vernment would have to be consulted on the matter of the loan. The
wariness of the envoys made Talleyrand's agents the more insistent about
getting the "douceur." At one of the interviews Hottinguer exclaimed:--
"Gentlemen, you do not speak to the point; it is money; it is expected
that you will offer money." The envoys replied that on this point their
answer had already been given. "'No,' said he, 'you have not: what is your
answer?' We replied, 'It is no; no; not a sixpence.'" This part of the
envoys' report soon received legendary embellishment, and in innumerable
stump speeches it rang out as, "Not one cent for tribute; millions for
defense!"

The publication of the X.Y.Z. dispatches sent rolling through the country
a wave of patriotic feeling before which the Republican leaders quailed
and which swept away many of their followers. Jefferson held that the
French Government ought not to be held responsible for "the turpitude of
swindlers," and he steadfastly opposed any action looking to the use of
force to maintain American rights. Some of the Republican members of
Congress, however, went over to the Federalist side, and Jefferson's party
was presently reduced to a feeble and dispirited minority. Loyal addresses
rained upon Adams. There appeared a new national song, _Hail Columbia_,
which was sung all over the land and which was established in lasting
popularity. Among its well-known lines is an exulting stanza beginning:

"Behold the chief who now commands,
Once more to serve his country stands."

This is an allusion to the fact that Washington had left his retirement to
take charge of the national forces. The envoys had been threatened that,
unless they submitted to the French demands, the American Republic might
share the fate of the Republic of Venice. The response of Congress
was to vote money to complete the frigates, the _United States_, the
_Constitution_, and the _Constellation_, work on which had been suspended
when the Algerine troubles subsided; and further, to authorize the
construction or purchase of twelve additional vessels. For the management
of this force, the Navy Department was created by the Act of April 30,
1798. By an Act of May 28, the President was authorized to raise a
military force of ten thousand men, the commander of which should have the
services of "a suitable number of major-generals." On July 7, the treaties
with France that had so long vexed the United States were abrogated.

Th