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stacle to retributive, justice being extended to the Ame rican provinces. The alliance of England, was sought, and solicited, by Spain, and, before it was matured into a specific and definitive form, it had been cemented by acts of friendship and sacrifices unexampled. If Spain was then sincere and grateful, and, if we looked for any compensation, to replace those sacrifices we were about to incur, this was the moment to have stipulated its nature, or, at least, to have established its basis. Had this, only, been done, in the first instance; had our treaty been made with European and American Spain, as equal and integral parts of the Spanish monarchy, and as, in fact, they stand; doubtlessly the government of Spain, would, in those moments, have acceded; nay, it would now have been thankful, that justice and liberality, had been made the groundwork of a transaction, by which so many melancholy consequences might have been avoided.

This, was the important moment to have traced a line for our own political conduct; then, it was, that we ought to have manifested to the Spanish nation, at large; what were our views on entering, with such cordiality, into so expensive and hazardous a struggle; and above all, our sympathy ought not to have been confined to one section, since the other, however distant, was equally an appendage, and, perhaps, the brightest, of the crown of the unfortunate Ferdinand,whose entire rights,we thus, nobly, stepped forward to defend. By this means, the good understanding, and the mutual regard of the two governments, would, beyond doubt, have been strengthened and preserved; and the eternal gratitude of European and American Spain, would have been our portion. Instead of considering the one, as a mere cypher, and lavishing

the most unbounded acts of friendship on the other, if we had only given to each, the relative situation that was due, and even by a tie, stronger than any they had before known, if we had but united both, in the same just and glorious cause, in which each was so deeply interested, besides laying the ground-work of certain success, we should, also, have stamped our policy, even in the eyes of the most cavillous Spaniard, with the features of disinterestedness, equal justice and firmness; we should have silenced all the grovelling and unworthy suspicions respecting our views, which would, thereby, have been proved, as originating from pure and honourable motives, and, as, divested of every mercenary, or rival feeling. Had the policy of England, then been enlightened, and the conduct of Spain, magnanimous; and had our alliance only been made, with the Spanish monarchy of both hemispheres; had it had for object, the welfare of the whole nation, and not of one detached portion, then, might we have been enabled to boast of an united and effective ally, and then, might all our sacrifices, have been crowned with corresponding fruits. A measure, like this, would have prevented the jealousies, and bickrings, which have since originated, and would have cleared up that mystery and ambiguity, by which our conduct has always been enveloped; for, with such a nation, as that, with which we were then dealing, a conduct, not only firm, and undeviating, was necessary; but, also, a policy, the most plain, clear, and unequivocal, ought to have been observed to all its parts.

The fact is, that in this, as well as in our other posteriour transactions, relating to Spanish America; we appear, not to have been aware, of her real and relative

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situation; nor to have known, that she formed an equal and undivided part of the Spanish monarchy, But, yet, if we were ignorant of this material point, in our new alliance; if we were unacquainted with the rights and privileges of that injured country; in short, if, by the whole tenour of our conduct, we became the abettors of the tyranny and injustice of Spain; we ought, at least, not to have forgotten, that the neat revenue the crown received from Spanish America, was more than that of European Spain; that it was easy to double it; that it was the only country from whence bullion could be obtained; and, finally, that, if a civil war, which, the conduct of Spain, was, evidently, preparing, was suffered to rankle, and to spread widely, our European ally, would not only be deprived of the best half of her usual resources; but, that the mines, trade, and agriculture, would be at a stand, and that the just cause in which all parties were engaged, would, thus, lose half its effective strength.

How different, would the situation of Spain, have been, at the present moment; if a good understanding, and a solid and liberal basis for our future conduct, and satisfactory to all parties, had been adopted in the earliest stages of our alliance, and before the contest was made our own. She might, now, have had Spanish America bound to her, by the strongest ties of interest and gratitude; and, instead of now having money to expend, and men and arms to send over, to conquer her transmarine provinces, by thus, having made liberality and justice the basis of her conduct, and by the adoption of new finan cial plans, she might be in the annual receipt of 40 or 50 millions of dollars, besides her own local revenue; and she might have withdrawn 30,000 of her own troops,

now in garrison in different sections of America, busied in butchering the unredressed inhabitants, and expending those same resources, which otherwise, might have been usefully employed in the general cause. In addition, she might have received fifty thousand native volunteers, who would, then, have joined her standard, in Europe; and, besides, she would have deserved the good wishes of every feeling mind. Thirty thousand of the best Spanish troops, equipped with resources supplied by England, have, up to the present time, as will, hereafter, be more fully treated, been sent abroad; these might have kept in the Peninsula, and with this additional strength, together with the prospects I have just sketched, it might fairly be asked, what different results might not have been produced in the salvation of Spain, after the battles of Salamanca, Vittoria, and the Pyrenees?

How England, on this same occasion, neglected to stipulate for a participation in a trade, which the other contracting party could not carry on; and, which, by adding to the respective resources of each, would have been of the most essential benefit in tranquilizing and ameliorating the aggrieved provinces of Spanish America, appears a political problem, difficult to be solved; particularly, as it, early, formed a 'subject of conversation, between Mr. Canning, and Don Pedro Cevallos, according to the assurance of the latter. England beheld, with eager admiration, the first burst of the revolutionary cause of Spain; and, augured well, from the enthusiastic manner, in which the natives displayed their abhorrence of a foreign yoke; yet, if, we then hoped for eventual success, it was not, only, necessary to preserve this spirit entire, by the prevention of discord and dissentions; but, also,

to throw, in the fullest and most effective manner possi ble, that additional force, into the general scale of exertion, which might have been derived from Spanish America. The impoverished and debilitated state of the Pèninsula, was public and manifest, and it was evident, that the only means of retrieving past losses, and of giving fresh vigour and energy to the whole machine, was, by husbanding and improving those Western sources of wealth and revenue, which, alone, could crown the sacrifices of all parties, with adequate success. It was, likewise, natural, for England to seek some compensation or other, for the strenuous exertions of her subjects, and, as a means to support her armies. Yet, when, consistently with reason and national honour, and, as a return for all our sacrifices, we had it in our power to open a trade, beneficial to all parties; and which, besides becoming a bond of union, would have rendered European Spain, a strong and powerful ally, we seem scarcely to have reflected, that Spanish America was in existence; and, hastily forming a treaty, that was to defeat its own object, we set armies on foot, and rush, as it were, into a summer campaign, at the end of which, we trust, to experience the generosity of the self created governments of the Peninsula. That individuals, within their own sphere, should sport romantic and disinterested acts of friendship, is in the common order of things; "but, that a nation, entailing an enormous debt on its posterity, should thus act on visionary calculations, and be deaf to the dictates of prudence and foresight, in an obliquity of conduct, that can scarcely be credited. The fatal consequences, of our not then stipulating for a free trade to Spanish America, being, however, a material point in the main subject, now

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