and 11th articles of the proclamation, issued by Brigadier Da Joze de la Cruz, on the 23d February, 1811. Article 2, imposes the punishment of death, on all persons of every class and condition, who within twenty-four hours, do not deliver up all the arms of which they may be possessed, including axes and knives. To forbid any one to carry on their persons, even a small knife, has been before seen; but to deprive people of knives for their domestic use, under the penalty of death, is what even Murat did not do in Madrid, or has been before heard of. Article 11, orders, that a tenth of all the inhabitants shall be shot, of whatever town or city; that may be known to have given provisions to an insurgent, or where any intercourse has been had with them, even between a father and his son:" and, "if thus," subjoins the deputy, "a faithful father, attempts to bring back a wandering son, is he, on this account, to die? Well and good; but is it not the extreme of barbarity, that for this same reason, the tenth of a whole town is to be shot?" These were the arguments, the American deputies brought forward to urge a mediation, whilst England, with all her weight of influence and services, was merely asking a favour.

Had these been threats only consigned to paper, had they been the hasty breathings of revenge, but barren in deeds, they might, perhaps, have been overlooked by the politician, who considers the highly increased degree of acrimony, which had been infused into the dispute, and the general character of the nation from whom they issued. But when we see the terrible terms and latitude of such decrees, carried into full and frequent effect; when we see threats, horrid in their wording,

still aggravated by the inhuman manner in which they are executed, and when we, at the same time, reflect what this unfortunate people is contending for, the politician, as well as the moralist, and the philosopher, cannot but shudder and exclaim, with the venerable Las Casas, speaking of the first conquerors," that these are not men, but devils in human flesh.” This threat of General Cruz, was executed in two towns on the Lake of Chapala, where he shot every tenth inhabitant, and then burnt their dwellings, for having harboured the insurgents, when, possibly, they could not resist.

This same General Cruz, thirsting as it were for blood and destruction, had already burnt the town of the Irapuato, in which the insurgents had resisted his attacks, and made a public parade of shooting six priests; in short, wherever he went, indiscriminate murder, fire, and desolation, followed his footsteps. The prisoners who are not put to the sword, in cold blood, were sent to perish in the dungeons of Mexico, or in those of St. Juan de Ulua.

Captain Blanco, in July, 1811, announces," that as soon as he entered Matehuala, and the insurgents saw they were attacked on all sides, and the havoc made amongst them, they fled into the fields, but his troops eager for blood (encarnizada) pursued, till they found no more to pursue.

Da Caetano Quintero, 29th August, 1811, says, "that in the attack of Amoladeras, which lasted two hours, no quarter was given.'

Commandant Villaescusa, 21st December, 1811, observes," that the rebels of Sa Ignacio, headed by an an cient officer, hoisted a flag of truce, and their chief lieutenant Hernandez, having expressed a desire to parley with

Montaño, chief of the Opata Indians, a Spanish soldier named Manuel Ramirez, feigned he was the person, assuring Hernandez, that if he would advance in front of the lines, without arms, he would do the same. On their meeting, Hernandez was treacherously murdered,

General Cruz, in his letter to Hidalgo, 28th February, 1811, says, " that many thousands of men, taken by the king's troops, were then groaning, in prisons, waiting their last end." Yet few were taken in the field of battle, or otherwise apprehended, they being, in general, shot or hung on the spot.

General Calleja, from Zitaquaro, which he had just taken, after a stout resistance, writes the viceroy, that he will make it disappear from the face of the earth; and in conformity to this resolve, he issued a proclamation, whose articles, in substance, are as follows.

1. That all the property, public or private, belonging to the inhabitants of this town and jurisdiction, shall be confiscated to the crown, and the Indians deprived of their privileges.

2. Likewise the property of all those Spaniards, who have joined in the insurrection, or were absent when the king's troops entered.

5. This faithless and criminal town, that three distinct times, has resisted the arms of the king, being to be rooted up, burnt and destroyed, the inhabitants of every age and sex, shall leave it within six days.

6. All the individuals and families who may leave this town, shall have a certificate, bearing their name, descent, number of each, and day of their departure, it being well understood, that whoever may be found without this certificate, or remain in the town, longer than the time prefixed, having no weighty impediment

to allege therefore, shall be treated as a rebel, and shot, &c. &c.

The above passages, principally extracted from offieial despatches and Mexico gazettes, will convey a good idea of the nature of the warfare, now carrying on in New Spain. It is not only because such scenes occur, that the feelings of humanity recoil, but because they should afterwards constitute the public boast of a commander of a division or detachment. A lieutenant commanding twenty-five men, can shoot his insurgents, and then pride himself for so doing, in his report to his commanding officer. To such a pitch has the phrensy at last risen, that clergymen, chaplains of regiments, friars, &c. are now shot and murdered, with no more ceremony, than laymen, notwithstanding this is not only against the canons, but also, in direct opposition to the constitution of the Spanish monarchy. During the revolutionary struggle of North America, politeness and respect, uniformly accompanied the acts of the contending chiefs. Lord Cornwallis, always addressed General Washington by the title of Excellency; and humane and personal attentions, were never forgotten. But here, men who have recurred to the only means left them of asserting rights, which in the abstract must be deemed just, are murdered like banditti, and treated as vagrants. It is melancholy in the extreme, to behold the deadly animosity that has thence arisen, and to contemplate such scenes as result, from indiscriminately putting men to death, whom the chance of war has left in the hands of the victor, and consequently, at his mercy.

It would not be possible, with any degree of accuracy, to point out the extent to which this havoc of hu

man lives, has been carried, or to convey an exact idea of the general destruction that has been occasioned. The author of the Revolucion de Mexico, has taken some pains to add up the results of an irregular file of fiftynine daily gazettes of that city, for the years 1811 and 12, principally containing various despatches of commanders, acting in different quarters of the viceroyalty. These few gazettes alone, officially, confess 25,344 insurgents killed, 3556 prisoners, besides 697, shot after surrendry. And this is in addition to a variety of vague terms, such as the field of battle was covered with the slain-heaps of dead covered the plain, &c.—to which no numerical amount could be given. I would here ask my reader, to figure to himself, what would be the results of a regular file, complete, from the time the war cominenced, up to the present day, that is nearly five years; since, in the fifty-nine numbers above alluded to, the most bloody actions are not contained, and many detached affairs, were never made the subject of a report. With regard to destruction, scarcely a farm is left standing, the cattle, beasts of burden, and implements of agriculture, have all disappeared; and the ravages of two contending armies, have desolated, the hitherto safe and peaceful dwellings of the Mexican people, Agriculture, mining, and commerce, are all at a stand.

The following is an extract of a letter written from Mexico, under a recent date, by a person of whose respectability I can vouch, and it is, also, found in El, Español for last February, No. 45. It gives a very good idea of the state of New Spain, and it deserves the more credit, from its author being a person of high station and repute." All the commanders of detachments arrived