Germany must pay; or we shall infallibly
see Prussia leagued with France and Spain, and possibly with other
powers, for the reduction of Austria; and such may be the situation of
things, that it will not be so easy to decide what part England may take
in such a contest.
I am well aware how invidious a task it is to oppose anything which
tends to the apparent aggrandizement of our own country. But I think no
country can be aggrandized whilst France is Jacobinized. This post
removed, it will be a serious question how far her further reduction
will contribute to the general safety, which I always consider as
included. Among precautions against ambition, it may not be amiss to
take one precaution against our _own_. I must fairly say, I dread our
_own_ power and our _own_ ambition; I dread our being too much dreaded.
It is ridiculous to say we are not men, and that, as men, we shall never
wish to aggrandize ourselves in some way or other. Can we say that even
at this very hour we are not invidiously aggrandized? We are already in
possession of almost all the commerce of the world.
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