.-.: i PRESENT STATE OF THE SPANISH COLONIES; INCLUDING A PARTICULAR REPORT Otf HISPANOLA, OK THE SPANISH PART OF SANTO DOMINGO ; WITH A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE SETTLEMENTS ON THE SOUTH CONTINENT OF AMERICA, AS RELATES TO HISTORY, TRADE, POPULATION, CUSTOMS, MANNERS, &c. WITH A CONCISE STATEMENT OF THE SENTIMENTS OF THE PEOPLE ON THEIR RELATIVE SITUATION TO THE MOTHER COUNTRY, &C. BY WILLIAM WALTON, JUN. SlCRBTAUY TO THE EXPEDITION WHICH CAPTURED THE CITY OF SANTO DOMJSCO FROM THE FRENCH ; AND RESIDENT BRITISH AGENT THERE. Quod sol atque imbres dederant, quod terra crearat Sponte sua, satis id placabat pectora don urn. Quod superest, aes atqne aurum, ferrumquerepertum esf, Et simul argenti pondus. LUCRETIUS, lib. v. mores hominum....et urbes. * Ho*. VOL. It LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1810. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER XV PAGE, Division of Territory Ecclesiastical Government Revenues Missionaries Jesuits ; their influence over the Indians Loyalty of the Indians 1 CHAPTER XVI. How South America was first peopled Traditions of the Indians respecting it Their form of Govern ment Manners Religion Priests Languages . . 20 CHAPTER XVII. Civilized IndiansSpanish mode of treating them Their Police Exemptions they enjoy , 50 CHAPTER XVIII. Characteristic Sketches of the American Spaniards .... 69 CHAPTER XIX. Climate of Spanish America Animal and Vegetable Kingdom 99 CHAPTER XX. Administration of Justice Council of the Indies, &c US VI CHAPTER XXL PAGE* Negro Slaves Emancipation Penal Laws Abuses of them Inquisition ................. . ............................. 140 CHAPTER XXIT Trade of Spanish America CHAPTER XXIII. Population ......... * .......................................................... 181 CHAPTER XXIV. Considerations on the relative Situation of the Spanish Colonies to the Mother Country ............... . ............ 19* CONTENTS OF THE APPENDIX. A. Comparative View of the highest Mountains in dif ferent parts of the World, with those of Spanish America 293 B. Particulars of the Mines of the Brazils 294 C. Description of the City of Mexico; its Lakes, Churches, Inhabitants, Productions, &c ,., 291 Vll D. PAGE. A Letter from a Spanish American, written* to his Countrymen , 32(5 E. Spanish Particulars, relating to the Revolution, or Change of Government in Caracas *49 F. Spanish Documents, relating to the Reform of Go vernment in the Provinces of La Plata 352 Further Particulars respecting the Political Affairs of Buenos Ayres 367 G. Treaty of Friendship and Commerce, made between England and the PrinceRege nt of Portugal 379 PRESENT STATE OF THE SPANISH COLONIES, CHAPTER DIVISION OF TERRITORY. - ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT AND REVENUES. - MISSION ARIES. -- JESUITS. --- THEIR INFLUENCE OVER THE INDIANS. - LOYALTY OF THE INDIANS. IN our treatises of geography we are taught to divide the dominions of the Spaniards in North and South America, in the following way : East and West Florida, extending from 80 to 91 degrees of W. longitude, and 25 to 32 N. latitude. It confines with the state of Georgia to the N., the great river Mississippi to the W., the gulf of Mexico to the S. and the Bahama Straits to the E. New and Old Mexico, including California, VOL, II. B the first extending from Q4 to 126 degrees longitude, and 23 to 43 N. latitude, bounded by immense unknown deserts on theN., Louisiana on the E., and Old Mexico and the Pacific Ocean on the S. and W. Old Mexico stands in from 83 to no degrees W. longitude, and extends from 8 to 30 N. latitude, and is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the South West, and New Mexico or Grenada on the N. The above are the divisions considered as belonging to Spain in North America ; and those situated on the other side of the gulph of Darien running S. to the equinoctial line, constitute the dominions of the Spaniards in South Ame rica. The first division is what we call Terra Firma, the Spaniards Castilla del Oro, and the French La Partie Orientale de la Terre Ferme. It is situated from 60 to 82 degrees W, longitude, and extends from the equator to 12 degrees N. latitude. Peru stands in from 60 to 81 W. longitude, and from the equator to 25 degrees S. latitude ; Chili from 65 to 85 W. longitude, and 25 to 45 S. latitude. Paraguay, or La Plata, from 50 to 75 degrees W. longitude, and 12 to 2/ S. latitude. The subdivisions of these regions are numer ous, and the boundaries to particularize them would be prolix and diffuse. The southern divi sion from the equator extending to 55 degrees, added to the northern division, both on a propor tional width of from 30 to 80 degrees, thus form a continent far superior to any other division of the globe ; but Paraguay, or La Plata, is the largest subdivision, and is thought to contain 1,000,000 square miles, to which, however, the Brazils of the Portugueze, are of nearly equal extent. The possessions of Spain in America are divided into four viceroy alties, viz. Mexico, Peru, Buenos Ayres, and Santa Fe. Besides these, there are six captain-generalships, viz. Caracas, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatimala, Chili, and the Philippine Islands in Asia, with respec tive governors in Hispanola and the Floridas. In this extent of dominion there are at present seven archbishops, and thirty suf fragan bishops, on the ecclesiastical list. The whole of these are nominated and confirmed by the pope, but first proposed and elected by the king ; the curates are chosen to the differ ent parishes by the respective governors, on the recommendation of the archbishop or bishop at the head of the diocese. Thus, in some measure, is the authority of the pope in direct, as it extends only to the bulls he gives, and to the points of conscience that create doubts. B 2 The episcopal sees are principally supported by tythes ; and the revenues vary according to the size and productions of the districts, some of which are extremely rich, and their establish ments splendid. The secular clergy have also an allowance from the tythes ; but their chief emoluments arise from pious donations, lodged in the right of the church, which have accu mulated, and of which they receive the rents. They have, moreover, the perquisites common in other countries, and receive frequent pre sents from their respective flocks. That the reader may form a better idea of the ecclesiastical authority in America, we will give a short detail of the archbishopricks and bishopricks, which may serve also as a col lateral illustration of its history and revenues. The archbishop of Los Reyes, the metropolitan see of Peru, has an annual income of 3o,ooo dollars, but the following statements of his suf fragan bishops will shew how unequally the revenues are distributed. Dollars. The bishop of Arequipa receives annually 16,000 Truxillo 14,ooo St. Francisco de Quito. . 1 8,000 The old Town of Cusco. . 24,ooo The bishop of St. John s de ]a Victoria. . 8,000 Panama 6,000 Chili 5,ooo Nuestra Seuora de Chili. . 4o,ooo The archbishop of Santa F de Bagota, in the kingdom of New Granada, is estimated to receive 14,000 dollars. Dollars. The bishop of Po pay a 5,ooo Carthagena 6,000 Santa Maria 1 8,000 The archbishop of La Plata, in the province of Charcas, is estimated to receive, per annum, the amount of 60,000 crowns ; the archdeacon 5,ooo; the master of the choir-children, the chanter, and treasurer, each 4,ooo ; six canons each 3,ooo ; and of six other dignitaries attached to the same see, the annual pay is valued at l,8oo crowns each. The archbishop of La Plata has the suffragan bishops of Tay, Tucuman, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Paraguay, Buenos Ayres, and Rio de la Plata, who have from six to ten thousand dollars annual income. The archbishoprick of St. Jago, in the pro vince of Tucuman, is worth 6,000 crowns, and the bishop rick of St. Laurence de las Barancas, 12,000, The bishoprick of Paraguay may be estimat ed at i 8,000 dollars, And that of La Santa Tri nidad at I5,ooo. The archbishoprick of Mexico is only stated at 2o,ooo rials, but the perquisites reach to many times that value, whilst the bishoprick of Los Angeles is quoted at 5o,ooo rials. Dollars, The bishoprick of Mechoacan is valued at 1 4,ooo Antequera 7,000 Camayagua, capital of Honduras 3,ooo Guadalaxara, in New Gallicia 7,000 Durango 4,ooo Merida, capital of Yu catan 8,000 St. Jago, in the province of Guatimala ..... 8,000 St. Jago de Leon 3,ooo Chiapa 5,ooo Santa Anna de Coro . . 8,000 Puerto Rico 8,000 The archbishop of St. Jago, in Cuba, has a revenue of 12,000 dollars, and the bishop of the Havannah 80,000. The archbishop of Santo Domingo was pri- mate of the Indies, with three bishops under him, but his salary did not exceed 6,000 dol lars ; this see, however, became vacant when the island was made over to the French, and has remained so ever since. Besides superintending the assemblage of the faithful, the clergy are placed as missionaries, amongst the Indian villages, to superintend their spiritual instruction, and infuse into them the first rudiments of social life. The most exemplary and enlightened of all the Spanish clergy are those who have been sent from Europe from time to time, to exercise these pastoral functions amongst the Indians; and the mental command and influence they have fre quently acquired over them ishighly astonishing. These missionaries and preachers fixed in the midst of the back woodsmen, or original na tives, have a small inadequate salary i rom the crown, which sometimes does not exceed twenty pounds sterling; but their wants are few ; they live recluse, and principally subsist on small presents they receive from their flocks, of fowls, cocoa, rice, fish, vegetables, and guarapo, a fermented drink made of the pine apple and wild honey, which the Indians prefer to wine. These are in general the gifts of their converts, who also consider that a day s per- 8 sonal labour, expended in the tillage of their pastor s garden, must be an acceptable offering to the Divinity, being dedicated to the use and purposes of that being, whom they consider im mediately between them and the Supreme. By law they cannot exact any thing from this part of their flock, in cases of marriage, baptism, burial, or spiritual advice. Government, early in possession of that fatal experience, which had marked the devastation of original population in Santo Domingo, found the ill effects of laying a stress in their instruc tions to their viceroys and subordinate govern ors, on the adherence to the stipulations of the pope s deed of I4y3, which gives them autho rity to extend conquest and dominion in those unknown climes, on condition of also widen ing the pale of Christianity. Far from form ing amongst the natives proselytes" to their own faith, this union of conquest with conver sion served to give to their expeditions the cha racter of crusades, under the direction, too often, of tygers w T ho breathed destruction and ravage, rather than to establish schools of instruction, and make the natives converts to their religion. They therefore, entered on the plan of sending out missionaries, assigned to this task alone, in dependent of the military, and as much as possi- ble selected from persons of the best character. These were directed to inculcate the precepts of religion and morality with the doctrines of sub ordination and passive obedience ; they were told to represent their lawful sovereign, whom their flocks now owned, as the most powerful vicegerent of heaven on earth, and to stigmatize any thing that could militate against this su preme magistrate, and supposed agent of the Divinity, as a glaring crime against the great first cause and ruler of the physical and moral universe, arid an infraction of the mandates of the church. They taught the people to believe, that resistance to rulers had often been punish ed with the thunder of the heavens, the deluge of the earth, plagues, pestilence and famine, the visitations suited to apostate and revolted subjects. This credence was not, however, established without the bl odshed of some of the mission aries ; but even the heroism with which they suffered seemed to cement the spiritual super structure of which they had, as yet, only laid the corner-stones. It is to them we owe the first knowledge of the interior of these regions, and the Spanish language has many testimonies of their labours entirely unknown to us. The 10 Jesuits have particularly described to us Para guay and Patagonia, the seats of their greatest zeal, \\ hich was, nevertheless, extended to the other parts of the continent. The dissolution of this valuable body of men was an event the Indians could never account for, and will ever regret. They called them their fathers, and had for them a veneration that was unexampled. At the time this society was expelled from Spanish America, they had in Mexico, Peru, and Paraguay, 1 1 7 colleges and houses appropriated as seminaries and schools. The number of their members, ex clusive of novices, amounted to 2,468, who had charge of upwards of 4,ooo pupils, many of whom were educated gratis, and the rest at a very small pension. That peculiar aptness to train up every species of elcves, which formed the characteris tic of this body of men ; their profound system, discipline, policy, and mode of suiting instruc tion to the ages and capacities of those under their care, have always been remarked by those acquainted with their history, and have led many ot the best Spanish writers to concur in vindicating their conduct. To this day they are respectfully remembered on the Main, and 11 their doctrines, their peculiar mode of life, with the occurrences of their history, are hand ed down by tradition in the Indian families. From being entrusted with the education of the first diplomatic and other characters, they acquired superior influence in the conduct of many great and weighty matters, and a consi derable ascendency in state affairs, which ena bled them to establish an extensive and lucrative commerce with the East and West Indies. In South America they were long the sovereigns of immense tracts and population, to whom they taught the precepts of morality, and the first arts of civilization. From these advantages, the southern Indians possess a degree of advancement in the prac tices of social and civil life, highly superior to that of the savages in the western regions of North America. They have also more native talent and refinement, which they seem to derive from their more genial climate, and are singularly well disposed to their lawful sove reign, whom they revere, without knowing, as a superior being, and with a devotion border ing on infatuation. The progress of time, and their peculiar schooling, seem to have effaced the sensations their forefathers received from the horrors that attended their invasion ; and 12 the many meliorations made in their condition, by the Council of the Indies, have greatly assisted this happy tendency. No testimony relating to the Indians, can be more respectable than that of the venerated father Las Casas, first bishop of Chiapa, who says, in his Memorial presented to Philip II. " The Americans are moreover, a people of a bright and lively genius, easy to be taught, and capable of comprehending every good doctrine, and extremely ready to embrace our faith and virtuous customs. They are, of all the people in the world, those who feel least embarrass ment in them." He says in another place, " they have as good an understanding and acute genius, as much docility and capacity for the moral and speculative sciences, are in most instances, as rational in their political govern ment, (as appears from many of their extremely prudent laws,) as far advanced in the know ledge of our faith and religion, in good customs and civilization, where they have been tutored by persons of a religious and exemplary life, as could be desired, and are arriving at refine ment and polish, as fast as any nation ever did since the time of the apostles," This must be a great contradiction to the words of Robertson, speaking of these same Indians, when he says, " that some mission aries, astonished at their slowness of compre hension and their insensibility, pronounced them a race of men so brutish, as to be incapa ble of understanding the first principles of reli gion." On the other hand, the great Colum bus, writing to their majesties, says " that it gives pleasure to perceive the great retentive faculty of these people, and their desire of knowledge, which incites them to ask the causes and effects of things." So many unfavourable impressions then, as we see circulated, respecting this race of beings, must be the emanation of hereditary prejudice. That the Indians and their descendants still retain a great veneration and spirit of patriotic love to their lawful sovereign has already been remarked, and in support of the assertion, I will mention two particular instances that may be found deserving of notice, The first is contained in a Report, dated Xalapa, in the province of Mexico, 23d October, 1 808, which shews the native genius of the minds of those people that have not yet reached the midway to civilization. " El Comandante de las fronteras internas escribe de oficio a la audiencia, que una noche *e oyeron en su presidio tantos alaridos de In- 14 dios bravos, que pusieron en cuidado a todos ; y a la manana, viendo que baxaban de la sierrar millares de Mecos armados, creyeron los del presidio que morian sin remedio. Pero quando se encomendaban a Dios y a la Santisima Vir- gen en tal conflicto llego un Meco buscando a Salcedo a quien dixo : que sabian que un Sefior muy fuerte habia preso a su Rey FERNANDO por engano, pues de otro modo era imposible, porque FERNANDO era el mas fuerte que habia venido del oZ ; y que por lo mismo venian a que Salcedo los llevase a librarlo de la prision. Fue necessario mucho para ponerlos en razon, y hacerles creer que no era en Mexico donde estaba el Rey preso. Despues de tres dias se retiraron a los montes, quedando en volver muy a menudo. Es necesario conocer a los Indios y su caracter, para quedar persua- didos a que solo Dios pudo moverlos para esto. Decian que una Gullupina morena se lo habia dicho." " The commander of the frontiers of the inte rior officially announces to the government, that there were heard one night in his advanced tort such shouts of wild Indians, that every person was in the greatest dread ; and when morning came, on seeing thousands of armed Mecos (tribe of Indians) coming down from the 15 mountains, the garrison was apprehensive of being overpowered and slain. In this state of terror and anxiety, solely occupied in recom mending themselves to the protection of the Di vinity, a Meco stepped forward and demanded Salcedo (governor of the fort) to whom he said, that they had been informed, a very powerful lord had taken prisoner their king, Ferdinand, by de ceit, for by any other means it was impossible, for Ferdinand was the most powerful that had descended from the sun ; and, for that reason they came, that Salcedo might lead them to li berate him. It was necessary to employ much reasoning to convince them, that it was not in Mexico their sovereign was confined. After three days, they retired to the mountains, promising to return frequently, It is necessary to know the character of the Indians and their peculiarities, not to think with them, that this impulse was the dictate of a supernatural being, for they asserted, they had derived the information from a vision.*" As examples of this nature tend to convey the most correct ideas of the state of mind of The Indians in this Country, like the Quakers in England, never use any distinctive titles, and always address even the most exalted in the second person singular. They approach more to the natural and primitive state of man, than any people existing. H5 this people, and shew us how vague are the deductions of so many speculationists, who have thought these tribes the most inflammable of that continent, we will briefly relate an other anecdote. Some years ago,, Calves was viceroy in Mexico, a man of extraordinary talent, address, and insinuation, and much revered by the In dians. Their chiefs looked upon him as a tu telary god, and his acquaintance with their lan guage and manners, gave him the double empire of influence. In his own breast he had long formed the plan of revolutionizing the country, to give it independence, and the whole ad ministration of his public authority tended to that object. The patron of the arts and sci ences, he introduced the fabrication of arms and of casting the cannon, beautified Mexico in its finest elevations, on plans that might serve for fortifications, if required, and built an immense strong work on the road from Vera Cruz* In the whole progress of the design he had not a confi dant, and never did schemes advance with greater secrecy and disguise. He courted the Indian chiefs and elders, but did not yet avow to them his views. What at first put them on the alert, and gave them some distant ideas that machinations were on foot, was. 17 that in opposition to the express and established regulations of the government, he solicited to become god-father to some of their children, which with the Indians is the greatest tie that can be formed. When the term of his com mand had expired, he disclosed his secret to them only, which in a most magnanimous way they forbore locally to reveal or betray ; but immediately sent one of their own confidential agents to Europe, who put the king in pos session of the whole clue, which was followed by the arrest and removal of Galves, with equal privacy. The principle of fidelity and spirit of alle giance, inherent in this class of beings, is evi dently derived from the apostolic labours of the first missionaries sent amongst them for their conversion, and has fully answered the views proposed. The choice of this arduous task was voluntary, and did not emanate from the oath of obedience proffered by each individual on admission into their respective orders. In general, none but the most unexceptionable and learned obtained from the governing councils of the Indies letters patent to cross the seas on these missions. Hence their work in the Lord s vineyard was the more zealous* disinterested, and efficacious ; this was at least VOL. II. C 18 their prevailing character, though there some, who thought the temporal gifts of for tune worth possessing, and who, in this climate and state of morals, relaxed from the rigidity they professed in their outset. In support of what we have asserted respect ing the veneration of the Indians for their pas tors, we will quote the authority of one of the best writers on that country. Vasco de Queroga was bishop and first founder of the diocese of Michuacan, where he died, after many years labour and instruction of the Indians. He founded amongst them hospitals and schools^ for the training of their children, and may well deserve to be ranked with the first fathers of Christianity. To this day, it is the first care of the Indian women to give to their infants an account of their Taita (which means father) Don Vasco ; they represent his life by pictures, and never pass his image without bowing their heads. They preserve his bones with such sacred respect in the city of Pascuane, that once when the chapter of the cathedral of Valladolid attempted to transport them thither, the Indians became uneasy, and attempted to oppose it by force of arms. Hence we may conclude, that it was from a wish to propagate the faith, and extend the 29 chain of allegiance, that the missionaries sacrific ed their repose at home, and in a distant country braved the face of danger and the dread of cli mate. The cause they undertook, supported them through every species of fatigue; and Pro vidence was the only shield they opposed to all assaults. Many, as we have before observed, fell victims to their own neophites, some to wild beasts, and others to the rage of pestilence, in climates destitute of medical succour. This apostolic zeal has, indeed, for many years be come remiss, but the traces of its former preva lence are the greatest pillars that now support the machine of government amongst the Indian tribes, and the chief guards against civil dis- sentions or foreign influence. In the Indian villages of the interior, scarcely any other white than the curate is met with, to whom is sometimes added an alcalde or civil officer; but the former frequently unites the adminis tration of the civil police with his eccle siastical functions ; and the government, from political motives, seems to discourage and oppose any mixture of white population with the primitive natives, who are in clans in the bosom of the woods. 