Naturally one would have thought that there would have been greater
sympathy between the northern and north-western states of the American
Union and England, than between England and the Southern states. There is
ten times as much English blood and spirit in New England as in Virginia,
the Carolinas, &c. Nevertheless, such has been the force of the interests
of commerce, that now, and for some years past, the people of the North
hate England with increasing bitterness, whilst, amongst those of the
south, who are Jacobins, the British connection has become popular. Can
there ever be any thorough national fusion of the Northern and Southern
states? I think not. In fact, the Union will be shaken almost to
dislocation whenever a very serious question between the states arises. The
American Union has no _centre_, and it is impossible now to make one. The
more they extend their borders into the Indians' land, the weaker will the
national cohesion be. But I look upon the states as splendid masses to be
used, by and by, in the composition of two or three great governments.
* * * * *
There is a great and important difference, both in politics and
metaphysics, between _all_ and _the whole_. The first can never be
ascertained as a standing quantity; the second, if comprehended by insight
into its parts, remains for ever known. Mr. Huskisson, I thought,
satisfactorily refuted the ship owners; and yet the shipping interest, who
must know where the shoe pinches, complain to this day.
_January_ 7, 1833.