am sure, that they can adopt no government of their own which will not be preferable to the sway of the old Spanish cabinet. Selfgovernment in any shape exalts the being by inspiring selfrespect; revolution, anarchy if you will, generates energy, and has within it some seeds of improvement; but the colonial system, the domestic government of Spain, quenches all the fire, breaks all the springs, deadens all the fine susceptibilities, of the human cha

racter.

When I think of the government of Ferdinand, I have before my imagination on one side an "adored monarch," embroidering, to the passionate delight of his people, a robe for the Virgin Mary; on another, the Intendant of Valentia expiring on the rack; General O'Donoghue writhing under the state-tourniquet; the ardent patriots of the Cortes who sustained, unshaken through a long agony, the fortunes of their country and of Ferdinand himself— perishing in dungeons, as their recompense, or dragging an iron chain at the galleys.-I am oppressed, in touching on this subject, with a more intense emotion of indignation, I may say-grief, as I have, among these victims, a friend to whom I am warmly attached, and to whom the esteem of the world is eminently due. I allude to Don Augustin Arguëlles of Oviedo, who took the lead in the Cortes, particularly in the formation of that liberal constitution, the irremissible sin of himself and his colleagues, for which they are now suffering the vengeance of the doltish tyranny they would have corrected. Augustin Arguelles, whom I found in London, in 1807, studying, as in the best European school of speculative freedom, the principles of good government, with a view to the service of Spain, would do honour to any nation by his enlarged and various knowledge, especially in the science of political legislation; by his elegant taste, his enlightened liberality, the suavity of his nature, his elevated disinterestedness, and his patriotic ardour which led him to devote himself wholly to the cause of his country;-and-yet, he who would have died a thousand times to rescue her, has been condemned as a traitor to serve for ten years, and now serves, as a common soldier at Ceuta, strictly watched and, though always of a delicate constitution of body, severely tasked!

If ever there was a case in which we should "obtest heaven and whatever justice or feeling there is yet on earth,"-if ever there was a catastrophe ominous to the principle of patriotism, blighting for all public virtue, it is that of the patriots of the Spanish Cortes. Were their case susceptible of aggravation, it would be from the circumstance, that the judges chosen for such of them as were condemned with any forms of law, before whom they were dragged as rebels, as traitors, as the vilest of criminals, were men who had concurred in betraying Spain into the hands of France, who had deserted the cause of Ferdinand, and even fought under the banners of Joseph.

The speeches which I have caused to be extracted from Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, will, as they have never before been published entire in this country, prove an acceptable and solid present to the American people. The speech of Mr. Grattan-the first of Irish orators and the true model of Irish patriots-furnishes, perhaps, the most exquisite specimen of his manner, as well as a most instructive commentary on a great crisis in history. Those of Lord Wellesley and Sir James Mackintosh are of particular importance to us, as they treat both historically and argumentatively of our own affairs. I am delighted with the discourse of Sir James Mackintosh on "the peace with America," not only because it recalls the full-flowing eloquence of the days of Burke and Pitt, but as expressing so powerfully the sentiments which I have myself always felt with respect to the spirit and mode of the British hostilities on our coast. They were, in truth, wretchedly unworthy of the British name; and grossly impolitic, as they tended, without yielding any national profit, to give new vigor to our party-rancour on one side, and to unite us all, ultimately, in obstinate and desperate efforts of resistance and revenge: et jam una vox omnium, magis odio firmata quam præsidio. The conflagration of hamlets and rustic dwellings, the spoliation of tobacco-warehouses and farm-yards, occasionally the plunder of a church and the dilapidation of a school,-these the only hostilities attempted by a considerable fleet for many months in succession, and emblazoned to the British public in the shape of a diary from an admiral,-are truly recollections of shame for a nation, who had selected the lion and not the wolf as her ensignarmorial. The destruction of the public edifices of Washington was a proceeding which cannot be too strongly detested and deplored. It was equally at variance with true dignity and sound policy. It savoured of the most ignoble resentment and malice. If we could not be seriously injured, we were to be stung and degraded. "The king of France," said his minister M. de Vergennes, in council," is sufficiently great not to stand in need of humiliating any people." Le Roi de France est assez grand pour n'avoir pas besoin d'humilier personne. So should a British minister or general have thought with respect to his own mighty nation.

The late war between this country and Great Britain is fruitful in salutary lessons to both parties. It has taught the latter, among other things, that a nation does wisely, as well as an individual, never to despise a determined adversary. It teaches her, in the deeds of which I have just spoken, and the memory of which I would not have revived, but for the sake of the admonition,-it teaches her how far the indulgence of sinister jealousies and petty animosities interpolated, as it were, into her councils by small minds, may reduce a nation habitually lofty and magnanimous, below her proper level, and exhibit her at variance with her own principles.

The speech of Marquis Wellesley stands as a demonstration and memento of the influence of a spirit foreign to her general history and character, in her negotiations at Ghent. She set out with pretensions exorbitant and inflammatory, instead of fulfilling the obligation which Heaven seemed to have imposed upon her in raising her to such a height of power and glory-that of furnishing a splendid example to mankind of temperance and conciliation. She exacted what,-if it could have been granted-would have finally redounded to her greater prejudice, as a source of incurable hatred and discord between the two countries, through many generations. Moderation is always the best policy even in a victorious enemy, a character which she could not claim. An exceedingly humiliating or injurious treaty can never be faithfully received, while there remains a possibility of eluding its execution, or of recovering sufficient strength to break through its stipulations. How much Britain lost by her conduct at Ghent, I shall not here enquire, but I do not believe it too late to effect what she certainly ought now to desire, a cordial reconciliation. If, by a more adroit or energetic policy, she could have, in the late war, materially affected our national weal, the opportunity is now irrevocably lost. She can no longer hope to defeat or arrest, by any exertion of her force or dexterity, our solid aggrandizement. She is viewed with an evil eye by most of the nations of Europe. She will require a powerful auxiliary, and should seek it among her descendants here; at least she should beware of enlisting us, from any want of generosity or magnanimity, in the number of her enemies.