20 CHAPTER XVL HOW SOUTH AMERICA WAS FIRST PEOPLED* BEFORE we enter into any details of the people who, with the Spaniards, at present occupy the extensive continent, of which we have undertaken a succinct description, it may not be improper to ask the question, in which way this immense tract was peopled ? To an swer this in its full extent, were, however, not only to wander into a Daedalian labyrinth of conjectures, but to exceed the bounds of our present essay. It will nevertheless be the subject ot a future research of the author, in which will be traced the history of the Mexi cans before the arrival of the Spaniards amongst them, founded on their own memoirs, and illustrated by antique Spanish manuscripts, some of which, good fortune has placed with in his reach, and others he is in hopes of ob taining from knowing where they are to be found. Perhaps no problem in history is more diffi cult of solution than this. That America was peopled before the deluge, appears maintained 21 by many authors, and is indeed probable ; as, according to the sacred scriptures, there elaps ed a space of 1656 years from the first forma tion of man to that great epoch, nor could it be imagined that a superior and provident being, would have created so vast and valuable a tract of country, without assigning to it a propor tionate mass of population. If, however, the human race, with the ex ception of one family, generally and universally perished in that great inundation, a fact support ed by the sacred writings, and even the tradition of the Aborigines of America, we have still to trace their second germ of population; a task at once difficult and essential, in forming a well grounded hypothesis of this curious and im portant event. Though the traditions of the Mexicans, al most the only ones from which any points of ancient chronology can be derived, do not carry us beyond eight centuries previous to the discovery of the Spaniards, yet, in these same traditions, expressed in durable signs and symbolical paintings, they retain a memory of the creation of the world, of the deluge, of the building of the tower of Babel, and of the confusion of languages ; all which they de scribe by emblematical representations; still 22 they have no knowledge of any secondary occurrences, nor historical records of any thing that took place in Asia. This, however, proves not that their original population was not thence derived, but that the emigration was of so distant a date, that all traces were lost. Though many of the modern philosophers of the day assert, that it was impossible for the Aborigines of this vast and detached conti nent, to be descended from one common parent stock with those of Asia ; and that God must have formed another for them ; yet divesting ourselves of any authority from the writings of Moses, this hypothesis is opposed to the tradition ot the Americans, who, though they cannot specify any time for the emigra tion of their forefathers, from an old continent, nevertheless taught their posterity as a point of faith and history, that they were descended from those men, who escaped the deluge ; and if we argue from the consequences of this great event, both in Europe, Asia, and Africa, we shall find analogous phenomena existing in America. On the summit of the Andes, are dug petrified marine remains, which indicate its diluvian state ; and most of the original In dian tribes are agreed on this point. 25 A learned author tells us that Nunez de la Vega found many ancient calendars of the Chiapanese, and an old manuscript in the lan guage of that country, in which it was said, according to their ancient traditions, that a certain person, named Votan, the chief of those twenty men, whose names are given in the twenty days of the Chiapanese month, was pre sent at that great building which was made by order of his uncle, in order to mount up to heaven ; that then to every people was given its respective language, and that Votan him self was charged by God to make the divisions of the lands of Anahuac, or Mexico. The pre late adds, afterwards, that there w^as in his time, a great settlement or family in his diocese, surnamed Votan, who were reputed de scendants of that ancient population. We are not, however, here endeavouring to give antiquity to the population of America, on the faith of these Indians, but merely to shew that this people themselves considered that they sprung from Noah. Of the ancient inhabitants of Cuba, several historians of America relate, that when they were interrogated by the Spaniards, concerning their origin, they answered, they had heard from their ancestors, that God created the 24 heavens, the earth, and all things ; that an old man having foreseen the deluge, with which God designed to chastise the sins of men, built a large canoe, and embarked in it, with his family, and many animals ; that when the in undation ceased, he sent out a raven, which, because it found carrion to feed on, never re turned to the canoe ; that he then sent out a pigeon, which soon returned, bearing a branch of hoba, (a fruit of America, resembling a small yellow plum) in its mouth ; that when the old man saw the earth was dry, he disem barked, and having made himself some wine of the wood grape, he became intoxicated and fell asleep ; that then one of his sons made ri dicule of his nakedness, and that the other son piously covered him ; that on awaking he blest the latter and cursed the former. Lastly, that they drew their origin from the cursed son, and, therefore, went almost naked ; that the Spaniards, as they were well clothed and of a white colour, descended perhaps from the other. The Mexicans and Michuacanese had the same tradition, to which time had in deed attached a similar degree of fable. From which of the descendants of Noah they had root, the most learned Spanish authors disagree ; some are of opinion it was from 25 Naphtuhim, son of Mezraim, the son of Cham ; and others from the posterity of Ophir, the fourth son of Shem. The learned Huet seems to accord with Siguenza, in their origin being from the Egyptians, from some similarity of names in both languages, and the use of pyramids and hieroglyphics, and par ticularly their mode of computing time. A great doubt again here originates from the variety and diversity of languages, remarkable even in the same province and amongst those immediately contiguous ; for in Mexico alone, the Spaniards have traced thirty-five which have no affinity, and the Portuguese fifty in the Maranon. It indeed appears impossible even in the great lapse of time, for nations arising from the same parent root so much to have altered their dialects, as to have no words left in common to all, and no traces of their general origin. As Acosta and several learned French authors deny the general inundation of Ame rica, and consider it as partial, like those of Deu calion and Ogyges in Greece, it may deserve re mark, that on the mountain of Descalezado, (which means without a head), situated amongst the Alps of Chili, upwards of five hundred miles from the sea, and according to 20 Molina, three miles high, a great quantity of marine bodies are found, which certainly could not have been carried to that stupendous height by a partial inundation, different from that which happened in the time of Noah. Neither can it be asserted that this summit might once have been the bed of the sea, and have grad ually been raised by subterraneous fires, bearing along with them those said marine bodies ; because although this case is not im probable in some places, which we see but a little elevated above the surface of the sea, in a height like this it appears impossible, and may be considered as an unquestionable proof of the traces of an universal deluge that equally extended to America ; nor w^ill the assertions of Buffon himself, in his theory of the earth, controvert this fact. That this subject is however enveloped in doubt and mystery, is evident from the dis tance of intervening time, and our having no ancient data on which to ground our conjec tures. The general and most received opi nion is, that the new w^orld was primitively united to the ancient, and separated from it either by one of those great convulsions of na ture which detach and tear asunder regions of the greatest extent, or by the subsiding 27 of the waters of a deluge. That they were once united, is the opinion of Buffon, to ac count for the beasts found there, which could not go in boats or be conveyed on the ice. We are the more strengthened in this first opinion from the constituent formation of immense volcanoes that have burned for ages with unquenched fury, and which we find in a variety of places on this division of the globe ; but what again staggers our belief is, the dif ference of plants and animals opposed in the same latitude and climate, of the old and new world. We find it laid down by our own- travellers and voyagers, not as the speculation of hypo thesis, but as an undeniable fact, that the Nor wegians once had intercourse with Greenland, which by fortuitous causes was suspended till the seventeenth century; but that thence ori ginated the population of the latter, from which sprang generations that spread on the surface of America. This theory is founded on the similarity of manners, features, and language, that characterize theGreenlandersand the Esquimaux, and seem to demonstrate that they have had the same common origin. The most general belief however is, that America received the first seeds of its population, from 2b emigrants from the north east part of Asia, going to the west part of America, from which it is only divided by a strait of fifty leagues, discovered by Bering, and still called by his name. The conformity of the Indians to the Tartars upholds this way of thinking, and it will be found accordant with the tradition of the Aborigines, of whom those of Mexico* particularly have handed to us some singular remains, but greatly blended with their primi tive superstitions. Humboldt himself appears to join forcibly in this opinion, and the idol and small fragments of moulded pottery from St. Domingo, mentioned in our preceding chapters, come in to support it. The Talte- quas had paintings of their migration through Asia, and the northern countries of America ; and Botorini traces the route they took. The amount of Indian population, spread over this surface of country at the time of the discovery, is at present incalculable , but it must have been very considerable, from the armies that were brought into the field, and perhaps greater than most writers are aware of. On this subject the Spaniards leave us much in the dark, and the reports of the first conquerors who wrote in exaggerated strains, differ widely from the more authentic me- 29 moirs of succeeding historians. Accustomed as the Aborigineswere to live on fishing and hunting, by which they principally supplied the wants of nature ; dwelling often for con venience on the distant lake or river- margin, and buried in the hidden forest gloom, it was impossible to take a collective view of them ; but all the best Spanish writers seem to con cur in opinion that the present population, in cluding Creoles, whites, imported negroes, and their descended mixtures, added to the In dians, greatly exceeds its original stock, and surpasses, in a great degree, that of old Spain. The entire population of Spanish America is estimated at seventeen millions The Indians of the southern division of America, are generally represented to us with out beard ; but this has many exceptions, and it may be remarked that those of the interior were found more civilized, less ferocious, and approaching nearer a state of refinement, than those who bordered on the ocean. Their character seems formed by their way of life, and their manners receive a tinge from the circumstances of their condition. They are solemn, grave, thoughtful, and possessed of great reflection. In general they are strong, well made, and often athletic, the pursuits of 30 the chase giving activity and elasticity to their limbs. Their features are fine and soft, their countenances expressive, and their action re plete with meaning. Amongst themselves? the influence of the elders and chiefs is their principal tie of government; they are ex tremely attentive to the voice of wisdom, age, and experience ; and the pow r er of their leaders is more persuasive than coercive. Their public assemblies, consisting of the bet ter orders of people, are conducted with great decorum, and frequently with a display of natural eloquence, when the subject discussed calls forth the energies of the souL They have a peculiar style of dances, which are slow, and often accompanied with the chaunted re cital of the exploits of their ancestors, and most famed heroes. Good faith particularly characterizes the better sort, and a default of it they implacably remember. Many of their ancient superstitions exist, as well as some savage practices ; but they are only traced to those who live separated from the Spaniards,, from whom they particularly conceal them r dwelling beyond some desert frontier, or hid den in the bosom of impenetrable and bound less woods ; nay, in some of the deep recesses of the mountains they have idois, to which 31 * they still minister by stealth. They however no longer offer human sacrifices, or immolate their children on the altars of their deities ; the abolition of which inhuman practices may be considered as a collateral increase of population. War, which used to be their great delight, and constant occupation, is now changed rather into a sullen idleness, and quiet existence. They are extreme in their resent ments as well as in their attachments ; and though they entertain no sentiments of general benevolence, which appears a virtue too sub lime for their confined understandings, habit and the exchange of social affection bind them sometimes to a congenial principle, and in that case their sincerity may be relied on. Though there yet exist some tribes of anthro pophagi, the habitual thirst for blood, arid the savage custom of mangling their fallen ene mies has worn away ; and those once re markable scenes of horror that followed their victories, are out of use yet they are still singularly brave, intrepid, and superior to the dread of death. The Caraibs, who border on the Oroonoko, are the most warlike .of all the tribes. The religion of the Indians is so involved in superstition and obscurity, that it is difficult 32 to establish the dogmas of their belief. The natives of Mexico and Peru had indeed som e appearance of form, but the other hordes that occupy the remaining scattered regions, seem to have been in this respect, rather the dupes of impostors, and empirics, who had sufficient address to speculate on the credulity of their fellow beings. The greatest part of the tribes of this con tinent professed that there was a supreme being, who had the attributes of omnipotence ; though their belief, like that of other nations given to idolatry, was mixed with errors and superstitions. They had priests, temples, sacrifices, and rites, in honour and for the worship of that divinity. They had a king, government, and magistrates ; they had laws, customs, and commerce, and penalties to in- force justice and equity in contracts. Lands were distributed and property secured. They had arts and sciences, though rude and im perfect ; nor was perhaps any nation ever dis covered more advanced in civil life than they were. Yet by some authors they have been called barbarians, because they wanted money. Had they not however an equivalent circulat ing medium, which was cocoa ? Had the Romans in a similar stage of civilization more S3 than sheep and oxen to represent the value of merchandise, and hence the word pecunia # And do not the Abyssinians yet use salt ? Many authors have imagined a near resem blance between the religions of the inhabi tants of America and those of the old conti nents ; and in some points they may even be said to have assimilated to those of the Greeks and Romans. In reviewing the mythologies of ancient nations, two peculiarities have always been remarked, viz. that the style of worship de pended upon the ideas which the people en tertained of the presiding divinity; hence, if his attributes were believed to consist of be nignity and goodness, his worship was cor responding ; but if he was regarded as re vengeful and inexorable, sacrifices, nay, even bloody oblations were used to appease his wrath. If he was conceived to be omnipo tent, he alone was venerated ; but if his power was thought confined, the objects of idolatry were relatively multiplied. The latter notion accorded best with the systems of the Indians of America ; they deified the several attributes of the Supreme Being, and assigned a separate jurisdiction to each. VOL. II. D 34 " Our god Camaxtle," the Hascalans used to say to Cortes, " grants us victory over our enemies : our goddess Matlalcueje sends the necessary rain to our fields, and defends us from the inundations of Zahuapan. To each of our gods we are indebted for a part of our life." The first of these would resemble the Bel- lona, and the second the Ceres of the ancients; but this divinity was, with the latter, again subdivided into a number of inferior deities with appropriate offices. Sega presided over the grain just sown, Proserpina over that sprung up, Volatina defended green ears from the birds, Lactantia tended them in their milky state, Matuta when they were ripe,, and so on ; but these unimportant subdivisions were un known to the Indians. The Romans had more than twenty Lares or household gods ; and who could imagine that the threshold and hinges of the door were deified, or that one of the common sinks of the town was turned into a divinity, and called Cloacina ! Yet what shall we say of the Egyptians, who turned their pot-herbs into gods, and as Juvenal has said, O sanctas gentes quills hie nascuntur in horlis nwnina. But we do not find any depravity of a similar nature in the mythology of the Americans ; they honoured 35 the virtues, not the vices, of their gods ; they had divinities to represent bravery, beneficence, justice, chastity, and prudence which pre sided over all ; they considered that guilt dis pleased them, that sacrifice appeased their an ger, and that repentance and religious devo tions ensured their protection. Signs and omens formed great part of their superstition ; they consulted the flight of the raven, the screech of the owl, and a variety of other auguries, which indicated calamity, But did not the Romans do the same ? Pliny tells us that a public lustration was ordered in Rome, because an owl had entered the Capi tol. To such excesses is man led when aban doned to the capricious dictates of passion, or stimulated by fears arising from a sense of his own weakness. The religion of the American Indians was however more bloody and cruel, as the sacrifices were human ; yet a system equally barbarous is mentioned in the sacred writings, as prevailing amongst the Ammonites and Israelites, who even offered up their children, and immolated them on the altars of their deity, This was also the case with a variety of other nations both of Europe and of Asia ; nor according to Pliny, was it exhibited in Rome till the year ID 3 657) A. U. C. so that the rites of the Ame ricans were not, comparatively, more cruel or less rational. The American Indians had no idea of hu manity to their vanquished and fallen foes, and the answer of Montezuma to Cortes, who complained of the horror of their sacrifice of prisoners, has something certainly forcible, but repugnant to humanity : " What injustice is there," said the emperor to the Spanish conqueror, " to make those who are condemn ed to death die in honour of our gods." A practice, however, in which the Indians surpass ed other savage nations in barbarity, was, that of eating the flesh of their human victims ; this we have not on the record of !any people mentioned in the sacred writings, or in the histories of the ancients, and it has only been met with on the western side of the ocean. To the present day, they universally believe in the immortality of the soul, but the beast partakes, in their opinion, of the same property. The destination of the soul after death varies materially. In many districts, their priests were equally physicians and magicians, the functions of the three professions being inse parable. To take their degree, they were mys teriously secluded for some time in the solitude 37 of caverns; the old piachas, or doctors, instruct ed them during the night, and when sufficient ly schooled, they received the authority to preach, administer to the sick, invoke evil spirits, and foretel the future. Their mode of cure, was by the application of a variety of herbs, prepared differently, and used with unintelligible phrases, to call out the evil spirits they considered, or rather pretended to be, the cause of all disorders. In case of death, the physician was not blamed, but the destiny of the patient. Lopez de Gomaraz has gone into considerable details on these impos tors. Their power was dreaded by the com mon people, and their exactions were consi derable. Most of the Indians believed the sun to be the Supreme Being and great first cause of every thing, and worshipped him ac cordingly. Others also, addressed themselves to the moon. On the banks of the Oroonoko, some tribes paid divine honours to the toad, and particularly ascribed to that reptile the empire of the weather ; others again, to a va riety of small idols, to which they gave a di versity of attribute. Their languages were not, however, devoid of a degree of merit, though some were more po lished than others. The idioms were, indeed, dif- 38 ferent from ours, and often to express a single idea, combinations of words and circumlocu tion were necessary. Though they could ex press the simple appearance of every thing that struck their senses, they could not argue on abstracted points, and as Mr. Condamime says, they had no terms analogous to duration, space, matter, and substance, nor any meta physical expressions ; nevertheless, by compa rative and redundant sounds they could convey the idea of goodness, truth, reflexion, fore sight, doubt, remembrance, &c. Though they had only fifteen defined numerical figures, they could reckon up the greatest numbers, by multi plication and combination, of which two pro- cessess their way of counting consisted ; so that, for example, by combination they could say 8,000, and with the aid of multiplication, by saying forty times eight thousand, they could sum up 32o,ooo. To convey ideas of the Divinity, they explain ed his attributes, such as Tloque, he who has every thing within himself; Ipalnemaoni, he by whom we live ; and so on. The Spaniards, who have most studied the Peruvian and Mexi can languages, have formed dictionaries and treatises on them, and there are Indian profes sors, whose occupation is to teach them ; but 39 they are extremely difficult to the European, from the great difference of idiom, the extreme length of the words, and the quantity of sylla bles ; for who would suppose, that Thamela- huacachicahualitztli signified justice, which is rather the definition of a just man, than of the virtue itself. The language has, neverthe less, been learnt to a degree of perfection, by some of the indefatigable missionaries, during a life of habitual intercourse, and it is to them we owe the knowledge we possess of it, and not to the European philosophers, who have undertaken to ridicule it, without almost ever having heard its sound. It cannot be expected, indeed, to be so re fined as those of Europe, which have been culti vated and enriched for successive ages, by every thing we have found deserving adoption, from other languages, and which have defined rules, and are polished by the labours of the learned ; but to call it crude and barbarous, as has been done by Buffon and others, is illiberal, for as well might we call that of the Latins so, be cause Cicero, in his philosophical works, is at a loss, and often obliged to create terms to cor respond with the metaphysical ideas of ttie Greeks. Still, its acquisition will never com pensate the pains of the European, as it is only 40 used by the solitary Indians, who, though they retain their own language amongst themselves, speak Spanish in the towns. Nor would the possession of the dialect in one province be of any use in another, owing to their difference and variety. Though the impartial philologist cannot concur in the praises bestowed on this language by the Spaniards, he cannot, however, deny to it a degree of merit, and must confess, that it was adequate to the expression of every idea suited to the condition of the beings by whom it was used. As well might the Indians cry out against the Spanish language, though the most expressive and copious spoken in Europe, because it has riot words equivalent to some of theirs, which bear the stamp of origi nality, and are derived from local manners, customs, and sensations ; or as well might the Spaniards laugh at the poverty of the English language, because we cannot translate Don Quixote with all its zest. In all our histories of China, we have dwelt with a degree of wonder on their statutes and penal laws, which form an exemplary system 1 of jurisprudence to other nations ; and, in con sidering those of the Mexicans particularly, we should find equal cause for admiration. They were not, however, written on tables, 41 but perpetuated by tradition and paintings. No subject was ignorant of them, because fa thers of families did not fail to instruct their children in them, that they might avoid trans gression, and escape punishment. The Spani ards investigated the laws of these nations with more diligence even than their history, because a knowledge of them was essentially requisite to the civil and ecclesiastical government, par ticularly in respect to marriages, privileges of nobility, the conditions of vassalage, and of slavery ; and Acosta, speaking of them, says, that " many were worthy of our admiration." The constitution of their state, with respect to the succession of the crown, could not have been better framed, as by means of it they not only avoided the inconveniences of hereditary succession, but those of election also. An in dividual of the royal family was always chosen king, both to preserve the dignity and splen dour of the crown, and