THE MONROE DOCTRINE 301 



Europe to intervene in the affairs of South America. Fur- 

 ther confirmation of these first reports came from several 

 foreign ministers resident in Washington. John Quincy 

 Adams, the Secretary of State, instantly became alive to the 

 situation, and somewhat curtly announced that " if the Euro- 

 pean alliance undertook to settle matters which concerned 

 us so closely, and without consulting us, they should not be 

 surprised if we acted without consulting them." Monroe 

 shared in these apprehensions of the Secretary of State and 

 feared that the rumors of a European combination to aid 

 Spain in maintaining her old-time supremacy in the Americas 

 might prove true. Mr. Adams at once sounded the British 

 Minister in regard to England's attitude toward the South 

 American question ; indeed, the President desired Great 

 Britain to join with the United States then and there in 

 recognizing the independence of the South American colo- 

 nies. 



Across the Atlantic, the American Minister in London, 

 Richard Rush, was instructed to watch closely the intentions 

 of the reported European alliance, one of the alleged objects 

 of which was to interfere in behalf of Spain in America. 

 Rush approached the English Premier, Castlereagh, whose 

 sympathies were thought to be with the European alliance, 

 though the commercial interests of his country called for 

 a greater freedom of trade with the West Indies and Central 

 America than Spain had been willing to grant. Castlereagh, 

 however, believed this end could be effected by European 

 mediation, and that by securing to Spain her complete 

 supremacy over her colonies, she might be coerced into 

 adopting more liberal trade regulations as a just compen- 

 sation for services rendered. Rush could not succeed in 

 winning over the conservative Castlereagh to his original 

 proposition, that of checking all future juggling with the 

 question by a prompt acknowledgment of the independence 

 of South America. 



Great relief was felt in Washington upon the declaration 

 of the allied powers of Europe, whose interference in South 

 America was so much feared by Monroe and his cabinet, 



