[41]


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON


about  Europe.  'Cette  vieille  Europe  m'ennuie,'
he  said  frankly.  His  ambition  was  all  directed
towards  the  new  world.  He  is  the  Titan  whose
dream  it  is  to  restore  that  Greater  France  which
had  fallen  in  the  struggles  of  the  eighteenth  cen
tury,  and  to  overthrow  that  Greater  Britain  which
has  been  established  on  its  ruins. "a  When  we
realize  the  real  intent  of  France,  and  when  we  see
the  proof  of  world-ambition  in  Napoleon's  expedi
tion  against  Egypt  and  in  his  acquisition  of  Louis
iana,  we  perceive  how  truly  Hamilton  divined
Europe.  Just  before  we  acquired  Louisiana,
Hamilton  said  that  the  cession  of  that  territory  to
France  threatened  uthe  early  dismemberment  of
a  large  portion  of  the  country;  more  immediately,
the  safety  of  all  the  Southern  States;  and  re
motely,  the  independence  of  the  whole  Union. "b
He  wishes  also  to  thwart  France's  ambition  for
universal  empire  by  detaching  South  America
from  Spain,  because  the  gold  of  those  countries
was  flowing  into  the  coffers  of  France.0

It  was  Hamilton's  belief  that  the  true  family
compact  hoped  for  by  Genet  was  a  Pandora  box;
it  would  inevitably  make  us  a  mere  satellite  of
France  ;d  it  would  destroy  our  national  existence.
a  Seeley,  J.  R.,  The  Expansion  of  England,  p.  105.
b  Works,  vol.  6,  p.  334.    Pericles,  1803.
c  Works,  vol.  10,  p.  339.    To  Otis,  January  26,  1799.
d  Works,  vol.  5,  p.  184.    Horatius,  May,  1795.
[42]


DEFENCE  AND  NEUTRALITY

The  French  party,  by  trying  to  force  the  govern
ment  to  assist  France,  were  putting  in  jeopardy  our
nationality.  Our  treaty  with  France  was  defen
sive  only;  her  war  against  the  First  Coalition  was
offensive;  we  therefore  had  no  treaty  obligation.
