e were a million
people put to death during the awful days of the Reign of Terror.

The mad rulers, not satisfied with deluging their own country with
blood, were at war with most of the neighboring nations. They seemed to
wish to array themselves against all mankind and began a system of
action toward us which soon became unbearable.

They seemed to think we could be scared into paying the rulers immense
sums of money for the privilege of being left alone. They encouraged
their naval officers to capture American vessels, and when we sent
commissioners to France to protest they were coolly told that outrages
upon our commerce would not be stopped until we paid the leaders several
hundred thousand dollars in the way of bribes. Then it was that one of
our commissioners made the memorable reply: "Millions for defence, but
not one cent for tribute."

Our representatives were driven out of France and the capture of our
vessels by French cruisers continued. So Congress met, cancelled all
treaties with France, formed an army, placed Washington, then an old
man, at the head, formed a new navy and told the men-of-war to go out
and give the insolent nation a lesson she very much needed.

And France got the lesson. The fighting on the ocean, beginning in 1798,
continued for two years and a half. The French cruisers succeeded in
capturing only one vessel from the American navy, while 84 armed French
ships, mostly privateers, mounting more than 500 guns, were captured by
our vessels. In February, 1801, a treaty of peace was signed with
France, which brought our troubles with her to an end.

Now, if you will examine your map of Africa, you will notice a group of
countries along the southern coast of the Mediterranean that are known
as the Barbary States. Their names are Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and
Tripoli. I remember when I was a boy how easy it was to learn the names
of the capitals of those countries, for each one was the same as the
country itself.

The people of the Barbary States are only half civilized or barbarous,
but they have always had a mighty high opinion of themselves, though it
can hardly be as high to-day as it was a hundred years ago. They looked
upon the "dogs of Christians" as heathen nations, only fitted to be
their slaves, and it must be admitted that it was quite natural they
should hold the leading maritime nations of Europe as well as ourselves
in contempt, for all deserved it.

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