are prone to give them. I think them a kind of paper money, which is not only of little value, but which is not always a reputable, though a legal tender. I solicit yours, as an undoubted bill of exchange, which is gold wherever it goes. Permit me, however, to pursue the mercantile phrase, or metaphor, and honestly to request that you do not give me credit for more than I am worth, lest proving a bankrupt, you be called on by iny creditors.

'I will pray your care of the enclosed to Colonel Humphreys, who, I doubt not, is still with you, and will, I expect, come on with you in the spring. I promised you some Chinese pigs, a promise which I can perform only by halves; but such as I have I will send you; and, to piece and patch the matter as well as I may, in company with the pigs shall be sent a pair of Chinese geese, which are really the foolishest geese I ever beheld, for they choose all times for sitting but the spring, and one of them is now actually engaged in that

business.

'It would be degrading to the noble race of man, should I introduce politics after hogs and geese. This is a tolerable excuse for saying nothing, but the truth is I have nothing to say. I am of the breed of optimists, and believe that all will go well, for you will certainly be seated in the President's chair, and will, I am certain, when there greatly labor to prevent things from going ill. As to the rest, I heartily agree in the text, that "the wisdom of man is foolishness with God," having seen both fools and folly succeed in a most surprising manner. And the only key to such sort of success, that I ever met with, was in a sarcastic remark on three lawyers of New York; Smith given to the study of divinity, Alexander deep in mathematics, and C. deep in nothing. Smith, said the wag, is always in the clouds; Alexander loses himself in angles and triangles; the only sensible man at the bar is C. for he talks nonsense to a common jury.

'Present, I pray you, my sincere respects to Mrs Washington. It is my fervent wish, that neither she nor you may regret

the shades of Mount Vernon. But this is more my wish, than expectation, for I do not believe it possible for you to be more happily placed, at least if I may judge from what I saw and what I felt. I am yours,

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.'

In compliance with this request, General Washington sent him several letters of introduction to persons in England, France, and Holland. He likewise entrusted him with a commission to purchase in Paris a gold watch for his own use, 'not a small, trifling, nor a finical, ornamental one, but a watch well executed in point of workmanship, large and flat, with a plain, handsome key.' In regard to the Presidency, upon which Mr Morris had touched, he adds; 'I have really very little leisure or inclination to enter on the discussion of a subject so unpleasant to me. You may be persuaded, in the first place, that I hope the choice will not fall upon me; and in the second, that, if it should, and I can with any degree of propriety decline, I shall certainly contrive to get rid of the acceptBut if, after all, a kind of inevitable necessity should impel me to a different fate, it will be time enough to yield to its impulse, when it can be no longer resisted.'

ance.

CHAPTER XVIII.

FERSON.

FRENCH
LEANS.

MR MORRIS SAILS FOR EUROPE. ARRIVES IN PARIS.-LAFAYETTE.-JEFMR MORRIS'S DIARY.-EXTRACTS CONCERNING EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION.-MADAME DE CHASTELLUX.-DUTCHESS OF ORMARECHAL DE CASTRIES.-NECKER.-CEREMONY OF OPENING THE STATES GENERAL.-SEGUR.-THE BISHOP D'AUTUN.-MONTMORIN. MADAME DE STAEL.-LETTER TO LAFAYETTE ON A NEW MINISTRY. AFFAIR OF FAVRAS.-MR MORRIS'S NOTE TO THE QUEEN.

THE ship Henrietta, on board of which Mr Morris was embarked for France, passed the Capes of Delaware and put to

sea, on the eighteenth of December. It was a cheerless day, and the shores of his native country receded from his view, under an atmosphere darkened and chilled with snow, sleet, and hail. He kept a journal during the whole voyage, but like most journals at sea, it is little else than a record of the winds and waves, calms, gales, and storms. It establishes the certainty, however, that he had a most disagreeable winter passage of forty days, before the Henrietta entered the port of Havre. He remained there three days, detained by the civilities of friends and arrangements of business.

in particular, beset him with his attentions.

One gentleman, This must,' says

he, certainly be a man of great wealth, great talents, and great integrity, for he has assured us of all this twenty times over. He has given me some advice gratis. He thinks it a great pity, that he is not King, or Minister at least. France would then be well governed, for all her misfortunes flow from the ignorance and cupidity of her rulers, who have done no one wise act these thirty years, and the alliance with America is, it seems, the most foolish part of all her conduct.'

