Chapter 15

“Every inhabitant of America is,de factoas well asde jure, equal, in his essential, inseparable rights of the individual, to any other individual,—is, in these rights, independentof any power that any other can assume over him, over his labor, or his property. This is a principle in act and deed, and not a mere speculative theorem.”[559]

This strange and striking testimony, all from one man, is enhanced by his farewell words to Franklin. As Pownall heard that the great philosopher and negotiator was about to embark for the United States, he wrote to him from Lausanne, 3d July, 1785:—

“Adieu, my dear friend. You are going to a New World, formed to exhibit a scene which the Old World never yet saw. You leave me here in the Old World, which, like myself, begins to feel, as Asia hath felt, that it is wearing out apace. We shall never meet again on this earth; but there is another world where we shall meet, andwhere we shall be understood.”[560]

The correspondence was continued across the intervening ocean. In a letter to Franklin, dated at Bristol, 8th April, 1788, the same devoted reformer refers to the Congress at Albany in 1754, “when the events which have since come into fact first began to develop themselves, as ready to burst into bloom, and to bring forth the fruits of Liberty which you in America at present enjoy.” He is cheered in his old age by the proceedings in the Convention to frame a Constitution, with Franklin’s “report of a system of sovereignty founded in law, and above which law only was sovereign”; and he begins “to entertain hopes for the liberties of America, and for what will be an asylum one day or other to a remnant of mankind who wish and deserve to live with political liberty.” His disturbanceat the Presidential term breaks out: “I have some fears of mischief fromthe orbit of four years’ periodwhich you give to the rotation of the office of President. It may become the ground of intrigue.”[561]Here friendly anxiety is elevated by hope, where America appears as the asylum of Liberty.

Clearly Pownall was not understood in his time; but it is evident that he understood our country as few Englishmen since have been able to understand it.

How few of his contemporaries saw America with his insight and courage! The prevailing sentiment was typified in the conduct of George the Third, so boldly arraigned in the Declaration of Independence. Individual opinions also attest the contrast, and help to glorify Pownall. Thus, Shirley, like himself a Massachusetts governor, in advising the King to strengthen Louisburg, wrote, under date of July 10, 1745:—

“It would, by its vicinity to the British Colonies, and being the key of ’em, give the Crown of Great Britain a most absolute hold and command of ’em, if ever there should come a time when they should go restiff and disposed to shake off their dependency upon their mother country,the possibility of which seems some centuries further off than it does to some gentlemen at home.”[562]

Nothing of the prophet here. Nor was Hume more penetrating in his History first published, although he commemorates properly the early settlement of the country:—

“What chiefly renders the reign of James memorable is the commencement of the English colonies in America, coloniesestablished on the noblest footing that has been known in any age or nation.…“Speculative reasoners during that age raised many objections to the planting those remote colonies, and foretold, that, after draining their mother country of inhabitants, they would soon shake off her yoke, and erect an independent government in America; but time has shown that the views entertained by those who encouraged such generous undertakings were more just and solid.A mild government and great naval force have preserved, and may long preserve, the dominion of England over her colonies.”[563]

“What chiefly renders the reign of James memorable is the commencement of the English colonies in America, coloniesestablished on the noblest footing that has been known in any age or nation.…

“Speculative reasoners during that age raised many objections to the planting those remote colonies, and foretold, that, after draining their mother country of inhabitants, they would soon shake off her yoke, and erect an independent government in America; but time has shown that the views entertained by those who encouraged such generous undertakings were more just and solid.A mild government and great naval force have preserved, and may long preserve, the dominion of England over her colonies.”[563]

In making the reign of James chiefly memorable by the Colonies, the eminent historian shows a just appreciation of events; but he seems to have written hastily, and rather from imagination than evidence, when he announces contemporary prophecy, “that, after draining their mother country of inhabitants, they would soon shake off her yoke, and erect an independent government in America,” and is plainly without prophetic instinct with regard to “the dominion of England over her colonies.”

Again a Frenchman appears on our list, Antoine Marie Cérisier, who was born at Châtillon-les-Dombes, 1749, and died 1st July, 1828, after a checkered existence. Being Secretary of the French Legation at the Hague, he early became interested in the history of Holland and her heroic struggle for independence. An elaborate work in ten volumes on the “General Historyof the United Provinces,”[564]appearing first in French and afterwards translated into Dutch, attests his industry and zeal, and down to this day is accepted as the best in French literature on this interesting subject. Naturally the historian of the mighty effort to overthrow the domination of Spain sympathized with the kindred effort in America. In a series of works he bore his testimony to our cause.

