REFORM AND DEMOCRACY 53 



the document as embodying the claim that the 

 American continents were to be reserved for 

 republican, as contrasted with monarchic, in 

 stitutions a reservation that would shut out 

 George IV of Great Britain as effectively as it 

 would Ferdinand VII of Spain. In another part 

 of the message, moreover, quite unrelated to 

 that which dealt with the matter of the Euro 

 pean intervention on behalf of Spain, a pro 

 nouncement was made that revealed with 

 distinctness the spirit suspected by Canning. 

 Apropos of negotiations with Russia concern 

 ing the respective claims to the Pacific coast, 

 this passage occurred : 



. . . the occasion has been judged proper for asserting 

 as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United 

 States are involved, that the American continents, by 

 the free and independent condition which they have as 

 sumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered 

 as subjects for future colonization by any European 

 powers. 



Here again was a warning to all European pow 

 ers, and in connection with a matter coloniza 

 tion that was a specialty of Great Britain. 

 Canning was assured that the reference in the 

 passage was to a reported project of Russia for 

 a southward extension of her settlements on 



