Jackson asked of Congress fell little short of a declaration of war. When the message and the report of the diplomatic correspondence, published by the State Department, became known in Paris, the French press of all parties cried out against it as a wanton insult offered to the French nation; and the government, finding itself obliged to yield to the clamor, resolved to recall the French Minister from Washington, and to tender Livingston his passports. It was a thoroughly Jacksonian situation.
There being neither telegraphs nor fast steamers in those days, the effect produced by Jackson's message in France, and the recall of the French Minister, could not become known in Washington until late in February, 1835. But statesmen who had some knowledge of the manner in which governments speak of one another easily foresaw what impression President Jackson's spirited language would make. They foresaw, also, that the demonstrations of resentment excited in France by the President's message would be apt to be as offensive to the American people as the President's message had been to the French, and that then, both governments having assumed positions from which they could not honorably withdraw, the two countries might drift into war in spite of their inmost wish to remain at peace. It was therefore important that something be done to keep the possibility of friendly negotiation open, before the news of the reception in France of the President's message
