the
debates which then shook the nation now appear of no higher moment than
a discussion in a vestry. When I was very young, a general fashion told
me I was to admire some of the writings against that minister; a little
more maturity taught me as much to despise them. I observed one fault in
his general proceeding. He never manfully put forward the entire
strength of his cause. He temporized, be managed, and, adopting very
nearly the sentiments of his adversaries, he opposed their inferences.
This, for a political commander, is the choice of a weak post. His
adversaries had the better of the argument as he handled it, not as the
reason and justice of his cause enabled him to manage it. I say this,
after having seen, and with some care examined, the original documents
concerning certain important transactions of those times. They perfectly
satisfied me of the extreme injustice of that war, and of the falsehood
of the colors which, to his own ruin, and guided by a mistaken policy,
he suffered to be daubed over that measure. Some years after, it was my
fortune to converse with many of the principal actors against that
minister, and with those who principally excited that clamor. None of
them, no, not one, did in the least defend the measure, or attempt to
justify their conduct. They condemned it as freely as they would have
done in commenting upon any proceeding in history in which they were
totally unconcerned. Thus it will be. They who stir up the people to
improper desires, whether of peace or war, will be condemned by
themselves. They who weakly yield to them will be condemned by history.

In my opinion, the present ministry are as far from doing full justice
to their cause in this war as Walpole was from doing justice to the
peace which at that time he was willing to preserve. They throw the
light on one side only of their case; though it is impossible they
should not observe that the other side, which is kept in the shade, has
its importance too. They must know that France is formidable, not only
as she is France, but as she is Jacobin France. They knew from the
beginning that the Jacobin party was not confined to that country. They
knew, they felt, the strong disposition of the same faction in both
countries to communicate and to cooeperate. For some time past, these two
points have been kept, and even industriously kept, out of sight. France
is considered as merely a foreign power, and the seditious English only
a