to hinder the throne from ever being occupied by a man of low birth. The brother succeeded, in prefer ence to the son, by which means, the indis cretion of youth and the stratagems of an am bitious regent were equally avoided. The judicial forms of both the Mexicans and Tescucans afford many useful and political les- 42 sons. The gradations of rank among the ma gistrates contributed to keep good order ; their attendance at the tribunals from break of day till sunset shortened the process of causes and impeded abuses. The capital punishments against prevaricators of justice, the punctuality of their execution, and the vigilance of the so vereigns, kept the magistrates in check ; and that care which was taken to supply them with every necessary, at the expense of the king, rendered any misconduct in them inexcusable. Assemblies were held before the king every twenty days, definitively to judge all cases re ferred to his authority. The* Mexicans punished with severity all crimes repugnant to nature or prejudicial to the state; but, in some cases, their punishment was excessively disproportioned and cruel. Un like many nations of the East, they did not confound the children in the crimes of the pa rent. Their rules in marriages were exemplary, and very different from those of the Assyrians and Egyptians ; nor were conjugal alliances al lowed in cases of consanguinity. If the widow married, it was ordained to be with the brother- in-law, as the most natural guardian to the issue of the deceased, but such marriages were seldom contracted. Conjugal fidelity was re- 43 spected, nor was there any traffic in wives known, as among the Romans, of whom Montesquieu tells us, that Cato lent his wife to Hortensius ; and this appears legal, for Cato was incapable of transgressing the laws of his country. Ancient paintings are yet produced, frequent ly before the Spanish tribunals, by the Mexi cans, as titles of property, and the tenure of lands ; and on that account interpreters, skilled in the significations of such paintings and symbols, are consulted. In this art, also, there have been public professors. Some painted representations contained the horoscopes of children, in which were figured their names, with the day and sign of their birth and fortune. Some, again, were dogmatical, containing the system of their religion, and filled with hieroglyphics, others historical, and others again geographical. The same authors, who attest the architec tural skill of the Mexicans, bear witness also to the ingenuity of their goldsmiths, their weavers, gem-cutters, and artificers in feathers Their art of casting metals was admired by the gold smiths in Europe, and many of the ancient writers (especially Gomara) affirm, that they could not imitate them, Particular mention is 44 made of a cast fish with scales, alternately of gold and silver, which, in this respect, surpass ed their ingenuity. In the possession of the author, is an ancient gold chain of Mexican manufacture, of complicated and exquisite workmanship, w^hich has been considered by the most experienced artificers in England as a chef d oeuvre, rivalling even their o\va skill. The Mexicans were acquainted with the ma nufacture of paper, though of a coarse nature, from being intended for painting and not wri ting. In point of improvement and advance ment in their original state, both they and the Peruvians may rank after the Chinese ; and be sides the casting of metals, they had the art of making mosaic works of shells and feathers, of dyeing with indelible colours, spinning and weaving the fine hair of their various animals, breeding the cochineal to use its colouring, making cement for the erection and pavements of houses, besides the cultivation of several other useful arts, which astonished the first European conquerors. They had fishes taught to trace and hunt others of their species in the waters, in the same way as we have hawks for the following of birds, and in which they greatly resemble the Chinese. It may be much regretted, both by the historian of this country 45 and the virtuoso in painting, that the first mis sionaries, in their blind zeal, destroyed nearly all the paintings of the Indians, thus confound ing the historical representations of this peo ple, with those which they thought symbolical of their religion. The funerals of the Indians are often attended with what they consider great solemnity, but to judge of these peculiarities in their original state, it is necessary to visit the Indians who border on the Oroonoko, and Spanish Guiana, where the hand of civilization has not yet ex tended, nor even the missionaries have dared to penetrate. A late foreign author mentions se veral tribes, bordering on each other, whose customs and manners are perfectly opposed, and form a striking contrast. The Salivas Indians paint the virtues of the deceased by different emblematic tints, and the burial of a great man creates a general assem blage of the nation, They howl, cry, dance, and drink round him in quick succession, whilst the body lies in state amidst them, after which ceremony, the whole is thrown into the river. The Guaraunos tie the dead body to a stake in the river, w^here the small fishes eat off all the flesh ; the .skeleton is then packed in a basket 46 and hung at one corner of the roof of the house. The Aroacas bury their chiefs with great pomp, and often inter their arms and valuables along with them ; a monument of masonry is raised over their remains, and great care is ta ken that no inlet is left to admit the ants. Other tribes, on the contrary, think that their dead bodies cannot be too soon devoured by these insects. The Caraibs expose the body of their chief, suspended in a hammock in the centre of his shed, during one revolution of the moon, and the wives attend on each side, constantly, to keep off the flies. The most favoured, or the mother of his children, is buried with him. All Indians are fond of strong liquors, and consider intoxication as an accomplishment and a happiness ; their drinks are made out of fer mented fruits, such as the pine-apple, corosol, and grains ; the palm tree also furnishes them with wine. The Otomaques, who border on the high margins of the Oroonoko, are the most active and enterprising of these tribes ; but, the life of the Indian is, in general, an existence of sloth, and the Spanish government, in all its late regulations, seems to have encouraged this 47 supine state, in order to keep them contented, by not opposing their mode of life, by which means they have not turned to national ac count, so many thousands of useful hands. They plat a variety of necessary and ornamen tal things for wearing and domestic use out of the leaves of the palmetto, and the pita, before described. According to father Gurnilla, one of their great luxuries is oil extracted from the shark,, in killing which they are very dex terous, being good swimmers and divers. There are some again, that border on the Amazons, according to the same author, who eat ants, and a certain species of clay mixed with fat, of which they distinguish one kind as more savoury than another. Dried turtle and its eggs form great part of their food, of which immense quantities are taken in the proper sea son in the sands of Oroonoko. The Indians ap pear to treat their women as secondary and sub ordinate beings, for whom they have no feelings of humanity, nor consider them entitled to any respect or social intercourse. In this particular, civilization appears to have taken a retrograde motion. Repudiation also rests with the hus band, who sometimes exchanges wives, yet the fidelity of the latter is remarked to arise not from any principle of inherent virtue, but 48 from the dread of vengeance. They generally grease their bodies, and cover their limbs with rocou, that gives them a red colour. The chief assemblage of the uncivilized In dians is in Guiana, and above the cataracts oftheAtures; for this reason, that immense space, which lies between the Oroonoko and the Amazons, has hitherto, and w r ill long re main, untrodden by Europeans, yet the sa vage inhabitants keep generally confined with in their own limits. The missionaries have made very partial progress amongst them. The Guaraunos, who live on some of the islands at the entrance of the Oroonoko, are a tribe that remain uncontrolled and untaught, but this is a good deal owing to their local si tuation ; for those islands, immersed in w^ater great part of the year, are not tenable by Europeans, on account of the insects and mias mata. Their population is reckoned by the Spaniards, at 1 0,000. The Goahiros are between the jurisdiction of Maracaibo and the Rio de la Hacha, where they occupy more than 30 leagues of coast which is visited by traders to procure dye- woods. Curasao and Jamaica send their ves sels annually. Their number exceeds 3o,000 ; they are governed by their own cacique, and 49 are in possession of European fire-arms. The English have considerable influence amongst them, from an acquaintance which they have cultivated for the purposes of trade, but which the French have not failed to point out to the Spaniards as the result of design and political artifice. The town these Indians most visit, is that of Rio de la Hacha, where their women carry down for them the articles of trade, which they barter for strong liquors, and other neces saries. Some Spanish smugglers do, indeed, traverse their coasts, but pay for this indul gence. The maritime traders seldom go on shore, and generally receive their dye-woods and other cargo on board, where they also effect the payments, and Spanish guarda- costas in vain strive to check these clandestine transactions. The Spaniards have hitherto found it impracticable to reduce this horde of Indians, who daily increase in strength and means of defence. The above remarks, prin cipally collected from the best Spanish and other authors, may suffice to convey an idea of the primitive condition of the Aborigines in Spanish America. VOL. II, CHAPTER XVII. CIVILIZED INDIANS. iT appears singular, as we have before remark-* ed, that the Spaniards have not adopted some political means of turning the labours of such an immense mass of civilized Indians, who border on them, to some national utility, by encouraging industry amongst them, and teaching them to collect and manufacture the various productions of nature with which they are surrounded. Excepting those employed in working the mines, and in domestic uses in the towns, the whole of whom cannot be es timated at more than one eighth, they all live in a state of indolence and apathy, subsisting on the spoils of the chase, and the almost spontaneous gifts of the earth; heedless of the future, and transmitting to their posterity no thing but their vices. This class of population appears to have de clined even from their primitive state, for it was amongst their originally fundamental maxims, that no one should be idle, and that those of them, who were not occupied in agriculture, or busied and skilled in warfare, should be herbalists to aid the sick> or otherwise usefully employed. Many of them are still found so well ac quainted with the virtues of plants, and their application to certain disorders and bruises, that they are preferred by the Europeans, in cases of local sickness from the climate, to many of the regular physicians sent out ; and their experience and knowledge in this branch of medicine has been of the greatest utility to the late French literati, who traversed their country in search of subjects of natural history. Many of their valuable secrets, particularly in dyeing and poisons, are yet hidden from us> and the obstinacy and tenacity with which they are \\ ithheld, like a system of freemasonry ^ have been frequently noticed by Spanish au thors. We have already seen, that the system of tyrannic rigour, observed by the first conquer ors of Spanish America, was replaced by one of mildness and lenity, as far as the enactions of their own court could be carried into effect, at that distance, and the influence the mission aries, and some humane characters, could with stand the ambition and abuses of the prevailing 52 great ; and in my few remarks, on this parti cular, I shall accord with the best and most un prejudiced authorities, I have been able to meet. The fate of the Indian population, in Hispa- fiola was what first roused the feelings of the humane Isabella, and her wishes for reform were communicated and transmitted to the councils of the monarchs who followed. They felt for the wretchedness of the Aborigines, and by regulations, formed on principles of humanity, endeavoured to work a reform. They wished to extend to them their own pro tection, and to guarantee their personal liberty. They considered them a desirable appendage to their crown, but beheld them as vassals, not as slaves, as subjects, not as victims. They wanted their obedience and submission, not their per sonal degradation ; and in laying the basis of their regulations, they were guided by the ex amples of cruelty and oppression, to which, ambition and the thirst of gold had driven many of the first colonists, and which they undertook to curtail, and in future counter act. Few foreign authors, says a late good voyager, have done the Spanish government the justice due to them, for their regimen, pre scribed to the Indians. Many of them, specu- 53 iatively philosophic, have dwelt with enthusi astic eagerness on the horrors that marked the first ages of conquest, and have quoted them as the criterions of the present way of thinking, and as characteristics of that class of beings on whose ancestors they were exercised. Raynal, too much considered as an infallible authority in the hands of even the present age* whose works are more philosophic than histori cal, whose relations are often more" vehement than exact and impartial, has left us a portrait of the Indians of this continent, that bears no ap plication whatever to the reality. Robertson, more the historian, has, in this particular, grounded himself on Spanish authority ; but it appears, from his brevity on this subject, that he feared his representations would, in the midst of so much prejudice that existed, be thought incorrect and partial. The Spanish legislators, however, seem to have had in view the giving them every ad vantage and exemption that was consistent with their dependance on the mother country, in doing which, they have rendered them use less members of society, and have fallen into an extreme, that, in a great measure, annihi lates their value to the nation, and its commu nities. If the civil and moral institutions 54 which ought always to be adapted to the manners and comprehensions of the people, for whom they are formed, ground their merit on suppressing vice, engrafting virtue, and ex tending civilization; those destined for the Indians owe their fault to being too relax, and seem rather drawn up to counteract the abuse of power, than to further industry and the pursuits of civil life. Indolence, the natural characteristic of the Indigenes, required a spur ; and though it was the duty of the magistrate to free the oppressed from the trammels of abusive power, it was equally so to increase the energies of their minds. After the repartirnientos, which was a di vision of them into a kind of fiefs, a system that was attended with great abuses, came that of encorniendas ; but, whilst we admire the sound views of the legislator, we cannot but regret, that like almost all other human institutions, it was not wholly efficacious. This system appears entirely intended for their protection, as the conditions that related to their instruction and civilization are excluded, or but partially brought into view. The application of the encomicndas was by putting a certain quantity of Indian popula tion, contained in defined boundaries, irnme- diately under the charge of a respectable Spa- Fiiard, who lived in the midst of them, and whose province it was to settle their family disputes, and to support their rights against civil oppression ; to see their children bap tized, to unite and retain them in clans or vil lages, to instruct them in the principles of morality and the Christian religion, to train Ihem in the arts of civil life, to suppress irre gularities in their females, and to destroy in them the fanaticism of their old modes of worship and superstitious customs. For the whole ob servance of these cares and duties, they made him presents of poultry, or appropriated to his use annually some days of labour; never theless, that influence which the encomienderos acquired, sometimes became too productive of abuses, and the office was often solicited by persons at court, who had their agents there, as a distinguished species of sovereignty, which reduced the Indians to vassals, and in some cases became hereditary. This system was afterwards superseded by the plan of the missionaries, in the way already mentioned. The measures adopted by Spain, to secure the dependence of America, and hold the Indians in a kind of bonl, opposed to any attempt to regain their ancient state of free- dom, seem to have been concerted with a view not to thwart their inclinations, but to leave them in the entire possession of their prejudices and vices, as far as they did not avowedly clash with the exterior of religion. They were at first forbidden the use of all kinds of arms, and even of horses ; no Indian could be brought up in the house of an armourer ; and several other similar restrictions were enforced, tending to keep them from mixing with other tribes, or intermarrying ; but all these regulations have gradually died away, as the dread of commo tion, on their part, has subsided. The Spanish Council of the Indies, of whom we shall hereafter speak, have pushed their pro tection and measures for bettering the condition of the Indians, to a degree that was never before met with in a conquered nation, by the privi leges and exemptions w r ith which they have favoured them. A singular indulgence, not observable even in the white population of the Spanish dominions, was extended to the In dians, and this was, that in the first years, the Indian villages were authorized to elect their chiefs amongst themselves, and the choice generally fell on one of the descendants of their ancient rulers ; but now a Spanish al calde, and Indian cabildo, or municipal body, 57 have charge of the civil administration. The police of the Indians has, besides this, a corre- gidor, or person that is particularly charged with their protection, who can remonstrate in their favour with the local government ; but, if redress is not granted, he appeals to a su perior jurisdiction. He is always a Spaniard, and obliged to reside amongst them. This office has been found to be extremely neces sary, from the particular disposition the In dian chiefs have to domineer over their own fellow -beings, and their propensity to those vices they are enjoined to correct in their own clans, particularly drunkenness. It is this corregidor, who also receives, in the name of the king, the capitation tax, or tri bute exacted from the Indians, the mode by which the Spaniards establish their census of Indian population. Where there are mission aries, the duties of the corregidor are gener ally added to the pastoral functions. Crimes, amongst the Indians, are punished with greater seventy than when committed by whites. The attorneys general, are, by the rules of their office, their legal patrons, and in all the courts are obliged to plead their causes gratis, equally with those of the government for whom they act. One of their privileges is, 58 that they are considered minors in all civil transactions, and they are not bound to the execution of any contract that is not formally passed before a Spanish magistrate. They can dispose of no landed property but at public auction. The Indians are exempt from the duty of alcavala, which is imposed on every thing sold., as will be hereafter noticed. Their annual capitation tax is rated at two dollars per head on the males only, from the age of 18 to 5o ; but it is very often dispensed with by the cor- regidor, particularly if any great or public misfortune has happened amongst them ; and. many of them, when the time of the collection comes round, abscond into the woods. The Inquisition, by a particular and express dispensation, is deprived of all authority over the Indians; their heresies are only noticed by ,the bishops, and their magical spells and incantations come under the consideration of the secular and civil government, but persua sion only is used. Bj a particular act of the ecclesiastical council of Lima, the reprimands of the church do not reach them ; their igno rance acts as a paracensure. The greatest punishment that can be inflict ed on an Indian, is the depriving him of his 50 hair, which also forms the great pride of the Africans. la Hispafiola, to this day, the women descended from the mixture of these two classes, plat their w r oo! with hair ribbon, to make it appear in long tresses, and I once had the curiosity to measure what a sooty damsel was going to plat on her head, and found the united pieces made thirty two yards. To the end they add a small piece of lead, to make the locks appear straight and long. There is a decree extant in the archives of the Council of the Indies, under the date of 5th March, 1 58 1 , that bears the stamp of singular ity. It being said by St. Paul, 1st. of Corin thians, 1 ithand 14th verses, " Does not even nature itself teach you, that a man indeed if he nourish his fiair, It is a shams unto him," the missionaries required, that those persons who were admitted to baptism, should cut off their hair; and the king, informed that this practice operated as an obstacle against, the conversion of the Indians who would not pur chase Christianity bv this sacrifice, ammM it by a law enacted under the above ?e. la the restrictions and exactions put upon :hern, the church, there is a great laxity and r for all their rites and observances ap scribed, with exceptions and d iUs their favour. The missionaries have always considered them to belong to that classification thus defined by certain theologians. " Rus- tici nesciunt species morales aut numerum/ and the curates for the Indians, have a particu lar itinerarium, filled with traits of singularity ; nay, some of the Spanish theologians have gone . so far as to apologize for some of their most discordant and even inhuman practices, by the exemptions allowed them. It is therefore deducible from the preceding pages, that the ground-work of civilization, pre scribed for the Indians, is a combination of policy and religion, and that their situation is much better than that of conquered nations generally, and indeed more improved than we generally imagine, a corollary which, parodoxi- cal as it may appear, is nevertheless true. A great preservative of that quiet, that has generally prevailed in these regions since their conquest, and which will defend at least this part of their population from those horrors that may perhaps originate in any contest be tween the Creole and the European, is the peculiar apathy and indifference of the Indians ; for the mass of their population appear to have no ideas but of existing, and heed little what passes beyond their local 61 situation ; and, with the exception of their chiefs, who are often endowed with natural genius, and of those individuals, who have an opportunity of mixing with the population of the cities, this appears to be their general characteristic. Guided entirely by the opinions of their elders, whom it has been the policy of Spain, at least to retain in the shadow of their ancient consequence, they are not acces sible even to the broils that might arise in the provinces on which they confine ; and are sheltered from all revolutions except those slow but salutary changes which the progressive civilization of the adjoining countries, may, in the lapse of time, spread over their extend ed regions. Religion appears, however, to have done more for them than policy, and has been much more consulted by those who have had their direction. The obligation to work, and the incentives to habitual industry, seem not to have formed any part of the regimen ; and it has been aptly observed, that they have been treated as wild beasts which their masters wish ed to tame, rather than as children of whom useful men might be made. If on each family there were imposed, for example, the obligation of cultivating a tract 62 of ground proportioned to their number, and this were strictly attended to by the magistrate who superintends the district, the most benefi cial results might be effected. For example, in the province of Caracas, from which ana logies may be drawn of the others, the 72,800 Indians whom it is supposed to contain, con tributing to trade each one thousand pounds annually of coffee, which is only one third of what is computed to the share of a negro on a plantation, and on an equal scale with the other productions ; the country would then be benefited by the value of that amount; commerce would receive that addition to its circulation ; the consumption of goods would be increased ; the half-clad Indian would be taught the use of cloaths and of some luxuries almost unknown to him, and all would even tually redound to the advantage of the govern- ment that might adopt the measure. Coffee and cotton seem the best suited to their state, as being the most simple and easy to rear and collect, and in this kind of culture, their children are equally serviceable. In a country where climate may be said to