RUINOUS EFFECT ON SPAIN. 295 



rive the whole wealth of the country, without al- 

 lowing to the Americans themselves the smallest 

 participation, or even the slightest hope of ever 

 participating in those riches. 



That evil must spring out of principles and 

 practices so repugnant to the laws of our nature, 

 might have been anticipated. The re-action, in- 

 deed, which we have witnessed upon Spain her- 

 self, was inevitable ; and in the decay and final 

 ruin of the mother country, we distinctly recog- 

 nize a severe but merited retribution for the inju- 

 ries cast upon the colonies. The enormous colo- 

 nial patronage which the court possessedcomplete- 

 ly crushed the liberties of the mother country ;— . 

 the ill-gotten money which came to it from Ame- 

 rica, not being the produce of Spanish industry, 

 passed off to other countries, without leaving a 

 trace of national wealth behind, — and the re- 

 stricted commerce which was intended to benefit 

 the Peninsula alone, destroyed her credit, ruined 

 her manufactures, and finally lost her the market 

 of the colonies. 



To accomplish the base, selfish, and short- 

 sighted purpose alluded to, the clumsy device of 



