Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-07-08

last people earth TO admit the truth Of any such
doctrine This doctrine is at fatal war with our
cornerstone doctrine, that every people is at lib
erty TO choose its own form OF Government. For
us to set up "the Monroe doctrine" is to turn
our back upon the Declaration of independence.
II is TO deny TO live down; to lie down our
/ own fundamental principles For us TO refuse to
other peoples and nations TO separate from each
other, as they please; or unite with each other,
as they please or change their forms of Gov
| ernment as they please; is to be guilty of re-
| pealing the principles, on which our own nation
deliberately founded itself For us to restrict
| other Governments, as t" the Monroe doctrine"
would restrict them, is, virtually, to ignore and
deny the foundation and legitimacy of our own
| Government.
But, sir, we are either ignorant Of ourselves,
or insinccre. We would not approve-nay, we
would not abide" the Monroe doctrine" were it
applied TO ourselves. Suppose our nation should,
| for any reasons whatever, wish to blend itself
with Great Britain, would it be restrained from
doing so by its commttal to " the Monroe doc
trine2" oh, mol And yet that wish would be
| directly in the face of /" the Monroe doctrine"
Suppose Mexico and Brazil, hearing of this wish,
should put their veto upon its indulgence. How
quick would we scout the veto, and bid them
mind their own business, whilst we minded ours
But, IL they have no right to forbid our fusion
with Great Britain, pray, what right should we
| have to forbid the proposition of Hayti to join
France, or Chill to join China, or (most terrific
of all terrific things, in the eyes OF an American
fibuster y Cuba to join England?
| The truth is, that our rapid progress in popu-
lation, wealth, and power, has made us iorgetful
of the equal rights OF the nations of the earth.
We are disposed to measure our rights by our
prosperity; and to disparage the rights Of others,
in the degree, that their prosperity falls short of
our own. In our boundless self-conceit our
might, either already is, or is very soon to be,
boundless. And, as is to be expected in such a
case, we are already acting on, if not in terms
avowing, the MAXIM that might makes right.
1t was in the proud and arrogant spirit Of our
country--it was under the influence of the ex-
travagant pretensions, with which she is bloated,
that the Squier treaty was so much condemned,
and the Hise treaty so much extolled, in the other
wing Of the Capitol, a year or two since. The
Squer treaty admitted, that other nations of the
earth might participate with ours in controlling
the ship-canal between the Atlantic and the Pa
cifc. But the Hise treaty claimed, that our ma
ton, alone, is worthy of controlling it, that the
nation whose Office is sole dictator of the whole
EARTH should be the sole keeper Of that great
gateway of all the nations, and should decide
when, and on what terms, the ships of those ma
tions might pass through it. 1t was, of course,
taken for granted, that all the nations of the
earth would be tame enough to acquiesce prompt
ly in this, as well as all other claims of our
sumed dictatorship
II fxt the chain to great Olympus height,
And the vast world hangs trembling in my sight"
are words quite too swollen for nation-for any
| collection of mere men to use--however fitted
| they may be to the lips of a God.
"The pride of thy heart" saith the prophet
"hath deceived thee, thou that dwelest in the
clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high ;
| that saith i'm his heart swho shall bring me
down to the ground2 Though thou exalt thy
self as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest
among the stars, thence will bring thee down,
saith the Lord"
| Is not such the pride, that we are nurturing2-
| the "pride," may we not fear, that goeth be-
fore destruction ?--the naughty spirit before a
! fall2"
Never has there been so self-deceived q nation
| as our own. That we are nation for liberty is
among our widest conceits. We are not nation
| for liberty refer not now TO the terrible blot
| of slavery upon our country. refer to our
pride No proud man is for liberty. No proud
nation is for liberty. Liberty-precious boon of
| Heavens meek and reasonable. She admits,
| that she belongs to ALTO the high and the low
| the rich and the poor the black and the white
and, that she belongs to them all equally. The
| liberty, for which proud man contends, is a
spurious liberty; and such is the liberty, for
which proud nation contends IL is tyranny;
for ii invades and strikes down equal rights. But
true liberty acknowledges and defends the equal
rights of all men, and all nations. There is not
time for me TO expatiate upon the merits of true
liberty. They will be known to all, who bow
themselves gratefully and lovingly, to her claims
There is not time for me 10 prove that il is her
true character, which have given 10 true liberty
Suffice il TO say, that all will see it to be SUCH
who are so happy, rs TO escape from the hard do
minion OF passion and prejudice, TO the welcome
control of reason and religion.
IL this nation is TO prosper, ii must be by adj
herring to the great and precious principles avow-
ed at its birth. One of these principles is, that
every people may choose its own form of govern
ment, and vary it, as il pleases. We chose ours
and we write "hypocrite," with our own finger,
upon our own foreheads, if we deny TO the Hay
items or Cubans, or any other people, the liberty
to choose theirs. II Cuba proposes to remain a
part of Spain, or to become part OF France, or
England, we cannot condemn the proposition,
but at the expense Of condemning our own, de-
liberately adopted and solemnly uttered princi-
Piles.
1t is not for this nation TO deny the right of
one people to blend themselves with another peo-
ple the right Of any people 10 break up their
existing national relations In other words, it is
not for this nation to deny the right either of an
British provinces, north of us TO annex them
selves to our nation, II willing to receive
them and that, too, whether England does, or
does not consent to it. ] claim the right of those
provinces and New England to form nation by
themselves; and that, too, whether with or with
out the appreciation Of the English and American
Governments. | hold that the Northern States
have the right to go off into nation by them
selves; and the Western States, and the Southern
States. II they will 90, let them go and we,
though loving the Union, and every part Of il,
and willing to lose part of il, viii let them go
in peace, and will follow them with our blessing,
and with our warm prayer, that they may return
to us and with our firm belief, that they will
return to us, after they shall have spent few
miserable years, or perhaps, no more than few
miserable months, in their miserable experiment
of separating themselves from their brethren. OF
course, cannot forget that many, alas, that they
are so many would prefer following the seceders
with curses and guns oh how slow are men To