3414. GENET (E. C.), Calamitous appointment.—
Never, in my opinion, was so
calamitous an appointment made as that of the
present minister of France here. Hot-headed,
all imagination, no judgment, passionate, disrespectful
and even indecent towards the President,
in his written as well as verbal communications,
talking of appeals from him to Congress,
from them to the people, urging the
most unreasonable and groundless propositions,
and in the most dictatorial style, &c., &c., &c.
If ever it should be necessary to lay his communications
before Congress or the public, they
will excite universal indignation. He renders
my position immensely difficult. He does me
justice personally, and, giving him time to
vent himself, and then cool, I am on a footing
to advise him freely, and he respects it; but he
breaks out again on the very first occasion,
so as to show that he is incapable of correcting
himself. To complete our misfortune, we have
no channel of our own through which we can
correct the irritating representations he May
make.—
To James Madison.
Ford ed., vi, 338.
(July. 1793)
