As Canning could not come to a formal understanding with the United
States, he determined to make a frank avowal of the views of the
British cabinet to France and to this end he had an interview with
Prince Polignac, the French ambassador at London, October 9, 1823, in
which he declared that Great Britain had no desire to hasten
recognition, but that any foreign interference, by force, or by menace,
would be a motive for immediate recognition; that England "could not go
into a joint deliberation upon the subject of Spanish America upon an
equal footing with other powers, whose opinions were less formed upon
that question." This declaration drew from Polignac the admission that
he considered the reduction of the colonies by Spain as hopeless and
that France "abjured in any case, any design of acting against the
colonies by force of arms." This admission was a distinct victory for
Canning, in that it prepared the way for ultimate recognition by
England, and an account of the interview was communicated without delay
to the allied courts. The interview was not communicated to Rush until
the latter part of November, and therefore had no influence upon the
formation of Monroe's message.

The Monroe Doctrine is comprised in two widely separated paragraphs
that occur in the message of December 2, 1823. The first, relating to
Russia's encroachments on the northwest coast, and occurring near the
beginning of the message, was an assertion to the effect that the
American continents had assumed an independent condition and were no
longer open to European colonization. This may be regarded as a
statement of fact. No part of the continent at that time remained
unclaimed. The second paragraph, relating to Spanish America and
occurring near the close of the message, was a declaration against the
extension to the American continents of the system of intervention