Page:Memoir upon the negotiations between Spain and the United States of America which led to the treaty of 1819.djvu/114

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��liic most dei:;eiiei'at'^ people in Europe; ^^ aud this corruption aud these vices have met with no bar- riers in a country where all are free, and where luxury and an insatiahle thirst of gold are the pre- dominant passions: extreme egotism, avarice, and other sordid passions^ distinguish the character of the Jlmericans.f Their manners, in general, re- semble those of the English, though they are al- ways accompanied Avith a certain rusticity, and a provoking arrogance that particularize them. The inhabitants of the United States are descended for

'* Let the reader compare this with what the author has said on the tbregoing page, and he will discover a direct contradiction — There, he sajs, they brought with them •' all the light and knowledge" of " the most civilized nations of Europe".' T.

t It was to be expected, after the " glorious and admi- rable" view, which this extraordinary writer had just given of the present state and future prospects of the people of the United States, that he would turn the canvass, and exhibit the reverse of the picture. Such is the plan of his memoir, from beginning to end; and such a plan was essential to the attainment of the object for which he wrote it. It was ne- cessary to give all due weight to the power and resources of the United States, in order to show the little prospect there was of his being able to bully them into a more ad- vantageous treaty; and it was equally necessary to express his contempt for the people, in order to prove that he was not influenced by fear or respect, to yield to all their de- mands. T.

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