John Adams was received at the Hague as American Minister, 19th April, 1782. In his despatch to Secretary Livingston, 16th May, 1782, he wrote: “How shall I mention another gentleman, whose name, perhaps, Congress never heard, but who, in my opinion, has done more decided and essential service to the American cause and reputation, within these last eighteen months, than any other man in Europe?” Then, after describing him as “beyond all contradiction one of the greatest historians and political characters in Europe, … possessed of the most genuine principles and sentiments of liberty, and exceedingly devoted by principle and affection to the American cause,” our minister announces: “His pen has erected a monument to the American cause more glorious and more durable than brass or marble. His writings have been read like oracles, and his sentiments weekly echoed and reëchoed in gazettes and pamphlets.”[565]And yet these have passed out of sight.

First in time was an elaborate work in French, purporting to be translated from the English, which appeared at Utrecht in 1778, entitled, “History of the Founding of the Colonies of the Ancient Republics,adapted to the present Dispute of Great Britain with her American Colonies.”[566]Learning and philosophy were elevated by visions of the future. With the representation of the Colonies in Parliament, he foresees the time when “the influence of America will become preponderant in Parliament, andable, perhaps, to transfer the seat of empireto their country, and so, without danger and without convulsive agitation, render this immense continent, already so favorably disposed by Nature to that end, the theatre of one of the greatest and freest governments that have ever existed.”[567]Then indulging in another vision, where French emigrants and Canadians, already invited to enter the Confederacy, mingle with English colonists, he beholds at the head of the happy settlements “men known for their superior genius, their politics friendly to humanity, and their enthusiasm for liberty,” and he catches the strains of ancient dramatists, “whose masterpieces would breathe and inspire a hatred of tyrants and despots.” Then touching a practical point in government, he exclaims: “The human species there would not be debased, outraged by that odious and barbarous distinction of nobles and plebeians, as if anybody could be more or less than a man.” And then again: “Could not that admirable democracy which I have so often pleased myself in tracing be established there?”[568]

This was followed in the same year by another publication, also in French, entitled “Impartial Observations of a True Hollander, in Answer to the Addressof a self-styled Good Hollander to his Countrymen.”[569]Here there is no longer question of Colonial representation in Parliament, or of British empire transferred to America, but of separation, with its lofty future:—

“This revolution is, then, the most fortunate event which could happen to the human species in general and to all the States in particular. In short, tender souls see with transport that reparation at last is to be made for the crime of those who discovered and devastated this immense continent, and recognize the United States of North America as replacing the numerous nations which European cruelty has caused to disappear from South America.”[570]

Addressing Englishmen directly, the Frenchman thus counsels:—

“Englishmen! you must needs submit to your destiny, and renounce a people who do not wish longer to recognize you. To avoid giving them any uneasiness, and to prevent all dispute in the future,have the courage to abandon to them all the neighboring countries which have not yet shaken off your yoke.”[571]

Then turning to his own countrymen:—

“Let Canada make a fourteenth confederate State.What glory for you to have labored first for this interesting revolution! What glory for you that these settlements, sprung from your bosom, should be associated with a powerful confederation, and govern themselves as a Republic!”[572]

The idea of Canada as “a fourteenth confederate State” was in unison with the aspiration and invitation of the Continental Congress.

Another friendly work in French, pretending to be from the English, saw the light in 1780, and is entitled “The Destiny of America; or, Picturesque Dialogues.”[573]Among the parties to the colloquies are Lord North, with other English personages, and a Philosopher, who must be the author. Among the topics considered are the causes of current events, the policy of European powers relative to the war, and the influence it must have on the happiness of mankind. In answer to Lord North, who asks, “What are these precious means [of saving our honor and interests]?” the Philosopher replies: “Commence by proclaiming the independence of the thirteen revolted Colonies, of Florida,and of Canada; … then, in a manner not less solemn, renounce Jamaica, Barbadoes, and all your Windward Islands.”[574]This is to be followed by the freedom of the Spanish and French colonies,—also of the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the Danish. Then, rising in aspiration, the Philosopher, exalting the good of humanity over that of any nation, proclaims that the root of future wars must be destroyed, that the ocean may not be reddened with blood; but this destiny will be postponed, “if America does not become entirely free.”[575]Then, looking forward to the time when nations will contend on the ocean only in commercial activity, and man will cease to be the greatest enemy of man, he declares: “If Perpetual Peace could be more than the dream of honest men, what event could accelerate it more than the independence of the two Americas?”[576]Confessing that he does not expect the applause of the present age, he concludes, “My heart tells me that I shall have the acknowledgmentof all free and tender souls, and the suffrage of posterity.”[577]Most surely he has mine. Nothing can be happier than the thought that Perpetual Peace would be accelerated by American freedom, thus enhancing even this great boon.

