and agriculture with taxes by which they themselves will not be affected, and they will precipitate America into violent convulsions which will expose her unarmed to the attacks of her foreign enemies. Vain, in short, for a considerable length of time, will be the attempt to confide the destiny of America to an executive power destitute of strength and stability. Vigour, secrecy, and promptitude, in connexion with legal responsibility, should be the appendages of an authority upon which will devolve the task of uniting the scattered members of a vast empire, and of watching, in very difficult circumstances, over the preservation of a social body which may yet, for a considerable period, be threatened and, perhaps, attacked by foreign enemies, ever ready to encourage and improve, to their own advantage, internal dissensions among the Americans. The exigencies of the new states of Spanish America exhibit so prominent a feature in the nature of things, that they require no model of imitation for the establishment of salutary institutions. A just conception of their situation is alone sufficient to point out a constitution competent to the protection of their independence and liberty. Let it be neither a democracy, a monarchy, an oligarchy nor an aristocracy: let it be the constitution of the South American republics, like those of North America, which are simply called American constitutions. Let its principle be no other than that of the manners, the wants, the climate and the population of the societies which it is to govern, and let it adopt a spirit of moderation, which the philosophers of antiquity considered the first of virtues, and which, according to Montesquieu, should be the characteristic quality of the legislator. If, however, to all the considerations which we have offered, and to which we anticipate no reasonable objection, we should superadd the authority of example, we would recommend that of North America. These people, the eldest of the Americans, in the the career of liberty and civilization, and who have never been degraded by Spanish despotism, have submitted to a wise division of the legislative power; they have disclaimed the doctrine which prescribes only one assembly; they have opposed a powerful counteracting influence to the precipitation which extorts decrées from the enthusiasm of a single chamber; they have conferred upon the executive department permanency, strength, and the salutary power of sanctioning or rejecting any proposed measure; thus, combining promptitude with firmness, and the advantages of unity, without its inconveniences; they have instituted a judicial power, the political and civil relation of which harmonize with each other; and which is possessed of sufficient energy, independence, and ability, to decide on the fortunes, the honour, and the lives of the citizens; they have established and perfected, as the palladium of liberty, the sublime institution of trial by jury; and hence, peace, liberty of opinion, the right of property, the entire disposal, on the part of the citizen, of his person, of his industry, and all his faculties, the communication of his thoughts, by every possible means, the pursuit of good and resistance to oppression,-these are the inappreciable blessings which the United States have derived from this admirable division of power. But, should any restless and suspicious minds perceive, in these salutary divisions, the renewal of the titles annihilated in South America, and the restoration of a privileged nobility; we would observe to them, that it is superfluous here to resume the discussion of the advantages or inconveniences of the monarchical institutions; and that it is sufficient, to justify our silence on this subject, that they have been deservedly reprobated and proscribed by the American nation. But, in what respect can the idea of two chambers, and of a powerful executive department, appear adverse to republican liberty? Such fears are puerile and the characteristic of weak minds. The organization we propose to you, has nothing repugnant to the principles which influenced your revolution. It is the result of the public will; it is founded in public utility, and it asserts the inalienable, and imprescriptible rights of nations: in short, it constitutes the glory and happiness of nations, as jealous of their liberty as you, and more experienced than you, in the mechanism of social order. If your legislators follow their steps, they will save America; if on the contrary, they apply a feeble hand; if they attempt to reconcile the genuine principles of government with mere prejudice; if they suffer themselves to be deceived or intimidated by the clamors of demagogues; they will ruin American liberty, and become the first victims of their own weakness. Such are the leading principles we recomend to the consideration of the American legislators. In a following article, we will examine how far they belong to the constitutions already adopted in some of the new states; and we will, afterwards, pass from the consideration of the system in its aggregate point of view, to each secondary institution emanating from it. The sincerity of our opinion may perhaps occasionally provoke the censure of unreflecting minds: should this be the case, we shall find our consolation in the conviction, that writers friendly to truth must have the courage to declare it, even to those who are not disposed to listen to its dictates. B. SA.... INTERNAL POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH The present period is decidedly that which involves the fate of America, and which Divine Providence had appointed to her, in the succession of ages. The inhabitants of the New World, lately chained to their glebe, are now advancing, with a firm and rapid step, to the rectification of every political and moral error. At the present moment, they draw upon themselves, in one year, in one month, in one day, a greater degree of attention, than they formerly excited, in a whole century. Every act they are accomplishing is a complete solution of the threefold problem,more interesting to mankind than any other,whether the fractions of the great human family have a right to constitute themselves into national bodies; whether they have a right to enact laws for themselves, and to adopt that form of government most congenial to them; and whether the legitimacy of these governments founded upon the national will, is not, of all others, the most sacred, and the most powerful. What a contrast, and how worthy of consideration, between ministers officiating at the funeral of the old continent, and that of statesman presiding over the regeneration of America! The former, as if impelled by a fatal necessity, seem doomed to speculate against the interests of mankind, whilst the latter admit no safety, but in the triumph of all their lawful rights. Thus, whilst the politicians of the European |