CLAY they achieved our freedom. Spanish America for centuries has been doomed to the practical effects of an odious tyranny. If we were justi- fied, she is more than justified. In the establishment of the independence of Spanish America, the United States have the deepest interest. I have no hesitation in assert- ing my firm belief that there is no question in the foreign policy of this country, which has ever arisen, or which I can conceive as ever oc- curring, in the decision of which we have had or can have so much at stake. This interest concerns our politics, our commerce, our naviga- tion. There can not be a doubt that Spanish America, once independent, whatever may be the form of government established in its several parts, these governments will be animated by an American feeling, and guided by an Ameri- can policy. They will obey the laws of the sys- tem of the new world, of which they will com- pose a part, in contradistinction to that of Europe. Without the influence of that vortex in Europe, the balance of power between its several parts, the preservation of which has often drenched Europe in blood, America is sufficiently remote to contemplate the new wars which are to afflict that quarter of the globe, as a calm if not a cold and indifferent spectator. In relation to those wars, the several parts of America will generally stand neutral. And as, during the period when they rage, it will be im- portant that a liberal system of neutrality should 83