I am glad to enter upon our list the name of this illustrious scholar, who was born in London, 28th September, 1746, and died in Calcutta, 27th April, 1794.

If others have excelled Sir William Jones in different departments of human activity, no Englishman has attained equal eminence in so many, and at the same time borne the priceless crown of character. His wonderful attainments and his various genius excite admiration, but his goodness awakens love. It is pleasant to know that his benediction rests upon our country.

From boyhood to his last breath he was always industrious, thus helping the generous gifts of Nature,—and it is not easy to say where he was most eminent. As a jurist, he is memorable for the “Essay on the Law of Bailments,” undoubtedly at the time it appeared the most complete and beautiful contribution to the science of jurisprudence in the English language. As a judge, he was the voice of the law and of justice, so that his appointment to a high judicial station in India was called “the greatest blessing ever conferred by the British Government on the inhabitants of the East.”[578]As a linguist, knowing no less than twenty-eight languages, he was the predecessor of Baron William Humboldt, andthe less scholarly prodigy, Mezzofanti, while as a philologist he will find a parallel in the former rather than the latter. As an Orientalist, he was not only the first of his time, but the pioneer through whom the literature of the East was opened to European study and curiosity. As a poet, he is enshrined forever by his Ode modestly called “An Ode in Imitation of Alcæus,”[579]and doubtless inspired by sympathy with the American cause:—

“What constitutes a State?Not high-raised battlement or labored mound,Thick wall or moated gate;Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned;Not bays and broad-armed ports,Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;Not starred and spangled courts,Where low-browed Baseness wafts perfume to Pride:No;Men, high-mindedMen,…Men, who theirdutiesknow,But know theirrights, and, knowing, dare maintain;Prevent the long-aimed blow,And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain:Theseconstitute a State.”[580]

“What constitutes a State?

Not high-raised battlement or labored mound,

Thick wall or moated gate;

Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned;

Not bays and broad-armed ports,

Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;

Not starred and spangled courts,

Where low-browed Baseness wafts perfume to Pride:

No;Men, high-mindedMen,

…

Men, who theirdutiesknow,

But know theirrights, and, knowing, dare maintain;

Prevent the long-aimed blow,

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain:

Theseconstitute a State.”[580]

To all these accomplishments add the glowing emotions of his noble nature, his love of virtue, his devotion to freedom, his sympathy for the poor and downtrodden. His biographer records as “a favorite opinion of Sir William Jones, that all men are born withan equal capacity for improvement,”[581]and also reports him as saying: “I see chiefly under the sun the two classes of men whom Solomon describes, the oppressor and the oppressed.… I shall cultivate my fields and gardens, and think as little as possible of monarchs or oligarchs.”[582]With these declarations it is easy to credit Dr. Paley, who said of him, “He was a great republican when I knew him.”[583]Like seeks like, and a long intimacy in the family of the good Bishop of St. Asaph,[584]ending in a happy marriage with his eldest daughter, shows how he must have sympathized with the American cause and with the future of our country.

Our author had been the tutor of Lord Althorp, the same who, as Earl Spencer, became so famous a bibliophile and a patron of Dibdin, and on the marriage of his pupil with Miss Lavinia Bingham, he was moved to commemorate it in a poem, entitled “The Muse Recalled: an Ode on the Nuptials of Lord Viscount Althorp and Miss Lavinia Bingham, eldest Daughter of Charles Lord Lucan, March 6, 1781,”[585]which his critic, Wraxall, calls “one of the most beautiful lyric productions in the English language, … emulating at once the fame of Milton and of Gray.”[586]But beyond the strain of personal sympathy, congenial to the occasion, was a passion for America, and the prophetic spirit which belongs to the poet. Lamenting that Freedom and Concord are repudiated by the sons of Albion, all the Virtues disappear,—

“Truth, Justice, Reason, Valor, with them flyTo seek a purer soil, a more congenial sky.”

