found a temporary government, suited to their territorial and local interests, as well as conformable to their manners and habits, during, at least the time, whilst the functions of the crown were suspended? In their acts, they complained, that the produce of their imposts, was devoted to purposes, entirely foreign to them; might they not have been satisfied, that these were moderate, fairly distributed, and applied to uses, both beneficial and of general good? They lamented, that in their own country, they were treated as aliens, and that every spring of private and public prosperity, was closed to them, by odious and onerous monopolies; and would it not have been more politic, that their reasonable wishes should have been accomplished? Would it not have been more prudent, and more equitable, in Spain herself, changing those very chiefs, who had always been the instruments of the despotism of the court, and of the ministers in power, from whom they received their nominations? Would it not have been more advisable, to have established such a system, as would have left both the government, and the people governed, without suspicion and distrust? Would it not, moreover, have been more honourable, to have converted the political changes of the Peninsula, also, into sources of public benefit, in Spanish America? Would not this, in short, have been the best possible security of the social happiness, and consequently, of the tranquillity of the inhabitants of all American Spain?

Had England, in due time, notified to Spain, in a dignified and strenuous manner, that as the joint guardian of the rights of the lamented Ferdinand, she could never consent to an act, that was about to place them in the

greatest danger; and, when the unfortunate consequences of that indiscreet act, had become manifest and urgent, if she had, strongly, signified, that she was, inseparably bent on the restoration of peace; had she, firmly and officially, convinced both parties what was consistent with the object of the general league, in which all were engaged; and what was, at the same time, in strict accordance with the honour and safety of those most immediately concerned; during the time of the Cadiz Regency, during the visit of Lord Wellington to Cadiz, on our rupture with the United States, after many of our brilliant victories, when the hopes of the nation were high, and, particularly on the removal of the Cortes to Madrid, as well as on other occasions; the objections to our mediatory interference, which only lingered in the bosoms of the illiberal, and were only kept alive by the conflicts of a desperate war faction, might have been silenced; and in that interesting portion of the globe, to which I allude, the tears, might very long since, have been, wiped, from the eyes of distress and misery, and the cheering prospect of repose and prosperity, might again, have been opened.

In the general avowal of the sentiments of the Spanish Americans, such, for example, as are contained in documents E. and F. was there nothing that merited the consideration and gratitude of England, individually ; and was there no disposition, during a period of four years of bloody war, she could improve, for the general good, even as the ally of European Spain? Unfortunately, the disorder that required an immediate remedy, was suffered to linger and increase; and its most dangerous symptoms, were disregarded, till the case became ex

tremely aggravated. If the sacred tie, which bound us to the Spanish monarchy, failed to excite in us, a strong anxiety for the welfare of its best half, amidst the obscure clouds of doubt and fear, by which we were then surrounded, could we not there discover a bright spot, on which to rest our future policy and hopes? It was evident, that the more communications we opened with Spanish America, and the more gratitude we infused into the bosoms of her inhabitants, the more we bound that rising country, to our interests, and the greater strength we thereby acquired. England might then, as she yet may, have produced a confederation between European and American Spain, on a basis, in unison with the wishes of the advocates of rational freedom, and even stronger, than any bond of political union, that before existed. One, that by casting off the yoke of despotic power, and establishing, in its place, a paternal, legal, and venerable government, such a one, that even the benevolent Ferdinand, might have approved, would have given renovated strength to the Spanish empire of both hemispheres, and connected its detached parts, still more closely together. Gratifying, as is the contemplation of all that has been achieved by England, for the repose and well being of the world, a dark cloud has long overhung the western continent of Spain; and amongst the numerous wreaths of never fading laurel, with which the former has crowned the heads of her champions, fighting for the rights and liberties of Europe, has she no civic wreath in store, for the wise and politic minister, who, by his exertions, shall dissipate this gloom, who shall restore peace to Spanish Columbia, and open her unexplored resources to more general enterprize? Could

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England require a greater glory, or a more consoling reflection, than to pour the balm of comfort, into the bleeding wounds of seventeen millions of people, and thus merit their eternal blessings?

§ Whoever goes back, to the early stages of the dissentions here alluded to, and contemplates the degraded situation in which the ultramarine provinces stood, will not hesitate to confess, that the government of Spain, had many acts of justice to do for the inhabitants of the former; and that an extensive and radical reform, consequently became one of its primary duties. Yet, we saw the whole of the administration of the Central Junta, and of the Regency, pass by, and not an effective measure of alleviation to the wrongs of the Spanish Americans, was carried into effect. The first did, indeed, declare them equal in rights with their European brethren; yet, the Regency immediately afterwards, forbade them a free trade, more essential to their interests, than any thing else. Even the new constitution of Spain, makes them equal, yet in so doing, prohibits them that trade, which the inhabitants of the Peninsula themselves enjoy; as will, hereafter, be more, fully, noticed. The Spanish Americans then, have, hitherto, been living under fallacious assurances, without any grounded reliance on the firm and impartial faith of their lawgivers at home; who, certainly, ought to have been the steady preservers and careful and zealous guardians of their civil rights, as well as of those of the European portion of the community. The Spanish Americans were declared equal in rights, yet, the Juntas of La Paz and Quito, were murdered for the exercise of this equality; the same was attempted with that of Chili, and public war is pro

claimed against that of Caracas. They are declared equal in rights, yet, in Caracas and Mexico, every one, favourable to the formation of a Junta to represent Ferdinand, is buried in dungeons. They were declared equal in rights, yet they are ordered still to endure the odious clogs, and the mad and unprincipled monopoly of 150 Cadiz merchants. They were, in short, declared equal in rights, but these were promises, as hollow, as those of the Central Junta to Mr. Frere. The subsequent conduct of the Cortes, as will be shewn in a review of their transactions with regard to Spanish America, has been a punctillo, not to deviate from the measures of their predecessors the Regents; and the precipitate and summary discussion of this important question, like the hasty investigation of the Boston port bill, during the struggle of our own transatlantic possessions, has rather been the real and efficient cause of the prolongation of so many disasters, than any conviction that the war was just. This negligence and lukewarmness on the part of the Cortes, has, also, in a great degree, been owing to the temporary triumph of the Cadiz mercantile interests, and their influence over the press; and it is a melancholy reflection, yet, founded on correct data, that such illiberal principles as these, should have been the chief barriers, which have obstructed redress and justice, to those who had so long suffered.

Gratitude and political expediency, alone, as before fully evinced, might have roused the justice of the new governments of the Peninsula, if no other more equitable principle existed; and the first display of loyalty accompanied by copious remittances from the ultramarine provinces, might have been made the basis of an ex