the matter of the Florida
claims to Monroe. When he presented the demands of his Government to
Cevallos, the Foreign Minister, he was met in turn with a demand for
explanations. What, pray, did his Government mean by this act? To
Pinckney's astonishment, he was confronted with a copy of the Mobile
Act, which Yrujo had forwarded. The South Carolinian replied, in a tone
that was not calculated to soothe ruffled feelings, that he had already
been advised that West Florida was included in the Louisiana purchase
and had so reported to Cevallos. He urged that the two subjects be kept
separate and begged His Excellency to have confidence in the honor and
justice of the United States. Delays followed until Cevallos finally,
declared sharply that the treaty would be ratified only on several
conditions, one of which was that the Mobile Act should be revoked.
Pinckney then threw discretion to the winds and announced that he would
ask for his passports; but his bluster did not change Spanish policy,
and he dared not carry out his threat.

It was under these circumstances that Monroe arrived in Madrid on his
difficult mission. He was charged with the delicate task of persuading
a Government whose pride had been touched to the quick to ratify the
claims convention, to agree to a commission to adjudicate other claims
which it had refused to recognize, to yield West Florida as a part of
the Louisiana purchase, and to accept two million dollars for the rest
of Florida east of the Perdido River. In preparing these extraordinary
instructions, the Secretary of State labored under the hallucination
that Spain, on the verge of war with England, would pay handsomely for
the friendship of the United States, quite forgetting that the real
master of Spain was at Paris.

The story of Monroe's five weary months in Spain may be briefly told. He
was in the unstrategic position of one who asks for everything and can
concede nothing. Only one consideration could probably have forced the
Spanish Government to yield, and that was fear. Spain had now declared
war upon England and might reasonably be supposed to prefer a solid
accommodation with the United States, as Madison intimated, rather than
add to the number of her foes. But Cevallos exhibited no signs of fear;
on the contrary he professed an amiable willingness to discuss every
point at great length. Every effort on the part of the American to reach
a conclusion was adroitly eluded. It was a game