354
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
Ch. 15.
Pichon complained, as has been shown, of the attentions paid to Thornton by the President.[1] "I remarked at table that he redoubled his courtesies and attentions toward the British chargé." The dinner was in the month of January; in the following June Pichon wrote that the President had begun to accept the idea of seeing the British at New Orleans:[2]—
- "Mr. Jefferson told me a few days ago that he was engaged in letting that Power know that her presence there would be seen with regret; but I perceive that, little by little, people are familiarizing themselves with this eventuality, as their fears increase in regard to us. They are so convinced that England sees more and more her true interests in relation to the United States, and is resolved to conciliate them, that they have no doubt of her lending herself to some arrangement. What they fear most is that, as the price of this accommodation, she may require the United States to take an active part in the indispensable war; and this is what they ardently wish to avoid."
Until July 3, 1803, the relations between President Jefferson's government and that of Great Britain were so cordial as to raise a doubt whether the United States couild avoid becoming an ally of England, and taking part in the war with France. Suddenly came the new convulsion of Europe.
