de la Croix, tbe Foreign Minister, a summary, in three headings, of tbe French complaints, to which he sent an elaborate reply. Tbe two countries bad come to the very verge of war. But the administration at borne was angry with ENVOY IN FRANCE. 61 the envoy for not having endeavored more strenuously to allay the apprehensions of France, and for failing to avert the impending danger. During the progress of these events, the portfolio of foreign affairs had been given up by Randolph, and taken up by Pickering, who began his correspondence September 12, 1795, by acknowledging a series of letters, of which the first was written ten months before. Mon roe gained nothing by this change in the coun cils at home. Randolph s censures were mild in comparison with those which his successor bestowed on the unfortunate envoy. One of the severest of his letters is that of June 13, 1796, in which he complains that Monroe failed to make a suitable vindication of the United States government at a time when the justice, the faith, and the honor of our country were ques tioned, and the most important interests were at stake. This is followed a short time after wards by a notification that he is superseded by C. C. Pinckney. On his arrival in Paris, Pinckney was pre sented by Monroe to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but was refused recognition by the Di rectory, and was not permitted to remain in Paris. Mr. Ticknor has recorded a conversation with Baron Pichon to this effect, that Paine lived in Monroe s house at Paris, and had a 62 JAMES MONROE. great deal too much influence over him ; that Monroe s insinuations and representations of General Pinckney s character, as an aristo crat, prevented his reception as minister by the Directory; and that, in general, Monroe, with whose negotiations and affairs Pichon was specially charged, acted as a party-democrat against the interests of General Washington s administration, and against what Pichon con sidered the interests of the United States. 1 On the other hand, we have Pinckney s asser tion, that during his brief residence he saw Monroe frequently, and found him open and candid, and disposed to make every communi cation which would be of service to our coun try. It should also be said that Monroe was treated with coolness by the French govern ment some time before his recall, though the civilities to him were renewed when his return to America was evidently at hand. The ceremony of flag presentation was re peated in this country. A French flag, sent across the water, was received by Congress near New Year s Day in 1796. " A mighty foolish ceremony it was," writes the federalist already quoted. 2 " It may, however, have the good effect of quieting the minds of some people 1 Life of George Ticknor, ii. 113. 2 Joshua Coit, January 5, 1796. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 63 who are afraid that the French are very angry about our treaty with Great Britain ; that nation is said to have been long famed for their address in med dling with the politics of foreign nations, and they have supported well the character in this country, but I hope we shall keep clear of their influence. The administrators of our government have no British attachment, but wish to keep clear of all foreign politics, and but for the madness of party I think the people of the United States would universally see and approve the policy. The treaty with Great Britain was necessary to settle existing disputes, in its most important articles ; the commercial part of it is experimental, and throws no restraint on our commerce with other nations, has no tendency to form political connections, and I believe secures im portant advantages to us." Monroe s recall was dated August 22. Men tioning this fact to Joseph Jones, he intimated that the letter was probably kept back to pre vent his arrival before tbe elections were over. " I shall decline a winter passage," he added, " and therefore most probably shall not embark till April or May." l He reached borne full of wrath, but the opposition party gave him a cordial greeting, and he was entertained in Philadelphia at a public dinner where Jeffer son, the Vice-President, Dayton, tbe Speaker, Chief Justice McKean, and other conspicuous 1 Gouverneur MSS. 64 JAMES MONROE. men were present. Monroe s failure, it is clear, was not personal, it was a party failure. His hand was soon turned against the administra tion of Adams. He demanded of Pickering the reasons of his recall, and drew from the Secretary, who was not at all afraid of say ing what he thought, a very explicit response. Washington, in a note to Pickering (Mt. Ver- non, August 29, 1797), mentioned that Colonel Monroe had passed through Alexandria, but did not honor him with a call. The envoy s neglect did not mean silence. He soon published a pamphlet of five hundred pages, entitled, " A View of the Conduct of the Executive," in which he printed his in structions, correspondence with the French and United States governments, speeches, and let ters received from Americans resident in Paris. It remains to this day a most extraordinary volume, full of entertaining and instructive les sons to young diplomatists. Washington, re tired from public life, appears to have kept quiet under strong provocation, but he sent a letter upon the subject to John Nicholas, and in his copy of the "View" he wrote his ani madversions, paragraph by paragraph. These notes, long suppressed, were at length given to the world by Sparks. 1 1 Washington s Writings, vol. x. pp. 226, 504. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 65 Monroe enumerates the following points, which, taken collectively, are to show his diplo matic position and the attitude of the adminis tration toward him. He mentions, 1. The appointment of Gouverneur Morris, a known enemy of the French Revolution. 2. His continuance in office till troubles came. 3. His removal at the demand of the French government. 4. The subsequent appointment of Monroe, an opponent of the administration, especially in its foreign policy. 5. The instructions given to Monroe as to the explanations he should give the French in respect to Jay s mission, which concealed the power given him to form a commercial treaty. 6. The strong expressions of attachment to France and the principles of the French Revo lution given to Monroe. 7. The resentment of the administration when these documents were made public. 8. The approval of Monroe s endeavor to se cure a repeal of the obnoxious decrees, and the silence which followed their repeal. 9. Jay s power to form a commercial treaty with England, without corresponding advances to France. 10. The withholding from Monroe of the 66 JAMES MONROE. contents of the treaty, an evidence of unfair dealing. 11. The submission of this treaty to M. Adet, after the advice of the Senate, and be fore its ratification by the President. 12. The character of Jay s treaty, which de parts from the modern rule of contraband, and yields the principle. " Free ships shall make free goods." 13. The irritable bearing of the administra tion toward France, after the ratification, in contrast with its bearing toward England, when it was proposed to decline the ratification. 14. Monroe s recall, just when he had suc ceeded in quieting the French government for the time, and was likely to do so effectually. I have not been able to trace Washington s copy of the " View" which, according to Sparks, was given to a distinguished jurist, but in the library of Cornell University Sparks s trans cript of Washington s notes is preserved. In this are the notes of Washington (hitherto not printed) on Monroe s appendix. By the per mission of the authorities, I am able to print upon a subsequent page these fresh annota tions. 1 Here three examples only will be given. Monroe, in a dispatch (February 12, 1795), having spoken of the danger of war with France, i See Appendix. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 67 inquires, What course then was I to pursue? The note of Washington is this : " As nothing but justice and the fulfilment of a contract was asked, it dictated firmness conducted with tem perance in the pursuit of it." Monroe : " The doors of the Committee [of Public Safety] were closed against me." Washington : " This ap pears nowhere but in his own conjectures." Again, incidentally, Washington writes, u The truth is, Mr, Monroe was cajoled, flattered, and made to believe strange things. In return he did, or was disposed to do, whatever was pleas ing to that nation, reluctantly urging the rights of his own." A war of pamphlets and newspaper articles followed the publication of the " View," in which Federalists and Republicans damaged each other s reputation as much as they could. Party feeling was ablaze before Monroe pub lished his book, but the flames rose fiercely when it appeared. Oliver Wolcott wrote to Washington that it was a wicked misrepresen tation of facts ; that the author s conduct was detested by all good men, though he was sorry to say that many applauded it. As to Wash ington s character and administration, he was sure that the " View " would make no impres sion beyond the circle of Tom Paine s ad mirers. John Adams wrote that he was hurt 68 JAMES MONROE. at the levity of the Americans in Paris. Fisher Ames s satirical touch is seen in a letter to C. Gore, written after the election of Jefferson, where he says, " Monroe will, if he likes, re turn to France to embrace liberty again." From another section of the Federalists this opinion comes. Harper of South Carolina, in a speech on the Foreign Intercourse Bill, speak ing of the " View," remarks : " In this book is to be found the most complete justification of the Executive for his recall, in every respect except that it was so long delayed ; for the book contains the most singular display of incapacity, unfaithfulness, and presumption, of neglect of orders, forgetfulness of the dignity, rights, and interests of his own country, and servile devotedness to the gov ernment of the country to which he was sent, that can be found in the history of diplomacy." He even intimates that Monroe was influ enced by bribery. But this was going quite too far. The historian Hildreth, who is not less severe than the most severe critic yet quoted, in his estimate of Monroe repudiates the in sinuation of Harper. " These gross insinua tions," he says, " were totally baseless. The time had not yet come when American states men were to be purchased for money. How perfectly sincere Monroe was in his opinions is manifest throughout the whole correspondence, ENVOY IN FRANCE. 69 which no purchased tool of France, none but a man blinded by enthusiastic passion, could ever have written, and still less would have published. Nor were such views at all confined to Monroe. They were shared by most of the leaders and by the great mass of the opposition party." These are the words of the Federalist historian, half a century after the "View" appeared. 1 Some extracts should also be given from the writings of Monroe s friends. For example, Edward Church wrote from Lisbon, December 24, 1796, " My ideas of the importance of ob serving inviolate our friendship and alliance with the French nation go far beyond yours, as I conceive the connection essentially neces sary to our preservation as independent states, it being evidently our best, if not our only se curity against the danger of becoming once more the poor, pitiful, servile, dependent slaves of Britain." 2 The wrath of another of Monroe s corre spondents, in Paris, found expression in these terms : " "Were I able to draw the contrast, which the sub ject so richly deserves, between this extraordinary man s military exit and that of the late idolized stat ute [c] of the people of my country, I would so 1 Hildreth s United States, ii. 101. 2 Gouverneur MSS. 70 JAMES MONROE. paint Mr. Washington on his milk-white steed, re ceiving the incense of all the little girls on Trenton Bridge, and then I would march him about in the streets of Boston, so like a roasted ox that I once saw carried a whole day in triumph by the people of that famous town, that the automaton chief should groan and sweat under the weight of those laurels, which are momently dropping from his brows into the sink and dirt of his puny and anti-republican ad ministration." 1 There is a significant paragraph in Thiers s " History of the French Revolution," which may be regarded, I think, as showing the im pression which Monroe made upon the people to whom he was accredited : " In the French government there were persons in favor of a rupture with the United States. Monroe, who was ambassador to Paris, gave the Directory the most prudent advice on this occasion. War with France, said he, will force the American government to throw itself into the arms of England and to sub mit to her influence ; aristocracy will gain supreme control in the United States, and liberty will be com promised. By patiently enduring, on the contrary, the wrongs of the present President, you will leave him without excuse, you will enlighten the Amer icans, ,and decide a contrary choice at the next elec tion. All the wrongs of which France may have to complain will then be repaired. This wise and provi- 1 Gouverneur MSS. May 15, 1797. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 71 dent advice had its effect upon the Directory. Rew- bell, Barras, and Lareveillere, had caused it to be adopted in opposition to the opinion of the system atic Carnot, who, though in general favorably dis posed to peace, insisted on the cession of Louisiana, with a view to attempt the establishment of a repub lic there." In addition to this diplomatic controversy, Monroe was involved in another more personal collision with Hamilton, occasioned by the Cal- lender publication, 1 but into the details of this disagreeable story I see no reason for en tering now. Monroe was much displeased by the publica tion of that part of his dispatches which related to the Jacobins, and thus wrote to Judge Jones, June 20, 1795: " The publication of extracts from my letters re specting the Jacobins was an unbecoming and uncan- did thing, as they were the only parts of my corre spondence that were published. I stated the truth, and therefore am not dissatisfied with the publica tion in that respect. But to me it appears strange that the fortunes of that misguided club should be the only subject treated in my correspondence upon which it was necessary to convey the information it could to our countrymen. Certainly, in relation to i " An undigested and garrulous collection of libels." Hil- dreth, ii. 104. 72 JAMES MONROE. the honor and welfare of my country, it was the least important of all the subjects upon which I treated. Besides, that club was as unlike the patriotic societies in America as light is to darkness, the former being a society that had absolutely annihilated all other government in France, and whose denunciations carried immediately any of the deputies to the scaf fold, whereas the latter are societies of enlightened men, who discuss measures and principles, and of course whose opinions have no other weight than as they are well founded and have reason on their side, to extirpate which is to extirpate liberty itself." During all his exciting residence in Paris, it is interesting to trace the minute interest main tained by Monroe in whatever pertained to his domestic affairs. There are long letters in the Gouverneur collection devoted to his financial business, to the welfare of his brothers, An drew and Joseph, and of his sister, to his land bought near Mr. Jefferson, his servants, fruit- trees, etc., besides many a passage in regard to his nephew Joseph, who was at school at St. Germain, and young Rutledge, likewise placed under the envoy s paternal care. His interest in the progress of these American boys in their French school betrays an unvarying kindness of heart in the midst of pressing anxieties and cares. Times change. Five years after Monroe s ENVOY IN FRANCE. 73 recall, Jefferson writes : l " We have ever looked to France as our natural friend, one with whom we could never have an occasion of difference ; but there is one spot on the globe, the possessor of which is our natural enemy. That spot is New Orleans. France placing herself in that door assumes to us the attitude of defiance. . . . From that moment we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation." 1 To Livingston, April 18, 1802. CHAPTER IV. ENVOY IN FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND. JEFFERSON, never wanting in interest when Monroe s affairs required counsel, and trusting him implicitly, wrote to the despondent and angry envoy that he ought to come forward again into public life. " Come to Congress," was his advice, as if coming to Congress was an act of the will, " reappear on the public theatre ; Cabel has said he would give way to you." 1 But instead of entering at once into national affairs, Monroe became governor of Virginia, and held the office three years. Jefferson, meanwhile, had become President, and soon had an opportunity to return Monroe to the legation in France. The story of this second embassy includes the purchase of Louisiana, and has therefore been examined over and over again by those who are interested in the growth of our national territory. In addition to the usual publication of the correspondence of the times, much reliance is placed on the volume by Barbd Marbois, in 1 Letter to Monroe, May 21, 1798. Jefferson, iv. 241-243. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 75 which he reports his interviews with Bonaparte. The English translation of this work is attrib uted to William Beach Lawrence ; l its appen dix omits some statements which are given in the original French. Among the manuscripts of Monroe I have met with this remark, " the work of Marbois is written in a spirit of great candor, and with friendly feeling for me, but he is mistaken in some facts which I have docu ments to show." 2 The importance of the outlet of the Missis sippi to the inhabitants of the great valley of the West was always obvious. As early as 1784 Monroe had written in regard to it, and in his first mission to France, as we have seen, he had been instructed to press the claims of the United States. In the spring of 1801 intelligence reached this country that Spain had ceded her rights in Louisiana to France, and the next year the Spanish intendant gave notice that New Or leans would no longer be a " place of deposit." 3 Jefferson communicated this highly significant information to Congress when it assembled in December. There was great excitement through the country, especially in the West, and one newspaper, at least, raised the cry of disunion. 1 C. F. Hart, in Penn Monthly. 2 May 29, 1829. 8 October 16, 1802. 76 JAMES MONfiOE. The conclusion was quickly reached, to chase from France, if possible, the outlet to the Gulf of Mexico. Congress appropriated the sum of two million dollars for this object ; and Jefferson selected Monroe to go as a special minister and act with Livingston, our resident representative at Paris, in an endeavor to secure the coveted domain. Almost simultaneously Lewis and Clarke were recommended for the exploration of the upper Mississippi. Monroe accordingly went upon his embassy, and within a month after his arrival was able with his colleague to report the purchase of Louisiana. The treaty was ratified by Bonaparte in May, 1803, and by the Senate of the United States in the next October. It is not always that the interior history of a great international bargain is so fully revealed to the public as it is in the present case, and Monroe s relation to it must now be more carefully considered. The -interests of four nations were closely involved in this transaction : Spain, who had promised to yield her rights in Louisiana, but retained her control of the Floridas, and had not, according to Talleyrand s statements, quite perfected the transfer; England, in a hostile attitude toward France, and not unlikely at any time to make a descent upon a portion of her territory ; France, in anxious expectation ENVOY IN FRANCE. 77 of an outbreak of hostilities, in want of money, and predisposed to build up in America a power which should rival England ; and the United States, eager to secure the maritime outlet of its great river system, and almost inclined to seize it by force. Six individuals were conspicuous in the ne gotiation : on the American side, Jefferson, once minister to France, now sixty years old, and half way through his first presidential term, whose sagacity recognized the importance of securing Louisiana, and initiated the pur chase ; R. R. Livingston, two years younger, who had been for two years resident as the American minister in France, and had been pressing the American claim to be indemnified for the French spoliations, and had brought the government to consider the possibility of ceding the desired territory ; and Monroe, for ty-five years old, whose former residence in Paris was not forgotten, and who entered upon his second diplomatic mission fresh from the instructions of Jefferson and Madison, and from the inspiration of popular enthusiasm with respect to the acquisition which he was sent to secure. On the French side stood Bona parte, the youngest of the group, thirty-five years old, then First Consul, and in the flush of his military and civil power ; Talleyrand, a 78 JAMES MONROE. man of forty-nine years, holding the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, not wholly trusted by the Consul, but well qualified by his skill in diplo macy and by his acquaintance with the United States to take a part in the business ; and Marbois (about the age of Livingston), who had held a diplomatic position in America, and was now the Minister of the Treasury, enjoy ing the confidence of Bonaparte, and called by him to be leader in this negotiation. In his history of this transaction, Marbois attributes its rapid and felicitous progress to the fact that the plenipotentiaries had been long acquainted, and were disposed to treat one another with mutual confidence. Livingston, as soon as he heard of Monroe s arrival in Havre, sent him the following letter of welcome, written in a tone of despondency : "lOtfi April, 1803. " I congratulate you on your safe arrival. We have long and anxiously waited for you. God grant that your mission may answer yours and the public ex pectation. War may do something for us, nothing else would. I have paved the way for you, and if you could add to my memoirs an assurance that we were now in possession of New Orleans, we should do well ; but I detain Mr. Bentalou, who is impatient to fly to the arms of his wife. I have apprised the minister of your arrival, and told him you would be here on Tuesday or Wednesday." ENVOY IN FRANCE. 79 It so happened that on this very day, April 10, after the solemnities of Easter Sunday, Bonaparte discussed with Talleyrand and Mar- bois the Louisiana question. They were di vided in counsel ; the conference was prolonged into the night, and the ministers remained at St. Cloud. At daybreak Bonaparte, having al ready received alarming dispatches from Eng land, summoned Marbois, who had advised the cession, and said to him in substance : " I re nounce Louisiana. Negotiate for its cession. Don t wait for Monroe. I want fifty million francs ; for less I will not treat. Acquaint me day by day, hour by hour, with your progress. Keep Talleyrand informed." Armed with these instructions, Marbois sought Livingston. Be fore they met, Talleyrand had been unsuccess fully endeavoring to reach some point of agree ment. He had asked Livingston if the United States wished for the whole of Louisiana. The answer had been No ; but that it would be pol itic in France to give it up. The price to be paid was the matter in question. At this juncture Monroe reached Paris. He heard with surprise from Livingston of the readiness of the French to sell the territory, and the two envoys proceeded to discuss the price which they could venture to promise. While Monroe was taking his first dinner with Liv- 80 JAMES MONROE. ingston, in company witli other American gen tlemen, Marbois appeared in the garden and presently joined the party. Before leaving he led Livingston into a free conference upon the cession, and invited him to continue the talk at a later hour after the company had dispersed. Livingston went to the house of Marbois, and stayed there till midnight. The whole country of Louisiana was then offered to the United States for one hundred million francs, and the claims. Livingston pronounced it an exorbi tant price, and Marbois did not deny that it was. No conclusion could be reached without consult ing Monroe ; but Livingston, without waiting to do so, sat up until three o clock and wrote a midnight dispatch to Madison, narrating the interview with Marbois, and saying that he was sure the purchase was wise. He also made a suggestion, which in these days is astounding, that if the price is too high, the outlay may be reimbursed by the " sale of the territory west of the Mississippi, with the right of sovereignty, to some Power in Europe, whose vicinity we should not fear." 1 This is not precisely in ac cordance with what was afterwards known as the Monroe doctrine. From this time on, Talleyrand was not con spicuous in the scenes, though it is more than 1 State Papers, ii. 554. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 81 possible that behind them his hand was at work, perhaps obstructively. At any rate, for one reason or another, he delayed the presen tation of Monroe to Bonaparte until May 1, and even then failed to be personally present, leav ing to Livingston the ceremonious duty of nam ing his colleague. Probably he was -annoyed that the First Consul agreed with Marbois, and had given to him the authority to proceed. Livingston and Monroe, after reviewing the situation, made up their minds that they could give fifty millions, and, in the bargaining spirit which governed both sides, offered forty mil lions, one half to be returned to American claimants. Marbois expressed his regret that they could not give more, and proposed to consult the Consul. He came back from St. Cloud, saying that the business might be con sidered as no longer in his hands, so coolly had Bonaparte received their proposition. He ad vised that some pressure be brought to bear upon Talleyrand in order to secure the early presentation of Monroe. Later in the day Marbois came in to a dinner which Cambacdres was giving, and told the American envoys that if the Consul did not reopen the question they might consider the plan relinquished. They quickly proceeded to offer fifty millions. Mar bois doubted whether this wojald be accepted* 6 82 JAMES MONROE. Here came a significant pause lasting for several days. " We were resting on our oars," says one of the negotiators. On April 17 Bonaparte made an official an nouncement to the Pope and others that in con sequence of England s violation of the Peace of Amiens, France was involved in war with her. It is easy to see the bearing of this on the American negotiations. Ten days later Marbois laid before Livingston and Monroe the draft of a treaty given him by the govern ment, 1 and another, his own. In the latter he proposed as the price eighty million francs, which was to include the sum requisite for the American claimants. Our envoys offered fifty millions and twenty more for the claimants, but at last acceded to the figures of Marbois. This concluded the business. Marbois tells us that Bonaparte when he heard what sum had been agreed upon received the intelligence with opposition. He had forgotten or feigned to forget his original willingness to sell for fifty millions, and he objected to the allowance of twenty millions to the American suitors ; but he soon grew calmer and acquiesced in the ces- 1 In the Correspondance de Napoleon, vol. viii., the projet of a secret convention between France and the United States is printed (without signature), dated April 23, 1803, from the Archives de France. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 83 sion. " I have given to England," he said ex- ultingly, " a maritime rival which will sooner or later humble her pride." Some details were worked out in respect to the mode of payment ; Monroe s presentation to the Consul soon fol lowed ; and at length, May 2, the plenipoten tiaries signed the French copy of the treaty, and two or three days later the copy in Eng lish. On the thirteenth of the month a ratified copy was transmitted to Madison. Two con ventions proceeded from the treaty of cession, the first in respect to the mode of payment for the cession ; the second in respect to American^ claims. V As soon as they had signed the treaty the plenipotentiaries rose and shook hands, when Livingston said, expressing the general satisfac tion, " we have lived long, but this is the no blest work of our whole lives." l This harmo nious conclusion was not reached without some personal rivalry (if jealousy is too harsh a term to be employed) between the American repre sentatives ; and there is a long letter still extant in which Monroe recounts the embarrassments of the situation arising from the conduct of his colleague. But their personal feelings were fortunately kept in the background until the 1 His speech as reported by Marbois, p. 310, is full of inter est. 84 JAMES MONROE. business was concluded, although they may be incidentally traced in their public and official correspondence. 1 On May 21 Marbois received the following letter of acknowledgment : 2 "Sur les 240,000 francs, Citoyen Ministre, que doivent les six banquiers du tresor public, 48,000 francs seront donnes en gratification, conformement a ma lettre dece jour; 192,000 francs seront a votre disposition pour suppleer a 1 insuffisance de votre traitement, ayant 1 intention que vous voyiez dans cette disposition le desir que j ai de vous temoigner ma satisfaction de vos travaux importants et du bon ordre que vous avez mis dans votre ministere, qui ont valu a, la Republique un grand iiombre de millions. " BONAPARTE." " Monroe took leave of Bonaparte June 24, having been presented to him for this purpose by Talleyrand at St. Cloud. The First Consul asked if he were about going to London, and Monroe replied that he had lately received the orders of the President, in case our affairs here were amicably adjusted, to repair to Lon don ; that the resignation of our minister there, and the want of a charge, made it necessary to go at once. He then gave a formal expression of American good-will ; to which Bonaparte re- 1 Monroe MSS. 2 Corrtspon dance de Napoleon I", An XL (1803). ENVOY IN FRANCE, 85 plied that " no one wished more than himself the preservation of a good understanding ; that the cession he had made was not so much on account of the price given as from motives of policy; and that he wished for friendship between the republics." l In the progress of this affair the French had promised the Americans to exert their good in fluences with Spain to induce her to yield the Floridas, the limit separating these posses sions from Louisiana being then in dispute. Monroe, as soon as the Louisiana purchase was completed, determined to go to Madrid and treat for the Floridas, but Cambaceres, who heard him say this one day at dinner, almost forbade him, for reasons which were not quite easy to be discovered. He accordingly called on the Span ish minister, and there to his surprise he found that Livingston had already begun that negoti ation with Spain which Monroe had been espe cially charged to undertake. This led to serious explanations between the two American en voys. Monroe postponed his visit to Spain and went to London. He had left the United States accredited to France, Spain and Eng land, the commission to the Court of St. James having been an afterthought, and dated three months later. i Monroe MSS. 86 JAMES MONROE As a sequel to this narrative, the following letter to Marbois from Monroe will be read with interest : 1 " LONDON, February 14, 1804. " My last letter from the Secretary of State (of De cember 26) mentioned that Louisiana was surrendered to the Prefect of France the latter end of November, who was to transfer it to the commissioners of the United States on their arrival at New Orleans, which was expected in a day or two from that date. Mr. Madison adds that he considers all difficulties on that subject as happily terminated. Mr. B. is expected here daily with everything belonging to a complete execution of this transaction. In the mean time I am pursuaded that the house in Holland will consider it as concluded and act accordingly. " It gives me pleasure to observe that the prompt and unconditional exchange of ratifications by your charge des affaires at Washington, and his correct conduct in promoting the transfer of the territory of the United States, in obedience to the orders of his government, are unequivocal proofs of the good faith with which the treaties were formed. The manner in which the President expressed himself in his mes sage to Congress of the enlarged liberty and friendly policy which governed the First Consul in the trans action, shows in strong terms the sense which he entertains of it. May it seal forever the friendship of the two nations. To have been in any degree in strumental to that important result, is one of the cir- Monroe MSS. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 87 cumstances of my life which will always give me the highest satisfaction. In society with my respectable colleague, to have met an old friend on the other side, who had experienced, as well as myself, some vicissitudes in the extraordinary movements of the epoch in which we live, is an incident which adds not a little to the gratification which I derive from the event. " You have doubtless heard that Jerome Bonaparte is married to Miss Patterson of Baltimore. Her fa ther is one of the most respectable citizens of that town or rather of the State of Maryland. Her mother is a sister of General Smith, a member of the Senate of the United States, the officer who defended Mud Island below Philadelphia in our Revolution. The connection is every way as respectable as he could have formed in the United States. The young lady is amiable, very handsome, and perfectly innocent. The bearer of this is her brother, who goes to Paris from this place, to carry a letter from Jerome to the First Consul, which was transmitted to me by her father. As he has also written to Mr. Livingston, I inclose to him the letter to the First Consul, as he might expect that the communication should be made through him. Nevertheless, I have taken the liberty to present to you the young man, and apprise you of the above facts, in confidence that you will make such friendly representations of the affair as you may find necessary." The letter concludes with messages of private friendship. 88 JAMES MONROE. Livingston was never quite at his ease in re spect to Monroe. He naturally felt some cha grin in not being allowed to conclude, without the support of a fresh colleague, the negotia tion he had undertaken, and he was careful not to yield any of his own prerogatives or to con ceal his own services. The apprehensions un der which he opened his correspondence with Monroe, on the latter s arrival in Havre, he subsequently explained as due to the dissimula tions of Talleyrand. These were his explana tions to Madison : l " I have in nay former letter informed you of M. Talleyrand s calling upon rne, previous to the arrival of Mr. Monroe, for a proposition, for the whole of Louisiana; of his afterwards trifling with rne, and telling me that what he said was unauthorized. This circumstance, for which I have accounted to you in one of my letters, led me to think, though it after wards appeared without reason, that some change had taken place in the determination which I knew the Consul had before taken to sell. I had just then received a line from Mr. Monroe, informing me of his arrival. I wrote to him a hasty answer, under the influence of ideas excited by these prevarications of the minister, expressing the hope that he had brought information that New Orleans was in our possession ; that I hoped our negotiation might be successful ; but that, while I feared nothing but war i November 15, 1803. ENVOY IN FRANCE. 89 would avail us anything, I had paved the way for him. This letter is very imprudently shown and spoken of by Mr. Monroe s particular friends as a proof that he had been the principal agent in the negotiation. So far, indeed, as it may tend to this object, it is of little moment, because facts and dates are too well known to be contradicted. For instance, it is known to everybody here that the Consul had taken his re solution to sell previous to Mr. Monroe s arrival. It is a fact well known that M. Marbois was authorized, informally, by the First Consul, to treat with me, before Mr. Monroe reached Paris ; that he actually made me the very proposition we ultimately agreed to, before Mr. Monroe had seen a minister, except M. Marbois, for a moment, at my house, where he came to make the proposition, Mr. Monroe not hav ing been presented to M. Talleyrand, to whom I in troduced him the afternoon of the next day. All, then, that remained to negotiate, after his arrival, was a diminution of the price, and in this our joint mission was unfortunate ; for we came up, as soon as Mr. Monroe s illness would suffer him to do busi ness, after a few days delay, to the minister s offers. There is no doubt that Mr. Monroe s talents and ad dress would have enabled him, had he been placed in my circumstances, to have effected what I have done. But he, unfortunately, came too late to do more than assent to the propositions that were made us, and to aid in reducing them to form. I think he has too much candor not to be displeased that his friends should publicly endeavor to depreciate me by speak- 90 JAMES MONROE. ing of a private letter, hastily written, under circum stances of irritation with which Mr. Monroe is fully .acquainted ; a letter, too, which may contribute in two ways to advance the views of the enemies of the administration. It is in this light only that it gives me pain." In looking over this extraordinary chapter in history, which records probably the largest transaction in real estate which the world has ever known, it is interesting to trace the con currence of so many factors. The ambition of Napoleon, the sagacity of Jefferson, the diplo macy of Talleyrand and Marbois, the caution of Livingston, the enthusiasm of Monroe, were all manifested in the sale of a part of the North American continent, the boundaries of which were uncertain, the title insecure, and the price incapable of being determined by any market standard nearer than " the cost of Etruria," which was the price of the cession of Louisiana by Spain. Yet back of these personal influ ences were great ideas controlling the action of vigorous nations ; there was the English deter mination to put down the rising dominion of Napoleon ; there was the willingness of Spain to give up New Orleans ; there was the Amer ican resolution to secure, by diplomacy or by force, the Mississippi outlet ; there was the readiness of France to prevent the seizure of ENVOY IN FRANCE. 91 New Orleans by the English, and to build up in the new world a powerful rival to Great Britain. France was enough involved with financial difficulties to need money ; the United States, by a wise financial policy, was in good credit at Amsterdam ; and so, when the price had been fixed, there was no trouble about pay ment, and no delay in the transfer. Nobody could foretell the momentous conse quences which would proceed from this sale. Bonaparte thought that two or three hundred years later American influence might be over powering, a contingency so remote that even his aspirations were not affected by it ; and Jef ferson was far-seeing enough to devise an ex ploring expedition which should proceed to the extreme Northwest and report with as much precision as the science of the day would per mit in respect to the sources of the great rivers. But this was all. Beyond the Mississippi was a land unknown. The Americans did not ask for it, and Livingston comforted himself with the thought that perhaps a part of it could be resold ; France pressed its purchase on those who were only asking for New Orleans and the Floridas. By this marvellous combination of circumstances Louisiana, including the far northwest, became ours. The subsequent history of the United States 92 JAMES MONROE. has been closely connected with this famous ac quisition. The Missouri compromise, the an nexation of Texas, the Northwestern boundary disputes, the acquisition of California and of the northern provinces of Mexico, the discovery of gold and silver, the Nebraska bill, the Mor- .mon difficulty, the Indian policy, the Alaska purchase, the Pacific railroads, the isthmus canal question, the Chinese immigration, who can say that any one of these controversies and events would ever have come to the front if Spain, or France, or Great Britain had re mained in control of that half of our domain which lies beyond the Mississippi ? Among the concurrent circumstances there is none so extraordinary to us who are accus tomed to constitutional limitations, as the arbi trary power then held in France by one who was still a young man, and who, a few years previous (at the beginning, let us say, of Mon roe s first mission), was comparatively unknown, and without the slightest prescience of his com ing authority. The memoirs of Marbois, Liv ingston, and Monroe, and the correspondence of Napoleon, do not give any indication that the First Consul, in this far-reaching exercise of his authority, was guided by the opinion of a cabinet or council, or restricted by any funda mental law. He speaks to Marbois in the sin- ENVOY IN ENGLAND. 