The “just compensation” to be paid by the United States may be regarded, according to the classical report of Mr. Livingston, in two lights: _first_, the value of the advantages to the United States at the expense of these claimants; and, _secondly_, the actual losses sustained by these claimants. Neither is proposed as an absolute measure. A glance at each will enable us to arrive, by approximation, at a proper result. VALUE OF ADVANTAGES TO THE UNITED STATES. It is impossible to estimate in money the advantages to the United States. Beyond the great boon of assured peace, under which our commerce, no longer exposed to spoliation, put forth at once more than its original life, two specific objects were gained: _first_, exemption from all outstanding engagements and liabilities of every nature under the early treaties with France; and, _secondly_, the establishment of a new Convention, which, while rejecting much-debated claims and counter-claims, provided positive advantages to the United States, among which was that payment of “debts” subsequently assured by the Louisiana Convention. If the United States could be held responsible to France for the treasure lavished on national independence, in pursuance of these original treaties, there would be an item of fourteen hundred and forty millions of francs, or about two hundred and eighty millions of dollars.[249] The brave lives sacrificed for us cannot be estimated in any account; but France did not forget them. Even amidst the congratulations at Morfontaine in honor of the Convention, the First Consul reminded the joyous company of the sacrifice. Beyond the toast he proposed in honor of those who fell in battle for the independence of the New World, there is no record of what was said by the successful general of France; but old Homer, in one of his most touching passages, had already spoken for him:-- “Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold; Not all Apollo’s Pythian treasures hold, Or Troy once held in peace and pride of sway, Can bribe the poor possession of a day. Lost herds and treasures we by arms regain, And steeds unrivalled on the dusty plain; But from our lips the vital spirit fled Returns no more to wake the silent dead.”[250] Under the sod of America, and under the waves of the Atlantic, Frenchmen were sleeping whose lives had been given to the support of our cause. If France did not forget them, let it be spoken in her honor; but we cannot forget them, as we try to state the great account between our two countries. Their swords, if flung into the scales, whatever “heaps of gold” we might bring, would forever turn the balance against us.