Philadelphia, 18 April, 1793 I. Shall a proclamation issue for the purpose of preventing interferences of the citizens of the United States in the war between France and Great Britain &c.? Shall it contain a declaration of neutrality or not? What shall it contain? II. Shall a minister from the Republic of France be received? III. If received, shall it be absolutely or with qualifications; and if with qualifications, of what kind? IV. Are the United States obliged by good faith to consider the treaties heretofore made with France as applying to the present situation of the parties? May they either renounce them, or hold them suspended till the government of France shall be established? V. If they have the right, is it expedient to do either, and which? VI. If they have an option, would it be a breach of neutrality to consider the treaties still in operation? VII. If the treaties are to be considered as now in operation, is the guarantee in the treaty of alliance applicable to a defensive war only, or to war either offensive or defensive? VIII. Does the war in which France is engaged appear to be offensive or defensive on her part? Or of a mixed and equivocal character? IX. If of a mixed and equivocal character, does the guarantee in any event apply to such a war? X. What is the effect of a guarantee such as that to be found in the treaty of alliance between the United States and France? XI. Does any article in either of the treaties prevent ships of war, other than privateers, of the powers opposed to France from coming into the ports of the United States to act as convoys to their own merchantmen ? XII. Should the future regent of France send a minister to the United States, ought he to be received? XIII. Is it necessary or advisable to call together the two Houses of Congress, with a view to the present posture of European affairs? Jefferson drew up the following memorandum of the replies to these questions: At a meeting of the heads of departments and the attorneygeneral at the President's, April 19, 1793, to consider the foregoing questions proposed by the President, it was determined by all, on the first question, that a proclamation shall issue forbidding our citizens to take part in any hostilities on the seas, with or against any of the belligerent powers; and warning them against carrying to any such powers any of those articles deemed contraband, according to the modern usage of nations; and enjoining them from all acts and proceedings inconsistent with the duties of a friendly nation towards those at war. On the second question, "Shall a minister from the Republic of France be received?" it was unanimously agreed, that he shall be received. The remaining questions were postponed for further consideration. President Washington accordingly issued the following proclamation: Whereas it appears, that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands, on the one part, and France on the other [see p. 196, note 2]; and the duty and interest of the United States require, that they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial towards the belligerent powers; I have therefore thought fit by these presents to declare the disposition of the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid towards those powers respectively, and to exhort and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever, which may in any manner tend to contravene such disposition. And I do hereby also make known, that whosoever of the United States shall render himself liable to punishment or forfeiture under the laws of nations, by committing, aiding, or abetting hostilities against any of the said powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles, which are deemed contraband 49. The 1798 [170] by the modern usage of nations, will not receive the protection of the United States against such punishment or forfeiture; and further that I have given instructions to those officers, to whom it belongs, to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all persons, who shall within the cognizance of the courts of the United States violate the law of nations with respect to the powers at war, or any of them. In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 22d day of April, 1793, and of the independence of the United States of America the seventeenth. When on top of the Neutrality Proclamation, Washington's government negotiated the Jay treaty with England (1794), the French Jacobins were persuaded that we were hostile to their new republic. Their indignation was further roused when the ardent republican minister, James Monroe, was recalled by Washington in the summer of 1796 for overstepping his instructions "to show our confidence in the French Republic, without betraying the most remote mark of undue complaisance." The ill feeling reached its culmination when the French Directory insulted 1 W. H. Trescott, The Diplomatic History of the Administrations of Washington and Adams, p. 151. Trescott prints (p. 177) the letter written by the Directory (the executive officials of France under the Constitution of 1795-1799) to Monroe when he was recalled. It is dated December 11, 1796, and informs Monroe that the Directors "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." The "grievance" was the negotiation of the Jay treaty, which the French looked on as the annulment of their treaty of 1778 with the United States. When Monroe returned to America he published a long pamphlet in vindication of his conduct as Minister at Paris, which he called "A View of the Conduct of the Executive . . . connected with the mission to the French Republic during the years 1794, 5 and 6." Monroe, Writings, ed. S. M. Hamilton, Vol. III, pp. 383-457 the commissioners whom President Adams sent to Paris in 1797 to attempt to restore amity. The story is told in the following dispatch from the commissioners at Paris to the Secretary of State, which was communicated to Congress by President Adams on March 3, 1798: Dear Sir: Paris, October 22, 1797 All of us having arrived at Paris, on the evening of the 4th instant, on the next day we verbally and unofficially informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs therewith, and desired to know when he would be at leisure to receive one of our secretaries with the official notification. He appointed the next day, at two o'clock, when Major Rutledge waited on him with the following letter: Citizen Minister: The United States of America being desirous of terminating all differences between them and the French Republic ... the President has nominated, and, by and with the consent of the Senate, has appointed us, the undersigned... Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the French Republic, for the purpose of accomplishing this great object. . . . We wish, Citizen Minister, to wait on you at any hour you will be pleased to appoint, to present the copy of our letters of credence; and whilst we evince our sincere and ardent desire for the speedy restoration of friendship and harmony between the two Republics, we flatter ourselves with your concurrence in the accomplishment of this desirable event. . . . Paris, October 6 Charles C. Pinckney To this letter the Minister gave a verbal answer that he would see us the day after the morrow (the 8th) at one o'clock. Accordingly at that day and hour we waited on the Minister at his house. . . . He informed us "that the Directory had required him to make a report relative to the situation of the United States with regard to France, which would be finished in a few days, when he would let us know what steps were to follow." . . . The next day cards of hospitality were sent us and our secretaries, in a style suitable to our official character. . . . In the morning of October the 18th, M. W1 called on General Pinckney and informed him that a M. X who was in Paris, and whom the General had seen was a gentleman of considerable credit and reputation and that we might place great reliance on him. In the evening of the same day, M. X called on General Pinckney, and after having sat some time whispered to him that he had a message from M. Talleyrand to communicate when he was at leisure. General Pinckney said that he should be glad to hear it. M. X replied that the Directory, and particularly two of the members of it, were exceedingly irritated at some passages of the President's Speech,2 and desired that they should be softened, and that this step would be necessary previous to our reception. That, besides this, a sum of money was required for the pocket of the Directory and Ministers which would be at the disposal of M. Talleyrand; and that a loan would also be insisted on. M. X said that if we acceded to these measures, M. Talleyrand had no doubt that all our differences with France might be accommodated. On inquiry, M. X could not point out the particular passages of the Speech that had given offence, nor the quantum of the loan, but mentioned that the douceur for the pocket, was 1,200,000 livres, about 50,000 pounds sterling. . . On the morning of the 20th M. X called and said that M. Y, the confidential friend of M. Talleyrand, instead of communicating with us through M. X, would see us himself and make 1 The names of the agents who dealt with our Commissioners were given in the report from Paris, but Secretary of State Pickering withheld them in the documents he submitted to Congress, supplying their places by the letters W, X, Y, and Z. The M. before these letters in the text stands for the French word Monsieur (Mr.). 2 The speech to the special session of Congress, convened May 16, 1797. In it Adams reviews the behavior of France, and says that it "ought to be repelled with a decision which shall convince France and the world that we are not a degraded people, humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear, and sense of inferiority, fitted to be the miserable instruments of foreign influence, and regardless of national honor, character, and interest." — Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. I, p. 235. |