15 in the opinion of the United States, the aggressions of France would “well have justified an immediate declaration of war, yet that they had nevertheless been desirous of maintaining peace, and of leaving open the door of reconciliation with France, and had therefore contented themselves with preparations for defence, and measures calculated to protect their commerce.”—Instructions to American Ministers at Paris, October 22. 1799. Thus, sir. it is shown, that if a war existed, neither its beginning, nor its end, nor the way of either, can ever be ascertained, and that the United States were profoundly ignorant of its existence. If any man in France, more than another, would have known the existence of such a war, that man was Napoleon Bonaparte. Yet we have seen that the music of this “softand silken war” never reached the ear of the Great Captain of France. For, in speaking of the spoliations, he described them as having been committed “in time of peace.” It was hot thus with the other enemies of France, while he was at liberty within her borders, nor has it been so that the countrymen of Washington, of Taylor, and of Scott, have conducted their campaigns in other conflicts. It appears from this review that the treaties in question had been recognised always by both parties, and broken in parts by both, but under circumstances of excuse and palliation ; and that they were therefore in force when the United States and France mutually agreed to extinguish them, on the condition of a release of the claims for indemnities. Of the value of that agreement it is unnecessary to say more, than that without it the United States might have been held by the ancient treaty of alliance to have followed to some extent the varying fortunes of France through her wars during the Consulate and the Empire, until she found repose, from complete exhaustion, on the field of Waterloo. , * No reason for rejecting these claims remains, except that they have not been paid heretofore. But mere lapse of time pays no debts, and discharges no obligations. There has been no release, no waiver, no neglect, no delay, by the creditors. They have been here twenty-five times in fifty years ; that is to say, they have appeared in their successive generations, before every Congress since their claims against the United States accrued. Against such claims and such creditors there is no prescription. It is said, indeed, that the nation is unable to pay these claims now. I put a single question in reply : When will the nation be more affluent than now ? The Senator [Mr. Hunter] says, again, that, if the debts are just, we should pay the whole, and not a moiety ; and that if the claims are unjust, then the bill proposes a gratuity—that in the one case the appropriation is too small, and in the other too great. This is the plea of him who, I'“think it was in Ephesus, despoiled the statue of Jupiter of its golden robe, saying, Gold was too warm in summer, and too cold in winter, for the shoulders of the god. Sir, Commerce is one of the great occupations of this nation. It is the fountain of its revenues, as it is the chief agent of its advancement in civilization and enlargement of Empire. It is exclusively the care of the Federal authorities. It is for the protection of Commerce that they pass Jaws, make treaties, build fortifications, and maintain navies upon all the seas. But justice and good faith are surer defences than treaties, fortifications, or naval armaments. Justice and good faith constitute .true national honor, which feels a stain more keenly than a wound. The nation that lives in wealth and in the enjoyment of power, and yet under unpaid obligations, lives in dishonor and in danger. The nation that would be truly
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