1 Paine had already prepared his "Maritime Compact," and
devised the Rainbow Flag, which was to protect commerce, the
substance and history of which constitutes his Seventh
Letter to the People of the United States, Chapter XXXIII.
of the present volume. He sent the articles of his proposed
international Association to the Minister of Foreign
Relations, Talleyrand, who responded with a cordial letter.
The articles of "Maritime Compact," translated into French
by Nicolas Bouneville, were, in 1800, sent to all the
Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Europe, and to the
ambassadors in Paris.—Editor.,
XXX. THE RECALL OF MONROE. (1)
1 Monroe, like Edmund Randolph and Thomas Paine, was
sacrificed to the new commercial alliance with Great
Britain. The Cabinet of Washington were entirely hostile to
France, and in their determination to replace Monroe were
assisted by Gouverneur Morris, still in Europe, who wrote to
President Washington calumnies against that Minister. In a
letter of December 19, 1795, Morris tells Washington that he
had heard from a trusted informant that Monroe had said to
several Frenchmen that "he had no doubt but that, if they
would do what was proper here, he and his friends would turn
out Washington." On July 2, 1796, the Cabinet ministers,
Pickering, Wolcott, and Mo-Henry, wrote to the President
their joint opinion that the interests of the United States
required Monroe's recall, and slanderously connected him
with anonymous letters from France written by M.
Montflorence. The recall, dated August 22, 1796, reached
Monroe early in November. It alluded to certain "concurring
circumstances," which induced his removal, and these "hidden
causes" (in Paine's phrase) Monroe vainly demanded on his
return to America early in 1797. The Directory, on
notification of Monroe's recall, resolved not to recognize
his successor, and the only approach to an American Minister
in Paris for the remainder of the century was Thomas Paine,
who was consulted by the Foreign Ministers, De la Croix and
Talleyrand, and by Napoleon. On the approach of C. C.
Pinckney, as successor to Monroe, Paine feared that his
dismissal might entail war, and urged the Minister (De la
Croix) to regard Pinckney,—nominated in a recess of the
Senate,—as in "suspension" until confirmed by that body.
There might be unofficial "pourparlers," with him. This
letter (State Archives, Paris, États Unis, vol. 46, fol. 425)
was considered for several days before Pinckney reached
Paris (December 5, 1796), but the Directory considered that
it was not a "dignified" course, and Pinckney was ordered to
leave French territory, under the existing decree against
foreigners who had no permit to remain.—Editor..
Paris, Sept. 27, 1797. Editors of the Bien-in formé.
Citizens: in your 19th number of the complementary 5th, you gave an analysis of the letters of James Monroe to Timothy Pickering. The newspapers of Paris and the departments have copied this correspondence between the ambassador of the United States and the Secretary of State. I notice, however, that a few of them have omitted some important facts, whilst indulging in comments of such an extraordinary nature that it is clear they know neither Monroe's integrity nor the intrigues of Pitt in this affair.
The recall of Monroe is connected with circumstances so important to the interests of France and the United States, that we must be careful not to confound it with the recall of an ordinary individual. The Washington faction had affected to spread it abroad that James Monroe was the cause of rupture between the two Republics. This accusation is a perfidious and calumnious one; since the main point in this affair is not so much the recall of a worthy, enlightened and republican minister, as the ingratitude and clandestine manoeuvering of the government of Washington, who caused the misunderstanding by signing a treaty injurious to the French Republic.
James Monroe, in his letters, does not deny the right of government to withdraw its confidence from any one of its delegates, representatives, or agents. He has hinted, it is true, that caprice and temper are not in accordance with the spirit of paternal rule, and that whenever a representative government punishes or rewards, good faith, integrity and justice should replace the good pleasure of Kings.
In the present case, they have done more than recall an agent. Had they confined themselves to depriving him of his appointment, James Monroe would have kept silence; but he has been accused of lighting the torch of discord in both Republics. The refutation of this absurd and infamous reproach is the chief object of his correspondence. If he did not immediately complain of these slanders in his letters of the 6th and 8th [July], it is because he wished to use at first a certain degree of caution, and, if it were possible, to stifle intestine troubles at their birth. He wished to reopen the way to peaceful negotiations to be conducted with good faith and justice.
The arguments of the Secretary of State on the rights of the supreme administration of the United States are peremptory; but the observations of Monroe on the hidden causes of his recall are touching; they come from the heart; they are characteristic of an excellent citizen. If he does more than complain of his unjust recall as a man of feeling would; if he proudly asks for proofs of a grave accusation, it is after he has tried in vain every honest and straightforward means. He will not suffer that a government, sold to the enemies of freedom, should discharge upon him its shame, its crimes, its ingratitude, and all the odium of its unjust dealings.