The scorn of the universe?

From Ian Toll's fine Six Frigates:

Henry Clay, who had been both a leading advocate of the war and a principal architect of the pease, asked his House colleagues in January 1816:  "Have we gained nothing by the war?"

Let any man look at the degraded condition of this country before the war; the scorn of the universe, the contempt of ourselves; and tell me if we have gained nothing by the war?  What is our present situation?  Respectability and character abroad - security and confidence at home.  If we have not obtained in the opinion of some the full measure of our retribution, our character and our Constitution are placed on a solid basis, never to be shaken.