We say, that the reasons of those judges, who deny interest during the war, appear sufficiently cogent—
To account for their opinion on honest principles:
To exempt it from the charge of palpable and flagrant wrong, in re minime dubiâ:
And to take away all pretence of withholding execution of the treaty, by way of reprisal for that cause.
Sec. 57. I have now, sir, gone through the several acts and proceedings enumerated in your appendix, as infractions of the treaty, omitting, I believe, not a single one, as may be seen by a table hereto subjoined, wherein every one of them, as marked and numbered in your appendix, is referred to the section of this letter in which it is brought into view; and the result has been, as you have seen—
1. That there was no absolute stipulation to restore antecedent confiscations, and that none subsequent took place:
2. That the recovery of the debts was obstructed validly in none of our States, invalidly only in a few, and that not till long after the infractions committed on the other side; and
3. That the decisions of courts and juries against the claims of interest are too probably founded to give cause for questioning their integrity. These things being evident, I cannot but flatter myself, after the assurances received from you of his Britannic Majesty's desire to remove every occasion of misunderstanding from between us, that an end will now be put to the disquieting situation of the two countries, by as complete execution of the treaty as circumstances render practicable at this late day: that it is to be done so late has been the source of heavy losses, of blood and treasure, to the United States. Still our desire of friendly accommodation is, and has been, constant. No "lawful impediment has been opposed to the prosecution of the just rights of your citizens." And if any instances of unlawful impediment have existed in any of the inferior tribunals, they would, like other unlawful proceedings, have been overruled on appeal to the higher courts. If not overruled there, a complaint to the Government would have been regular, and their interference probably effectual. If your citizens would not prosecute their rights, it was impossible they should recover them, or be denied recovery; and till a denial of right through all the tribunals, there is no ground for complaint; much less for a refusal to comply with solemn stipulations, the execution of which is too important to us ever to be dispensed with. These difficulties being removed from between the two nations, I am persuaded the interests of both will be found in the strictest friendship. The considerations which lead to it are too numerous and forcible to fail of their effect; and that they may be permitted to have their full effect, no one wishes more sincerely than he, who has the honor to be, &c.[21]
FOOTNOTES
[6] "The state in which things are found at the moment of the treaty, should be considered as lawful; and if it is meant to make any change in it, the treaty must expressly mention it. Consequently, all things, about which the treaty is silent, must remain in the state in which they are found at its conclusion." Vattel, 1. 4. s. 21.