and every measure both there, and at home, tended to prepare for this ulteriour object. The strength and influence of the European part of the community, were in favour of it; and as before testified, nothing but the energy of the Creoles, prevented its completion. Yet both Spain and England, have been forgetful of these facts; and the one pronounces these testimonies of loy alty, as treason and ingratitude; whilst, the other, calmly beholds them, punished as such.

The very occurrences, which preceded and accompanied the governmental changes in Spanish America, prove, that the adoption of provisional Juntas, was resorted to, in the first place, as an essential means of safety; and in the second, that reform, was the next object, to which their attention was directed. Right, necessity, and example, are on their side; and the declaration of war, against acts, which had such motives for basis, was not only unjust, cruel, and impolitic, on the part of Spain; but, on that of England, it was, also, weak, humiliating, and insincere, silently, to behold such an excess of outrage, committed against one half of the monarchy, with whom she was allied, and to whose se curity she was pledged. The degraded situation of Spanish America, was a theme general in every nation; of course, it could not be a secret in Spain. If so, what duty in the new governments, was more urgent and pressing, than its reform. The restraints and privations under which the Creoles laboured, had long been a subject of complaint and remonstrance; and the shelves of the public offices, were loaded with volumes on this subject. The destruction of these restraints and privatious, the revival of trade, judicial and financial reform,

and particularly, the reduction of despotism and oppres sion, were therefore the primary considerations which ought to have actuated the proceedings of the new rulers; these ought to have been the object of their earliest de liberations. The encouragement of arts and sciences, as well as the introduction of all the useful discoveries of Europe, was, besides, a paramount duty on the part of the Spanish government, as blessings only inferiour to those of civil peace and personal freedom, with which they are so closely entwined; and after the long and dark night of ignorance, in which Spanish America had been shrouded, the moral as well as political reformation and improvement of its inhabitants, became necessary.

Nothing of this kind, however, had taken place; the colonial system; such as before described, continued in full force, and besides, orders were continually going: out, to drain the ultramarine provinces of their last dollar. Strict watch was instituted over their inhabitants, to scrutinize every action and thought; and a full system of espionage and prosecution was organized, of which numbers were victims. Even the nomination of viceroys and captain-generals, sent out to govern abroad, proves how little, policy and circumspection have guided the · Cadiz governments; and how little, the dignity and critical situation of the transmarine provinces, have been consulted. I omit dwelling on the inconsistencies of the Central Junta, or describing the feelings of one section of America, on seeing two viceroys come out to govern it, one named by the Junta of Gallicia, and the other by that of Asturias. Venegas is sent out viceroy to Mexico, the same, who, from a Lieutenant-Colonel on half-pay, was made a General by the Central Junta; who delivered

up an army of 14,000 men in Ucles; who, after deserting his, post, received, from the same government the command of the army of Andalusia, consisting of 32,000 men, with which he was beat by the enemy, in Almonacid. The same, who declined co-operating in the battle of Talavera, and, who, in short, never gave signs of talent, patriotism, or probity; but to whom, a large share of the disasters of the Peninsula, have been attri buted. Calleja is named to succeed him, the very same who put 14,000 old men, women and children to death in Guanauato; who, leveled to the dust, the town of Zitaquaro; and who has, in short, in his public dispatches, (as will be seen hereafter,) boasted, that he had put to the sword, many thousand Creoles. Emparan was sent to Caracas, after swearing allegiance to the French, in Madrid; and the command of the Peruvian army, was given to Goyeneche, who a little before, had been invested with the insignia of Joseph. In the lower departments of government, numerous similar instances might be quoted. Such have been the men, the Cadiz governments have destined to wield the arm of power in the ultramarine provinces; and in such are their inhabitants invited to place their confidence. In the hands of such, in short, was the fate of Spanish America placed, till its natives had sufficient energy to withdraw it.

When the force and correctness of the particulars just stated, have been maturely examined, the motives which first urged the inhabitants of the provinces of Spanish America, to prefer the administration of their local concerns, being in the hands of persons attached to their own soil, and possessed of their own confidence, can no longer remain dubious, Besides the more recent

dangers, by which they were surrounded, they felt sensibly, the galling weight of that oppressive system, into which they had been, gradually, dragged, from the time of the conquest, and which as men, and as possessed of a larger share of enlightened liberality, than is generally met with in their European brethren, they could, no longer, endure. My statements further tend to prove, that in first asking, and then persisting in the reform of their political and social situation, and redress of grievances and restraints, they not only act on the substantial grounds of justice; but also, in strict accord with the most sacred and inherent rights, which have been guaranteed to them, by the respective monarchs of Spain. In opposing the fair discussion of those rights, in denying their restitution, and in repelling their ap peals, by hostility and vengeance; it will, moreover appear, that the governments of Cadiz, have not only acted with injustice and impolicy; but have, besides, deviated from public law, and the spirit of their political history.

Humboldt observes, that the Spanish ministry, too often sacrificed the interests of the whole American continent, to those of a few maritime towns of Spain. The present government has done more, it has sacrificed the most sacred and essential interests, to the passions, resentment, and undue gains of the monopolists of Cadiz; irritated and alarmed, at the dread of seeing the loaves and fishes, they had so long and so exclusively enjoyed, shared amongst those, for whom they had, always, testified, hatred and jealousy. The new governments of Spain, have uniformly reprobated the ancient and corrupt policy of the court of Madrid; they have constantly in

veighed against its acts, as the cause of the general degradation, into which the whole nation had been sunk; yet, when their own power is affianced, and opportunities of reform and of favourable deviation, offer; their egotism urges them to follow the same beaten track, and they leave untouched, the very vices, which they confessed, had before exhausted the state. Avowedly, the revolution of Spain, had two material objects; viz. to recover the independence of the nation, by repelling its invaders; and next, to reform the abuses, which had so long prevailed. Both these objects were held out to the people, by the new authorities; it was these hopes which made them tacitly consent to endure control, under an illegal shape; but in their elevation, phrenzy, or blindness, the new chiefs forget the provinces abroad, till they, themselves, begin to be uneasy at the manner in which they are treated, and are roused by the dangers to which they are exposed.

The governments and people of Spain, have aspired at every thing that could perfect and secure their own national independence, personal freedom, and moral improvement. For these purposes, the fundamental laws and most ancient usages of the realm, have been overturned and trodden to the ground; why then were not these, which Spain considered as the greatest benefits and blessings, to be denied to Spanish America? Was it not also time, for her inhabitants, to receive the most unequivocal and strong assurances and positive proofs, that their dearest interests were equally attended to and secured; that civil freedom, for them, was no longer an empty name; that military despots, were no longer; to be the instruments of their oppression; that a sus