Even Englishmen who believed in the rights of the people, said the _Times_, turned from us with "indignant scorn;" and in another of its many outbursts, which would have been terrible had they not been ludicrous, that paper warned us that, as we followed the example, we invited the punishment of self-willed Corcyra. "The most impudent, bullying, boasting nation of mankind," was _Britannia's_ genial description of us; and she loved to parade "our national scorn of America and her statesmanship." In short, McLane, the American minister at London, reported privately--with some exaggeration, one desires to believe--that a deep-seated dislike, "amounting almost to hate, of our people, of our country and of our Institutions," prevailed universally in England.[35.3] On the continent these opinions were more or less distinctly reflected. In France the heart of the people beat warmly for us and against their neighbors across the Channel; but the court and the government, regarding a close alliance with Great Britain as of cardinal importance, and the newspapers which, like the _Journal des Débats_, represented them with more or less fidelity, exerted a strong influence the other way. At the end of 1845 Polk deepened this, for his Message referred in cutting terms to the interference of that country on the side of Great Britain[35.2] in our business of absorbing Texas.[35.3] The French government occupied a weak position in reference to that affair, for Guizot, the chief minister, believing that Henry Clay would be elected President and shelve it, had thought he could safely gratify England. Thiers, ardent and eloquent, now attacked his course in Parliament, insisting that an ally had been sacrificed to an enemy. Guizot, pale, scholarly and calculating, said in reply, Thiers has appealed to your instincts, I will appeal to your judgment; and pressed his theory of an American balance of power. But good-will for the United States and hatred for England were too strong for him. "What empty vocalization!" exclaimed _Le National_; "What unhappy exertions! What reverberating accents, like echoes in the desert! It was poor. It was cold. It was null." Yet no doubt the sting of Polk's rebuke lingered, though Guizot intimated in bitterly sweet language that it should not be resented, since he knew no better; and many Frenchmen who condemned their government's policy, condemned the United States for publicly recalling it.[35.3]