CONCLUSION. 



297 



and energy which a young country may attain, it is 

 pleasing to anticipate the prosperity which may 

 await it, and to indulge a hope that its young arm 

 may assert the dignity and the honour of human 

 nature ; that it may liberate the slave, and against 

 every threat or danger support freedom, when the 

 infirmities of an older nation may have rendered 

 her incapable of the task. 



But between this moral and political eminence 

 which the Pampas and the provinces of Rio Plata 

 may attain, and their present state, there is a dis- 

 tance which is evident to every one, though no man 

 can calculate the time which will be requisite to pass 

 it. The difficulties to be encountered must neces- 

 sarily be great, and it is not an improper or a use- 

 less subject of speculation, to consider what some 

 of these difficulties may be. 



The great desideratum of these countries is po- 

 pulation ; for until there is a certain proportion of 

 inhabitants, the provisions of life must necessarily 

 be easily obtained, and people will remain indolent, 

 until necessity drives them to exertion. The over- 

 plus population of the Old World will undoubtedly 

 flow towards these countries, bringing with it dif- 