The unexpected felicity of the issue, will not, I trust, make the American people disregard the instruction, of the war. We ought not, in our complacency at the present state of things, lose sight of the just terrors by which we were agitated, the straits to which we were reduced, the dangerous extremities with which we were seriously threatened. Our government must now know, that, when war is in question, it is not enough that external circumstances be favourable; there should be adequate preparation at home; organized internal resources with which to meet casualties and the vicissitudes of fortune abroad. It is better to seem to overlook or sacrifice rights of some importance, studying at the same time to improve your means of vindicating them, than to embark in an undertaking greatly disproportionate to your strength, and which must end by laying bare your exhaustion and impotence.

We ought to be satisfied with the Peace; and allowing, for argument's sake, that the war was originally prudent and just, the American cabinet would be liable to no reproach, nor could the nation lose in consideration, by the terms accepted. There is no great people either of ancient or modern times, in whose history are not to be found even several instances of an oblivion of rights or pretensions for which they made war, in consequence of a sud

den revolution in the general order of things, or an unavoidable train of reverses. There is scarcely one of the great modern wars of which the conclusion does not exhibit a wide variance between the points adjusted and those originally adduced as the motives of the contest. England, France, Spain, Austria, nave all, in turn, after being the aggressors, sought peace, nearly in the guise of suppliants, and to obtain it, gladly consented to wave the pretensions of their manifestos; this, too, without derogating from their authority and credit. The estimation of a people is not impaired by an accidental miscarriage; but depends upon the real extent and productiveness of their resources; the tried spirit and prudence of their counsels. Circumstances are to regulate governments, and in making peace when peace is necessary, they are to consider not what they have, abstractedly, a right to demand, but what they are able to obtain. The merits of a treaty are to be tested by the relative situation of the parties at the time it is made; by the evils which it may avert, as much as by the advantages it may

secure.

Judging from the debates and measures of the present Congress respecting the regular force and military academies, I must fear that one of the most striking lessons of the war has been lost on that body;-a lesson taught by our revolutionary contest, and confirmed by universal experience. To be powerful and secure, we should have a good military organization of the regular kind; a well-trained standing army, officers technically educated, fortifications scientifically constructed; our political constitution and our treasury can bear them. Circumstanced as we are, we could have nothing to fear for our liberties from quadruple the force now retained, and in the event of war for which common sense bids us be always prepared, the adoption of a liberal plan of the sort would be discovered to be a real economy.

The formation of good officers-that is to say, men regularly educated in the sciences and the dispositions appropriate to the military art, is a leading feature of this system. For this purpose the military academies providently recommended by the executive, are indispensable. If rightly constituted, they would yield a rich harvest of capacity not only for the military, but for every other branch of the public service; and of intellectual light for the refinement and illustration of the national character. The number proposed cannot, certainly, be deemed too considerable, when the question is dispassionately examined. We are sadly wanting in officers of the stamp to be produced by the military academies. We could not do better, in a country which professes to depend mainly upon its militia for the protection of its liberties both from foreign and domestic aggression, than to distribute throughout the nation, men of sound military education and martial spirit, who might effectually train, lead, and animate their fellow-citizens, and make perfect our assurance of defence. We VOL. I.

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should, therefore, in fact aim at a surplus of such men beyond the exigencies of the regular force. We should, indeed, so small is the number of well constituted seminaries of liberal learning among us, improve eagerly every opportunity of multiplying them in any shape; accept every chance of increasing our slender stock of scientific intellect.

It has been roundly stated in Congress that those of the pupils of the military academies who might not enter into the army, would lose their academical acquirements or find them an impediment to success, in the business of civil life; in short, that their studies would be useless or detrimental to themselves and of no emolument to the state. I feel ashamed of this suggestion in the mouth of a member of the " great council of the nation," and I can best answer it with respect to the pupils themselves, by recalling an observation of the celebrated Dutch pensioner De Wit, who when asked towards the end of his eminent political career, what had gone with the mathematics upon which he had bestowed so much time and labour in his youth, answered, that they had passed from his memory into his judgment. We have, perhaps, beyond all other countries, room for an application profitable both to the individual and the state, of the branches of knowledge which should be taught in military academies: We want besides military engineers, engineers of mines, of canals, of roads and bridges, geodetical, hydrographical engineers, &c. &c. If even there was no scope for such application, the possessor could be at no loss, in this country, for an honourable pursuit which would yield him a decent subsistence, and he must always be, in any profession, a public good. His education would have any tendency other than that of impairing the elasticity and independence of mind, natural to an American.

The Polytechnick school of Paris is the proper model with certain qualifications for the institutions in question. In a late report to Louis XVIII. concerning the origin and constitution of this school, the regents,-savans and politicians of the first order,hold a language which it is well worth our while to note. "Of "the pupils of the school"-say they-" who have engaged "in the several branches of public service, a part have furnished "professors not only to the school itself, but to various establish"ments for instruction; several of them have contributed to the progress of French industry, by applying the fruits of a comprehensive education to the exercise of arts and manufactures; “ many occupy high stations in the public administration. We may say with confidence that the Polytechnick school has very "effectually served the sciences by the profound enquiries to "which most of the professors and the most distinguished pupils "have devoted themselves. They have enriched the academical "Transactions with important memoirs: The journal of the school "itself forms one of these Transactions, and has an honourable

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