feeling of a day, but, has now lasted for more than four years; that it does not subside at the sight of danger, but, that it urges its abettors to the most daring acts of cour age and heroism, and that, instead of decreasing, it daily gains ground, and enlists fresh partizans. As the Americans, themselves, have confessed, no other conclusion could be drawn of their conduct, in thus deserting the cause of the mother-country, than, that, they were more ferocious than wild beasts,* if it could not, at the same time, be clearly proved, that this alienation, had arisen from the most cogent reasons; had been caused by the most imperious circumstances; and had emanated from motives of an insuperable nature. The Spanish Americans, cannot be accused of disloyalty; after 300 years of abject submission, are thrown into the scale; nor can they be charged with a spirit of wanton innovation, when we consider, their long and unrepining resignation, which has astonished the whole of Europe, and which was proof against all the efforts of exterior influence and intrigue, even those England had been combining for years, as well as the more recent plans, the French had been concerting, to inthrall their allegiance. The cruelties now committing, and the profuse oceans of blood now flowing in every section, are not attributable to the Spanish Americans, since with them they did not originate; nor did they ever consider their European brethren, as a nation distinct from themselves, They cannot be charged with undue ambition, since it was in the cause of the Peninsula they first stepped forward; nor have they been urged by a wish to have the exclusive com * Representacion de la Deputacion Americana, a las Cortes. 1811. mand in their own country, since they charged their de puties in the Cortes, only to ask for half the public offices for their own natives. With regard to the mistaken idea of independence, in the course of this exposé, it will be proved, never to have existed, at the time the first leven of discontent, soured the minds of the Spanish Americans, and eventually produced disaffection. That some material, and radical defect, exists on one side or the other, must, consequently, be evident; and, for the sake of humanity, it is to be lamented, that it has not, long since, been discovered and remedied. It having, however, been already proved, that it was no want of loyalty on the part of the Spanish Americans, which first gave rise to these fatal dissentions; it becomes necessary to trace them to a more advanced period of the Spanish revolution, which will be best done, by describ ing minutely, the prominent features the insurrections of Spanish America assumed, in their very commence ment. The Central Junta of Seville, whose members had early invested themselves with the sovereign power, in the name of the absent king, and exercised it with all the arrogance of despots notwithstanding their manifest illegality, had, nevertheless., been acknowledged in all Spanish America, and had been obeyed in all the provinces, which, had, hitherto, remained tranquil and in perfect harmony with the parent state. They had continued, during a period of two years, to send over abundant succours, and had lived on the most cordial terms with their European brethren, notwithstanding, even a solitary effective measure of redress, or amelioration, had never reached them, in return. During, however, this interval of perfect amity, each section, respectively, had been furnished with an opportunity of discovering the views and sentiments of the Spanish chiefs placed over them; each, beheld the precipice, preparing for all. It was, evidently, the intention of their leaders, for the transmarine provinces to follow the fate of the mothercountry; and they beheld themselves destined, to deck the triumphal car of the ruler of France. They had, also, been able to discover the divided, delapidated, and impotent state of the Peninsula; and the dispersion of the only government which existed there, covered with the execrations of all their fellow-subjects, together with the invasion of the Andalusian provinces, sounding at such a distance, as the entire loss of the kingdom; alarm for their own situation, at first, became manifest, which added to a grounded distrust in the colonial chiefs, caused the Americans to conceive it was high time, to consult their own safety. This despondence in the affairs of the Peninsula, was not only natural from its depressed situation, from the great force employed by the enemy, from the general disunion that was known to exist, and the scandalous manner in which the resources of the country, had been wasted by the central Junta, but it was, also, strengthened and confirmed by manifests circulated in every quarter, particularly by the remonstrance of the Junta of Valencia, the proclamation of that of Cadiz, and the circular of the Marquis de la Romana; besides various papers, which were wafted to the other side of the Atlantic. Every thing, in short, that arrived, was disheartening; and every new occurrence, tended to represent to the Spanish Americans, the uncertainty and hoplesness of their situation. The European Viceroys and Captain-Generals, were not to be trusted; for holding their "commands from the old governments, most of whose members, besides, being corrupt; were known to be devoted to, and even joined with the French, it was natural to suppose, that the persons of their election abroad, were, also, ready to adhere to any sovereign, who would continue and confirm their commands; and that, consequently, they were, in pectore, the firm defenders and supporters of that system of despotism, of which, they had, hitherto, been the principal instruments. These surmises, were, at length, confirmed by their own conduct and declarations; and their removal was judiciously resolved on, by the provinces respectively, each, considering its own local administration, most secure in the hands of persons elected out of its own bosom, and possessed of the confidence of the people. In the adoption, however, of this measure, every one alledged and published, that they took the government and administration into their own hands, for the time being, in order to promote their own security-not to be delivered over to the French, or to any other power,-and to preserve themselves for Ferdinand VII. whom all, with one voice, again acknowledged as their lawful king, and in whose name, their proclamations were made. This, was an act, spontaneous and general in every division of Spanish America, however secluded and distant, one section was from the other; and by the respective details of the governmental changes of each, it is proved; that no exterior influence, no ulterior views of independence, or any thing, in short, disloyal or inimical to European Spain, as a nation, had any direct or indirect share there in. In the remonstrance presented by the American de puties to the Cortes, in August, 1811, are to be found, the details of all the immediate causes and peculiar circunstances, which lead to the assumption of the authorities into their own hands; and this important document, is the more deserving of credit, from the official shape it bears, and because it was never contradicted. They are, in substance, as follows: "In Caracas, the invasion of the Andalusian provinces by the French, and the dissolution of the Central Junta, gave rise to the revolution; in which, without any effusion of blood, the authorities were deposed, on the 19th of April, 1810; and a Supreme Junta was created for the purpose of governing the province, and in order to preserve its existence and guard its security, and as fully expressed in the proclamation then issued."* "In Buenos Ayres, the purport of the same news, communicated by Viceroy Cisneros, and his calling together a congress, in order to adopt measures of precaution, on the 25th of May, 1810, produced a provisional Junta, till a congress was formed of all the deputies of the provinces." "In New Granada, the imprudent conduct of the Corregidor of El Socorro, by causing his troops to fire on the unarmed citizens, of whom eight were killed, occasioned the first movement, on the 3d of July, 1810; the immediate consequences of which, were, the imprisonment of the Corregidor and his satellites." "In Santa Fé de Bogotá, a private individual, passed by the shop of an European, who insulted him, with words injurious to the Americans in general; and parties * Vide the various proclamations of Buenos Ayres, Chili, Caracas, Santa Fé, Mexico, &c. G |