“Truth, Justice, Reason, Valor, with them fly

To seek a purer soil, a more congenial sky.”

But the soil and sky which they seek are of the Delaware:—

“Beyond the vast Atlantic deepA dome by viewless genii shall be raised,The walls of adamant, compact and steep,The portals with sky-tinctured gems emblazed:There on a lofty throne shall Virtue stand;To her the youth of Delaware shall kneel;And when her smiles reign plenty o’er the land,Bow, tyrants, bow beneath the avenging steel!Commerce with fleets shall mock the waves,And Arts, that flourish not with slaves,Dancing with every Grace and every Muse,Shall bid the valleys laugh and heavenly beams diffuse.”

“Beyond the vast Atlantic deep

A dome by viewless genii shall be raised,

The walls of adamant, compact and steep,

The portals with sky-tinctured gems emblazed:

There on a lofty throne shall Virtue stand;

To her the youth of Delaware shall kneel;

And when her smiles reign plenty o’er the land,

Bow, tyrants, bow beneath the avenging steel!

Commerce with fleets shall mock the waves,

And Arts, that flourish not with slaves,

Dancing with every Grace and every Muse,

Shall bid the valleys laugh and heavenly beams diffuse.”

Wraxall remarks, that “here, in a fine frenzy of inspiration,” the poet “seems to behold, as in a vision, the modern Washington and the Congress met, after successfully throwing off all subjection to Great Britain,” while “George the Third is pretty clearly designated in the line apostrophizing tyrants.”[587]But to an American the most captivating verses are those which open the vista of peaceful triumphs, where Commerce and the Arts unite with every Grace and every Muse.

Kindred in sentiment were other contemporary verses by the anonymous author of the “Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers,” now understood to be the poet Mason,[588]which Wraxall praises for their beauty, but condemns for their politics.[589]After describing the corruption of the House of Commons under Lord North, the poet declares that it will augment in enormity and profligacy,—

“Till, mocked and jaded with the puppet play,Old England’s genius turns with scorn away,Ascends his sacred bark, the sails unfurled,And steers his state to the wide Western World.High on the helm majestic Freedom stands;In act of cold contempt she waves her hands:‘Take, slaves,’ she cries, ‘the realms that I disown,Renounce your birthright, and destroy my throne!’”[590]

“Till, mocked and jaded with the puppet play,

Old England’s genius turns with scorn away,

Ascends his sacred bark, the sails unfurled,

And steers his state to the wide Western World.

High on the helm majestic Freedom stands;

In act of cold contempt she waves her hands:

‘Take, slaves,’ she cries, ‘the realms that I disown,

Renounce your birthright, and destroy my throne!’”[590]

The two poets united in a common cause. One transported to the other side of the Atlantic the virtues which had been the glory of Britain, and the other carried there nothing less than the sovereign genius of the great nation itself.

The Count Aranda was one of the first of Spanish statesmen and diplomatists, and one of the richest subjects of Spain in his day; born at Saragossa, 1718, and died 1799. He, too, is one of our prophets. Originally a soldier, he became ambassador, governor of a province, and prime-minister. In this last post he displayed character as well as ability, and was the benefactor of his country. He drove the Jesuits from Spain, and dared to oppose the Inquisition. He was a philosopher, and, like Pope Benedict the Fourteenth, corresponded with Voltaire. Such a liberal spirit was out of place in Spain. Compelled to resign in 1773, he found a retreat at Paris as ambassador, where he came into communication with Franklin, Adams, and Jay, and finally signed the Treaty of 1783, by which Spain recognized our independence. Shortly afterwards he returned to Spain, and in 1792 took the place of Florida Blanca as prime-minister for the second time. He was emphatically a statesman, and as such did not hesitate to take responsibility even contrary to express orders. An instance of this civic courage was when, for the sake of peace between Spain and England, he accepted the Floridas instead of Gibraltar, on which the eminent French publicist, M. Rayneval, remarks that “historyfurnishes few examples of such a character and such self-devotion.”[591]

