rris
not only risked his life, but he took a heavy responsibility, and laid
himself open to severe attack for having protected defenseless people
against the assaults of the mob. But his courageous humanity is
something which should ever be remembered, and ought always to be
characteristic of the men who represent the United States in foreign
countries. When we recall the French Revolution, it is cheering to think
of that fearless figure of the American minister, standing firm and calm
in the midst of those awful scenes, with sacked palaces, slaughtered
soldiers, and a bloodstained mob about him, regardless of danger to
himself, determined to do his duty to his country, and to those to whom
his country was indebted.

THE BURNING OF THE "PHILADELPHIA"

And say besides, that in Aleppo once,
Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk
Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,
I took by the throat the circumcised dog
And smote him, thus.
--Othello.

It is difficult to conceive that there ever was a time when the United
States paid a money tribute to anybody. It is even more difficult to
imagine the United States paying blackmail to a set of small piratical
tribes on the coast of Africa. Yet this is precisely what we once did
with the Barbary powers, as they were called the States of Morocco,
Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers, lying along the northern coast of Africa.
The only excuse to be made for such action was that we merely followed
the example of Christendom. The civilized people of the world were then
in the habit of paying sums of money to these miserable pirates,
in order to secure immunity for their merchant vessels in the
Mediterranean. For this purpose Congress appropriated money, and
treaties were made by the President and ratified by the Senate. On one
occasion, at least, Congress actually revoked the authorization of some
new ships for the navy, and appropriated more money than was required
to build the men-of-war in order to buy off the Barbary powers. The fund
for this disgraceful purpose was known as the "Mediterranean fund," and
was intrusted to the Secretary of State to be disbursed by him in his
discretion. After we had our brush with France, however, in 1798, and
after Truxtun's brilliant victory over the French frigate L'Insurgente
in the following year, it occurred to our government that perhaps
there was a more direct as well as a more manly way of deal