I have seen Mr. Monroe very often since my arrival: his conduct has been open and candid, and I believe he has made me every communication which he thought would be of service to our country. He undoubtedly felt himself hurt at his being superseded; but I am convinced he has not, on that account, left any thing undone which he thought would promote the objects of my mission. The Directory and Ministers had, for some time before they were informed of his removal, treated him with great coolness; but as soon as they heard of his recall, their attentions to him were renewed. Should this Government attempt to make any further communications to me, through him, he has promised me to inform them that he cannot comply with their desire, as his powers have ceased. I remain, with great respect, &c. [Dec. 15.
Major Rutledge having called on the Minister of Exterior Relations on another affair, and finished, inquired of the Minister if he had heard any thing further from the Directory, in relation to General Pinckney's remaining where he was:
"He answered, with marks of great surprise, that he thought he had already explained himself with sufficient clearness on the subject; that he had signified to General Pinckney, long since, the impossibility of his staying; that he thought he had exercised much "condescendance" in having been so long silent; which he had been induced to do by General Pinckney's having complained of the delay of his baggage, which, he supposed, must, by this time, have arrived from Bordeaux; that, in short, he should be sorry if his further stay should compel him to give information to the Minister of the Police. To this I replied, that General Pinckney had refused to regard himself in any other light than the one in which he had entered France, which had not been in a private capacity, but in a public character; which circumstance had been officially announced to the Directory, by his having delivered to the Minister of Foreign Affairs a copy of his letters of credence and by other acts. That this precluded all laws relative to strangers from operating on him, and put him under the protection of the law of nations, which he claimed in his favor. That Mr. Giraudet had taken leave with a promise to communicate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs the ground which General Pinckney had taken. That he returned again in the evening, and then said, that the Minister would again lay General Pinckney's letter before the Directory, and that their intentions should be made known to him as soon as possible. All this had, no doubt, been faithfully related to him by his secretary. He answered that General Pinckney must have mistaken Mr. Giraudet as to his intention of again laying his letter before the Directory. I told him that it was impossible; for that I had been present at both conversations, in which the material points had passed in English, and been repeated in French. He then said Mr. Giraudet had acted without his authority. I replied, that General Pinckney had, however, waited until this moment in expectation of hearing from him, agreeably to Mr. Giraudet's promise; that he was very far from intending to dispute the will of the Executive Directory; what he wanted was a communication of their wishes in writing. He said that it had already been given. I desired to know when; he answered in the notification which he had made, by their order, to Mr. Monroe; that it had contained their sentiments on Mr. Pinckney's staying, inasmuch as that his not being received, implied that he should depart. I denied that it was a fair deduction; he insisted that it was; I declared that it had not struck General Pinckney or any person with whom he had conversed; but that, however, if such was the construction which he had put upon it, I flattered myself that he could have no objection to throwing his idea upon paper, that General Pinckney might have something more substantial, than the authenticity of the word of his secretary to justify himself to his own Government, for quitting a spot to which he had come in obedience to their orders. The Minister here turned from me with some warmth, and said that he should do no such thing; that General Pinckney might make his own deductions; he desired to have no more communication with him. I only replied by a bow, satisfied to end a conversation which had already lasted near half an hour; during which I had not been admitted to the honor of a seat." [Dec. 26.
The written order to quit the territory of the Republic did not come: General Pinckney would not depart without it: the Police Générale did not molest him; two months elapsed, when Buonaparte having gained a great victory over the Austrians in Italy, the day after the arrival of the news of it in Paris, he received the following notification from the Minister, De la Croix:
"The Executive Directory has charged me to make known to you, that not having obtained special permission to reside at Paris, you are amenable to the law which obliges foreigners to quit the territory of the Republic. I had the honor of informing you near two months ago, by the principal Secretary of my department, of the intentions of the Government in this respect. I cannot dispense with notifying you of them to-day. Receive, sir, &c." [Feb. 1, 1797.
To which General Pinckney immediately returned this answer:
Citizen Minister: I did not receive, until 3 o'clock to-day, your note in date of the 6th inst., informing me that the Directory had charged you to acquaint me, that not having obtained particular permission to reside at Paris, I was subject to the law which obliged strangers to quit the territory of the Republic. I intimated to you some time since, by the Secretary General of your department, and by Major Rutledge, my Secretary, that I deemed a notification of this sort, in writing, from you necessary, previous to my departure. Having now received it, I shall, without delay, prepare to go, and, in the meanwhile, will be obliged to you for the necessary passports for myself and family, with our baggage, to quit the Republic, in my way to Holland. Accept, citizen Minister, &c.
This notification was addressed to "Mr. Pinckney, Anglo-American," upon which designation of his nationality, and the supposed motives for giving the order to depart so suddenly after having been so long delayed, General Pinckney remarks:
I should have made some observation on being termed Anglo-American, but, on inquiry, I found it was customary to call all my countrymen so, to distinguish us from the inhabitants of St. Domingo and the other French West India islands. I have received my passports, and shall, in two days, set out for Amsterdam. I know not what has occasioned this determination of the Directory after having permitted me to remain here so long a time from their refusal to acknowledge me. You will judge whether the answer of the Senate and the House of Representatives to the President's Speech, and the late successes in Italy have not concurred to occasion it. Mr. De la Croix assured Major Rutledge, that he acted by the express orders of the Directory in this particular, and not from himself.
General Pinckney remained in Holland till the autumn of '97, when Messrs. Marshall and Gerry were joined with him in an extraordinary mission, and all three proceeded to Paris. Arrived there, they asked an interview with the Minister of Foreign Relations, now changed to the astute and supple Talleyrand—obtained it—and thus describe it in their dispatch to Mr. Pickering, the Secretary of State: