242 



HISTOKICAL SKETCH. 



the case of the Republic of Colombia, the 

 old laws are left as they were, with merely 

 the general proviso, that they shall not 

 operate in contravention of any article of 

 the Constitution ; and that they shall, as 

 of course they must, be subject to any 

 alteration which may be made in them by 

 the congress. 



Another difficulty arose out of the state 

 of property. In some parts of Hispano- 

 America, individuals possessed fortunes 

 much larger than any enjoyed in Europe : 

 these persons would not, perhaps, be very 

 friendly to a free republic ; and the danger 

 would be, that through the influence at- 

 tached to wealth, especially to immense 

 landed estates, a republic would, in effect, 

 become an oligarchy. Some of them might 

 also combine to establish an oligarchical 

 species of government, under the name of a 

 republic ; but which, in reality, should give 



