be

gress (1823), they declined to ratify a commercial treaty formed on the basis of reciprocity, because, as they candidly confessed, this treaty would prevent them from assisting their brethren of the south in case of a war. This treaty has since been concluded; but we may infer from these, and from several other vexatious proceedings of the Mexican authorities towards merchant vessels, what the United States, have to expect. A war may take place with all these new Republics; with Mexico it is inevitable, and will happen perhaps sooner than may imagined. The present administration, by its parental care, has the merit of instructing these Republics in the secret of their strength, and of furnishing them with a pretext for exerting it. The reason why Great Britain is so highly interested in the welfare of these countries, is quite obvious; they are her natural allies against the United States, and it is consistent with her policy to foster them. But when we see the United States' Government, who are not unacquainted with the character of these people, cherishing these gigantic military Republics with so much affection, this appears to us a degree of inconsistency absolutely unpar

donable, if we consider the status quo of the Southern States of the Union.

Nothing can be less solid, nothing can offer less security for the future, than the bond of the Union itself. A vast unwieldy body, held together only by motives of self-interest and of egotism. One of the most important questions which attacks the foundation of this very egotism in its vital parts, and widens every hour more and more the distance between the Southern and the Northern States, is the possession of slaves. It is not a mere party-question; the whole population are opposed to each other, and the steps taken by the government in regard to this essential point, are watched by the southern people with a jealousy which is almost incredible. Happily for the Union four of the Presidents were citizens of Slave States, and, therefore, treated the point in question with corresponding delicacy, leaving it to time to remedy the evil. It was for this reason that the Republic of Hayti has not been acknowledged, notwithstanding the clamour of the north, which was afraid of suffering in its commercial interests by the refusal. It was argued, and not without reason, that such an acknowledgment could not but create in the

southern black population, a tendency to renew their sanguinary attempts. From the same cause, the Southern States of the Union are so adverse to an alliance with the Southern Republics, which latter are about to place all races and colours upon the same footing, for the purpose of effecting a combination of so many conflicting elements.

If Mr. Adams would have listened to the voice of the people, and acted according to their interest, he would not have produced so much excitement by his message. The minister to Mexico or Columbia could have repaired to the Isthmus, have conveyed to the assembled plenipotentiaries the assurance of friendship, and have received such communications in return, as they were pleased to make. They might also have gone charged with a solemn protest against the invasion of Cuba: these were the steps which a sound policy dictated. In this manner Spain would not have been unnecessarily offended, nor the jealousy of Great Britain excited, in a manner which is now manifesting itself: thus the system of neutrality, hitherto pursued for the welfare of the Union would not have been infringed. If, on the contrary,

1

the President declares in his message, "that the

policy of Washington could not be applied to the present circumstances," this evasive declaration leaves but little doubt as to his deep-laid schemes. Time will prove that it is particularly to the South of America that Washington's policy ought to be applied without reserve. Those new Republics are destined to give the United States, sooner or later, more trouble than all the rest of the world put together. A wise policy would keep them at a proper distance, as long and as effectually as possible. This would have been the system dictated by wisdom, and founded on the status quo of the Union, on the neutrality and on the delicate situation of the Southern States.-One reflection forces itself upon the thinking observer.-When a man succeeds, as Mr. Adams has done, in placing himself at the head of affairs, it ought certainly to be expected, that he would take such conciliatory measures as were likely to heal the deep wounds inflicted upon the feelings of the nation, and by no means to proclaim sentiments which must necessarily confirm the idea that he inclined towards monarchy. This was the course naturally to be expected from a man so well versed in diplomacy, who, moreover, has the warning ex

If the

ample of his late father before his eyes. new President on the contrary, avows without disguise, in his first as well as in his last message, the intention of stretching his power to the utmost; if he does what even the Sovereign of Great Britain would not venture to do, appoint a Secretary of State, and support a man so wholly unpopular as Mr. Clay; if he dare not only to declare his intention to recede from the system hitherto pursued, but to maintain that declaration in opposition to the manifest feeling and interest of the nation; if he constitute himself the sole umpire of its internal and foreign relations, without even condescending to consult its opinion; if he assume toward the Senators and Representatives of a sovereign state, a tone befitting a monarch* only; then arises the question, whether such a man is not, de facto, a

* Last year a postmaster was to be appointed at Nashville. The President nominated a Mr. Erwin, a dependant of Mr. Clay. The most respectable citizens of this town, the first in rank of the State of Tennessee, collected together to the number of six hundred, and expressed their desire, through the Senator and the Representatives of the State of Tennessee, in Washington, that the appointment might be given to Mr. Currie. This petition was delivered by the Senators and Representatives of the State to the President. Mr. Adams directed the Postmaster-General to return the petition, "as a paper not proper for him to receive."