Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-03-30
FiUe Minutes A Day
With Our Presidents
by JAMES MORGAN.

The TIiumphs of an Ordinary Man
No other President. with the ex-
ception of John Quincy Adams, has
served the country as long as James
Monroe and, without exception, none
has had an official experience so va
ried.
From 1875, when he was a vigor-
Gus. six-foot, broad shouldered, raw
boned boy of eighteen, and left VII
liam and Mary's College to enter the
Revolution, Monroe remained In the
public service until 1925, when he
retired from the White House a
wrinkled, care bent, impoverished old
man. In those forty-nine years, he
had been q minor military ofhcer
member of the legislature. a MEMBER
of the Continental congress and OF
| the National senate; twice governor
of Virginia.; minister to France, Eng
/ land and Spain; secretary OF state
and war at the same time and finally
President for two terms.
Without wealth or family lnnu-
| ence, with q slow, commonplace
mind, with no gifts as a speaker;
/ with a modest, awkward presence
and plain, unpublished manners, this
very ordinary man plodded up the
lsdder of ambition to It's topInost
rung. Howl BY sheer force of his
! x COol as CONot
honest, loyal character triumph
of the homely, common virtues.
Although he failed in some OF MS
! most important tasks, MonroeS ram
ures were forgiven because tney
were honest mistakes. Ihe rlolcuIe
and the disgrace brought upon nm
NV the most spectacular episode OF
his undramatio life would nave
| buried forever q man more brilliant
and less sincere.
This remarkable scene was enact
ed on the highly theatrical stage OF
The national convention at Paris OIL,
rectlv after the Reign of Terror ana
the fall of Robespierre, when france
was the outcast among nations. AT
that moment Monroe appeared as
the envoy of the only sister epupL
and. to let all the world see that inc
revolution had at least one frleno
left on the earth, the President or the
convention melodramatically 1olaed
the rustic Virginian in his arms.
As am ardent believer in republic
cantsm. it Is true that he had been
specially chosen by Washington 10
soothe the savage breast of the rev.
oI1tion. But in that fraternal en-
brace the new minister was some.
what infected by the Gallo ferVor OF
his welcome. Regardless of Engiah1
and other Jealous monarchies, when
were at EE4pS 49,
| he oyerstepped the bounds OF heu-
| trality by warmly applauding France
and her armies and, as II the TWO
| countries were open allies, ne pre-
scented an American flag to be hung
| on the walls of the convention by Lhe
| side of the tri-color-red nag OF re-
volt in that day.
washington and the conservatives
vera outraged by the cordially with
vvbfch .Citizen Monroe had taken
the red hand OF revolutionary rance
MANY were SO u~nreasoning as TO cen
sure him even for an act OF mercy
which only did credit to MS heaTt'
Having found Thomas Paine IN tne
had of the guillotine, ne hau
taken that friend of our own reVo-
luton from prison into the American
Ieeation. where he nursed him PACK
to health. noa
After two years he was recalled
| for his zeal, and came nome IN d
rage of indignation. Passing by the
gate of Mount Vernon without pay.
ing his respects to Washington, ne
Maid them instead in 500 pages which
he published in defense of himselt
and in denunciation of the admins
fration. Nevertheless, the d~iscredlted
dinlomat was sent to Paris again by
President Jefferson in a few years,
when he came away covered VIII
! success ana Will 4AO 1899
purchase of Louisiana under ms am
by a fitting prelude to the Monroe
doctrine, twenty years later.
There Is a most interesting SouVe-
mir Of Monroe in Paris. Like Madi-
son. he had fallen in love whlle a
member of congress n nag rNa
lied Elizabeth Kortright OF New
York. Two children having beer
horn to them, one of the girls was
nIaced In the famous French schooi
~ Nine. Campan, where she formed
q friendship with Hortense
nails that outlasted the many Vlclssi-
tudes of Josephine's daughter.
Recently the notable fgures IN the
court of the First Consul of MAI,
nooison we're modelled and grouped
about Napoleon for a celebrated wax
works show In Paris. In that nru-
liant galaxy of monarchs and dukes
vet to be, Eliza Monroe, IN glrl,sn
1rettiness, Is seen again by the slos
of the future Queen OF HoIlahd any
the destined mother OF NapoIgon ~
After Eliza became Mrs. Hay she
rovalIv named her daughter for Hof-
tense. who. as queen and ex-queen1
elways kept up a correspondence WIN
ber American schoolmate. Tooay
The two friends sleep but a few mics
apart. Eliza having returned IN laeei
life to the scenes OF her st nhnrch
| where she 1OlItQ ehO
"nd At last was buried In the ceme'
terv of Pere la Chalse at Paris.
After signing the Louisiana treaty
much of the prestige Monroe nae
won at Paris was lost by him IN Lon,
Ion where he negotiated an Englsf
treaty that jefferson repudlateu
Once more he came home under !
cloud. but soon emerged as secretary
of state in Madison's cabinet In tn.
military chaos Of the War OF Isl
he took charge of the War Depart
ment also and revived the dispirlte'
defense of the country with an ln1u
sion Of his own courage and Vlgor
largely by his prompt measures BAL
tjmore was saved and the star span
eIed banner continued to wave owe
IFort McHenry, as Francis Scott he.'
had testified unto all generations. a
last. when the war closed with VIC
tory. Monroe rightly shared IN IN
unexpected glory, because 1t was n
Who had ordered Jackson TO NeV
orleans and had assembled there IN
forces which won the day.
PLAYWRIGHT, 1920, by James Morgan
published by special
With The Mcclure syn
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