93 guiar number, like the owner of a house or farm, as if he were, indeed, the personification of France. He does, it is true, consult two min isters of state, but he turns abruptly away from the advice of one of them, and to the other he gives directions as positive and arbitrary as if he were directing a broker to sell a cargo. The mighty deeds of Napoleon s sword have been undone, but the stroke of his pen wrought a change which now, after fourscore years have passed, is no more liable to counterclmnge than the Mississippi is to flow into the lakes. Soon after Monroe s arrival in England he received from Madison, the Secretary of State, the plan of a convention to be proposed to the British government, with particular reference to our maritime rights. We had suffered so much from impressment of seamen, blockade, and the search of our vessels, that it was quite time to insist on the national claims. Early in April, 1804, the subject was brought to the at tention of Lord Hawkesbury ; but before any response was received Addington had yielded the leadership to Pitt, and Lord Harrowby had taken the foreign office. He received Monroe in a manner which was fitted to wound and irritate ; not a friendly sentiment toward the United States escaped him ; and the American 94 JAMES MONROE. minister considered these concerns as postponed indefinitely. Before autumn the Foreign Minis ter grew more conciliatory, but no conclusions were reached at the beginning of October, when, by mutual consent, the negotiations were post poned, and Monroe left London on an absence of several months. Looking forward to a release from the pub lic service, Monroe wrote to Judge Jones from London (May 16, 1804), saying that he should gather a collection of law books and bring them home with a view to continuing the practice of the law. He hoped that thus, with the aid of a farm, he might gain enough to support a family without the aid of other resources. He indicated his strong preference for Richmond and directed the sale of his land above Charlottesville, as it brought no income. He said he could live better on $2,000 per year in Richmond than on 2,000 in London. He had thought seriously of accept ing the appointment in Louisiana which Madison was willing to give him, though the administra tion seemed to prefer that he should remain in London. Jefferson intimated that he might be sent to Spain. The whole tenor of the letter is that of one who is longing for repose at home, suffering from fatigue and poor health abroad, and in want of sufficient means to maintain agreeably his diplomatic station. 1 1 Gouverneur MSS. ENVOY IN ENGLAND. 95 It will be remembered that he went from the United States commissioned to Spain as well as France, but did not continue his jour ney to Madrid. In the autumn of 1804 he resumed the proposed negotiation with Spain, and, as he went through Paris, solicited from Talleyrand the French support in his endeavor to secure from the Spaniards the cession of their possessions to the east of the mouths of the Mississippi. The exact eastern boundary of the Louisiana territory already acquired by the United States was undetermined, and Florida was wanted. Months previous Napoleon had pledged his good offices in the promotion of the plans of the United States, but when they were now solicited he failed to make the ex pected response, although cautiously warned that there was danger of an immediate rupture be tween Spain and the United States, which would, indirectly at least, be harmful to France. Monroe and Pinckney accordingly prosecuted their mission as best they could without the French cooperation. From January to May they were in constant negotiation with the Spanish minister, Don Pedro Cevallos, but it all resulted in nothing and Monroe returned to his residence in London. Lord Mulgrave was now in the foreign office. New seizures of American vessels by the British 96 JAMES MONROE gave renewed emphasis to the American com plaints, which were met with dilatory and pro voking responses. The death of Pitt brought about another change of ministry early in 1806, and the whole story of our demands was pre sented to the more friendly consideration of Fox, who promised to give his immediate attention to the business and pursue it without delay until it was concluded. But he again encountered obstacles among his colleagues. Meanwhile, as Monroe had been sent to reinforce other minis ters, Wm. Pinkney was sent to reinforce Mon roe. He had previously been resident in London for a long time, and had pressed to a success ful issue the claims of the State of Maryland to some stock in the Bank of England. He had held the office of commissioner under the treaty of 1794. The joint commission of the two envoys was dated May 17, 1806, and cov ered a larger field of negotiation and conven tion than that which had been intrusted to Monroe alone. Their early communications to Madison contained the same old story of delay. Fox was now ill beyond the hope of recov ery, and the good offices of his nephew, Lord Holland, were solicited to secure an official rec ognition from the King. Lord Grenville now assumed the direction of affairs, and he soon informed the Americans that Lord Auckland ENVOY IN ENGLAND. 97 and Lord Holland were appointed as a special commission to discuss all matters pending be tween the two governments. Toward the end of August, 1806, serious negotiations began in Downing Street, and as the last day of the year was reached, these wearisome and complex deliberations were concluded by a treaty. This was forwarded to Washington at once by the hand of Mr. Purviance, but it did not reach Mr. Jefferson until March 15. Twelve days be fore, on March 3, just before the adjournment of Congress, the President saw a copy of the treaty which Mr. Erskine, the British minister, had received. 1 Long as the negotiations had been, and vo luminous as were the results, the treaty failed in two fundamental points. It made no provision against the impressment of our seamen ; and it secured no indemnity for losses which Ameri cans had incurred in the seizure of their goods and vessels. Jefferson " pigeon-holed " it. He took the responsibility, without summoning the Senate, to withhold his ratification. When it became evident that this would be the result, the Secretary of State wrote to the commis sioners that the President thought it better, if no satisfactory or formal stipulation on the sub ject of impressment were attainable, that the 1 J. Q. Adams s Diary, I 466. 7 98 JAMES MONROE. negotiation should terminate without any for mal compact whatever. A fresh draft of the American expectations was then drawn up, upon which the two envoys might renew their negotiations. In his memoirs of the Whig party Lord Holland has given a graphic picture of the American commissioners, and of the attitude of the English government, which may here be quoted : " Without notice or explanation, an order for de taining all neutrals engaged in such a commerce was suddenly issued ; and a prodigious number of Ameri cans were brought into our ports by his majesty s cruisers in the summer and autumn of 1805. The principle of these seizures was not likely to be very readily admitted by any independent power whose subjects had suffered by the application of it. The sudden and peremptory manner of enforcing it was yet more offensive, and aggravated that hostile feel ing which long mismanagement on our part, and some folly on theirs, had created in the leading party in North America. Mr. Monroe and Mr. Pinkney were instructed to insist on an explanation upon this important point, on some regulation of the impress ment of British seamen found in American merchant vessels, on the right and practice of searching for them at sea, and on many other inferior but difficult subjects. When, however, the death of Mr. Pitt was known, the spirit, though not the substance, of ENVOY IN ENGLAND. 99 their instructions was softened, and the mission was authorized to assume a more conciliatory tone than their original instructions seemed to breathe. The two gentlemen were empowered to negotiate and conclude a treaty of commerce which should regulate all disputed points, and place the two countries per manently on a more amicable footing. We found the two American commissioners fair, explicit, frank, and intelligent. Mr. Monroe (afterwards president) was a sincere Republican, who during the Revolution in France had imbibed a strong predilection for that country, and no slight aversion to this. But he had candor and principle. A nearer view of the consu lar and imperial government of France, and of our Constitution in England, converted him from both these opinions. * I find, said he to me, your monarchy more republican than monarchical, and the French republic infinitely more monarchical than your monarchy. He was plain in his manners and somewhat slow in his apprehension ; but he was a diligent, earnest, sensible, and even profound man. His colleague, who had been partly educated in Eng land and was a lawyer by profession, had more of the forms and readiness of business, and greater knowl edge and cultivation of mind ; but perhaps his opin ions were neither so firmly rooted nor so deeply con sidered as those of Mr. Monroe. Throughout our negotiation they were conciliatory, both in form and in substance. They exceeded their instructions by signing a treaty which left the article of impressment unsettled. My colleague and I took credit to ourselves 100 JAMES MONROE. for having convinced them of the extreme difficulty of the subject, arising from the impossibility of our allowing seamen to withdraw themselves from our service during war, and from the inefficacy of all the regulations which they had been enabled to propose for preventing their entering into American ships. They, on the other hand, persuaded us that they were themselves sincere in wishing to prevent it ; and we saw no reason for suspecting that the government of the United States was less so. But though they pro fessed, and I believe felt, a strong wish to enforce such a provision, they did not convince us that they had the power or means of enforcing it. There was, consequently, no article in the treaty upon the subject. Upon this omission and upon other more frivolous pretexts, but with the real purpose and effect of defeating Mr. Monroe s views on the pres identship, Mr. Jefferson refused to ratify a treaty which would have secured his countrymen from all further vexations, and prevented a war between two nations, whose habits, language, and interests should unite them in perpetual alliance and good-fellowship. " I had an opportunity during this negotiation of observing the influence of situation over men s opin ions. The atmosphere of the Admiralty made those who breathed it shudder at anything like concessions to the Americans ; while the anxiety to avoid war and to enlarge our resources by commerce, so natu ral in the Treasury, softened natures otherwise less yielding, and led them to listen with favor to every conciliatory expedient." ENVOY IN ENGLAND. 101 Events were driving the two nations into a collision which might have been averted by di plomacy, but which soon developed into war. On July 24 the American commissioners, in ac cordance with their instructions, had reopened a correspondence with Mr. Canning, now for eign secretary in the Portland ministry, and on the very next day intelligence was received in London that the British ship Leopard, assert ing the right to search for deserters, had at tacked the American frigate Chesapeake, off the Chesapeake capes. 1 Of course this brought still more delay. After the settlement of this aggression had been transferred from London to Washington, the treaty was again brought up for reconsideration by the British minister in October. Before much progress could be made, the famous "orders in council," full of menace to American commerce, were passed, and remonstrances against them were presented by Pinkney, who now assumed the entire re sponsibility of the legation. Monroe returned to America near the close of 1807, and soon drew up an elaborate defence of his diplomatic conduct in England in a let ter to Madison, which covers ten folio pages of the State Papers. 2 The enthusiasm with which he might have been received immediately after i June 23, 1807. a February 28, 1808. 102 JAMES MONROE. the Louisiana purchase was dampened by his failure in the English negotiations. Politicians were already discussing the presidential suc cession, the Republican party being divided in their preferences for Madison and Monroe. Jef ferson endeavored to remain neutral ; Wirt was in favor of Madison ; at length the legislature of Virginia settled the choice by pronouncing in favor of the latter. Monroe s friends acqui esced. Soon afterwards Madison was placed in the chair of the president, and Monroe, after a brief interval, was reflected to the post of gov ernor. It was a mark of the confidence of those who knew him best that thus a second time, on his return from a foreign land, more or less disappointed, if not under a cloud, he should be called to the highest office in the gift of the people of the State. I cannot discover that the failure of Monroe to accomplish the purpose of his mission to Spain and England indicates any want of in telligence, assiduity, or fidelity on his part. Al though there is a curious gap in the published papers just before his departure for England, I do not see any evidence that the administra tion lost their confidence in him. He failed be cause the times were not propitious for success. Spain was not ready to give up the Floridas. England was determined not to yield the right ENVOY IN ENGLAND. 103 of search ; not even after a disastrous war would she acknowledge the wrongs against which the United States protested. During Monroe s short mission to London he was obliged to be absent from that city several months, and he was actually brought into negotiations with six successive foreign secretaries, besides the two special commissioners ; and these secretaries were involved in the perplexities which arose from prolonged hostilities with a most vigorous foe. The delays which were thus occasioned may have been inevitable, but they were very- costly. War followed in their train. CHAPTER V. SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. MADISON became President in 1809. Mon roe, who had been a rival aspirant for the office, was called to the post of secretary of state in 1811, as the successor of Robert Smith of Mary land. His associates in the cabinet at that time were Gallatin, Eustis, Paul Hamilton, and, a lit tle later, William Pinkney. The war which for several years had seemed inevitable was now imminent. Congress indicated a desire for posi tive measures, and although the President still favored peace, bills were passed for augmenting the army and navy, for enlisting volunteers, and for organizing the militia. The adminis tration was floated onward by the current of public opinion. The British " orders in coun cil " were the immediate occasion of this spirit of resistance, but the troubles had begun long before. After hearing Mr. Perceval s public declaration in February, 1812, that England could not listen to the pretensions of neutral nations, the American minister in London, Mr. Russell, wrote home that war could not honor- SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 105 ably be avoided. This expectation soon became a fact, and war was declared on June 18, 1812. It was a curious coincidence that the act of dec laration was drawn by William Pinkney, and communicated to England by James Monroe, the two commissioners in London whose efforts to maintain peace by a reasonable treaty had been unsuccessful a few years before. Then followed a long period of tumult, dis aster, and victory, the story of which has been so often told that it will here be referred to only in illustration of the life of Monroe. Even this part of his history is so well known that I cannot shed any new light upon it. As Secretary of State his duties were not at the be ginning more complex than the ordinary, but he was afterwards charged with the additional re sponsibilities of the War Department, and thus his position became doubly powerful and diffi cult. Monroe who was commonly designated by his military title, and who had the renown of brave service in the Revolution seriously de liberated whether he should take the field in person, as a volunteer, if not to command ; but he restrained his military ardor. During the summer and autumn of 1811 the Secretary of State was engaged in a brisk correspondence with Mr. Foster, the British minister in Washington. His most extended 106 JAMES MONROE. dispatch was that of July 23, in which he vig orously defends the rights of neutrals. His concluding sentences have an eloquent ring. " It is the interest of belligerents," he argues, " to mitigate the calamities of war, and neutral powers possess ample means to promote that object, provided they sustain, with impartiality and firmness, the dignity of their station. If belligerents expect advantage from neutrals, they should leave them in the full enjoyment of their rights. The present war has been op pressive beyond example by its duration, and by the desolation it has spread throughout Europe. It is highly important that it should assume at least a milder character. By the revocation of the French edicts, so far as they respected the neutral commerce of the United States, some advance is made towards that most desirable and consoling result. Let Great Britain follow the example. The ground thus gained will soon be enlarged by the concurring and pressing interests of all parties ; and what ever is gained will accrue to the advantage of afflicted humanity." a Six months later (Janu ary 14, 1812) he writes again to Mr. Foster, complaining that in the conduct of the British government it is impossible to see anything short of a determined hostility to the rights and interests of the United States. 1 Slate Papers, iii. SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 107 The relations of the United States with France also required careful attention from the Secretary, though they were less critical than those with England. Barlow was commissioned as minister to the Emperor of the French, and the Secretary, July 26,. 1811, gave him ex tended instructions with reference to the claims of the United States. France, he assumes, has changed her policy towards the United States, as the revocation of her decrees indicates, but much is yet to be done by her to satisfy Amer ican claims. "If she wishes to profit of neutral commerce she must become the advocate of neutral rights, as well by her practice as by her theory." Such was the message sent to the Emperor, and it had some influence upon his subsequent action. A treaty of commerce was proposed ; but as delay was expected in ne gotiating it, Barlow endeavored to secure an official memorandum of the agreement of the two Powers, but was obliged to be content with general assurances from the Emperor, that the principles contended for were adopted and would be put in operation. 1 The inauspicious opening of the war is a fa miliar story. Much of the blame for the disas ters which occurred was thrown upon the Sec retary of War, Dr. Eustis, a surgeon in the 1 State Papers, iii. 516. 108 JAMES MONROE. Revolutionary army, who at length gave way. Monroe acted ad interim until the appointment of General John Armstrong, who had held the rank of major in the Revolutionary army, and had since then been called to many conspicuous public stations, among them that of minister to France. The war did not go much better after the change in the secretary s office. Monroe looked with great suspicion on his colleague s conduct of affairs, and at length addressed the President as follows, after a short conversation the evening previous : l JAMES MONROE TO PRESIDENT MADISON. July 25, 1813. You intimated that you had understood that Gen eral Armstrong intended to repair to the northern frontiers and to direct the operations of the cam paign ; and it was afterwards suggested to me that he would, as Secretary at War, perform the duties of lieutenant-general. It merits consideration how far the exercise of such a power is strictly constitutional and correct in itself ; and secondly, how far it may affect the character of your administration and of those acting in it ; and thirdly, whether it is not otherwise liable to objection on the ground of pol icy. I shall be able to present to your consideration a few hints only on each of these propositions. The departments of the government, being recognized by i Monroe MSS. SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 109 the Constitution, have appropriate duties under it as organs of the executive will ; they contain records of its transactions, and are in that sense checks on the Executive. If the Secretary of War leaves the seat of government (the chief magistrate remaining there) and performs the duties of a general, the powers of the chief magistrate, of the Secretary at War, and general are all united in the latter. There ceases to be a check on executive power as to military opera tions ; indeed, the executive power as known to the Constitution is destroyed; the whole is transferred from the Executive to the general at the head of the army. It is completely absorbed in hands where it is most dangerous. It may be said that the President is commander-m- chief ; that the Secretary at War is his organ as to military operations, and that he may allow him to go to the army, as being well informed in military affairs, and act for himself. I am inclined to think that the President, unless he takes the command of the army in person, acts, in directing its movements, more as the executive power than as commander-in-chief. What would become of the Secretary at War if the Presi dent took command of the army, I do not know. I rather suppose, however, that although some of his powers would be transferred to the military staff about the President, he would, nevertheless, retain his appropriate constitutional character in all other respects. The Adjutant-General would become the organ of the Executive as to military operations, but the Secretary of War would be that for every other 110 JAMES MONROE. measure, indeed for all except movements in the field. The Department at War would therefore still form some check on the Executive at the head of the army, but there would be none on the Secretary, when he was general. On the second head, the effect it might have on the credit of your administration, there can be little doubt. If there is cause to suspect the measure on constitutional grounds, that circumstance alone would wound its credit deeply. But a total yielding of the power, as would be inferred, and might and proba bly would be assumed (for any act which would be performed or order given without the sanction of the chief magistrate would, in a degree, operate in that way) , would affect it in another sense not less in juriously. It is impossible for the Secretary at War to go to the frontier, and perform the offices con templated, without exercising all those of the mili tary commander, especially. He would carry with him, of course, those of the War Department, for by the powers of that department would he act as general, and control all military and other opera tions, and being forced to act by circumstances and take his measures by the day, he could have no order or sanction from the chief magistrate. This would be seen by the public and imperil greatly the credit of the administration. If General Armstrong is the person most fit to command the armies let him be appointed such ; there will then be a check on him in the chief magistrate and in the War Depart ment. Does he possess in a prominent degree the SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. Ill public confidence for that trust? Do we not know the fact to be otherwise, that it was with difficulty he was appointed a brigadier-general, and still greater difficulty that he was appointed Secretary at War ? On the ground of policy I have already made some remarks ; but there are other objections to it on that ground. If he withdraws from the seat of govern ment, and takes his station with the northern troops, what will become of every other army, that under Harrison, Pinckney, and Wilkinson, and of those stationed in other quarters, especially along the coast? Who will direct the general movement, supervise their supplies, etc. ? I cannot close these remarks without adding some thing in relation to myself. Stimulated by a deep sense of the misfortunes of our country, as well as its disgrace by the surrender of Hull, the misconduct of Van Rensselaer and Smyth, and by the total want of character in the northern campaign, and dreading its effects on your administration, on the Republican party and cause, I have repeatedly offered my service in a military station, not that I wished to take it by preference to my present one, which to all others I prefer, but from a dread of the consequences above- mentioned. I was willing to take the Department of War per manently, if, in leaving my present station, it was thought I might be more useful there than in a mili tary command. I thought otherwise. What passed on this subject proves that I considered the Depart ment of War as a very different trust from that of the military commander. 112 JAMES MONROE. You appeared to think I might be more useful with the army, as did Mr. Gallatin, with whom I con ferred on the subject. I was convinced that the du ties of Secretary of War and military commander were not only incompatible under our government, but that they could not be exercised by the same person. I was equally satisfied that the Secretary at War could not perform, in his character as secretary, the duties of general of the army. The movement of the army must be regulated daily by events which occur daily, and the movement of all its parts, to be combined and simultaneous, must be under the con trol of the general in the field, not of the War Department. That this is the opinion of General Armstrong also, is evident from his disposition to join the army. He knows that here he cannot direct the movements of the armies. He knows also that ho could not be appointed the lieutenant-general, and that it is only in his present character as Secretary at War that he can expect to exercise his functions of general. As soon as General Armstrong took charge of the Department at War I thought I saw his plan, that is, after he had held it a few days. I saw distinctly that he intended to have no grade in the army which should be competent to a general control of military operations ; that he meant to keep the whole in his own hands ; that each operation should be distinct and separate, with distinct and separate objects, and, of course, to be directed by himself, not simply in the outline but detail. I anticipated mischief from this, because I knew that the movement could not be SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 113 directed from this place ; I did not then anticipate the remedy which he had in view. I was animated by much zeal (in offering my ser vices in a military station) in favor of your adminis tration and the cause of free government, which I have long considered intimately connected together. I flattered myself that by my long services, and what the country knew of me, that I should give some impulse to the recruiting business, and other wise aid the cause. The misfortunes and dangers attending the cause produced so much excitement that my zeal may have exposed me to the appear ance of repulse and disappointment in the course things have taken. But, as I well know that you have justly appreciated my motives, and that the public cannot fail to do it, should any imputation of the kind alluded to be made, these are considerations which have no effect on my mind. Having seen into these things, from my little knowledge of military affairs and the management of the War Department for some weeks (which gave me a knowledge of the state of things there), and foreseeing some danger to your administration as well as to the public interest, from the causes above stated, I have felt it a duty which I owe to you, as well as to the public, to communicate to you my senti ments on them. I have written them in much truth and without reserve. You will, I am satisfied, bestow on them the consideration which they deserve. I am, dear sir, sincerely and respectfully your friend, JAMES MONROE. 8 114 JAMES MONROE. I will add that I cease to have any desire of a mil itary station, having never wished one with a view to myself, and always under a conviction that I should incur risks and make sacrifices by it ; it is in conse quence of feeling it strongly my duty that I entirely relinquish the idea. These hints are intended to bring to your consideration the other circumstances to which they allude. Six months later he sent to the President the following remonstrance against Armstrong s plan of a conscription, with an urgent plea for his removal : WASHINGTON, December 27, 1813. The following communication from the Secretary of the Navy is the cause of this letter. Just before I left the office he came into it and informed me that General Armstrong had adopted the idea of a conscription, and was engaged in com munications with members of Congress, in which he endeavored to reconcile them to it, stating that the militia could not be relied on, and regular troops could not be enlisted. Mr. Jones was fearful, should such an idea get into circulation, that it would go far, with other circumstances, to ruin the administration. He told me that he had his information from General Jacock, and he authorized me to communicate it to you. I suspect that many other members have already been sounded on it, as Mr. Roberts remarked to me yesterday that General Armstrong had returned and had many projects prepared for them. SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 115 Other circumstances which have .come to my knowledge ought to be known to you. Mr. Dawson called on me yesterday week and informed me that Mr. Fisk of New York intended to move on the next day a resolution calling on you to state by what authority General Armstrong had commanded the northern army during the late campaign ; who had discharged the duties of his office in his absence ; and for other information relating particularly to his issuing communications and exercising all the duties of Secretary of War on the frontiers. I satisfied Mr. Dawson that an attack on the Secretary on those grounds would be an attack on you, and that we must all support him against it, to support you. He assured me that he should represent it in that light to Mr. Fisk and endeavor to prevail on him to decline the measure. I presume he did so. General M., whom I have seen, informed me that this gentleman was engaged in the seduction of the officers of the army, particularly the young men of talents, promising to one the rank of brigadier, to another that of major-general, as he presumed with out your knowledge ; teaching them to look to him, and not you, for preferment, and exciting their re sentment against you if it did not take effect. He says that the most corrupting system is carried on throughout the State of New York, by placing in office, particularly in the quartermaster s depart ment, his tools and the sons of influential men under them as clerks, etc. I did not go into detail. Other remarks of his I will take another opportunity of 116 JAMES MONROE. communicating to you. It is painful to me to make this communication to you, nor should I do it if I did not most conscientiously believe that this man, if continued in office, will ruin not you and the ad ministration only, but the whole Republican party and cause. He has already gone far to do it, and it is my opinion, if he is not promptly removed, he will soon accomplish it. The letter continues in confidential terms to exhibit the writer s estimate of Armstrong. Armstrong retained his portfolio, notwith standing this remonstrance from his colleague. The battle of Bladensburg, however, effected a change which no peaceful protest could bring about. It revealed the utter inadequacy of the national defence, and quickened the administra tion to wiser methods of carrying on the war. During the approach of the British to Wash ington, says General Cull urn, "all in our army was confusion, and though Win der was called the commander of this motley mass, there was more than one volunteer generalissimo from the President s mounted cabinet, one of whom, the Secretary of State, without Winder s knowledge, changed his order of battle, and another, the Secre tary of War, had a few hours before been invested by the President with the supreme command, though, fortunately, his order was suspended before the battle began." SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 117 From the various narratives, it appears that Monroe went out from Washington, on August 20, with a slender escort of twenty-five or thirty dragoons, to reconnoitre the enemy s po sition, and he continued to watch their move ments until after the battle of Bladensburg. On the 22d he informed the President that im minent danger threatened the capital, advised the removal of the government records, and suggested that materials be in readiness for the destruction of the bridges. Then came the panic and the exodus of the inhabitants on the eve of an action. On the 24th, Monroe was with the President at General Winder s head quarters, when it was discovered that the enemy were marching to Bladensburg, and he repaired without loss of time to General Stansbury s position, in order to inform him of this move ment. The accounts of what he did on the field are confused. Colonel Williams says there are discrepancies in the statements of various participants in the action which it is impossible to reconcile, the more singular because the statements were prepared for the information of Congress but a few weeks after the battle. Forty years later the recollections of Richard Rush were drawn out in a letter, which gives a brief and vivid narrative of the sequence of events in that stirring week, and indicates the 118 JAMES MONROE. relation of the President and his cabinet to the various movements. It is not possible for us to read this chapter in the national history with composure, and it is not easy on the field of Bladensburg to gather laurels for any one ; on the other hand, I shall not attempt to distribute the responsibilities of the disaster. The im mediate result of it was that Ross and Cockburn lost no time in entering Washington, and soon the public buildings were in flames ; the ulti mate result was popular determination to secure a more vigorous conduct of the war, in which Monroe became a prominent actor. 1 Among contemporary narratives of these events two drafts have been preserved of a narrative written or inspired by Monroe, one of which will here be given. It belongs to the class of m^moires pour servir, or semi-official memoranda, and will serve to give prominence to the Secretary s proceeding sat this time, as he would like to have them remembered. The date is September, 1814, a few weeks at most (and possibly but a few days) after the battle of Bladensburg and the burning of the capital, dire events which are referred to euphuistically as " the affair of the twenty-fourth." The cir- 1 On this subject see G. W. Cullum, Campaigns of 1812, pp. 285-288 ; J. S. Williams, Capture of Washington, p. 209 ; especially the letter of R. Rush on p. 274. SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 119 cumstances which placed Monroe in charge of the War Department are here fully indicated. " The President, Secretary of State, and Attorney- General returned to the city of Washington on Satur day, the 27th of August, at which time the enerny 3 squadron were battering the fort below Alexandria, whose unprotected inhabitants were in consternation, as were those of the city and of Georgetown, and indeed of all the neighboring country. After the affair of the 24th, General Winder rallied the prin cipal part of the militia engaged in it at Montgomery Court House, where he remained on the 25th and part of the 26th, preparing for a new movement, the necessity of which he anticipated. The Secretary of State joined him ; a portion of the forces from Balti more at Montgomery Court House on the 25th had returned to that city. About midday on the 26th the general having received intelligence that the enemy were in motion towards Bladensburg, probably with intention to visit Baltimore, formed his troops without delay, and commenced his march towards Ellicott s Mills, with intention to hang on the enemy s left flank in case Baltimore was their object, and of meeting them at the mills if they took that route. Late in the evening of that day he resolved to pro ceed in person to Baltimore, to prepare that city for the attack with which it was menaced. As com mander of the military district, it was his duty to look to every part and to make the necessary prepara tion for its defence, and none appeared then to be in 120 JAMES MONROE. greater danger or to have a stronger claim to his attention than the city of Baltimore. He announced this, his resolution, to Generals Stansbury and Smith, instructing them to watch the movements of the enemy, and to act with the force under their com mand as circumstances might require, and departed about 7 P. M. The Secretary of State remained with Generals Stansbury and Smith. "The President [had] crossed the Potomac on the evening of the 24th, accompanied by the Attorney- General and General Mason, and remained on the south side of the river a few miles above the lower falls, on the 25th. On the 26th he recrossed the Potomac, and went to Brookville, in the neighbor hood of Montgomery Court Plouse, with intention to join General Winder. " On the 27th the Secretary of State, having heard that the enemy had evacuated the city, notified it, by express, to the President, and advised immediate re turn to the city for the purpose of reestablishing the government there. He joined the President on the same day at Brookville, accompanied by the Secretary of State and Attorney-General ; set out immediately for Washington, where they arrived at five in the afternoon. The enemy s squadron was then battering Fort Washington, which was evacuated and blown up by the commander, on that evening, without the least resistance. The unprotected inhabitants of Al exandria in consternation capitulated, and those of Georgetown and the city were preparing to follow the example. Such was the state of affairs when the SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 121 President entered the city on the evening of the 27th. There was no force organized for its defence. The Secretary of War was at Fredericktown, and General Winder at Baltimore. The effect of the late disaster on the whole Union and the world was anticipated. Prompt measures were indispensable. Under these circumstances, the President requested Mr. Monroe to take charge of the Department of War, and command of the District ad interim, with which he immediately complied. On the 28th in the morning, the President, with Mr. Monroe and the Attorney-General, visited the navy yard, the arsenal at Greenleaf s Point, and passing along the shore of the Potomac, up towards Georgetown, Mr. Monroe, as Secretary of War and military commander, adopted measures, under sanction of the President, for the defence of the city and of Georgetown. As they passed near the capital he was informed that the citizens of Washington were preparing to send a dep utation to the British commander for the purpose of capitulating. " He forbade the measure. It was then remarked that the situation of the inhabitants was deplorable ; there being no force prepared for their defence, their houses might be burnt down. Mr. Monroe then ob served that he had been charged by the President with authority to take measures for the defence of the city, and that it should be defended ; that if any depu tation moved towards the enemy it should be repelled by the bayonet. He took immediate measures for mounting a battery at Greenleaf s Point, another near 122 JAMES MONROE. the bridge, a third at the wind mill point, and sent an order to Colonel Winder, who was in charge of some cannon, on the opposite shore above the ferry- landing, to move three of the pieces to the lower end of Mason s Island, and the others some distance below that point on the Virginia shore, to cooperate with the batteries on the Maryland side. Colonel Winder refused to obey the order, on which Mr. Monroe passed the river, and riding to the colonel gave the order in person. The colonel replied that he did not know Mr. Monroe as Secretary of War or commanding general. Mr. Monroe then stated that he acted under the authority of the President, and that he must either obey the order or leave the field. The colonel preferred the latter." 