Franklin, on meeting him, records, in his letter to the Secret Committee of Correspondence, that he seemed “well disposed towards us.”[592]Some years afterwards he had another interview with him, which he thus chronicles in his journal:—

“Saturday, June 29th[1782].—We went together to the Spanish Ambassador’s, who received us with great civility and politeness. He spoke with Mr. Jay on the subject of the treaty they were to make together.… On our going out, he took pains himself to open the folding-doors for us, which is a high compliment here, and told us he would return our visit (rendre son devoir), and then fix a day with us for dining with him.”[593]

Adams, in his Diary,[594]describes a Sunday dinner at his house, then a new building in “the finest situation in Paris,” being part of the incomparable palace, with its columnar front, still admired as it looks on the Place de la Concorde. Jay also describes a dinner with the Count, who was living “in great splendor,” with an “assortment of wines perhaps the finest in Europe,” and was “the ablest Spaniard he had ever known”; showing by his conversation “that his court is in earnest,” and appearing “frank and candid, as well as sagacious.”[595]These hospitalities have a peculiar interest, when it is known, as it now is, that Count Aranda regarded the acknowledgment of our independence with “grief anddread.” But these sentiments were disguised from our ministers.

After signing the Treaty of Paris, by which Spain recognized our independence, Aranda addressed a Memoir secretly to King Charles the Third, in which his opinions on this event are set forth. This prophetic document slumbered for a long time in the confidential archives of the Spanish crown. Coxe, in his “Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon,” which are founded on a rare collection of original documents, makes no allusion to it. It was first brought to light in a French translation of Coxe’s work by Don Andres Muriel, published at Paris in 1827.[596]An abstract of the Memoir appears in one of the historical dissertations of the Mexican authority, Alaman, who said of it that it has “a just celebrity, because results have made it pass for a prophecy.”[597]I give the material portions, translated from the French of Muriel.

“Memoir communicated secretly to the King by his Excellency the Count Aranda, on the Independence of the English Colonies, after having signed the Treaty of Paris of 1783.“The independence of the English Colonies has been acknowledged. This is for me an occasion of grief and dread. France has few possessions in America; but she should have considered that Spain, her intimate ally, hasmany, and that she is left to-day exposed to terrible shocks. From the beginning, France has acted contrary to her true interests in encouraging and seconding this independence: I have often so declared to the ministers of this nation. What could happen better for France than to see the English and the Colonists destroy each other in a party warfare which could only augment her power and favor her interests? The antipathy which reigns between France and England blinded the French Cabinet; it forgot that its interest consisted in remaining a tranquil spectator of this conflict; and, once launched in the arena, it dragged us, unhappily, and by virtue of the Family Compact, into a war entirely contrary to our proper interest.“I will not stop here to examine the opinions of some statesmen, our own countrymen as well as foreigners, which I share, onthe difficulty of preserving our power in America. Never have so extensive possessions, placed at a great distance from the metropolis, been long preserved.To this cause, applicable to all colonies, must be added others peculiar to the Spanish possessions: namely, the difficulty of succoring them, in case of need; the vexations to which the unhappy inhabitants have been exposed from some of the governors; the distance of the supreme authority to which they must have recourse for the redress of grievances, which causes years to pass before justice is done to their complaints; the vengeance of the local authorities to which they continue exposed while waiting; the difficulty of knowing the truth at so great a distance; finally, the means which the viceroys and governors, from being Spaniards, cannot fail to have for obtaining favorable judgments in Spain: all these different circumstances will render the inhabitants of America discontented, and make them attempt efforts to obtain independence as soon as they shall have a propitious occasion.“Without entering into any of these considerations, I shall confine myself now to that which occupies us from the dreadof seeing ourselves exposed to dangers from the new power which we have just recognized in a country where there is no other in condition to arrest its progress.This Federal Republic is born a pygmy, so to speak. It required the support and the forces of two powers as great as Spain and France in order to attain independence.A day will come when it will be a giant, even a colossus, formidable in these countries.It will then forget the benefits which it has received from the two powers, and will dream of nothing but to aggrandize itself.Liberty of conscience, the facility for establishing a new population on immense lands, as well as the advantages of the new government, will draw thither agriculturists and artisans from all the nations: for men always run after Fortune. And in a few years we shall see with true grief the tyrannical existence of this same colossus of which I speak.“The first movement of this power, when it has arrived at its aggrandizement, will be to obtain possession of the Floridas, in order to dominate the Gulf of Mexico. After having rendered commerce with New Spain difficult for us, it will aspire to the conquest of this vast empire, which it will not be possible for us to defend against a formidable power established on the same continent, and in its neighborhood. These fears are well founded, Sire; they will be changed into reality in a few years, if, indeed, there are not other disorders in our Americas still more fatal. This observation is justified by what has happened in all ages, and with all nations which have begun to rise. Man is the same everywhere; the difference of climate does not change the nature of our sentiments; he who finds the opportunity of acquiring power and of aggrandizing himself profits by it always. How, then, can we expect the Americans to respect the kingdom of New Spain, when they shall have the facility of possessing themselves of this rich and beautiful country? A wise policy counsels us to take precautions against evils which may happen. This thought has occupied my wholemind, since, as Minister Plenipotentiary of your Majesty, and conformably to your royal will and instructions, I signed the Peace of Paris. I have considered this important affair with all the attention of which I am capable, and, after much reflection, drawn from the knowledge, military as well as political, which I have been able to acquire in my long career, I think, that, in order to escape the great losses with which we are threatened, there remains nothing but the means which I am about to have the honor of exhibiting to your Majesty.“Your Majesty must relieve yourself of all your possessions on the continent of the two Americas,preserving only the islands of Cuba and Porto Ricoin the northern part, and some other convenient one in the southern part, to serve as a seaport or trading-place for Spanish commerce.“In order to accomplish this great thought in a manner becoming to Spain, three Infantes must be placed in America,—one as king of Mexico, another as king of Peru, and the third as king of the Terra Firma. Your Majesty will take the title of Emperor.”

