So for a long silent moment he stood upon
the doorstep, then he entered the house, and as the door closed
upon him a great sob broke from the crowd.
Thus the people took a last farewell of their great and beloved
leader.
Almost as soon as John Adams became President in 1797 he found
himself plunged into trouble with France. For the Jay Treaty had
made the French people very angry. They refused to receive Charles
C. Pinckney, who was sent as ambassador, and he had to flee to
Holland for refuge. The Americans were very angry at this treatment
of their minister and talked of war. But Adams was anxious to keep
peace. So he sent two more ambassadors to France and with them
Pinckney returned also.
But the French received the three ambassadors with little more
courtesy than they had received the one.
They now began to demand all sorts of things from the United States;
they demanded, among other things, that the Americans should pay
them a large sum of money as a bribe. They demanded a large loan
also. If they refused, why, then let the Americans beware. With
these demands and threats the ambassadors were obliged to leave
France. But they were not going to be bullied. So to the French
threats they replied by building ships, raising an army, and buying
cannon. Everywhere, too, patriotic songs were written and sung,
one of them being, "Hail Columbia," by Joseph Hopkinson.
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