“It appears, Citizen Minister,” wrote Pichon to Talleyrand,[275] “that General Smith, who in spite of the contrary assurances he has given me, has always had this alliance much at heart, has thrown his eyes on the mission to Paris as a means of appeasing (_ramener_) the First Consul. He has long since aimed at the diplomatic career, for which he is little qualified; this motive and the near return of Mr. Livingston have decided his taste. For some time there has been much question of this nomination among the friends of General Smith. There is also question of promoting, on the part of the First Consul, for minister to this country, a selection which should be connected with the other. It is thought that the appointment of M. Jerome Bonaparte would be an honorable mode of leaving the First Consul’s brother time to have his fault forgotten, and of preparing his return to favor.” Such readiness among Jefferson’s advisers to court the favors of the young First Consul was sure not to escape the eyes of the embittered Federalists. Pichon’s account, although sharp in allusions to General Smith’s “vanity,” was mild compared with the scorn of the New Englanders. Apparently the new matrimonial alliance was taken seriously by prominent Republican leaders. One of the Massachusetts senators mentioned in his diary[276] a “curious conversation between S. Smith, Breckenridge, Armstrong, and Baldwin, about ‘Smith’s nephew, the First Consul’s brother.’ Smith swells upon it to very extraordinary dimensions.” Pichon openly spoke of the whole family connection, including both Robert and Samuel Smith, and even Wilson Cary Nicholas, as possessed with “an inconceivable infatuation” for the match; “it was really the young man who was seduced.” Nothing that Pichon could say affected them. Senator J. Q. Adams remarked: “the Smiths are so elated with their supposed elevation by this adventure, that one step more would fit them for the discipline of Dr. Willis,”--the famous English expert in mental diseases.[277] The President and his friends might not know enough of Napoleon’s character to foresee the irritation which such reports would create in his mind, but they were aware of the contrast between their treatment of Jerome Bonaparte and their slights to Anthony Merry. Had they felt any doubt upon the subject, the free comments of the British minister and his wife would have opened their eyes. In truth, no doubt existed. Washington society was in a manner ordered to proscribe the Merrys and Yrujo, and pay court to Jerome and the Smiths.