advantageous by comparison with the past, had been made with Algiers and
Tripoli; and as Tunisian corsairs had never depredated upon American
commerce, the Mediterranean sea was now opened to the mercantile marine
of the United States.

Such, in brief outline, were the condition and position of the United
States, when Washington retired from public life; yet over the bright
future, discerned by the eye of faith, hung an ominous cloud, growing
blacker and blacker every day. France, haughty, imperious, dictatorial,
and ungenerous, had severed with ruthless hand the bond of friendship
between itself and the United States, and had cut the tether of legal
restraint which kept her corsairs from depredating upon American
commerce. Her course, unjust and unwise, indicated inevitable war,
unless she should draw back, for peace with her could not be maintained
with honor upon terms which her insolence dictated. Her government had
declared, on the recall of Monroe, that no other minister from the
United States should be received until that power should fully redress
the grievances of which the republic complained; and Pinckney, whose
letter of credence declared that he had been sent "to maintain that good
understanding which, from the commencement of the alliance, had
subsisted between the two nations, and to efface unfounded impressions,
banish suspicions, and restore that cordiality which was at once the
evidence and pledge of a friendly union," was not received.

Pinckney was not only denied a reception, but was ordered to quit the
territory of France. He claimed the right to a passport and safe escort,
but these were denied, while measures for his expulsion were not put
into operation. In that position he remained some time. Meanwhile,
Monroe, unmindful of the insult offered to his country in the person of
its accredited representative, instead of leaving France indignantly
himself, consented to play a part in another scene more unworthy of him
than that enacted at his reception. The Directory, evidently for the
purpose of treating the United States government with contempt, decreed
a formal audience to Monroe, to present his letters of recall and to
take his leave. On that occasion, Monroe warmly acknowledged "the
important services rendered by France to America;" congratulated the
republic on its victories, and the excellence of its constitution; and
expressed his earnest wishes that a close union and perfect harmony
migh