It is the doctrine of thrones that man is too ignorant to govern
himself. Their partisans assert his incapacity, in reference to all
nations; if they cannot command universal assent to the proposition, it
is then demanded as to particular nations; and our pride and our
presumption too often make converts of us. I contend that it is to
arraign the dispositions of Providence himself, to suppose that he has
created beings incapable of governing themselves, and to be trampled on
by kings. Self-government is the natural government of man, and for
proof I refer to the aborigines of our own land. Were I to speculate in
hypotheses unfavorable to human liberty, my speculations should be
founded rather upon the vices, refinements, or density of population.
Crowded together in compact masses, even if they were philosophers, the
contagion of the passions is communicated and caught, and the effect too
often, I admit, is the overthrow of liberty. Dispersed over such an
immense space as that on which the people of Spanish America are spread,
their physical and I believe also their moral condition both favor their
liberty.
With regard to their superstition, they worship the same God with us.
Their prayers are offered up in their temples to the same Redeemer whose
intercession we expect to save us. Nor is there anything in the Catholic
religion unfavorable to freedom. All religions united with government
are more or less inimical to liberty. All separated from government are
compatible with liberty. If the people of Spanish America have not
already gone as far in religious toleration as we have, the difference
in their condition from ours should not be forgotten. Everything is
progressive; and in time I hope to see them imitating in this respect
our example. But grant that the people of Spanish America are ignorant,
and incompetent for free government; to whom is that ignorance to be
ascribed? Is it not to the execrable system of Spain, which she seeks
again to establish and to perpetuate? So far from chilling our hearts,
it ought to increase our solicitude for our unfortunate brethren. It
ought to animate us to desire the redemption of the minds and bodies of
unborn millions from the brutifying effects of a system whose tendency
is to stifle the faculties of the soul, and to degrade them to the level
of beasts. I would invoke the spirits of our departed fathers. Was it
for yourselves only that you nobly fought? No, no! It was the chains
that were forging for your posterity that made you fly to arms; and
scattering the elements of these chains to the winds, you transmitted to
us the rich inheritance of liberty.