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if Spain did not acquiesce in a just reform. Under the enthusiastic hopes, with which we embarked in the Pe ninsular struggle, we ought also to have foreseen, that in all times of need, Spain had been obliged to negociate loans in America;-that, in 1797, after the treaty made with the French at Basle, so great were her pecuniary wants, that she was obliged to borrow 17 millions of dollars in Mexico, to refund which, the crown-monopoly of tobacco, was placed in the hands of the lenders;-that when her invasion took place, according to the statements of Minister Count Cabarús, she had a national debt of 400 millions of dollars on her shoulders,-that her Vales Reales, or paper money, had depreciated 59 per cent,that in the best of times, when her territory was untouched, and when under an active trade, and in the receipt of colonial products, her annual revenue did not exceed 35 millions of dollars; and that, in short, by the alienation of the American provinces, the mother country would be deprived of the very nerve of war.

Spain, with great reason, relied on the many ties which bound the ultramarine provinces to her; but she must have known little of the feelings of the human heart, and less of the situation of her sister kingdoms, to suppose, that th were to be drained of their treasure, to be placed under a war system, and plunged into all its privations, for the sole purpose of aiding the mothercountry to gain her independence; when, in return, their own chains, instead of being knocked off, were to be tightened and rendered more heavy. Whoever, like myself, has had an opportunity of viewing the Spanish Americans, attentively, must pronounce them the most loyal people any sovereign could wish; and it must further be confessed, that they gave to the term and to

the idea of mother-country, as well as to their constitutional monarch, a respect and veneration unexampled ; but there is a point beyond which the most abject cannot proceed, and it was that, at which both Spain and America had arrived, when the transactions at Bayonne, roused both from their sullen torpor.

It was self evident, that Spanish America would not let slip, such an opportunity, as was about to present itself, without demanding the alleviations and political reformation, so essentially necessary to her own welfare; together with the restitution of those rights, of which she had been dispossessed, by the despotic conduct of her successive monarchs. This was, an event, easily cal culated and foreseen; as well as, that, if denied, she would persist in her demands. This position being, therefore, correct, our guarantee of the integrity of the Spanish monarchy, that is, our authorizing Spain to treat her American provinces, with every species of harshness and injustice, we, pledging ourselves, at the same time, to stand aloof, can be considered, in no other light, than as an actual consent on our part, for one half of the Spanish nation, to tyrannize over the other; nor can this clause be interpreted in any other way, when all circumstances are considered, than as a prelude to that consequent declaration of war, which was, clearly, to result, since Spain seems never to have dreamt of redress, or reform. From this vague stipulation, which, we have, besides, left Spain to interpret, widely, to her own convenience, was, plainly, to result, the sacrifice of one half of the nation, whose united cause we were then espousing; and, in thus stepping forward, to guarantee a most flagrant act of injus tice,and, in negatively, upholding Spain in the continuation of her oppressive and iniquitous conduct to her sister

kingdoms of Amèrica, we, ourselves, became a party, to the most atrocious outrage on the rights and liberties of an inoffensive people, that ever marked the annals of tyranny or imposture.

It has, indeed, been asserted in Spanish America, as a kind of excuse, but, God knows, with what degree of foundation, that the ministers of England, were, partly, surprised into this clause; and that, when they assented to it, they were unaware of the latitude that could be given to its interpretation, and the destructive abuse, that could be made of their upright intentions. But, if this is the case, is it not high time, carefully, to ponder on this important point, and, to examine the fatal consequences, which have originated to so noble a cause, from this material oversight? Full of confidence in the rectitude of her principles, and, as the avowed protectress of reason and of justice, England entered into an alliance with Spain; but, if the consequences of that alliance, have been opposed to both, and, are, fast dismembering the monarchy, whose integrity, we, thereby, guaranteed, ought we, any longer, to delay, entering on a review of this part of our conduct; and, if possible, to fix on the most early remedy, to evils, which interest seventeen millions of our allied fellow creatures, of whom we have been, hitherto, unmindful, in the hour of sorrow.

In entering on such a treaty, as the one, to which I allude, the cabinet of St. James, must certainly have contemplated some objects of expediency; or at least, in an undertaking so expensive and so difficult, as that we then had before us, some account must have been made of the resources of Spanish America. If so, their being unexpectedly cut off, becomes a point of material consideration. Spain, even in time of peace, could scarcely

exist as a nation, although with the aid of her American provinces; for as already demonstrated, she had been long verging to a state of complete penury and degradation. We, certainly, must have been aware of this palpable fact, so soon, afterwards, confirmed by official statements laid before the nation; whereby it was proved; that, besides the interest of the national debt, the annual expences of government, amounted to 1,200,000,000 rials, to cover which, there was` only a revenue of 255,000,000 do. thus leaving a deficit of 945,000,000 do.* If, such was the actual picture of Spain, at the beginning of 1811, that is, after 90 millions of dollars had been received from Spanish America, from the commencement of her patriotic cause, what must not have been her impoverished state, at the moment we formed our alliance, since so large a portion of her territory was in the hands of the French?

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In such an exigency, Spanish America was the only country, on which, the government of Spain, could call for pecuniary aid and resources; it was evident she would refuse them, if not redressed; so that, a stipulation to this, or some other equivalent effect, ought to have preceded the one, by which we guaranteed the integrity of the Spanish monarchy; if it was, thereby, to be understood, that by this transaction, we did not intend to exclude the ultramarine provinces, from a concurrence and participation. of benefits, in the very engagement, we were about to form, with European Spain. If, we had it

* Exposicion del ministro de Hacienda, sobre el Estado de la Tesoreria nacional. Real Isla de Leon, 25 de Feb. 1811.

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then, in view, to give full efficacy to our new alliance, to hinder future misunderstandings and bickerings; and to call forth the united resources of the whole Spanish monarchy, in an active and condensed shape, against the common enemy; to combat whom, both divisions thereof, were, at first, so ready and so zealous; it was, from the commencement, not, only, essentially necessary to insure their perfect union and permanent co-operation, but, also, to peclude the possibility of its being, at any time, suspended. In order to render successful the grand scheme of warfare, into which we then entered for the immediate interests of Spain; instead of laying a groundwork that was to dismember the very nation, whose cause we were making our own, and, would, evidently, tend to disunite its forces, to infuse dissentions and distrust, and to waste so many valuable resources; we ought, in the very first moments, and by a solid and well defined basis, to have fixed the respective obligations of the parties thus contracting; we ought to have defined the, relative situation, in, which, each was to stand in the general al liance; and by a full and explicit declaration and guaran❤ tee of our views and intentions, we should, thus, have hindered those misunderstandings and mutual clashings, which have materially foiled our projects in Spain; which · have rendered our name odious to Spanish America, and have, also, filled this ill-fated country, with horror and devastation. If, we had then preferred to see Spain, enjoy the solid benefits of unanimity, security, and national honour, in the place of anarchy, and the transitory gratifications of bloody triumphs and fell revenge; by our said treaty, we ought not to have placed a barrier to the operations of reason, consistency and law; nor any ob

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