1 The following letter from William Robinson, a political opponent of Monroe, was written in 1823, to counteract certain disparaging reports which were abroad in reference to the defence of Washington : 2 " I have it in perfect recollection that on the morn ing of the 27th August I met with Colonel Monroe at Snell s bridge on the route to Baltimore. The army was in march from Montgomery Court House, where it had reassembled after the battle of Bladens- burg ; much confusion prevailed in consequence of the recent defeat, and the disorganization and disper sion of the officers of the government. Colonel Monroe expressed great anxiety for the immediate 1 Monroe MSS. 2 Gouverneur MSS. SECRETARY OF STATE AND OF WAR. 123 return of the President and high officers of govern ment to Washington city with a view to the restora tion of order and effective resistance of the enemy. He was pleased to intrust me with an open letter, or billet, to that effect, ordering my utmost dispatch in search of the President, whom I found at the village of Brookville, where he was soon found by the colo nel, and both proceeded to Washington. I then pro ceeded to Montgomery Court House, where I found Jones, the Secretary of the Navy, and delivered a summons for an immediate attendance at Washington. General Armstrong had gone to Fredericktown in Maryland, and not considering my orders reached so far, I returned to Georgetown in the evening. The sentiment common in the army was so decidedly inimical to General Armstrong, that I feel assured that his person would have been endangered had he attempted to join us." Whatever may have been Monroe s course on the battle-field at Bladensburg, tbere can be no doubt that when he assumed the duties of Sec retary of War vigor was at once infused into all the military operations. Washington was defended ; Baltimore was rescued, and the na tional banner continued to wave over Fort Mc- Henry ; the dispatches sent to Jackson in the southwest had the ring of determination and authority. Monroe appears at this time in his best aspect, enthusiastic, determined, confident of the popular support, daring. " Hasten your 124 JAMES MONROE. militia to New Orleans," he wrote in rousing dispatches to the governors near the seat of war in Louisiana ; " do not wait for this govern ment to arm them ; put all the arms you can find into their hands ; let every man bring his rifle with him ; we shall see you paid." Having thus indicated Monroe s relations to the war, it does not seem necessary to dwell on the innumerable details which pertain to that period. 1 Schouler comes to the defence of Monroe. See his note, Hist, of U. S. ii. p. 409, and the text, pp. 414 and 459. CHAPTER VI. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. MONEOE held the office of president of the United States during two full terras, from 1817 to 1825. It has already been stated that eight years previous to his first election he was se riously considered as a candidate, when Madi son received the nomination. He was nearly fifty-nine years old when first called to the presidency, about the age at which Jefferson and Madison attained the same position ; Wash ington became President a little younger, at fifty-seven, and John Adams a little older, at sixty-one. At his first election, Monroe received 183 votes in the electoral college against 34 which were given for Rufus King, the candidate of the Federalists ; at his second election, but one electoral vote was given against him, and that was cast for John Quincy Adams. No one but Washington was ever reflected to the highest office in the land with so near an approach to unanimity. Daniel D. Tompkins was Vice-President dur ing both presidential terms. 126 JAMES MONROE. Let us now ask on whose counsel the new President could rely and whose opposition he must expect. Jefferson and Madison had never failed to be his friends, whatever slight estrange ment may have arisen, and they were now in the mood of cordial cooperation. The old Fed eralists, no longer bound by party allegiance, had not forgotten their former animosities. The coldness of John Adams was not likely to be seriously modified, even though his son came into the cabinet. Jackson, already extremely popular, was ready to volunteer suggestions on the conduct of civil affairs ; Henry Clay was a leader in the House of Representatives, where for several years (with an interruption) he had been the speaker; Richard Rush was conspicuous ; Benton was soon to be prominent, but he was not yet a man of national mark, and his thirty years reminiscences begin with 1820 ; Webster had been for two terms a member of the House, but was now determined to pursue a professional life, and was about to come forward as a constitutional lawyer in the Dartmouth College case. The cabinet, as finally made up after various delays, included four men who remained in it during both presidential terms, J. Q. Adams, J. C. Calhoun, W. IT. Crawford, and W. Wirt, respectively appointed Secretary of State, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 127 Secretary of War, Secretary of the Treasury, and Attorney-General. The Post Office was first directed by R. J. Meigs, and then by J. McLean. The Navy Department remained for a time under Mr. Madison s secretary, Ben jamin W. Crowninshield, but he was soon suc ceeded by Smith Thompson. 1 In all political affairs, as distinguished from administrative duties, the four first named were undoubtedly the strong men. They were younger than Monroe: Adams at that time being 50 years old ; Crawford, 44 ; Calhonn, 35 ; and Wirt, 45 ; and they represented different ideas of public policy, as well as opposing claims to the presidential succession. Their personal rival ries were not concealed. Adams, when he be came Secretary of State, was, perhaps, the most distinguished American then actively engaged in public life. He took this office thoroughly trained for its responsibilities. He had been favored with a liberal academic education, and had participated to an unusual extent in the conduct of affairs. At the age of eleven he went with his father to Paris, when the latter was envoy to France. At fourteen, this " ma ture youngster " (as Mr. Morse has called him) accompanied Mr. Dana to St. Petersburg, in the post of private secretary. Later on he was 1 Thompson was followed by S. L. Southard. 128 JAMES MONROE. successively minister to Holland, Prussia, Rus sia, and England. He secured a treaty of amity between Prussia and the United States, was one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent, and was afterwards one of those who signed the commercial treaty with England. He was thus a participant in the diplomatic questions evolved by two wars, the Revolution and the war of 1812. Inheriting strong intellectual qualities which have been conspicuous in his descendants, governed by absolute independence in the formation of his opinions, and sustained in the popular good will by his unquestioned integrity and patriot ism, he was the man of all who could be thought of to give wisdom, weight, and dig nity to the cabinet of which he became head. The most serious questions of Monroe s admin istration arose in the State Department, and it was fortunate that its affairs were guided by a statesman of such varied information and ex perience. The wonderful diary, which Adams, when a child, began at the instance of his fa ther, is rich in its memoranda of this period, and the eulogy which he delivered on the death of Monroe remains to this day the best history of his political standing. Calhoun s career had been very different from that of Adams. He was called to the PRESIDENT OF TEE UNITED STATES. 129 cabinet while comparatively a young man, fifteen years the junior of the Secretary of State. His political experience had been re stricted to that of a representative in Congress. From the time of his election to the House, he was felt to be a power. Important positions were assigned to him, and his words bore the weight of authority. But although the public lives of those two men were so different, and although they ultimately became representa tives of bitter antagonisms, they were not un like in some marked peculiarities. In early days both were surrounded by strong religious influences. Calhoun was born and bred under the rigid orthodoxy characteristic of the Irish Presbyterians, to whom both his father and his mother and their parents belonged. Adams, as his latest biographer tells us, remained through life " a complete and thorough Puritan, won derfully little modified by times and circum stances." Both were graduated in New England colleges, one at Harvard, and the other at Yale. Both were independent thinkers, and true to their convictions, however unpopular. One be came a leading opponent of the encroachments of slavery, the other a leader in nullification ; but during the administration of Monroe and long afterwards Calhoun was quite as out spoken as Adams in his love for the Union. 9 130 JAMES MONROE. Both were loyal admirers of the President into whose council they were called, and they re mained on terms of intimacy with him as long as he lived. Both were honest, fearless, power ful, independent statesmen. After Monroe s retirement, one became President, the other Vice-President. Both remained in public ser vice to the very close of life, Calhoun dying while senator, and Adams while a representa tive. Both are credited by their biographers with that sagacity which points out in advance the dangers covered up by a political measure. Calhoun, says Von Hoist, " reads the future as if the book of fate were lying wide open before him." Adams, says Morse, " discerned in pass ing events the title-page to a great tragic vol ume, " and " few men at that day read the future so clearly." Unlike the two ministers already named, Crawford was what has been termed " a self- made man." He was continued in charge of the Treasury Department, to which, after his return from the embassy to France and after a brief service as Secretary of War, he had been called by Madison. In the congressional cau cus which nominated Monroe, Crawford was the chief opposing candidate ; and a shrewd observer, who was a member of that body, has recorded his opinion that when Congress first PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 131 assembled a majority of Republican members were for Crawford. But the nomination was postponed from time to time, and at length, through the influence of Madison or other causes, sixty-five votes were cast for Monroe and fifty-four for his opponent. 1 Crawford, however, continued to be regarded as in the line of succession to the presidency, and re ceived a part of the electoral vote in 1824. William Wirt was the choice of the Presi dent for the office of attorney-general. His biographer, John P. Kennedy, in the vivid por trait with which he begins the memoir, dwells on the Teutonic aspect of Wirt, not unlike to Goethe s. Born in Maryland, he was of Ger man origin, his father having migrated to this country from Switzerland many years before the Revolution, and his mother being a Ger man. Previously a prominent advocate in the courts of Virginia, he won a national reputa tion by the part he took in the prosecution of Aaron Burr. Having a limited education and a very moderate library to begin with, he had risen by his talents to a conspicuous rank as a lawyer and as a writer. He had recently com pleted his memoir of Patrick Henry. He came into office as the personal friend of Monroe, 1 Many other details in respect to the nomination are given in Hammond s Political History. 132 JAMES MONROE. after it was decided that Richard Rush should go to England, and he was attracted to the at torney-generalship not so much on account of the political preferment, as because of the pro fessional standing which it gave him. Unlike Adams, Calhoun, and Crawford, he did not aspire to the presidency. To William Pope s suggestions he replied, " I am already higher than I had any reason to expect, and I should be light-headed indeed, because I have been placed on this knoll, where I feel safe, to aspire at the mountain s pinnacle in order to be blown to atoms. Therefore let this matter rest." And so it rested. Wirt remained in office twelve years, and although he did not confine his pro fessional labors to the service of the govern ment, he exalted the station which he held by an assiduous discharge of all its duties with ability, learning, and success. Among those who were thought of for the cabinet, Henry Clay, one of Monroe s support ers for the presidency, was conspicuous. He de clined the offer of an appointment as Secretary of War, but his " friends did not conceal their disappointment that he was not invited to take the office of secretary of state ; nor did he dis guise his dissatisfaction at the appointment of Mr. Adams ; " so writes Josiah Quincy. There are many subsequent indications of Clay s hos- PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 133 tility to the administration. William Wirt, for example, in counselling with the President in regard to certain allowances claimed for Clay s diplomatic services, where the usage of the government was not clearly established, remarks as follows : "I am aware of the deli cacy which connects itself with this question considered personally as it relates to } r ou; but it is a delicacy with a double aspect : if you re ject the claim, Mr. Clay and his friends may impute it to hostility to him, on account of the political part which he has occasionally taken against you ; and, on the other hand, if you ad mit the claim and it shall be thought unjust, it may, and by some most probably will, be im puted to a dread of his further opposition and a wish to bribe him to silence. The best way will be to consider the question abstractedly without any manner of reference to the char acter of the claimant, and this I shall endeavor to do." It is one of the curious incidents of political life, that at the close of Monroe s ad ministration the vote of Clay s friends made Adams President, and Adams made Clay his Secretary of State. Jackson had formed a personal attachment to Monroe in 1815, and welcomed his accession to the presidency partly on this account, partly because he disliked Crawford. Several letters 134 JAMES MONROE. exchanged by Jackson and the President elect have long been familiar to the public. They indicate that he, as well as Clay and Shelby, declined the office of secretary of war. They also show that Jackson felt quite at liberty to make confidential suggestions in respect to can didates for the cabinet. For the War Depart ment he urgently recommended Colonel W. H. Dray ton, late of the army ; Shelby he opposed. The selection of Adams he regarded as the best that could be made for the Department of State. The letters of Monroe to Jackson at this junc ture show the principles on which the former meant to select his chief advisers, and also the attitude which he proposed to hold in respect to the Federalists. In the formation of an ad ministration, he thought that the heads of de partments (there being four) should be taken from the four great sections of the Union, the east, the middle, the south, and the west, unless great emergencies and transcendent talents should justify a departure from this plan ; and he intimated pointedly that in selecting candi dates he should act for the country, and not "for the aggrandizement of any one." The Federalists he regarded as thoroughly routed, the great body of them having become Repub licans. To preserve the Republican party and prevent the revival of the Federal, was to be PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 135 his aim as a politician, for he did not regard the existence of parties as necesssary to free governments. Hence he favored moderation toward those who had acted with the Federal party, and even a generous policy. The embar rassing question was, how far to indulge that spirit in the outset. The course pursued by Monroe when James Kent was proposed to him for the vacant posi tion on the supreme bench does not show that he had entirely forgotten his animosity toward the Federalists. Wirt urged the appointment of Kent, and Calhoun concurred with him, but the President hesitated and finally Smith Thompson received the nomination. The principal subjects which engrossed the attention of Monroe during his two terms of office were the defence of the Atlantic sea board, the promotion, of internal improvements, the Seminole war, the acquisition of Florida, the Missouri compromise ; and the resistance to foreign interference in American affairs, formu lated in a declaration which has borne the des ignation of the Monroe Doctrine. It may also be added that his administration began and ended with a sort of pageantry, which is always attractive to the masses as it moves over the scene, though not always approved in the cooler criticism of democratic second thoughts. The 136 JAMES MONROE. first of these demonstrations was a presidential tour, in two parts, to the north and to the south ; the second was a national reception of Lafayette, the country s guest. With the present facilities in locomotion, presidential journeys are not uncommon, and have rarely any political significance ; but in that generation it was a noteworthy event to see and hear the chief magistrate on his travels. There is little doubt that one of the principal objects of this journey was to conciliate the Federalists, whose opposition to this and the preceding administration was strong ; but the primary and ostensible purpose was to examine the fortifications and harbors of the United States. For this reason the President was ac companied by General Joseph G. Swift, Chief Engineer of the army, and not by the members of his cabinet. This choice of an escort was sagacious. Swift was a New Englander of New Englanders, the first graduate at West Point, and a friend of Eustis, late Secretary of War, whom he had accompanied from Boston to Washington in 1809, and " inducted into the mysteries of his new vocation." By his skill in protecting New York during the war he had gained the applause of a " Benefactor to the City," and had received more substantial proofs of the gratitude of the people. He was there- PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 137 fore a valuable companion in a professional as well as in a social aspect. 1 Three months and a half were expended on the journey. The party visited the chief cities of the Atlantic seaboard as far as Portland, traversed New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, went west as far as Detroit, and then returned to Washington by way of Zanesville, Pittsburgh, and Fredericktown. Everywhere there were receptions and speeches, dinners and assemblies, and the record of all these doings was compiled and published in a duodecimo volume by an ardent admirer of the adminis tration in Connecticut. The President s first address was at Baltimore on June 2, 1817. There he indicated, in the following language, his double aim to secure defence against exter nal foes, and to seek the promotion of internal harmony. * Congress has appropriated large sums of money for the fortification of our coast and inland frontier, and for the establishment of naval dock yards and building a navy. It is proper that these works should be executed with judgment, fidelity, and economy ; much depends in the execution on the Executive, to whom extensive power is given as to the general ar rangement, and to whom the superintendence exclu- i See General G. W. Cullum s Campaigns and Engineers of 1812. 138 JAMES MONROE. sively belongs. You do me justice in believing that it is to enable me to discharge these duties with the best advantage to my country that I have undertaken this tour. " From the increased harmony of public opinion, founded on the successful career of a government which has never been equalled, and which promises, by a future development of its faculties, to augment in an eminent degree the blessings of this favored people, I unite with you in all the anticipations which you have so justly suggested." A letter which was written by Crawford to Gallatin, after the close of the President s tour, is a good indication of the politician s view of the results of so great an expenditure of time and force. 1 " The President s tour through the East has pro duced something like a political jubilee. They were, in the land of steady habits, at least for the time, all Federalists, all Republicans. If the bondmen and bondwomen were not set free, and individual debts released, a general absolution of political sins seems to have been mutually agreed upon. Whether the parties will not relapse on the approach of their spring elections in Massachusetts can only be deter mined by the event. " In this world there seems to be nothing free from alloy. Whilst the President is lauded for the good he has done in the East by having softened party i October 27, 1817. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 139 asperity and by the apparent reconciliation which, for the moment, seems to have been effected between materials the most heterogeneous, the restless, the carping, the malevolent men in the Ancient Dominion are ready to denounce him for his apparent acquies cence in the seeming man-worship with which he was venerated by the wise men of the East. " Seriously, I think the President has lost as much as he has gained by this tour, at least in popularity. In health, however, he seems to have been a great gainer." With these views of the critical Georgian may be placed in contrast the genial reflections of an admirer at the North. 1 " For the political father of a great, a growing, and an intelligent people, freemen by birth, and re solved to be free, to witness such striking proofs of their fidelity and admiration, must have made a deep, a lasting impression upon his mind. He must be something more or less than man, who would view such a scene with apathy and indifference. A jani zary of Turkey may offer up hosannahs to the Sultan until the javelin which the Sultan wields ends his life and his plaudits at a stroke ; an eastern despot may be adored by his slaves, who mingle groans of distress with the accents of praise ; European princes may be followed by a famishing peasantry, whose huzzas are feeble from want of food ; but it is the happiness of the President of the United States to be thronged 1 Waldo, p. 51. 140 JAMES MONROE. by an assemblage of happy freemen, acknowledging their gratitude to the only "legitimate" ruler of a great nation ; legitimate, because he derives his power from the voice of the people he governs." The northern trip was followed by one to the Southern States in 1819. The President went as far south as Augusta, then through the Cher okee region to Nashville, and afterwards to Louisville and Lexington. Before a year had passed there was a renewal of hostilities with the Seminole Indians. The war was brief and decisive, but the enmities which it excited among those who took part in conducting it lasted many years. This con- trovers} 7 , long dormant, burst forth with fury when Jackson was a candidate for a second presidential term. It is to his life that this story belongs, and the reader may readily find the particulars in the pages of Parton and Stun ner. While Florida was still a Spanish domain, Jackson was sent to Southern Georgia to put a stop to the Indian outrages. Before going he addressed a letter to Monroe (January 6, 1818) intimating that, in his opinion, a vigorous policy ought to be pursued. Amelia Island should be seized "at all hazards," and " simultaneously the whole of East Florida, to be held as an in demnity for the outrages of Spain upon the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 141 property of our citizens." It is not clear whether he received an authoritative answer from the President to this important pro gramme, for there are discrepancies in the testimony not now explicable. But he acted as if he possessed the complete support of the authorities in Washington. He crossed the Florida line in pursuit of the fugitive red men; he captured and garrisoned a fortress on Span ish territory ; he seized Pensacola and captured the Barrancas ; and he approved the summary execution of Ambrister and Arbuthnot, subjects of Great Britain, who were credited with excit ing the Indians against the Americans. By all this he brought the United States to the verge of war with Spain, and likewise offended Eng land. War might have been produced, said Lord Castlereagh to Mr. Rush, " if the ministry had but held up a finger." When Jackson returned to the North it was a question how far he should be sustained by the administration. Adams wrote a diplomatic paper vindicating him, the House of Represen tatives sustained him, and there was a general acquiescence in the course he had pursued. But long afterwards, in the spring of 1830, it be came a matter of partisan controversy to deter mine the attitude of Monroe and of the various members of his cabinet in respect to the incep- 142 JAMES MONROE. tion and progress of this brief and spirited cam paign. The recollections of Monroe, Calhoun, Adams, Crawford, and others were appealed to. The point of the controversy was, whether in January, 1818, Mr. Rhea, a member of Con gress and a friend of Jackson s, had communi cated to the latter by authority the wishes of Monroe in respect to the opening campaign. Monroe did not acknowledge that he had given any such authority; Jackson claimed that he did give it ; but " the Rhea letter " said to have been written with Monroe s assent was never produced. In the public correspondence just after the war, Monroe appears to deprecate the course which had been pursued by Jackson, though not to the extent of blaming him. " In transcending the limit of your orders," he says, " you acted on your own responsibility on facts and circumstances which were unknown to the government when the orders were given . . . and which you thought imposed on you the measure as an act of patriotism, essential to the honor and interests of your country." He also calls the General s attention to some parts of dispatches, " written in haste and under the pres sure of fatigue and infirmity, and in a spirit of conscious rectitude," which may make trouble, and suggests their correction. " If you think proper to authorize the secretary or myself to PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 143 correct those passages, it will be done with care, though should you have copies, as I presume you have, you had better do it yourself." A convenient summary of these letters was printed for Calhoun in 1831, but copies of it are now scarce. The endeavor of the United States to get possession of the Floridas by purchase reached a successful issue February 22, 1819, when a treaty was concluded at Washington through the negotiations of John Q. Adams, Secretary of State, and Luis de Onis, the Spanish envoy. Notwithstanding opposition from Mr. Clay and others, the treaty was ratified unanimously by the Senate, and thus the control of the entire Atlantic and Gulf sea-board from the St. Croix to the Sabine was secured to this government. During most of Monroe s administration, Richard Rush was the American minister in London, and his relations were chiefly with Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Canning. Rush was careful in his diary and correspondence, and has published much that is interesting on the as pect of American affairs between 1818 and 1825. The instructions under which he acted had the sanction of Madison, as well as of Mon roe and Adams. The two subjects which he brought forward in one of his first interviews with the British minister were, an alleged viola- 144 JAMES MONROE. tion of the treaty of Ghent by the carrying off of slaves in English ships at the close of the war, and a neglect to carry out exactly the com mercial convention of 1815. He afterwards told how the news of Jackson s pursuit was received in the diplomatic circles of the Court of St. James. " We have had nothing of late so exciting : it smacks of war," said one of the plenipotentiaries. Subsequently the old subject of impressment, and the subject, ever old and ever new, of the Newfoundland fisheries, were matters of negotiation. The admission of Missouri to the Union was the theme of violent controversy from 1819 to 1821, resulting in the famous Compromise, the repeal of which more than thirty years later again agitated the country. Here was the be ginning of that wandering in the wilderness for forty years which resulted in emancipation. The particular record of the debates, led by Rufus King upon one side and John Randolph upon the other, must be studied in the legisla tive rather than the administrative history of the times. The crisis in this debate occurred March 1, 1820, when Congress agreed to aban don the idea of prohibiting slavery in Missouri and to insist upon its prohibition in the pub lic territory north of the line 36 30 . This determined the admission of Missouri, though it PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 did not close the discussion. It came up again in the following year and resulted in a second compromise. During the winter of 1819-20 the excitement in Washington was intense. " At our evening parties," says Mr. Adams, " we hear of nothing but the Missouri question and . King s speeches." He records also the con- rsation which he held with Calhoun, indicat ing in both that prophetic, sagacity to which reference has been made, and also their diver gence on a fundamental principle which grew wider and wider as long as they lived. Writing under the date of February 15, 1820, a fortnight before the adoption of the Com promise, Monroe in a private letter declared his conviction that "the majority of States, of physical force, and eventually of votes in both houses, would be on the side of the non-slave- holding States." He thought it probable that they would succeed in their purpose or the Union be dissolved. " I consider this," he con tinued, " as an atrocious attempt in certain leaders to grasp at power, and being very art fully laid is more likely to succeed than any effort having the same object in view ever made before." The latter portion of this letter is as fol lows: 1 1 February 15, 1220. 10 146 JAMES MONROE. " As to the part which I may act, in all circum stances in which I may be placed, I have not made up my mind, nor shall I until the period arrives when it will be my duty to act, and then I shall weigh well the injunctions of the Constitution, which, when clear and distinct to my mind, will be conclusive with me. The next consideration will be a fixed and an unalterable attachment to the Union ; my decided opinion is, that all States composing our Union, new as well as old, must have equal rights, ceding to the general government an equal share of power, and re taining to themselves the like ; that they cannot be incorporated into the Union on different principles or conditions. Whether the same restraint exists on the power of the general government, as to terri tories, in their incipient and territorial state, is a /question on which my mind is clearly decided. By the Constitution, Congress has power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respect ing the territory and other property belonging to the United States, with a provision that nothing in this Constitution should be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. This provision is the only check on the power of Congress, and (referring only to the old contro versy between the United States and individual States respecting vacant lands within their charter of limits, whose relative claims it was intended to preserve) has no operation, as I presume, on the present case. The power itself applies to the territory ceded by in dividual States to the United States, and to none PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 147 other. In such portions of the territory so ceded as are altogether uninhabited, the people who move there, under any ordinance of Congress, have no rights in the territorial state except such as they may acquire under the ordinance. The question, therefore, cannot occur in regard to them. If there is any restraint, then, on this power in Congress, it must be found in other parts of the Constitution. Slavery is recognized by the Constitution as five to three ; but is not the right thus recognized that only of the States in which the slaves are, as the measure or rate of representation in the House of Represen tatives and for direct taxes ? Is it not a right to the slaves themselves, not as I presume to their owners, out of the State in which they are? By another clause it is provided that if slaves run away they may be pursued, demanded, and brought back ; this is a right of the slave-holding States, and of the owners of slaves living in them, and would apply to slaves running into Territories as well as into States. As slavery is recognized by the Constitution it is evi dently unjust to restrain the owner from carrying his slave into a territory and retaining his right to him there, but whether the power to do this has not been granted is the point on which I have doubts, and on which I shall be glad to receive your opinion. If I can be satisfied that the Constitution forbids restraint, I shall, of course, obey it in all cases. " Should a bill pass admitting Missouri, subject to such restraint, I should have no difficulty in the course to be pursued, nor should I in any future case 148 JAMES MONROE. respecting the admission of any other State. Arkan sas, being organized without restriction, and people having moved there, as is understood, stands on the most favorable ground, on constitutional principles, in the view stated above. "Considerations of injustice and impolicy also merit much attention, and will have their weight \J with me. I do not think, supposing the constitu tional right to exist, that Congress ought to confine the slaves within such narrow limits, even of Terri tories, as might tend to make them a burden on the old States. How far I may go on this principle will merit great consideration. If the right to impose the restraint exists, and Congress should pass a law for it, to reject it, as to the whole of the unsettled territory, might, with existing impressions in other questions, affect our system. This I should look to with a just sensibility to the part likely to be in jured." Mr. Adams, in recording his impressions of the entire discussion, thus defines his own posi tion : " I have favored this Missouri compromise, believ ing it to be all that could be effected under the pres ent Constitution, and from extreme unwillingness to put the Union at hazard. But perhaps it would have been a wiser and bolder course to have persisted in the restriction on Missouri, until it should have ter minated in a convention of the States to revise and amend the Constitution. This would have produced PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 149 a new Union of thirteen or fourteen States unpol luted with slavery, with a great and glorious object that of rallying to their standard the other States "by the universal emancipation of their slaves. If the Union must be dissolved, slavery is precisely the ques tion upon which it ought to break. For the present, however, this contest is laid asleep." The promotion of internal improvements and the defence of the seaboard had naturally come to the front as important questions during the momentous events of Madison s administra tion. Monroe took up these matters in earnest when the chief responsibility of guiding the national policy devolved upon him, but it was not until 1822 that he felt called -upon to an nounce his views in an elaborate paper. He vetoed the Cumberland Road bill on May 4, and he simultaneously submitted to Congress an exposition of his views. His long state ment concludes with the assertion that Congress has not the right under the Constitution to adopt and execute a system of internal im provements, but that such a power, if it could be secured by a constitutional amendment, would have the happiest effect on all the great interests of the Union ; though, in his opinion, it should be confined to great national works, leaving to the separate States all minor im provements. 150 JAMES MONROE. Near the close of Monroe s presidency, La fayette made his celebrated visit to the United States as " the nation s guest." These two men had been friends from the days when they were both in the Revolutionary army. When Lafayette was a prisoner in Olmiitz and Mon roe was American minister in France, efforts were made by the latter to secure the former s release. Several letters are before me l which relate to the negotiations. Funds were sent by Washington to Monroe for the benefit of Madame Lafayette. As the United States had no minister near the Austrian court, the medi ation of the Danish government was solicited by Monroe. Carefully covered references to "the friend in question" were addressed by Monroe to Mr. Masson, aide-de-camp of Lafay ette. But the details of this story belong else where. They are here alluded to because they indicate the recollections shared by these two patriots when they met more than a quarter of a century afterwards, and Monroe, as President and as friend, welcomed Lafayette to the hos pitality of the United States. On May 10, 1824, the French Marquis, " with feelings of respectful, affectionate, and patriotic gratitude," accepted the invitation of Congress, and promised to visit " the beloved 1 Gouverneur MSS. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 151 land " of which it had been his " happy lot to become an early soldier and an adopted son." Early in October, after his landing in this country, the members of Monroe s cabinet were in doubt as to the etiquette which should be observed at the reception of this illustrious visitor in Washington, and also as to the atti tude which the administration should take dur ing the progress of his journey. Calhoun, the Secretary of War, addressed a letter of eight pages to Mr. Monroe on this matter, saying that it seemed " hazardous on the one side to connect the government too much with the movements in favor of the General, and on the other not to seem to sympathize with the pop ular feelings. Of the two, however, the latter is the most hazardous, and in a doubtful case we ought to err on the right side." A few days later Monroe answered some inquiries from Lafayette respecting his route, and added that his arrival " has given rise to a great polit ical movement which has so far taken the direc tion and had the effect among us, and I pre sume in Europe, which the best friends to you and to sound principles could desire. It is of great importance that it should terminate in like manner." The letters from the visitor to his host are most familiar. In one of them he says, * I feel, my dear sir, the impropriety to 152 JAMES MONROE. address the President of the United States on a half sheet of paper, but am pressed by time, and the knowledge of the sin will remain be tween you and me." His closing salutations are varied and glowing, one of the most char acteristic being, " from your old, affectionate, obliged brother-soldier and friend." From " on board the Pottowmack steam boat," February 24, 1825, he sends to Monroe " the commentary on Montesquieu, by my friend Tracy, George s father-in-law," which may be of use to one who " contemplates writing a political exposi tion." " It has been translated under the pat ronage of Mr. Jefferson who considers it the best publication of the kind. You will, I be lieve, find it the most advanced theoretical point of the science, although the practice in every detail be still superior to theories." 1 After Lafayette s return to France his letters to Monroe were marked by the same confidence and affection, and they show that in private life he was as charming as in public he was popular. Two passages will be quoted. In the first he speaks as follows of the American visit ors introduced to him at Lagrange. " I am afraid, dear friend, you continue to be un easy at the number of American visits we are wont to receive. Be assured nothing can be more pleasing 1 Gouverneur MSS. