destroy those false and specious grounds, on which the opposition had taken their stand, and though it was evident, that the same would have their influence in the question now alluded to, still we sought not to attach the wavering, or gain the well-disposed to friendship. We disregarded that furious and malignant spirit, which had infused itself into the publications of the day; and though England could have demanded a free trade and mediation, as the reward of services, from which were flowing great and lasting benefits; though without any departure from those principles, which were held as fundamental to her treaty, she might have insisted on them, and convinced the Spanish people of their justice; the most effective means were, however, overlooked.

The points in question, were, indeed, delicate in their nature, as long as the Cadiz monopolists held so much sway; yet they could no longer remain untouched, without hazarding the most serious consequences. The wanton and unjust horrors committing in Spanish America, and the manner in which the resources of Spain, and the supplies of England, were wasted, were circumstances, in which the honour of both were implicated. It was, besides, time to settle the commercial relations of each, by amicable relations; points to which the interest and gratitude of Spain, were expected to contribute. However, to render a mediation effective, a great practical knowledge of the laws, institutions, manners, and even language of the countries to which it referred, were particularly essential. No mission of any kind, to a foreign country, was more difficult than the one to which I allude, and though it required a certain weight of character, it rather stood in need of practical men,

who fundamentally understood the relative interests about to be discussed, and who could on this, as well as on the other side of the Atlantic, attend to the drudgery of explaining, conciliating, and gaining on the public mind. With chagrin and disappointment, did the American deputies behold a British mediation, unaccompanied by these requisites; for it was early evident, to those who had stood the brunt of so much illiberality, and who were alive to the injuries their constituents were daily receiving, that the object could never be attained, unless by rendering this mediation extremely substantial; by its government displaying an uncommon degree of energy and resolution; and by resorting to every means of soothing the angry passions, and conciliating the jarring discords of men, who reasoned from interest and prejudice, and not from equity and moderation. To reconcile private convenience with public interest, was the chief point to be conquered; and both questions had such an affinity to each other, that to gain one, was to gain both.

To attain this, one would naturally have supposed, that conclusive arguments, as well as sufficient means, were not wanting, particularly, in the distressed state in which Spain, at that time stood. When it was agitated to name Lord Wellington, generalissimo of the Spanish armies, a measure infinitely more unpopular, and piqueing to the pride of the country, every engine was set to work, and the measure was carried, though many more inveterate prejudices were opposed to it, than to the two points, to which allusion is here made. Disputants entered the lists, and agitated the point in the public prints. Its necessity being proved, the measure was

carried. From the united principles of humanity and policy, England might have urged a mediation, with all the vehemence of conviction, and with those just principles of discrimination and mutual confidence, which ought to exist between nations so nearly allied. In this, at least, she was superior to the charge of egotism. Mr. Burke maintained the right, nay even the duty of the allies, to rescue France from anarchy and despotism; and did not the same right exist in England, to preserve Spanish America from the greatest of all horrors, that of a merciless civil war? The United States, in soliciting and accepting the mediation of Russia, did it from the avowed motive of the rectitude and impartiality of the Emperor, and as being engaged in a war as the ally of England. And has the intercourse and sacrifices of England, only served to inspire Spain, with sentiments of distrust? Russia was invited to concur as a general ally of England, but the latter was the particular ally of the whole Spanish monarchy, that is, equally of American Spain. The mediation of Russia was rejected, not from any doubt or suspicion in the auspices, under which it was to be agitated; but, because it was inconsistent for the point at issue, to be mixed with the affairs of the European continent.* Much greater reasons existed, for making the dispute between Spain and her American provinces, a question of exclusive interest and interference to Great Britain. Its irritable and violent symptoms, had long assumed appearances of increased malignity, and their fatal consequences, every day became more diffusive. The resistance of the Spanish Americans,

* Vide Lord Castlereagh's letter to the Secretary of the United States, Nov. 4, 1813.

wore the appearance of system, and was regularly progressive. From causes both incessant and active in their operation, a broad foundation had been laid for those animosities, whose fury is generally proportioned to the objects in view. Hitherto, all pacific endeavours on the part of Spain, that is, the proclamations of her distant viceroys, and military chiefs, which rather contained threats and denunciations of vengeance, than substantial offers of conciliation, had only ended in new and outraging proofs, of persevering hostility; and every social and domestic tie being broken, it was evident, that nothing but the interference of a third power, could again produce harmony. It was only by some extraordinary weight of influence, respectable to both parties, that those intemperate dispositions, could be moderated and restrained.

And was any power, so proper as England, to give this weight of influence? Whilst the maxims of good faith, and of moral and political justice, demanded that she should then have made the most strenuous endeavours, the same reasons, at the same time, required, that Spain should not have been illiberal. For one nation to mediate for the other, was not a trait, even novel in the Spanish history; and in recent times, it was peculiarly common. As the patron and protector of the Southern Indians, Spain has often asserted her right of mediating between them, and the United States; and during the war between England and North America, her mediation was offered to the belligerent powers, and its refusal, then induced the Madrid cabinet to declare war. Lately, we have seen England mediate between Denmark and the Allies, and many other recent examples, might be quoted. In En

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gland asking to become the mediatrix between Spain and her American Provinces, it was not like a foreign power intruding itself into their domestic and particular concerns, since the object to be attained, was interesting to the world at large. Commissioners could be sent by England, and the other allies, to Copenhagen and Norway, to settle differences relating to the latter; but when the most flagrant acts of injustice, and innumerable horrors have been long committed in Spanish America, no one seems to think seriously of the fact, and no one attempts, manfully, to put an end to the reign of terror. On England, as the great and good ally of Spain, this task particularly devolved; but if her government, in forming its mediation, merely went to ask a favour, and to say, for the sake of humanity, we beg these horrors may cease, and from motives of gratitude, we request a free trade with your colonies, without resorting to the many springs which might have been touched, it was putting into the hands of the Spanish government, the means of refusal, and using only an ineffectual exertion, which could not fail to add to the triumphs of the illiberal. If the British government was not disposed to attach to this mediation, all the appropriate zeal and talent in its power, not only to give the measure success in Spain, but also, to promote its execution on the other side of the Atlantic; if it was not intended to urge all the strong claims the case offered, and also, to use every exertion to explain the intentions of the measure to the Spanish public, it is a pity the expenses of the mediation were ever incurred, for its issue might have been foretold, before it left England. The most trifling informal attempt to know the sentiments of the Spanish government, would have proved,