118
TEXAS STATE LrnnARY
liYCrers - provided they were victorious - and if otherwise, to make the best terms she could with a generous nation which she had wronged and ini-ultc<l without provocation. And this is wlwt Xiraragua calls protecti11g her SoYereignty; vindicating her dignity. \\"hat SoYer- eignty ! \Yhat dignity! The Sovereignty of an imolated victim - the dignity of a skeleton. N"icaragna forgets that nations do uot go to war with- out some powerful motiYes for it. The eause mu,,t be just, and the prorncation great. - Suppose that Fraure were to put the question to Xicaragua - "Why do yon desire to keep the Americans out of the country?"" Truth would rompel Xicaragna to rep!~- - "because I hate the raee, arul dread their rivalry."- How is it po:=-sihlr that France could a;.:;.:ume her (]Harrel upon such an i;;sue a,- that. ~he "·ould be one of the la,;t uation on the earth to do it: be<·ause she would be among- the Jir,-t to rebuke ewn the arnwal. of sud1 a sentiment and polic_,:· tmrnrd,; lwr o\\·n people. HaYing nothing to gain and much to · lose in a c·Olltcst of this eharacter, she ,rnul<l ncce,::sarily respond to any appli('ntion for her aid in langua.ze 1-omcthing similar to this "I eannor yil'ld to the desires of Xicaragun, for two n•asons-first, be- cirnse 1 do not participnte in her ho,-tility a\l(l di,-]ike to the Ameri- ean,;: - a11d :-:ecumlly, becnm,e I can in no wise be henefite<l by retard- ing tlw prug1ws of industry in that country. On the contrar>', I am· intere:,;ted in its advancement; for in proportion to the to the [sic] deYelopmPut of her resources will my corumerce expand mid my wealth and po\l'er increase." - And whnt demurrer could .Nicaragua offer to the wi,-dom aud justice of this reply? - With regnrd to England the case is something different. It is true thnt this nation is not without her motiYe for desiriug that all Central America should be closed to the atlmission of the eitizc11s of the United 8tatcs; but thnt motiYe i,; a most iusulting one to the ~panish American chnracter. Tt is founded upon the hy- pothe~is that tire Central American people nre iucapable of progress and impron•ment; and if left to them,-ehes, Euglnnd will neYer find in them, nor in this :,;cction of the globe, a competitor in the prOLluc- tions of her East 11\(lian pos;:essions. - Should .-\merican irn]ustry and eBergy, hO\H!rer, be mingled with that of the natin•s; ant! the t\\·o peoplt• ;:houl<l work together in harmony, and for a common good, then her En~t lndian profit;:, if not utterly anihilated, would nt lenst be greatly di111i11ishc<l. Hence it has ahrn>·s been the policy of that nation to sow the S('l'd of jealou:-:y and disconl between the Centrnl Americans and their natural nllies of the Xorth. Xicnrngun has fallen into the snare: arHl :-(•cms perfectly to conencide [sic] with the British appre- ciation of lwr character - that is to say, a want of natural capacity for any high degree of Civilization; - and, therefore, she prefers rather tu n·rnain in her present comlition, than aspire to what she fears ;:]w ma>· ne\'er attain to. - She sees that a powerful combination of cireu1m:ta11ces are about to disturb her ancient habits, and to force her into n new existence - into a life of adi\'ifr energ-r and enter- prise for ,rhich she thinks she is not qualified hy· natur;: and, there- :orce, in her <lesperation, she calls upon Englarnl aml France, to roll Lack the mighty current of events, arnl to sarn mHl to ~hield her from :he Ciri lization, whose coming is now ca~ting it:;: shn<lo\\· hefore. - Her
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