Millions for Defence
On one occasion in Charleston, South Carolina, Thomas S. Grimke, addressing himself to General C. Cotesworth Pinckney, asked permission to put a question to him. The old General replied, “Certainly, sir.”
“General,” said Grimke, “we would like to know if the French Directory ever actually proposed anything like tribute from the United States to you, when Minister?”
“They did, sir,” he answered; “the question was, What will the United States pay for certain political purposes, etc.?”
“What was your answer, General?” asked Grimke.
“Not a sixpence, sir,” answered General Pinckney.
“Did you say nothing else, General?”
“Not a word, sir.”
“Was there nothing about millions for defence, but not a cent for tribute?”
General Pinckney: “I never used any such expression, sir. Mr. Robert Goodloe Harper did at a public meeting. I never did.”
“Did you ever correct the report of Mr. Harper’s speech, General?”
“No, sir. The nation adopted the expression, and I always thought there would have been more ostentation in denying than in submitting to the report. The nation adopted it.”