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 153 to me, and to us all ; it is even necessary. You know my American education, feelings, habits, prejudices. . . . Doomed as I am to live on a side of the Atlan tic where, to be sure, I am bound by family, friendly, patriotic affections and duties, but in other respects less congenial to my youthful avocations and repub lican nature, I ever have felt something peculiar and sympathetic in American communications, a dis position which, of course, has been strengthened in my last visit, when in every man, woman, and child of a population of twelve millions, I have found a loving, indeed an enthusiastic friend. You may con ceive what, in addition to my attachments and re membrances of more than fifty years, must now be to me the United States and every sort of communion with their citizens. The visits we receive are not by far so numerous as I would like them, and the feeling is so unanimous in the family that young American strangers as they arrive are received by our girls with more confidence and familiarity than they would be disposed to show to most of their older acquaint ances, because there is something like family under standing between them ; and so I have the delight to see that when American friends find themselves here in sight of American colors, American busts and por traits, American manners, and American welcome, they look as feeling they are at home. Let me add that the sentiments, behavior, delicacy of all the young men from the United States are exemplary to a degree which, to the older part of their fellow-citi- 154 JAMES MONROE. zens, is an object of inexpressible and proud gratifi cation." 1 In the second extract, the reader may see with what extreme delicacy Lafayette offers pecuniary assistance to one who had brought assistance to the Olmiitz prisoner three decades before. " In the meanwhile, my dear Monroe, permit your earliest, your best, and your most obliged friend to be plain with you. It is probable that to give you time and facilities for your arrangements, a mortgage might be of some use. " The sale of one half of my Florida property is full enough to meet my family settlements and the wishes of my neighbors. There may be occasion for a small retrocession of acres, in case of some claims on the disposed-of Louisiana lands, an object as yet uncertain, at all events inconsiderable, so that there will remain ample security for a large loan, for I un derstand the lands are very valuable, and will be more so, to a great extent, after the disposal of a part of them. You remember that in similar embarrass ment I have formerly accepted your intervention, it gives me a right to reciprocity. Our friend, Mr. Graham, has my full powers. Be pleased to peruse the inclosed letter, seal it, and put it in the post- office. I durst not send it before I had obtained your approbation, yet should it be denied, I would feel much mortified. I hope, I know, you are too 1 Gouverneur MSS. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 155 much my friend not to accept what, in a similar case, I would not an instant hesitate to ask." 1 When Monroe s second term was almost ended the rivalries for the succession became very apparent. Adams, Crawford, and Cal- houn in his cabinet, Clay and Jackson outside of it, were all recognized candidates. Monroe remained neutral in the contest. The biogra pher of William Wirt, 2 with ample materials at his command for forming a judgment, says : " During the pendency of this contest, Mr. Monroe observed a most scrupulous resolve against all inter ference with the freest expression of the public senti ment in regard to the candidates. In this he was fully seconded and sustained by his cabinet, by none more than by those whose names were in the lists for suffrage. For, at that time, it was not considered decorous in the Executive to make itself a partisan in a presidential or any other election. Indeed, there was a most wholesome fastidiousness exhibited on this point, which would have interpreted the attempt of a cabinet officer, or any other functionary of the government, to influence the popular vote by speech, by writing, by favor, fear, or affection, as a great political misdemeanor worthy of sharpest rebuke. These were opinions of that day derived from an elder age. They are obsolete opinions now." 1 Gouverneur MSS. I do not know whether Monroe availed himself of this generous offer, but I presume that he did not. 2 Hon. J. P. Kennedy, in his Life of Wirt,\\. 168. CHAPTER VII. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. THERE is an important subject, pertaining to Monroe s administration, which has been re served for a special chapter. The one event of his presidency which is indissolubly associated with his name, is an announcement of the pol icy of the United States in respect to foreign interference in the affairs of this continent. The declaration bears the name of the " Mon roe Doctrine." As such it is discussed in works on public law and in general histories. It is commonly regarded as an epitome of the principles of the United States with respect to the development of American States. . Everything which illustrates the genesis of such an important enunciation is of interest, but very little has come under my eye to illus trate the workings of Monroe s mind, or to show how it came to pass that he uttered in such ,terse sentences the general opinion of his coun trymen. As a rule, he was not very skilful with his pen ; his remarks on public affairs are not often quoted, like those of Jefferson, Madison, I THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 157 and others of his contemporaries ; there was nothing racy or severe in his style ; nevertheless, he alone of all the Presidents has announced, without legislative sanction, a political dictum, which is still regarded as fundamental law, and bears with it the stamp of authority in foreign courts as well as in domestic councils. We must turn to the annual message of De cember 2, 1823, for the text. The two passages which relate to foreign interference are quite distinct from one another, and are separated by the introduction of other matter. This is the language : i. " At the proposal of the Russian imperial govern ment, made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the United States at St. Petersburg!!, to arrange, by amicable negotiation, the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent. A similar proposal had been made by his imperial majesty to the government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. The government of the United States has been desirous, by this friendly proceeding, of manifesting the great value which they have in variably attached to the friendship of the Emperor, and their solicitude to cultivate the best understand ing with his government. In the discussions to which this interest has given rise and in the arrangements 158 JAMES MONROE. by which they may terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are in volved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." , ii. " It was stated at the commencement of the last session that a great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal to improve the condition of the people of those countries, and that it appeared to be con ducted with extraordinary moderation. It need scarcely be remarked that the result has been so far very different from what was then anticipated. Of events in that quarter of the globe, with which we have so much intercourse and from which we derive our origin, we have always been anxious and inter ested spectators. The citizens of the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the the liberty and happiness of their fellow men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to- themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are in vaded or seriously menaced, that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defence. With the movements in this hemisphere we are, of necessity, more immediately connected and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial ob- THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 159 servers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments. And to the defence of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing be tween the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the ex isting colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered, and shall not inter fere. But with the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose inde pendence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any in terposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as the man ifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. In the war between those new gov ernments and Spain we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this we have adhered and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur which, in the judgment of the competent authorities of this government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of the United States indispensable to their security. 160 JAMES MONROE. " The late events in Spain and Portugal show that Europe is still unsettled. Of this important fact no stronger proof can be adduced than that the allied powers should have thought it proper, on a principle satisfactory to themselves, to have interposed by force in the internal concerns of Spain. To what extent such interposition may be carried on the same prin ciple, is a question to which all independent powers, whose governments differ from theirs, are interested; even those most remote, and surely none more so than the United States. Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers ; to consider the government de facio as the legitimate government for us ; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank? firm, and manly policy; meeting, in all in stances, the just claims of every power, submitting to injuries from none. But in regard to these conti nents, circumstances are eminently and conspicuously different. It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness ; nor can any one believe that our southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such interposition, in any form, with indifference. If we look to the comparative strength and resources of Spain and those new governments, THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 161 and their distance from each other, it must be ob vious that she can never subdue them. It is still the true policy of the United States to leave the parties to themselves, in the hope that other powers will pur sue the same course." It appears to me probable that Monroe had but little conception of the lasting effect which his words would produce. He spoke what he believed and what he knew that others be lieved ; he spoke under provocation, and aware that his views might be controverted ; he spoke with authority after consultation with his cabi net, and his words were timely ; but I do not suppose that he regarded this announcement as his own. Indeed, if it had been his own decree or ukase it would have been resented at home quite as vigorously as it would have been op posed abroad. It was because he pronounced not only the opinion then prevalent, but a tra dition of other days which had been gradu ally expanded, and to which the country was wonted, that his words carried with them the sanction of public law. A careful examination of the writings of the earlier statesmen of the Republic will illustrate the growth of the Mon roe doctrine as an idea dimly entertained at first, but steadily developed by the course of public events and the reflection of those in pub lic life. I have not made a thorough search, 11 162 JAMES MONROE. but some indications of the mode in which the doctrine was evolved have come under my eye which may hereafter be added to by a more persistent investigator. The idea of independence from foreign sover eignty was at the beginning of our national life. The term " continental," applied to the army, the congress, the currency, had made familiar the notion of continental independence. This kept in mind the notion of a continental do main. Moreover, in the writings, both public and private, of the fathers of the Republic, we see how clearly they recognized the value of separation from European politics, and of re pelling, as far as possible, European interfer ence with American interests. 1. Governor Thomas Pownall, in a work en titled " A Memorial to the Sovereigns of Eu rope," observed, in 1780, that a people " whose empire stands singly predominant on a great continent " can hardly " suffer in their borders such a monopoly as the European Hudson Bay Company ; " and again, " America must avoid complication with European politics," or " the entanglement of alliances, having no connections with Europe other than commercial." l 2. One of the earliest of like allusions hap- 1 These citations from Pownall are taken from Sumner s Prophetic Voices concerning America, pp. 123, 124. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 163 pens to be in a letter of Monroe to Madison, December 6, 1784, when he says that " the conduct of Spain respecting the Mississippi, etc., requires the immediate attention of Con gress." 3. A few months later, June 17, 1785, Jeffer son, writing to Monroe from Paris, begs him to add his " testimony to that of every thinking American, in order to satisfy our countrymen how much it is their interest to preserve, unin- fected by contagion, those peculiarities in their government and manners to which they are in debted for those blessings." 4. Washington wrote to Jefferson, January 1, 1788, in the interval which preceded the rati fication of the Constitution : l " An energetic general government must prevent the several States from involving themselves in the polit ical disputes of the European powers." 5. When Washington s first term drew near its close he submitted to Madison the draft of a farewell address (May 20, 1792), and in it he gives emphasis to the independence of the United States, in a phrase which with various turns was perpetuated through the subsequent revisions of that paper. His original language was this : " The extent of our country, the di- 1 Quoted by Bancroft from MS., Hist, of the Constitution, ii. 299. 164 JAMES MONROE. versity of our climate and soil, and the various productions of the States consequent to both, ... may render the whole, at no distant pe riod, one of the most independent nations in the world." 6. Madison s modification of this draft has the following sentence (June 20, 1792) : " The diversities [of this country] may give to the whole a more entire independence than has, perhaps, fallen to the lot of any other nation." 7. Four years later (prior to May 10, 1796), Washington submits to Hamilton memoranda for a farewell address, and says again : " If this country can remain in peace twenty years longer . . . such in all probability will be its population, riches, and resources, when com bined, with its peculiarly happy and remote situation from the other quarters of the globe, as to lid defiance in a just cause to any earthly power whatsoever" 8. The address finally issued, says: "The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible." " Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very re mote relation." " Our detached and distant sit uation." " Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation?" (September 17, 1796.) THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 165 9. John Adams speaks thus in his first in augural address (March 4, 1797): "If [the control of an election] can be obtained by for eign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the government may not be the choice of the Amer ican people but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations ivJio govern us, and not we the people who govern ourselves." 10. In the second annual address of Adams this paragraph occurs (December 8, 1798) : " To the usual subjects of gratitude I cannot omit to add one of the first importance to our well-being and safety I mean that spirit which has arisen in our country against the menaces and aggressions of a foreign nation. A manly sense of national honor, dignity, and independence has appeared, which, if en couraged and invigorated by every branch of the government, will enable us to view undismayed the enterprises of any foreign power, and become the sure foundation of national prosperity and glory." 11. There are three extracts from Jefferson s writings which show the tendency of his mind at the beginning of the century. He said to Thomas Paine (March 18, 1801) : * " Determined as we are to avoid, if possible, wast ing the energies of our people in war and destruction, we shall avoid implicating ourselves with the powers 1 Jefferson s Works, iv. 370. 166 JAMES MONROE. of Europe, even in support of principles which we mean to pursue. They have so many other interests different from ours, that we must avoid being entan gled in theniy We believe we can enforce those prin ciples, as to ourselves, by peaceable means, now that we are likely to have our public councils detached from foreign views." A little later he wrote to William Short (Oc tober 3, 1801) i 1 " We have a perfect horror at everything like connecting ourselves with the politics of Europe. It would indeed be advantageous to us to have neu tral rights established on a broad ground ; but no de pendence can be placed in any European coalition for that. They have so many other by-interests of greater weight that some one or other will always be bought off. To be entangled with them would be a much greater evil than a temporary acquiescence in the false principles which have prevailed." Again he says (October 29, 1808): "We consider their interests and ours as the same, and that the object of both most be to exclude all European influence in this hemisphere." 2 1 Works, iv. 414. 2 This quotation is made by Schouler in a note, where he says, " The germ of the Monroe doctrine of later develop ment is early seen in Jefferson s correspondence in view of the Spanish uprising against Bonaparte and its possible effects upon Cuba and Mexico, which he is well satisfied to leave in their present dependence." Hist, of the United States, ii. 202. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 167 12. At a cabinet meeting May 13, 1818, Pres ident Monroe propounded several questions on the subject of foreign affairs, of which the fifth, as recorded by J. Q. Adams, 1 was this : " Whether the ministers of the United States in Europe shall be instructed that the United States will not join in any project of interpo sition between Spain and the South Americans, which should not be is promote the complete in dependence of those provinces; and whether measures shall be taken to ascertain if this be the policy of the British government, and if so to establish a concert with them for the sup port of this policy." He adds that all these points were discussed, without much difference of opinion. 13. On July 31, 1818, Rush had an impor tant interview with Castelreagh in respect to a proposed mediation of Great Britain between Spain and her colonies. The cooperation of the United States was desired. Mr. Rush in formed the British minister that " the United States would decline taking part, if they took part at all, in any plan of pacification, except on the basis of the independence of the colonies. This," he added, " was the determination to which his government had come on much delib eration" 1 Diary, iv. 168 JAMES MONROE. 14. August 4, 1820, Jefferson writes to Wil liam Short: 1 " From many conversations with him [M. Cor- rea, appointed minister to Brazil by the government of Portugal], I hope he sees, and will promote in his new situation, the advantages of a cordial fra ternization among all the American nations, and the importance of their coalescing in an American system of policy, totally independent of and unconnected with that of. Europe. The day is not . diitanLwheja we may formally ^require a jneridian -of -.petition, through the ocean which separates the two hemi- spheres, on the hitlier side of which no European gun shall ever be heard, nor an American on the other ; and when, during the rage of the eternal wars of Europe, the lion and the lamb, within pur regions, shall lie down together in peace. . . . The princi ples of society there and here, then, are radically dif ferent, and I hope no American patriot will ever lose sight of the essential policy of interdicting in the seas and territories of both Americas, the ferocious and sanguinary contests of Europe. I wish to see this coalition begun." 15. Gallatin writes to J. Q. Adams, June 24, 1823, that before leaving Paris be had said to M. Chateaubriand on May 13, " The United States would undoubtedly preserve their neu trality provided it were respected, and avoid i Randall s Jefferson, iii. 472. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 169 every interference with the politics of Europe. . . . On the other hand, they would not suffer others to interfere against the emancipation of America." 1 A year previously, April 26, 1822, he had written from Paris that he had said to Mon sieur, "America, having acquired the power, had determined to be no longer governed by Eu rope, . . . that we had done it [recognized the independence of the Spanish- American prov inces] without any reference to the form of government adopted by the several provinces, and that the question, being one of national in dependence, was really altogether unconnected with any of those respecting internal institu tions which agitated Europe." 16. John Quincy Adams, in his diary under date of July 17, 1823, makes a note which the editor of that work regards as " the first hint of the policy so well known afterwards as the Mon roe Doctrine." 2 In a conversation with Baron Tuyl, the Russian minister, on the Northwest Coast question, Mr. Adams, then Secretary of State, told him that u we should contest the right of Russia to any territorial establishment on this continent, and that we should assume distinctly the principle that the American con- 1 Writings of Gallatin, by Adams, ii. p. 271 j ii. p. 240. 2 Diary, vi. 163. 170 JAMES MONROE. tinents are no longer subjects for any new European colonial establishments." 17. After Canning had proposed to Rush (September 19, 1823) that the United States should cooperate with England in preventing European interference with the Spanish-Amer ican colonies, Monroe consulted Jefferson as well as the cabinet, on the course which it was advisable to take, and with their approbation prepared his message. Jefferson s reply to the President (October 24, 1823) was as follows : l " The question presented by the letters you have sent me is the most momentous which has ever been offered to my contemplation since that of Independ ence. That made us a nation, this sets our compass and points the course which we are to steer through the ocean of time opening on us. And never could we embark on it under circumstances more auspicious. Our first and fundamental maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe. Our sec ond, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis- Atlantic affairs. America, North and South, has a set of interests distinct from those of Europe, and peculiarly her own. She should therefore have a system of her own, separate and apart from that of Europe. While the last is laboring to become the domicile of despotism, our endeavor should surely be, to make our hemisphere that of freedom." 1 Randall, iii. 491. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 171 I An extract, dated 1824, and recently pub lished, from the Diary of William Plumer, who was a member of Congress during Monroe s ad ministration, gives to John Quincy Adams the credit of drafting the important portions of the message. He says that a day or two before Congress met Monroe was hesitating about the allusion to the interference of the Holy Alli ance with Spanish America, and consulted the Secretary of State about omitting it. Adams remained firm, replying, " You have my senti ments on the subject already, and I see no rea son to alter them." "Well," said the Presi dent, " it is written, and I will not change it now." i Enough has been quoted to show that Mr. Simmer 2 is not justified in saying that the "Monroe doctrine proceeded from Canning," and that he was " its inventor, promoter, and champion, at least so far as it bears against European intervention in American affairs." Nevertheless, Canning is entitled to high praise for the part which he took in the recognition of the Spanish republics, a part which almost justified his proud utterance, u I called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old." 1 Penn. Mag. of Hist, and Biog. vol. vi. No. 3, p. 358. 2 See his Prophetic Voices, pp. 157-160. 172 JAMES MONROE. If memoranda of Monroe s upon this subject are still extant they have eluded me. There is a letter to him from one of his family (Decem ber 6) praising the message, and adding these; sentences which show the expectations of tho friends of the administration. 1 " You have a full indemnification for all the timo and attention it may have cost you, in the sentimen ; which has accompanied it throughout the nation, and I mistake greatly if it do not excite a feeling in Eu rope as honorable to our country as it may be unac ceptable to many there. You will have the merit o:: proposing an enlightened system of policy, whicl. promises to secure the united liberties of the New World, and to counteract the deep laid schemes in the- Old for the establishment of an universal despotism. The sentiments and feelings which the message ex presses, you may be assured, will be echoed with pride and pleasure from every portion of our widely extended country, and will be esteemed to have given to our national character new claims upon the civil ized world. " The operation of your message also upon the reputation of your own administration cannot be mistaken. Effecting higher objects, it will also be distinctly traced in the prostration of those limited views of policy which have infected so many of those who have been intrusted of late with a portion of the powers and character of our country, and in the 1 Gouverneur MSS. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 173 diffusion among our citizens of a great confidence in the general administration, so essential to the prosperity of our system. By giving a new and ex alted direction to the public reflections, a tone of feeling and expression must succeed as fatal to the pretended patriots of the two last years as it will be honorable to those who, at the risk of popularity, have been the objects of their clamorous abuse." 1 The Monroe doctrine came before Congress in less than three years, when the propriety of sending. ministers to the Congress of Panama was debated. Mr. McLane was opposed to any course which should bind the United States to w resist interference from abroad in the concerns of the South American governments, and Mr. Rives wished to declare still more explicitly that the United States was not pledged to maintain by force the principle that no part of the American continent was henceforward sub ject to colonization by any European power. Daniel Webster made a speech, April 11, 1826, on the Panama mission, in which he came boldly to the defence of the Monroe doctrine. The country s honor, he said, is involved in that dec laration ; " I look upon it as a part of its treas ures of reputation, and for one I intend to guard it." After reviewing the political history 1 I am indebted to Mr. Morse, the editor of this series of volumes, for four of these citations. 174 JAMES MONROE. from the Congress of Verona onward, he con tinued, " I look on the message of December. 1823, as forming a bright page in our history. I will help neither to erase it nor tear it out : nor shall it be by any act of mine blurred 01 blotted. It did honor to the sagacity of the government and I will not diminish that hon or." i 1 Works, ill 205. CHAPTER VIII..,. PERSONAL ASPECT AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS . LITTLE has been said hitherto of Monroe s domestic and personal characteristics, but I cannot close the narrative without some refer ence to them, beginning with a mention of his happy marriage and his family ties. While attending Congress in New York, he became engaged to Miss Eliza Kortwright, daughter of Lawrence Kortwright of that city, a lady of high social standing and of great beauty. He consulted his relative and life-long friend, Judge Jones, on this important matter, and received from him this counsel, which, however admir able for its discretion and caution, was certainly not likely to influence a man of twenty-eight who was ardently in love. JUDGE JONES TO JAMES MONROE. " You will act prudently (so soon as you deter mine to fix yourself to business) to form the connec tion you propose with the person you mention or some other, as your inclination and convenience shall dictate. Sensibility and kindness of heart, good- 176 JAMES MONROE. nature without levity, a moderate share of gooc sense, with some portion of domestic experience and economy, will generally, if united in the female char acter, produce that happiness and benefit which re sults from the married state, and is the highest humar. felicity a man can enjoy, and he cannot fail to enjoy it when he is blessed with a companion of such j. disposition and behavior, unless he is so weak and imprudent as to be his own tormentor. You havo reached that period of life to be capable of thinking and acting for yourself in this delicate and interesting business, and I can only assure you that any accom modation I shall be able to afford you, to render yours and her situation agreeable and easy, will be cheerfully afforded, which, should fortune be want ing, will be more embarrassing in the commencement than any after period." It does not appear how carefully the lover weighed these words of wisdom, but the result of his own reflections appears in a letter to Madison, in which be announces his intended marriage. " If you visit this place shortly I will present you to a young lady who will be adopted a citizen of Vir ginia in the course of this week." Three months later be writes to Jefferson : "You will be surprised to hear that I have formed the most interesting connection in human life with a young lady in this town, as you know my plan was DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 177 to visit you before I settled myself ; but having formed an attachment to this young lady a Miss Kortwright, the daughter of a gentleman of respect able character and connections in this state, though injured in his fortunes by the late war I have found that I must relinquish all other objects not connected with her. We were married about three months since. I remain here until the fall, at which time we remove to Fredericksburg in Virginia, where I shall settle for the present in a house prepared for me by Mr. Jones, to enter into the practice of the law." The young lawyer had doubted where to make his permanent home, and his friendly relative went over the field carefully, and point ed out to him the comparative advantages of Fredericksburg and Richmond, with particular reference to his profession. The former is at length determined on, and the choice is thus announced to Jefferson, August 19, 1786 : " I shall leave this about the 1st of October for Virginia, Fredericksburg. Believe me, I have not relinquished the prospect of being your neighbor. The house for which I have requested a plan may possibly be erected near Monticello ; to fix there, and to have yourself in particular, with what friends we may collect around, for society is my chief object ; or rather, the only one which promises to me, with the connection I have formed, real and substantial 12 178 JAMES MONROE. pleasure ; if, indeed, by the name of pleasure it may be called." There were two children of this marriage. Eliza, who married Judge George Hay of Vir ginia; and Maria, who married Samuel L Gouverneur of New York. When Monroe was. in Paris his elder daughter was at school witl Hortense Beauharnais, who became Queen o Holland, and their teacher was the celebrates Madame Campan. The acquaintance thus formed became a warm friendship. The child of Monroe s daughter was named Hortense o Hortensia, after Queen Hortense, who retained a warm interest in her namesake through he: life. In a Baltimore family interesting me mentos of this intimacy are carefully pre served. Portraits in oil of Hortense and Eu gene Beauharnais and of Madame Campan were sent to Hortensia Hay by the former queen, with an affectionate letter, and there are rea sons to think that she remembered in her last will her American namesake. 1 Monroe s interest in the various members of his family connection is marked by more than m ordinary affection. He took great pains to further their material welfare, and make them m 1 The gentleman, Charles Wilmer, Esq., who owns these valuable pictures, has also a charming miniature of Mrs. Mou- m roe, painted when she resided in Paris. DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 179 comfortable in their outward affairs, but he was always on his guard against using his official station for the benefit of any relative. Just as he was about to sail for Europe he gave the fol lowing advice to a nephew (June 1794). 1 It indicates, more accurately than any other letter which I recall, Monroe s moral principles. " You may by your industry, prudence, and studi ous attention to your business, as well as to your books, make such exertions as will advance your for tune and reputation in the world, whereby alone your happiness or even tranquillity can be secured. Not only the reality of these virtues must be possessed, but such an external must be observed as to satisfy the world you do possess them, otherwise you will not enjoy their confidence. You will recollect, like wise, that heretofore your youth and inexperience were an excuse for any apparent levity or irregular ity, but now that you are advancing in life, have a family and children, the case is altered. Solid merit and virtue alone will support and carry you with credit through the world. " The principal danger to which a young man com mencing under limited resources is exposed, and in which, if he errs, he inflicts the most incurable wound on his reputation, is the abuse of pecuniary confi dence. Let me, therefore, warn you never to use your client s money. No temptation is greater to a person possessed of it than that which daily arises 1 Gouverneur MSS. 180 JAMES MONROE. in the occurrences of a private family, to use this money, especially when the prospect of reimbursement furnishes the hope it may not be called for. But a< the commencement of this practice breaks down to e, certain degree that chaste and delicate refinement, which forms the strongest barrier for the protection of virtue, it should never be commenced. " I would make it one of those sacred rules of my life which should not be violated, never to use it. 1 believe you have no passion for anything of that kind. I sincerely hope you have not. I suggest this hint, therefore, rather to guard you against a danger which assails every young man, than that I believe you likely to suffer by it. I mean the vice of gambling. I recollect there is a billiard table near you. Let mo warn you against it. A passion of this kind will con trol, as it always has, every other. If it seizes you, your client s money will not be safe in your hands." Several sketches of Monroe, written at dif ferent periods of his life, by different persons, will next be given. 1799-1802. William Wirt, in the " Letters of a British Spy," which were published in a newspaper in 1803, and afterwards reprinted in various forms, drew the portrait of Monroe at the time when first he was Governor. It is an interesting sketch by itself, but still more so in connection with a pendant likeness of the illustrious Mar- PERSONAL ASPECT. 181 shall, whose career began with that of Monroe, in the college of William and Mary, and whose life was almost exactly contemporaneous. " In his stature," says Wirt, " he is about the mid dle height of men, rather firmly set, with nothing further remarkable in his person, except his muscular compactness and apparent ability to endure labor. His countenance, when grave, has rather the expres sion of sternness and irascibility ; a smile, however (and a smile is not unusual with him in a social cir cle), lights it up to very high advantage, and gives it a most impressive and engaging air of suavity and benevolence. " His dress and personal appearance are those of a plain and modest gentleman. He is a man of soft, polite, and even assiduous attentions ; but these, al though they are always well-timed, judicious, and evidently the offspring of an obliging and philan thropic temper, are never performed with the strik ing and captivating graces of a Marlborough or a Bolingbroke. To be plain, there is often in his man ner an inartificial and even an awkward simplicity, which, while it provokes the smile of a more polished person, forces him to the opinion that Mr. Monroe is a man of a most sincere and artless soul." This is but a portion of the description. 182 JAMES MONROE. 1825. A letter from Mrs. Tuley, then of Virginia, recently published, 1 gives the following picture of the last levee at the White House, on New Year s day, during Monroe s administration. When she entered the reception-room, " Mr. Monroe was standing near the door, and as we were introduced we had the honor of shaking hands with him and passing the usual congratula tions of the season. My impressions of Mr. Monroe are very pleasing. He is tall and well formed. His dress plain and in the old style, small clothes, silk hose, knee-buckles, and pumps fastened with buckles. His manner was quiet and dignified. From the frank, honest expression of his eye, which is said to be the window of the soul, I think he well deserves the en comium passed upon him by the great Jefferson, who said, * Monroe was so honest that if you turned his soul inside out there would not be a spot on it. " We passed on and were presented to Mrs. Mon roe and her two daughters, Mrs. Judge Hay and Mrs. Gouverneur, who stood by their mother and assisted her in receiving. Mrs. Monroe s manner is very gracious and she is a regal-looking lady. Her dress was superb black velvet ; neck and arms bare and beautifully formed ; her hair in puffs and dressed high on the head and ornamented with white ostrich plumes ; around her neck an elegant pearl necklace. 1 Philadelphia Times. PERSONAL ASPECT. 183 Though no longer young, she is still a very hand some woman. You remember Mrs. told us that, when Mr. Monroe was sent as Minister to France, Mrs. Monroe accompanied him, and in Paris she was called la belle Americaine. She also told us that she was quite a belle in New York in the latter part of the Revolutionary War. Her maiden name was Kortwright. Mrs. Judge Hay (the President s eldest daughter) is very handsome also tall and graceful, and, I hear, very accomplished. She was educated in Paris at the celebrated boarding-school kept by Mme. Campan, and among her intimate school friends was the beautiful Hortense de Beauharnais, step daughter of the Emperor Napoleon. Her dress was crimson velvet, gold cord and tassel round the waist, white plumes in the hair, handsome jewelry, bare neck and arms. The other daughter, Mrs. Gouver- neur, is also very handsome dress, rich white satin, trimmed with a great deal of blonde lace, embroid ered with silver thread, bare neck and arms, pearl jewelry and white plumes in the hair. By the by, plumes in the hair seem to be the most fashionable style of head-dress for married ladies. "All the lower rooms were opened, and though well filled, not uncomfortably so. The rooms were warmed by great fires of hickory wood in the large open fire-places, and with the handsome brass and irons and fenders quite remind me of our grand old wood fires in Virginia. Wine was handed about in wine-glasses on large silver salvers by colored wait ers, dressed in dark livery, gilt buttons, etc. I sup- 184 JAMES MONROE. pose some of them must have come from Mr. Mon roe s old family seat, Oak Hill/ Virginia." - 1830. Here is an autographic sketch of the ex-Presi dent s literary work, addressed to Mr. Gouver- neur : l " I am engaged in a work which will be entitled 6 A biographical and historical view of the great events to which Mr. Monroe was a party and of which he was a spectator in the course of his public service/ commencing with my service in the army, in the legislature and council of the State, in the revolutionary Congress and in the Senate. I have brought it to the conclusion of my first mission to France, which would, if printed, make about one hundred and twenty pages, and with the appendix, should it be thought advisable to add one, perhaps as many more. This work to this stage might be pub lished at an early period as introductory to the se quel, though, I being closely engaged in it, I could, if I have health, complete the whole in five or six months. I have composed in part another work, a comparison between our government and the ancient republics, and likewise with the government of Eng land. Of this I have already extended it to a view of the government of Athens and Lacedemon, of Greece, of Carthage, with notes on that of Rome, to which I have drawn an introductory view of govern- 1 Gouverneur MSS. PERSONAL ASPECT. 