"John Marshall. the Senate, President Adams stated that in the critical and singular circumstances then existing, it was of great importance to en gage the confidence of the great portions of the Union in the character of the persons em ployed and the measures to be adopted; and he had therefore adopted the expedient to nominate persons of talent and integrity long known and interested in the, three great di visions of the country. . . . When the Ministers presented themselves at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, the Secretary rudely refused to receive them, and they found themselves in the midst of the revolution, unprotected, exposed to vio lence, and subject to contumely and insult. Talleyrand demanded what he was pleased to call a "gratification" of $250,000 for himself, and a loan to the Directory of 32,000,000 Dutch florins as the price of the privilege of entering upon negotiations. For months he kept the ambassadors in suspense, while he and his agents again and again repeated these demands. The answer of the Americans to every one was, "No, no; not a sixpence." Two letters were addressed to the rapacious Secretary, evidently from the pen of Mar shall, in which the course of this country was powerfully defended and that of the Di rectory arraigned. The Commissioners at last abandoned their mission, received their passports, and Pinckney and Marshall re turned home. In their dispatches to the gov ernment they set forth the obloquy to which our country had in their persons been subjected, and did so in a manner so clear, so moderate, and at the same time so impress ive, that when the President, in a powerful message, communicated them to Congress, the halls of the two Houses and the whole country rang with one cry at the indignities which every citizen felt in his own person. Marshall landed in New York on the I7th of Tune, 1798, and reached Philadelphia, the seat of government, two days afterwards. His entrance into the city was a triumphal proces sion. He was escorted by the military and great crowds of his countrymen. Many of
the most eminent citizens paid him their re spects, and public addresses were presented to him animated by sentiments of the highest respect and affection. A public dinner was given to him by members of both Houses of Congress as an evidence of affection for his person, and of their grateful approbation of the patriotic firmness with which he had sus tained the dignity of his country during his important mission; and the country at large responded with one voice to the sentiment pronounced at this celebration, "Millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute." 1 IN CONGRESS.
Soon after [his return from France] Mar shall, in company with Bushrod Washing ton, visited Mount Vernon at the invitation of General Washington, who sought that opportunity of urging them to become can didates for Congress in their respective dis tricts. An amusing incident of the visit has been given, as follows: — "They came on horseback, and for convenience had be stowed their wardrobes in the same pair of saddle-bags, each party occupying his side. On their arrival at Mount Vernon, wet to the skin by a shower of rain, they were shown into a chamber to change their garments. One unlocked his side of the bag and the first thing he drew forth was a black bottle of whiskey. He insisted that this was his companion's repository; but, on unlocking the other there was found a huge twist of tobacco, a few pieces of cornbread and the complete equipment of a waggoner's packsaddle. They had exchanged saddlebags with some traveler on the way, and finally made their appearance in borrowed clothes, that fitted them most ludicrously. The Gen eral was highly diverted and amused himself with anticipating the dismay of the wag goner, when he discovered this oversight of the men of law." — (Poulding.1) Both gentlemen yielded to the importuni ties of their venerable friend and became candidates. During the campaign, which 1 Honorable James M. Woohvorth.