“Memoir communicated secretly to the King by his Excellency the Count Aranda, on the Independence of the English Colonies, after having signed the Treaty of Paris of 1783.

“The independence of the English Colonies has been acknowledged. This is for me an occasion of grief and dread. France has few possessions in America; but she should have considered that Spain, her intimate ally, hasmany, and that she is left to-day exposed to terrible shocks. From the beginning, France has acted contrary to her true interests in encouraging and seconding this independence: I have often so declared to the ministers of this nation. What could happen better for France than to see the English and the Colonists destroy each other in a party warfare which could only augment her power and favor her interests? The antipathy which reigns between France and England blinded the French Cabinet; it forgot that its interest consisted in remaining a tranquil spectator of this conflict; and, once launched in the arena, it dragged us, unhappily, and by virtue of the Family Compact, into a war entirely contrary to our proper interest.

“I will not stop here to examine the opinions of some statesmen, our own countrymen as well as foreigners, which I share, onthe difficulty of preserving our power in America. Never have so extensive possessions, placed at a great distance from the metropolis, been long preserved.To this cause, applicable to all colonies, must be added others peculiar to the Spanish possessions: namely, the difficulty of succoring them, in case of need; the vexations to which the unhappy inhabitants have been exposed from some of the governors; the distance of the supreme authority to which they must have recourse for the redress of grievances, which causes years to pass before justice is done to their complaints; the vengeance of the local authorities to which they continue exposed while waiting; the difficulty of knowing the truth at so great a distance; finally, the means which the viceroys and governors, from being Spaniards, cannot fail to have for obtaining favorable judgments in Spain: all these different circumstances will render the inhabitants of America discontented, and make them attempt efforts to obtain independence as soon as they shall have a propitious occasion.

“Without entering into any of these considerations, I shall confine myself now to that which occupies us from the dreadof seeing ourselves exposed to dangers from the new power which we have just recognized in a country where there is no other in condition to arrest its progress.This Federal Republic is born a pygmy, so to speak. It required the support and the forces of two powers as great as Spain and France in order to attain independence.A day will come when it will be a giant, even a colossus, formidable in these countries.It will then forget the benefits which it has received from the two powers, and will dream of nothing but to aggrandize itself.Liberty of conscience, the facility for establishing a new population on immense lands, as well as the advantages of the new government, will draw thither agriculturists and artisans from all the nations: for men always run after Fortune. And in a few years we shall see with true grief the tyrannical existence of this same colossus of which I speak.