185 ment and society as the basis of the work. This work I could also finish in about the same time, by Devoting myself to it. What I have already written would occupy more pages than that above mentioned. My correspondence, when in the War Department, of three hundred and ninety-four pages folio, I mean my own letters only, is another work which I intend at a proper time to publish. If my claims are re jected I should wish to take the preparatory steps to a publication, by suitable notices in the public papers at the proper time. I think no part had better be published until that part is finished ; and to accom plish which, that I had better devote myself to one of the works mentioned, exclusively in the first in stance, the biographical one, for instance. I shall place occurrences and develop principles by a faith ful attention to facts, manifesting no hostility to any one. The publication of any part cannot, I presume, be made till the fall, and no notice had better be taken of it till just before." 1830. During the latter part of his life a gentleman who is now living in Charlottesville, Va., Judge E. R. Watson, was a member of Monroe s fam ily, and retains a very vivid recollection of his appearance, occupations, and characteristics. He lias been so kind as to prepare for insertion here the following reminiscences. 186 JAMES MONROE. Judge Watson s Recollections. " In person Mr. Monroe was about six feet high, perhaps rather more; broad and square- shouldered and raw-boned. When I knew him he was an old man (more than seventy years of age), and he looked perhaps even older than he was, his face being strongly marked with the lines of anxiety and care. His mouth was rather large, his nose of medium size and well-shaped, his forehead broad, and his eyes blue approach ing gray. Altogether his face was a little rugged ; and I do not suppose he was ever handsome, but in his younger days he must have been a man of fine physique, and capable of great endurance. As an illustration of this, I remember hearing him say that immediately preceding the occupation of Washington by the British, and just after their retreat from the city, during the war of 1812, with the burden of three of the departments of the government resting upon him, State, Treasury and War, he did not undress himself for ten days and nights, and was in the saddle the greater part of the time. There was no grace about Mr. Monroe, either in appearance or manner. He was, in fact, rather an awkward man, and, even in his old age, a diffident one. Nevertheless, there was a calm and quiet dignity about him PERSONAL ASPECT. 187 with which no one in his presence could fail to be impressed, and he was one of the most polite men I ever saw to all ranks and classes. It was his habit, in his ride of a morning or evening, to bow and speak to the humblest slave whom he passed as respectfully as if he had been the first gentleman in the neighbor hood. I have heard him define true politeness as 4 right feeling controlled by good common sense. I do not know that I ever witnessed in Mr. Monroe any actual outbreak of temper, but I was always impressed with the idea that he was a man of very strong feelings and pas sions, which, however, he had learned to control perfectly. I never heard him use an oath, or utter a word of profanity, and hence I was quite astonished when, on one occasion, I was talking with an old family servant about a gen tleman who swore very hard, and he remarked, 4 Bless your soul, you ought to hear old master ! He can give that man two in the deal and beat him. In his intercourse with his family he was not only unvaryingly kind and affection ate, but as gentle as a woman or a child. He was wholly unselfish. The wishes, the feelings, the interests, the happiness, of others were al ways consulted in preference to his own. Being quite young at the time, I was not a 188 JAMES MONROE. very competent judge, but my recollection is that Mr. Monroe s conversational powers were not of a high order. He always used the plain est, simplest language, but was not fluent, and was, it seemed to me, wholly wanting in imag ination. He lacked the versatility, and I should say also the general culture, requisite for shin ing in the social circle, but was always inter esting and instructive ; when with good listeners he led in conversation, and talked of the scenes and events through which he had passed, et quorum magna pars fuit. Whilst I was a mem ber of Mr. Monroe s family it was his habit, when the weather and his health would allow, and the presence of visitors did not prevent, to ride out morning and evening, and I was very often his only companion. On these occasions he always talked of the past, and I was strongly impressed with the idea that he must have been in his public career essentially a man of action ; content even that others might share the credit really due to him, if he could only enjoy the consciousness of doing his duty and rendering his country service. Love of country and de votion to duty appeared to me the explanation of his success in life and the honors bestowed upon him. There was not the least particle of conceit in Mr. Monroe, and yet he seemed al ways strongly to feel that he had rendered PERSONAL ASPECT. 189 ; great public service. From Washington to John Quincy Adams, he was the associate and co-la borer of the greatest and best men of his day. Yet he had no feeling of envy towards any of them ; and though he felt that some had not always treated him justly, he took far more pleasure in commending their high qualities and patriotic services than in referring to his wrongs, real or imaginary. One striking peculiarity about Mr. Monroe was his sensitiveness, his timidity in reference to public sentiment. I do not mean as it re spected his past public life. As to that he appeared to feel secure. But in retirement his great care seemed to be to do and say nothing unbecoming in an ex-President of the United States. He thought it incumbent on him to have nothing to do with party politics. This was beneath the dignity of an ex-President, and it was unjust to the people who had so highly honored him, to seek to throw the weight of his name and character on either side of any con test between them. Hence Mr. Monroe, after retiring from office, rarely, if ever, expressed his opinions of public men or measures, except confidentially. Over and over again, in the early days of Jackson s administration, did he speak freely to me of that remarkable man, of Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Webster, Mr. Clay, and 190 JAMES MONROE. others scarcely less prominent, as well as of the principles and measures with which they were respectively identified ; but always with the in junction that what he said was never to be re peated. I recollect well to this day some of his opinions as then expressed, and have often re gretted that I did not make some note of them all. But the truth is, I was so much afraid that in some unguarded moment I might betray the confidence reposed in me, that I sought rather to forget than to treasure up what he said about men and measures of the day. I cannot recall more than a single instance in which, in company, he expressed any opinion as to the character or conduct of prominent public men, except in so far as he could approve and commend them. On one occasion John Ran dolph of Roanoke was the subject of discussion among several gentlemen present, who differed widely in their estimates of his character and services. Finally Mr. Monroe was appealed to for his opinion by one of Mr. Randolph s ad mirers, in a way which indicated that the party addressing him scarcely expected any direct answer. Very promptly, however, Mr. Monroe replied, Well, Mr. Randolph is, I think, a cap ital hand to pull down, but I am not aware that he has ever exhibited much skill as a builder. Mr. Monroe s official life was marked by the PERSONAL ASPECT. 191 same deference to and fear of offending public sentiment. My impression is that during his whole presidential term he appointed no rela tive or near connection to office. Kis two sons- in-law were George Hay of Virginia, and Sam uel L. Gouverneur of New York. The former was a lawyer of eminent ability and a man of the very highest character, and was promptly appointed to a Federal Judgeship (the same now held by Judge Hughes of Virginia) by John Quincy Adams ; but he received nothing at the hands of Mr. Monroe. And so with Mr. Gouverneur; he was a talented and popular young man, of one of the best families of New York, but he received no Federal appointment till Mr. Adams had succeeded Mr. Monroe. Then Adams made him postmaster of New York. Judge Hay had a son (by his first mar riage), Charles Hay, who was made chief clerk of the Navy Department under Mr. Adams, but held no office under Mr. Monroe. The latter, as I heard from his own lips, was not willing, in making any appointment, to lay himself lia ble even to the suspicion of being influenced by any other consideration than the public good. Though Mr. Monroe in early life practised law, I feel very sure he could not have been a very good speaker. He wrote with no great facility, but with pains. His handwriting was 192 JAMES MONJtOE. very bad. Some time in 1829, possibly in 1830, by his horse falling with him, he sprained his right wrist very badly, and for some time could not write at all. I often acted as his amanuensis. His correspondence was immense, and with the best and wisest men of his day. I do not re member whether he kept copies of his letters. I rather think he did not. But I have often thought that from those written to him there might be gathered a vast amount of valuable material bearing upon the history of the coun try, and the character and conduct of its public men. I have intimated that Mr. Monroe was prob ably deficient in general culture. If this be true, it is equally true that he was a student of history, especially of ancient history. Whilst I was with him he completed the manuscript of a little work entitled, I think, ( A Com parison of the American Republic with the Re publics of Greece and Rome. Every line of this I copied for him. On its completion he showed it Judge Hay (who, with his family, lived with him), and asked him to read it and tell him what he thought of it. I well remem ber that, after examining it, Judge Hay said to Mr. Monroe, I think your time could have been better employed. If the framers of our Constitution could have had some work, from PERSONAL ASPECT. 193 a modern stand-point, on the Constitutions of Greece and Rome, it might have been of value to them. I do not think yours is of practical value now. A history of your Life and Times, written by yourself, would really be interesting and valuable. The idea seemed quite new to Mr. Monroe. Such was his modesty and self- depreciation that he had never thought of it before. The suggestion, however, had control ling weight, and Mr. Monroe immediately be gan to prepare such a work, and made some progress in it, but how much I cannot say. His memory of past events was remarkable ; and as from the very beginning of the Revolu tion, when he became a member of Washing ton s military family, to the close of his presi dency, he was intimately associated with the government and those who controlled it, it is greatly to be deplored that his life and health were not spared to enable him to complete the work. It might not have been distinguished by literary merit, but it would have been marked, in my humble judgment, by a degree of truth, impartiality, and justice which never have been and never will be surpassed by any human production. I have often wondered what had become of this fragment of Mr. Mon roe s c Life and Times, as well as the little work which I copied for him. 13 194 JAMES MONROE. Mr. Monroe was warmly attached to his friends. He never forgot a service rendered him, whether in public or private life. But in his friendship and affection for Mr. Madison there was something touching and beautiful. Washington and Jefferson he greatly admired, but Mr. Madison he loved with his whole heart. They were once rival candidates for office, but from what I have heard Mr. Monroe say I do not suppose there was ever, for a single mo ment, the slightest feeling of estrangement or unkindness between them. I have several times seen them together at Montpelier, and, as it seemed to me, it was only in Mr. Madison s society that Mr. Monroe could lay aside his usual seriousness and indulge in the humorous jest and merry laugh, as if he were young again. Mrs. Monroe was Eliza Kortwright of New York, the niece, I think, of General Knox, of Revolutionary fame. Even in old age and feeble health she bore traces of having been very beautiful in early life. She survived Judge Hay but a short time. I was at Oak Hill, on a visit, when she died. She was not buried for several days, the delay being occa sioned by the construction of a vault, designed not only for her remains but for those also of Mr. Monroe, as he himself told me. I shall PERSONAL ASPECT. 195 never forget the touching grief mamiested by the old man on the morning after Mrs. Mon roe s death, when he sent for me to go to his room, and with trembling frame and streaming eyes spoke of the long years they had spent happily together, and expressed in strong terms his conviction that he would soon follow her. In this connection he spoke of his purpose to build a vault for the remains of both of them ; and I have often thought it would have been well if, when Virginia caused his remains to be removed to Richmond, those of Mrs. Mon roe had been also removed and laid side by side with them. The death of Mr. Monroe occurred on the 4th of July of the next year (1831), at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. Gouverneur, in the city of New York. I have a strong impres sion that Mr. Monroe either told me in person, or wrote to me, that his purpose in going to New York was not only to visit his daughter, but especially to see his friend William Wirt, to whom he was devotedly attached." NEAR THE END OF LIFE. Here are two almost pathetic letters, one from Monroe to Madison, the other from Mad ison to Monroe, written in the spring of 1831. 196 JAMES MONROE. MONROE TO MADISON. 1 I have intended for some time to write and ex plain to you the arrangement I have made for my future residence, and respecting my private affairs with a view to my comfort, so far as I may expect it, but it has been painful to me to execute it. My ill state of health continuing, consisting of a cough, which annoys me by night and by day with considerable expectoration, considering my advanced years, although my lungs are not affected, renders the restoration of my health very uncertain, or in deed any favorable change in it. In such a state I could not reside on my farm. The solitude would be very distressing, and its cares very burdensome. It is the wish of both my daughters, and of the whole connection, that I should remain here and receive their good offices, which I have decided to do. I do Dot wish to burden them. It is my intention to rent a house near Mr. Gouverneur, and to live within my own resources so far as I may be able. I could make no establishment of any kind without the sale of my property in Loudoun, which I have advertised for the 8th of June, and given the necessary power to MiO Gouverneur and my nephew James. If my health will permit, I will visit it in the interim and arrange affairs there for that event and my removal here. The accounting officers have made no decision on my claims, and have given me much trouble. I have writ ten them that I would make out no account adapted Monroe MSS. PERSONAL ASPECT. 197 to the act, which fell far short of making me a just reparation, and that I had rather lose the whole sum than give to it any sanction, be the consequences what they may. I never recovered from the losses of the first mission, to which those of the second added considerably. It is very distressing to me to sell my property in Loudoun, for, besides parting with all I have in the State, I indulged a hope, if I could retain it, that I might be able occasionally to visit it, and meet my friends, or many of them, there. But ill health and advanced years prescribe a course which we must pursue. I deeply regret that there is no prospect of our ever meeting again, since so long have we been connected, and in the most friendly intercourse, in public and private life, that a final separation is among the most distressing incidents which could oc cur. I shall resign my seat as a visitor at the Board in due time to enable the Executive to fill the va cancy, that my successor may attend the next meet ing. I beg you to assure Mrs. Madison that I never can forget the friendly relation which has existed between her and my family. It often reminds me of incidents of the most interesting character. My daughter, Mrs. Hay, will live with me, who, with the whole family here, unite in affectionate regards to both of you. Very sincerely, your friend, J. M. NEW YORK, April 11, 1831. 198 JAMES MONROE. MADISON TO MONROE. 1 MONTPELIER, April 21, 1831. DEAR SIR, I have duly received yours of [April 11]. I considered the advertisement of your estate in Loudoun as an omen that your friends in Virginia were to lose you. It is impossible to gainsay the motives to which you yielded in making New York your residence, though I fear you will find its climate unsuited to your period of life and the state of your health. I just observe, and with niuch pleasure, that the sum voted by Congress, however short of just calculations, escapes the loppings to which it was- exposed from the accounting process at Washington and that you are so far relieved from the vexatiom involved in it. The result will, I hope, spare you at least the sacrifice of an untimely sale of your valu able property ; and I would fain flatter myself that, with an encouraging improvement of your health, you might be brought to reconsider the arrangement which fixes you elsewhere. The effect of this, in closing the prospect of our ever meeting again, afflicts me deeply ; certainly not less so than it can you. The pain I feel at the idea, associated as it is with a recollection of the long, close, and uninterrupted friendship which united us, amounts to a pang which I cannot well express, and which makes me seek for an alleviation in the possibility that you may bo brought back to us in the wonted degree of inter course. This is a happiness my feelings covet, not- 1 Madison s Writings, vol. iv. pp. 178-179. PERSONAL ASPECT. 199 withstanding the short period I could expect to en joy it ; being now, though in comfortable health, a decade beyond the canonical three-score and ten, an epoch which you have but just passed. As you propose to make a visit to Loudoun previ ous to the notified sale, if the state of your health permits, why not, with the like permission, extend the trip to this quarter ? The journey, at a rate of your own choice, might cooperate in the reestablish- ment of your health, whilst it would be a peculiar gratification to your friends, and, perhaps, enable you to join your colleagues at the University once more at least. It is much to be desired that you should continue, as long as possible, a member of the Board, and I hope you will not send in your resignation in case you find your cough and weakness giving way to the influence of the season and the innate strength of your constitution. I will not despair of your be ing able to keep up your connection with Virginia by retaining Oak Hill and making it not less than an occasional residence. Whatever may be the turn of things, be assured of the unchangeable interest felt by Mrs. Madison, as well as myself, in your welfare, and in that of all who are dearest to you. In explanation of my microscopic writing, I must remark that the older I grow the more my stiffening fingers make smaller letters, as my feet take shorter steps, the progress in both cases being, at the same time, more fatiguing as well as more slow. CHAPTER IX. RETROSPECT. REPUTATION. MONROE retired from his high office March 4, 1825, and during the seven years which re mained of his life divided his time between his home at Oak Hill, in Loudoun County, Virginia, and the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Gouver- neur, in the city of New York. He accepted the post of Regent in the University of Vir ginia, which was instituted in 1826, and gave his personal attention to the duties of the office, with Jefferson and Madison. He was asked to serve on the electoral ticket of Virginia in 1828, but declined to do so, on the ground that an ex-President should refrain from an active par ticipation in political contests. He consented, however, to act as a local magistrate and to be come a member of the Virginia constitutional convention, which assembled a little later. He maintained an active correspondence with friends at home and abroad, and, what is much more remarkable, he undertook to compose a philosophical history of the origin of free gov ernments, for which his literary training was RETROSPECT. REP UTA TION. 201 quite inadequate. This treatise was published in 1867. Monroe, throughout his later days, was somewhat embarrassed in his pecuniary cir cumstances, and spent a great deal of time in endeavoring to secure from Congress a just re imbursement for the heavy expenses in which he had been involved during his prolonged ser vices abroad. It is truly pitiful to perceive the straits to which so patriotic a servant of the country, against whose financial integrity not a word was uttered, was reduced ; particularly when the expenditures he had incurred were, to a very large amount, required by the posi tions to which his countrymen had called him, and for which they made inadequate remuner ation. No private subscription came to honor or relieve him. Lafayette, with a generous impulse and with great delicacy of procedure, offered him relief. 1 Some allowance was at length made by Congress, and after his death his heirs received a moderate sum for the pa pers he had preserved. His old age was much given to retrospection, doubtless quickened by the necessity of reviewing his accounts in justi fication of his claims. A letter to Judge Mc Lean may be found in his manuscripts, with a note that the form was altered, though the spirit was preserved. 2 It reads as follows : 1 Ante, page, 154. 2 Monroe MSS. 202 JAMES MONROE. MONROE TO MCLEAN. OAK HILL, December 5, 1827. I have read with great interest your letter of the 15th ult. The course which you have pursued in the administration corresponds with that which I had anticipated. I was satisfied that you had done your duty to your country, and acquitted yourself to the just claims of those with whom you were officially connected. It has afforded me great pleasure to find that the Department has considerably improved, under your management, in all the great objects of the institu tion, the more extensive circulation of political and commercial intelligence among the great body of our fellow citizens and the augmentation of the revenue. This sentiment seems to be general throughout the community, which it would not be if it was not con firmed by unquestionable evidence. By the faithful and useful discharge of your public duties you have given the best support which could be rendered to the administration of Mr. Adams, and of which he must be sensible. No person at the head of the gov ernment has, in my opinion, any claim to the active partisan exertions of those in office under him. Jus tice to his public acts, friendly feelings, and a candid and honorable deportment towards him, without for getting what is due to others, are all that he has a right to expect, and in those I am satisfied you have never failed. Your view, in regard to my concerns, corresponds also with my own. I shall never apply RETROSPECT. REP UTATION. 203 again to Congress, let my situation be what it may. The only point on which my mind has balanced is, whether the republication of my memoir, remarks, and documents, in a pamphlet, would be proper and useful. Those papers relate to important public events in both my missions and in the late war, and since, while I held an office in the administration. I was charged with a failure to perform my duty in my first mission, and recalled from it and censured. The book which I published on my return home, with the official documents which it contained, vindi cated me against the charge, and on that ground I then left it. The parties are since dead, and I am now retired to private life. I never doubted the perfect integrity of General Washington, nor the strength or energy of his mind, and was personally attached to him. I admired his patriotism, and had full confidence in his attachment to liberty and solic itude for the success of the French Revolution. It being necessary to advert to that occurrence, in my communication to the committee which was first appointed on my claims, I availed myself of the occasion to express a sentiment corresponding with the above in his favor, as I likewise did in the me moir since published. The documents published with it prove, in minute detail, not only that I faithfully performed my duty to my country, but exerted my best faculties, on all occasions, in support of his char acter and fame. The letters of Major Mountflor- ence, which I had forgotten that I possessed, are ma terial on both points. They prove that the French 204 JAMES MONROE. government charged me with having prevented it from taking measures which it deemed due to the honor of France, for eight months, and that it had withdrawn its confidence from, and ceased to commu nicate with, me at the very moment when I was re called by my own government. Major Mountffor- ence was no particular friend or associate of mine. I found him in France, on my arrival there. He was the friend of Mr. Morris, my predecessor, and, as I understand, from Tennessee. Mr. Skipwith em ployed him as the chancellor in his office, on account of his acquaintance with our affairs and knowledge of the French language. He passed daily, on the business of the consulate, through the several depart ments of the government, and was acquainted with the principal officers, especially the clerks in each, and on that account I instructed him to make the in quiries to which his reports relate. All the other documents correspond with and support his state ment, which they extend to other objects that are very interesting. I was likewise charged in that mission with specu lation, in consequence of a purchase which I made of a house. The documents published show clearly the motive which led me into that measure, as they do my intention to offer it to my government, on my resignation and return, on the terms on which I bought it ; being recalled, and the minister sent to re place me not received, such an oflfer would have been absurd. Besides, I was forced to sell it to enable me to leave the country ; and even then I lost one half of RETROSPECT. REP UTATION. 205 the price given for it, as I believe, in consequence of my recall and the circumstances under which I left it. An important examination of the state of our affairs on my arrival in France, the seizure of our vessels, jealousy of our views, and distress of our citizens there, and the change produced on my ap peal and presentation to the convention, with the of fer of a house, etc., will, I think, enable any candid person, aided by the documents referred to, to decide whether my motive in making that purchase was a private or a public one. That it had the desired ef fect was the opinion of all my fellow-citizens there, who had earnestly advised me to it. The documents relating to my second mission are likewise very interesting. The call made on me by Mr. Jefferson, the manner of the call, and circum stances under which I left the country, with the losses attending it, are fully shown, as are the conse quences, resulting from the mission. Those were not known before, and the latter had been misrepresented and were by many misunderstood. They were never used to promote my election to any office. This memoir, with the remarks and documents, form a case between my country and me, and, being collected in a pamphlet, will be better understood and more easily preserved. If not true in a single in stance, let it be shown. I know that they are true in every one, and am not afraid of the severest scrutiny, should the proof presented be deemed inadequate in any circumstance. The preservation of them may tend to give a coloring, or rather character, to some of the wants to which they relate. 206 JAMES MONROE. With my conduct in the offices in the city, at the most difficult periods, you are well acquainted in the outline, having been a large portion of the time in Congress, and in confidential communication with me. You know that I was called into the Department of War on a great emergency, and by that emergency, not by any desire of mine. Many circumstances, how ever, occurred while I was in that Department, with which I wish to make you acquainted, and especially those which relate to the measures taken for the de fence of New Orleans in the late war. Representa tions have been given of my conduct in that instance very injurious to me. To the gallantry and very meritorious conduct of General Jackson there, I have always done, and shall do, full justice. I wish, however, to make you fully acquainted with the part I have acted towards him in that and some other instances, which have since occurred. By such a view you will be able to judge whether I have acted fairly towards him, and taken responsibility on myself for him, from motives of friendship, or acted a different part. The papers, which I wish to show you, are original. I do not wish you to come here at this time, and am inclined to think you had better not. If you see no impro priety in it, I will inclose to you the papers which, after perusing them, I wish you to return to me im mediately, and without showing or letting it be known to any person existing that you had ever seen them. On the question of republication and the subject to which it relates, above referred to, I shall be glad to receive your opinion when convenient. RETROSPECT. REP UTATION. 207 In these last years his quiet was disturbed by a controversy, already mentioned, as to the action of his cabinet in respect to the proceed ings of General Jackson. The irritation ap pears to have begun in 1827. His son-in-law, Mr. Gouverneur, referring to an article which had appeared in a Tennessee paper, and reflected discredit on Monroe s ad ministration, expressed to Monroe great surprise that such an article should have been written with Jackson s approbation. " That injustice might be attempted," he says (May 24, 1827), " by the heated partisans of the day for their own purposes, I can readily conceive, but that General Jackson, with whom you have so long pre served the most intimate relations of friendship, and whose public character you have so frequently sus tained during the most perilous periods of your ad ministration, should authorize that injustice, I should not only be slow to believe but most deeply regret. It certainly is at variance with all the feelings I have ever entertained of his character, which I thought had been fully justified in all the incidents of his life. It is undoubtedly desirable that you should collect such evidences as are in your possession, and to which you may now have access, as relate to the period in ques tion. It is among the most interesting of our history, and must be so regarded by posterity. How far it may be advisable to use them in any shape at this time, I think depends on what may occur hereafter, 208 JAMES MONROE. and the circumstances which may arise to call for it. Your position is one of a defensive character, if neces sary, and I do riot think requires anything from you which may invite attack. When it comes I should consider you at full liberty to meet it by all the evi dences of which you may be able to avail yourself." His dread of any financial action which should endanger the Union is clearly brought out in a letter to John C. Calhoun (February 16, 1830), 1 in reply to one which he had re ceived from his former secretary. " Nothing can be more distressing to me than the approach or possibility of a crisis, which may, in its consequences, endanger our Union. I trust, however, that the patriotism, intelligence, and virtue of the people, and of those who may fill our public councils at the epoch you refer to, will rescue us from such a dan ger. Satisfied I am that nothing can be so calamitous to every section of the Union as a dismemberment. With such an event our republican system would soon go to wreck ; wars would take place between the new States as they did between the ancient republics, and now do between the powers of Europe ; and we to the south, where so large a portion of the population consists of slaves, would by domestic conjunctions be most apt to fall the victims. " From the close of our Revolution we have looked to the extinction of the public debt as a period of peculiar felicity. There is, I believe, no other gov- 1 Gouverueur MSS. RETROSPECT. REP UTATION. 209 ernment or people in existence who are thus blessed. That this epoch should lay the foundation for such a calamity would be an event without example. I think with you that the interesting questions which you state will, in the discussion, excite much feeling, and may, in the view which the different sections may take of their local interests, put them for a while in a marked opposition to each other. Each however will, I trust, weigh the subject calmly, and be willing to make some concession and eve"n sacrifices to save our republican system." There are many estimates of Monroe to be met with in the memoirs of his contemporaries. Washington s early praise has already been quoted. Jefferson said of him, " he is a man whose soul might be turned wrong side out wards without discovering a blemish to the world." Madison used this language : " His understanding was very much underrated ; his judgment was particularly good ; few men have made more of what may be called sacrifices in the service of the public." John Quincy Adams delivered a eulogy, the last pages of which glow with praise "of a mind, anxious and unwearied in the pursuit of truth and right, patient of in quiry, patient of contradiction, courteous even in the collision of sentiment, sound in its ulti mate judgments, and firm in its final conclu sions." John McLean gave emphasis to the. 14 210 JAMES MONROE. purity of his action in making executive ap pointments : " personal motives, either as they regarded the President himself or the person appointed, were lost in higher considerations of duty." Webster, in 1825, declared that " the administration now closed had been in general highly satisfactory to the country. It could not be said," he continued, " that that administra tion had either been supported or opposed by any party associations, or on any party princi ples." Calhoun, the stern and stately Calhoun, is effusive in the terms which he employs when speaking of the President in whose cabinet he served. One of the most elaborate estimates of Monroe s career is that of Benton, which de serves to be quoted. "Mr. Monroe had none of the mental qualities which dazzle and astonish mankind ; but he had a discretion which seldom committed a mistake an in tegrity that always looked to the public good ; a firm ness of will which carried him resolutely upon his object ; a diligence which mastered every subject ; and a perseverance that yielded to no obstacle or reverse. " He began his patriotic career in the military ser vice at the commencement of the war of the Revolu tion, went into the General Assembly of his native State at an early age, and thence, while still young, into the Continental Congress. There he showed his character, and laid the foundation of his future RETROSPECT. - REP UTA TION. 211 political fortunes in his uncompromising opposition to he plan of a treaty with Spain, by which the navi gation of the Mississippi was to be given up for twenty-five years in return for commercial privileges. It was the qualities of judgment and perseverance which he displayed on that occasion which brought him those calls to diplomacy in which he was after wards so much employed with three of the then greatest European powers, France, Spain, Great Britain. And it was in allusion to this circumstance that President Jefferson afterwards, when the right of deposit at New Orleans had been violated by Spain, and when a minister was wanted to recover it, said, " Monroe is the man ; the defence of the Missis sippi belongs to him." And under this appointment he had the felicity to put his name to the treaty which secured the Mississippi, its navigation and all the territory drained by its western waters, to the United States forever. Several times in his life he seemed to miscarry and to fall from the top to the bottom of the political ladder, but always to reascend as high or higher than ever. Recalled by Washington from the French mission, to which he had been appointed from the Senate of the United States, he returned to the starting point of his early career, the General Assembly of his State, served as a member from his county, was elected Governor, and from that post was restored by Jefferson to the French mission, soon to be followed by the embassies to Spain and England. Becoming estranged from Mr. Madison about the time of that gentleman s first election to the presi- 212 JAMES MONROE. dency, and having returned from his missions a little mortified that Mr. Jefferson had rejected his British treaty without sending it to the Senate, he was again at the foot of the political ladder, and apparently out of favor with those who were at its top. Nothing despairing he went hack to the old starting point, served again in the Virginia General Assembly, was again elected Governor, and from that post was called to the cabinet of Mr. Madison, to be his double Sec retary of State and War. He was the effective power in the declaration of war against Great Brit ain. His residence abroad had shown him that un avenged British wrongs were lowering our character with Europe, and that war with the " mistress of the seas " was as necessary to our respectability in the eyes of the world, as to the security of our citizens and commerce upon the ocean. He brought up Mr. Madison to the war point. He drew the war report which the Committee on Foreign Relations presented to the House, that report which the absence of Mr. Peter B. Porter, the chairman, and the hesitancy of Mr. Grundy, the second on the committee, threw into the hands of Mr. Calhoun, the third on the list and the youngest of the committee, and the presenta tion of which immediately gave him a national repu tation. Prime mover of the war, he was also one of its most efficient supporters, taking upon himsc3lf, when adversity pressed, the actual duties of war min ister, financier, and foreign secretary at the same time. He was an enemy to all extravagance, to all intrigue, to all indirection in the conduct of business. RETROSPECT. REP UTATION. 