rights of the whole monarchy, ought to have been maintained, in undisturbed authority, and equal exercise, in American, as well as European Spain; and the political order of the state, by no departure from its most fundamental principles, being suffered, ought, then, in like manner, to have been preserved. To deviate from this principle, is to level to the ground, the boundaries of order and the safeguards of civil freedom; and, to authorize the inhabitants of one half of a monarchy, to tyrannize over those of the other, is to lay the founda tions of anarchy, and eventual ruin, to the whole state.

The great mistake of the British government, seems to have been, that, it considered Spanish America, as insulated from all the laws and principles of the rest of the monarchy; and its natives, as detatched from the European ranks of the state. Had not this been the case, how could the ministers of England, have, silently, be held a declaration of war, made against 17 millions of people, bound to her by ancient promises, and now linked to her interests, by a fresh alliance? Had Spanish Ame rica been in the wrong, and had she committed crimes so great and flagrant, as to deserve the utmost rigour, in the eye of justice, this criminality ought to have been previously proved; and the grounds thereof, ought to have been, incontrovertibly, established. Before Spain declared an expensive and unjust war, it was her duty to have discussed the rights of the ultramarine provinces, in a fair and adequate manner; their complaints ought to have been heard; and if this was omitted, her conduct has been unwarrantable and arbitrary; and, when the narrow policy of the day, is gone by, the British government itself will be the first to confess it. But, then,

alas, shall we be in time, to prevent the fatal consequences intailed on ourselves?

That the Central Junta was an unfair and unconstitutional government, is confessed, not only by Spaniards, but, also, by the whole world. Jovellanos said it was illegal; because its powers and representation, were neither complete, nor constitutional. Yet it was this form of government, which, as before shewn, constituted the Regency into a Sovereign, by merely transferring and deputing its own powers: which, if illegal in the whole, must, consequently, have been so, in part. Arguelles, confessed the first Regency was not legitimate †, and this has, also, been the public avowal of the Cortes. How, then, can a war proclaimed by such a government, be legal; or how can its improvident conduct, be justified? The silence of the people of Spanish America, with regard to the Central Junta, arose out of a hope, that its acts would promote the welfare and defence of the realm; but when its conduct, and that of the succeeding Regency, became manifest, they protested against those of its enactments which related to themselves, on the very basis of this flagrant want of legality.

§ In explaining to my reader, these various causes, which first led to an unfortunate rupture, between European and American Spain; my object is, not only, to manifest the sentiments and peculiar situation of the latter, but, also, to lay before him, the accompanying sentiments and pointed charges of the former. For the want of better reasons, the defenders of Spanish injustice, go so far as to allege, the vague and indefinite rights, which they * Dictamen de Jovellanos, Oct. 7, 1805,

Discurso contra Lardizabal en las Cortes.

suppose to be derived, from the relations, arising out of a common origin. The denomination of mother country, which, as a wise writer observes, has produced numerous mistakes and false reasonings, in all questions, relating to European settlements abroad; in the Peninsular papers, has been an inexhaustible source of bitter invective, against those of the ultramarine provinces, which have considered the transformation of their local govern ments, necessary. Crimes, of a variety of kinds, are charged against them; particularly that of ingratitude, an allegation founded on no other grounds, than this chimerical filiation. This term, besides, being abused, has been brought forward, as an imaginary metropolitan right, and as if it were founded on law, and established by actual compact. These are denominations, which, if applicable to the case in question, ought merely to be confined to the expression of affection, and as referring to an affinity of mutual origin, existing between the various members of one entire monarchy, and as exciting those sentiments of fraternity, natural in two great families, derived from one common stock. Thence, however, to deduce a positive ground of dependence and subordination, were to introduce a new maxim of policy; as well as an axiom, not only unknown, but also, extravagant and unjust. Each nation, in that case, would be obliged to acknowledge the sovereignty of its primitive stock; and the rights of the people, would have to be traced to their tables of genealogy.

The proper manner to have used the strong claims, and endearing ties of mother-country, would have been, to have redressed their wrongs, and not to have declared war against them; to have adopted some equit

able plan of conciliation, and not to have insulted their judgment and feelings by refusing a hearing; to have viewed the hardships of their case, impartially, and not to have proscribed, men and measures, which only had for object, the safety and reform of their country; and, in a particular manner, not to have declared and treated those persons as rebels, who stepped forward in the exercise of their own rights, in order not to be deli vered over to the French. The tender ties, and sacred claims of mother country, ought, at least, to have secured to her offspring, a fair, unbiassed, and fundamental discussion of their rights; and an unprejudiced hearing of the appeals, in which, they stated their wrongs. When Charles V., as severe a monarch as ever lived, was desirous of allaying the disturbances, which during his reign, took place in Peru; instead of armies, threats, and executions, he sent out Licenciado Gasca, as a pacificator, and with full powers; under the im pression, that if the complaints were just, they ought to be redressed; but that mildness, conciliation, and good words, would be more effectual than force, which, would only add fuel to the flame. These disturbances, were, nevertheless, of a serious nature; and nearly threatened the sovereignty of the king, both in Peru and Mexico. Yet Charles, though the proudest and most powerful of the Spanish monarchs, instead of applying insulting stigmas, merely called them dissentions; and: said they must be looked into, and remedied; because: this was not only just, but, because unwarrantable and harsh measures, might endanger those his distant kingdoms, then so valuable and so interesting, from being the great sources of all his wealth, which rendered him

of such consequence in Europe. When more justifiable occurrences happen, in our own time, the Cadiz government pronounces them, rebellions, ingratitude, and crimes of high treason, and decrees, that they are to be punished as such. Not, even, content with this, it rushes into a war of extermination. Such, have been the hasty and inconsiderate resolves of men, who from abject obedience, by the most undue means, rose to the command they then held; whose systems were founded on theory, whose arguments were terror, and whose councils were swayed by monopolists, who from interest, were opposed to reform, and to every thing that would curtail their individual profits.

The dread of the ulteriour loss of the ultramarine provinces, and the fear of being thus cut off from the receipt of their precious metals, so necessary for the support of his numerous armies, urged Charles V. to use plans of redress and reconciliation. In the great enterprizes in which he was engaged, the failure of his Western resources, would have deprived him of the very nerve of war, And has not the Cadiz government, all this time, been engaged in a still more arduous enterprize, and avowedly, possessed of less means? Consequently, was it not doubly bound, to husband every part of the public revenue? Yet, with this precedent on record, one, that occurred in times, when the Spaniard might, justly, boast of the glory of his name, still have the present sovereigns of Spain, been above following such an example, and have been too self-sufficient, to borrow grounds for their conduct, in the most renowned annals of their own history. Charles was a legal and powerful monarch, safely seated on his throne, and supported by

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