administration, what God has granted as the reward or your industry. We also reason and feel, as you do, on the invasion of your charters, because these comprehend the essential forms, by which you enjoy your liberties. We, consequently, regard them as most sacred, and agree, that they ought, by no means, to be taken away, or altered, without process, examination, and hearing, as they have lately been; and, particularly, without the concurrence of those who live under them. We cannot look upon men, as delinquents in the mass; much less are we desirous of lording over our brethren, insulting their honest pride, and wantonly overturning establishments, acknowledged to be just. We cannot approve of putting the military power out of the coercion of civil justice, in the country where it acts; and, we conceive it monstrous, that you should not have the full means of redress within yourselves.

Born in a civilized country, formed to gentle manners, trained in a merciful religion, and living in enlightened and polished times, where even foreign hostility is sof tened from its original sternness, we lament and condemn the cruel modes of warfare, instituted against you, and the indiscriminate massacre and destruction, to which you have been exposed. We regret to find, that the name of the Almighty, has been prostituted in the vilest acts of bloodshed; that religion has been made an instrument in your subjection, and that the threats of fanaticism, have been added to the inevitable mischiefs of civil war, in order to increase discord and domestic enmity amongst you. We do not condemn you as rebels or traitors; nor do we call the vengeance of war upon you. We do not know how, thus, to qualify millions of our country

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/men, contending for an admission to privileges, on which we have always founded our own happiness and honour. On the contrary, we revere the principles on which you act, though we lament their fatal effects. Armed as you are, we embrace you as friends, and as our brethren, bound to us, by the best and dearest ties of relation.

We view the establishment of such a continent as yours, on the principles of rational liberty and of just equality, as the best means to render this kingdom, venerable to future ages. We, therefore, exhort you, to cleave to those equitable grounds, which may form a true bond of union between us, but we do not urge you to an unconditional submission. The size of your country and population, require a suitable constitution; we are happy in being now enabled to form it, and it is to it alone, we implore your obedience. Let us, instantly, set about the work on both sides, with the same conciliatory turn of mind, and we may yet, owe to our mutual mistakes, contentions and animosities, the lasting concord, freedom, happiness and glory, of the whole empire of both hemispheres.

Had such sentiments and assurances as these, similar to what Mr. Burke sent over to our North American cơlonists, during the period of their disaffection and discontent, been early addressed, by the new Cortes of Spain, to the inhabitants of Spanish America; had the language of the new legislature, exhibited a warm expression, the only genuine offspring of ardent feeling, had conciliatory measures been used, instead of threats, and had solemn and sacred offers been employed, instead of terms of recrimination, then, might the world have expected to see the points of controversy adjusted,

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vinces were convinced of that melancholy truth, which they so soon afterwards found confirmed, that the interests of one half of the monarchy, clashed with those of the other; and that no real justice awaited them, from the acts of a congress, so unfairly constituted, so foreign to their wants, and deliberating at such a distance.

Had true and sincere sentiments of fraternity and fellowship been timely conveyed, by the new Cortes, to their American brethren, then migh tthe one have felt the security, which, as a national government, the others were about to give, and the equal justice they were about to administer. Then might the Spanish Americans have expected, that the general interests of all, would be attended to; and thence, would they have learnt, that it was their duty, as well as their interest, to place full confidence in the assembly of their new representatives, and their trust in the hands of those, who were charged with the general execution of the laws. In the ultramarine provinces, a sincere disposition never was wanting to yield to proper explanations, and to comply with just measures, such as arose out of a due sense of public benefit, and a virtuous regard to the general welfare. Could a more valuable opportunity have been found, of improving these sentiments, than when the Cortes first assembled in La Isla de Leon? To consult the wants of every part of the community, and to lay the foundations of public administration, on the affections of all the members thereof, was the greatest glory to which the new Cortes of Spain could aspire; and this was not to be done, by continuing a war, of which the legitimacy had neither been discussed or proved. As men, anxious for the welfare and happiness of their entire nation, it

particularly behoved them, to guard the equilibrium established therein by the general laws; and if the Spanish Americans had been declared equal in rights, and were also found so in their ancient charters, the practical and full exercise of that equality, undoubtedly belonged to them. It was to the Cortes that they looked, for this act of justice, and to their patriotic exertions; to promote the essential redress, as a means of pacification, they trusted with new and undiminished confidence.

Unfortunately, however, for the interests of both parties, the Cadiz government was not disposed to adopt liberal and conciliatory measures, nor was it inclined to redress. Slaves or nothing, appeared to be the motto of all the new governments; and the words of the Jesuits, used to Benedict XIV. when he proposed a reform, in order to prolong the existence of their society, sint ut sunt, vil non sint, might be very well applied to them all. The fact is, the Cadiz mercantile interests had already taken the alarm, for in consulting the good of their country, the new governments in America, as before shewn, had removed the shackles of trade, and this sole measure, became the real nucleus, on which the whole odium gathered and accumulated. Instead of being grateful for the patriotic manner, in which the Spanish Americans had watched over the safety of their country, volunteered in donations and succours, pledged themselves to Ferdinand, bound themselves to the cause of Spain, and sworn eternal enmity to the common foe, the new governments instantly treat them as rebels, and war is declared against them, in compliment, as it were, to the chiefs they had just deposed. This war is continued under the greatest aggravations, mutual enmity is its

issue, and universal devastation ensues. The Spanish Americans appeal to Spain, recur to England, and are treated with contempt. Chastisement, threats and decrees of blockade, or at most, insulting proposals of pardon, are the answers given to their just and reiterated remonstrances and claims; all of which might be reduced to very few points, viz. equality of representation, Juntas, free trade, equal eligibility to offices in their own country, and the abolition of monopolies. And are these demands unjust; are they unreasonable; are they such as warrant a war, even in the best of times, on the part of Spain; or, are they such as to justify England, in leaving the aggrieved ultramarine provinces, thus neglected and abandoned, to the fury of their enemies, and compelling them, as it were, to have called in the French to their aid?

§ Spain, has not, however, acted from ignorance, in the great Spanish American question, though, it is presumable, England has; for these said claims were brought be fore the Cortes, the day after their installation, as already noticed, were repeated on the 16th November following, in eleven propositions; again, on the 31st December; were discussed in January, and rejected, or definitely deferred, in February, 1811. When the flames of civil war, began to rage wider and with greater fury, and when it was visible, that the Spanish Americans were indignant at the treatment they received from the national congress, the question was again agitated, when the famous remonstrance of the whole American deputies, was laid before the house, on the 1st August, 1811. But, even that clear, strong, and just statement of facts, was rejected with the same contempt, and treated with the usual disdain; or, in other words, twenty-nine American sub

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