him is to be seen in his reply, written October 24, 1823. Jefferson says
in part: "The question presented by the letters you have sent me is the
most momentous which has ever been offered to my contemplation since that
of independence.... One nation most of all could disturb us.... She now
offers to lead, aid and accompany us.... With her on our side we need not
fear the whole world. With her, then, we should most seriously cherish a
cordial friendship, and nothing would tend more to unite our affections
than to be fighting once more, side by side, in the same cause."

Thus for the second time, Thomas Jefferson advises a friendship with
Great Britain. He realizes as fully as did Bonaparte the power of her
navy, and its value to us. It is striking and strange to find Thomas
Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776, writing in
1823 about uniting our affections and about fighting once more side by
side with England.

It was the revolt of the Spanish Colonies from Spain in South America,
and Canning's fear that France might obtain dominion in America, which
led him to make his suggestion to Rush. The gist of the suggestion was,
that we should join with Great Britain in saying that both countries were
opposed to any intervention by Europe in the western hemisphere. Over our
announcement there was much delight in England. In the London Courier
occurs a sentence, "The South American Republics--protected by the two
nations that possess the institutions and speak the language of freedom."
In this fragment from the London Courier, the kinship at which I have
hinted as being felt by England in 1783, and in 1803, is definitely
expressed. From the Holy Alliance, from the general European diplomatic
game, and from England's preference for us who spoke her language and
thought her thoughts about liberty, law, what a man should be, what a
woman should be, issued the Monroe Doctrine. And you will find that no