The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume II

1 PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR 3 because they have no such sentiments- When the Single Prinee offends he offends the whole nation, who are safe in demanding re- dress- or his head-W:hen a corps of Princes offend, they offend only the weaker section, which they can crush without peril-But I am enlarging too much-My design was only to give you a synopsis of my views. I should have added however, that the single Dispot has no pretext for wrong-The Constitutional Despots will always find in the charter, a plain authority for their outrages- the finest cover for Dispotism that ever was thought of, because it gives to it all the features Equity, and transforms its opposers into rebels against their own government. ''l'he U. S. are perpetually enlarging, and consequently the dangers just hinted are perpetually increasing. Now Texas, through all her length & breadth, has, and for a long time must have a common in- terest. Never can she be expDsed to the dangers from diversified interests, to which we are exposed. Her seclusion, is therefore, so far her safety. Her staples will find a market all over the word, and as articles are valuable in proportion to the demand for them she must be rich; immensely rich. If she keeps her treasure to herself, she can in a little time embank her canals with silver and pave her roads with gold- But if she put her ·resources under the control of congress, my life on it she will get but a few pence of them, while all the rest iii expended ip_ the Eastern Northern & North sister states. And if ever you get into the Union by the consent of these states, you may rest assured it will be owing to their forecast in seeing these uses which may be made of you. You have but little coast to guard; the U. S. have an immense coast- you have but few roads to con- struct~ we have countless numbers- you have but few of!icers to pay; we have myraids- In short-the expenses of your Govern- ment, to ours, will be as one to a hundred; whiie your resources to ours (territory considered) will be as ten to one. Again, you can form a better Government than ours-you have seen the defects of ours, and may now guard against them. I ·wish that time would permit me to enlarge upon this head; but it will not. I am consoled by the refection however, that they are well known to you. All that I will venture to suggest is, that the great security for all interests in a government, is in having all interests represented, and so repre- sented, that every interest may act as a check upon others- Thus if you put farmers and manufacturers together, and say that they shall be governed by the vote of the majority, why then, whichever class has the majority, will favor itself, and oppress the other, But if you say that they should form two distinct bodies and that nothing shall become.a law, that has not the sanction of both, it is impossible that either can favor itself or oppress the other. I give you this hint in this form, because it is most simple & perspicuous when thus presented. The application of it, I must leave to yourself- it matters not in what form it be applied, if the principle be carried out. Indeed I have not duly considered the ways and means of applying most suc- cessfully; simply because I considered it hopeless of application in the land where I have always expected to live and die. But there seems to me, not much difficulty in applying it. The three important

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