influence the minds of the people, there is a degree of lively imagination that makes the society of the inhabitants agreeable to those 63 whom a knowledge of the language renders capable of enjoying it ; and were their minds only formed and their talents called forth by edu cation and aided by a more general introduction of the arts and sciences, they would even acquire the character of a sensible race. The Mestizos and other Indian mixtures, possess an inge nuity similar to that of the Chinese ; they manufacture glass, and in a different way from us ; they imitate many of our manufactures, and require only good artists to direct them. Lately when the war deprived the interior of the proper printed calicoes d grand ramage, shewy and high coloured, a speculator bought up all the white platillas and linens he could meet with in Vera Cruz, sent them to Mexico, collected Indian artists who work very cheap, and with the pencil instead of moulds they imitated the fashionable patterns in such way as to be preferred on account of the colours being faster and more glowing, by which means he quadrupled his capital. Their workmanship in gold, where the or namental part depends not on mechanism or moulds, cannot be excelled by the European ; it resembles the work of the Maltese. Their paintings have been noticed by several authors, and many originals of value might yet be collected in the convents ; an object which, if it does not interest the public societies in England, we hope may ezicite and reward the curiosity of the many individuals of liberality and science we have amongst us. The Quachinangos are the greatest adepts in this art, and are a peculiarly singular race, being all painters, rope-dancers, and buffoons, so that the-name of their tribe is now synony mous with that of a tumbler, conjuror, or merry-andrew. Their paintings are not blended with the greatest delicacy, but the colouring is good ; they have no system, and are not aided by models ; their figures and per spective are not correct; but trained in the European school, they would riot fail to excel. They seize a likeness in a singular way, and there have been instances of a viceroy being seen on the road by a Quachinango, whose portraits were selling in Lima before he him self entered the gates. To prove that my assertions respecting the natural genius and acquirements of the peo ple of Spanish America are not speculative, I will quote the words of a compiler of some merit, to whom w^e are indebted for a degree of insight into the regions he has undertaken 65 to describe, though many of his data are not correct. " Knowledge is general throughout Peru, as well on account of the natural quickness and penetration of its native inhabitants, as from their fondness for study. In whatever does not require a meditated combination of ideas, the fair sex has commonly the advan tage over ours. The royal -university of St. Mark at Lima, and proportionably the other universities of the kingdom, form a centre of literature which diffuses an abundant light to the whole , circumference. Under their auspices, the moral and philosophical sciences have latterly made an incredible progress, having found their way into all the schools, and thence diffused themselves rapidly through every order of the state,. It is our earnest wish that this philosophic light may, by its permanence and efficacy, influence and ame liorate the common system of education. It Is on that score alone, in the acceptation of the term which comprehends the whole extent of the kingdom, that Peru is in some measure defective. A good taste, urbanity, and a social disposition, are the hereditary qualities of every Peruvian." VOL. II. F 66 It may also be worth remarking, that Spanish America has boasted within these few years of several good periodical works. El Mercurio Peruviano, published by a society of literati in Lima, treated on literature, philosophy, history, botany, and the fine arts, and displayed a pro found knowledge of ancient and modern learn ing. The system of vaccination has prevailed over the opposition of the clergy, and some local treatises have been written upon it. That inherent desire in man to escape the destroying scythe of time, and to transmit his memory beyond the limit of inevitable and confined destiny, has ever been a spur to human ambition ; and to this principle we are in debted for history, whether traditional or ex pressed by symbols, as well as for poetry, sculpture, and many of the fine arts that adorned the Grecian school. To their medals, obelisks, busts, &c. we owe part of our his tory of the Romans ; and though we have re marked that not a trace of Indian antiquity or remains are now met with in Hispanola, to carry us beyond the date of its conquest, many remnants are to be found on the main, particu larly in Mexico and Peru, which afford inter esting data for the history of the emperors of the former, and the Incas of the latter, and 67 well deserve the notice and contemplation of the scientific traveller and the archaiologist. Garcilaso is amongst the most elegant wri ters on Peru, who have touched upon the sub ject ; and as the language in which he wrote becomes more prevalent, his labours will be appreciated. The best archives were how ever lost at the time of conquest ; the fragile quipos are reduced to dust, and nothing an tique is left to the observer but fragments and ruins, to give an imperfect picture of such an interesting kingdom. The monuments how ever of the Incas, are proved by the traditions yet handed down amongst the Indians to have been erected as memorials of glory and power, and they still serve to give some idea of the state of that monarchy, before the devasta tion of conquest. The obelisks and statues of Tiahuanacu, and the mausolea of Chahapoyas, defy the edge of time. This province contains build ings of stone of a conical figure that support large unweildy busts, and are situated on the declivities of mountains. Mummies dug out, and catacombs dscoi- vered in a variety of places ; the former are in good preservation. There prevails an idea OS that the mummies found in the Sierras, owe their duration to a previous exposure to frost. The edifices of Cusco and Quito, the roads cut through the Cordilleras, canals, causeways, &c. attest the skill of the ancient Indians in civil and military architecture, and may be compared with the Appian, ^Emilian, and Fla- minian causeways still extant in Italy. Remains of their aqueducts are found near Lucanas, Condesuyos, and many other places, erected to conduct waters from valleys to the sum mits of the highest hills. Many sepulchres have been found containing paintings and a variety of utensils and valuables, which ge nerally accompanied the interment of their great men ; and many yet remain to be ex plored. Of their music and poetry, many records exist ; and the shepherds still calcu late the increase of their flocks by means of quipos. Pillars are found indicating the equi noctials and solstices, which shew that astrono my was a favourite study of the Incas, as was also medicine. To enter fully however on these subjects, were only to ransack authors who have preceded us ; and would be an an ticipation of what has been announced to the public from writers through other channels. CHAPTER XVIIL CHARACTERISTIC SKETCHES OF THE AMERICAN SPANIARDS. SWINBURNE, in his travels through Spain > has given us a separate characteristical outline of the inhabitants of each province, by which he has established a scale of contrast to enable us, in judging of the individual peculiarities accurately, to estimate all, or at least to fix their general and prominent features. The Spa niards of America possess few of the compo nent traits of their European countrymen ; but if any, it is of the Andalusian, with whom also they most assimilate. The Creole has imbibed against the natives of the other provinces of Spain peculiar prejudices, derived from their leading occupations and manners. A native mo ther of the country opposes the marriage of her daughter with a rich Catalan, because he has made his fortune by drawing wine, selling butter and cheese, and is filthy in his person ; with the Gallician, because he is a plodding, hard-working person, roaming in search of 70 a hardly earned subsistence; and the appel lation of Gal lego is almost synonymous with that of a porter in every province in Spain ; with the Biscayan, because he is boisterous and tyrannic, partaking x>f the peculiar tinge of his province, fiery, impatient, and jealous ; with the Castillian, because he is sullen, re served, opposed to shew and parade ; in short, with all the preceding from their peculiar jargon of provincial dialect : but in the Anda- lusian, she finds a gaiety, sprightliness, anima tion, softer modulations of language and ex pression, more congenial manners, and an elevation of character not descending to the calls of porters and pedlars : hence though less rich, she prefers him. Should her daugh ter marry one of the former provincials, w r hen the nuptial compliments are over, the officious mother will always predispose the relations by telling them that his fortune was the induce ment, but that she hopes he will soon give up his store, wear a long coat and turn gentle man, for she is sure her daughter will never endure living among the flies that crowd the boxes of sugar, or amidst the perfumes of codfish. Marriages either in Spain or Spanish Ame rica, were never generally exhibited as models 71 of conjugal felicity, and though there are many happy exceptions to this remark, they too often serve as examples of irregularity to the children. That warmth of passions, that effervescence and impetuosity of feeling, fre quently the result of romance, and delusive anti cipations of hope, but not founded on conge niality, or matured by reason, too often bring a couple together. The parents having little hold on the actions of their progeny, cannot control their choice ; they marry at an early age, but unlike our own quakers, who think this custom the greatest guardian to the morals of the rising generation, satiety and disgust too generally ensue ; appearance and considera tions of propriety make their home indeed mutual, but fidelity is a clog they both hasten to throw off. A cortejo, like the cisisbeo of the Italians, becomes the right of the wife ; he leads her to the tertulias and public walks, dances with her, orders her carriage, and is entirely and exclusively attendant on her call ; whilst the husband consoles himself in the arms of a mistress, and heeds little nor inter feres with what passes in his family. The lover who had, previous to marriage, passed entire nights under the window of his in tended, muffled in a cloak to discover if she 72 had more suitors than himself, scarcely trust ing to her own professions, after the mar riage-ceremony is over becomes indifferent., and lays aside that jealousy we in our novels ascribe to the Spanish husband instead of the lover. Certainly Montesquieu, when he as serted that the fewer marriages the less fide lity in them, must have made this people a wide exception. \ We have already remarked that they marry at an early age, and I cannot here resist the temptation of citing the testimony of a late foreign author little known to us, on the charac teristics of the Spanish Americans. " The females in the Spanish dominions, are marriageable at the age of twelve years, and the boys at fourteen, so that we often see the united ages of a wedded pair fall short of thirty, and the latter considers himself only a man when he is a husband. The study or ac cordance of disposition seldom precedes matri mony ; the sympathy of humour is often aiistaken for that of feeling, and passion ; an eternal attachment is anticipated where no thing but a slight and passing fancy in reality exists. They enter the bonds of wedlock as if its duration had an optional limit. In all civilized nations, the parents have an 73 absolute authority over their children till a certain age, prescribed by a positive law. In Holland it formerly continued to the age of twenty for the female, and twenty-five for the male. In England both have arrived at the legal age of puberty, at twenty-one years. In France the minority is limited at twenty- five for the women, and thirty for the men ; though by a late law, they have the free ad ministration and disposal of property at twen ty-one. Till that time they are considered under the tutelage of their parents, and every engagement previously contracted of this na ture is held null and void. This custom ap pears to have been wisely established as a check on the morals and passions of youth, and to frustrate and counteract the snares frequently set for its inexperience. It is not uncommon in Spain for a daughter who has been refused alliance to her choice, and whose connexion is opposed by the parents, to take refuge in the house of the curate, or some other respectable secular, where she places herself out of the reach of her natural guar dians ; the banns ate then published three suc cessive Sundays, and though the parents of neither party concur, the ceremony is per- 74 formed unless any degradation to either family be proved. To suppress emigration to South America, and hinder persons of bad character from being introduced there, it became necessary even for Spaniards to obtain passports in Eu rope and grants of residence; and by the Tarifa de gracias, drawn up in 1801, the Council of the Indies had the right of disposing of this grant to foreign persons, previously naturalized according to law in Spain ; in that case the naturalization act cost 45o dollars, and the passport or certificate of residence, 4oo; but this was granted under some stipu lations, particularly as to a similarity of reli gion. The Spaniards, who once get esta blished there, seldom return home though even married before their emigration ; they form new alliances, often leaving their former wife and family in poverty in their native vil lages. Their little ventures they carry out prosper and increase in a country where every necessary in life is cheap, and they acquire a consistency and importance they would lose by revisiting their mother country. The Ca talans and Biscayans form the greatest body of emigrants. 75 few Creoles visit Europe, against which, both distance and prejudice operate, and they acquire little more than a local education, which some, however, accomplish by the ener gy of their own minds, The attachment that might arise from schooling her colonial youth in the mother country, Spain, seems to have considered as undeserving her notice ; but the French thought it of material consequence. They suppressed all colleges abroad, in order to monopolize the education of male and female children in Europe, that they might there form connections ; and civil and military promotions were to be obtained there only. This created al liances and connections, which lasted through life, and contributed to a union of interests. Even the spurious descendants of planters in Saint Domingo, received this mode of educa- cation. The traveller through Spain and Portugal, has at all times, been astonished at the super abundant quantity of friars and clergy that are met with, and has considered them the great est tax possible, upon the working poor com munities, from whom they derive their prin cipal support This remark holds equally good on South America, for the numbers seem to vie with those of the mother country, so 76 much so, that the higher ranks are filled with little else than friars, seculars, nuns, lawyers,, and nominal officers ; and it is the best cri terion of the size and consequence of a town, to sum up the quantity of convents it has within its precincts. The clergyman, w r ho assists at the dying moments of the sick, and the notary called to draw up his last wishes, equally remind him of the church ; and if he be considered rich, not to leave it a legacy or prebend, were an act of irreligion that would shock the good pastor and his flock, so that if this practice continues in successive ages, they will, exclusively, become the principal owners of property in the country ; and are, indeed, amongst the first now. The Creoles are particularly attached to their own country, which they think the best of any in the world, from its having been in every war, a point of attack to England ; the great object of French intrigue, the subject of envy and enterprise to their free neighbours on the north, and in short a bone of contention *for them all. When they contrast it with European Spain, they see nothing but poor adventurers, who come amongst them with a view to get riches, by filling the most menial offices ; and as ease and affluence are their chief good, they judge of all by the species that come amongst them. They feel pride and consequence from being born in a new he misphere, and conceive that to Creolism is attached a degree of dignity and honour. It will n<Dt, therefore, appear singular that a nation which has no emigrations, but receives those from her mother country, is drained by no wars, and is blest with a genial climate and prolific people, should have risen, from the time of its discovery, to an inconceivable degree of population, the more difficult accu rately to calculate, as it is scattered over im mense regions, and its census is attended with the incorrections we have alluded to, in speaking of that of Hispanola. To prove how far the want of intercourse tends to the formation of false notions, and how much the French have studied to engraft a good opinion of themselves on other nations, to the prejudice of their rivals, I will mention the peculiarities remarked in a young Creole Spaniard, who accompanied me lately to Eng land, as it may be considered a faithful out line of the general bias in their way of think ing, and will evince what erroneous predis positions exist, afid with what subtlety and design the malignant misrepresentations of the 78 French have been spread. His maitres d agre- mens, had been all of the Gallic tribe, and had generally led him to think, that England was the very tomb of existence, her cities scenes of want, and plodding enterprise, her public buildings devoid of design, and confined to ranges of galleries and halls for the purposes of manufacture ; the people, in short, distant, dull, inhospitable, and egotists. With such a schooling, one may judge of the feelings of a native youth, set down in the midst of London ; gazing at its curiosities and buildings, and enjoying every delight or lux ury it affords. He could scarcely believe that the music and representations at Covent Gar den, were by English performers, or that dancing so exquisite, could be produced by such drones as they had been represented to him ; that the delicious viands of which he partook, and the great display of pastry in the shops, could be prepared by any but an eleve at Paris. When he saw a beautiful, well-formed, well- dressed, and elegant female trip by him, " is she not French ?" was the first and spontaneous question, for English ladies had always been delineated to him as resembling Dutch house wives, and devoid of taste, grace, and anima- 70 tion. Science could not be cultivated amongst us, since all works of that nature which the Spanish language boasted, were borrowed from the French ; even the novels of Richard son, which so much delight the Spanish rea der, with difficulty would he place to the credit of the nation to whom they belonged, because the editions he had read in his own language, were preceded by a " translated from the French." He had, indeed, heard of such a building as St. Paul s, and of some others that equally filled him with astonish ment, but had never met with any printed de scription to enable him to form a correct idea of their magnificence, or of the talents and exhibitions of English painters and statuaries. The acquirements of the English in the arts, had been limited to their manufactures ; to the moulding of buttons, the grinding of ra zors, and such like handicraft; what he at first, only allowed them to possess was, a good breed of horses, and well-trained sailors. A small intercourse with the nation, however, soon obliterated the prejudices he had received from French influence and tutoring ; and, as his ideas enlarged, he discovered that his early notions had been founded on misrepresenta tions, and rival envy ; and in his letters home, 80 he lamented the delusion of so many of his countrymen, to whom a simplicity of manners had been represented as boorish coldness and apathy ; the disuse of insincere and gesticu lated expressions of forced friendship, a want of polish and civility, and in short, that the portrait generally held out to them, was mere ly a blending of dark shades. A French author, speaking of the dress and appearance of Spanish youths, says, " they have gained the acme of perfection as soon as they have acquired our style of dress, manners, and accomplishments, and can act and carry themselves a la Francoise." The Creoles have certainly an aptitude for the sciences and general learning, but not for the deep researches of the plodding Dutch com mentator. Their minds are active, their ima ginations lively and penetrating, they easily receive an impression, though they do not so long retain it as the European, owing to the flexibility of their corporeal structure, which produces a correspondent volatility of ipind. The greatest part of their artists and handi craftsmen, are Creoles of colour, descendants of Indians, sometimes mixed with white and black blood. Oviedo himself, was born in South America, and is the best and most cor- 81 rect author that has ever written on that country ; but many other men of equal merit might be named. From their most trust worthy records we find, that thirty years after the conquest, there were Indians in the col leges of Mexico, who were preceptors of Greek and Latin, professors of painting, and to their ingenuity and address, the mission aries owed a good comprehension of their lan guage and history, derived from symbols, cha racters, and figures. In jurisprudence and civil law, we find ma ny illustrious characters ; hence, we may easily infer, that if their minds received right bias, and their education were properly formed, their national prejudices would subside, and they would no longer look with scornful dis regard on the acquirements of other nations. They begin, however, to pierce with a steady eye the mist of fanaticism and prejudice, with which they have been clouded and obscured ; they assume a more modified state of social existence ; they gradually discover, that there is something in other nations worthy their adoption and imitation ; they shake off that lethargy which serves but to debilitate and emasculate the human frame, and it may be expected there will be a happy change in their TOL. II. G 82 systems, and that the generation now on its decli e, will be succeeded by one possessing features of moral amelioration, harmonized and illuminated by the useful principles of other nations. Their youth no longer think with their fa thers, that geography is a useless science ; that the history of the world and of man, in tracing the occurrences of the past, casts no light en the future, and, that a good acquaint ance with Feyjoo, ought to be the summit of their ambition. They begin to study living languages to prepare them for general inter course ; even English becomes an enviable ac quirement, French loses ground, and they regret, that in the many communications and diplomatic relations they have had with the court of St. James s, and its armies in their countries, the language of their enemies has been used, which, like its nation, is less sincere, and not suited to the character and pure pro fessions of the one who adopted it. Even their families who thought trade a degradation, find in it a theory worthy of their study, and that the putting their sons to be ap prentices in foreign houses, is no longer a dis grace to them ; a greater and more novel degree of energy prevails ; the planter antici- 83 pates sales for his produce, and the trader ac tivity to his capital and exertions, which jointly contribute to invite a more extensive and profitable intercourse with this country. From the above statement, we may easily perceive, that there were many parents who had sufficient discernment to judge of the defects of their own local system of education, and who felt anxious to have their children brought up abroad. As early as 1804, many were sent to the neighbouring United States for schooling, and particularly flocked to the college of the French emigrant clergy of the Order of St, Sulpice, established in Maryland ; there they made a progress highly creditable to the good regulations and science of the preceptors. This gave great umbrage, how ever, to many of their own clergy, who were bigoted to the ancient system of things ; com plaints and remonstrances were made to the goverment in Europe ; it was represented dan gerous to educate youths in a country, where the principles of freedom and free-thinking prevailed ; by a public decree, it became cri minal to school them out of their own coun try, all such, were declared incapable of holding offices, civil and military, and the corvette Desempeno was actually sent from G 2 84 the Havannah, to demand them from their mas* ters, in the name of the government. It is therefore easily deducible, that the progressive state of melioration and advance ment, is on a general scale, more elevated in these distant regions than even in Spain, but both would yet admit of great further* ance. In