cause of their sufferings? The records of the colonial policy, and of the judicial proceedings of Spain, applied to her ultramarine settlements, have been filled with the greatest horrors; nor is there a pretext of any nature, that will amount to a justification of a continuance of such outrages. Yet, are we astonished, that the settlements have sought redress; nay, we, ourselves, have been deaf when they appealed to us as a nation, and sought our interference, as a shield against the horrors by which they were surrounded; and this under such grievances, as those already sketched, and after the most friendly assurances on our part. When they called on the universal sympathies of mankind at large, and strong in so sacred and just a cause, addressed themselves to us, we were the only nation that acted with indifference, and that negatively told them, their object was unjust, and that the Spaniards were acting right, in punishing them as wanton insurgents, and in filling their country, with horror and devastation.

Unjust and improvident as was this colonial system I have just sketched, it was nevertheless exercised over one of the richest and most interesting portions of the globe, and inhabited by seventeen millions of people, more enlightened than their European brethren, more liberal, and possessed of a character and disposition, filled up with many interesting traits. There is in the Creole, a degree of sensibility, which, whilst the partial European has often construed into effeminacy, partakes more of the finer feelings; and though, at first sight, it may have the appearance of languor, and a want of energy, facts, have, nevertheless, proved, that the native of Spanish America, is not divested of courage, but, that he

seldom descends to cruelty. Gifted with a warm and brilliant imagination, his mind is adapted to every science that is not peculiarly dry and abstruse; and aniongst the literary characters the settlements have produced within few years, almost all have been Creoles; indeed, in the very Cortes, the most eloquent and liberal, are of that class. I make these few incidental remarks, because, the natives of the country to which I allude, amongst us, are partially known, and not justly appreciated. Fortunately, also, the upper classes, as previously stated, have, by dint of perseverance, overcome most of the obstacles opposed to mental improvement; in such manner, that the European traveller is now astonished at the various acquirements, which, in general, they have attained, and which he would have thought impossible, under the political despotism, in which they have been so long held.

However, snch as I have just pencilled; has been the degraded aspect of the transmarine government, and such the melancholy picture, the Spanish Americans have presented, for 300 years; and scarcely is there a country where the smallest spark of rational freedom, and of civil liberty has existed, that has not lamented the fate of that injured people, and condoled with their abject state. Since the time of Raynal, scarcely has there been a pen employed in describing those varied and extensive regions, that, after enumerating their neglected resources, has not deplored the unnatural subjection in which they were kept, and the privations to which they were reduced. All governments, with regard to the citizen, ought to have a just and moral power; but, very much the reverse, was that by which the Spanish settlements were ruled; ingratitude was the basis of the colonial policy of Spain, and

that same ingratitude which placed the immortal Columbus in chains, was perpetuated to all the countries he discovered.

This enquiry into the ancient, but violated laws, as well as into the colonial policy of Spain, I conceived necessary, to the more complete, and full comprehension of the state of Spanish America, at the beginning of the 19th century; and even up to the commencement of the patriotic cause of the Peninsula; a period at which, the rest of Europe, was astonished by political occurrences, more remarkable and momentous, than any to be found in the historica! annals of that country. I have, purposely, examined the laws of the Indies, as the most correct means of establishing the relative, and social footing of that people, for whose exclusive government, they were enacted; and after recapitulating their primitive compacts, undertaken on the most solemn pledges of kingly faith, and successively guaranteed by the most express, and repeated acts of Spanish legislation; I have supposed, that a faithful picture of the present colonial policy of Spain, would be the most sure criterion, to judge, whether there has been any deviation from the original rights and prerogatives of the Spanish American subjects; and whether or not, they required redress and reform. If, I have enumerated the galling restraints on civil liberty, as well as in many other shapes, which existed; and, if, in short, I have represented the situation of that country to be most deplorable, where the order of a corrupt minister, had, often acquired the force of law, and where every thing was venal, degraded, and oppressive; it was in order to promote an enquiry, whether these same abuses have been continued, since the boasted rege

neration of Spain; and whether, when a most favourable opportunity offered, the late governments of Cadiz, have complied with this most sacred of all their duties, by bringing alleviation to the ills of their distant brethren, on which, principally, depended, the future salvation of the whole monarchy.

In examining all the principles of the theory, and the practical circumstances of the case in view, I have been guided, only, by such documents and records, as could be relied on; and these premises once established, it will be easy to judge, correctly,of the point at issue; particularly after the subjoined display of every thing material, that has occurred in Spanish America, and in the Cortes, on this important subject, of which details will be brought forward, in the course of this production. If, I have defined, in an ample manner, the primitive, but long-invaded rights of the Spanish Americans; it was to ascertain whether the infractions of their past rulers, have been remedied by the present ones; and whether, every thing allowed by reason, by justice, and even by the laws, has been practically granted to them. If, I have explained the relative situation of Spanish America, to Spain; it was not only to clear up doubts, under which we, ourselves, have long laboured, and in order to establish, that Spanish America, from being an equal, incorporated, and integral part of the Spanish monarchy, has equally become our ally; but, also, to elicite an impartial search, into the conduct and disquisitions of the Cortes on the existing dissentions. My object is, to demonstrate, on which side rests, the blame of so many horrors and ravages, now committing in the transmarine provinces of Spain, and consequently, to ascertain, which party is to be charged with ingrati

tude and injustice. If my premises and deductions should turn out correct, it will result, that the situation of Spanish America, instead of being bettered, since the period of the late changes in the Peninsula; had rather become worse; nor, do I doubt, that experience and faithful observation, will fail to authorize the tenour of my allegations. If my conclusions are fairly made, it will be proved, that it was not the remembrance of past evils and infractions; it was not a spirit of wanton innovation, and undue revenge; but rather, the recent pressure of fresh aggravations and unprovoked insults, which first roused the natives of Spanish America, which urged them to resist the tyranny of the Cadiz rulers, and to seek, by force, what, on remonstrance, had been denied them. In short, the subsequent details on which I shall soon enter, will tend to evince, that the situation of the transmarine provinces, instead of being ameliorated by the regeneration of the parent state, had, in fact, become more degraded; so ancient, and so habitual, was the practice of the heads of government, and of the monopolists of the trading ports, to consider the kingdoms of America, as dependent colonies, only destined to contribute to the luxury and advantage of the mother country, and as a fruitful harvest, intended, only, to enrich the impoverished natives of the Peninsula.

§ Nor do the people of Spanish America, appear to have been, altogether, insensible to the hardships and privations under which they had so long lived. Prior to the present situation of things, some attempts had been made by the Indians, to obtain, by force of arms, a partial redress and reform in the governing system, the whole of which, seem to have had for object, to with