Mr Morris arrived in Paris on the third of February, 1789, and the first persons he sought out were Mr Jefferson, at that time American Minister in France, and the Marquis de Lafayette. These gentlemen engaged him to dine the two succeeding days. Meantime he delivered his letters of introduction, looked out for lodgings, and prepared to establish himself for a residence of considerable duration in Paris. With Lafayette, of course, he had been well acquainted in America. After their first interview on the present occasion, he writes in his Diary; 'Lafayette is full of politics; he appears to be too republican for the genius of his country.' In short, it is as well to premise at the outset, that, from the first day of his arrival in France, Mr Morris showed very little cordiality of sentiment or feeling with the revolutionists; and although some of his connexions of friendship were among the leaders of that party, yet his attachments soon ran into the other channel, and his intimate associates were chiefly in the list of those, who aimed

only at a moderate reform of the old system, but deprecated revolutionary projects and principles. This will appear so manifest at every step we take with him, that it is only necessary here to throw out the hint as a clue, which may conduct the reader to a proper understanding of his opinions, counsels, and acts, as they shall arise in our progress.

6

In the family of Lafayette he was received with that frank and open-handed hospitality, those kind and unaffected civilities, which, from that day to this, have been bestowed upon every American, whose good fortune has given him an opportunity to participate them. Of these Mr Morris himself does not forget to make due acknowledgments. When he dined there, soon after his arrival, he might perhaps be allowed to feel flattered at a trifling incident mentioned in his Diary. After dinner, one of M. de Lafayette's little daughters sang a song for me. It happened to be one of my own composition. Madame is a very agreeable good woman.' But he never would be reconciled to the politics of his friend. When Lafayette showed him a draft of the celebrated Declaration of Rights, which he first proposed to the National Assembly, Mr Morris writes; I gave him my opinions, and suggested several amendments, tending to soften the high colored expressions of freedom. It is not by sounding words, that revolutions are produced.'

From the time of his first arrival in Paris, he kept a Diary of occurrences, so minute and full, that no abridgment, or analysis, can convey to the reader so good an idea of his life in that city, and his observations on passing events, as selections in his own language. In such a journal, there must of course be numerous unimportant particulars, which would neither merit the attention, nor contribute to the interest, of a general reader. Limits must also be prescribed, suitable to the compass of this memoir. Upon these principles, therefore, of comparative value and proportionate extent, the extracts will be made, in chronological order, without regard to a connexion between the topics treated; for indeed the nature

of the materials would render any attempt at such a connexion impracticable.

The Diary seems to have been designed for his private use, rather as a register of his first impressions, and an aid to his reminiscences, than as containing memorials of permanent utility, or for the inspection of others. Candor and justice, therefore, will plead successfully with every reader to regard with indulgence the negligences, or other defects of style, which may be detected in writings of such a character.

'March 1st.-Sup with Madame de la Suse. A small party absorbed in Quinze. Monsieur de B. for want of something else to do, asks me many questions about America, in a manner which shows he cares little for the information. By way of giving him some adequate idea of our people, when he mentioned the necessity of fleets and armies to secure us against invasion, I tell him, that nothing would be more difficult than to subdue a nation, every individual of which, in the pride of freedom, thinks himself equal to a king; and if, Sir, you should look down on him, would say, "I am a man; are you anything more?" "All this is very well; but there must be a difference of ranks, and I should say to one of these people,-You, Sir, who are equal to a king, make me a pair of shoes." " "Our citizens, Sir, have a manner of thinking peculiar to themselves. This shoemaker would reply; Sir, I am very glad of the opportunity to make you a pair of shoes. It is my duty to make shoes, and I love to do my duty. Does your King do his?" This manner of thinking and speaking, however, is too masculine for the climate I am now in.

' March 3d.-Monsieur le Comte de Nenni does me the honor of a visit, and detains me till 3 o'clock. I then set off in great haste to dine with the Comtesse de B. on an invitation of a week's standing. Arrive at about a quarter past three, and find in the drawing room some dirty linen and no fire. While a waiting woman takes away one, a valet lights up the other. Three small sticks in a deep bed of ashes give no great expectation of heat. By the smoke, however, all doubts