the agriculture of the latter, for instance, we remark the same mis-shapen and uncouth plough as that described by Virgil, in his Georgics, without any improvement, though so many have been made by other na tions ; let us visit their academies, and examine the theses there proposed, and we shall find them guided by the musty and obsolete philo sophy of the old schools ; their logic is but the jargon of syllogistic disputation, to prove su pernatural causes, and this they call ethics ; the improvements of the last age have not yet dispersed the clouds of mental error ; hy pothetical categories hold the place of moral and practical knowledge ; the efforts of inves tigation are unknown ; principles are admitted on false induction, or inverted phenomena, and entirely unconnected with experiment or analysis. The whole of this system is con- lined to the cloisters of a convent ; the results are in no wise applicable to the purposes of 85 life, or to the discharge of public or social duty. That a want of proper regulation also exists throughout all Spanish America, in the in struction and forming of the minds of youth, is a melancholy fact, which cannot have escaped the notice of the most superficial observer ; and this, added to the natural indulgence of the parent, and the languor of the climate, would make the effects doubly deplorable, were it not for the natural genius and talent the youth possess, tending to make up for this great and essential defect ; and added to their greater facility of acquiring books, ren dering their education still comparatively better than what is generally obtained in Spain. As we have already remarked, the people seem to possess more perception, less vulgar errors, a greater tendency to progressive im provement ; nay, w r e often meet persons, who, without ever having quitted their own conti nent, would deserve a seat in any of our learned institutions in Europe, having risen to a great degree of proficiency in many of the arts and sciences, such as chemistry, botany, experimental philosophy, astronomy, &c. Labouring under every disadvantage from want 86 of preceptors, instruments, and the latest im provements in the different branches of science, they have overcome them all by dint of labour, perseverance, and intellectual research, which neither the difficulties nor the arduousness of attainment could quench. Even the untu tored Indians reason with an astonishing de gree of accuracy from external things ; their minds, distinguished by strong originality, are capable and retentive of the most extended impressions ; and if it be true, that every mind must start in its progress to intelligence, from the goal of absolute ignorance, it is better to have no ideas than wrong ones. To point out the still existing defects, which, in other words, is to prescribe the amendment of the national system of training youth, and fitting them for the world, cannot be offensive to the feelings of the Spaniard of either region ; for, besides its being prompted by an impulse, and a wish for the bettering of intellectual and fellow beings, it is of national consequence, as being one step to that grounded reform, which every feeling and patriotic breast hopes will be their lot, as the best means to secure their independence, and again raise them to that a; elevation they once held in Europe. Surely, at least, in quoting one of their native Creoles, and most sensible writers on .this subject, I cannot be accused of prejudice, or distorted representation, Dr. Miguel Joze Sanz, born and educated in the province of Venezuela, was employed to draw up a form of municipal laws, and civil regulations for the city of Caracas, and certainly the choice was justified in the wis dom and soundness of the measures he pre scribed. Caracas has al way s v been called the Cadiz of the western world ; the comparison will therefore afford a scale for the general application of the strictures of this author, and his code, which is found printed, and in force in that province, might serve, with certain modifications, for many other dis tricts of Spanish America. Speaking on the public and prevailing edu cation, he says, " As soon as the boy is put to school, he is taught to read in books of improbable stories and wonderful miracles, or in those of a devotion without principles, reduced only to certain exterior practices, which form him rather into a hypocrite than the man of sound sense. The parent thinks he has fulfilled his duty, if his child can 88 repeat his prayers by heart, or gabble over his catechism, which, though good in itself, does not suffice to make him an upright man, teach him the duties of a good moral Christian, or those which he owes to society at large. He is taught certain punctilios of vanity and pre eminence, which make him abuse the preroga tives of his birth, the objects of which he does not know, so that he often boasts with an ill- placed pride in speaking of his progenitors, that his grandfather was a king s officer, his uncle an alcalde, his brother a friar, or his cousin a prebendary ; and thinks their merit equally reflects on him, with all the distinctions. These defects, which owe their origin to wrong principles of education, engender and nourish hereditary enmities in families, and breed in the citizen habits of internal deceit. It is incompatible with the love and confidence, that ought to be grounded on mutuality and the social tie in every country, when each one is ambitious of being distinguished by heredi tary pre-eminence and distinction. Instead of teaching them emulation for the virtues of the good patriot, the father seldom does more than impress on his children, that Peter is less noble than James ; such a family has got such a stain, and that when such a branch of nobility married with a plebeian, the rest of the family went into mourning.* " Thus are divisions in families kept alive and transmitted to posterity ; the embers o* distrust continually fanned, and the bonds of charity rent asunder. " They are then taught Latin before they know the principles of their own language, or are capable of accentuating or correctly writing a letter. Numerical combinations and rules of arithmetic are excluded; they are taught Aristotle s Philosophy, the Insti tutes of Justinian, Gonet s and Laraga s Theo logy ; all aspire to be doctors, but the useful and mechanic arts lie neglected. All are des tined for the tonsure, the epaulette, or for the rancorous gall-fraught quill of the lawyer. " It is the want of ideas and information that retains citizens in errors opposed to their felicity. Were they once convinced that the work most agreeable to the divinity is the cultivation of sound morality, the ground work of all good religion, and of the duties which as Christians we owe each other, such immense sums would not then be squandered * A peculiar mode, by which is publicly testified the dislike er disapprobation of an unequal alliance, as an act beneath th dignity of the family. in pomp, parade, and feasts, in maintaining useless and burthensome societies, that are of no moral or national good, and that would be better appropriated to the founding of public schools, the instructing of youth in Christian and political virtue, and the training them in the arts that stimulate industry, and give pro sperity to a nation. By this means prudent and disinterested magistrates would be pro duced, an enlightened clergy, and virtuous citizens would be formed ; the first rendered incapable of abusing their authority ; the second, of calling in religion to hide their own ignorance under the veil of hypocrisy and su perstition ; and the latter from flattering their own passions, stooping to inherited enmities, or using their power and influence to oppress the poor ; each then would mutually become the ornament of his country, establish a new basis of national honour, and all would co operate for the public good." 1 have thought myself the more justifiable in the length of this extract, as it comes direct from one acquainted with the state of his own country, intimately and nearly interested in its prosperity, who has dedicated his recent la bours to its melioration, and who has many claims to the sincere acknowledgments of his 91 compatriots. It lays open to us the root and cause of many of the national evils we have ourselves had to deplore in them ; but con vinces us ~at the same time, that though wrong systems of education exist, which may be called the parents of so much national vice, and groveling prejudice ; the most enlightened and disinterested are sensible that they are wrong, and that even in those distant climes ? there are men amongst them ready and capa ble of laying the axe to the root, who have at heart the improvement of their moral and political relations, and who are desirous that the corner-stone should be laid of that desired reform, without convulsion, on which they hope to raise the superstructure of their future greatness and prosperity. Philosophers have laid it down as a maxim, that the voluntary and efficient actions of men originate in their opinions ; if so, it is equally deducible, that these must be the result of pre cepts; for the morals and way of thinking of a people, are engrafted on the schooling they receive, as well from the parent and preceptor, as from the spirit and character of the laws, establishments, and government, under which they live. To the abject state of all these in Spain, 92 and the confined extension of knowledge amongst the mass of the people, most of their present degrading evils may be attributed; for if the mind of man may be called an in animate embryo till it becomes formed by in struction, and expanded by the influence of intelligence, the responsive beat of energy and the patriotic zeal of a cause cannot be felt till the understanding be cleared of its mid night gloom, again directed into its proper channel and bias, and its aberrations checked and countaracted. Spain had no middle class of citizens ; they were divided into high and low, rich and poor, and the system of precluding the latter from any acquirement of knowledge or idea of the state of their own country, seems tena ciously to have been upheld by the late go vernment. All means of distributing informa tion were stifled. La gazeta de Madrid, a ministerial paper, and in control of the French, was almost the only medium for dif fusing ideas on the state of Europe, or the oc currences that have convulsed her regions, and laid her at the feet of a tyrant ; and its circu lation was extremely confined. From the date of her alliance, France has been preparing this last momentous attempt ; her emissaries have 93 been at work every where to weave and fit traces to yoke Spain in common with the other subju gated nations of Europe, to the car of the con queror, and to degrade her to that state in which she now gasps for a national existence. This general ignorance of every character istic trait in the transactions of their faithless, inconstant, and oppressive neighbours, did not raise in them the sigh of indignation ; they saw not that their laws, liberties, and destinies depended on their own energy ; they looked on the trampled rights of other nations with an eye of indifference ; they never thought their own fate was at hand ; they forgot the apposite allusion of their own proverb, " Quien hizo un cesto hara ciento ;" and they slumbered in fatal security whilst the fabric of other states more powerful, crumbled in ruins around them. They never calculated consequences from the calamities of others; the treachery, violence, and dominion of the great enemy of mankind excited not in them that gra dual and everlasting odium, the offspring of rea soning and conviction, which ought to have strung them to energy when roused by a sense of their own wrongs, but which like an elec tric shock, first struck upon their frame, producing indeed a fitful and transitory blaze. 94 but not the materials of a strong and steady flame. It may also be said, that our own plans of operation were more fitted for the Spaniards of former ages than for those of the present ; for though their national character be perhaps the most congenial to our own, and though they be constant, secret, patient of fatigue, implaca ble, and fiery in their animosities, yet if their national virtues, of which they have many, are not brought into a proper focus, and then well directed, it is difficult and indeed unsafe to rely on the energy or united efforts of the nation at large ; and our experience has well convinced us they rather wanted headp to plan and combine, than hands and hearts ta execute. To their own patriots, who stood at the helm of affairs, of w r hom many possessed a fortitude truly Roman, and who were better qualified to judge of the state of their own country, this consideration might have been apparent from pre-existing causes, and they might have counteracted it by more energetic measures in collecting, forming, uniting, rous-^ ing, but at the same time instructing their people; to a conviction of their o*vn injuries they ought to have added those of other na tions , they ought to have overlooked prece- 95 dencies and distinctions ; merit and patriot ism ought to have been the steps to pre-emi nence in the army and in the state. The heads of government, mistook their own ebul litions of patriotic zeal, for those of the people en masse, and they who co-operated with them were unfortunately led into the same error. Not that there existed a coldness or indifference on the part of the people gene rally; the want of mutual explanation and difference of manners, appeared to us indeed a want of unanimity ; but the feelings of the Spaniard are generous, firm, and in the pre sent cause sincere, yet in the choice of per sons to send amongst them, it may be re gretted we did not look for men capable of conciliating their eccentricities, of conform ing to their peculiar habits ; in short, for men possessing a better knowledge of the country, and of the genius, customs, and character of the people, and of course more capable of call ing forth their energies and resources. These indeed are not qualifications to be acquired in our own local schools. Few Englishmen travel amongst them, but for the purposes of trade ; they then collect in parties in the maritime towns, penetrate not into the in- terior, study not the moral habits and genius of the nation, and too often deride those prac tices which clash with their own, and of which they cannot fathom the sources. There may be a day when men of foreign science may be more appreciated, and those who have dedicated their labours and fortunes in re searches abroad for our own information at home, may meet some notice and reward from the government that benefits by their collec tive efforts ; but at present, France surpasses us in this policy, and best knows how to ap ply it in furtherance of her extended views. The efforts of Spain to assert her indepen dence will ever form a memorable epoch in the annals of her history ; and the exertions of England in her cause, will ever be remem bered with gratitude, and form an indissolu ble bond of alliance between them. It would however be deviating from our plan to pur sue this subject, which appears confined to the occurrences of the peninsula in Europe ; and as it is pleasing to support one s re marks by those of others equally informed> I shall quote a paragraph from the first num ber of a periodical work called El Espanol, published in London under date of the 30th of April, 1810, and the well-known senti ments of the author, may warrant my appli cation. " No porque la situacion de Espana sea mui triste al presente se han de cerrar los ojos a la esperanza. La Espana renacera mas gloriosa si no se dexa apagar el fuego de patriotismo, que aunque sin direccion y espa- cido, penetra todas sus venas. Luces necesita la Espana ; que valor nace con sus naturales, y deseo de venganza lo suministraran sin in- termision los Franceses. " Pero hay otra Espana libre> que debe llamar la atehcion de todos los enemigos de la tirania Francesa. Los Espanoles de America necesitan nuestros consejos, hijos de una amar- ga experiencia. Es justo que les pintemos lo que sufrimos, es justo que conozcan a los malvados astutos, qu despues de haberse ce- bado con la sangre de sus hermanos de Es pana, estan queriendo enganar a los del Nuevo Mundo para disfrutar exclusivamente sus ri- quezas. Los mares no los ponen a cubierto de la intriga Francesa, y aun quando no pue- dan intentar alii una conquista, intentaran que prenda el fuego de la discordia en las vastas regiones adonde no alcanzan sus armas." We must not close our eyes to hope be- VOL, ii. H a* cause the condition of Spain is calamitous Spain will one day revive, unless the fire of patriotism which, although scattered and un directed, penetrates every vein, be suffered to die away. She requires only to be enlighten- ed, for valour is the birthright of her natives ; and the French themselves will supply an un remitting desire of revenge. "There is however another and a free Spain which ought to engage the attention of every foe to French tyranny. The Spaniards of America require our counsels, the offspring of a better experience. It is just to describe to them wiiat we have suffered ; what we now suffer : it is just to depict to them the true portrait of those who, satiated with the blood of their brethren in Spain, are aiming to se duce and deceive those of the new world, in order to obtain exclusive possession of their riches. The seas afford their country no bar rier to the intrigues of the French ; for though they cannot extend/ their conquests thither, they will endeavour to spread the flames of discord through regions beyond the reach of their arms/* gg CHAPTER XIX. CLIMATE OF SPANISH AMERICA. ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE KINGDOM. J-O convey an adequate idea of that im mense and almost untravelled tract of country, which forms the north and south divisions of Spanish America, would be as impossible as to take a statistical view of it ; since in manners and productions, each pro vince varies, as do most of the aboriginal tribes; and each would require a separate work. Of its general situation, appearance, local advantages, &c. the remarks of an able writer on Peru, regarding its formation from chaotic matter, is perhaps the best descrip tion that can be given. " Nature now appears wrapped up in mys terious silence. Her powerful hand is about to give the last perfection to the globe, and to support its equilibrium by forming two dis tinct worlds, in one continent. It would appear that after she had exercised herself on the burning sands of Africa, on the leafy and fragrant groves of Asia, #nd on the tem- H 2 100 perate and colder climes of Europe, she* aimed at assembling together in Peru, all the productions she had denied to the other three quarters, and to repose there, majestically surrounded by each of them." These regions are equally productive, in teresting and majestic. Bouguer in his work, Sur la Figure de la Terre, alluding to the Cordilleras says, " In ascending the rude and terrific mountains which look to the South Sea, it cannot possibly occur to the human mind, that on their shoulders, others of equal magnitude should rise, and that all of them should serve, in their common bosom to shel ter, temperate, and fertilize that happy coun try, where nature in her most bountiful mood, or rather in her prodigality, has painted the image of the terrestial paradise," That the climate of Spanish America is in general healthy cannot be denied, or that most of the distempers incidental to Europeans are owing to fortuitous causes, and a neglect in adapting their system of living to the atmos phere and country in which they reside. To receive the chill of rains on a body heated by fatigue, and an oppressive sun, as well as to load the stomach with crude fruits and liquors, in a state of fermentation, cannot but produce the 101 most fatal consequences ; but in these cases imprudence, and not the insalubrity of the air is the cause of disease. Elevated and airy situ ations are, however, the most healthy, as in a country, where vegetation is so great and quick, the miasmata of stagnated waters must be proportionably inimicable to population. The vomito prieto, or black vomit, is an endemic disease, unknown before the arrival of Euro peans. The system, indeed, becomes debilita ted from the effects of a torrid zone, to which one is not, perhaps, accustomed, and the foods being less nutritive, and the tone of the sto mach being soon lost, a degree of hardness is occasioned in the biliary ducts, which causes inflammable and bilious fevers ; but these arc natural ailments of the human frame, and not owing to any thing pestilential in the locality of the country. But that these occur more frequently in some places, than in others, is equally a fact, deducible from physical causes. It is observable in Vera Cruz, from example, and arises from the situation and moist vicinity of that city ; hence it ceases when we get into the interior. In Mexico, natives are found of a very advanced age, and history records in stances of several. Calnuchua, a Tlascalan cap tain, who assisted the Spaniards in the con- 102 quest of Mexico, died at the age of 1 30 years ; Pedro Nieto, a Spanish Jesuit, at 132, and Diego Ordonez, a Franciscan, at 117, and he preached till the last month of his life, when he took leave of his flock in the words of St. Paul, bonum certamen certaui, cursum co/z- sumavi, &c. Indeed, a long catalogue might be made of those who have exceeded one hun dred years ; nor is there observable in the teeth, muscles of the body, hair, &c. any symptoms of decay, as in the aged of Europe. A learned writer, Clavigero, describing the climate, says, this country, as it is extremely extensive, and divided into so many provinces, different in their situation, is necessarily subjected to a va riety of temperature and climate. Some of its lands, such as the maritime, are hot, and in general, moist, and unhealthy ; others are like all inland places, temperate, dry, and salubri ous. In some the south wind, in others the east, and in others the north wind prevails, according to their situation, and the formation of their mountains. The greatest cold of any of the inhabited places, is not equal to that of France, or Castile ; nor can the greatest heat be comparable with that of Africa, or the dbg days even of England. The difference between winter and summer is so little in any part, 103 \ hat, the most delicate persons wear the same cloaths in August as in January. This is a representation so palpable and no torious, that it would even do aw^ay with the assertions of the philosophizing Mr. Pauw, in his Recherches Philosophiques, where he says, " the surface of the earth is infected by putre faction, is over-run with lizards, serpents, reptiles, and insects of a monstrous size, de riving the activity of their poison from the copious juices of this uncultivated soil, \vhich being corrupted and abandoned to itself, the nutritive juice became sharp like the milk in the breasts of animals which do not exercise the functions of propagation. Caterpillars, crabs, butterflies, beetles, spiders, frogs, and toads, were for the most part of an enormous corpulence in their species, and multiplied beyond what can be imagined. Panama is infested with serpents, Carthagena with clouds of bats, Puerto Bello with toads, Surinam with cucarachas or cochroaches, Guadaloupe, and the other colonies of the islands, with beetles, Quito with niguas or ticks, and Lima with lice and bugs. The ancient kings of Mexico, and Emperors of Peru, found no other means of ridding their subjects of those insects, which fed upon them, than the imposition of 104 an annual tribute of a quantity of lice ; and Cortes found bags full of them in the pa lace of Montezuma." It may be asked whether that would be a faithful picture of Italy, which should be drawn from the Lazza- roni, or of Turkey, which should resemble many of the common people who live in the public porticoes and have no homes. Risum teneatis amici ? It has been observed, that the more uniform a climate is, the more easily are men familiar ized to it, and escape those pernicious effects which follow a vicissitude of seasons. In Quito, the thermometer does not rise as high as it does in Paris in the summer, but neither does it fall so low as it does in the temperate climes of Europe in winter. What can be more desirable in a climate than a temperature of air, which is equally distant from either extreme, such as that of Quito, and the greatest part of Mexico ? What climate more sweet and kind to life than that in which the delights of the country are enjoyed all the year, and the earth is continually adorned with herbs and flowers ; where the fields are covered with corn, and the trees loaded with fruit ; where the herds and flocks spare man his fatigues, and have no need of his provision to maintain 105 \ them, or his roof to resist the inclemency of the weather ; where neither frost nor snow com pel him to keep near a fire, nor do burning heats in summer check his increase, but the bounty of nature is constantly extended to wards him, and he enjoys equally in all sea sons, the social converse of his fellow- creatures, or the innocent recreations of the country ? This is the idea entertained by man, of a per fect climate, and the poets, therefore, wiien they strove to extol the happiness of certain countries, used to say, that a perpetual spring reigned in them ; as Virgil said of Italy : u Hie ver assiduum atque albinis mensibus aestas " Bis gravida pecudcs, bis pomis utilis arbos." GEORG. 