“The first movement of this power, when it has arrived at its aggrandizement, will be to obtain possession of the Floridas, in order to dominate the Gulf of Mexico. After having rendered commerce with New Spain difficult for us, it will aspire to the conquest of this vast empire, which it will not be possible for us to defend against a formidable power established on the same continent, and in its neighborhood. These fears are well founded, Sire; they will be changed into reality in a few years, if, indeed, there are not other disorders in our Americas still more fatal. This observation is justified by what has happened in all ages, and with all nations which have begun to rise. Man is the same everywhere; the difference of climate does not change the nature of our sentiments; he who finds the opportunity of acquiring power and of aggrandizing himself profits by it always. How, then, can we expect the Americans to respect the kingdom of New Spain, when they shall have the facility of possessing themselves of this rich and beautiful country? A wise policy counsels us to take precautions against evils which may happen. This thought has occupied my wholemind, since, as Minister Plenipotentiary of your Majesty, and conformably to your royal will and instructions, I signed the Peace of Paris. I have considered this important affair with all the attention of which I am capable, and, after much reflection, drawn from the knowledge, military as well as political, which I have been able to acquire in my long career, I think, that, in order to escape the great losses with which we are threatened, there remains nothing but the means which I am about to have the honor of exhibiting to your Majesty.

“Your Majesty must relieve yourself of all your possessions on the continent of the two Americas,preserving only the islands of Cuba and Porto Ricoin the northern part, and some other convenient one in the southern part, to serve as a seaport or trading-place for Spanish commerce.

“In order to accomplish this great thought in a manner becoming to Spain, three Infantes must be placed in America,—one as king of Mexico, another as king of Peru, and the third as king of the Terra Firma. Your Majesty will take the title of Emperor.”

I have sometimes heard this remarkable Memoir called apocryphal, but without reason, except because its foresight is so remarkable. The Mexican historian Alaman treats it as genuine, and, after praising it, informs us that the project of Count Aranda was not taken into consideration, but that “the results have shown how advantageous it would have been to all, and especially to the people of America, who in this way would have obtained independence without revolution and enjoyed it without anarchy.”[598]Meanwhile all the American possessions of the Spanish crown, except Cuba and Porto Rico, have become independent, as predicted, and the new power, known as the United States, which at that time was a “pygmy,” is a “colossus.”

In proposing a throne for Spanish America, Aranda was preceded by no less a person than the great French engineer and fort-builder, Marshal Vauban, who, during the reverses of the War of the Spanish Succession, submitted to the court of France that Philip the Fifth should be sent to reign in America; and that prince is said to have consented.[599]

Aranda was not alone in surprise at the course of Spain. The English traveller Burnaby, in his edition of 1798, mentions this as one of the reasons for the success of the Colonists, and declares that he had not supposed, originally, “that Spain would join in a plan inevitably leading, though by slow and imperceptible steps, to the final loss of all her rich possessions in South America.”[600]This was not an uncommon idea. The same anxieties appeared in one of Mr. Adams’s Dutch correspondents, whose report of fearful prophecies has been already mentioned.[601]John Adams also records in his Diary, under date of 14th December, 1779, on landing at Ferrol in Spain, that, according to the report of various persons, “the Spanish nation in general have been of opinion that the Revolution in America was of bad example to the Spanish colonies, and dangerous to the interests of Spain, as the United States, if they should become ambitious, and be seized with the spirit of conquest, might aim at Mexico and Peru.”[602]All this is entirely in harmony with the Memoir of the Spanish statesman.

With the success of the American Revolution prophecy entered other spheres, and here we welcome a remarkable writer, the Rev. William Paley, an English divine, who was born July, 1743, and died 25th May, 1805. He is known for various works of great contemporary repute, all commended by a style of singular transparency, and admirably adapted to the level of opinion at the time. If they are gradually vanishing from sight, it is because other works, especially in philosophy, are more satisfactory and touch higher chords.

His earliest considerable work, and for a long period a popular text-book of education, was the well-known “Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy,” which first appeared in 1785. Here, with grave errors and a reprehensible laxity on certain topics, he did much for truth. The clear vision with which he saw the enormity of Slavery was not disturbed by any prevailing interest at home, and he constantly testified against it. American Independence furnished occasion for a prophetic aspiration of more than common value, because embodied in a work of morals especially for the young:—

“The great revolution which seems preparing in the Western World may probably conduce (and who knows but that it is designed?)to accelerate the fall of this abominable tyranny: and when this contest, and the passions that attend it, are no more, there will succeed a season for reflecting whether a legislature which had so long lent its assistance to the support of an institution replete with human miserywas fit to be trusted with an empire the most extensive that ever obtained in any age or quarter of the world.”[603]

In thus associating Emancipation with American Independence, the philosopher became an unconscious associate of Lafayette, who, on the consummation of peace, invited Washington to this beneficent enterprise,[604]—alas! in vain.

