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Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 1 [PRIVATE.] - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. XII (1790-1794) [1891]

Edition used:

The Writings of George Washington, collected and edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890). Vol. XII (1790-1794).

Part of: The Writings of George Washington, 14 vols.

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TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.1

[PRIVATE.]

Philadelphia, 28 January, 1792.

My dear Sir,

Your favor of the 30th of September came duly to hand, and I thank you for the important information contained in it.

The official communications from the secretary of state, accompanying this letter, will convey to you the evidence of my nomination and appointment of you to be minister plenipotentiary for the United States at the court of France; and my assurance, that both were made with all my heart, will, I am persuaded, satisfy you as to that fact. I wish I could add, that the advice and consent flowed from a similar source. Candor forbids it, and friendship requires, that I should assign the causes, as far as they have come to my knowledge.

Whilst your abilities, knowledge in the affairs of this country, and disposition to serve it, were adduced and asserted on one hand; you were charged, on the other hand, with levity and imprudence of conversation and conduct. It was urged, that your habits of expression indicated a hauteur disgusting to those, who happen to differ from you in sentiment; and among a people, who study civility and politeness more than any other nation, it must be displeasing; that in France you were considered as a favorer of aristocracy, and unfriendly to its revolution (I suppose they meant constitution); that, under this impression, you could not be an acceptable public character, of consequence would not be able, however willing, to promote the interest of this country in an essential degree; that in England you indiscreetly communicated the purport of your mission in the first instance to the minister of France, at that court, who, availing himself in the same moment of the occasion, gave it the appearance of a movement through his court; this, and other circumstances of a similar nature, added to a close intercourse with the opposition members, occasioned distrust, and gave displeasure to the ministry, which was the cause, it is said, of that reserve which you experienced in negotiating the business, which had been intrusted to you.

But not to go further into detail, I will place the ideas of your political adversaries in the light, which their arguments have presented them to me, vizt, that the promptitude, with which your lively and brilliant imagination is displayed, allows too little time for deliberation and correction, and is the primary cause of those sallies, which too often offend, and of that ridicule of characters, which begets enmity not easy to be forgotten, but which might easily be avoided, if it was under the control of more caution and prudence; in a word, that it is indispensably necessary, that more circumspection should be observed by our representatives abroad, than they conceive you are inclined to adopt.

In this statement you have the pros and cons. By reciting them I give you a proof of my friendship, if I give none of my policy or judgment. I do it on the presumption, that a mind, conscious of its own rectitude, fears not what is said of it, but will bid defiance to and despise shafts, that are not barbed with accusations against honor or integrity; and because I have the fullest confidence (supposing the allegations to be founded in whole or part) that you would find no difficulty, being apprized of the exceptionable light in which they are viewed, and considering yourself as the representative of this country, to effect a change, and thereby silence, in the most unequivocal and satisfactory manner, your political opponents.

Of my good opinion, and of my friendship and regard, you may be assured, and that I am always your affectionate, &c.1

[1 ]On 22 December, 1791, Washington sent to the Senate the nominations for diplomatic positions: Morris to be minister plenipotentiary at Paris; Thomas Pinckney, at London; and William Short, minister resident at The Hague. Opposition was at once shown to a confirmation, and after three days of debate the following motion was made: “That in the opinion of the Senate, it would not be for the interest of the United States to appoint Ministers Plenipotentiary to reside permanently at foreign courts.” This was amended so as to assert that “The Senate do not possess evidence sufficient to convince them that it will be for the interest,” &c. The message making the nominations was referred (30 December) to a committee composed of Strong, Burr, Lee, Ellsworth, and Gunn, who reported (6 January, 1792) in favor of appointments to London and The Hague, but made no mention of Morris. Taking up the report in detail, the Senate decided that a minister should be sent to London, but on Pinckney being named, postponed the matter. When a motion was made that a “special occasion” existed for a minister at Paris, another motion to adjourn was made, but defeated; and on taking up the original motion it was adopted, 19 to 7: Bradley, Burr, Few, Robinson, Sherman, Strong, and Wingate being the nays. On the 12th of January Morris was put in nomination for the office, and confirmed.

The instructions given by Jefferson to Morris were: “I shall only express our desire, that they [the functions of his office] be constantly exercised in that spirit of sincere friendship and attachment which we bear to the French nation; and that in all transactions with the minister, his good dispositions be conciliated by whatever in language or attentions may tend to that effect. With respect to their government, we are under no call to express opinions which might please or offend any party, and therefore it will be best to avoid them on all occasions, public or private. Could any circumstances require unavoidably such expressions, they would naturally be in conformity with the sentiments of the great mass of our countrymen, who, having first, in modern times, taken the ground of government founded on the will of the people, cannot but be delighted on seeing so distinguished and so esteemed a nation arrive on the same ground, and plant their standard by our side.”—23 January, 1792.

[1 ]Jefferson wrote to Short, 28 January, 1792, that the nomination of Morris “was extremely unpopular, and so little relished by several of the Senate, that every effort was used to negative it. Those whose personal objections to Mr. Morris overruled their deference to the President, finding themselves a minority, joined with another small party who are against all foreign appointments, and endeavored with them to put down the whole system, rather than let this article pass. The plan was defeated, and Mr. Morris passed by a vote of 16 against 11. . . . When the biennial bill furnishing money for the support of the foreign establishment shall come up at the next session, to be continued, the same contest will arise again, and I think it very possible that if the opponents of Mr. Morris cannot remove him otherwise, they will join again with those who are against the whole establishment, and try to discontinue the whole.” The supposed monarchical tendencies of Morris made his appointment very unpalatable to the leading republicans of Virginia, and was interpreted by them as a deliberate insult offered to France.