3. Thus the ancients represented the Elysian fields ; and also in the holy writings, in order to convey some idea of the felicity of the hea venly Jerusalem, it is said, that there is no heat nor cold. Torquemada, who was an European, speak- of the diocese of Angelopoli, which particu larly yields much wheat, and where he resi ded many years, says, that in the same sea son of the year, you may see one crop ri pening, another gathering, one yet green and another sowing, and the land yields from 80 106 to loo for one, which evidently demonstrates its great fertility. Molina, in his history of Chili, says, the land yields 150 for one. Clavi- gero, speaking of Mexico, observes, pears and .peaches are so plentiful in New Spain, that they are sold by twenties for the smallest coin current, and not exceeding two -pence of our money. They have fifty species of pears, and twelve of peaches, some of which weigh a Spanish pound. The apricots, cherries, and quinces are proportionably plentiful and rich in flavour in short, they have all the fruits, grains, herbs, and flowers which have been transplanted thither, besides the variety of their own indigenous plants and fruits ; and their markets are supplied with the one or the other all the year round. Acosta, speaking of New Spain, says, there are whole woods of Acacia, which yields the true Arabian gum ; but, from its plenty it is not sufficiently valued. There are besides, bal sam, incense, copal of many species, liquid amber, tecamaca, oil of fir, and many other juices, valuable for their fragrant odours, and medicinal virtues. The conqueror, Cortes, was accused by hisrivals, to Charles the V. of hav ing used for the palace he had built in Mexico, 7000 beams of cedar, and he excused himself, 107 by saying, that it was the common wood of the country. When we come to draw a comparison be tween the fertility of Europe with America, the preference must be decidedly in favour of the latter, if we judge from analogy and the original fruits each could boast. The trees in America are extremely lofty, the fruits nutri tive, varied and numerous ; w^hereas Italy, which we consider the garden of Europe, had only primitively acorns, almost every other fruit being exotic, and for this reason, Pliny said, that men first fed on acorns ; not but that in Spain they are choice eating. Busching, in his geography, says, that Italy received its fruits from Greece, Asia, and Africa. The apricot came first from Epirus, the pear from Alexandria, Numidia, and Greece, the lemon and orange from Media, Assyria, and Persia, the fig from Asia, the pomgranate from Carthage, the chesnut from Catania, almonds from Asia, the walnut from Persia, filberts from Pontus, olives from Cy prus, plums from Armenia, the peach from Persia, quinces from Sidonia in Candia, &c. But yet the musas, cocoas, ananas, chirimoyas, mameys, chicozapotes, zapotes corosoles, sa- potillos, alligator pears, caimitos, guana- 108 vanas, guavas, papaya or Indian fig as large as a melon, araisgan, escobon, cashew fruit, ginas, algarobas, the cayuco, a yellow fruit extremely juicy, and which quenches thirst ; and a variety of others, and the native fruits of that country, would make an advan tageous contrast with the productions of the European or any other continent, in medicinal uses, colouring, and fine tints, luxuriance of foliage, fragrance of odour, or richness of taste. BufFon, in his natural history, enumerates 200 species of quadrupeds, of which 13O be long to the old continent, and /o to the new. A more accurate survey of this prolific world has, however, convinced us, that this position is perfectly false, and that both the preceding author and his copyist, with regard to Ame* rica, may justly be accused of insufficiency of arguments and rashness of censure. A learned writer on this country, has taken great pains to reduce to order, the confusion of BufFon, and has reckoned in his catalogue 102, besides 40 which were unknown to that naturalist, in addition to all those which have been taken thither from Europe, and which have thriven and increased with wonderful rapidity. This would therefore strongly sup- log port the assertion that the new world is by no means backward, when compared with the old, in animal as well as vegetable productions. The tyger, lion, and panther are found, and appear to have lost nothing in point of ferocity from the mildness of the climate, for they are as much the terror of the American, as of the African woods. The wolves are strong and bold like those of the old continent ; the deer is equally fleet, and the stag even dangerous, from being more daring. The Mexican cro codile is found seven paces long. The rabbit is common in Mexico, though denied by Buf- fon, yet it is one of the four characters of their year, and its fur was woven into dresses for their chiefs. The hare has also the same range as in Europe. The Aleo is of the size of a horse, and like him, has been used in the chariot. The bears of Mexico, are black and extremely fierce ; and there is a dog called cibola, which is trained to carry burthens. They have several quadrupeds which have jcales instead of hair. Amongst the most in teresting of the quadrupeds, is the Llama, or as we ought to pronounce it the Lyama from the liquidated/, and of the Spaniards. They call it carnus, or the Peruvian ram. It is a beast of burthen, sure-footed, and easily fed ; 110 its meat is eaten ; it appears an intermediate species between the sheep and camel. Its hair is coarse and straight, and difficult to- work up into threads. The vicuna, which is a more delicate species of the same animal, has a fine soft wool, known in Spain, and also France, where it is called vigoine, but the animal no more mixes with the preceding kind, or with the paco, or quanaco, which are also coarse species of the same quadruped, than does the dog with the wolf, though of the same family. The vicuna is the domesticated animal, found in herds like our sheep. The wool of all the four animals, is finest under the belly, and the natural colour of the vicunas is a light brown, and the cloth has the soft touch of silk. The ant-killer is of a singular species, has scales on its back, but no teeth, though provided by nature with a lorfg tongue, by which it easily acquires its food. To detail the other native species, would be a diffuse labour, only inter esting to the naturalist. Birds are extremely varied and numerous ; amongst them is a species of ostrich, but it differs from that of Africa, and has four dis tinct toes united with a membrane. The Mexican falcons were much esteemed by the , kings of Spain ; the vultures are of a size and Ill courage to overcome a ram. Their many singing birds are unknown in Europe, though mention has been made by Barrington, vice-president of the Royal Society of London, of the polyglot, whi.ch counterfeited in the space of a single minute, the notes of the lark, chaffinch, blackbird, and thrush. Of this family, there is a numerous catalogue. Progressively as this country attains a higher degree of interest, in proportion as the Spanish language becomes more general, and intercourse better established, we shall be enabled to judge of its merits, and shall be made acquainted with authors hitherto scarce ly known to us, who have described it ; amongst them, Garcilaso, Peralta, Pinelo, and Calincha, will not be overlooked. If we have ransacked the archives of Asia and Italy, for researches and antiquities, we shall find others in South America equally deserving the notice of the cognoscenti. There may come a time, when the English nobleman of fortune and science, may roam over these regions to explore the fragments of Peruvian and Mexi can antiquity, painting, and sculpture ; pon der over the sublime works of nature, or analyze her varied productions. Though more than three centuries have elapsed since its dis- 112 co very, it is still a new world in the annals of history and literature ; for owing to our con fined knowledge of what has been collected, to our ignorance of what yet remains to ex plore, and to the polluted sources in which we have had to dip for what information we have acquired, even in this advanced age of scientific and political improvement, we have nothing but unfinished sketches, without defi nite features and true colouring, to serve as the basis of our study and opinions. It has been the policy of Spain hitherto to deny licences for foreigners to reside in her colonies, nor have permissions to travel been granted that have not had for ostensible object, researches in natural history. Of these, the French have fully availed themselves to obtain the most express and accurate knowledge of the real state of the country ; labours which their government has singularly encouraged and upheld. " From the commencement of the revolu tion," says a recent political writer, " emis saries have been scattered over Europe," (and he might have added America) " in order to study and delineate its geographical face. The harvest of their labours, now deposited in Paris, has furnished the imperial government 113 with a knowledge of the territory of the other powers, much more minute and accurate than that which the latter themselves possess. The depot de la guerre occupies, unremitting ly, several hundred clerks in tracing maps, and collecting topographical details, to minis ter to the military purposes of the government. All the great estates of Spain were marked and parcelled out long before the last invasion of that country ; and it is not too much to affirm, that those of England are equally well known, and already partitioned." Can we then presume, that the mines, riches, and re sources of this interesting continent have been omitted in the general calculation ? There is a period when fashion, as well as interest and rivalry, impels a nation to the enterprise of conquest ; and a general excite ment of curiosity makes them view the te nure of distant possessions through the mag nifying lens of ambition. In England it was once the rage to share in schemes ; to possess and colonize North America, then China. Afterwards in France, Egypt became a fashion able object ; then every thing was a la Egyp- tienne ; next St. Domingo, when all was a la Creole, a la Leclerc ; now it is a la Peru- vienne, a la Humboldt : for, from the descrip- VOL. IT, I 114 tions which have fallen from the pen of this celebrated writer and his companion, it is not strange that Napoleon should have an itching to possess such a continent ; colonies he al ways sighed for, and like Alexander, to whom his votaries have most compared him, it is not singular that he should now weep that he cannot thither extend his conquests, and have another continent to subjugate. It is the property of ambition to grasp at what is apparently beyond human reach ; and the par ticular passion of the present hero of France, is to usurp what is not his own ; but here he thinks thatlie has a right, that the abdication of Charles IV. has given him a claim which his enemies alone can dispute ; and that the title of King of Spain is not complete with out the accompaniment of the Indies, CHAPTER XX. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE COUNCIL OF THE INDIES, &C. BESIDES the superior means of distributive justice, and the representation of the crown, which we have already remarked, is lodged with the respective viceroys, captains-gene ral, and governors, there are assistant coun cils for the civil government, and police, formed by alcaldes and regidores, (municipal of ficers) who unite into a cabildo ; but these offices are too much within the gift of favour, and descend by hereditary claim, nay, are often bought and sold. Election, which alone can form the legal representation of the wishes and rights of a people, seems to constitute no part of their system. There are, moreover, thirteen audiencias, or superior courts of appeal, which, besides ju dicial authority, have the attribute of defenders of the public good, and supporters of the royal prerogative. Their seals are at Mexico, Guadalaxara, Guatemala, Cuba, (having in i 2 116 its district and jurisdiction Puerto Rico, and Hispanola) Lima, Charcas, Chili, Santa Fe 5 Quito, Buenos Ayres, Caracas, Cusco, and the Philippine islands. The governor of the province where these tribunals are held, is considered by right as president, but only takes his seat on particular occasions. The members have a fixed salary from the crown, extremely limited, and in adequate to the dignity of judges, which makes them the more accessible to presents, notwith standing the theoretical punishments against venality. The number of members is exclu sively filled up out of Europeans, from a sys tem of policy in the government at home ; and the greatest eye-sore that now offends the Creoles, at least that which breeds the most cabal, is their non-admission into these tribunals. Indeed it is not just that those born in the country, who frequently surpass the others both in morality, science, and juris prudence, and who naturally possess more local patriotism, should have to plod the whole of their lives at the bar without rising to a seat on the bench ; and as it is the law cha racters who are thus excluded, as being nume rous and powerful, from their possessing more abilities than the other classes of citi- 11? sens, their contention is the more dangerous, and this mistaken policy is attended with more pernicious effect ; nay, it even descends to pique and animosity, and is at present the principal leaven of discontent. During the venal administration of Godoy also, many half-starved adventurers were sent out, who have rendered themselves obnoxious by their rapacity and intrigue, and have entered into precedency by dint of favour, without the consideration of merit. Till a radical reform is effected on this head, it will be ever the source of dispute, and the parent of continual dissension ; for it is impossible for the equally meritorious Creole to put up with the indigni ties with which he is sometimes marked, or with the preference by which he is excluded from the representation of his own ccuntry, and a share in the enactment of lav, ^ to which he has to yield obedience. Whilst in session and cojlec.jd, the mem bers of the audiencia are a:! iressed by the title of Alteza (highness) rs .presenting the person of the king in a : / ; they can re monstrate with the governor or viceroy on any act which they cons^ as unjust, but having no command or foiv ; uphold them, they cannot compel redres . ^ 4 J only have it 118 in their power to report the case home, and there sue for an appeal. Of all the branches that form the general form of government in Spain, debased as it has been, at least of late years, perhaps the administration of her colonies abroad has been the least corrupt ; nor has it been exercised over the worst of her subjects. We have before laid down, that religion, aided by the precepts of morality, have much contributed to extend and maintain the royal authority, particularly amongst the Indians ; and it is a spring which policy has put in motion with the happiest effect. An equipoise being also established between the audiencias, the chiefs or governors, who immediately re present their sovereign, and the municipal body (or cabildos) who are formed of the na tives, gives a degree of security to the con dition of the individual in society, and serves as a guardian against abusive power. Their constitutions, however, are very un like those by which England governs her colonies, particularly Jamaica ; the rights of the individual are not well defined, and re dress is difficult from such a distant appeal to the throne. Their government appears found ed on detached regulations and decrees, emit- 110 ted at different periods, sometimes repealed or limited in their execution ; whence arises a confusion that little accords with what the regular legislator is accustomed to. Nothing, not even the cabildo, is elective, nor are the people a party to the laws ; of this indeed, excepting the better classes in the large cities, they appear incapable, from their want of in formation, and as is the case in Spain, this system seems opposed to their frame and mode of legislation. With all these defects, however, if good and upright men had always been the execu tors of the laws, much happier results would have ensued ; some of the local resources would now be in a state of progressive im provement, and the country would be better organized ; for it has been aptly observed by the greatest colonist we ever had, that good laws do well; but good administrators do better. Had these settlements, however, been go verned by the same institutions as the mother country, and had the same general debase ment existed, they would long ago have pre sented a more lamentable picture of anarchy and faction than Spain now does, and have been equally exposed to fore ign danger. 120 Their code of laws, called las leyes de las Indias, is by far the best part of their juris prudence, and if their application could have been adapted to, and aided by, a local represen tative legislation, their advantages would not have been speculative but real ; the country would have been bettered, and even their bond to the mother country strengthened. In the council of the Indies, one of the most considerable in the monarchy for dignity and power, is vested the supreme govern ment of all the Spanish dominions in Ame rica.- It was first established by Ferdinand, in the year 1511, and brought into a more perfect form by Charles the Fifth, in the year 1524. Its jurisdiction extends to every department; ecclesiastical, civil, military, arid commercial. All laws and ordinances relative to the government and police of the colonies origi nate there, and must be approved of by two- thirds of the members, before they are issued in the name of the king. All the offices, of which the nomination is reserved to the crown, are conferred in this council. To it, each person employed in America from the viceroy downwards, is accountable. 121 It reviews their conduct, rewards their services, and inflicts the punishments due to their malversations and bad administrations. Before it is laid whatever intelligence, either public, private, or secret, is received from America, and every scheme of improving the administration, the police, or the commerce of the colonies is submitted to its considera tion. From the first institution of the* Council of the Indies, it has been the constant object of the catholic monarchs to maintain its au thority, and to make such additions from time to time both to its power and to its splendour, as might render it formidable to all their sub jects in the new world. Whatever degree of public order and virtue exists in that country, may be ascribed to the wise regulations and vigilant inspection of this most respectable tribunal. As the king is supposed to be always present in his coun cil of the Indies, its meetings are held in the place where the king resides. The supreme administration of the whole transatlantic affairs, therefore, was lodged, from the early date of 1511, with the council of the Indies, that formed part of the court at home, and by them all laws were enacted and repealed. Few countries have presented 122 us with a better organization than the one adopted in this board ; for besides being form ed of the most enlightened and independent characters, a seat in it has- always been con sidered as the most honourable reward lo be stow on merit, and was principally reserved for such experienced persons as had distin guished themselves in civil employments in America > so that its members generally car ried with them a knowledge of that country for which they were to enact laws, and see them executed ; but its distance from the do minions for which it was adapted, nearly de stroyed the good effects that might have re sulted, for an appeal could scarcely be carried across the seas, particularly if the sufferer was a poor man. The council of the Indies has been never theless uniformly remarked for its great in tegrity, wisdom, and experience ; and, as we have before noticed, its competency extended to all appeals in transatlantic cases and legis lation ; its decisions were by a plurality of voices, excepting the revocation and enaction of laws, which were not constitutional, unless the vote was carried by two-thirds. It super intended the police of the respective colonial courts of judicature, the military, finances, 123 commerce, &c. and had the proposing of the principal civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries, but the definitive nomination and confirmation rested with the king. The late minister of Charles the IV. has, indeed, sometimes intruded his favourites to distinguished places of rank abroad, some of whom even still continue there, and has con ferred privileges that exposed the depravity with which they were obtained. Such was that of the Count de Jaruco, in the Havarmah, for the introduction of flour ; and such were several others, equally attended by monopoly, and opposed to the interests of the nation. But these were not the most sacred rights he trampled upon ; neither was the species of intrigue with which they were purchased, unknown to the people at large, nor did it fail to create a general sentiment of disgust. This is not, however, a sweeping charge against that body of men, who are invested with the superintendance of a certain admi nistrative-branch, having at the same time to struggle against a king and -minister, from whom they derive their own representative authority. They could not always withstand what they were too judicious not to disap prove, and too patriotic not to deplore as ini- 124 mical to the interests of the community at large. The theory of laws has ever been purer in all countries, than their administration, but more particularly so in Spain. The loss of that energy and direction, that have always signalized this nevertheless useful and expe rienced body of men, will, it is to be fear ed, be to the colonies and distant settle ments of Spain, as distressing as the loss of the nurse is to the infant in leading strings, unless it be replaced by some powerful equiva lent. The constitution of the Indies, if such it may be called, appears to have endeavoured as much as possible, to detach the governors of the respective provinces from the country they governed, by depriving them of those ties that might be opposed to the impartial and disinterested administration of justice, and un biassed exercise of their functions ; and they were placed under many restrictions. By express enaction, they are forbidden to hold any property beyond four slaves, consi dered sufficient to attend on their persons ; neither they nor their children can marry within their own jurisdiction ; it is prescribed to them, not to go to weddings and burials. 