From Bunker Hill to Saratoga the war was checkered with gloom, which even the surrender of Burgoyne did not suffice to dispel.

Congress took up the strain, and, by unanimous vote, ratified the treaty which opened to our country the gates of the Future.

Who is not saddened at the thought of precious lives given to Liberty’s defence?

It is difficult to estimate the value of this treaty in money, especially when we consider its consequences.

But French blood, more costly than money, was shed on land and sea in the same cause, until at last the army of Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown to the allied forces of Rochambeau and Washington, and the war closed by the recognition of…

If liberty be priceless, if life be priceless, then was the aid lavished by France infinite beyond calculation.

The terms of the “guaranty” are general, and it was “forever.” Even if limited to defensive war, it would be difficult to say that France was not engaged in such a war, with the added incident that it was a war by a combination of kings to…

It is enough that there was “a rupture.” In such a case, the “guaranty,” according to the illustration of Cicero, was, tanquam gladius in vagina, at the disposal of France.

Such, briefly recited, were the solemn engagements of the United States, sanctioned by treaties, as the price of independence.

So long as France remained at peace with all the world, especially with Great Britain, these engagements slept unnoticed, but ready, at the first blast of war, to spring into life.

At length the blast was heard, perhaps as never before in human history, echoing from capital to capital, and sounding a crusade of monarchical Europe against republican France.

The minister of the United States saw the danger lowering upon his own country.

There was no bad faith on either side, in the ordinary sense of the term, but intervening events and exigencies of self-defence had driven each into unexpected inconsistencies of conduct.

If on one side there was neglect of original engagements, there was on the other equal neglect of international duties.

Franklin, signing the “guaranty,” did not expect so soon to call down upon his country the lightnings of an embattled world; nor did France, while formally conceding neutral rights on the ocean and assuring our national independence…

But the great tragedy would have been less complete, if its domineering Nemesis had suffered the two republics to dwell in harmony together.

Full of conviction that France had only to make herself heard in order to be sustained, Genet exalted himself conspicuously above the Government.

The rules of duty and of conduct between individuals are applicable also to nations, and the proceedings on this occasion illustrate this principle.

The American plenipotentiaries were driven to choose between abandonment of the negotiations and abandonment of their instructions.

Though imperfect, it was the first in that procession of peace, embracing Lunéville, Amiens, and the Concordat, which for a moment closed the Temple of Janus, whose gates had been left open by the Revolution in France.

The postponement of a controversy is not a settlement, and here was nothing but postponement, leaving the old cloud hanging over the country, ready to burst at the motion of England or France.

Claims and counter-claims were not merely suspended; they were formally abandoned.

Here was a release of all outstanding obligations of the United States under those famous treaties which assured National Independence.

But the triumph of the United States was at the expense of American citizens.

Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.