12 THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 
statesmen evolve peace; and that it is only by the 
incompetency of statesmen of one side or the other,— 
that is, their ignorance, their passion, their prejudice, 
their want of forecast, or their willfully aggressive 
ambition,—that the unspeakable calamities of war are 
ever thrust on the suffering world. Neither Mr. Fish 
nor Earl De Grey, nor their respective associates, 
could afford to take on their consciences the respon- 
sibility, or on their characters the shame, of the non- 
success on this occasion of a last effort to renovate 
and re-establish in perpetuity relations of cordial 
friendship between Great Britain and the United 
States. And, if they needed other impulse to right 
conclusion, that was given by the wise and firm direc. 
tion of the President, here in person, and of the Queen, 
here in effect through the means of daily telegraphic 
communication. . 
Happily for the peace of the two countries and for 
the welfare of the world, the negotiators proved equal 
to the emergency, in courage: as well as in statesman- 
ship. The Government and the people of Great Brit- 
ain had learned to regret sincerely the occurrence of 
the acts or facts which had given such deep offense; 
and which had done such serious injury, to the United 
States; and, moreover, the. Government and people of 
this country had come to desire, with equal sincerity, 
that some honorable solution of the existing difficul- 
ties might be found, so as to leave room for the un- 
obstructed action here of the prevailing natural tend- 
ency toward unreserved intellectual and commercial 
association with Great Britain. Material interests, 
