UNITED STATES. 35

CHAPTER V.

Condition of the United States at the Peace of l783-—VVashingt0n—Consti- tution and Laws—Resources—Characteristics of the People, 8w.

AT the general peace of 1783, the condition of the United States of America, and the durability of the constitution which they adopted, formed a subject which gave rise to a multiplicity of speculative opi- nions, most of which experience has since proved erroneous.

It was contended, that when the colonies became independent, they would lose the respect of foreign nations ; that when left to themselves, and not con- trolled by the mother-country, or awed by foreign powers, their energies would relax; and that civil dissensions would divide them, and subvert a consti- tution, which, according to its form, and the experi- ence of mankind in all ages, must inevitably fall.

The condition of America was, however, very different from all the republics that had previously existed, either in ancient or modern times. The people were generally intelligent ; and the great men who conducted their assemblies possessed abilities, solid rather than brilliant, practical rather than theo- retical; and they had the good sense and discrimi- nation to adopt the constitution and laws of the most