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natives, but solely on the habit of dependence 

 on the Spanish chiefs who resided at Mexico 5 

 Guatimala, or Santa-Fe de Bogota. It appears 

 natural enough that Guatimala may one day 

 join the isthmuses of Veragua and Panama to 

 the isthmus of Costa-Rica ; and Quito connect 

 New- Grenada with Peru, as la Paz, Charcas, 

 and Potosi link with Buenos- Ayres *. The ini 

 termediate parts which we have just named, 

 from Chiapa to the Cordilleras of Upper Peru, 

 form the passage from one political association 

 to another, similar to those transitory forms, by 

 which the various groups of the organic king- 

 dom are linked in nature. In neighbouring 

 monarchies the provinces that touch each other 

 present those striking demarcations which are 

 the effect of a great centralization of power ; in 

 confederated republics, states that are placed 

 at the extremities of each system, are for some 

 time in oscillation before they acquire a stable 

 equilibrium. It would be almost indifferent to 

 the provinces between Arkansa and the Rio del 

 Norte, whether they send their deputies to Mex- 

 ico or to Washington. If Spanish America 

 were one day to shew more uniformly the ten- 

 dency towards federalism, which the example 

 of the United States has already excited on se- 

 veral points, from the contact of so many sys- 



i 



* See above, vol. vi, p. 160. 



