The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-07-04
THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAN RE
A PUBLICS


friendly relations with all the sister republics Of
as well as in more liberal and comprehensive point
Of view, for the great interests of liberty and the
common welfare Of mankind, we believe that the
States Of this continent which have adopted the
forms and institutions Of republican government
should be able not only to maintain it permanently
but that it should be 80 administered as to give new
ustre to the cause of liberty and present example
for the imitation of the world.
That at the birth of these infant republics the gov
eminent and people of the United States cherished
the warmest wishes for their future happiness and
prosperity, as well as the best disposition to aid
and encourage them in the new and untred yicissi-
tudes on which they about to enter, cannot for
a moment be doubted by those who remember the
public demonstrations of these feelings exhibited on
that occasion Independently of mere disinterested
ties of amty, the United States anticipated that the
cause of freedom, with whose progress they were
inseparably associated, would be greatly strength
ened by their being envroned by family of sister
States looking up to them as their ostermother add
ing new stars to the bright constellation of liberty in
this western hemisphere, and presenting additional
examples xot only of the capacity of man for self
government but of the blessings to be derived from
this new species of sovereignty
Such, unquestionably, was the universal feeling of
the people of the United States towards their sister
republics Of the South whose independence they
were the first to recognise and such their anticpa-
tons But, unfortunately these anticipations have
not been realized. In looking back the history of
I q l. a. .bl
find that their turbulent existence and brief duration,
were in great measure owing first to internal dssen
sions, and next to foreign influence, its inevitable
consequence. When party spirit, which is insepa-
rable from all free governments, becomes aggravated
to a certain degree of malignty by long-continued
conflicts by alternate victories and defeats, and by
fierce apportion Of personal interests it is fatal to
all patriotism The prosperity, peace, and honor of
the country at length become subservient to the in
terests of party and the defeated faction rather than
submit to majority of their countrymen, as we learn
from many memorable examples, resorts to foreign
aid or intervention the nvariable precursor of the
downfall of the State and the loss of its liberties.
Such has been the common fate of all free States,
from Athens to Holland May the great republic of
the West prove an ilustrous exceptions
These party contests, uniformly decided by the
sword have proved the bane of the infant republics
of the New World, inasmuch they not only blast
ed all the fruits ofberty at their first budding, but
prepared the way for the intrusion of foreign nhu
ence which has always been adverse to their own
freedom, and to friendly intercourse with the Uni
ted States Advantage too, has been taken of these
perpetual dissensons and civil wars by the enemies
of liberty through whose intrigues they were TO-
mented by drawing from their disastrous conse-
quences arguments against those great principles Of
freedom to which they ascrbe what in reality is
owing to their own efforts arrest their natural OPP
Grafton.
IT, as might well be anticipated, in the midst of
this perpetual turmoil of contending factions, this
succession of seditions, civil wars, and revolutions,
agriculture arts, and civilization, have refrigerated
almost everywhere since the independence Of these
republics all this is ascrbed to that very freedom
which, owing to these causes, has been little else
than alterations of Righteousness, anarchy aud des
potism Hitherto there has been practically neither
civil nor religious liberty in these socacd republ
can States and political contests instead of being
decided by the free voice of the people at the pols
have been settled by the sword III ueBe repeated
struggles did not originate in foreign influence and
intrigue there is at least sufficient evidence that they
were greatly aggravated by their interference.
But from whatever causes they may have arisen,
these unhappy dissensions have by degrees, and by
natural consequence, greatly weakened, if not en-
tirely cxtingushed that universal sympathy in their
behalf which prevailed in the United States during
the struggle for and Immediately after the attain
ment of, independence by these States This endless
succession Of anarchy, only productive of revolu-
tons, preparing the way for new pronunciamentos,
and new despots prostituting the language and the
forms of liberty the purposes of oppression, and
governing for the moment by force alone, have given
rise to the most discouraging anticipatons. The
world and most especially the people of the United
States begin to fear, if not believe, that, while in
possession of the present mixture of races, the soil
of the southern portion of this continent is incapable
of nourshing the tree of liberty to vigorous ma
turity Accordingly, for some years the people and
government of the United States had ceased to take
an interest in these domestic squabbles and were
content with keeping up the mere forms of diplo-
matte intercourse with rulers who often either
victims or cxes before minister could present his
credentials.
The acquisition of California, however, awakened
new interest in the fate of these republics, most