331 



MONROE, JAMES. 



MONTAGU, BASIL. 



SO 



variety of forms, and with various additions, both in this country and 

 on the Continent His complete works were published by his son, in 

 one volume 4to, in 1781. 



MONROE, JAMES, was born in tho county of Westmoreland, 

 Virginia, on the 16th of March 1751 of a Scotch family. Nothing is 

 known of his early life, but he seems to have shown great decision of 

 character, having entered the army as a voluute rat the age of sixteen. 

 In 1777, in the retreat through the Jerseys, he was woundtd at 

 Trenton. He was then a lieutenant, and on his recovery was made on 

 aide-de-camp to Lord Stirling:, with the rank of major. Just before 

 the close of the war he was appointed colonel on the recommendation 

 of General Washington. He then went to the college of William and 

 Mary in Virginia, where he studied law, and soon after represented 

 his native county in the legislature, and was also appointed to the 

 council of state. In 1788 he was a member of the Virginia Con- 

 vention, and was opposed to the adoption of the constitution. After 

 it came into operation he became a candidate for a seat in the house 

 of representative!", in opposition to Mr. Madison, and lost his election. 

 He was however soon after chosen a senator of the United States by 

 the state of Virginia, and after continuing in that body about three 

 years, he was appointed by General Washinigton minister to France in 

 the place of Mr. Gouverneur Morris, who had become unacceptable to 

 the ruling party in that country. It was thought that a well-known 

 member of the party friendly to the French revolution might be able 

 to restore that confidence between the two countries which was already 

 diminished by the supposed leaning of Hamilton and his party towards 

 Great Britain. 



Monroe accordingly endeavoured to fulfil this object of his mission, 

 and, as some thought, at too great a sacrifice of the rights and interests 

 of bis own country. .Such was the opinion of the administration, 

 especially after the avowed change of policy by France in consequence 

 of Mr. Jay's treaty, and he was accordingly recalled in August 1796'. 

 It was considered by the Opposition, French, or Democratic party, for 

 it was called by all these names, that he had been sacrificed for his 

 attachment to liberal principle* ; and as the majority in Virginia 

 belonged to this party, he was appointed governor of that state in 

 1788-69. He held the office for three years. In 1802 he was appointed 

 minister to France, and, in conjunction with Mr. 11. It. Livingston, who 

 was already in I'aris and engaged in negotiating the purchase of New 

 Orleans, he succeeded in effecting the purchase of Louisiana. From 

 France he went to Spain, and thence to Great Britain, as minister, 

 where, with his adjunct Mr. 1'incknoy, he concluded a treaty in 18U7, 

 which Mr. Jefferson, disapproving, retusid to lay before the renate. 

 Mr. Monroe returned home in 180$, much dissatisfied that the treaty, 

 which had been with great difficulty effected, had been received with 

 fo little respect ; and that his return hail been delayed, as he supposed, 

 for the purpose of preventing his competition with Mr. Madison for 

 the presidency. He was accordingly supported by the opposition in 

 Virginia, and great efforts were maduto enlist the popular sympathies 

 in his favour ; but all these efforts failed, and he obtained no votes in 

 big own state or elsewhere, liy means of Mr. Jefferson a reconciliation 

 was brought about, and Mr. Monroe was then made secretary of state 

 under Madison, in which otiice he continued until he was cho.*en 

 president, in, 1816, by 128 votes against 34. So prudent and concili 

 atory had been his conduct, and so little had the couise of public 

 affairs interfered with his popularity, that he was re-elected in 1821 

 unanimously, with the exception of a single vote. After his term of 

 office expired he lived a short time in London county in Virginia, 

 where he accepted the office of ju-tice of the peace. He was also a 

 visitor of the University of Virginia. Towards the close of bis life 

 he removed to New York, where he died on the 4th of July 1831. 

 He left two daughters, Mrs. Hay and Mrs. Gouverneur, who resided 

 in New York, in which he bad married while member of Congress 

 in 1790. 



Mr. Monroe was not endowed with any shining qualities, but he had 

 great prudence, united to great firmness, great regard to reputation, 

 sound though slow judgment, and unwearied perseverance; and there 

 has seldom been so striking an example of what sttadine'ss of purpose 

 and untiring perseverance can accomplish. Hit manners were mild 

 and amiable, but, considering the society ho had always kept, he was 

 strangely awkward in almost all that ho said and did : he used odd 

 inappropriate expressions, and often said what might have been better 

 omitted, But all this was only in minor matters : he generally acted 

 wisely and sagaciously. He was however even a worse manager of 

 money matters tlmn Mr. Jefferson. He was always in debt, and always 

 in want of meney; but by the grants which he obtained from Congress, 

 and an inheritance derived from an uncle, he left to his daughters a 

 competent fortune. 



(Communication from Virginia.) 



MONSTKELKT, ENQDKBRAND DE, a celebrated French chro- 

 nicle writer, lived in the 15th Crntury : the date of his birth is 

 unknown, but it is believed to have been towards tho clone of the 

 14th century. His quotations from Livy, Sallust, and Vegetius lend 

 to the opinion that he mtttt have had a tolerable acquaintance with 

 Latin literature. M. Dacier suppose* that either from bodily weak- 

 ness or a predominant taste for study, he altogether abstained from 

 the profession of arms, which at the time when he lived was almost 

 essential to the character of a gentleman. Tho fame author is also of 



opinion that he belonged to neither of the factions of Armagnac or 

 Burgundy, nor indeed acted in any of the events of his time, but was 

 a quiet spectator of the circumstances which he has recorded. In all 

 his work Monstrelet only once alludes to himself, where he describes 

 the capture of the Maid of Orleans before Compiegne (livre ii., chap. 

