2646. ENGLAND, Hostility of.—[continued].
The spirit of hostility to
us has always existed in the mind of the
King, but it has now extended itself through
the whole mass of the people, and the majority
in the public councils. In a country,
where the voice of the people influences so
much the measures of administration, and
where it coincides with the private temper of
the King, there is no pronouncing on
future events. It is true they have nothing
to gain and much to lose by a war with us. But interest is not the strongest passion in
the human breast.—
To James Ross. Washington ed. i, 561.
Ford ed., iv, 217.
(P.
1786)
