Arriving at Paris the 5th of December 1796, he immediately waited on the Minister of Exterior Relations (Citizen Charles De la Croix) in company with Mr. Monroe, according to an appointment previously made, and had an interview with him; of which he gives this account in a dispatch to Mr. Pickering, Secretary of State: (Extracts only are given.)
Mr. Monroe and myself, with my secretary, Major Rutledge, about two o'clock, waited upon M. De la Croix, and I was introduced by Mr. Monroe as the person appointed as his successor. The Minister at first received us with great stiffness, but afterwards, on our conversing on some general subjects, he unbent and behaved with civility; and, on receiving the official copies of our letter of credence and recall, said he would deliver them, without delay, to the Directory. He desired Major Rutledge to let him have our names of baptism, and our ages, that cards of hospitality might be made out, which he said were necessary to reside here unmolested. This requisition was immediately complied with, and he promised to send the cards the next morning. When this interview was known, the reports which had been spread abroad before my arrival, of my not being received by the Directory, vanished, and the general idea seemed to be that there would be no objection to receive me as Minister from America. At 11 o'clock, on Monday, December 12, Mr. Prevost (Mr. Monroe's secretary) called upon me, and told me that Mr. Monroe had just received a letter from M. De la Croix, and desired to know if I had received one. I said no. He then showed me M. De la Croix's to Mr. Monroe, which was as follows: [Date, Dec. 9.
Citizen Minister: I hasten to lay before the Executive Directory the copies of your letters of recall, and of the letter of credence of Mr. Pinckney, whom the President of the United States has appointed to succeed you, in the quality of Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States near the French Republic. The Directory has charged me to notify you "that it will not acknowledge nor receive another Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States, until after the redress of the grievances demanded of the American Government, and which the French Republic has a right to expect from it." [Date, Dec. 11.
I waited until next morning, expecting to receive a notification from M. De la Croix, when, not hearing from him, I wrote him the following letter:
Citizen Minister: Colonel Monroe has been so good as to communicate to me your letter to him of the 21st Frimaire, wherein you inform him that you had submitted to the Executive Directory his letters of recall, and my letters of credence as Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, and that the Directory had instructed you to notify him "qu'il ne reconnoitra et ne recevra plus de Ministre Plenipotentiaire des Etats Unis jusqu'après le redressement des griefs demandé au Gouvernement Americain, et que la République Françoise est en droit d'en attendre." [That it will not acknowledge nor receive any Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States, until after the redress of the grievances demanded of the American Government, and which the French Republic has a right to expect from it.] This communication has filled me with real sorrow, as I am thoroughly convinced that the sentiments of America and its Government—for they are one—are misunderstood, and that I am not permitted even to attempt to explain them, or, in the terms of my letters of credence, to endeavor "to efface unfavorable impressions, to banish suspicions, and to restore that cordiality which was at once the evidence and pledge of a friendly union." Devoted, as I am, to the liberty, prosperity, and independence of my own country, the freedom, happiness, and perfect establishment of the French Republic, have always been dear to me, and to have been instrumental in cementing the good understanding which, from the commencement of their alliance, has subsisted between the two nations, would have been the height of my ambition. I most fervently pray that there may be a speedy and candid investigation of those points in which you differ from us, that affection may banish distrust, and that the alliance of the two Republics may be perpetual.
In your letter to Colonel Monroe you do not desire him to make any communication to me, and I am indebted to his politeness for the knowledge I have of the intentions of the Directory. I submit to you, citizen Minister, that, as the letters of recall had been received by Mr. Monroe, and official copies of his letters of recall, and my letters of credence, had been delivered to you, that the sentiments of the Directory should be communicated by you immediately to me, that I may, without delay, transmit them as from the Executive of this Republic to the Government of the United States; and that I may be informed by you, whether it is the intention of the Directory that I should immediately quit the territories of the Republic, or whether I and my family may remain until I hear from my Government. As I have not received the cards which, in your interview, you said I ought to possess in order to enable me to reside here, and that they should be transmitted to me next morning, I am the more doubtful on this subject than I should otherwise be. Accept my best wishes. [Dec. 13.
This letter I sent by Major Rutledge, who delivered it to M. De la Croix, and made the following report of what passed between them, which he immediately reduced to writing:
"I this day waited upon M. De la Croix, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, at two o'clock, as bearer of a letter from General Pinckney. I was admitted immediately on sending in my name, and delivered the letter. Having informed him from whom it came, and that there was a French translation annexed, he opened it and proceeded to read the letter in my presence, which, when he had finished, he desired me to return to General Pinckney as his answer: That the Executive Directory knew of no Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, since the presentation of Mr. Monroe's letters of recall, and that the Executive Directory had charged him to notify to Mr. Monroe (here he read the quotation contained in the letter) qu'il ne reconnoitra et ne recevra plus de Ministre Plenipotentiaire des Etats Unis, jusqu'après le redressement des griefs demandé au Gouvernement Americain, et que la République Françoise est en droit d'en attendre. Which notification the Directory relied upon Mr. Monroe's imparting to his own Government, as well as communicating to General Pinckney."