125 nor to become godfathers to any infants, par ticularly of the Indians. They are nominated for seven years, at the expiration of which time, they return home, to render an account of their administration, before the Council of the Indies, who have a kind of representative, locally prepared, who avows his authority when the time of the governor has expired, by opening a kind of court of inquiry, when all persons, particularly the natives who have suf fered any vexations, or have any causes of com plaint, are, by public proclamation, invited to forward statements of their respective cases, for the purposes of obtaining redress, and aiding to scrutinize the past conduct of the superseded chief. If any acts of injustice or infraction are proved against them, they are often fined sums of money ; frequently they are ordered to refund unjust exactions and contributions ; and there has been a striking instance of this in a late governor of Puerto Rico. So rigid is the letter of the law on this head, that an ex- governor cannot rise to a new dignity, unless he can produce a certificate to the constituting authority, that the administration of his last office has been perfectly satisfactory, and that nothing can be alleged against him. We cannot, however, affirm, that the happy ef- fects of this prudent regimen, have always- answered the views proposed by the legislator ; the acquirement of riches often cloaked the irregularities of office ; nor, on the other hand, can it be denied, that it has much assisted to check the ill effects and abuse of discretionary power, and restrain it within the bounds of right and justice. Besides the governor, who is at the head of the civil and military, in all the Spanish settle ments there is an intendant, who is indepen dent of the other authorities, and is particular ly charged with the fiscal and financial con cerns of his province, which are immediately under his control. This charge includes the department analogous to our own commis sariat, as it comprehends all the purchases made on account of government, and the funds paid for its support. The duration of the office is limited to five years. In all liti gious affairs, regarding the administration, the intendant is assisted by a law officer, called the assessor of finance ; and the sentence, on his decision, is pronounced. All cases of con traband, captures, or confiscations, are within his jurisdiction ; an appeal from his sentence can, however, be made before the superior assembly of finances, of which he is president^ 127 assisted by the regent of the court of audience, the fiscal, the auditor of accounts, and the treasurer. Agriculture, commerce, and navigation, are under the control and protection of the inten- dant ; he is the judge appellant in all cases brought before him from the board of trade ; has a guard at his door, and receives military honours. The pickings of this office are very considerable. The signatures of the treasurer and auditor of accounts, are necessary for the payment of all public sums ; they give securities for the exercise of their functions, and are supposed each to have a separate key to the general chest. The law prescribes them many restrictions, which all have a tendency to deprive them of preference, and of any connivance that may so tend to the abuse or dissipation of the funds committed to their charge. In addition to these, there is a great number of different au ditors of accounts, which renders the financial administration in a Spanish country, com plex beyond imagination, and multiplies the offices to a degree greatly exceeding the con fined receipt of public revenue. The king of Spain raises locally in America, a very considerable revenue out of the duties 128 of Alcavala, called provincial rents, because they are farmed out. This is a tax, or duty, fixed at the rate of two per cent, on the sale of all home produce and manufacturers, on slaves, houses and property ; and six per cent, on the sales of all foreign goods ; it is paid each time the property is changed, and is not rated at the prime cost, but at the selling price of the article. This is called the Indian revenue, and in New Spain is equal to seven millions annually ; but, were it carried into full effect, and rigidly enforced, it would amount to considerably more. This duty, both in Spain and her possessions abroad, is one of the greatest possible impedi ments to agricultural and commercial pursuits, and gives a great local increase of value to the articles of first necessity, before they come to the consumer, on whom the added charges eventually fall. To this are added, the griev ance of domiciliary visits, and the disagree able altercations with the farmers of the duty, who often proceed to seizure and exaction, and behave in a dishonest and vexatious way. The article in its raw state, pays the first, and when manufactured, a second time. The Indian revenue is not, however, in cluded in the king s profits and benefits, arising 129 from custom-houses, mines, &c. and sent over* to Europe, but is expended locally on the re pairs of forts, and other public works, and in support of the army kept in Peru, Mexico, and the other provinces and islands, as well to keep them in awe and subjection, as to repel the attacks of a foreign foe. All officers and soldiers under the Spanish crown, in service abroad, receive double pay. This revenue also, by express decree, contributes to the maintenance of several men of war, which are intended for the protection of the coasts, also the guardias costas, to prevent smuggling, and to seize and make prizes of vessels that may be found hovering about their shores, with pro hibited commodities on board. It also pays a variety of revenue officers, tide-waiters, &c. It further goes to the payment of the salaries of viceroys and captains-general, which are all fixed by law. This duty, still existing in Spain, dates from the year 1342, and was then granted by the people to the king, to aid him in carrying on war against the Moors, but has since been retained by the successors to the crown, as a royal prerogative, extended to the Indies, and there exacted and appropriated in the above way. The concession of this grant was originally limited ; but there is no trace VOL. IT, K. ISO in the Spanish history of any wish or attempt,, on the part of the people, to abrogate or annul it ; and the tacit consent of the nation appears to have classed it with those imposts which every sovereign is authorized to raise for the defence, tranquillity, and administration of his state. It has now, indeed, received the legal sanction of antiquity, having been in force for upwards of five centuries, but it was not ex tended to the provinces of Spanish America till long after their conquest, and was un known even in Mexico till 15/4, and in Peru till 1501. From two per cent, it has been oc casionally raised to five, according to the exi gencies of the state> and it still exists at that rate in Caracas, in w^hich province it yields 450,000 dollars annually. The shop of the re tailer is assessed every year, and on that as sessment he pays the sum exacted. In the kingdom of New Spain it has been raised to six per cent, at which rate it now stands. In Hispanola, since the capture from the French, it has not bee:n enforced. Besides the first duty exacted on all goods landed at the custom-house, and called almox- arifasgo, which is equal to fifteen per cent, there is a contribution of two per cent, called corso, and another of three per cent. 131 called consulado. The first is the king s royal duty ; the second goes to the maintenance of the ships of war kept for the protection of the coasts ; and the third to the payment of those employed in the board of trade. The many forms, regulations, and different offices, make it extremely embarrassing to the foreign mer chant in entering and clearing a vessel ; and in. case of any commercial treaty with these pos sessions, it will be of consequence to cover all duties by a defined and fixed per centage, paid on the arrival at the custom-house, by which great difficulties and impediments would be avoided. It will also be of consequence for Englishmen to be exempt from the droit d au- baine, by which the property of one dying in testate goes to the crown, depriving the heirs of their inheritance. The collection of such property ought to be in charge of the national agent, or representative. The tythes are computed at ten per cent, on all territorial productions and cattle, wool, &c. excepting indigo and coffee, which only pay five per cent. ; an indulgence granted to these articles, from their preparation being expensive. The administration of this duty belongs to the episcopal see, but its amount is K 2 132 thus subdivided : The king receives one- ninth, the bishop four-ninths, the general body of the clergy three-ninths, and the other one-ninth goes to keep the churches in repair, or is added to the support of hospitals for the poor. The stamp paper is a large coarse sheet with a printed stamp, of which there are three kinds, the smallest costs per sheet one six teenth of a dollar, and the third half a dollar. The use of this paper is necessary to the le gality of all acts, such as sales, protests, law proceedings, &c. ; but receipts can be given on common paper. The revenue of this tax from the whole Spanish main, is generally estimated at a million of dollars. The king receives the fifth of all ores found in the country, besides an allowance for coining, for which there are four mints, viz. at Potosi, Mexico, Santa F, and Lima ; and the name of the place where the piece is coined is stamped in abbreviation on the reverse. It would be difficult on many accounts to give a correct statement of the sums coined annually in each place ; but notwithstanding the little industry and the want of machinery, in 1790 Lima coined five millions and a half of dol lars, which is supposed to be considerably 133 the smallest quantum of any of the other mints. That coined in Mexico surpasses seven millions annually. The annual consumption of goods of all kinds in Spanish America is computed at six ty-two millions of dollars, equal to between thirteen and fourteen millions sterling, and this would be considerably increased if industry was more general, and the means of paying for sup plies proportionally augmented. The exports in produce consisting of articles of the first uti lity to a manufacturing country, and the best suited, as may be seen by the appendix (E) of Vol. I. amount to twenty-eight millions an nually, which, added to the value of coined money computed annually at thirty-six mil lions, gives it a decided advantage over all countries in paying for the articles it con sumes, and makes its trade of the greatest consequence. Diamonds of an excellent qua lity are found in many parts of the Spanish main, but not having been attended to with that care they deserve, they are not produced in that abundance which the country can af ford. The Brazils of the Portuguese are how ever interesting in this article ; the appendix {B) contains a list of the most famous dia- 134 monds which those regions have produced to the world. The use of bulls, which were originally granted by the popes to their catholic majes ties for their dominions, had for object, the raising certain sums for the purposes of de^ fraying the expenses of the wars waged against infidels whom they could not otherwise re claim to the faith of Christianity, and the dis possessing them of the Holy Land. This establishment has, however, continued in the Spanish countries ; and has been extended regularly to America. These bulls, of which there are a variety, and of different prices^ according to the rank of the person who ob tains them, and whose name must be in scribed in the body of the certificate, are sold in a particular office. Thus, a poor man pays two rials for one ; the merchants, the clergy, and those of the second class of society two dollars ; a nobleman or bishop four dollars., and a viceroy or cap tain -general fifteen. These bulls grant exemptions from fasting on certain days and in lent, with a variety of other indulgences, which it would be useless to detail. They are renewed annually, are printed in Rome and sent out ; the revenue 135 goes to the king, is very considerable, but we are not in possession of any statements of its exact general amount, though supposed to equal a revenue of four millions of dollars. All military and marine officers are exempted by law from the necessity of having the bulls. The most considerable revenue, however, the king of Spain obtains from his possessions abroad in any one branch, is that arising from the exclusive sale of tobacco consumed in the country. In each province there is an ad ministrator-general of tobacco, who has und^r him officers who reside in all the towns, called Estanqueros, who have a store over which they exhibit the king s arms, and here only this article can be bought, as well as playing cards, on which also there is a duty. To grow this article it was necessary for the planter to have an express licence from the administrator ; and the grounds could not be distant, as that would be favourable to smuggling, to impede which, guards weresta- tioned* The crop was deposited in the king s stores, and paid for at a certain valuation. The sale of this article to the consumers is generally at prices more than triple its real value ; from which, in a country where to- "bacco is so great a luxury, and almost used by 136 all ages of each sex, we may easily conceive that notwithstanding the malversation of the officers, who generally make fortunes from the many means they have in their power either by report of averages on such a perisha ble article, loss of weight, &c. a great income is annually lodged in the treasury. The province of Caracas only yields 700,000 dol lars, but the whole united provinces afford more than six millions net* It will therefore be easily concluded that all these institutions have tended principally to counterpoise the too great preponderance of authority and the undue influence of force, at a distance from the centre from whence it springs ; that they are indeed drawn up by the hand of experience, and adapted to coun teract instances of oppression that have ex isted formerly, yet the foresight of the legis lator seems to have extended no further. That such has been the scope of their general views will appear also evident ; nor was it less their hope that they would thus cement the relations of the metropolis with her colonies ; but the genius of their laws has not been adapted or extended to their improvement ; it has not bettered the condition of the people, nor turned to national account the resources of 137 the country, by giving its inhabitants a civil and political existence, and by displaying that maternal care which belongs to a provident government. The common people of South America, ex clusive of the Indians, who are not incorporated with the population of the cities, besides being more enlightened, are in possession of more sources of information than those of Spain : un shackled, in some degree, by the thraldom of the illiberal bigot in power, works are to be found in the hands of the opulent, which, in Spain, it would once have been next to treason to have had in one s possession. The works of Raynal and St. Pierre are not uncommon on the main, besides a variety of other philoso phic and learned works, which seem to have been left there, by the many French literati, who have, at different periods, travelled in the country, particularly by those academicians who have gone over to make observations on several points, and to report on the possibility of cutting the Isthmus of Panama, to unite the South Sea, with the Western Ocean. Though the circulation of newspapers is not so general as might be wished, and the reading of them appears to the plebeian a kind of pri vilege only reserved to the higher classes, still 138 intelligence takes a kind of, wing; one who gets hold of an European occurrence, of conse quence, writes the whole to his friend in the in terior, and though they have no coffee -houses, or places of general resort, they assemble at the apothecary s shop, as they would at an ex change ; the written fragment is produced and discussed by the curate, friar, doctor, and barber, and then circulates to the other classes, with a variety of modifications and comments. The transactions of the rriother country have tended much to give edge to political discussion, and each has moaned over her wrongs, and formed his conjectures on her future fate. It is not unfrequent in the Indian towns, to see a reverend clergyman collect a circle of hearers, and give a detail of what has passed in Euro pean Spain. He begins, by representing the hor rors of a corrupt and abject administration of a nation, undermined by machinations that have poisoned its vitals, exhausted its resources, and divided its force, the better to overcome it. He then declaims on the views of an ally to invade a country, he had already usurped by the em pire of cabal and intrigue. The French he never fails to reproach for the loss of Trinidad, Lou isiana, St. Domingo, and the states of Parma ; 139 for the dethroning of that branch of the royal family that governed the two Sicilies ; for the sacrifice of their treasure to support impious wars, instead of redeeming the public credit of the crown ; for the loss of their fleets ; for the stagnation of trade ; for that general state of bankruptcy, to which the nation verged ; and to crown all, for the depriving them of the sa cred persons of their sovereigns ; for reducing their country to a state of desolation, anarchy, and horror ; for leaving it a prey to political fever, and the convulsions of delirium ; and for driving its people to the situation of orphans, and then treating the impulse "of national honour, as barbarous and stupid, and the love of a rightful sovereign, as perjury and insurrec tion. He pictures to them, their enemies trampling on their constitution, rights, and laws; promising to them happiness and regenera tion, and holding out to them a new throne, to which they are to bend, founded on the yet smoking ruins of their cities, properties, and national existence, and sanctioning all with the name of a God, whose temples they have pro faned, whose religion and morality they have dashed to the ground. In similar words do we often also witness sentiments from the pulpit, which tend to keep alive a national odium, and thirst for revenge. 140 CHAPTER XXL NEGRO SLAVES, A CONSIDERABLE impediment to the pro gress of culture in Spanish possessions, is the great number of feast days that interfere with the labours of the field, and the lax regimen by which working slaves are governed. Their masters, who have not grounds of their own to till, suffer them to hire themselves out, and are contented at night to receive at the rate of two rials, per day, without ever caring how the negro has been employed to earn them; whether he obtained this stipend honestly, how he is clothed and fed, or how he spends his time ; and this licence, in the females par ticularly, is attended with every species of de bauchery. The Spaniard is generally represented to us, as a tyranically severe master, but this is by no means a true portrait. In Spanish American settlements the masters are humane, frequently 141 in the extreme, and the indulgences which negroes enjoy, are not altogether congenial to their characters and habits. Constitutions suited to their government and manners, which define the duty of the master to his bonds man, reciprocally, have been established by the English and the French ; and the code noir of the latter is certainly analogous to all the stages in which both parties may be placed ; but the Spaniards appear to have made very imperfect regulations on this head ; what exists, is an assemblage of exemptions and regulations, in which humanity more than policy has been attended to. The condition and treatment of this class of beings in the West Indies, is a subject which has so lately interested the feelings of many of the most able orators in this kingdom, that to enter at large into its details, would be a su- perflous task ; in the eye of the philosopher bondage will ever be considered as an evil, though palliated b y policy in the eyes of the statesman, who views it as inseparably con nected with the prosperity of trade. But, though an evil, and of magnitude, which the dictates of legislation have stayed by the in terposition of power, it is perhaps less so than the European is generally aware of, and one 142 which it would be extremely dangerous to re-* move altogether, without first preparing the members who are to receive perfect freedom, by enabling them to support the rank, and dis charge the duties of social men. The horrors of so rash an attempt, in the French settle ments, may be quoted as forcible example. The feeling mind, indeed, revolts at the idea of a wretch dependent on the will and caprice of a master, who toils without a con soling hope of ever sharing the smallest part of the harvest he collects ; but though some abuses may occasionally occur, the general treatment at present does not deserve that picture of misery, degradation, and oppres sion, which argument has often pencilled out ; and the meliorations of late years have certainly brightened many of its darkest shades ; in the colonies, the slave is now, by law, protected from insult and wanton seve rity. The Spaniards descend to great familiarity with their slaves, and instead of infusing into them the doctrines of sound morality and practical virtue, are contented to teach them a string of prayers, the object of which they sel dom explain, and which they learn to articu late by force of habit. Their rations are ge~ 143 nerally too limited, and inadequate to the fatigue of labour ; and without the adventitious supply which they are enabled to collect from their own gardens, in a country where nature is so bountiful, they wouldfail to satisfy even her common wants. It must also be confess ed, that they are too frequently neglected in sickness and in point of clothing ; they are denied the luxury, or comfort rather, of a roll of tobacco, unless reared by themselves, which is easily done ; a skin, or hammock woven by themselves, forms their bed, yet, in this par ticular they fare little w r orse than many of their masters ; though denied these subordinate con veniences, they are allowed a much greater surplus of time to procure them, and enjoy more indulgences than the slaves of any other nation, and this may be considered as a good equivalent. The greatest proportion of African slaves are met with in what are now called the east* ern provinces, viz. Caracas, and those border ing on it, where the population is on this scale : the whites form two tenths, the slaves three, de scendants of slaves now emancipated, and mix tures, four tenths ; and the Indians the rest. In the other provinces they bear a very small ratio. A slave has the right ot redemption ; and in 144 any dispute with his master, has the privilege of choosing an arbitrator. If he be not con tented to live in the servitude of a particular person, by whom he may be ill treated ; and can produce sufficient motives, and another purchaser, the law obliges the master to make the transfer ; or if he has had sufficient indus try and economy to have amassed the stipu lated sum of 300 dollars, he can demand his freedom, by refunding his purchase money ; a regulation which, though good in many cases, is often attended with abuses ; for the means of procuring the amount are sometimes illegal, and the master loses one of his best workmen, whom he has taken perhaps great pains to teach the secrets of his profession. This is the reason why so many of the me chanics are of this class of persons. In cases of being maimed, or otherwise disfigured, a less sum is fixed by the alcalde, but the owner cannot demand more than the law stipulates, let the talents of the slave be ever so great. They have certain commissaries, or justices of the peace, to recur to in cases of ill treat ment. By the Spanish laws, it is forbidden to import Africans into their own colonies direct from Guinea ; as being opposed to their re ligion ; but they are purchased readily from 145 the neutrals, who formerly supplied them. Lately, however, Cuba finding a cessation of this trade adverse to the progress of their works, has formed several successful expedi tions to go in search of negroes ; but the Por tuguese, since the emigration to the Brazils, considerably exceed them. By the Spanish municipal laws, all produce exported to pur chase slaves in the neighbouring islands is free of duty. j There exists, as in other colonies, a ge neral debasement of sexual intercourse, and often the master has a croud of little mulatto slaves, who surround his dwelling, sprung from his own loins. Thus, too often, the natural guardian of their morals, is he who plunges them into scenes of vice, which are perpetuated to the generations that succeed. Emancipation is frequently the incentive to this dissoluteness of manners, and generally grounds the bargain in the seduction of a fe male youth. The price affixed by law, for the redemption of a female is 250 dollars ; her infant unborn, ceases to be the property of the owner, by the deposit of 100 rials of plate, and after birth by that of 25 dollars. This is a very different rule to what the French origin ally followed in their colonies ; for the posses- VOL. ii. L 146 sor gives freedom to a slave, besides his which seldom was less than 2,ooo francs, was obliged previously, to pay to government 150 dollars, and then enter into bonds before the court, that the servant thus emancipated. would not become a burthen to the parish. Piety, also, amongst the Spaniards, places the emancipation of slaves, amongst the most ac ceptable offerings to the Divinity, and some times forming the condition of a testament, deprives a successor of an inheritance. It is generally reserved to the last moments of life, serves to smooth the pillow of death, and give anticipation of a happy exit. The Romans made enfranchisement in some measure partial ; there was imposed the obli gations of having the head shaved, and wear ing a cap ; political rights were, during the life of the freed man, withheld from him, and a degree of training in the school of social life, became necessary ; but this exclusion did not descend to the offspring. In the Spanish colo nies, however, they become equal citizens of the state ; serve in the militias, enjoy the same rights as those born free, with few ex ceptions, that have more the tincture of punc tilious etiquette, than of constitutional priva tion, such as not. being permitted to kneel on 147 a carpet at church, to take clerical orders, to rise to any military rant beyond a captain, or to have Indians in their service. But dispen sations from the crown can wipe away even, the stains of African blood, and place it on an equal scale of society with perfect whites ; and the man who then publicly reproaches them with the traces of their origin, however re mote, becomes subject to the prosecution of the law. There is no class of men so litigious as the Spaniards in general, but particularly in South America. The process of law, except in com mercial cases, is extremely complicated, slow, and expensive, and one might well adapt to them the celebrated motto of the four P s, in scribed over an hall of audience in France, to signify, "Pauvre plaideur, prenez pat ience" Their lawyers do not plead before the bench extempore, but read a writing or memo rial previously drawn up, and paid for at so much per sheet, at the next sitting it is answered, and then the two writings are deli vered in to the judges ; but when the me morials are too long, there is an intermediate character, called the relator, who abridges them. The courts of law are not only recurred to, L 2 148 as a means of recovering a right, and redress ing a point of jurisprudence ; but also very fre quently of establishing damages for some tres pass of etiquette or prerogative. In many such instances, a personal contest would best suit the parties, who, in those cases, mix much acrimony in their