 86), and then he merely tells us that he was present at the interview 

 between tho Pucelle and the Duke of Burgundy, and almost implies 

 that he was not present at the skirmish in which the capture was 

 made. He had on this occasion (says Dacier) accompanied the Duko 

 Philip perhaps as historian. The rest of his life he passed in the city 

 of Cambrai, where he held several offices, being bailiff of the chapter 

 of Cambrai, provost of the city, and bailiff of Wallaincourt, He died 

 in the middle of the year 1453. 



The first book of the Chronicles of Monstrelet begins with the year 

 1400, and ends with the year 1422 ; the second concludes with 1444. 

 The early editions contain a third and fourth book, which are both 

 rejected by M. Buchon, a modern editor ; the latter for the obvious 

 reason that the events which it records did not take place till after 

 the death of the chronicler, nd the former on the authority of M. 

 Coney, who declares that Monstrelet stopped at 1444, as well as from 

 the result of certain critical investigations on the part of M. Buchon 

 himself. 



Monatrelet is greatly commended for his minuteness of detail, his 

 fidelity, and the extended view he takes in his ' Chronicles ;' for, like 

 Froissait, his predecessor, he does not confine himself to Franco 

 alone, but gives all the circumstances relative to the affairs of the 

 other countries of Europe which were within the compass of his 

 knowledge. He has however little of the picturesqueness of Froissart, 

 or the sagacity of Comines. His principal object was to give a 

 history of the wars of his time, nnd of the persons engaged in them, 

 but he adds much valuable information, both political and eccle- 

 siastical. 



In France there are several manuscripts of Monstrelet. The first 

 printed edition is a quarto, dated 1512, which was followed by four 

 others, the last dated 1603, all containing the additional books rejected 

 by Buchon, who however praises tho third edition (1572) for its 

 beauty. The edition by Buchon was published in 1836, and forms 

 part of a series of the 'PantlifSon LitteYaire.' In 1S10 an English 

 ver.-ion of Monstrelet was published by M. Jolmes, the translator of 

 Kroissart in 13 vols. 8vo ; and it has been reprinted in a cheaper form. 



MONTAGU, BASIL, Queen's Counsel, was born April 24, 1770, 

 in London. He was a natural sou of John Montague, fourth earl of 

 Sandwich, and was brought up in his house. His mother was Jliss 

 Kay, who was shot in 1779, in the PiaEEa of Covent Garden, by the 

 Rev. Mr. Hackman, who had fallen in love with her, and destroyed 

 her in a fit of jealous frenzy. Basil Montagu received his early edu- 

 cation at the Charter-house School, London, of which the Earl of 

 Sandwich was one of the goveinors. In 1786 he was sent to the 

 University of Cambridge, where he was soon distinguished for his 

 love of literature, and where he remained till after he had taken his 

 degree of M.A. His father died in 179-', leaving him a competent 

 income, of which however he was deprived by a suit in the Court of 

 Chancery. Having selected the law as a profession, he entered him- 

 self of Gray's Inn, where he was called to the bar in 1798, but some 

 years afterwards he became a member of Lincoln's Inn. After he had 

 settled in London he formed an intimacy with Coleridge and others 

 of that literary connection, and became so zealous a convert to the 

 opinions of Godwin that he had serious thoughts of relinquishing the 

 profession of a lawyer, ns "injurious to society in proportion to the 

 power and attainments of the individual." Sir James Mackintosh how- 

 ever, with whom he travelled for some years on the Norfolk ciicuit, 

 convinced him that the dogma of Godwin was not founded in truth, 

 and he continued in the legal profession. He never rose to eminence 

 as a pleader, but having devoted his attention chiefly to the bankrupt 

 laws, acquired a high reputation and good practice in that department. . 



His first work was ' A Summary of the Law of Set-Off, with mi 

 Appendix of Cases argued and determined in the Courts of Law and 

 Equity upon the Subject,' 8vo, 18U1. It had not appeared many 

 weeks before it was noticed with approbation by Sir Vicnry Gibbs, 

 who thus extended the practice of the young lawyer, then almost 

 unknown. His most important legal work W;is 'A litest of the 

 Bankrupt Laws, with a Collection of tho Statutes, and of the Cases 

 argued and determined in the Courts of Law and Equity upon that 

 Subject," 4 vols. 8vo, London, 1805, 2nd edition, 1811. This 'Digest' 

 became a standard work, and many other editions of it were published. 

 He published also ' Law and Practice in Bankruptcy, 2 vols. 8vo, with 

 'Supplement,' 1 vol.; 'The Law of Partnership,' Svo; and 'The Law 

 and Practice of Parliamentary Elections,' in conjunction with Mr. W. 

 Jolin.-on Neale, Svo, 1839. His other legal works and corapilatiotis, 

 partly in his own iiame, partly in conjunction with others, aro 

 too numerous \o be quoted. Lord Erakine, during his brief 

 tenure of the office of lord chancellor (1806-7) made Mr. Montagu 

 a commissiomr of bankrupts. While holding this appointment, 

 and deriving a considerable income from it, ho became so 

 convinced of the delay and expenco to suitors of this modo of 

 administering tho law, that he published a yearly detail of these 

 injurious results, which, together with his statements before) :i 

 Committee of the House of Commons, finally put an ond t'j those 



