1795.

CHAP VIII. The answer reported by the committee, contained a declaration, that the confidence of his fellow citizens in the chief magistrate, remained undiminished.

On a motion, to strike out the words importing this sentiment, it was averred, that the clause as it stood asserted an untruth. It was not true. that the confidence of the people in the president was undiminished. By a recent transaction it had been considerably impaired; and some gen. tlemen declared that their own confidence in him was lessened.

By the friends of the administration, the motion was opposed with great zeal, and the opinion that the confidence of the people in their chief magistrate remained unshaken, was maintained with ardor. But they were outnumbered.

To avoid a direct vote on the proposition, it was moved, that the address should be recommitted. This motion succeeded, and, two members being added to the committee, an answer was reported in which the clause objected to was so modified as to be free from exception.

That part of the speech which mentioned the treaty with Great Britain, was alluded to in terms which, though not directly expressive of disapprobation, were sufficiently indicative of the prevailing sentiment.

Early in the month of January, the president transmitted to both houses of congress, a message, accompanying certain communications from the French government which were well calculated to cherish those ardent feelings that prevailed in the legislature.

It was the fortune of Mr. Monroe to reach Paris CHAP.VIII. soon after the death of Robespierre and the fall of 1795. the jacobins. On his reception as the minister of the United States, which was public and in the convention, he gave free scope to the genuine feelings of his heart; and, at the same time, delivered to the president of that body, with his credentials, two letters addressed by the secretary of state to the committee of public safety. These letters were answers to one written by the committee of safety to the congress of the United States. The executive department being the organ through which all foreign intercourse was to be conducted, each branch of the legislature had passed a resolution directing this letter to be transmitted to the president, with a request, that he would cause it to be answered in terms expressive of their friendly dispositions towards the French republic.

So fervent were the sentiments expressed on this occasion, that the convention decreed that the flag of the American and French republics should be united together, and suspended in its own hall, in testimony of eternal union and friendship between the two people. To evince the impression made on his mind by this act, and the grateful sense of his constituents, Mr. Monroe presented to the convention the flag of the United States, which he prayed them to accept as a proof of the sensibility with which his country received every act of friendship from its ally, and of the pleasure with which it cherished every incident which tended to cement and consolidate the union between the two nations

CHAP. VIII.

Mr. Adet

succeeds Mr. Fauchet.

1796.

Disregarding the provisions of the American constitution, although their attention must have been particularly directed to them by the circumstance that the letter to congress was referred by that body to the executive, the committee of safety again addressed the legislature in terms adapted to that department of government which superintends its foreign intercourse, and expressive among other sentiments of the sensibility with which the French nation had perceived those sympathetic emotions, with which the American people had viewed the vicissitudes of her fortune. Mr. Adet, who was to succeed Mr. Fauchet at Philadelphia, and who was the bearer of this letter, also brought with him the colours of France, which he was directed to present to the United States. He arrived in the summer; but, probably in the idea that these communications were to be made by him directly to congress, he did not announce them to the executive until late in December.

The first day of the new year 1796, was named for their reception, when the colours were delivered to the president, and the letter to congress also placed in his hands.

In executing this duty, Mr. Adet addressed to the president a speech which, in the glowing language of his country, represented France as struggling, not only for her own liberty, but for that of the human race. "Assimilated to, or rather identified with free people by the form of her government, she saw in them," he said, "only friends and brothers. Long accustomed to regard the American people as her most faithful

allies, she sought to draw closer the ties already CHAP. VIII. formed in the fields of America, under the auspi- 1796. ces of victory, over the ruins of tyranny."

To answer this speech was a task of some delicacy. It was necessary to express feelings adapted to the occasion, without implying sentiments with respect to the belligerent powers, which might be improper to be used by the chief magistrate of a neutral country. With a view to both these objects, the president made the following reply,

"Born, sir, in a land of liberty; having early learned its value; having engaged in a perilous conflict to defend it; having, in a word, devoted the best years of my life to secure its permanent establishment in my own country; my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, and my best wishes are irresistibly attracted, whensoever, in any country, I see an I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom. But above all, the events of the French revolution have produced the deepest solicitude, as well as the highest admiration. To call your nation brave, were to pronounce but common praise. Wonderful people! ages to come will read with astonishment the history of your bril. liant exploits. I rejoice that the period of your toils and of your immense sacrifices is approaching. I rejoice that the interesting revolutionary movements of so many years have issued in the forma tion of a constitution* designed to give permanency

Subsequent to the mission of Mr. Adet, but previous to this time, the revolutionary government which succeeded the abolition of monarchy had yielded to a constitution of the republican form.

CHAP. VIII. to the great object for which you have contended. 1796. I rejoice that liberty, which you have so long embraced with enthusiasm,...liberty, of which you have been the invincible defenders, now finds an asylum in the bosom of a regularly organized government ;...a government which, being formed to secure the happiness of the French people, corresponds with the ardent wishes of my heart, while it gratifies the pride of every citizen of the United States by its resemblance to their own. On these glorious events, accept, sir, my sincere congratulations.

"In delivering to you these sentiments, I express not my own feelings only, but those of my fellow citizens in relation to the commencement, the progress, and the issue of the French revolution and they will certainly join with me in purest wishes to the Supreme Being, that the citizens of our sister republic, our magnanimous allies, may soon enjoy in peace, that liberty which they have purchased at so great a price, and all the happiness that liberty can bestow.

"I receive, sir, with lively sensibility, the symbol of the triumphs, and of the infranchisements of your nation, the colours of France, which you have now presented to the United States. The transaction will be announced to congress, and the colours will be deposited with the archives of the United States, which are at once the evidence and the memorials of their freedom and independence; may these be perpetual! and may the friendship of the two republics be commensurate with their existence."