--Mr. Buchanan's Conservatism and the
weakness of his Position.--Republican Taunts.--The "New York
Tribune," etc.
When, at the close of the war of the Revolution, each of the thirteen
colonies that had been engaged in that contest was severally
acknowledged by the mother-country, Great Britain, to be a free and
independent State, the confederation of those States embraced an area so
extensive, with climate and products so various, that rivalries and
conflicts of interest soon began to be manifested. It required all the
power of wisdom and patriotism, animated by the affection engendered by
common sufferings and dangers, to keep these rivalries under restraint,
and to effect those compromises which it was fondly hoped would insure
the harmony and mutual good offices of each for the benefit of all. It
was in this spirit of patriotism and confidence in the continuance of
such abiding good will as would for all time preclude hostile
aggression, that Virginia ceded, for the use of the confederated States,
all that vast extent of territory lying north of the Ohio River, out of
which have since been formed five States and part of a sixth. The
addition of these States has accrued entirely to the preponderance of
the Northern section over that from which the donation proceeded, and to
the disturbance of that equilibrium which existed at the close of the
war of the Revolution.
It may not be out of place here to refer to the fact that the grievances
which led to that war were directly inflicted upon the Northern
colonies.
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