are ignorant whether the fate of Poland awaits them, whether they are to be delivered over to the fury and revenge of the Cortes, or of Ferdinand; or whether they are to become an English colony; and when, at the same time, they are daily exposed to the ravages of a dissolute armed force. The trade of Vera Cruz, alone, is estimated at five millions sterling, per annum. For the three last years, it has been suspended, from the roads being in possession of the insurgents, and has therefore "been a blank to the enterprize of the world. Under circumstances so precarious, then, the native merchant cannot be expected to adventure; and though many of the above dreads, at first sight, appear imaginary, they, nevertheless exist; for the ultramarine provinces have in vain demanded of the Cortes, what was to be their ulteriour fate, in case the Peninsula was lost. England has also maintained a profound silence, whilst the first Reger.cy to whom they appealed, told them,, they were to belong to the mother country, even in the worst event of fortune. The actual uncertainty of things, has thus destroyed all confidence, nor can it be expected, that men, whose péculiar character, is precaution, will put their hidden treasures into circulation, when they have the example of forced loans before them; extremes to which the viceroys of Mexico, and other sections, have long been driven, and when they are, at the same time, fearful, that at no distant period, they may be transferred, by sale or contract, to some European power, who may have the most to throw into the scale, when a general pacification comes to be agitated. Thus it is for the want of confidence, as well as from extensive ravages, that the trade of Spanish America is ruined; whilst on the other hand, all her resources are drying up and destroyed. The facts I have just stated, are of such a nature, as not to admit of a contradiction, they are founded on an intimate acquaintance with the countries to which they refer, and are confirmed by every intelligent native and traveller. Humboldt, marks the great improvement of which these countries are susceptible, but instead of attacking the principles on which they have been governed, (the falsity and injustice of which, are universally acknowledged) he confines himself to a collection of facts, and the proving of what commercial importance, the relations of Europe will become in Spanish America, whenever she is freed from the fetters of an odious monopoly, disadvantageous even to the mother-country. A connection, therefore, with a country like this, is of the utmost consequence; for besides its rich and almost virgin resources, in proportion as it is raised from degradation, its inhabitants would prosper and be happy, and bound to us by the tie of gratitude, whatever be the future convulsions of Europe, we might in them find a community of steady friends. In order to render the preceding view of the trade and resources of Spanish America, more strong and forcible, I have annexed an estimate of our imports and exports to Spain, for a given period of years, which, though it cannot be taken for a fair and permanent criterion, will, nevertheless, point out the great transcendency of the one over the other: EE 2 Merchandize. Foreign and Colonial An Account of the Official Value of the Imports and Exports of Great Britain, from and to Spain and the Canaries, in each of the undermentioned Years. Imported into. England. Scotland. Exported from. England. Scotland Years. Manufactures. Merchandize. Manufactures British Produce and 1800 701,307 2,882 3,382 1,256 8,932 542 801 525 4,162 3,200 120 1801 590,832 The exports of Spanish America, by the customhouse returns, amount to 69 million dollars, in precious metals and territorial productions; and certainly, little would be requisite to double them. The annual coinage of all, the sections, is calculated at 42 millions of dollars; and beyond doubt, the liberty and security of mercantile relations, would have a prodigious effect on the precious metals, extracted from the mines, not only from the consequent cheapness of iron and mercury, but also, from the improvements of the mechanical and chemical parts of obtaining and preparing the ores. It is a fact well established, that the most expensive, as well as the most laborious part of mining, is the draining of the mines, and the bruising and amalgamation of the mineral; operations which are now performed by weak and defective machinery. Consequently, the introduction of the steam engine and new apparatus, would not only reduce the expence, but would also double the annual produce of the mines. The hands thus disengaged from an unhealthy labour, might be turned to the cultivation of the soil. The application of the steam engine, to draining and working the mines in Spanish America, is an object of infinite consequence to the Spanish government, and that of England is, also, greatly interested in its promotion. Besides relieving humanity, it is to a commercial people, highly advantageous to have the coinage of a country doubled, with which we have any relations, and the liberal manner in which this point has been attended to, in a late case, is extremely honourable to the heads of office. The coinage of Spanish America, by the restoration of peace and the steam engine alone, might be more than doubled, and from 42 millions it might be raised to 100 millions. According to the observations of Humboldt, the prosperity of New Spain, for example, has increased considerably within few years, notwithstanding the defects of the colonial regimen; what therefore might not be expected, by a change of system, and the introduction of the discoveries and improvements of art? If, according to the same authority, the precious metals obtained, have tripled in 52 years, and sextupled in 100; what an immense augmentation, would not this branch of public industry and revenue receive, by liberal plans, and especially, by security in the ma ritime communications? According to an official report in my possession, the following is the state of the mines. in Peru. In the following statement, few gold mines are stated as abandoned, this is because they are, generally, found in horizontal layers; but of the silver mines, nearly always worked by a perpendicular bore; no less than 588 are left inactive, principally because' they are filled with water. This scale may convey a good idea of the number of mines, abandoned in the other sections, from similar motives; in fact, whenever the elevation of the mine, has not admitted of a side horizontal bore, for the purposes of draining, as soon as the water has reached a certain level, the mine has been abandoned, and the labour of years, as well as the expenditure, often of millions, have been swallowed up in one general inundation. This has been the case with the celebrated mines of Pasco, in Peru, for the draining of which arrangements have been made, with a zeal and perseverance, that do the greatest credit to the abilities of their promotors. It is |