In 1796, he was offered the post of
Minister to France, as Mr. Monroe's successor, but he declined it for
the same reason which had made him refuse the Attorney-Generalship. In
1797, when the offer was repeated, this time by President Adams,
Marshall yielded to the entreaties of Washington, and went to France
with Pinckney and Gerry, as Envoy Extraordinary. The object of the
mission was to remove the obstructions placed by France in the way of
American commerce. The Envoys were unsuccessful, but a correspondence
took place between Marshall and Talleyrand, which was a source of great
satisfaction to American publicists, and raised Marshall still higher
in their esteem and confidence. Upon his return home in 1798, he was
given a public reception in New York by the citizens, and a public
dinner by the two Houses of Congress, "as an evidence of affection for
his person, and of their grateful approbation of the patriotic firmness
with which he had sustained the dignity of his country during his
important mission." He subsequently took a prominent part in support of
the measures of retaliation directed against France by the
Administration, which were sharply assailed by the opposition.
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