It made the most fatal discoveries.
And first, it induced us to lay down the basis of a treaty which itself
had nothing to rest upon. It seems, we thought we had gained a great
point in getting this basis admitted,--that is, a basis of mutual
compensation and exchange of conquests. If a disposition to peace, and
with any reasonable assurance, had been previously indicated, such a
plan of arrangement might with propriety and safety be proposed; because
these arrangements were not, in effect, to make the basis, but a part of
the superstructure, of the fabric of pacification. The order of things
would thus be reversed. The mutual disposition to peace would form the
reasonable base, upon which the scheme of compensation upon one side or
the other might be constructed. This truly fundamental base being once
laid, all differences arising from the spirit of huckstering and barter
might be easily adjusted. If the restoration of peace, with a view to
the establishment of a fair balance of power in Europe, had been made
the real basis of the treaty, the reciprocal value of the compensations
could not be estimated according to their proportion to each other, but
according to their proportionate relation to that end: to that great end
the whole would be subservient. The effect of the treaty would be in a
manner secured before the detail of particulars was begun, and for a
plain reason,--because the hostile spirit on both sides had been
conjured down; but if, in the full fury and unappeased rancor of war, a
little traffic is attempted, it is easy to divine what must be the
consequence to those who endeavor to open that kind of petty commerce.
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