Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/173

Rh (as Blanco White somewhere says of the Cortes,) "they ought to have reflected upon the injustice of attempting to dictate to others, who, by the same undeniable title, were free as themselves:" but, far from this, the great object of every Junta throughout America, appears to have been, to extend its own authority, and its own creed as to the abstract rights of man, on the plea of the public good. In it, as in the natural diversity of opinions, which prevailed, where no previous understanding existed, and no fixed principles were known, we find the real cause of that protracted struggle, by which the country was desolated; Buenos Ayres wished to prescribe laws for Montevideo, and Potosi,—Cărācăs for Sānta Fē,—Chile for Pĕrū. Each district, and family, again, sought to extend its jurisdiction, or influence: none would recognize any sort of superiority on the part of the others: the sword was the universal arbitrator in every difference: predatory bands were organized, and lived at large upon the country: the common cause was lost sight of amidst these interminable disputes, while the common enemy, whose object was, at least, clear and well defined, took advantage of them to re-establish an authority, which, under other circumstances, must have sunk at once.

Such are the general features of the contest between Spain and her former Colonies. To throw off the yoke, in the first instance, was a task comparatively easy; but to re-organize society after the