If, however, the vote should pass to reject--even I, slender and almost broken as my hold on life is, may outlive the government and Constitution of my country.[1] [Footnote 1: Elson, 359.] The next day when the vote was taken it appeared that the Republicans, instead of winning by a majority of six, had lost by three.
The person who really triumphed was George Washington, although Fisher Ames, who won the immediate victory, deserved undying laurel.

The Treaty had all the objections that its critics brought against it then, but it had one sterling virtue which outweighed them all.

It not only made peace between the United States and Great Britain the normal condition, but it removed the likelihood that the wrangling over petty matters might lead to war.

For many years Washington had a fixed idea that if the new country could live for twenty years without a conflict with its chief neighbors, its future would be safe; for he felt that at the end of that time it would have grown so strong by the natural increase in population and by the strength that comes from developing its resources, that it need not fear the attack of any people in the world.

The Jay Treaty helped towards this end; it prevented war for sixteen years only; but even that delay was of great service to the Americans and made them more ready to face it than they would have been in 1795..