Europe lay prostrate at the feet of the armies of the Directory.

England, who was supposed to be the next object of attack, was staggering under the load of debt; and the sailors of her channel fleet had risen in mutiny.

Even the Federalists, the aristocrats as Mr.Gallatin delighted to call them, believed that she was gone beyond recovery.

But the admirers of France were no better satisfied with the threatening attitude of the Directory towards America, and eagerly waited news of the reception given to the envoys extraordinary, Gerry, Pinckney, and Marshall, whom Adams with the consent of the Senate dispatched to Paris in the summer.

Even Jefferson lost his taste for a French alliance, and almost wished there were "an ocean of fire between the new and the old world." The tone of the President's address was considered wise on all sides, and it was agreed that the answer should be general and not a subject of contention.