8064. SPANISH AMERICA, Ignorance in.—
Another great field of political experiment
is opening in our neighborhood, in Spanish
America. I fear the degrading ignorance
into which their priests and kings have sunk
them, has disqualified them from the maintenance
or even knowledge of their rights, and
that much blood may be shed for little improvement
in their condition. Should their new
rulers honestly lay their shoulders to remove
the great obstacles of ignorance, and press the
remedies of education and information, they
will still be in jeopardy until another generation
comes into place, and what may happen in
the interval cannot be predicted.—
To Dupont de Nemours. Washington ed. v, 584.
Ford ed., ix, 322.
(M.
1811)
