1820. Sept. 4

Emancipation Spanish

Summary

Mode of riddance

In those undisciplined or ill-disciplined minds, the power I mean the

minds of the influential few among those whose situation lays open to that view the

chance of any thing like a capital prize in the lottery of power, that general

prosperity the degree of which depends on the goodness of the political constitution

would, it is to my eyes but too sure, be but a secondary object: the difficulty would

be to find it any where a primary one. The great difficulty would regard not so much

the legislative, as the administrative /executive/ department of government: the

composing the storm raised by the appetite for power in the minds of contending

factious chiefs and their adherents. By no advice, by no exhortation would ny one of

those votaries of ambition be induced to abate any thing of his pretensions: by no

advice that any Commissioners either from Spain or from the United States or both,

could give. True. But in a political state of any kind on the part /in the situation/

of head of a party his chance for success will at all times in a degree more or less

considerable be dependent on the good will, and thence on the good opinion /esteem/

/on the part/ of the people at large: and by men bringing with them in the sight

/eyes/ of every body the esteem of the nation /people/ from which they are sent, no

people how ill disciplined so ever could fail of being in a greater or less degree

influenced.

Well then - the United States Commissioners go back to Buenos Ayres: they go back to

Chile. They do exactly as they did before: they comport themselves as they did then:

they continue their enquiries: they open their new commission. The supposed

Commissioners from Madrid pursue the same course: the same course is a better, if the

nature of the case affords a better, which as far as I can see, is more than ever I

can conceive.