The rarest treasure our country possesses is the fame of her children; and her noblest legacy to posterity should be the record of those, who by their talents have adorned, and by their wisdom sustained, the pioneers of liberty in their first weak efforts. Of such a class was Mrs. Monroe, whose husband for half a century reaped the reward of his country’s constancy, and filled in that period more important offices than any other man in the United States.
Statesmen in this country are too often forced to give way to politicians, and patriots to demagogues. The perpetual agitations of a Republic carry up on the flood those who in turn are swept down with the tide; while in the commotion many are lost to history. But this is less the case with Virginia statesmen than with any other class of public men. Whatever may be said of the ingratitude of other States, the “Old Mother” has been true to her children, and the caprice and changeableness of younger commonwealths but render her trust and confidence the more conspicuous. And if she has trusted implicitly the integrity of her offspring, she has been rewarded by the love and fidelity of the noblest public men of the nation.
The inauguration of Washington at New York, in 1789, was followed by the immediate assembling of Congress, and thither went Mr. Monroe, as Senator from Virginia, accompanied by Mr. Jefferson, the newly-appointed Secretary of State.
The ancient seat of the Dutch dynasty on this Continent was a place of much wealth; and not the least of its possessions were the bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked descendants of the rich old Patroons, whose delight knew no bounds when their city was chosen as the capital. No less pleased were their fathers who, in their capacities as merchants and capitalists, hoped to achieve new honors and increased wealth.
The festivities which subsequently followed the inauguration were attended by all the members of Congress, who, as strangers of distinction, received the largest share of the young belles’ attention. Prominent among these belles was Miss Elizabeth Kortright, the daughter of Lawrence Kortright, a former captain in the British army. After the peace of 1783, he remained with his family in New York, where his children were reared and educated. Of this interesting family there were one son and four daughters, two of whom, Mrs. Heyliger, of Santa Cruz, whose husband, Mr. Heyliger, had been Grand Chamberlain to the King of Denmark, and Mrs. Knox, were married when Congress assembled in their adopted city. The other daughter was the wife of Nicholas Gouverneur of New York.[[8]]
[8]. The only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Knox married Colonel Alexander Hamilton, son of the statesman, Alexander Hamilton.
Mrs. Monroe’s marriage took place in New York, in 1786, while Mr. Monroe was attending a session of Congress. Soon after their marriage they took up their abode in Philadelphia, whither the seat of the General Government had been removed. In this position he remained until 1794, when he was appointed from the Senate to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France. Thus is shadowed forth the five years of Mrs. Monroe’s life succeeding her marriage. Nothing more definite can be gathered. It is a matter of regret that no biographer of her day anticipated the needs of a coming generation, and transcribed, with all the facts and incidents fresh in his mind, an impartial account of the every-day existence of the woman whose memory appeals now for justice.
Very little was written of her during her life, beyond occasional mention after her husband’s election to the Presidency, nor has any history of his life been written from which to glean even a mention of her name. This is a remarkable fact, that in none of the public libraries of New York or Brooklyn, is there any history of a man who occupied the Presidential chair eight years, and whose record should be the inheritance of his descendants. A brief sketch, written many years ago, is all that was to be found, and there is no mention of his wife in it.
Of dignified and stately manners was Mrs. Monroe, and possessed of a face upon which beauty was written in unmistakable lines. Tall and gracefully formed, polished and elegant in society, she was one fitted to represent her countrywomen at the court of St. Cloud. Her position, as the wife of a wealthy Virginia Senator, surrounded by luxury and prosperity, proud of her husband and of her country, was calculated to enhance the pleasure of a trip to Europe, while the comparative infrequency of a voyage across the Atlantic heightened the pleasure with which she received the announcement of his appointment.
During their residence in Paris, the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Monroe, who afterwards married Judge George Hay, of Richmond, Virginia,[[9]] was a pupil at Madame Campan’s celebrated school, where Hortense Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine, and the future Queen of Holland and mother of Napoleon III., was also a pupil, and between whom there existed a warm friendship.