Paley did not confine his testimony to the pages of philosophy, but openly united with the Abolitionists of the day. To help the movement against the slave-trade, he encountered theclaim of pecuniary compensationfor the partakers in the traffic, by a brief essay, in 1789, entitled “Arguments against the Unjust Pretensions of Slave Dealers and Holders to be indemnified by Pecuniary Allowances at the Public Expense, in Case the Slave Trade should be abolished.”[605]This was sent to the Abolition Committee, by whom the substance was presented to the public; but unhappily the essay was lost or mislaid.

His honorable interest in the cause was attested by a speech at a public meeting of the inhabitants of Carlisle, over which he presided, 9th February, 1792. Here he denounced the slave-trade as “this diabolical traffic,” and by a plain similitude, as applicable to slavery as to the trade in slaves, held it up to judgment:—

“None will surely plead in favor of scalping. But suppose scalps should become of request in Europe, and a trade in them be carried on with the American Indians; mightit not be justly said, that the Europeans, by their trade in scalps, did all they could to perpetuate amongst the natives of America the inhuman practice of scalping?”[606]

Strange that the philosopher who extenuated Duelling should have been so true and lofty against Slavery! For this, at least, he deserves our grateful praise.

From Count Aranda to Robert Burns,—from the rich and titled minister, faring sumptuously in the best house of Paris, to the poor ploughboy poet, struggling in a cottage,—what a contrast! And there is contrast also between him and the philosopher nestling in the English Church. Of the poet I say nothing, except that he was born 25th January, 1759, and died 21st July, 1796, in the thirty-eighth year of his age.

There is only a slender thread of Burns to be woven into this web, and yet, coming from him, it must not be neglected. In a letter dated 8th November, 1788, after a friendly word for the unfortunate House of Stuart, he prophetically alludes to American Independence:—

“I will not, I cannot, enter into the merits of the case, but I dare say the American Congress in 1776 will be allowed to be as able and as enlightened as the English Convention was in 1688,and that their posterity will celebrate the centenary of their deliverance from us as duly and sincerely as we do ours from the oppressive measures of the wrong-headed House of Stuart.”[607]

The year 1788, when these words were written, was a year of commemoration, being the hundredth from the famous Revolution by which the Stuarts were excluded from the throne of England. The “centenary” of our Independence is not yet completed; but long ago the commemoration began. On the coming of that hundredth anniversary, the prophecy of Burns will be more than fulfilled.

This aspiration is in harmony with the address to George the Third in the “Dream,” after the loss of the Colonies:—

“Your royal nest, beneath your wing,Is e’en right reft and clouted,”[608]—

“Your royal nest, beneath your wing,

Is e’en right reft and clouted,”[608]—

meaning broken and patched; also with the obnoxious toast he gave at a supper, “May our success in the present war be equal to the justice of our cause”;[609]and also with an “Ode on the American War,” beginning,—

“No Spartan tube, no Attic shell,No lyre Eolian I awake;’Tis Liberty’s bold note I swell;Thy harp, Columbia, let me take.”[610]

“No Spartan tube, no Attic shell,

No lyre Eolian I awake;

’Tis Liberty’s bold note I swell;

Thy harp, Columbia, let me take.”[610]

How natural for the great poet who had pictured the sublime brotherhood of man!—

“Then let us pray that come it may,As come it will for a’ that,…That man to man, the warld o’er,Shall brothers be for a’ that.”[611]

“Then let us pray that come it may,

As come it will for a’ that,

…

That man to man, the warld o’er,

Shall brothers be for a’ that.”[611]

Sheridan was a genius who united the palm of eloquence in Parliament with that other palm won at the Theatre. His speeches and his plays excited equal applause. The House of Commons and Drury Lane were the scenes of his famous labors, while society enjoyed his graceful wit. He was born in Dublin, September, 1751, and died in London, July 7th, 1816.

I quote now from a speech in the House of Commons, 21st January, 1794.

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