The means
proposed by the noble lord for carrying his ideas into execution, I think,
indeed, are very indifferently suited to the end; and this I shall endeavor to
show you before I sit down. But, for the present, I take my ground on the
admitted principle. I mean to give peace. Peace implies reconciliation; and
where there has been a material dispute, reconciliation does in a manner always
imply concession on the one part or on the other. In this state of things, I
make no difficulty in affirming that the proposal ought to originate from us.
Great and acknowledged force is not impaired, either in effect or in opinion, by
an unwillingness to exert itself. The superior power may offer peace with honor
and with safety. Such an offer from such a power will be attributed to
magnanimity. But the concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear. When
such a one is disarmed, he is wholly at the mercy of his superior; and he loses
forever that time and those chances, [Footnote: 13] which, as they happen to all
men, are the strength and resources of all inferior power.
The capital leading questions on which you must this day decide are these two:
First, whether you ought to concede; and secondly, what your concession ought to
be.
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