account to inconsiderate and unfair ones. At present the Government
which negotiates a treaty can hardly be said to be accountable to
any one. It is sure to be subjected to vague censure. Benjamin
Franklin said, "I have never known a peace made, even the most
advantageous, that was not censured as inadequate, and the makers
condemned as injudicious or corrupt. 'Blessed are the peace-makers'
is, I suppose, to be understood in the other world, for in this they
are frequently cursed." And this is very often the view taken now in
England of treaties. There being nothing practical in the
Opposition--nothing likely to hamper them hereafter--the leaders of
Opposition are nearly sure to suggest every objection. The thing is
done and cannot be undone, and the most natural wish of the
Opposition leaders is to prove that if they had been in office, and
it therefore had been theirs to do it, they could have done it much
better. On the other hand, it is quite possible that there may be no
real criticism on a treaty at all; or the treaty has been made by
the Government, and as it cannot be unmade by any one, the
Opposition may not think it worth while to say much about it. The
Government, therefore, is never certain of any criticism; on the
contrary, it has a good chance of escaping criticism; but if there
be any criticism the Government must expect it to be bitter, sharp,
and captious--made as an irresponsible objector would make it, and
not as a responsible statesman, who may have to deal with a
difficulty if he make it, and therefore will be cautious how he says
anything which may make it.

This is what happens in common cases; and in the uncommon--the
ninety-ninth case in a hundred--in which the Opposition hoped to
turn out the Government because of the alleged badness of the treaty
they have made, the criticism is sure to be of the most undesirable