dressed to the National Convention and to the Committee of Public Safety, the discourse of Citizen Monroe, the response of the President of the Convention, shall be printed in the two languages, French and American, and inserted in the bulletin of correspondence.

ARTICLE III. The flags of the United States of America shall be joined to those of France, and displayed in the hall of the sittings of the Convention, in sign of the union and eternal fraternity of the two people.

Mr. Washburne calls attention to the phrase, "the two languages, French and American,' as illustrating the hatred of the English; and he gives to Secretary Fish the following amusing interpretation of the accolade, based upon his own experience in the new republic.

"For many days," he says, "after I had, by your instructions, recognized the republic, which was proclaimed on the 4th of September, 1870, regiment after regiment of the national guard marched to the legation to make known to our government, through me, their profound appreciation of its prompt action in recognizing the government of the national defence. Forming on the corner of the rue de Chaillot and the avenue Josephine, they would send up cheers and cries of "Vive la République," till I would appear on the balcony to make my acknowledgments. Then some officers of the regiment would be deputed to call upon me in the chambers of the legation, to tender me their personal thanks for my agency in the matter of recognition of their new government, and to give me the fraternal embrace ("accolade "), which

was carried out in letter and spirit, and sometimes much to the amusement of the numerous visitors who were present on the occasion."

A short time after his reception Monroe presented an American flag to the Convention, intrusting its carriage to Captain, afterwards Commodore, Barney, an officer of the United States Navy, with whom Monroe had crossed the Atlantic. Captain Barney made a brief speech on the occasion in the presence of the Convention, received an accolade from the President, and was complimented with a proposal to enter the naval service of France. When the body of Rousseau was deposited in the Pantheon, this flag, borne by young Barney and a nephew of Monroe, preceded the column of Americans. The American minister and his suite, we are told, were the only persons permitted to enter the Pantheon with the National Convention to witness the conclusion of the ceremony.

Several months later (March 6, 1795) Monroe makes this casual mention of the flag in his dispatch:

"I had forgotten to notify you officially the present I had made to the Convention of our flag. It was done in consequence of the order of that body for its suspension in its hall, and an intimation from

the President himself that they had none, and were ignorant of the model."

Near the close of his life Monroe said that when he first arrived in France his situation was the most difficult and painful he had ever experienced. War with the United States was seriously menaced. He tells us that he could make no impression on the Committee of Public Safety, and so he determined to appeal to the real government, the People, through the nominal one, the Convention, and thus fairly bring the cause before the nation. He knew that their object was liberty, and that many French citizens had brought home from America the spirit of our struggle and infused it among their countrymen. At the head of our government stood one who was rightly held in the highest veneration by the French people; and he felt sure that if he brought before them convincing proofs of Washington's good wishes for their success, supported by that of the other branches of our government, the hostile spirit of the French government would be subdued and his official recognition would follow. On this principle he spoke to the Convention with the desired effect. As this address was the subject of severe animadversions at home, and as he was charged with going beyond his instructions, the following extract from a long

be

letter to Judge Jones (April 4, 1794)1 may taken as evidence that the envoy acted according to his understanding of the instructions he had received.

"I inclose you a copy of my address, etc., to the Convention upon my introduction, and of the President's reply. I thought it my duty to lay those papers before the Convention as the basis of my mission, containing the declaration of every department in favor of the French revolution, or implying it strongly. My address, you will observe, goes no farther than the declarations of both houses."

Flattered by his reception in the Convention, Monroe was destined to a profound disappointment when he received a dispatch from home, written by Randolph "in the frankness of friendship," criticising severely the course he had pursued.

"When you left us," said the Secretary of State, "we all supposed that your reception as the minister of the United States would take place in the private chamber of some committee. Your letter of credence contained the degree of profession which the government was desirous of making; and though the language of it would not have been cooled, even if its subsequent publicity had been foreseen, still it was natural to expect that the remarks with which you might accompany its delivery would be merely oral,

1 Gouverneur MSS.

and therefore not exposed to the rancorous criticism of nations at war with France.

"It seems that, upon your arrival, the downfall of Robespierre and the suspension of the usual routine of business, combined, perhaps, with an anxiety to demonstrate an affection for the United States, had shut up for a time the diplomatic cabinet, and rendered the hall of the National Convention the theatre of diplomatic civilities. We should have supposed that an introduction there would have brought to mind these ideas: "The United States are neutral 1; the allied Powers jealous; with England we are now in treaty; by England we have been impeached for breaches of faith in favor of France; our citizens are notoriously Gallican in their hearts; it will be wise to hazard as little as possible on the score of good humor; and, therefore, in the disclosure of my feelings, something is due to the possibility of fostering new suspicions.' Under the influence of these sentiments, we should have hoped that your address to the National Convention would have been so framed as to leave heart-burning nowhere. If private affection and opinions had been the only points to be consulted, it would have been immaterial where

or how they were delivered. But the range of a public minister's mind will go to all the relations of our country with the whole world. We do not perceive that your instructions have imposed upon you the extreme glow of some parts of your address; and my letter in behalf of the House of Representatives, which has been considered by some gentlemen as too