Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

Recall to your recollection the free nations which have gone before us. Where are they now?

"Gone glimmering thro' the dream of things that were;
A schoolboys' tale-the wonder of an hour!"

And how have they lost their liberties? If we could transport ourselves back to the ages when Greece and Rome flourished in their greatest prosperity;— and, mingling in the throng, should ask a Grecian, if he did not fear that some daring military chieftain, covered with glory-some Philip or Alexanderwould one day overthrow the liberties of his country—the confident and indignant Grecian would exclaim,-No! no! we have nothing to fear from our heroes! Our liberties will be eternal.-If a Roman citizen had been asked, if he did not fear the Conqueror of Gaul might establish a throne upon the ruins of public liberty, he would have instantly repelled the unjust insinuation. Yet, Greece fell; Cæsar passed the Rubicon; and the patriotic arm even of Brutus could not preserve the liberties of his devoted country. In the very year, almost the very month, when the President of the Directory declared that monarchy would never more show its frightful head in France, Buonaparte, with his grenadiers, entered the palace of St. Cloud; and dispersing with the

bayonet, the deputies of the people, deliberating on the affairs of the State, laid the foundation of that vast fabric of despotism which overshadowed all Europe!

Beware how you give a fatal sanction, in this infant period of our Republic, to military insubordination. Remember that Greece had her Alexander,-Rome, her Cæsar-England, her Cromwell-France, her Buonaparte; and that, if we would escape the rock on which they split, we must avoid their errors. House of Rep. 1814.

AGGRANDIZEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL NATIONS.

If gentlemen ask me whether I do not view with regret and horror the concentration of such vast power in the hands of Buonaparte, I reply that I do. I regret to see the Emperor of China holding such universal sway over the lives and fortunes of millions of our species. I regret to see Great Britain possessing so uncontrolled a command over all the waters of the globe. If I had the ability to distribute among the nations of Europe their several portions of power and sovereignty, I would say that Holland should be resuscitated, and given the weight she enjoyed in the days of her De Witts. I would confine France within her natural boundaries-the Alps, the Pyrenees and Rhine—and make her a secondary naval power only. I would abridge the British maritime power; raise Prussia and Austria to their original condition, and preserve the integrity of the Empire of Russia. But these are speculations. Army Bill, 1813.

PICTURE OF SPANISH DOMINION IN SOUTH AMERICA.

Three hundred years ago, upon the ruins of the thrones of Montezuma and the Incas of Peru, Spain erected the most stupendous system of colonial despotism that the world has ever seen ;— the most vigorous, the most exclusive. The great

principle and object of this system, has been to render one of the largest portions of the world exclusively subservient, in all its faculties, to the interests of an inconsiderable spot in Europe. To effectuate this aim of her policy, she locked up Spanish America from all the rest of the world; and prohibited, under the severest penalties, any foreigner from entering any part of it. To keep the natives themselves ignorant of each other, and of the strength and resources of the several parts of her American possessions, she next prohibited the inhabitants of one vice-royalty or government from visiting those of another; so that the inhabitants of Mexico, for example, were not allowed to enter the vice-royalty of New Granada. The agriculture of those vast regions was so regulated and restrained as to prevent all collision with the agriculture of the peninsula. Where nature, by the character and composition of the soil, had commanded-the abominable system of Spain has forbidden---the growth of certain articles. Thus, the olive and the vine, to which Spanish America is so well adapted, are prohibited, wherever their culture can interfere with the olive and the vine of the peninsula. The commerce of the country, in the direction and objects of the exports and imports, is also sub

F

jected to the narrow and selfish views of Spain-and fettered by the odious spirit of monopoly existing in Cadiz. She has sought, by scattering discord among the several castes of her American population, and by a debasing course of education, to perpetuate her oppression. Whatever concerns public law, or the science of government—all writers upon political economy, or that tend to give vigor, and freedom, and expansion to the intellect—are prohibited. Gentlemen would be astonished by the long list of distinguished authors, whom she proscribes, to be found in Depon's and other works. A main feature in her policy is that which constantly elevates the European and depresses the American character. Out of upwards of seven hundred and fifty viceroys and captains-general, whom she has appointed since the conquest of America, about eighteen only have been from the body of the American population. On all occasions, she seeks to raise and promote her European subjects, and to degrade and humiliate the Creoles. Wherever in America her sway extends, every thing seems to pine and wither beneath its baneful influence. The richest regions of the earth; man, his happiness and his education, all the fine faculties of his soul, are regulated, and modified, and moulded, to suit the execrable purposes of an inexorable despotism. House of Rep. 1818.

HUMANITY TO THE INDIAN.

The first circumstance which, in the course of this enquiry, fixes our attention, has filled me with regret. I mean the execution of the Indian Chiefs.-How, I ask did they come into our possession? Was it in the course of fair, and open, and honorable war? No! but by means of deception-by hoisting foreign colors on the staff from which the stars and stripes should alone have floated. Thus insnared, the Indians were taken on shore, and without ceremony, and without delay, were hung. Hang an Indian! We, sir, who are civilized, and can comprehend and feel the effect of moral causes and considerations, attach ignominy to that mode of death. And the gallant, and refined, and high-minded man, seeks by all possible means to avoid it. But what cares an Indian whether you hang or shoot him? The moment he is captured, he is considered by his tribe as disgraced, if not lost. They, too, are indifferent about the manner in which he is despatched. But I regard the occurrence with grief for other and higher considerations. It was the first instance that I know of, in the annals of our country, in which retaliation, by executing Indian captives, has ever been deliberately practised. There may have been exceptions, but if there are, they met with contemporaneous condemnation, and have been reprehended by the just pen of impartial history. The gentleman from Massachusetts may tell me what he pleases about the tomahawk and scalping-knife--about Indian enormities, and foreign miscreants and incendiaries.

« AnteriorContinuar »