213 Mr. Jefferson s comprehensive and compendious eulo- gium upon him, as brief as true, was the faithful de scription of the man " honest and brave." He was an enemy to nepotism, and no consideration or en treaty, no need of the support which an office would give, or intercession from friends, could ever induce him to appoint a relative to any place under the gov ernment. He had opposed the adoption of the Con stitution until amendments were obtained ; but these had, he became one of its firmest supporters, and labored faithfully, anxiously, and devotedly to ad minister it in its purity." On reviewing all that I have been able to read in print and in manuscript, and all I have been able to gather from the writings of others, the conclusion is forced on me that Monroe is not adequately appreciated by his countrymen. He has certainly been insufficiently known, be cause no collection has been made of his numer ous memoirs, letters, dispatches, and messages. He has suffered also by comparison with four or five illustrious men, his seniors in years and his superiors in genius, who were chiefly instru mental in establishing this government on its firm basis. He was not the equal of Washington in prudence, of Marshall in wisdom, of Hamil ton in constructive power, of Jefferson in ge nius for politics, of Madison in persistent abil ity to think out an idea and to persuade others 214 JAMES MONROE. of its importance. He was in early life enthu siastic to rashness, he was a devoted adherent of partisan views, he was sometimes despon dent and sometimes irascible ; but as he grew older his judgment was disciplined, his self- control became secure, his patriotism over balanced the considerations of party. Political opponents rarely assailed the purity of his mo tives or the honesty of his conduct. He was a very good civil service reformer, firmly set against appointments to office for any unworthy reason. He was never exposed to the charge of nepotism, and in the choice of officers to be appointed he carefully avoided the recognition of family and friendly ties. His hands were never stained with pelf. He grew poor in the public service, because he neglected his private affairs and incurred large outlays in the dis charge of official duties under circumstances which demanded liberal expenditure. He was extremely reticent as to his religious senti ments, at least in all that he wrote. Allusions to his belief are rarely if ever to be met with in his correspondence. He was a faithful hus band, father, master, neighbor, friend. He was industrious, serious, temperate, domestic, affec tionate. He carried with him to the end of his life the good-will and respect both of his seniors and juniors. Many of those who worked with RETROSPECT. - REP UTA TION. 215 him, besides those already quoted, have left on record their appreciation of his abilities and their esteem for his character. His numerous state papers are not remark able in style or in thought, but his views were generally sound, the position which he took in later life on public questions was approved by the public voice, and his administration is known as the " era of good feeling." His at tention does not seem to have been called in any special manner to the significance of slavery as an element of political discord, or as an evil in itself. If he foresaw, he did not foretell the great conflict. He does not seem expert in the principles of national finance, though his views are often expressed on such matters. The one idea which he represents consist ently from the beginning to the end of his career is this, that America is for Americans. He resists the British sovereignty in his early youth ; he insists on the importance of free navigation in the Mississippi ; he negotiates the purchase of Louisiana and Florida ; he gives a vigorous impulse to the prosecution of the second war with Great Britain, when neutral rights were endangered ; finally he announces the " Monroe doctrine." It is clear that he was under great obliga tions to Jefferson. The aid and counsel of this 216 JAMES MONROE. sagacious man are apparent from the time when Monroe began the study of law, in ad verse and in prosperous times, in public and in private matters, throughout their long lives. Madison s friendship was also a powerful sup port. But both these men could not have sus tained Monroe through his varied career, in circumstances which required popular approba tion, if he had not possessed some very uncom mon qualities. As a youth he must have been bright and attractive. In early manhood he was devoted to his party beyond the require ments of party, so that he nearly involved the country in war. As he grew older he was less of a partisan. He retained an accurate remem brance of the men and measures with which he had been associated, and he acquired experience in almost every variety of public station, the judiciary excepted, until he reached the very highest office in the land. He was trained for the presidency in the school of affairs and not in a ring. An ideal preparation for the duties of that high station would hardly involve any kind of discipline to which the business of life had not subjected him. He made enemies ; the Federalists, South as well as North, disliked him and undervalued him ; but notwithstand ing their hostile criticism he sustained himself so well that but one electoral vote was given RETROSPE CT. REP UTA TION. 21 7 against his reelection, and it is said that this was cast by an elector who did not wish to see a second President chosen with the same unan imity which had honored Washington. Certainly a career like this will never be for gotten. As time goes on some careful hand will collect the scattered memoirs of Monroe, and his work as a legislator, an envoy, a cabinet ,- minister, and a President, will be more accu- rately estimated. It will always reveal the mind and heart of a patriot, in new and trying situa- uations, true to the idea of American indepen dence from European interference. Monroe died in New York, July 4, 1831, and was buried there with appropriate honors. Years afterward Virginians desired that his dust should mingle with the soil of his native State. His body was carried to Richmond, under the escort of a favorite regiment of New York, and re-interred in the public cemetery just one hun dred years after his eyes first saw the light. APPENDIX. GENEALOGY. I HAVE not been successful in tracing the pedigree of James Monroe. Mr. R. C. Brock, of the Virginia Historical Society, has kindly searched the Virgin in archives, and finds that successive grants of lami were made to Andrew Monroe from 1650 to 1662. and to John Monroe from 1695 to 1719. He has also come upon an old statement that Andrew Mon roe came to this country in 1660, after the defeat of the Royal army, in which he had the rank of major, and settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia. With this citation it is curious to compare a recent para graph, in respect to the Monroes of Eastern Massa chusetts, in F. B. Sanborn s Life of Thoreau : "The Monroes of Lexington and Concord are descended from a Scotch soldier of Charles II. s army, captured by Cromwell at the battle of Worcester in 1651, and allowed to go into exile in America. His powerful kinsman, General George Monro, who com manded for Charles at the battle of Worcester, was. APPENDIX. 219 at the Restoration, made commander-in-chief for Scotland." l Mr. Brock suggests that the family of Jones, to which the mother of James Monroe belongs, was the same with that of Adjutant-General Robert Jones, Commodore Thomas Catesby Jones, General Walker Jones, and other distinguished Americans. The private residence of Monroe during the latter part of his life was at Oak Hill, near Aldie, Loudoun County, Virginia, on a turnpike running south from Leesburg to Aldie, about nine miles from the former and three from the latter place. Major R. W. N. Noland has been so kind as to prepare (at the suggestion of Professor J. M. Garnett of the University of Virginia) a sketch of Oak Hill, which will here be given : The Oak Hill house was planned by Mr. Monroe, but the building superintended by Mr. William Benton, an English man, who occupied the mixed relation to Mr. Monroe of stew ard, counsellor, and friend. The house is built of brick in a most substantial manner, and handsomely finished ; it is, per haps, about 90 x 50 feet, three stories (including basement), and has a wide portico, fronting south, with massive Doric columns thirty feet high, and is surrounded by a grove of magnificent oaks covering several acres. While the location is not as commanding as many others in that section, being in lower Loudoun where the rolling character of the Piedmont region begins to loose itself in the flat lands of tide water, the house in two directions commands an attractive and some what extensive view, but on the other sides it is hemmed in by mountains, for the local names of which, " Bull Run " and 1 Compare Savage, New England Genealogical Dictionary, iii. 256, 257. 220 APPENDIX. " Nigger Mountain," it is to be hoped the late President is in no wise responsible, and, indeed, the same may be said of the river or creek which breaks through these ranges within a mile or two of Oak Hill. Tom Moore, in a poetic letter as brilliant as it is ill-natured, satirizing Washington city, writes, " And what was Goose Creek once is Tiber now ; " but the fact is that no such stream is found in the neighborhood of the national capital. The little stream that washes the con fines of the Oak Hill estate once bore the Indian name Gohon- garestaw (the River of Swans), and is now called Goose Creek. The following anecdote connected with Oak Hill is, perhaps, worthy of preservation. On the occasion of Lafayette s visit to Loudoun, a large number of distinguished guests were en tertained at Oak Hill. It was at the dinner in Leesburg, given to Lafayette, that Mr. Adams drank the celebrated toast to the " Patriots of the Revolution like the Sibylline leaves, the fewer they become, the more precious they are." In riding back to Oak Hill, Mr. Adams, Major William Noland, and Mr. Hay were thrown together, when the last-named gen tleman, with an apology for the seeming impertinence, asked Mr. Adams where he conceived the beautiful sentiment he had that day drunk. Mr. Adams said that the toast was inspired that morning by a sight of the picture of the Sibyl that hung in the Oak Hill hall. " How strange ! " said Mr. Hay, "/ have been looking at that picture for years, and that thought never occurred to me." There are several quite good pictures of the Oak HilJ house extant one on Taylor s map of Loudoun County, and others in the histories of Virginia (for example, in. Howe s "Histor ical Collections of Virginia," p. 356). WTFTHr^ n (UNIVERSITY j& WASHINGTON S NOTES UPON MONROE S " VIEW OF THE CONDUCT or THE EXECUTIVE," NOW FIRST PRINTED. [From the copy by Mr. Sparks now owned by the Library of Cornell University. The figures indicate the pages in the appendix to Monroe s " View," from which catch-words are taken, introducing the notes written by Washington on his copy.] Page 119 "jealousy and distrust" Principally because he asserted our rights and claimed redress. On what ground the suspicion, when it was a noto rious fact that (we) were upon the worst terms short of open war with G. Britain ? His communications with the French Govt. con tradict this, arid accounts \_sic~\ satisfactorily for the delay of the reception, as may be seen by reference thereto. Page 120 " that I should pursue ? " As nothing but justice, and the fulfilment of a con tract was asked, it dictated firmness conducted with temperence [sic] in the pursuit of it. Page 120 " were closed against me" This appears nowhere but in his own conjectures and o/fer-assertions, for from his own account at the 222 APPENDIX. time the delay of his reception was satisfactorily ex plained, and had been the cause of another waiting of six weeks. 1 See his letter of the 25 of Aug., p. 16. Page 120 "place a greater confidence?" By whom were they advised ? and what evidences are alluded to ? Page 122 " and then defy us." Was a good understanding to be interrupted be cause we were endeavoring to live in peace with all the world? and were only asking from France wha; we were entitled to by treaty ? Page 122 " in favour of that administration : " It is not understood what is here meant by conces sion. None was asked, or any \_sic] thought of be ing made. Page 122 " decisively on the decline." It will not be denied, it is presumed [c], that there had been and might again be great vicissitudes in their affairs, bothe \_sic~\ externally and inter nally. Prudence and policy therefore required, that the Govt. of the U. S. should move with great cir cumspection. Page 123 " the point in question." A very singular mode truly to obtain it, but look 1 This " waiting of six weeks " refers to the delay in receiv ing the minister of Geneva. EDITOR. APPENDIX. 223 to letter of Nov. 7 th , 1794, pp. 58, 59, and judge whether it would not have been accomplished sooner if he had desired it ; and what can he mean by not conceding, when in explicit terms he has declared that the point, if upon consideration they desired it, would have been given up with pleasure ! Page 123 " upon the slightest intimation" That is to say, if we would not press them to do us justice, but have yielded to their violations, they would \_sic~\ aided us in every measure, which would have cost them nothing. Page 124 "from the western posts " By what means were the British to be expelled from the Western posts, without first conquering Canada, or passing thro the territory of the U. S., and would not the latter, by the law of nations, have been a cause of war ? The truth is Mr. Manroe \_sic\ was cajoled, flattered, and made to believe strange things. In return he did, or was disposed to do, whatever was pleasing to that nation ; reluctantly urging the rights of his own. Page 140 " in the second the whole" This is a mistake, no such promise to be found in the 2 d letter. See p. 105, Nov. 25 th . Page 140 " to me on the subject ? " The intention was to enable him on the veracity and authority of the negotiator of the Treaty to as- 224 APPENDIX. sert, that there was nothing contained in it repug nant to our engagement with France, and that wa.s all that they or he had a right to expect. Page 147 "power alone to make, it, etc." And this ought to have satisfied the French Govt. It was as much as that Govt. would have done fo ils or any other nation. Page 118 "my secretary, Mr. Gauvain " Here is a striking instance of his folly. Thh secretary of his was a foreigner it is believed a Frenchman introduced no doubt to his confidence and papers for the sole purpose of communicating to the Directory the secrets of his office. Page 160 " with you in June next." The sufferings of our citizens are always a sec ondary consideration when put in competition with the embarrassments of the French. Page 161 " reasons above suggested" Hence is a disregard shown to repeated orders of his government to press this matter Page 207 " me to do it here" What inference is to be drawn from this declara tion ? What light is it in Philadelphia, that is to discover the sense of the French Govt. in Paris, before it was divulged there ? except the conduct of the French party by whom the wheels were to be moved ? APPENDIX. 225 Page 210 " of this government" If he does not mean himself here, it is not difficult to guess who the other character is marked out by this description. Page 210 " of what kind must it be ? " War was the suggestion, and is here repeated. This has no horrors when waged iu favor of France, but dreadful even in thought when it is against her. 297 " decide in his case." Mr. Fen wick was accused of covering by the American flag French money under false invoices, but Mr. M. could readily excuse this breach of faith in his office. Page 313 "furnished lose its force." England before the late treaty with the U. S. and France were different in their commercial relations with America. Page 314 "than in precise terms ;" For the best reason imaginable ; because none could be urged that had any weight in them. Page 321 " the United States have taken" Only in cases where the captors have contravened the treaty acting contrary to the laws of nations or our own municipal laws. 15 226 APPENDIX. Page 322 "prizes into those ports." A single instance only of a prize being brought in is recollected, arid against it a strong remonstrance was made ; without prizes, ships of war are not re strained by the Treaty. Page 322 " executing their judgments" No interruption has been given to this. To carry their own judgments into effect has constituted the difficulty, and in its nature it is nearly impossible to do it. Page 322 " certified ly the consuls: This is the French construction of the Act. The Judiciary of the U. S. interpret it otherwise ; over whom the Executive have [sicj no control. Page 322 " safeguard of their flag " This arrestation was for an offence committed against the law of nations and those of the U. S. and has been explained over and over again. See the Sec ty of State s Letter, 13 th of June, p. 364. Page 323 " merited an example" What more could the U. S. do than was done ? See the Sec ty of State s Letter, Sept, 14 th , 1795, p. 292. Page 323 " least contested, of neutrality" These are assertions upon false premises. Strange APPENDIX. 227 indeed would it be if the U. S. could not make a treaty without the consent of the French Govt. when that treaty infracted no prior engagements, but ex pressly recognizes and confirms them. Page 323 " the principles of neutrality ? " They have given nothing, but left those principles precisely upon the ground they stood [sic~\ before the Treaty ; with some explanations favorable to the U. S. and not injurious to France. They have made nothing contraband, that was not contraband before ; nor was it in their power to obtain from G. B. a change, which the Armed Neutrality, (as it was called) could not when combined accomplish. Page 345 " and without delay." How strangely inconsistent are his accounts ! Page 356 " most strict reciprocity." From hence it follows, that if A makes a contract with B, and C will not make a similar contract with him, B will not be bound by his contract, although the cases are unconnected with eachother [si c]. Page 359 "course of the present war." All this he ought to have done, and was instructed to do in the beginning ; and had it been urged with firmness and temperance, might have prevented the evils which have taken place since. Page 359 " my duty would permit ; " And a great deal more than his duty permitted. 228 APPENDIX. Page 371 " the merit of this delay ; " By implication he has done this in a variety of instances. Page 371 "was the true cause of it." That is, by not pressing the execution of the Treaty ; and for compensation to our suffering citi zens. This no doubt was accommodating and pleas ing one party at the expense of the other. Page 374 " be passed by unnoticed." Did France expect, that the U. S. could compel G. B. to relinquish this right under the law of nations, while \_sic~] the other maritime powers of Europe (as has been observed before), when combined for the purpose were unable to effect [sic~\. Why then call it an abandonment ? Page 377 " what they did avow" This is all external and a flimsy covering of their designs. Why else send their emissaries through that, country to inculcate different principles among the inhabitants, a fact that could be substantiated. Page 390 " nations had sworn to" Yes, Citizen, and every one else who can read are \_sic~\ acquainted with [_sic~\ facts ; and your violations of our rights under the Treaty prove (?) it also. APPENDIX. 229 Page 391 " be made through you" The treatment of our minister, Gen 1 Pinckney, is a pretty evidence of this ; The thot \_sic~] of parting with Mr. Monroe was insupportable by them. III. SYNOPSIS OF MONROE S PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGES. 1 PRESIDENT MONROE S inaugural addresses and annual messages are of greater length than those of any of his predecessors. His fifteen special mes sages are almost all brief; one, however, that of May 4, 1822, on internal improvements, is of extraordi nary length. In his first inaugural address, delivered on March 5, 1817, he dwells upon the happy condition into which the country had been brought by the excel lence of its political institutions and the bounty of Nature. Protection of its liberty and prosperity against dangers from within could be secured only by maintaining the excellence of the national char acter. To secure it against dangers from without, the coast and frontier defences, the army, the navy, but especially the militia, should be maintained in a state of efficiency. Attention is drawn to the advan tages of developing the resources of the country and 1 The following summary of the speeches and messages of James Monroe, printed in the Statesman s Manual, has been prepared for insertion here by J. F. Jameson, Ph. D., of the Johns Hopkins University. 230 APPENDIX. drawing the various parts of the Union more closely together by the construction of roads and canals, to the extent sanctioned by the Constitution ; of increas ing the independence and strength of the industrial system of the country by the care of the government; of paying the national debt at an early period ; and, in general, of making those improvements for which peace gives the best opportunity. He promises that the new administration will do all in its power to secure efficiency in all departments of the public ser vice, to maintain peace with other nations, and to promote the increased harmony then pervading the Union. In the first annual message of President Monroe, dated December 2, 1817 (which opens with con gratulations on the progress of the national defences and the increase of harmony), he speaks of the diplo matic relations with England, and with Spain and her revolted colonies, the national revenue and the rapid extinguishment of the debt, recent purchases of lands from the Indians, our relations with them, the method of sale of public lands, the constitutional- i ity of improvements in inter-communication executed at national expense, American manufactures, public buildings at the federal capital, pensions for soldiers of the Revolution, and the repeal of the internal taxes. Under the first head he reports the comple tion of arrangements for reducing naval forces on Lake Erie, the progress of various minor negotia tions pursuant to the provisions of the treaty of Ghent, and the failure of our proposals for the open- APPENDIX. 231 ing of the ports in the "West Indies and other British colonies to American vessels; how this shall be met he leaves to Congress. He complains of violations of our neutrality by both Spain and her colonies, but expresses the belief that the occupation and hostile use of portions of territory claimed by us, at Amelia Island and Galveston, were not authorized by the lat ter, and defends the suppression of these resorts. He recommends provision for the better civilization of the Indians upon the Western frontier, whose lands have recently been bought, and such regulation of the sale of the tracts thus opened to immigrants as shall most benefit the general government and the settlers. Concerning the right to make internal im provements he says, " Disregarding early impres sions, I have bestowed on the subject all the delib eration which its great importance and a just sense of my duty required, and the result is a settled con viction in my mind that Congress do not possess the right." But he suggests a constitutional amendment giving the right to do this and to institute seminaries of learning. He recommends the repeal of the inter nal taxes, believing them no longer necessary. A special message of January 13, 1818, informs Congress that the settlement at Amelia Island, and probably that at Galveston, has been broken up. The President considers this justified by their character, and declares that nothing has been or will be done to injure Spain. The second annual message, dated November 17, 1818, opens with a statement by the President of the 232 APPENDIX. arrangements which had been made with reference to a continuation of the convention with Great Britain. He discusses the troubles in Florida, mentions the progress of the South American revolutions and the mediation proposed by the allied powers, notices the excellent condition of the national finances, and rec ommends further protection. He dwells with satis faction upon the progress of the system of defences, and upon the admission of a new State, Illinois, be lieving that the rise of new States within our borders will produce the greatest benefits, both material and political. He recommends such provision for the In dians as will, if possible, prevent their extinction, ac custom them to agriculture, and promote civilization among them ; and the establishment of a government for the District of Columbia more agreeable to princi ples of self-government. His statements as to events in Florida ought, perhaps, to be represented more fully. He draws a strong picture of the impotence of the Spanish authorities, of the lawless character of the adventurers who seized upon various positions in the province, and of the dangers to which the citi zens of the United States were subjected, at sea by the depredations of the adventurers and on land by the attacks of the Indians incited by them. As Spain could not govern the region, and would not transfer it, the only course open to our government, says the President, was to suppress the establishment at Amelia Island, and to carry the pursuit of the In dians so far as to prevent further disturbance from them, or from their inciters, English or Spanish ; but APPENDIX. 233 care has been taken to show due respect to the gov ernment of Spain. The negotiations of our government with that of Spain form the chief subject of the annual message of December 7, 1819. A treaty by which the Span ish government ceded to the United States the prov ince of Florida, while the United States renounced its claims to the part of Louisiana west of the River Sabine (known as Texas), and its claims to compen sation for injuries sustained by its citizens from Span ish cruisers some twenty years before, had, early in this year, been concluded at Washington and rati fied by the government there. It was then sent to Madrid, but, unexpectedly, the Spanish government delayed ratifying it, alleging not only that attempts had been made by United States citizens against Texas, but that our Minister at Madrid had, as in structed, when presenting the treaty for ratification, accompanied it by a declaration explaining the mean ing given to one of its articles. In the present mes sage the President comments severely upon the con duct of the Spanish court, denies its first charge absolutely, and explains that the second refers to a correction enabling the treaty to cover, as both gov ernments agreed that it should cover, all cases of land grants of a specified sort. He declares that the conduct of Spain is perfectly unjustifiable, and is so regarded by European governments, and that it would be right for our government to carry out the treaty fairly, alone; but suggests forbearance until the expected envoy shall have arrived from Madrid. 234 APPENDIX. Other matters, new and old, which the President dis cusses in this message are, the preservation of our neutrality in the South American conflict, the Cana dian and West Indian commerce, the treasury, the contraction of bank circulation and depression of in dustry, the coast survey, the increase of the navy, and the maintenance of the Mediterranean squadron. A special message, sent a few days later, Decem ber 17, describes, and submits to amendment by Con^ gress, the arrangements which the Executive had made for the transference to Africa of negroes cap tured in accordance with the act for the abolition of the slave-trade. In the last annual message of his first term, that of November 14, 1820, President Monroe takes oc casion to review the present situation of the Union. He expresses the greatest satisfaction at our wonder ful prosperity. While certain interests have suffered depression because of the long European wars and the consequent industrial derangements, he regards these as mild and instructive admonitions, and as ac cumulating " multiplied proofs of the great perfec tion of our most excellent system of government, the powerful instrument in the hands of an All-merciful Creator, in securing to us these blessings." He re ports that the treaty with Spain is not yet ratified, while Florida is constantly made a basis of smug gling operations ; that the restrictions on commerce to and from the West Indies continue ; and that ne gotiations have been commenced for a commercial treaty with France, and recommends legislation mak- APPENDIX. 235 ing more just the recent tonnnge duties on French vessels. South American affairs are, as usual, men tioned. The rapid reduction of the public debt is noted, as showing the extent of the national re sources. The President then recommends legisla tion to relieve those who have bought public lands on credit in days of higher prices. He reports prog ress in the preparation of the extensive system of fortifications, and sets forth the great advantages to be expected from them, and, more briefly, those de rivable from the frontier posts among the Indians and the naval squadrons abroad. In his second inaugural address, delivered March 4, 1821, President Monroe first expresses his grati tude for the confidence of his fellow-citizens, and his satisfaction at the general accord with which it has been expressed. " Having no pretensions," says he, " to the high and commanding claims of my prede cessors, whose names are so much more conspicu ously identified with our Revolution, and who con tributed so preeminently to promote its success, I consider myself rather as the instrument than the cause of the union which has prevailed in the late election. ... It is obvious that other powerful causes, indicating the great strength and stability of our Union, have essentially contributed to draw you together." He then reviews the acts of the govern ment in the previous term, and, first of all, the prog ress made in fortification. Upon matters of foreign policy, the chief opinions expressed by him are, that 236 APPENDIX. our neutrality in the South American conflict should by all means be preserved, that the troubles in Florida could not be ended in any other way than that pur sued, that the treaty with Spain and the acquisition of the Peninsula will prove highly advantageous to our country, and that our naval squadrons in foreign waters have been most efficient in suppressing the slave-trade and piracy. He recommends, in view of the public exigencies, the restoration of the internal duties and excises, the removal of which he had, under other circumstances, suggested in a former message. He further recommends that the Indians, instead of being treated as independent nations, be settled upon lands granted to them as individuals, and helped to improvement in agriculture and civil ization ; and that measures be taken to make us al ways capable of self-defence. He then compares the excellence and success of our government with the defects and failures of those of the ancient republics, and expresses the belief " that our system will soon attain the highest degree of perfection of which hu man institutions are capable." The address closes with remarks upon the increase of the area and pop ulation of the United States, and with acknowledg ments of the ability and uprightness of the Presi dent s cabinet advisers. The principal subjects of the fifth annual message, that of December 3, 1821, are, commercial relations arising under the act of March 3, 1815, and the trans ference and government of Florida. Beside these, the President briefly discusses Portuguese and South APPENDIX. 237 American affairs, the treasury and revenue, incidental protection to manufactures, internal taxation, now no longer deemed necessary, surveys, fortifications, and war vessels, and the efficiency of the Mediterranean squadron in restraining the Barbary powers, and of the naval forces elsewhere in suppressing piracy and the slave-trade. The act of March 3, 1815, had pro vided that the manufactures and productions of any foreign nation, imported into the United States in vessels of the same nation, should, whenever the Ex ecutive should be satisfied that the nation in question had conferred the same privilege upon our commerce, be exempted from the payment of any further duties than would be paid upon the same merchandise if imported in our ships. It was thought, says the President, that the proposal was liberal, and that any power acceding to it would also throw open the trade of its colonies to foreign vessels on a similar basis. But England, while accepting it for her Euro pean dominions, has declined it for the West Indies, and France has declined it altogether ; direct trade with the West Indies and France in our vessels and theirs has therefore ceased. He expresses regret at the extreme interpretation put by the French gov ernment upon the most-favored-nation clause in the treaty of 1803, and defends the seizure of the Apollo, on the nominally Spanish side of the St. Mary s River, on the ground that the sole purpose of its presence there was to elude our revenue laws. He reports the extension of the reciprocity system of the act of 1815 by treaties with several powers. In 238 APPENDIX. announcing the transfer of Florida, he comments se verely upon the refusal of the Spanish officials in charge to transfer the land records of the province. He describes the measures taken for the provisional government of the district, regrets the dissensions which have occurred in it, recommends the prompt establishment of a territorial government for it, and reports progress in the satisfaction of the claims of our citizens against Spain. During this same session several special messages were sent to Congress. The first, on February 25, 1822, suggests a larger appropriation for a treaty with the Cherokees; the second, dated March 8, 1822, relates to the contest between Spain and her colonies. The opinion is expressed that recent events have made it manifest that the colonies not only possess independence, but are certain to retain it, and that the recognition of their independence by us should now be made, that it cannot be regarded by Spain as improper, and may help to shorten the struggle. A longer special message of March 26 refers to the for tifications at Dauphin Island at the mouth of Mobile Bay, and, incidentally, to the subject of fortifications in general. The President demonstrates the necessity of extensive fortifications at that point for the protec tion not only of Mobile but of New Orleans, and thus of the whole valley of the Mississippi. He ends the message with a strong vindication of the policy of fortification adopted by Congress soon after the late destructive war with England ; he shows that the amount of loss which, in any similar emergency, APPENDIX. 239 would be thus prevented, far exceeds the cost of the works themselves, and that the latter has been, and is being, defrayed without sensibly increasing the burdens resting upon the people. By far the most important of the special messages of President Monroe are those vetoing the Cumber land Road Bill, and giving the reasons therefor. In the former he. briefly declares his opinion that the power to pass such a law implies the power to adopt and execute a complete system of internal improve ment, and that such a power is neither specifically nor incidentally granted by the Constitution. The session being too advanced to permit him to include his reasons in this message, he instead transmits to Congress an exposition of his views on the subject previously committed to paper, arid having a form somewhat different from that which would have been adopted in a message. The paper so transmitted forms a special message of great length, setting forth fully the President s views on internal improve ments. This message may be divided into four parts. In the first he discusses the general subject of the divi sion of powers between the general government and the State governments ; in the second he describes the powers which the general government would have to exercise if it possessed the right claimed for it ; in the third he controverts in detail the arguments of those who seek to derive the power in question from va rious powers conceded to Congress by the Constitu- 240 APPENDIX. tion ; in the fourth he declares the advantages of the possession of such a power by them, if carefully con fined to great works of national importance, and rec ommends an amendment to secure that end. The subjects of the first portion are, the origin of the State governments and their endowments when first formed ; the origin of the national government and the powers vested in it, and the powers which are admitted to have remained to the State govern ments. The views disclosed in it are substantially the following: When the power of the crown was ab rogated, the authority which had been held by it vested exclusively in the people of the colonies. These appointed a Congress. They also formed State governments, to which all necessary powers of government, not vested in Congress, were imparted, the sovereignty still residing in the people. Mean while the powers of Congress, though vast, were un defined. Hence the plan of confederation ratified in 1781. Now it may fairly be presumed that where grants of certain powers were transferred in the same terms from this to the Constitution of 1788, they should be construed in the same sense in the latter which they bore in the former. Its principal provisions are therefore here inserted. Its incompe tence being demonstrated, the new Constitution was formed and ratified, the State governments them selves taking the lead in this forward movement. A compact was thus formed, which cannot be altered except by those who formed it, and in the mode in it described. Thus there were two separate and inde- APPENDIX. 241 pendent governments established over the Union, one for local purposes over each State, by the people of the State ; the other for national purposes over all the States, by the people of the United States. Both governments have a common origin or sovereign, the people, whose whole power, on the representative prin ciple, is divided between them. As a result of this survey, two important facts are disclosed ; the first is, that the power or sovereignty passed from the crown directly to the people ; the second, that it passed to the people of each colony, and not to the people of all the colonies in the aggregate. Had it been other wise, had the people not had equal rights and a com mon interest in the struggle, or had the sovereignty passed to the aggregate, the Revolution might not have succeeded. But, clearly, power passed to the people of each colony, for the chartered rights whose violation produced the Revolution were those secured by the charters of each colony ; and the composition and conduct of Congress confirm this position. The powers granted by the Constitution to the govern ment of the United States are then detailed. On the powers remaining to the governments of the States, it is observed, that the territory contemplated by the Constitution is the territory of the several States, and under their jurisdiction ; the people, the people of the several States ; the militia, the holding of property, the administration of justice, the criminal code, are all under the control of the State govern ments, except in cases otherwise specially provided for. The right of the general government is, in 16 242 APPENDIX. short, a power to perform certain specified acts and those only. The second division of the message discusses briefly the nature and extent of the powers requisite to the general government in order to adopt and execute a system of internal improvement, a necessary prelim inary to the decision whether it has this power. First, says the President, it must be able to buy the land even in spite of the owner s refusal to sell ; secondly, it must be able to punish those who injure the road or canal, by having not only jurisdiction over it but power to bring them to justice, wherever caught ; thirdly, it must be able to establish tolls and provide for their collection and for the punishment of those infringing such regulations. If. he continues, the United States possess this power, it must, since it has not been specifically granted, be derived from one of the following sources : First, the right to establish post-offices and post- roads ; second, to declare war; third, to regulate com merce among the several States ; fourth, from the power to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States ; fifth, from the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution all the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof ; sixth, from the power to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations respecting, the territory and other property of the United States. From some one or other of these the advocates of the power derive APPENDIX. 