It is in this manner that
France, on her new system, means to form an universal empire, by
producing an universal revolution. By this means, forming a new code of
communities according to what she calls the natural rights of man and of
states, she pretends to secure eternal peace to the world, guarantied by
her generosity and justice, which are to grow with the extent of her
power. To talk of the balance of power to the governors of such a
country was a jargon which they could not understand even through an
interpreter. Before men can transact any affair, they must have a
common language to speak, and some common, recognized principles on
which they can argue; otherwise all is cross purpose and confusion. It
was, therefore, an essential preliminary to the whole proceeding, to fix
whether the balance of power, the liberties and laws of the Empire, and
the treaties of different belligerent powers in past times, when they
put an end to hostilities, were to be considered as the basis of the
present negotiation.
The whole of the enemy's plan was known when Lord Malmesbury was sent
with his scrap of equivalents to Paris. Yet, in this unfortunate attempt
at negotiation, instead of fixing these points, and assuming the balance
of power and the peace of Europe as the basis to which all cessions on
all sides were to be subservient, our solicitor for peace was directed
to reverse that order. He was directed to make mutual concessions, on a
mere comparison of their marketable value, the base of treaty.
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