It was truly a God-send to them, and they made the most of
it. Many thousands of copies were printed and dispersed gratis, at the
public expense; and the zealots for war co-operated so heartily, that
there were instances of single individuals who printed and dispersed ten
or twelve thousand copies at their own expense. The odiousness of
the corruption supposed in those papers excited a general and high
indignation among the people. Unexperienced in such manoeuvres, they
did not permit themselves even to suspect that the turpitude of private
swindlers might mingle itself unobserved, and give its own hue to the
communications of the French government, of whose participation there
was neither proof nor probability. It served, however, for a time,
the purpose intended. The people, in many places, gave a loose to the
expressions of their warm indignation, and of their honest preference of
war to dishonor. The fever was long and successfully kept up, and in the
mean time, war measures as ardently crowded. Still, however, as it
was known that your colleagues were coming away, and yourself to stay,
though disclaiming a separate power to conclude a treaty, it was
hoped by the lovers of peace, that a project of treaty would have been
prepared, ad referendum, on principles which would have satisfied our
citizens, and overawed any bias of the government towards a different
policy.
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