The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume II

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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY

one principle beyond dispute, it is, that our people are never to be a wal'-people. Disadvantages. 1 The North & Northwest must in the very n~ture of the thino-s rule the South & South West. I know there will be occasional ~olitical sp8.'3ms that will change for a ~oment, this natural order of things; but back to it they will speedily come; as certainly, as that men act from their own interests. The North & N. ·west, must be a commercial, and manufacturing people. The South & S. West must be an agricultural people. The former are religiously opposed to slavery - The latter are necessarily slave holders- The former are a sober calculating people- the latter are a high spirited, ardent people. The former hold the power- the latter, the wealth, of the nation: and it is not to be disguised that their are pretty strong antipathies already engendered between them. Here then are all the elements of the most merciless & tanta- lising dispotism on the one hand, that ever was exercised by man to his fellow man; and of the most galling & unmitigated slavery on the other, that ever was endured by man. The security against these consequences, and the only security, is the Constitution of the United States. This is no security at all, unless it be :first, candidly expound- ed by those in power, and afterwards honestly obeyed; and every interest and every feeling of those in power, we have just seen are opposed to either. What have been the lessons of experience upon this head? \Vhile parties rose and fell only from the strength or weak~ ness of their political creeds, things went on well enough; but as soon as they became united by common & local interest all considerations of justice were immediately lost sight of. The manufacturing inter- ests were supported at the expense of all others, first under plausi- ble pretexts, and afterwards in open violation of the sperit of the constitution, if not of its very letter. Nothing but a train of fortu- nate circumstances prevented the North & Est from expending the immense treasure which they had extorted from the South, in sub- jecting her to unconditional submission If the dominant party find the senate in their way, the senate will be instrncted out of the way- If the Supr,eme Court stand in their way; the party makes the Presi- dent and the President makes the Judges, and he will soon mold them to his will --or they will lay off new circuits enough, to put a majority of new judges on the bench. It is certainly true that their is not a more irrespo[n] sible unapproachable dispostism under heaven, than a dominant party united by local interests and acting under a constitutional form of Government. The single Despot has his own honest, pride, dignity, and grandeur identified with the glory and happiness of his people at large. 'The Band of Despots, have no personal interest in the happiness of any section of the country but their own- The sin~le Dispot is alone, responsible for his acts- The Band of Despots divide their responsibility so minutely, that it is virtually extinguished altogether- at least it is sensibly felt by none- The single Despot has the common feelings & sympathies of ma-n- The band of Despots, have none of them- as the responsi- bilities of crime, are lost by division among them; so are the rewards of vertue---You may beg your dues from, the benevolencs, or sym- pathy single Prince; you never can, from a multitude of Princes

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