ed one half of the monarchy to its rightful possessor, and had acted as a shield against the most pressing dangers. This event has, more than ever, confirmed me in the opinion, that nothing but the mediatory interference of Great Britain, under such a general clash of interests, such a prevalence of irritated feelings, and under such systems as those likely again to prevail in Spain, can ever restore peace to the ultramarine provinces, in a manner consistent with reason and justice; or establish permanent harmony, on the basis of general good. If so, and since every month's delay, is the murder of thousands, ought one moment to be lost, in relieving universal affliction and distress?

If I have any thing to add to the explanation of my views in publishing this exposé, it is, to implore the benevolent exertions of my fellow-citizens, to urge relief for suffering humanity; and, in order, that the brightest prospects that ever opened on our mercantile enterprize, may not be marred. The memorials sending up from the manufacturing towns, respecting a retention of trade to Spanish America, sufficiently, indicate the public interest felt upon this occasion; yet, what can be our prospects of trade, in a country desolated by civil war? Let us not appear selfish, humanity is the spring on which we are to act. Let all, with a

firm and decided voice, express the necessity under which England stands, of giving peace to Spanish America; and after aiding to extend the olive branch over the old world, to pronounce it as her sacred duty, to see that its benign effects are equally diffused to the new one. Peace must be the precursor of all definitive arrangements, let its basis only be liberal, and it will not only be advantageous to all parties; but will, eventually, confer the most lasting benefits on the world at large.

London, June 8, 1814.

TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS,

THE

PRINCE REGENT

Of the United Kingdoms,

&c. &c. &c.

SIR,

WHEN a private individual presumes to address one, of the exalted rank of your Royal Highness in these United Kingdoms, the subject-matter, he proposes to discuss, ought not only to be of a transcendent and national interest, but the language of his appeal, ought to be, besides, respectful, and divested of every spirit of party and fallacious reasoning. If he anticipates a favourable result from what he has got to disclose, correct details ought to form the basis of his exposé, and impartial truth, ought to be preeminently conspicuous in his display of facts.

These essential requisites, will, I hope, be found in the pages I have now the honour to submit to your Royal Highness; nor will it, perhaps, be deemed presumptive, if I call your attention to a subject, not of temporary, but of lasting and genuine importance to us, as a maritime and commercial people; and of vital interest to us, during our present expensive war-system, and the great continental combination formed against our resources.

B

At a

period, then, when our increased sacrifices press heavy on the revenue of the country, and whilst a fearful and an eventful tragedy is acting on the grand theatre of Europe, may I be allowed to lay before your Royal Highness, the following considerations, dictated by the most pure and unbiased interest for our national welfare; and which have for object, to stop the ravages of war, and to quench the flames of civil feuds in the great continent of Spanish America; to turn its lost resources against the common enemy; to open new sources of intercourse and vent for our stagnant trade; to promote the influx of precious metals, and the entry of manufacturing raw materials; to connect us by indissoluble ties, by the double ones of gratitude and interest, with a population larger than our own; in short, to add greatly to our wealth and prosperity, and by thus contributing largely to our own strength and resources, to establish a lasting and powerful check on the views of our enemies.

Great and comprehensive as are the subjects to be discussed in the following sheets, I will, nevertheless, endeavour to unfold them, in as brief and plain a manner as their complexity will admit; I will do it with a correctness and solemnity suited to the importance of the matter in view, and the present momentous crisis of human events; well aware, that in appealing to your Royal Highness's judgment and feelings, I not only present a fair, an interesting opportunity, of following the dictates of humanity, of exercising those manly and benign principles and virtues, which have ever formed the characteristics of your Royal Highness's illustrious house; but I, also, afford the means of promoting the national welfare of that empire, over

which you so worthily preside; besides extending the blessings of peace, prosperity, and regeneration, to an extensive and valuable range of country, that will, at no distant period, remunerate us for all our exertions in its favour.

To one, who like yourself, holds in his hands the reins of a government, so much concerned in the political welfare of every nation of the globe, but particularly so, when interest, sympathy, and political engagements add to the bond; of a government, in short, that has sacrificed so much for the freedom and independence of the States of Europe, and has ever been foremost in the cause of reason, justice, and humanity, it cannot be an unseasonable theme, to dwell on those national interests we have now at staketo advert to that fund of odium accumulating on our name, and those dangers we, at the same time, incur, by an entire dereliction from our plighted faith, and reiterated and solemn promises: neither can it be irrelevant here to pourtray the oppression, calamities, and destruction of one entire quarter of the globe, with whose_natives we have so long sympathized, and to whose interests we are so closely connected; when, at the same time, a safe and consistent remedy is within our reach; a remedy not only in perfect unison with our national honour, and founded on sound and lasting policy, but, moreover, by no means opposed to those very engagements, under which we stand bound to the third party concerned.

The object of my present address, is to call the attention of your Royal Highness to the long neglected and melancholy situation of the great continent of Spanish America, where a destructive civil war has been waging for more than four years: a deadly war, that like a