h
government to comply with the treaty; you have since seen this
opinion justified in the result; you have the declaration of the
French minister of state, that, without an apology from this
government, the money will not be paid; and I have given it as my
opinion, that the vane on yonder steeple will not turn more readily
than all this policy will be abandoned, should any thing occur in
Europe to render it necessary, or could the French ministry believe
it possible for this country to fight for a principle. These are my
opinions, in all their phases, and you may compare them with facts
and judge for yourself."

"It is all General Jackson, sir--all that monster's doings. But for
his message, Mr. Effingham, we should have had the money long ago."

"But for his message, or some equally decided step, Mr. Bale, you
would never have it."

"Ah, my dear sir, I know your intentions, but I fear you are
prejudiced against that excellent man, the King of France! Prejudice,
Mr. Effingham, is a sad innovator on justice."

Here Mr. Bale shook his head, laughed, and disappeared in the crowd,
perfectly satisfied that John Effingham was a prejudiced man, and
that he, himself, was only liberal and just.

"Now, that is a man who wants for neither abilities nor honesty, and
yet he permits his interests, and the influence of this very
speculating mania, to overshadow all his sense of right, facts plain
as noon-day, and the only principles that can rule a country in
safety."

"He apprehends war, and has no desire to believe even facts, so long
as they serve to increase the danger."

"Precisely so; for even prudence gets to be a perverted quality, when
men are living under an infatuation like that which now exists. These
men live like the fool who says there is no death."

Here the gentlemen rejoined the ladies, and the carriages drove
through a succession of narrow and crooked streets, that were lined
with warehouses filled with the products of the civilized world.

"Very much of all this is a part of the same lamentable illusion,"
said John Effingham, as the carriages made their way slowly through
the encumbered streets. "The man who sells his inland lots at a
profit, secured by credit, fancies himself enriched, and he extends
his manner of living in proportion; the boy from the country becomes
a merchant, or what is here called a merchant, and obtains a credit
in Europe a hundred times exceeding his means, and caters to these