243 it, and all these the President proceeds, in this third part of his message, to consider in detail. As to the first grant, it is contended that it cannot, in the ordinary sense of the word "establish," be held to mean anything more than the use of exist ing roads by the mail-carrier in passing over them as others do ; that the phrase must be held to mean just what it did in the Articles of Confederation ; that, its object being the carriage of the mails, only what is absolutely necessary to that object is conceded ; and that the proposed interpretation would give Congress the same jurisdiction over all the roads already ex isting in every State. The claim under the second grant mentioned would extend to canals as well as to roads. If internal im provements are to be carried to the full extent to which they may be useful for military purposes, the power must extend to all roads in the Union. Further, the Constitution makes a special grant of several rights, like that of raising an army, which might much more certainly be derived from that of declaring war than could the power in question ; omission to mention the latter, therefore, proves that it is not granted, as does also the specification of a grant of jurisdiction over land ceded for fortifica tions ; we are obliged to infer that in this case alone is the power given. Next, the President takes up the third argument, from the power to regulate commerce between the States. The history of this grant and of the discus sions which preceded it make it evident, he says, that 244 APPENDIX. it was intended merely to give power to impose duties on foreign trade and to prevent any on trade between the States. The fourth claim is founded on the second part of the first clause of Art. I. Sec. 9 of the Constitution, which reads, " The Congress shall have power, to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises ; to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States." The reasoning upon this point is in substance the following : The second phrase here used gives a right to appropriate the public money, and it gives this power alone. For, first, if the right of appropriation is not given by this clause it is not given at all ; secondly, this part of the grant has none of the characteristics of a distinct and original power, but is manifestly incidental to the first part ; thirdly, if this is not its real meaning it has a scope so wide as to make unnecessary all the other grants in the Constitution, for they would be included in this; further, the place which this phrase occupies is ex actly the one most fitting for a grant of the right of appropriation. If. then, this is the power here granted, it remains to inquire what is the extent of this power. One construction is, that the government has no right to expend money except in the performance of acts authorized by the other specific grants, according to a strict construction of their nature. " To this con struction," says President Monroe, " I was inclined in the more early stage of our government ; but, on APPENDIX. 245 further reflection and observation, my mind has un dergone a change, for reasons which I will frankly unfold." The power to raise money and the power to appropriate it are both, in this grant, conveyed in terms as general and unqualified as, for instance, those conceding to Congress the power to declare war. More comprehensive terms than " to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and gen eral welfare " could not have been used. And so intimately connected with and dependent on each other are the two branches of power granted, that a limitation of one would have had the like effect upon the other. But indeed it was impossible to have created a power within the government, distinct from Congress and the Executive, which should control the movement of the government in respect to expendi tures, and not destroy it. This, then, must be the nature of the grant of appropriation. Have Con gress, then, a right to raise and appropriate the public money to any and to every purpose, according to their will and pleasure? They certainly have not. The government of the United States is a limited government, instituted for great national purposes, and for those only. Good roads and canals will, however, promote many very important national pur poses. To the appropriation of the public money to such improvements there seems to be no well-founded constitutional objection ; to do anything further than this the general government is not competent. This has also been the practice of our government; for in stance, in the case of the Cumberland Road, all the 246 APPENDIX. acts of the United States have been based on the principle that the sovereignty and jurisdiction be longed not to the general government but to the States ; Congress has simply appropriated money from the public treasury, thus aiding a work of great national utility. The conclusion reached upon this point is, there fore, that the right to make internal improvements has not been granted by the power to " provide for the common defence and general welfare," but only the right to appropriate the public money ; that the government itself being limited, the power to appro priate is also limited, the extent of the government, as designated by the specific grants, marking the ex tent of the power, which should, however, be ex tended to every object embraced by the fair scope of those grants, and not confined to a strict construc tion of their respective powers (it being safer to aid the purposes of those grants by the appropriation of money than to extend, by a forced construction, the grant itself) ; and that, though the right to appropri ate is indispensable, it is insufficient as a power if a great scheme of improvements is contemplated. Against the fifth source suggested, the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution all powers vested by the Constitution in the general government, it is urged that such a power is not by that instrument so vested. Sixthly, the second clause of Art. II. Sec. 3 of the Constitution is shown, by the first clause and by the history of the cessions of land to the United States APPENDIX. 247 by the States, to refer to such lands only. The power to make all needful regulations respecting the terri tory and other property of the United States has, therefore, no bearing upon the subject of internal im provements to be made by the general government. Therefore it is concluded that the desired power is not possessed. Much more than the right to appro priate is required ; territorial jurisdiction over the roads is not, however, necessary, but may be left to the States, if the government have the power to pro tect its works. The great advantages of such improvements are * easily seen, while no other region can, from its config uration, be improved so vastly by roads and canals at so slight expense. The interchange of our varied pro ductions would be rendered more easy and commerce increased ; the efficiency of both the general and the State governments, the intelligence of the people, the strength of the Union, and the expansion of our system, would be greatly promoted. It cannot be doubted that such improvements can be made by the general government better than by the local govern ments, liable to jealousies and influences not felt by the former. The Cumberland Road, in particular, has a pressing need of the use of this power by the national government. " If it is thought proper," concludes the President, to vest this power in the United States, the only mode in which it can be done is by an amendment of the Constitution. On full consideration, therefore, of the whole subject, I am of opinion that such an 248 APPENDIX. amendment ought to be recommended to the sev eral States for their adoption. It is, however, my opinion that the power should be confined to great national works only, since, if it were unlimited, it would be liable to abuse and might be productive of evil." President Monroe in his sixth annual message, dated December 3, 1822, touches upon a great variety of subjects. He reports the conclusion of a satisfac tory commercial convention with France, the opening of trade with the British Colonies, and a decision by the Emperor of Russia upon Article I. of the Treaty * of Ghent, and recommends the legislation which these events require. He announces the formation of a territorial government for Florida ; states the prosperous condition of the finances ; summarizes the report of the Secretary of War, especially as to the Academy at West Point, and that of the Secretary of the Navy ; and recommends the removal of the Semi- noles. Referring to his message upon the Cumber land Road, he suggests that if Congress do not see fit to propose the amendment there advised, it can certainly take measures to repair and protect the road ; he further recommends increased protective duties. The remainder of the message deals with foreign affairs. The President expresses his hope that Spain will soon give up the contest with her colonies, and exhibits strong sympathy with the cause of Greece. In view of the complications in Europe which make war imminent, he exhorts the nation, APPENDIX. 249 while it congratulates itself upon its exemption from the causes which disturb peace elsewhere, to keep itself ever in a position to defend its liberties in any emergency. At the beginning of his seventh annual message, December 2, 1823, the President explains the pur pose of his messages, declaring that, as with us the people are exclusively the sovereigns, they should be informed on all public matters, especially foreign affairs and finance. Progress is reported in various negotiations. Our government having begun to nego tiate with the Russian emperor and with England in -regard to the northwest boundary, " $e occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have as sumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be con sidered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." He mentions the proposals of our government that the slave-trade be declared pi racy, and that privateering be abolished, and expresses strong approval of both these measures. The con dition of the finances, the War Department, the mili tia, the navy, piracies in the Gulf, the Post-Office Department, the tariff, the public accounts, and the Cumberland Road, is described, without recommen dations of special significance. The project for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is mentioned with ap proval, and an appropriation for a survey is recom mended, as well as for other public works. The 250 APPENDIX. most ardent wishes for the success of Greece in win ning independence are expressed. Then follows a celebrated passage, already reproduced in the text of this book. See p. 158. The message closes with a comparison of the pres ent state of the country with that at the close of the Revolution, touching upon the additions to our terri tory, the expansion of our population, the accession of new States, and the strengthening of our system to such an extent that consolidation and disunion are both impracticable. A special message, sent to Congress on February 24, 1824, submitted to their consideration the claim of a portion of the Massachusetts militia to compen sation for services in the late war. The decision of the Governor of Massachusetts, that the power to call out the militia of a State was conditional upon the consent of its Executive, and that when called out they could not be placed under the command of an officer of the regular army, had previously made it impossible for the national Executive to make such compensation. Now, however, the principle in dis pute being conceded by that State, favorable action is recommended to Congress. The important matters mentioned in the last an nual message of President Monroe, that of Decem ber 7, 1824, aside from those which appear in the same form in previous messages, are : the slave- trade, the rights of neutrals, the engineers surveys, the visit of General Lafayette, the relations of our government with those of South America, the Su- APPENDIX. 251 preme Court, and the Indians. A convention between the United States and Great Britain, declaring the slave-trade piratical, has been concluded but not yet ratified. An effort has been made, on occasion of the war between France and Spain, to put upon a more just basis the rights of neutral vessels in time of war, and it is hoped will prove successful. In view of the extensive roads and canals now projected, it is rec ommended that the corps of engineers be increased. The arrival of General Lafayette and his warm wel come are mentioned, and it is suggested that in consideration of his services a suitable provision be tendered him by Congress. The independent States of South America are reported to be following the example of our prosperity, in spite of some presum ably temporary disturbances ; the most friendly feel ings toward them are expressed. The President recommends an organization of the Supreme Court which will relieve the judges of that court from any duties not connected with it, and will be more suited to the requirements of the present day ; that some wise and humane arrangement be made for the In dians (perhaps settling them in the territory toward the Rocky Mountains), which will lead to their per manent settlement in agricultural pursuits, and ulti mately to their civilization, for which it is our solemn duty to provide ; and that the propriety of establish ing a military station on the Pacilic Coast be consid ered. He again reminds the nation of the many blessings it enjoys, and exhorts it to preserve them from dangers without and dissensions within,, and 252 APPENDIX. concludes this, his last annual message, with expres sions of gratitude for the public confidence and the generous support received from his fellow-citizens. During the session of 1825 several brief special messages were sent to Congress. In the first, dated January 5, the President requests a full investigation of his accounts with the government during his long public service, with a view to a decision upon them hereafter. In the second, dated January 10, he gives reasons for withholding the documents, called for by the House of Representatives, concerning the conduct of Commodore Stewart and Mr. Provost in South America. With the third, also addressed to the House and dated January 27, he transmits a report of the Secretary of War in regard to the removal of Indians to the West, and recommends that some scheme of good government for them be adopted. With the fourth, of February 14, he transmits to the House a report of the Secretary of War on certain surveys for internal improvements. The fifth, of February 17, concerns special affairs of the District of Columbia. The sixth, of February 21, again refers the claims of the Massachusetts militia to Con gress, to whom, and not to the Executive, belongs the decision of the matter. The last message, dated February 26, 1825, concerns a matter of mere rou tine, the unintentional neglect to sign a certain bill. APPENDIX. 253 IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MONROE, AND THE MONROE DOCTRINE. PREPARED FOR THIS WORK BY J. F. JAMESON, PH. D. THE following bibliography has been prepared with a view to the needs of persons specially study ing the career of Monroe, rather than to those of the general reader. Hence it does not ordinarily in clude references to the most familiar sources, such as the State Papers, the published correspondence of Washington, etc., and the standard histories. It aims to include nothing that does not bear directly upon Monroe or the Monroe Doctrine ; nor, in even the limited area thus marked out, can it hope to be complete. The titles under A are arranged alpha betically by authors ; those under B chronologically ; those under C first chronologically, according to the period of Monroe s public life to which they refer, and then alphabetically by authors. At least one locality of a book or pamphlet, unless it be a common one, has been designated when known. In such des ignations, at the end of the title, A indicates the existence of a copy in the Astor Library ; B, in the Boston Public Library ; BA, in that of the Boston Athenaeum; C, in the library of Congress; H, in that of Harvard College ; JCB, in the John Carter Brown Library ; JH, in that of the Johns Hopkins University ; M, in the Massachusetts State Library ; 254 APPENDIX. MH, in that of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; N, in the New York State Library ; NH, in that of the New York Historical Society ; P, in that of the Philadelphia Library Company ; S, in that of the Department of State ; W, in that of the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester. The Maryland Historical Society is supplied with most of the works to which reference has been made in the preparation of this volume. SYNOPSIS. A. BIOGRAPHICAL. B. PUBLISHED WRITINGS or MONROE. C. PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO THE PUBLIC CAREER OR THE WRITINGS or MONROE. 1. First Diplomatic Service and the " View." 2. Louisiana Purchase and Spanish Mission. 3. Diplomatic Efforts in England. 4. Period of Cabinet Office. 5. Presidency. 6. Subsequent Period. D. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 1. Its Immediate Origin. 2. Discussion of it in Treatises on International Law. 3. In more Special Treatises and Articles. a. American. b. European. 4. Occasions on which it has been applied. a. The Panama Congress. b. Yucatan. c. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. d. Central America, 1845-1860. e. Cuba, etc., 1850-1860. f. French Intervention in Mexico. g. The Inter-oceanic Canal. h. America North of the United States. APPENDIX. 255 BIBLIOGRAPHY. A. BIOGRAPHICAL. John Quincy Adams : An Eulogy on the Life and Character of James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States, . . . delivered at ... Boston, August 25, 1831. Boston, 1831. 8vo, pp. 100. BA, N. (See [John Armstrong] under C. 6, p. 268.) John Quincy Adams : Lives of Celebrated Statesmen. [Madi son, Lafayette, and Monroe.] New York, 1846. 8vo, pp. 105. N. John Quincy Adams : The Lives of James Madison and James Monroe, Fourth and Fifth Presidents of the United States. With Historical Notices of their Administrations. Buffalo, 1850. 12mo, pp. 432. C. + Philadelphia, 1854. M. 1 S. L. Gouverneur : Introduction to " The People, the Sover eigns," by James Monroe. See under B. S. L. K[napp] : in James B. Longacre and James Herring, National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans, vol. 3. Philadelphia, 1836. 8vo. [S. L. Knapp] : James Monroe, [n. p. n. d.] 8vo, pp. 10. (Portrait.) Joshua Leavitt : The Administration of Monroe. Harper s Monthly Magazine, vol. 29, p. 461. September, 1864. Lippincott s Magazine, first series, vol. 9, p. 359. A Narrative of a Tour of Observation, made during the Sum mer of 1817, by James Monroe, President of the United States, through the North-Eastern and North- Western De partments of the Union ; with a View to the Examination of their several Military Defences. With an Appendix. Phila delphia, 1818. 12mo, pp. 228, xxxvi. B, C, N. New England Magazine, vol. 1, p. 178. New York Mirror, vol. 12 [1834-5], p. 41. (Portrait.) Niles Register, vol. 10, p. 4, March 2, 1816 ; from the National Advocate. Also, December 3, 1825, and vol. 35, p. 68. Also, vol. 40, p. 369, July 23, 1831. 1 The sign -f- indicates another edition. 256 APPENDIX. Order of Exercises at the Old South Church, Commemora tive of . . . James Monroe. . . . August 25, 1831. Boston, 1831. 8vo, pp. 8. B. T. Paine : Anecdote of James Monroe and Rufus King, in Political Writings. London, 1844. BA, C. Portfolio, vol. 19, p. 251 ; fourth Series, vol. 5. Philadelphia, April, 1818. (Portrait.) S. Putnam Waldo : Tour of James Monroe, President of the United States, in the Year 1817, through the States of Mary land, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Ohio ; together with a Sketch of his Life. Hartford, 1818. 12mo, pp. 300. BA. S. P. Waldo : Tour of James Monroe, President of the United States, through the Northern and Eastern States, in 1817 ; his Tour in 1818, with a Sketch of his Life. Hartford, 1819. 12mo. C. In Edwin Williams : The Statesman s Manual. New York, 1847. 8vo, vol. 1. Udolpho Wolfe : Grand Civic and Military Demonstration in Honor of the Removal of the Remains of James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States, from New York to Vir ginia. New York, 1858. 12mo, pp. 324. C. (And numerous unimportant notices in lives of the presi dents, cyclopaedias, and biographical dictionaries.) B. PUBLISHED WRITINGS or MONROE, (in addition to the messages, dispatches, and letters which may be found in familiar sources. Manuscripts of Monroe s public papers are in the possession of the Department of State; much of his private correspondence is in the posses sion of Mrs. S. L. Gouverneur, Jr., of Washington.) A View of the Conduct of the Executive, in the Foreign Affairs of the United States, connected with the Mission to the French Republic in the years 1794, 5, and 6. By James Monroe. . . . Illustrated by his Instructions and Correspond- APPENDIX. 257 ence and other Authentic Documents. Philadelphia, 1797. 8vo, pp. Ixvi., 407. -\- Same, the Second Edition. London, 1798. 8vo, pp. viii., 117. -f- Same, the Third Edition. Lon don, 1798. 8vo, pp. xvi., 117. [See London Monthly Review, vol 25, p. 232.] Governor s Letter to the Speaker and House of Delegates of Virginia, 6th December, 1802. Richmond, 1802. 12mo. C. A Letter from the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Lord Mulgrave, late Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. With [James Madison] : An Examination of the British Doctrine which subjects to Capture a Neutral Trade not open in Time of Peace, [n. p.] 1806. 8vo, pp. 204. -f Second Edition. London, 1806. B, C. Correspondence between . . . Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, and James Monroe, Esq. . . . Boston, 1808. 4to, pp. 8. BA. Letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. Monroe, on the sub ject of the attack on the Chesapeake. The Correspondence of Mr. Monroe with the British Government; and also, Mr. Madison s Correspondence with Mr. Rose, on the same subject. Washington, 1808. 8vo. (Peabody Library, Bal timore.) Letters of James Madison ... to Mr. Monroe on ... Im pressments, etc. Also Extracts from, and Enclosures in, the Letters of Mr. Monroe to the Secretary of State. Washing ton, 1808. 8vo, pp. 130. B, MH. Defence of the Mission to England. . . . Washington, 1808. 8vo. Letters between James Monroe, Esq., Secretary of State of the United States, and Augustus J. Foster, Esq., . . . Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty ; in rela tion to the Orders in Council, and the Affair of the Little Belt. To which is added, the Declaration of War. New York, 1812. 12mo, pp. 59. B. To all who are honestly searching after the Truth. Mr. Mon roe s Letter on the Rejected Treaty between the United States and Great Britain, concluded by Messrs. Monroe and 17 258 APPENDIX. Pinkney. Also the Treaty itself, and Documents connected with it. Portland, 1813. 8vo, pp. 52. BA, C. Commercial Regulations of Foreign Countries. [Message.] Washington, 1819. BA. Message from the President, transmitting Sundry Papers relating to Transactions in East and West Florida. April 19, 1822. [Washington, 1822 ] Pp. 46. P. Message transmitting a Digest of the Commercial Regula tions of the Different Foreign Nations. Washington, 1824. 18th Congress, 1st Session, House Doc. No. 130. BA, M. Message transmitting a Report of the Secretary of the Navy. Washington, 1824. 8vo. C. Correspondence between Gen. Jackson and Mr. Monroe, as published in the National Intelligencer. Washington, 1824. 12mo. N. The Memoir of James Monroe, Esq., relating to his Unsettled Claims upon the People and Government of the United States. [With documents.] Charlottesville, Va., 1828. 8vo, pp. 60. BA, C, NH. A Letter from James Monroe, in Answer to ... Questions [on War and Slavery, etc.] . . . [n. p. 1863?]. 8vo, pp. 32. H. The People, the Sovereigns, Being a Comparison of the Gov ernment of the United States with those of the Republicks, which have existed before, with the Causes of their Deca dence and Fall. By James Monroe. Edited by S. L. Gou- verneur. Philadelphia, 1867. 12mo, pp. 274. (See, under C 6, C. C. Hazewell, p. 267.) C. PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO THE PUBLIC CAREER OR THE WRITINGS OF MONROE. 1. First Diplomatic Service and the " View." Alexander Addison : Observations on the Speech of Albert Gallatin on the Foreign Intercourse Bill. Washington, Pa., 1798. 8vo. An Address on the Past, Present, and Eventual Relations of APPENDIX. 259 the United States to France. By Anticipation. New York, [1803], 8vo, pp. 20. A. P. A. Adet: Notes adresse es par le citoyen Adet, Ministre Plenipotentiaire de la Republique Fran9aise pres les Etats- Unis d Amerique, Au Secretaire d etat des Etats-Unis. Philadelphia, 1796. 8vo, pp. 95. -f- Same, translated. [P. A. Adet] : Authentic Translation of a Note from the Min ister of the French Republic to the Secretary of State of the United States. New York, 1796. 8vo, pp. 38. N. (See, also, Wm. Cobbett.) The Anti-Gallican ; or, The Lover of his own Country ; in a Series of Pieces . . . wherein French Influence, and False Patriotism, are fully and fairly displayed. By a Citizen of New England. Philadelphia, 1797. 8vo, pp. 82. [Includes Letters on Pseudo-Patriots, by Ascanius ; of which No. VI. is on James Monroe.] H. Camillus, pseud. : History of French Influence in the United States. Philadelphia, 1812. M. [William Cobbett] : A History of the American Jacobins, com monly denominated Democrats. By Peter Porcupine. In Wm. Playfair, The History of Jacobinism. Philadelphia, 1795. P. [William Cobbett] : The Gros Mosqueton Diplomatique ; or, Diplomatic Blunderbuss, containing Citizen Adet s Notes to the Secretary of State, as also his Cockade Proclamation. With a Preface by Peter Porcupine. Philadelphia, 1796. 8vo, pp. 72. C. William Cobbett: Porcupine s Works. London, 1801. 8vo. [Vol. iv. contains The Diplomatic Blunderbuss (Oct. 31, 1796) ; Political Censor, No. vi. (Nov. 1796) ; A Brief Statement of the Injuries and Insults received from France (Feb. 1797). In vol. v. pp. 131-138; vol. vi. pp. 12, 13, 92- 98, 116-124, 358-376, 414-417 ; vol. vii. pp. 90-95, 151-156, are notices of Monroe s doings, from Porcupine s Gazette, 1797. Vol. x., Dr. Morse s Exposition of French Intrigue in America.] Coup d oeil sur la situation des affaires entre la France et les Etats-Unis de FAmerique. 1798. 8vo, pp. 28. BA. 260 APPENDIX. J. Dennis : Address on the Origin, Progress, and Present State of French Aggression. Philadelphia, 1798. BA. Wm. Duane : A History of the French Revolution, with a free Examination of the Dispute between the French and American Republics. Philadelphia, 1798. 4to. Joseph Fauchet : Coup d oeil sur 1 ctat actuel de nos rapports politiques avec les Etats-Unis de PAmerique Scptentrionale ; par J. Fauchet, Ex-miuistre de la Republique a Philadelphie. Paris, an V. [1797.] 8vo, pp. 42. H. Joseph Fauchet : A Sketch of the Present State of our Polit ical Relations with the United States of North America. . . . Translated by the Editor of the " Aurora." [Wm. J. Duane.] Philadelphia, 1797. 8vo, pp. 31. BA. A Five Minutes Answer to Paine s Letter to Washington. London, 1797. 8vo, pp. 44. MH. (See below, T. Paine.) [Albert Gallatin] : An Examination of the Conduct of the Executive of the United States towards the French Repub lic ; ... In a Series of Letters. By a Citizen of Pennsyl vania. Philadelphia, 1797. 8vo, pp. vi., 72. BA. Albert Gallatin : The Speech of Albert Gallatin, delivered in the House of Representatives ... on the First of March, 1798. Upon the Foreign Intercourse Bill. [n. p. 1798.] 8vo, pp. 48. (And other editions.) BA, H, MH, P, JCB. [A. G. Gebhardt] : Actes et Mc moires concernaut les nego- ciations qui out eu lieu entre la France et les Etats-Unis d Ame rique. [1793-1800.] Londres, 1807. 3 vols. 12mo. BA. A. G. Gebhardt: State Papers relating to the Diplomatick Transactions between the American and French Govern ments. [1793-1800.] London, 1816. 3 vols. 8vo. BA. L. Goldsmith : An Exposition of the Conduct of France to America, illustrated by Cases decided in the Council of Prizes in Paris. [1793-1808.] London, 1810. 8 vo, pp. 133. (Various other editions.) B, BA, H. [Alexander Hamilton]. See [Uriah Tracy] below. R. G. Harper : Observations on the Dispute between the APPENDIX. 261 United States and France, addressed by Robert Goodloe Harper, Esq., of South Carolina, to his Constituents, in May, 1797. Philadelphia, 1797. 8vo, pp. 102. (And twenty other editions.) B, BA, H, NH, P. R. G. Harper : Mr. Harper s Speech on the Foreign Inter course Bill, in Reply to Mr. Nicholas and Mr. Gallatin. De livered in the House of Representatives of the United States, on the second of March, 1798. [n. p. n. d.] Svo, pp. 43. (And other editions.) B, H, MH, NH, P. R. G. Harper : A short Account of the principal Proceedings of Congress in the late Session, and a Sketch of the State of Affairs between the United States and France, in July, 1798, in a Letter to one of his Constituents. Philadelphia, 1798. Svo. P. Kennedy : An Answer to Mr. Paine s Letter to General Washington ; or, Mad Tom convicted of the Blackest In gratitude. London, 1797. Svo, pp. 55. JCB. A Letter to Thomas Paine, in Answer to his Scurrilous Epis tle ... to Washington ... By an American Citizen. New York, 1797. Svo, pp. 24, L Inde pendance absolue des Americains des Etats-Unis, prou- vee par 1 e tat actuel de leur Commerce avec les Nations Europeennes. Paris, 1798. Svo, pp. 149. (Written by an American merchant, in answer to Fauchet, Coup d ceil, above.) Thomas Paine : A Letter to George Washington, President of the United States, on Affairs Public and Private. Phila delphia, 1796. Svo, pp. 76. (And other editions.) B, BA, H. (Also in vol. i. of Works. Philadelphia, 1854. 12mo.) E. C. J. Pastoret : Conseil des Cinq-Cents : motion d ordre sur 1 e tat de nos rapports politiques et commerciaux avec les Etats-Unis de I Amerique septentrionale. Paris, an V. [1797.] Svo, pp. 26. BA. [Timothy Pickering] : Lettre du Secretaire d Etat des Etats- Unis de I Amerique au General Charles C. Pinckney, Min- istre Plenipotentiaire des dits Etats-Unis pres la Rcpublique Fran9aise ; en reponse aux differeutes plaintes faites centre 262 APPENDIX. le gouvernement des Etats-Unis par le Ministre Fran9ais . . . 1796. Paris, 1797. 8vo, pp. 62. Timothy Pickering and P. A. Adet : Review of the Adminis tration of the United States since 93. Boston, 1797. BA. C. C. Tanguy de la Boissiere : Observations sur la de peche e crite le 16 Jan., 1797, par M. Pickering, Secretaire d Etat des Etats-Unis de 1 Amerique, a M. Pinkney, Ministre Pleni- potentiaire des Etats-Unis pres la Republique Fran9aise. Philadelphie, 1797. Also, translated. BA, C. [Uriah Tracy, or (?) Alexander Hamilton] : Reflections on Monroe s View, ... as published in the Gazette of the United States under the Signature of Scipio. [a. p. n. d.] 8vo, pp. 88. BA, P. [Uriah Tracy, or (?) Alexander Hamilton] : [Scipio s] Reflec tions on Monroe s View. . . . Boston, 1798. 8vo, pp. 140. C, H, M. George Washington : Notes on Monroe s View, Sparks, xi. 504-529. (His Notes on the Appendix to the View are printed in Appendix III of this book.) [R. Walsh] : An Enquiry into the Past and Present Relations of France and the United States of America. [London, 1811.] 8vo, pp. 87. (Reprinted from the American Review, vol. i.) 2. Louisiana Purchase and Spanish Mission. Analysis of the Third Article of the Treaty of Cession of Louisiana. [Washington. (?)] 1803. 8vo, pp. 8. Atlantic Monthly, vol. 32, p. 301. The Louisiana Purchase. (Has been reprinted.) Samuel Brazer, Jr. : Address pronounced at Worcester, May 12, 1804, in Commemoration of the Cession of Louisiana to the United States. Worcester, 1804. 8vo, pp. 15. MH. [Charles Brockden Brown] : An Address to the Government of the United States on the Cession of Louisiana to the French, and on the late Breach of Treaty by the Spaniards. Philadelphia, 1803. 8vo, pp. 92. C, N. [Charles Brockden Brown] : Monroe s Embassy ; or, The APPENDIX. 263 Conduct of the Government in relation to our Claims to the Navigation of the Mississippi, considered, by the Au thor of the Address to the Government. . . . [Signed " Pop- licola."] Philadelphia, 1803. 8vo, pp. 57. BA, C. Camillus, pseud. See Duane, below. James Cheetham : Letters on our Affairs with Spain. New York, 1804. 8vo, pp. 59. C. "Wm. Duane: Mississippi Question. Report of a Debate in the Senate of the United States, on the 23d, 24th, and 25th Feb., 1803, on Certain Resolutions concerning the Viola tion of the Right of Deposit in the Island of New Orleans. Philadelphia, 1803. 8vo, pp. 198. BA, H. [WTO.. Duane] : Camillus, pseud. The Mississippi Question fairly stated, and the Views and Arguments of those who clamor for War, examined. In Seven Letters. Philadel phia, 1803. 8vo, pp. 48. BA. ["Win. Fessenden] : The Political Farrago, or a Miscellaneous Review of the Politics of the United States, . . . including , . . Remarks on the " Louisiana Purchase," ... by Peter Dobbin, Esq., R. C. U. S. A. Brattleboro , Vt., 1807, pp. 59. W. Wm. Maclure : To the People of the United States on the Convention with France of 1803. Philadelphia, 1807. P. A. B. Magruder : Reflections on the Cession of Louisiana to the United States. Lexington, 1803. BA. F. de Barbe-Marbois : Histoire de la Louisiane et de la Ces sion de cette Colonie par la France aux Etats-Unis de 1 Amerique septentrionale. Paris, 1829. 8vo, pp. 485 BA, H. F. de Barbe-Marbois : The History of Louisiana, particularly of the Cession of that Colony to the United States of America. Translated from the French by an American Citizen. [William Beach Lawrence.] Philadelphia, 1830. 8vo, pp. xviii., 455. C, H. (See Sparks, below.) Memoires sur la Louisiane et la Nouvelle-Orle ans, accompagne d une Dissertation sur les avantages que le commerce de 1 Empire doit tirer de la stipulation faite par 1 article 7 du 264 APPENDIX. Trait^ de cession, du 30 avril 1803 ; par M. * * * Paris, an XII. (1804). 8vo, pp. 176. G. Morris. See Ross, below. Geo. Orr : The Possession of Louisiana by the French, consid ered as it affects the interests of those Nations more imme diately concerned, viz. : Great Britain, America, Spain, and Portugal. London, 1803. 8vo, pp. 45. BA. J. M. Peck : The Annexation of Louisiana. Christian Review, vol. 16, p. 555. Political, Commercial, and Statistical Sketches of the Spanish Empire in both Indies ; and a View of the Questions between Spain and the United States respecting Louisiana and ;he Floridas. London, 1809. 8vo, pp. 156. BA. David Ramsay : Oration on the Cession of Louisiana to she United States; delivered May 12, 1804, in Charleston, S.C. Charleston, 1804. 8vo, pp. 27. BA. J. Ross and G Morris : Speeches in support of Ross s resolu tions relating to the Free Navigation of the Mississippi. Philadelphia, 1803. BA. Jared Sparks : The History of the Louisiana Treaty. North American Review, vol. 28, p. 389 (April, 1829), and vol. 30, p. 551 (April, 1830). (Reviews of Marbois and of tlw translation of it.) Sylvestris, pseud. : Reflections on the Cession of Louisiana to the United States. Washington, 1803. BA, P. B. Vaughan : Remarks on a Dangerous Mistake made as to the East Boundary of Louisiana. Boston, 1814. 8vo, pp. 28. BA. 3. Diplomatic Efforts in England. American Candour, in a Tract lately published at Boston, en titled "An Analysis,". . . etc. (See [J. Lowell], below.) London, 1809. 8vo. American State Papers and Correspondence between Messrs. Smith, Pinkney, Marquis Wellesley, General Armstrong, M. Champagny, M. Turreau, Messrs. Russell, Monroe, Foster, etc. London, 1812. 8vo, pp. 187, 116. H. APPENDIX. 265 Nathaniel Atcheson : American Encroachment on British Rights. London, 1808, pp. xiii., cxiii., 250. Also in Pam phleteer, vol. 6, pp. 33-98, 361-400. BA. A. B. : Six Letters of A. B. on the Difference between Great Britain and the United States of America, with a Preface by the Editor of the Morning Chronicle. London, 1807. 8vo, pp. 48. BA. Alex. Baring : An Inquiry into the Causes and Consequences of the Orders in Council; and an Examination of the Con duct of Great Britain towards the Neutral Commerce of America. London, 1808 (and other editions). C, H, P. (See T. P. Courtenay, below.) [Charles B. Brown, or G. Morris] : The British Treaty [of 1806. n. p. 1807.] 8vo, pp. 86. BA. -f- The British Treaty with America, with an Appendix of State Papers ; which are now first published. London, 1808. 8vo, pp. 147. N. James Cheetham : Peace or War? or, Thoughts on our Affairs with England. New York, 1807. 8vo, pp. 44. B, BA, MH. [T. P. Courtenay] : Observations on the American Treaty, in Eleven Letters. First published in " The Sun," under the Signature of " Deems." London, 1808. 8vo, pp. 75. T. P. Courtenay : Additional Observations on the American Treaty, with some Eemarks on Mr. Baring s Pamphlet ; being a Continuation of the Letters of Decius. To which is added an Appendix of State Papers, including the Treaty. London, 1808. 8vo, pp. viii., 94, Ixix. N. [Alexander J. Dallas] : An Exposition of the Causes and Character of the late War with Great Britain. Baltimore, 1815. (And other editions.) BA, C. Decius, pseud. See [T. P. Courtenay], above. A Farmer, pseud. See Senex, pseud., below. Thos. G. Fessenden : Some Thoughts on the Present Dispute between Great Britain and America. Philadelphia, 1807. 8vo, pp. 91. P. An Inquiry into the Present State of the Foreign Relations of the Union, as affected by the Late Measures of Administra tion. Philadelphia, 1806. 8vo, pp. 183. BA. 266 APPENDIX. Wm. Lee : Les Etats-Unis et 1 Angleterre, ou, Souvenirs et Reflexions d un Citoyen Americain. [1791-1814.] Bor deaux, 1814. 8vo, pp. 346. BA, C, H. [J. Lowell] : Analysis of the Late Correspondence between our Administration and Great Britain and France. With an Attempt to show what are the Real Causes of the Failure of the Negociations between France and America. [Boston, 1808.] BA. (See American Candour, above.) [J. Lowell] : Supplement to the late Analysis of the Public Correspondence between our Cabinet and those of France and Great Britain. [Boston, 1808.] 8vo, pp. 28. BA. [J. Lowell] : Thoughts upon the Conduct of our Administra tion in Relation both to Great Britain and France, more especially in Reference to the Late Negotiation, concerning the Attack on the Chesapeake ; by a Friend to Peace. [1808.] [J. Madison.] See under B, A Letter, etc., 1806. [James McHenry] : Three Patriots, [Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe,] or, the Cause and Cure of Present Evils. Balti more, 1811. 8vo. M. B. Mihir, pseud. : Considerations in Answer to the Pamphlet containing Madison s Instructions to Monroe. Albany, 1807. BA. [G. Morris] : An Answer to " War in Disguise ; " or, Remarks upon the New Doctrine of England concerning Neutral Trade. New York, 1806. 8vo, pp. 76. (See, also, [Charles B. Brown], above.) Timothy Pickering : Letters addressed to the People of the United States of America on the Conduct of the Past and Present Administrations of the American Government towards Great Britain and France. London, 1812. 8vo, pp. 168. The Present Claims and Complaints of America briefly and fairly considered. London, 1806. 8vo, pp. 56. Remarks on the British Treaty with the United States. Liver pool, 1807. BA. Report of the Committee to whom was referred the Corre- APPENDIX. 267 spondence between Mr. Monroe and Mr. Canning, and between Mr. Madison and Mr. Rose, relative to the Attack on the Chesapeake. April 16, 1808. Washington, 1808. Senex, pseud. : Letters under the signatures of " Senex " and of "A Farmer," comprehending an examination of the conduct of our Executive toward France and Great Britain, out of which the present crisis has arisen. Originally pub lished in the North American. Baltimore, 1809. 8vo, pp. 108. BA. The Tocsin ; an Inquiry into the Late Proceedings of Great Britain, etc. Charleston, 1807. P. War in Disguise ; or, the Frauds of Neutral Flags. London, 1805. 8vo, pp. 215. (See [G. Morris], above.) 4. Period of Cabinet Office. (See [John Armstrong], under 6, below.) E. D. Ingraham : A Sketch of the Events which preceded the Capture of Washington by the British on the Twenty -fourth of August, 1814. Philadelphia, 1849. 8vo, pp. 66. A, B, BA, C. Remarks on " An Enquiry," etc. (See next title.) Baltimore, 1816. 8vo. BA. Spectator, pseud. : Enquiry respecting the Capture of Washing ton by the British. Washington, 1816. 8vo. BA. United States, 13th Congress, 3d session. Report of Commit tee to inquire into the Causes and Particulars of the Inva sion of the City of Washington by the British Forces, Au gust. Washington, 1814. 8vo. BA. J. S. Williams : History of the Invasion and Capture of Wash ington. New York, 1857. 12mo. BA. 5. Presidency. Exposition of the Motives for opposing the Nomination of Mr. Monroe for the Office of President of the United States. Washington, 1816. 8vo, pp. 14. B, BA. [C. Pinckney] : Observations to show the Propriety of the Nomination of Col. J. Monroe to the Presidency. Charleston, 1816. BA. 268 APPENDIX. Edward T. Channing : Oration delivered at Boston, July 4, 1817. Boston, [1817.] 8vo, pp. 24. BA, MH, W. [J. Forsyth] : Observaciones sobre la Memoria del Senor Onis, relativa a la Negociacion con los Estados Uuidos. (See next title but one.) Madrid, 1822. 8vo. Official Correspondence between Don Luis de Onis, Minister from Spain, . . . and John Quincy Adams, in relation to the Floridas and the Boundaries of Louisiana, etc. London, 1818. 8vo, pp. 130. C. Luis de Onis : Memoria sobre las negociaciones cntre Es- pana y los Estados-Unidos de America, que dieron motivo al Tratado de 1819 ; con una noticia sobre la estadistica de aqucl pais, [i. e. Florida.] Acompana un Ape ndice. Ma drid, 1820. 