On the 25th of Frimaire, (15th of December,) about three o'clock in the afternoon, a Mr. Giraudet called on me, and said he was chief secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs; that he came on the part of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to signify to me that, with respect to my letter to him, (which he produced, together with the translation,) he could not directly communicate with me on it, as such direct communication would be acknowledging me as Minister, when the Directory had determined not to receive me; that, as to the other part of my letter, relative to remaining here, that he supposed I was acquainted with the laws of France, as they applied to strangers. I told him that I was not acquainted with the local laws of the Republic; he said that there was a decree which prevented all foreigners from remaining at Paris without particular permission, which, as the Directory did not mean to grant to me, of course the general law would operate. I answered, that I could not conceive the having a direct communication with me would involve the consequences he stated; that if Mr. Monroe had died before my arrival, the information that they would not acknowledge me, must, of course, have been made to myself. Mr. Monroe having received his letter of recall from our Government, could not now act officially any more than if he had ceased to exist; that I was indebted to Mr. Monroe's politeness for the information I had received of the intention of the Directory not to acknowledge me, but that he had not intended it as an official communication. That, with regard to the laws of France relative to strangers, the law which he had cited did not apply to the requisition of my letter, which was to know whether it was the intention of the Directory that I should quit the territories of the Republic; or whether I might remain here until I should hear from my Government. He said he rather believed that it was the intention that I should quit the territories of the Republic; but, as it admitted of a doubt, he would mention it to the Minister, with whom he was to dine, and acquaint me with the result in the evening. I told him I should be obliged to him, should it be the intention of the Directory that I should quit the Republic, to inform me in what time I was to set out, as my baggage was not arrived from Bordeaux; that I meant not to ask any personal favor, but to have the intention of the Directory clearly expressed, as it related to me, in the situation in which I came to France. He said he would, and expressed a regret at being the bearer of disagreeable information, and then departed. His behavior and manners were very polite.
In the evening, about eight o'clock, he returned, and informed me that, in answer to the doubt which had been entertained in the morning, (a doubt, he observed, which had proceeded from his own inattention to the words of M. De la Croix,) the Minister could only reply that he understood the Directory to mean the territory of the Republic, and not Paris alone, which was to be quitted; that as to the time in which it was necessary to depart, the Minister could not designate it, but that he would have another communication with the Directory, and that their intentions should be made known to me in a more explicit manner upon both points; that, at the same time, he must inform me that, in all probability, M. De la Croix would not be the organ through which they would be addressed, as the Minister of the Police Générale would be the officer under whose department my case would come. I replied that I apprehended M. De la Croix was the proper organ through which information should come to me, as he knew the capacity in which I had come to France; whereas, the Minister of Police might regard me as a mere stranger, and throw me into confinement; that it was in the power of the Directory to receive me, or not: but they could not divest themselves of the knowledge which they had of the public character in which I came to France; and that, in that character, I was entitled to the protection of the laws of nations, whether the Directory received me or not. If they permitted me to remain until I heard from my Government, I was under the protection of those laws; if they ordered me to quit the territories of the Republic, I was still entitled to letters of safe conduct, and passports on my journey out; that this was the case even with Ministers of belligerent powers, much more ought it to apply between us, who were at peace. Since this conversation, I have not heard from the Directory, or any of the Ministers or their agents. My situation, as you may easily conceive, is unpleasant; but if I can ultimately render any services to my country, I shall be fully compensated: at all events, it shall be my study to avoid increasing the discontent of this Government, without committing the honor, dignity, and respect due to our own. Should I fail in doing this, or should I err in the measures I pursue to accomplish it, the failing will not be in my zeal, but should be charged to my want of ability. At present, I think the ground I have taken has puzzled them: they wish me gone, but they apprehend that it would be too harsh a measure to send off, in a peremptory manner, the Minister of my country; though there is no saying what their conduct will ultimately be, as I am informed that they have already sent off thirteen foreign Ministers: and a late emigrant, now here, has assured them that America is not of greater consequence to them, nor ought to be treated with greater respect, than Geneva or Genoa. Those who regard us as being of some consequence, seem to have taken up an idea that our Government acts upon principles opposed to the real sentiments of a large majority of our people, and they are willing to temporize until the event of the election of President is known; thinking that, if one public character is chosen, he will be attached to the interest of Great Britain; and that, if another character is elected, he will be (to use the expression of Du Pont de Nemours, in the Council of Ancients) devoted to the interest of France; entertaining the humiliating idea that we are a people divided by party, the mere creatures of foreign influence, and regardless of our national character, honor, and interest.