271. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Vienna Congress and.—
The magnanimity of
Alexander's conduct on the first capture of
Paris still magnified everything we had believed
of him; but how he will come out of his
present trial remains to be seen. That the
sufferings which France had inflicted on other
countries justified severe reprisals, cannot be
questioned; but I have not yet learned what
crimes of Poland, Saxony, Belgium, Venice,
Lombardy and Genoa, had merited for them,
not merely a temporary punishment, but that
of permanent subjugation and a destitution
of independence and self-government. The
fable of AEsop of the lion dividing the spoils,
is, I fear, becoming true history, and the moral
code of Napoleon and the English government
a substitute for that of Grotius, of Puffendorf,
and even of the pure doctrine of the great author
of our holy religion.—
To Dr. George Logan. Washington ed. vi, 497.
(M.
Oct. 1815)