8vo. H. [L. de Onis] : Memoir upon the Negotiations between Spain and the United States of America, which led to the Treaty of 1819. With a Statistical Notice of that Country, [Florida]. Accompanied by an Appendix. [Translated by Tobias Wat- kins.] Washington, 1821. 8vo. H. John Overton : A Vindication of the Measures of the Presi dent and his ... Generals, in the Commencement and Termination of the Seminole War. Washington, 1819. 8vo. N. Wm. Patterson : Letter to Peter Van Schaack, Kinderhook, N. Y., on President Monroe and his Cabinet (1822). In Magazine of American History, vol. 6, p. 217. J. F. Ratteubury : Remarks on the Cession of the Floridas to the United States of America, etc. London, 1819. 8vo. C. Also in Pamphleteer, vol. 15. United States, 18th Congress, 2d Session. [1825.] Reports of Committees, 79. On President Monroe s Accounts. B. Verus, pseud.: Observations on the Existing Differences be tween Spain and the United States. Philadelphia, 1817. BA. 6. Subsequent Period. [John Armstrong] : Notice of Mr. Adams Eulogium on the Life and Character of James Monroe. [Washington, 1832.] 8vo, pp. 32. C, M, N. APPENDIX. 269 United States, 30th Congress, 2d Session. [1849.] Senate. Miscellaneous Documents, 10. On President Monroe s Manuscript Papers. C. C. Hazewell : Review of " The People, the Sovereigns." North American Review, vol. 105, p. 634. (Also noticed in the Nation, vol. 5, p. 109.) D. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. President Monroe s Seventh Annual Message, December 2, 1823. In Williams Statesman s Manual, vol. 1, pp. 460, 461 ; State Papers, Foreign Affairs, vol. 5, pp. 245-250. 1. Its Immediate Origin. The Principles of the Holy Alliance ; or Notes and Manifestoes of the Allied Powers. London, 1823. North American Review, vol. 17, p. 340, October, 1823. (Re view of the above. See especially pp. 373-375.) Diplomatic Review, vol. 13, pp. 65-69 (August 2, 1865), 73- 74 (September 6, 1865), 81-86 (October 4, 1865). F. R. de Chateaubriand, Congres de Verone. Guerre d Es- pagne. Negotiations. Colonies espagnoles. 2 e ed. Paris, 1838. 2 vols. 8vo. C. -|-( Translated), Memoirs of the Con gress of Verona. London, 1838. 2 vols. 8vo. C, N. Briefwechsel zwischen Varnhagen von Ense und Oelsner. Vol. 3. A. G. Stapleton : The Political Life of the Right Honorable George Canning, 1822-1827. 3 vols. London, 1831. Conference of Mr. Canning with Prince Polignac, October 9, 1823 ; in Annual Register, vol. 66, p. 99. George Canning : Speech in the House of Commons, Decem ber 12, 1826. In Hansard s Parliamentary Debates, New Series, vol. 16, pp. 390-398; Annual Register, vol. 68, p. 192 ; Canning s Speeches, vol. 6, pp. 108, 109. Richard Rush : Memoranda of a Residence at the Court of London. Philadelphia, 1845. 2 vols. John Quincy Adams : Diary. Vols. 4 and 6, passim. 270 APPENDIX. v John T. Morse, Jr. : John Quincy Adams. [American States men Series.] Pp. 130-137. Mr. Adams to Mr. Rush, July 22, 1823. State Papers, For eign Affairs, vol. 5, pp. 791-793, etc. x Mr. Clay s Resolution, offered January 20, 1824. Annals of Congress, 18th Congress, 1st Session, vol. 1, p. 1104; Ben- ton s Abridgment, vol. 8, p. 650 ; Niles Register, vol. 25, p. 335. * President Monroe s EighUi Annual Message, December 7, 1824. In Statesman s Manual, vol. 1, pp. 476, 479, 480; State Papers, Foreign Affairs, vol. 5, pp. 353-359. y Jefferson to Monroe, October 24, 1823. Works, vol. 7, pp. 315-317. * Madison to Monroe, October 30, 1823. Works, vol. 3, p. 339. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. No. 23. 1882. Extracts from the Letters and Diary of William Plumer, Jr. 2. Discussion of it in the Chief Treatises on International Law. J. C. Bluntschli : Droit International Codifie. Paris, 1870. Pp. 253, 254. S, JH. Carlos Calvo : Derecho Internacional Tedrico y Practice de Europa y Ame rica. Paris, 1868. Vol. 1, pp. 142-154, and note (from Dana s Wheaton). S. -f- French translation, Droit International, etc. 3 e ed., Paris, 1880. JH. Sir Edward S. Creasy : First Platform of International Law. London, 1876. Pp. 120-124. S, JH. A. W. Heffter: Das Eurojiaische Volkerrecht der Gegenwart. Berlin, 1873. Pp. 96-98. S, JH. > Wm. Beach Lawrence : Commentaire sur les Elements du Droit International et sur L Histoire des Progres du Droit des Gens de Henry Wheaton. Leipzig (4 vols.), 1868-1880. Vol. 2 (1869), pp. 297-394. S, JH. K G. F. de Martens : Precis du Droit des gens modcrne de 1 Eu rope ; augmente des notes de Pinheiro-Ferreira. Paris, 1864. Vol. 1, pp. 208-214. S. y- Robert Phillimore : Commentaries upon International Law. London, 1854-1857. Vol. 1, p. 433. JH. APPENDIX. 271 Henry Wheaton : Elements of International Law. Law rence s edition (1855), p. 97 ; Dana s edition (1866), p. 112. 3. In more Special Treatises and Articles. a. AMERICAN. John Quincy Adams. See Edward Everett, below. America for Americans. Democratic Review, vol. 32, pp. 187, 193; vol.37, p. 263. H. A. Boardman : New Doctrine of Intervention, tried by the Writings of Washington. Philadelphia, 1852. 8vo, pp. 63. C. James Buchanan : Article on the Monroe Doctrine, in Mr. Buchanan s Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion, New York, 1866. 8vo. BA. Catholic World, vol. 31, p. 116. April, 1880. [Wm. Duane] : The Two Americas, Great Britain, and the Holy Alliance. Washington, 182-1. 8vo. P. [A. H. Everett] : America, or a General Survey of the Polit ical Situation of the Several Powers of the Western Conti nent. ... By a Citizen of the United States. Philadelphia, 1827. >^ Edward Everett, John Quincy Adams, and others : The Mon roe Doctrine. New York, 1863. 8vo, pp. 17. Also, as No. 34 of the Loyal Publication Society. 1863. 8vo, pp. 11. [Contains Mr. Everett s letter of September 2, 1863, in the New York Ledger, and Mr. Adams letter of August 11, 1837, to the Rev. Dr. Channing.] H, M. Harper s Monthly, vol. 18, p. 418. (Easy Chair.) The Mon roe Doctrine Abroad. Intervention of the United States : The Crisis in Europe. Democratic Review, vol. 30, pp. 401 and 554, May, June, 1852. J. A. Kasson : The Monroe Declaration. North American Review, vol. 133, pp. 241-254, September, 1881. * J. A. Kasson: The Monroe Doctrine in 1881. North Amer ican Review, vol. 133, pp. 523-533, December, 1881. 272 APPENDIX. Gustav Korner : The True Monroe Doctrine. Nation, Janu ary 5, 1882, vol. 34, p. 9. Joshua Leavitt : The Monroe Doctrine. Now York, 1863. 8vo, pp. 50. H. (Reprint of article, New Englander, vol. 22, p. 729, October, 1863. See, also, Joshua Leavitt, under A, above, a part of that article.) National Quarterly Review, vol. 13, p. 114. (1866.) The Monroe Doctrine and the South American Republics. J. C. Welling : The Monroe Doctrine on Intervention. North American Review, vol. 82, p. 478. (1856.) Theodore D. Woolsey. Article "Monroe Doctrine" in John son s Cyclopaedia. b. EUROPEAN. G. Carnazza Amari : Nuova Esposizione del Principio del non Intervento. Catania, 1873. Pp. 16-24. S. In French, in Revue deDroit International, 1873, pp. 352-390, 531-566. Benner : Article, " Intervention," in Bluntschli s Staatswort- erbuch. Carlos Calvo : Une page de droit international, ou 1 Ameri- que du Sud devant la science du droit des gens moderne. Paris, 2 e eU, 1870. 2 vols. Diplomatic Review, vol. 15, p. 92. L. B. Hautefeuille : Le principe de Non-Intervention et ses applications aux evenements actuels. Paris, 1S63. 8vo. (Reprinted from Revue Contemporaine, vol. 34, p. 193.) Heiberg: Das Princip der Nicht-Intervention. Leipzig, 1842. L. count Kamarowsky : The Principle of Non-Intervention (in Russian). Moscow, 1874. M. Kapoustine : Le droit d intervention. 1876. Don Rafael Manuel de Labra : De la representacion y influ- encia dc los Estados-Unidos de Ame rica en el derecho in- ternacional. Madrid, 1877. 8vo, 38 pp. D. D. de Pradt : Vrai systeme de PEurope relativement a rAmerique. . . . 1825. C. -f- I* Pamphleteer, vols. 25 and 26. BA. H. von Rottcck : Das Recht der Einmischung in die inneren Angelcgeuheiten ernes fremden Staates. Freiburg, 1845. APPENDIX. 273 Carl Riimelin: Die Monroe-Doctrin. Zeitschrift fiir die gesammte Staatswissenschaft. Tubingen, 1882. Heft 2. Hermann Strauch : Zur Interventions-Lehre. Eine volker- rechtliche Studie. Heidelberg, 1879. See especially pp. 17, 18. 4. Occasions on which it has been Applied. a. THE PANAMA CONGRESS. Mr. Adams Messages of February 2, 1826 (St. P., V. 794- 797) and March 21 (V. 834-897). (Those of December 26, 1825, and March 15, 1826, are to be found in United States, etc., below.) American Annual Register, 1826, chap. iv. Benton s Thirty Years, vol. 1, p. 65. Henry Clay s Dispatch to Mr. Poinsett, March 25, 1825 : In State Papers, Foreign Affairs, vol. 5, pp. 908, 909. Coronel Don Bernardo Monteagudo : Ensayo sobre la Necesi- dad de una Federacion Jeneral entre los Estados Hispano- Americanos, y Plan de su Organisacion. Obra Pdstuma del H. Coronel D., etc. Lima, 1825. (See Sparks, below.) Niles Register, vols. 30, 36, passim. D. D. de Pradt: Congres de Panama. Paris, 1825. 8vo. BA. Revue Britannique, mars, 1826, pp. 159-176. Congres de Panama. [Jared Sparks]: Alliance of the Southern Republics. In North American Review, vol. 22, p. 162, January, 1826. (Review of Monteagudo, above.) J. M. Torres Caicedo : Union latina americana, etc. Union latine-americaine ; la pensee de Bolivar, son origine et ses developpements. Paris, 1875. (Reviewed by A. Villamus, in Revue Politique et Litteraire, 30 sept., 1876.) United States, 19th Congress, 1st Session. [68.] The Execu tive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States, on the subject of the Mission to the Congress at Panama, together with the Messages and Documents relating thereto. Wash ington, 1826. 8vo, pp. 160. B, P. 18 274 APPENDIX. United States, 19th Congress, 1st Session. House of Repre sentatives. [Document No. 129.] Congress of Panama. Message from the President of the United States, ... in relation to the Proposed Congress to be held at Panama. Washington, 1826. 8vo, pp. 90. United States. Congressional Debates, 1 9th Congress, 1st Session, vol. 2. Bentou s Abridgment, viii. 417-472, 637- 675 (Senate) ; ix. 48-50, 62-76, 90-218 (House of Repre sentatives). Don Manuel Lorenzo de Vidaurre : Speech on opening the Congress. Niles Register, vol. 31, pp. 44-47. Von Hoist : Constitutional History of the United States, vol. 1, pp. 409-432. Webster s Speech, in Works, vol. 3, pp. 178-217. C. Lefebvre de Becour: Des rapports de la France et de 1 Europe avec l Amerique du Sud. From Revue des Deux Mondes, juil., 1838. BA. b. YUCATAN. Mr. Folk s Annual Message of December 2, 1845 (Statesman s Manual, iii. 1458) ; his Special Message on Yucatan, of April 29, 1848 (iii. 1737). (Benton, xvi. 187, 188.) Congressional Globe, vol. 18, and Appendix. 30th Congress, 1st Session. Bcuton s Abridgment, xvi. 188, 189 (House) ; 189, 190, 196-204 (Senate). Calhoun s Speech, May 15, 1848, in Works, iv. 454-479. Von Hoist, iii. 448-453. C. THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY. Treaty with New Granada, December 12, 1846, especially Art. 35. In Statutes at Large, vol. x. Clayton and Bulwer Convention, 19th April, 1850, between the British and American Governments, concerning Central America, with Correspondence. 1856. 8vo. Joseph P. Comegys : Memoir of John M. Clayton. (Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware, iv.) Wilmington, 1882. Pp. 190-202, 211-234. JH. APPENDIX. 275 Congressional Globe. 32d Congress, 2d Session, vol. 26, 1853. 33d Congress, 1st Session, vol. 28, 1853. Appendix, vol. 29. 34th Congress, 1st Session, 1855-1856, and appendix. 35th Congress, 1st Session. Clarendon-Dallas Treaty, 1856. Treaty with Nicaragua, June 21, 1867. United States. 34th Congress, 1st Session. Senate Ex. Doc. 35. Messages of the President ... on the construction of the Treaty of July 4, 1850. (1856.) See also next section, and the last. d. CENTRAL AMERICA, 1845-1860. N[apoleon] L[ouis] B[onaparte] : Canal of Nicaragua, or a Project to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by means of a Canal. London, 1846. [Not published.] Louis Napole on Bonaparte : Le Canal de Nicaragua, ou projet de jonction des oceans Atlantique et Pacifique. Revue Britannique, mai, 1849. [Sir Henry Bulwer] : Great Britain and the United States. Edinburgh Review, vol. 104, pp. 267-298. July, 1856. X Canal interoceanique par Tisthme de Darien, Nouvelle Granade (Amerique du Sud.) Canalisation par le colonisation. Paris, 1860. 8vo, pp. 203. A. Correspondence with the United States respecting Central America. Printed by order of Parliament. London, 1856-1860. Folio, pp. 344. Democratic Review, Oct. 1852. VoL 31, p. 337. Our Foreign Relations. Central America. A. Denain : Interets qui se rattachent a Pisthme de Panama, et aux diffe rentes isthmes de I Amerique Centrale. Paris, 1845. 8vo. C. Question Anglo-Ame ricaine. Documents officiels e change s entre les Etats-Unis et 1 Angleterre au sujet de 1 Ame rique Centrale et du traite Clayton-Bulwer. Paris, 1856. 8vo. S. Xavier Raymond : Diplomatic Anglo-Americaine ; les Ameri- cains et les Anglais au Mexique et dans I Amerique Cen trale. Revue des Deux Mondes, 15 avril, 1853. 276 APPENDIX. E. G. Squier : Letter to the Hon. H. S. Foote, Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Relations of the United States Senate, on the Nicaragua Treaty, 1850. N. [E. G. Squier] : The Mosquito Question. Whig Review, Feb ruary, March, 1850. [E. G. Squier] : The Islands of the Gulf of Honduras. Their Seizure and Organization as a British Colony. Democratic Review, vol. 31, p. 544. (November, December, 1852.) E. G. Squier : The States of Central America and the Hondu ras Interoceanic Railway. New York, 1858. 8vo, pp. 782. N. e. CUBA, ETC., 1850-00. G. d Alaux, Cuba et la propagande anuexioniste. Revue dcs Deux Mondes, 15 juil., 1850. Buchanan, Mason and Soule : the " Ostend Manifesto." Dip lomatic Correspondence, 1854-1855. Buchanan: Message, Decembers, 1860. General Cass to Lord Napier, May 12, May 29, 1857, . . . No vember, 1858; to Mr. Dodge, October 2,1858. (Spanish invasion of Mexico.) J. Chanut, La Question de Cuba aux Etats-Unis et en Europe. Revue Contemporaine, vol. 8, p. 470. (1859.) Congressional Globe. 33d Congress, 2d Session. ( 1 854-1 855. ) (Ostend Manifesto.) 35th Congress, 2d Session. (1859.) (Cuba.) Revue Britannique, aout, 1854; pp. 257-290. La question de Cuba, jugee an point de vue Ame ricaine. [E. G. Squier?]: The Cuban Debate. Democratic Review, vol. 31, pp. 433, 624. (November, December, 1852.) f. FRENCH INTERVENTION IN MEXICO. Congressional Globe. 37th Congress, 3d Session, Appendix, p. 94. 38th Congress, 1st Session ; the House resolution of April 4, 1864, and debate on it. 39th Congress, 1st Ses sion ; message on the sending of Austrian troops to Mexico, and debate thereon. 39th Congress, 2d Session ; on Mex ican affairs. APPENDIX. 277 Democratic Review, vol. 32, p. 39. Mexico and the Monroe Doctrine. Fraser s Magazine, vol. 64, p. 717. December, 1861. Mexico. Free Press, Urquhart, vol. 9. November 6, 1861. Collective Intervention in the New World. Hunt s Merchants Magazine, vol. 50, p. 415, vol. 51, p. 106. (June, August, 1864.) The Conquest of Mexico by France. "-* V. W. Kingsley, French Intervention in Mexico, 1863, pph. N. A. Laugel: France and the United States. Nation, vol.1, p. 302. (September 7, 1865.) * Joshua Leavitt : The Key of the Continent. New Englander, vol. 23, p. 517. (July, 1864.) ^ E. Lefevre : Histoire de I mtervention franaise au Mexiqne. Vol. 2, ch. 18, etc. Bruxelles et Londres. 1869. H. Mercier de Lacombe : Le Mexique et les Etats-Uuis. 2 e ed. Paris, 1863. 8vo. B. Mexico and the Monroe Doctrine, [n. p. 1862?] 8vo, pp. x^ation, vol. 1, p. 678. November 30, 1865. The Solution of the Mexican Problem. Revue Britannique, septembre, 1863, pp. 213-224. Le Mex ique au point de vue americaine, avant et depuis 1 expedi- tion francaise. G. Reynolds: Mexico. Atlantic Monthly, vol. 14, p. 51. July, 1864. J. H. Robinson : The Mexican Question. North American Review, vol. 103, pp. 106-142. July, 1866. United States : Message and Documents, Department of State, 1863-1864. Sj United States : Messages of the President of the United States to Congress, with accompanying documents relating to the Mexican Question. Justus Strictus Veritas, pseud. : Nuevas Reflexiones sobre la Cuestion Franco-Mexicana. Folleto publicado en Paris, el 30 de setiembre de 1862,por supplemeuto alCorreo de ultra- mar. Mexico, 1862. 16mo, pp. 192. C. \ \ 278 APPENDIX. Westminster Review, vol. 80, p. 313. October, 1863. Tho French Conquest of Mexico. Same art., Eclectic Magazine, vol. 61, p. 36. Same art., Living Age, vol. 79, p. 251. g. THE INTER-OCEANIC CANAL (OFFICIAL). Congressional Record, vol. 9, p. 2312. Senator Burnside s resolution, June 25, 1879. (46th Congress, 1st Session. S. R. No. 43.) Further discussion in vol. 10. President Hayes: Message, March 8, 1880. In Congressional Record, vol. 10, p. 1399. Since printed with documents. Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States. 1881. Mr. Elaine to Mr. Lowell (circular), June 24, 1881, pp. 537-540. Lord Granville to Mr. Hoppin, November 10, 1881, p. 549. Mr. Elaine to Mr. Lowell, November 19, 1881, pp. 554-559; November 29, 1881, pp. 563-569. Earl Granville to Mr. West, Jan 14, (7?) 1882. Correspondence respecting the projected Panama Canal. Pre sented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1882. Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Lowell, May 8, 1882. Don Antonio Aguilar, Marquis de la Vega de Armijo, to Don Francisco Barca, Spanish Minister at Washington, March 15, 1882. In " the Red Book," Madrid, 1882. Congres International d Etudes du Canal Interoce anique. Compte Rendu des Se auces. Paris, 1879. Bulletin du Canal Interoceanique, Nos. 1 to 60-J-. (September 1, 1879, to February 15, 1882.) Paris. (UNOFFICIAL.) D. Ammen : M. de Lesseps and his Canal. (See Lesseps, below.) North American Review, vol. 130, pp. 130-146. February, 1880. Cassell s, December, 1879. Panama and the Isthmus. A Dclawarean : The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and the report of the Committee of the House on Foreign Relations against it. May 1, 1880. S. Edinburgh Review, April, 1 882. The Panama Canal. APPENDIX. 279 v U. S. Grant : The Nicaragua Canal. North American Review, vol. 132, pp. 197-116. February, 1881. ^ Harper s Monthly Magazine, vol. 60. p. 935. (Easy Chair.) Lesseps and the Darien Canal. The International Canal and the Monroe Doctrine. New York, 1880. 16mo, pp. 118. Sw F. de Lesseps : The Interoceanic Canal. North American Review, vol. 130, pp. 1-15. January, 1880. Vol. 131, pp. 75-78. July, 1880. A. Letellier : Les Travaux du Canal de Panama. Nouvelle S. Revue, 1 juil., 1882. * The Monroe Doctrine and Isthmian Canal. North American \Review, vol. 130, p. 499. The Nation, vol. 30, p. 90. Februarys, 1880. The United States Government and the Panama Canal. Vol. 33, p. 348. November 3, 1881. American Policy towards the Isthmus Canal. Vol. 34, p. 92. February 2, 1882. An other chapter of Mr. Elaine s Diplomacy. Vol. 34, p. 114. February 9, 1882. Mr. Elaine s Manifesto. Vol. 34, p. 156-157. Vol. 34, p. 200. March 7,1882. "A Spirited Foreign Policy." T. W. Osborn : The Darien Canal. International Review, Vol. 7, pp. 481-497. November, 1879. Popular Science Monthly. Vol. 16, pp. 842-849. April, 1880. Some Features of the Interoceanic Canal Question. Vol. 20, pp. 273-275. December, 1881 . Our policy respecting the Panama Canal. Revue Britannique, juil., 1879. Le Congres du Canal Inter- oceanique. Dr. Rudolf Schleiden : Die rechtliche und politische Seite der Panama-Canal-Frage, Preuszische Jahrbiicher, Juni, 1882. k. AMERICA NORTH OF THE UNITED STATES. Nootka-Sound Convention between Spain and Great Britain. October 28, 1790. Recueil des Traites, 2 e ed. iv. 492-499. y: Treaty between the United States and Spain. February 22, 1819. Statutes at Large, viii., 252-267. Boston, 1867. \ \ \ 280 APPENDIX. Ukase of the Emperor Alexander. September 4, (16,) 1821. State Papers, Foreign, V. Message from the President of the United States ... in rela tion to Claims set up by Foreign Governments, to Territory of the United States upon the Pacific Ocean, 1822. W. Sturgis : Examination of the Russian Claims to the Northwest Coast of Americf , North American Review, vol. 15, pp. 370-401. October, 1822. Robert Greenhow : History of Oregon and California and other Territories on the Northwest Coast of North America. Boston, 1845. 8vo. (And treaties in appendix.) Congressional Globe. 40th Congress, 1st (extra) Session. (Alaska purchase.) (Also Canada resolution.) C. de Varigny : La doctrine Monroe et le Canada. Revue des Deux Mondes, 1879, vol. 32. INDEX. ACCOLADE, 49, 50, 51. Adams, Charles Francis, quoted as to origin of Monroe Doctrine, 169. Adams, Henry, " Life of Randolph," quoted, 35; "Life of Gallatin," quoted, 168. Adams, John, 2, 68, 125, 126, 127, 165 ; Monroe s hostility to the ad ministration of, 64. Adams, John Quincy, quoted, 12, 26, 38, 45, 97 ; 125, 126, 127, 169 ; sketch of his career, 127 ; in Mon roe s cabinet, 127-155 ; relation to the Monroe Doctrine, 167-171 ; other mention of, 189, 191 ; anec dote of, 220. Ambrister and Arbuthnot, execu tion of, 141. Amelia Island, 231, 232. America for Americans, the idea of Monroe s policy, 215. "American language," 50. Ames, Fisher, quoted, 68. Arnphictyonic Council, etc., 27. Annapolis, congress at, 18 ; conven tion at, 21. Apollo, seizure of the, 237. Arbuthnot, execution of, 141. Armstrong, John, 108-124; at Bat tle of Bladensburg, 116. Auckland, Lord, 96. Baltimore, Monroe s speech at, 137. Bancroft, George, quoted, 19, 20, 22, 24. Barlow, Joel, Minister to France, 107. Barney, Joshua, carries flag to French Convention, 51. Benton, Thomas H., 126, 210. Bladeusburg, Battle of, Monroe s re lation to, 116-124. Bonaparte, Jerome, marriage of, 87. Bonaparte, Napoleon, negotiates for sale of Louisiana, 74-90 ; instructs Marbois, 79 ; thanks Marbois, 84 ; interview with Monroe, 84 ; arbi trary powers of, 92, 93. Boundary, Massachusetts and New York, 26. "Bowler, Jack, "33. Brandywine, Battle of, 10. Breckenridge, John, 32. Brock, R. C., 218. Burr, Aaron, 131. Cabinet of Monroe, sketches of the members, 126-135. Calhouu, John C., 126-130, 132, 135, 142, 151, 155, 189, 210, 212; sketch of his career, 128. Callender publication, 71. Cambaceres, M., 81, 85. Camden, Lord, portrait of, 6. Campan, Madame, friend of Hor- tensia Hay, 178, 183. Canning, George, 101, 143, 170, 171 ; relation to Monroe Doctrine, 171. Capital, public buildings at, 230; capture of, 119-124. Carr, Dabney, 4. Cary, Archibald, 11. Castlereagh, Lord, 141, 143, 167. Cevallos, Don Pedro, 95. Chateaubriand, M., 168. Chatham, Lord, portrait of, 6, 7. Cherokees, treaty with, 238. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 249. Civil service, Monroe s attitude re specting, 213, 214. Clay, Henry, 126, 132, 133, 143, 155, 189. Coast, defence of : see Defence. Coit, Daniel L., letters to, 38-62. Coit, Joshua, letters hitherto un- printed on the state of the Union in 1794, 38-62 ; critical relations with France, 39; French "frenzy," 39, 43, 44 ; Madison s resolutions, 39 ; Southern hostility to Great Brit- 282 INDEX. ain, 40 ; embargo, 42 ; sequestra tion of British debt proposed, 42 ; Minister to England talked of, 42 ; Jay nominated, 43; embargo de creed, 43 ; danger of dissolution of Union, 43, 44 ; presentation of the French flag, 62. College life of Monroe, 8, 9. Commerce, Monroe s views on regu lation of, 19-21, 237, 243. Commercial relations of United States, 236. Committee of Public Safety, French, 45, 46, 57. Confederation, inefficiency of the, 17-21. Congress, Monroe s action as dele gate in, 17-26 ; Coit s letters from (1794), prior to Monroe s first mis sion, 38-44 ; Monroe on the pow ers of, 239-247. Constitution of United States, Mon roe s views on the adoption of and on the powers of, 27-30, 242, 243. Convention of Virginia (177G), 8 ; (1788), 17, 27 ; (1830), 17. Convention, French, in 1794, Mon roe s relation to, 45-55. Cornell University Library, 66. Correspondence, delays in diplo matic, 55, 56, 61. Crawford, William H., 126, 127, 130, 131, 132, 138, 142, 155. Croix, de la, 60. Crowninshield, Benjamin W., 127. Cullum, George W., quoted, 116, 118. Cumberland Road Bill, Monroe s veto of, and explanation, 149, 239- 249. Dane, Nathan, 25. Dayton, J., 63. Debt, national, 230, 235, 248, 249. Defence of coast and frontier, 229, 230, 232, 235, 237, 238, 251. Diplomacy, perils of, 36 ; delays of, 55, 56, 61. Diplomatic relations, presidential messages on, 230-232, 234, 236, 237, 249. District of Columbia, 232, 252. Dray ton, W. H., 134. England, Monroe s mission to, 93- 100, 211 ; convention with, 251. See Treaty. " Era of good feeling," 2. Erskine, Mr., 97. Eustis, William, Secretary of War, 104, 107, 136. Federalists, 28-30, 67, 135. Finance : see Debt. Financial embarrassment of Mon roe, 252. Flag, presentation of, to French Convention, 51 ; to American Con gress, 62. Floridas, desire of the United States to acquire, 85, 95 ; acquisition of, 135, 143; see also Spain; Jack son s campaign in, 140-143 ; troub les in, 232 ; territorial government of, 248. Foster, Mr., 105, 106. Foster, Win. E., compiles a bibliog raphy of American statesmen, vi. Fox, Charles J., 96. France, Monroe s first mission to, 36-73 ; Monroe s second mission to, 74-93; war threatened with, 38, 39, 52 ; our natural ally, 44 ; commercial treaty with, 234, 248. Franklin, Benjamin, 13. Frontier, defence of : see Defence. Gabriel, "General," 32. Gallatin, Albert, 104, 112, 168. Garnett, James M., 219. Genet, M., 39. German town, Battle of, 10. Ghent : see Treaty, Goose Creek, Virginia, 220. Gore, C., 68. Gouverneur, S. L., Mr. and Mrs., 178, 183, 184, 191, 195, 196, 200. Gouverneur, S. L., quoted, 207. Gouverneur manuscripts relating to Monroe, hitherto unprinted, quot ed, 53, 55, 58, 63, 69, 70, 208, etc. Government, general, and the sev eral States, Monroe s views on, 239. Grayson, W., 24, 27, 30. Great Britain, convention with, 251. See England. Grigsby, H. B., quoted, 8. Haerlem, Battle of, 10. Hamilton, Alexander, 30, 71, 164. Hamilton, Paul, 104. Hammond s "Political History," quoted, 131. Harper, Robert G., 68. Harrison, Gov. Benjamin, 23. Harrowby, Lord, 93. Hart, C. F., quoted, 75. Harvard College, 8, 129. INDEX. 283 Hawkesbury, Lord, 93. Hay, George (Mr. and Mrs.), 178, 182, 183, 191, 192, 194, 197, 220. Hay, Hortensia, 178, 183. Henry, Patrick, 9, 27. Hildreth, R., quoted, 68, 69, 71. Hoar, G. F., 8. Holland, Lord, 97 ; his account of negotiations with Monroe and Pinkney, 98. Hoist, von, quoted, 130. "Homoselle," 32. Hortense, Queen, 178, 183. Howison s "Virginia," quoted, 32. Illinois, admission of, 232. Imposts, Monroe s report on collec tion of, 19, 20. Indians, relations with, 230-232, 236, 251, 252. Internal improvements, Monroe s views on, 1-19, 230, 231, 250, 251, 252 ; message on, 239-248. Jackson, Andrew, 28, 126, 133, 134, 140, 141, 142, 144, 155; his hostil ity to Monroe, 207 ; Monroe s re lations to, 206. Jameson, J. F., compiles a Monroe bibliography, 253; notes by, 229. Jay, John, 26, 31, 37 ; Minister to England, 43, 57-65. Jay s treaty : see Treaty. Jefferson, Thomas, 2, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 22-2.4, 72, 74-77, 94, 102, 125, 126, 152, 156, 176, 194, 213 ; begin ning of intimacy with Monroe, 16 ; estimate of Monroe, 209 ; letter to Livingston, quoted, 73 ; letters to Monroe, quoted, 18, 74 ; relations to the Monroe Doctrine, 163, 165, 166, 168, 170 ; withholds the Mon roe treaty, 97, 100. Jennings, Edward, 6, 7. Jones, Joseph (Monroe s uncle). 4; correspondence with Monroe, 13, 14, 19, 58, 63, 71, 94, 175, 177. Kennedy, J. P., quoted, 131, 155. Kent, James, 135. King, Rufus, 24, 25, 125, 144, 145. Kiugsbury, F. J., quoted, 5. Knox, General, 194. Kortwright, Eliza (Mrs. Monroe), 175, 177. Kortwright, Lawrence, 175. Lafayette, Marquis de, 56 ; prisoner in Olmiitz, 56, 150 ; visits Amer ica, 136, 150-155, 250, 251 ; eti quette as to his reception, 151 ; examples of his correspondence with Monroe, 151-153 ; offers pe cuniary assistance to Monroe, 154. Lafayette, Madame, 56, 150. Lagrange, Americans welcomed at, by Lafayette, 152, 153. Land, good, promotes good society, 5, and note. Lands, public, sale of, 230, 235. Lawrence, W. B., translator of Mar- bois, 75. Lee, Dr., 7. Lee, Henry, 4. Lee, Richard Henry, 4, 7, 24. Lee, Robert E., 5. Lewis and Clarke s expedition, 76. Livingston, R. R., 37 ; Minister to France, 77 ; negotiates for Louis iana, 76-90 ; writes to Monroe (April 10, 1803), 78 ; his midnight dispatch to Madison, 80 ; estimate of the treaty, 83 ; writes to Madi son in respect to cession of Lou isiana (November 15, 1803), 88. Louisiana, cession of, by France to the United States, 74-90 ; circum stances which led to it, 90 ; results which came from it, 90 ; Monroe s satisfaction with, 86 ; Livingston s story of, 78, 83. Madison, James, 2, 5, 16, 21-23, 32, 34, 39, 93, 101, 102, 125, 126, 127, 149, 156, 163, 164, 176, 194, 213 ; in convention of 1788, 27 ; nom inated as President, 102; Pres ident, 104-124; cabinet of, 104; letter of Monroe to, in respect to the Secretary of War, 108 ; last letter from Monroe to, 196 ; last letter to Monroe, 198 ; his esti mate of Monroe, 209. Marbois, Barbe , his work on the ces sion of Louisiana, 74 ; Monroe s estimate of, 75 ; negotiations of, respecting the Louisiana cession, Marriage of Monroe to Miss Kort wright, 175-178. Marshall, John, 9, 23, 181, 213 ; in college with Monroe, 8 ; in Vir ginia Convention (1788), 27. Mason, George, 2, 27. Mason, Thompson, 2. Massachusetts, boundary dispute, 26 ; claims of for compensation, 250,252. McHenry, James, 20. McKean, Thomas, 63. 284 INDEX. McLane, Louis, quoted, 173. McLean, John, 127, 209 ; Monroe s letter to, 202. Meade, Bishop, quoted, 7, 8. Meigs, R. J., 127. Mercer, Hugh, 9. Merlin de Douai, 49, 57. Mississippi, Monroe s memoir on, 2G, 75 ; control and free navigation of, 25, 26, 28, 45, 76, 95, 211, 215 ; Spanish control of, 90, 163; de fence of valley of, 238. Missouri, admission of, 144. Missouri Compromise, 92, 135, 144- 149. Monmouth, Battle of, 10. Monroe, Andrew, 72, 218. Monroe Doctrine, text of, 157-161 ; announcement of, 249-250; not a personal decree, 161 ; its grad ual development in the utterances of American statesmen, 162-166 ; Canning s relations to, 171 ; re ception of the message, 172 ; dis cussion in Congress, 173 ; allusions to, 162-174 ; Bibliography of, 269. Monro, George, 218. Monroe, Hector, 4. Monroe, James. Sources of information, v. Manuscripts of, v. Bibliography of his life and writ ings, by J. F. Jameson, 253. Synopsis of his career, xi, 1. Review of his career, 200-217. Birth, 4. Pedigree, 218, 219. Boyhood, 5-7. College life, 7-9. Revolutionary service, 9-12. Student of law, 13-16. Intimacy with Jefferson begins, 16. Civil service begins, 17. Delegate to Congress, 17-26. Views on collecting imports, 22. Tour to the West, 23. Views on territorial government, 24. Views on the Navigation of the Mississippi, 26. Commissioner on boundary dis pute, 26. Member of the Virginian Consti tutional Convention (1788), 27. Opposes the United States Con stitution, 27-29. Speeches, in relation thereto, 27- 29. United States Senator, 30-32. Governor of Virginia, 32-35. Suppresses insurrection, 33. Envoy to France, 36-73. Instructions from E. Randolph, Presented to French Convention, 46-51. Aids Lafayette, Paine, and others, 56. Discusses Jay s treaty, 58. Recalled, 61-64. Publishes his "View," 62-66. Its reception, 66-68. Governor of Virginia, 32-35. Envoy to France, Spain, and Eng land, 74-103. Negotiates for cession of Louisi ana, 76, seq. Interview with Bonaparte, 84. Proceeds to England, 93. Visits Madrid, 95. Negotiates a treaty with England, 97. Which is not ratified by Jeffer son, 97. Mission described by Lord Hol land, 98. Returns to America, 101. Is talked of for the Presidency, 102. Becomes Secretary of State, 104. And of \Var, ad interim, 108. And again of War, 119. At the Battle of Bladensburg, 117. His narrative of capture and de fence of Washington, 118-124. Insists on a vigorous prosecution of the war, 124. President of the United States, 125-155. Cabinet of, 126-132. Opponents of, 132. Important subjects of his admin istration, 135. Tours to the North, East, "West, and South, 136-140. Relations to Jackson, 142. Veto of Cumberland lload Bill, 149. Receives Lafayette, 150-155. Monroe Doctrine, origin and enunciation of, .156-174, 249- 250. See Monroe Doctrine. Personal appearance and domes* tic relations of, 175-199. Marriage, 175-178. Financial affairs of, 198, 252. Old age, 200. Retrospect of his life, 200. Estimates of, 209. INDEX. 285 Dominant political idea of, 215. Sketches and favorable estimates by Adams, J. Q., 209. Benton, 210. Calhoun, 210. Lord Holland, 99. Jefferson, 209. Kennedy, J. P., 155. Lafayette, 154, 211. Madison, 209. McLean, J., 209. Lord Stirling, 11. Thiers, 70. Washington, 11, 209. Watson, 185. Webster, D., 210. Wirt, 181. Suggested by a review of his public and private papers, 213. Monroe, James, Bibliography of, by J. F. Jameson, 253. Biographies of, 255. Monroe, James, Letters of, to Joseph Jones, 13, 19, 71, 94. T. Jefferson, 18, 19, 20, 23, 176, 177. John Randolph, 33. Lord Stirling, 12, 16. Governor Harrison, 23. James Madison, 19, 21, 22, 23, 1153, 176, 196. A. Jackson, 28. G. Washington, 55. Barbd Marbois, 86. A private correspondent, 145. His nephew, 179. Monroe James, Presidential mes sages of, 229-252. Principal topics, Amelia Island, 231, 232. Apollo, seizure of the, 237. Capital, public buildings at the, Cherokees, treaty with, 238. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 249. Commerce, regulation of, 237, 243. Commercial relations, 236. Congress, powers of, 239-247. Constitution, powers of, 242, 243. Cumberland Road Bill, veto of, 239, 249 ; exposition of his views on the subject, 239-248. Defence of coast and frontier, 229, 230, 232, 235, 237, 238. Diplomatic relations, 230, 231, 232, 234, 236, 237, 249. District of Columbia, 232, 262. Finance. See National Debt. Financial accounts of, 252. Florida, territorial government, 248. Florida, troubles in, 232. Florida, cession of. See Spain. France, commercial treaty with, 234. France, convention with, 248. Ghent, treaty of, 230, 248. Government, general, and of sepa rate States, 239. Great Britain, convention with, 251. Illinois, admission of, 232. Indians, relations with, 230-232, 236, 251, 252. Internal improvements, 230, 231, 239-248, 250-252. Lafayette, visit of, 250, 251. Massachusetts, claims of, for com pensation, 250, 252. Mississippi, Valley of, defence, 238. " Monroe Doctrine," 249, 250. National debt, 230, 235, 248, 249. Neutrals, rights of, 250, 251. Northwest Boundary, negotiations respecting, 249. Pacific Coast, military station on, 251. Pensions, 230. Privateering, 249. Protection to manufactures, 237. Public lands, sale of, 230, 235. Reciprocity system of 1815, 237. Seminaries of learning, 231. Seminoles, 248. Slave-trade, abolition of, 234, 236, 237, 249-251. South American revolutions, 232, 235, 236, 248, 251. Spain cedes Florida, 233, 234, 236, 238. Spain, relations with, 231-233, 36 Stewart, Commodore, 252. Supreme Court, 251. Taxes, internal, repeal of, 230, 236, 237. Union, prosperity of , 234, 236, 250, 251. West Point, Military Academy, 248. Monroe, John, 5, 218. Monroe, Joseph, 72. Monroe, Mrs. James, 175-178, 182, 183, 194, 195. Monroe, Spence, 4. Monroe s Creek, Virginia, 4. Monroes in Massachusetts, 218. Montesquieu, 152. 286 INDEX. Morris, Gouverneur, 31, 37, G5; passports of, 55. Mulgrave, Lord, 96. "Napoleon I., Correspondance de," quoted, 82, 84. See Bonaparte, N. Nepotism, Monroe s freedom from, 213, 214. Neutrals, violations of the rights of, 96, 250, 251. New Orleans, 73, 75, 78, 88, 90. Nicholas, John, 64. Noland, R. W. N., description of Oak Hill, 219. Noland, W., 220. Northwest boimdary, negotiations respecting, 249. Northwest territory, 24, 90-92. See, also, Louisiana. Oak Hill (Monroe s residence), 194, 199, 200 ; description of, 219, 220. Onis, Luis de, Spanish envoy, 143. Ordinance of 1787, 24, 25. Pacific coast, military station on, 251. Paine, Thomas, 56, Gl, G7, 1G5. Patterson, Miss, 87. Pensions, 230. Perceval, Spencer, 104. Phi Beta Kappa Society, 9. Pichon, M., Gl, G2. Pickering, Timothy, Gl ; answers Monroe, G4. Pinckney, C. C., 61, 62, 65. Pinckney, Thomas, 37. Pinkney, William, Maryland com missioner, 9G ; Minister to Eng land, 9G ; described by Lord Hol land, 98 ; in Madison s cabinet, 104. Pitt, W., death of, 9G. Plumer, W., quoted on origin of Monroe Doctrine, 171. Pope, William, 132. Pownall, Thomas, quoted, 162. Presidency, Monroe s apprehension respecting the permanence of, 27 ; his training for, 216; election, 125 ; reelection, 125 ; dignity of, 155; rival candidates for, 132, 155. Presidential messages, Monroe s, synopsis of, 229. Princeton College, 8. Privateering, 249. Prosser, Thomas, 32. Protection to manufactures, 237. Public lands : see Lands. Quincy, Josiah, 132. Randall s Jefferson, quoted, 18, 170. Randolph, Edmund, 27, 46, 61 ; his instructions to Monroe, 44 ; his criticisms on Monroe, 53. Randolph, John, his friendship and his hostility toward Monroe, 33- 35, 144, 190. Randolph, Peyton, 2. Reciprocity system of 1815, 237. Richmond, armory at, 35. Robespierre, fall of, 45, 54. Rousseau, interment of, 51. Retrospect of Monroe s career, 200. Rhea, letter, 142. Rives, W. C., quoted, 173. Robertson s "Debates," quoted, 27. Robinson, Wm., quoted, 122. Ross and Cockburn, 118. Rush, Richard, 126, 132, 143, 167. Rutledge, 72. Safety, Committee of Public, 52, 58. Sanborn, F. B., quoted, 218. Schouler s " Hist, of United States," quoted, 124, 1GG. Seaboard, Atlantic, defence of, 135. Seminaries of learning, 231. Seminoles, 135, 140-144, 248. Shelby, Governor Isaac, 134. Short, William, letters to, from Jef ferson, 166, 168. Slave-trade, abolition of, 234, 23(5, 237, 249-251. Slavery, 24, 25, 144-147. 215. Smith, Robert, 104. Smith, General, 87, 120. South American States, and revolu tions, 232, 235, 236, 248, 251. Spain yields Louisiana to France, 76, 90 ; cedes Florida to United States, 233, 234, 236, 238 ; Monroe s mis sion to, 85, 95 ; relations with, 231-233, 236. Sparks, Jared, quoted, 19, 64, 6G. State, Secretary of, Monroe, 104. Stamp Act, 5. Stewart, Commodore, 252. Stirling, Lord, 10-12, 16. Sumner, Charles, quoted, 162, 171. Supreme Court of the United States, 251. Swift, Joseph G., 136. Talleyrand, M., negotiations of re specting cession of Louisiana, 74- 90. Taxes, internal, repeal of, 230, 236, 237. INDEX. 287 Thiers, M., quoted, in respect to Monroe, 70. Thompson, Smith, 135. Ticknor, George, quoted, 61. Tompkins, Daniel D. , 125. Tours, Monroe s, to North, West, and South, 136-140. Trade, regulation of, by Congress, 21, 22. Treaty with Cherokees, 238 ; with England (Jay), reception of in France, 5T-G1, 65, 66 ; in the Unit ed States, 63 ; (Monroe and Pink- ney), 96, 97 ; (of Ghent), 144, 230, 248 ; with France (Monroe and Livingston), 74-90; with France (commercial), 234, 248 ; with Spain (Florida purchase), 143, 233-238. Trenton, Battle of, 10, 36. Trenton, Congress at, 18. Tucker, St. George, quoted, 2, 3. Tuley, Mrs., reminiscences quoted, 182. Tuyl, Baron, Adams s conversation with, 169. Union, Monroe s attachment to the, 146, 147 ; possibility of dissolu tion, 28-30, 43, 44, 145, 208 ; pros perity of, 234, 236, 250, 251. University of Virginia, 16, 200. " View of the Conduct of the Execu tive," by Monroe and its recep tion, 64-70, 221. Virginia, Constitutional Conven tions, 17, 27 ; Monroe in Legisla ture of, 17. Virginia, Jeff erson s Notes on, 1 8. Virginia, Monroe Governor of, 17. Waldo s "President s Tour," quoted, 137. Walker, John, 30. War of the Revolution, Monroe s service in, 9-12. War of 1812, Monroe s relations to, 123. War, Seminole, 140. War, danger of, with France, 38-44 ; with Spain, 95. Washburne, E. B., quoted, 48, 50. Washington, British capture of, 118; Monroe s narrative, 119-124. Washington, Bushrod, 5, 9. Washington, George, 2, 4, 9, 20, 29, 30, 37, 52, 55, 64, 125, 194, 213 ; commends Monroe, 11, 209 ; his notes on Monroe s "View," 66; Appendix, on, 221-229; sugges tions on American freedom from European interference, 163, 164; Monroe s attitude toward the ad ministration of, 30, 37, 62, GG, 67. Washington, William, 10. Watson, E. R., personal recollec tions of Monroe, 185-195. Webster, Daniel, 126, 189 ; on Mon roe Doctrine, 173. West, Benjamin, 6. Westmoreland County, Virginia, noteworthy men of, 4, G, 7, 218. West Point, United States Military Academy, 248. White Plains, Battle of, 10. Wilkinson, General, quoted, 10. Williams, J. S., quoted, 118. William and Mary, College of, 7, 9, Williamsburg, Virginia, 8, 9, 13. Winder, General, 11G-124. Wirt, William, 2, 102, 126, 127, 131, 135, 155; sketch of Monroe as Governor, 180, 181, 195. Wolcott, Oliver, quoted, 67. Wythe, George, professor of law at William and Mary, 13-15. Yale College, 8. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 5Jan 60R2 REC D LD UtC 1 1959 JAN 11 1967 60. REC D Rl 1962 TT\OIA en ^ co LD 21A-50m-4, 59 (A1724slO)476B General Library TInivpi fv nf Talif/ Srkeley A G.5 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY **>*.