1831.] 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



579 



of Captain Washington: and, on the fall 

 of his superior, he was called upon to 

 assume the command. He was wounded 

 in the engagement, while charging two 

 pieces of tlie enemy's artillery. After- 

 wards, he was attached to the staiF of 

 •General Lord Stirling, with the rank of 

 Major; and he fought by the side of 

 Lafayette when that officer was wounded 

 at the battle of Brandj'wine. He was 

 subsequently promoted to the rank of 

 Colonel; but, before his regiment was 

 completed, the war had ceased. 



Peace having thus terminated his mili- 

 tary career, he returned to his original 

 profession at the bar ; but he was almost 

 immediately again delegated to Con- 

 gress ; and his election to that body was 

 annually repeated, nearly without an 

 interval, during ten years. In 1785, 

 while Congress was sitting at New York, 

 he formed a matrimonial connection with 

 a young lady, the graces of whose person 

 and conversation were, years afterwards, 

 the theme of admiration of both Paris 

 and London. 



In 1794, ]Mr. Monroe was appointed 

 ambassador of the United States to the 

 French llepublic ; and, on the 15th of 

 August, he was introduced, in that cha- 

 racter, to the National Convention. He 

 arrived in France during a season of 

 great difficulty and delicacy; and, after 

 two )'ea.-s' residence in Paris, he was ac- 

 cused, by the Washington administra- 

 tion, of being too complaisant to the 

 overbearing temper of the French Di- 

 rectory, and he was recalled under strong 

 marks of censure. Mr. Monroe reached 

 America in 1797? and demanded from 

 the secretary of state a declaration in 

 writing of the motives which induced 

 his recal. Great political clamour at 

 this time prevailed. Washington had 

 placed himself at the head of the federal 

 or tory party ; Monroe was an inflexi- 

 ble republican ; and he determined to 

 avail himself of the opportunity to ex- 

 pose the conduct of his opponents, and to 

 endeavour to turn the tide of popularity 

 from a set of men, and a system of o])i- 

 nions, which he and his friends believed 

 to be dangerous to tlie republican insti- 

 tutions of their country. He accord- 

 ingly published a statement of his own 

 conduct, with that of the government, 

 and the whole of his correspondence 

 during his embassy. His defence a])- 

 peareil to give general satisfaction, espe- 

 cially in his own province; to the govern- 

 ment of which he was, in UiO.'J, elected 

 by a very great majority. 



About the time that his term of ser- 

 vice, 06 Governor of Virginia expired, 



the dispute with Spain concerning the 

 navigation of the Mississippi began to 

 agitate the minds of the Americans; and 

 Mr. Monroe was, in consequence, ap- 

 pointed to join ]Mr. Livingston, in Paris, 

 to negotiate, with France and Spain, the 

 cession of Louisiana to the United 

 States ; a mission which was most suc- 

 cessfully terminated. 



Mr. Monroe was afterwards sent to 

 London, to endeavour, in concert with 

 Mr. Pinckney, to settle the differences 

 between the court of St. James's and the 

 United States. After some time em- 

 ployed in negotiation, he concluded 

 a provisional treaty, which, however, 

 proved little advantageous on either 

 side. 



In 1811, Mr. Monroe was appointed 

 secretary of state; and, in 1814, after 

 the capture of Washington by the Eng- 

 lish, he was appointed commander-in- 

 chief of the Amei-ican army. After- 

 wards he held the war department till 

 the return of peace. 



At that period, he resumed the de- 

 partment of foreign aiiairs, which he 

 fiUed till the 3d of March, 1817, when 

 he was elected President of the United 

 States, in the room of Mr. Maddison. 

 Shortly aftei'wards he undertook an ex- 

 tensive journey, to inspect the mountain 

 districts of America, and proceeded to 

 Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, &c. 

 On the 3d of December, in the same 

 year (1817), he presented to Congress a 

 statement of the internal and external 

 situation of the country, which at no 

 time had ever been found more satisfac- 

 tory. He concluded this official expose. 

 by congratulating the nation on its hav- 

 ing reached the fiftieth year of its poli- 

 tical existence, and having found that 

 experience had consecrated a free con- 

 stitution, and consolidated a govern- 

 ment, whose sole amoition was to form 

 the extension of knowledge, to cultivate 

 universal peace, and to promote the hap- 

 piness of mankind. 



After his retirement from the high 

 station of President, Mr. Monroe 

 filled the humble office of .Justice of the 

 Peace in the county of l^ondon ; was 

 associated with JNIr. Jefferson and ]\Ir. 

 Maddison in the founding of the Uni- 

 versity of Virginia ; and was subse- 

 quently chosen a member of the Conveo-_ 

 tion for amending the constitution of 

 his native state, by which body he was 

 elected to j)rcside over their deli- 

 berations. 



This was tlie last office that Mr. 

 Monroe held. 



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