litigation. The plaintiff can refuse, as legal umpire, any judge who has the most distant alliance with the defendant, and so vice versa ; also, if any former quarrel has existed between the judges and parties ; or if any odium should be known publicly to exist amongst them, or their ancestors. Their criminal laws are, perhaps^ the most remiss and defective possible ; for even a murder, however atrocious, does not excite that degree of active zeal on the part of the police and the good citizen, to discover the perpetrator, and bring him to condign punish ment, as the nature of the crime would de mand. They have no coroner s inquest. Sanctuary is still open to the assassin in con secrated places, and this too often operates as the means of flight. It appears strange that this custom still exists, and is defended by the clergy with a degree of ill-placed pertinacy, repulsive to the feelings of the mind. That the criminal should thus elude the gripe of M9 justice, and with his hands reeking in the blood of a fellow-being, seek asylum in the temple of the Divinity, and brave the civil Jaws, is contrary to all principles of religion, Tbut was once general in Europe, even in Eng land till the time of Henry the Seventh. Cases of murder, it cannot he denied, are much diminished, which is a proof that civili zation is in a progressive state, but they some times occur, particularly on the coast of Puerto Rico ; where a person seldom goes out after dark without his long sabre in his hand. It is not unusual there to compliment one of these assassins with the appellation of guapo, or bully ; and the wooden crosses stuck along the road, are sad mementos of the former fre quency of this practice. Though the most severe punishments and penalties have been prescribed by the laws against the wearing of knives and stiletos, it is not possible to do away with this prevailing custom ; it is an appendage as necessary as clothing, and cannot be dispensed with. The Spaniard says, El hombre prevenido, no es vencido. It may yet be regretted that the liberty of the citizen is easily invaded ; a de nunciation or suspicion may deprive him of it, and should it prove unfounded, he must 150 pocket his misfortune, since redress is at such a distance. Besides the tribunals and courts of judica ture as before described, the inquisition has also establishments in these countries, the heads of which are at Mexico, Lima, and Car- thagena; but the offices under them are at present little more than sinecures, and they must be indeed much relaxed from their pri mitive severity, if ever those ideas we princi pally collect from our own gloomy novels corresponded with their real picture. This singular tribunal that dates from the twelfth century, and the time of Pope Inno cent the Third, was established to take cogni zance of heresy alone. Inquisitores non possunt se intermittere in aliis causis quam in delictis contra Jidem ; the institution was called Fideii qucesitorwn collegium, and its members jidei inquisitor es. Judaism, Maho- metanism, divorces, sodomy, and poligamy, were afterwards added to its jurisdiction, and then the prohibition of reading dangerous books, but what could be the motives for such an establishment in South America seems a paradox ; for if persuasion, mildness, and con viction, were the arguments prescribed by the government at home, and used by the mis- 151 sionaries as most suited to the capacity of the illiterate Indian, why these appendages of terror? It could not be consistent to punish his errors even if they were not capable of reclaiming him to their belief ; to the credit of the clergy, however, and the government generally, there is not a trait, after the laws and regulations w r ere enacted, that bore the character of coercion. The principal dominion of the inquisition now extends only to delinquent clergy, and to the suppression of works of evil tendency. The transactions of this tribunal in the last particular are indeed singular, and their re cords would much astonish the man of science. Few English works are found proscribed in their last Index Expurgatorius, published in 1790 ; possibly from so few being translated, but we meet in it the names of Hume, Addi- son, and Robertson. Many French authors are particularized, such as Rousseau, Racine, Voltaire, Boileau, La Fontaine, La Bruyere, Diderot, Helvetius, Fenelon, Erasmus, Raynal, Brissot, Condillac, and others. No entry of foreign books is made in the custom-houses till they have been declared orthodox ; and on this head the bookseller is under great re- 152 striction, easier indeed eluded abroad, than in Spain. It may here be proper to remark what serious injuries would arise from any attempt of the British and Foreign Bible Society to intro duce, as has been proposed, translated editions of that book among the American Spaniards- For as a means of rousing that people, and of maintaining her influence over them, it is the policy of England to engage the clergy in her favour; and to them this measure must un avoidably give offence. The reading of all translations of the Bible is contrary to the institutions of their church; and an endea vour to circulate them would shock the feel ings of all catholics, and be productive of great danger to the people who took them out, besides affording a serious handle to the French, who would not fail to represent such a project as arising from the general propen sity of the English to interfere with the here ditary prepossessions of this people and their internal concerns. It is better to suffer pre judices to die away of themselves, than, by rashly aiming at their extirpation, to aggra vate them, and raise the odium of a nation whom it is our interest and duty to conciliate. 153 CHAPTER XXIL TRADE OF SPANISH AMERICA. IF commerce may be considered as an opera tion, by which productions are exchanged for an equivalent proper to supply every want, without being a check to industry or con sumption, Spain has not regarded it in a wrong light with respect to her colonies. Her appreciation of them appears more found ed on the value of their mines than on that of the articles they might afford to luxury and trade ; and their precautions and restrictions have had for object more the guarding of the former, than the encouragement of agricul tural pursuits, by turning them to the advan tage of the planter. Her ministers neglected the example of the great Colbert, who first formed the plan of giving to France colonies, which afforded an advantageous exchange of productions. In order to incline the balance in her own favour, he restricted the colonies to the consumption of national manufactures exclusively, and sti- 154 pulated for the supply of their produce solely to the home market. The low rate of duties imposed, made their plan preferable to free trade, and principally tended to promote that rapid growth which has not been equalled by the settlements of other nations. That general depression of manufactures which followed the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, made it necessary to obtain goods from other countries to supply her colonies. These principally came from Holland, Eng land, France, and some fineries from Italy ; they paid enormous duties at home, and when they arrived at their destination, fresh ones were exacted, so that the articles doubled in value before they came to the retailer ; and having little exports, cash was the principal means of procuring them, so that the advan tage was double against Spain, and in favour of the foreign merchant. The following pro forma will serve to shew at what price the consumer laid in his necessaries, and will at the same time form a contrast of trade direct from England. 155 PRO FORMA. Calculated in English Money. For one hundred pounds value of Bri tish manufactures, purchased in Great Britain and sent out to Cadiz in British ships. From Cadiz sent out to Spanish America in Spanish ships First cost in Great Britain . 100 Shipping, charges, freight, and In surance to Cadiz 5 War duty on the exportation 1 Duty paid on Importation into Cadiz 15 Importer s profit in Cadiz 20 Duty paid in Cadiz on re-shipment to America 10 Freight and insurance from Cadiz to America 20 First cost and charges out to America 171 Spanish exporter s profit on arrival out in America Frequently 2oo per cent. ; but say one half thereof 171 Paid by the purchaser in Spanish Ame rica 342 156 PRO FORMA. Calculated in English Money. ct For one hundred pounds value of Bri tish manufactures, sent out im mediately from Great Britrin by British merchants, in British ships to Spanish America First cost 1 oo War duty paid on the exportation ... 4 Shipping charges and freight out .... 10 Insurance out, if by an armed ship . . 6 First cost and charges out to America 120 British exporter s profit at loo per cent. thereon ... 120 Paid by the purchaser in Spanish Ame rica 240 Cheaper to the purchaser in Spanish America 1 02 342 N. B. To this advantage is added that of a more regular and fair valuation of their pro- 157 duce to form returns, the natural consequence of a competition in trade. The exorbitant price of goods, which the wearer or consumer could not brook, created a spirit of contraband which again turned out in favour of the foreigner, who principally sold for cash, and the neighbouring English and neutral islands reaped the benefit. The difficulty with which royal grants in the early times necessary to form a shipment to Spanish America were obtained, and these specifying it to be from the port of Seville, to which also the returns were to be made, ope rated long as a stumbling-block to all exertions and enterprises in commercial relations from the mother country to her colonies, and gave the neighbouring Dutch the advantages of the trade ; an alienation wilich the great vigilance of their multiplied custom-house officers could not counteract. By this irregular channel the advantages w r ere entirely lost to govern ment. In 1728 a company of Biscayan merchants proposed to the king a plan of hindering, at their own expense, the contraband trade that was carried on with the Dutch, more particularly in the province of Venezuela, and those confining, if in return they should be allowed the ex- 158 elusive right of supplying the same with goods and other necessaries, and of thence exporting the productions. The proposition was acceded to, and the company instituted. By their charter, they are called the Company of Gui- poscoa, from the name of that province in the north of Spain, where the plan originated, and the members chiefly resided. They were allowed the ports of Biscay to make shipments out ; were provided with cruisers and regular letters of marque, but their returns were confined to Cadiz, where agents were placed. By their stipulations, contra band goods, captured by them, could be sold in Caracas ; and cocoa taken in the same way, they were privileged to send to Vera Cruz, where this article, from its great consumption, has frequently, during war time, been in as great demand and at as high prices as in Spain. Their rights and privileges were extensive, and it was specified to be no degradation for the nobility to have shares in it. The obliga tion to supply the country, and to suppress illicit trade, was the only counterbalance. It answered, however, but one purpose, which was, to hinder cocoa (being a bulky article) from going to a foreign market, from whence 159 Spain was previously supplied with this article of her own growth. The price was hence lowered to one half, but goods were neverthe less smuggled, and cash was sent to pay for them ; nay, the company itself found, eventu ally, that this was the cheapest way to make their supplies, as by it, they avoided the great duties and charges paid at home on exporta tion. Their charter was afterwards modified, so as not to put the colonist so much in their power, and in 1778, was entirely taken away by opening the trade to all nationalists, and by increasing the number of ports of entry. Direct commerce, however, lingered from the many shackles under which ii was kept, and the rivaiship of neutrals, for the mother country, sent out (what she could barely afford) little more than dried fruits, coarse earthen ware, and hardware, iron, Catalan brandies and wines, oil, coarse silks from Barcelona, pickled tunny fish (a great Spanish luxury) and such like inconsiderable articles. German and English goods still continued to come through their old devious channels. This confined direct trade varied much ac cording to the vicissitudes of war or peace. During the late wars, it was principally limited to small faluchos that went out with Spanish I6o paper, used in enveloping tobacco for smok ing, which may be considered as one of the greatest luxuries of the Spanish American, who often bought it at forty dollars per ream ; and it would be worth while, should Spain cease to supply this article, principally made in Bar celona, to adopt its manufacture in England, as it exclusively suits the smoker, from its containing no pernicious empyreumatic oil, nor any sizing or indigo. To this article they added uncoloured brandies, and quicksilver, for the use of the mines. If they got out safe, they returned with cocoa in bulk, which they laid in at 15^ dollars, and sold on arriving at 112. These were, however, small adventures that bore not the character of trade, but that of a lottery, like which also, they were undertaken in shares, and insurance excluded. The ports of entry, on their augmentation, were divided into two classes, viz. mayores and minores. Ships from Spain could only arrive in the former, where they paid the whole royal and municipal duties, as established by the tarifs of customs, and in these ports ship ments to the second class originated, where they only paid the municipal duties. The system of Spanish custom is compli cated, not generally understood by the English J6l merchant, and may deserve some detail. Ship ments direct from Spain, of national goods, pay equal to 91 per cent, on entry, and when of foreign manufactures, on landing in Spain, 15 percent, and on being re-shipped 10 ; ou arriving out, they again pay the royal duty of 7 per cent, besides municipal and other duties, which altogether amount to about 45 per cent, the total of which must be paid before the merchant can vend his articles, for he is not allowed to bond them ; so that the price at which the consumer is to purchase may be easily calculated, when freight, charges, and profits are added. Articles of export, for the consumption of their own manufactures at home, such as cochineal, indigo, cotton, and dye-woods, are subject to moderate duties ; but when destined to a foreign market, bear heavy imposts, a re gulation intended to encourage their own ma nufactures, from which great benefit cannot have been derived, since one of their best statists has remarked, that eight millions of the inhabitants are clothed in foreign goods. The Llama, Vicuna, and sheep s wools, are duty-free wheff shipped to Spain, but bear heavy export duties when sent to a foreign na tion. The first being most inferior, pays 8 per VOL. II. M 162 cent, ad valorem ; the second double, besides an addition of two dollars per ] oolbs. ; and the latter 333, according to the royal regulations of 1800. The sheep s wool of Spanish America, that has been neglected in a strange way for want of encouragement, might become one of their most valuable exports ; for the plains and grazing pastures of the kingdom of Mexico particularly, may, in point of flocks, be com pared with those for which Spain was so lately famous. This wool has scarcely been consi dered^ as an- object of commercial utility, and the sheep generally goes unheeded and un shorn. They manufacture indeed, a few coarse blankets, called manias and fresadas, but there are no depots to collect, prepare, and pack it in its raw state to any quantity. Even deer skins, that might be collected, are in a great measure unnoticed, besides a variety of other resources which want only encourage ment to make them staple articles ; and in the eye of the economist, the productions of these regions generally, seem the best suited to the wants of a manufacturing country, and most invite its trade. The difficulty of access to those statements that are only in the hands of government and 163 their officers, renders it impossible to give any exact and general scale of the annual amount of trade from Spain to Spanish America, and even were that difficulty overcome, the inter ruptions, and the prevalence of smuggling during the late war, would defeat any attempt to fotfm a correct statement. Nor are we, in this particular, assisted by Laborde s View of Spain, as his tables of revenue relating to Ame rica, do not extend beyond 1778 ; though he tells us, that in 17Q2, the aggregate export trade to that country, amounted to 2, 812,500, which must clash materially with the subse quent statement relating to the fair of Xalapa. For the port of Laguira alone, we can ground ourselves on better authority, in stating the amount that passed through the custom house in the year 1796, the most neutral period which Spain has enjoyed for some years, and it will serve to assist in estimating the trade of the rest. In that year, the custom-house returns, the arrival of forty-three vessels from the Spanish ports in Europe, of different descriptions, and having on board, viz : 164 Hard Dollars In national or free articles 932,881 In foreign- goods re-manufactured and prepared in Spain, such as calicoes of foreign fabric, printed there only 753,442 In entirely foreign goods 1429,487 3,115,810 equal to 701,057 sterling, which left to the government, in duties, about 300,000 dollars. As we have before observed, it is not possible to form any calculation of the annual contra band trade carried on, on these same coasts ; but it may safely be said to amount to triple that of the regular importations. Hence, it is evident, that the proportion of foreign goods regular and contraband, introduced into the Spanish colonies greatly exceeds that of the national articles of trade. The Spaniards have always given a preference to German and Si- lesian piece-goods, from their being of linen ; but now, they get habituated to wear cotton, which bids fair to supply the present privation of the former articles, by the substitution of English goods. Ticklenburgs and checks form the clothing of slaves, and common people ; and Britannias, estopillas, creas a la Morlaix, platillas, and such like, that of the better sort. The imitations of these goods, in quality, shape, marks, and packing, now adopted in the Scotch and English manufactures, answer very well ; they do not altogether deceive the Spa* niards, who are excellent judges of goods, but serve the purposes, whilst the real ones are not attainable; and still they are capable of being brought to a more perfect resemblance, which would give them a great additional value. The Catalans form the greatest and richest body of traders, are active, enterprising, and attached to each other. When a cargo comes in, perhaps twenty are concerned in its pur chase. They try every means to beat down* the seller, form very hard bargains, and in a peculiar way. Being the principal capitalists, and dreading little competition, one of them on the first day of sale, in the name of the body who unite to purchase, offers the prices agree- ed upon by the whole ; if refused, the next day another will go and offer less ; and a third still lower, so that the supercargo is perfectly puzzled, by not making an advance in price, and frequently closes below the first tender made. They then keep up the price of their returns, knowing the vessel must be dispatched. Every transaction is conducted with secrecy and mystery, and they never assemble at an exchange, or in any other way to treat col- 166 lectively of affairs. Their stores have even a dirty and irregular appearance ; and in their persons and manners, they little resemble men of business and property, but their probity and solidity in fulfilling their engagements, when once made, may be relied on. By dint of eco nomy they often amass great wealth, and do the meanest offices- of their own drudgery. The planter in the country has no agent or factor in town to dispose of his produce, he sends it to market when gathered, on the backs of mules with an overseer, who gets the best price he can, which often is accidental, and always below the real value. If in want of funds, he sometimes mortgages his crop below the market price ; for banks, exchange, or dis counts are entirely unknown. There exists, in addition to the above, a tri fling trade principally of dried and jerked meats, country cheese, garlic, pottery, &c. carried on between the main and the neigh bouring Spanish islands. The main affords annually, about twelve thousand mules to the different islands, that are valued at 25 dollars per head. Few horned cattle are now shipped, but hides form a large proportion of nearly every cargo, and in the province of Caracas, and those confining, may 167 "be reckoned at 1 00,000 per annum ; but La Plata could furnish more, better, and at a cheaper rate. The planting of coffee is now becoming more in vogue, perhaps its small consumption in Spain, has hitherto kept it back. Cotton might be carried to an amazing advancement, if encouragement and machinery for cleaning it were introduced, and a local inspection established, to give greater care and reliance on its preparation and packing. The estimates of produce, shipped in the year 18O1., in vessels furnished with Eng lish passes from Puerto Cavello, which had generally 100 small ones employed in that way, are as follows ; but the amount of cash sent to procure goods, and the articles shipped clandestinely on the coast, are equal to a great .deal more. Indigo .... 100,000 Ibs. Cotton .... 25o,ooo do. Cocoa 4o,ooo famgas Hides .... 70,000 do. Coffee .... 2o,ooo Ibs. Copper .... 28,ooo do. Horses. ... 5oo do. Mules 5,ooo do. With some gums, drugs, dye-woods, &c. 168 The policy of the British nation, in afford ing passes to Spanish vessels which gave them perfect security on these seas, had, in addition to the good effect of turning their trade to their own advantage, the double one, of in creasing an intercourse which has given rise to a reciprocity of commercial relations, and of convincing the Spaniards, that the English were sensible, that the war then waging, was more the effect of political necessity, than of inclination. The surplus of produce, particularly the bulky part, even cocoa, that is under the most express restrictions and prohibitions, for the last years of war, has circulated through the United States, and from thence found its way to Europe ; and the high prices at which this article has been kept in Spain, have fully paid the increase of charges, which must naturally originate from such a circuitous route ; for, as we iiave before remarked, the running vessels have been inconsiderable. The following were the means by \vhich the clandestine intercourse with British islands, under passes granted by the governors, was carried on ; the Spanish vessels cleared out for Guadaloupe, Martinique, and St, Do mingo, then in possession of their allies, and 169 when they returned, produced false clearances and fabricated papers by way of form ; and the ease with which these were obtained in the islands, would appear astonishing to one, who is not acquainted with colonial dealings. A passport to any part, or ships papers of any nation, may be obtained for a trifle, in Curacoa particularly, which have deceived, and would deceive, the most scrutinizing cruiser at sea. Thus the clearances in the Spanish cus tom-houses are made nearly all for islands, to which there, never existed a trade of the smallest nature ; and so interesting was this species of commerce to the country, in giving vent to their produce and obtaining them cloaths, that notwithstanding the severe decrees against it, which owed their origin to the jealousy and influence of the French, it was never interfered with ; nay, the officers charged with the execution of them, shared often in its profits. The fast sailing schooners thus employed, were generally pilot boats built in Virginia, and sent out for sale ; but very superior boats are constructed in many ports on the main, particularly Maracaibo, which from the ex cellency of their timber, last three times as 370 long as any other ; and it is a circumstance well deserving the notice of the enterprising ship-builder in this country, that in the pre sent increasing scarcity of wood, when the nation is breaking up men of war for the sake of the timber, the bay of Samana, described in the preceding part of this work, is the most suita ble place in all the West Indies for obtaining wood, and at the same time the most con venient and accessible. Though much more distant than the Baltic, the timber is better, and the vessel built of it would proportionably increase in value. The indigo of the provinces of Caracas, Venezuela, &e. is only eight per cent, in value below that of Guatemala ; but the least en couragement would soon double the amount produced on the whole main. The tobacco, being hitherto in the monopoly of the crown, whose prices are not so encouraging as if there was a competition in trade, is not car ried for that reason to any great extent of cultivation ; good authorities, however, quote the value of what is grown on the main an nually at the government prices to extend to three millions of dollars ; and the Dutch, who have always been considered as the best 171 judges of this article, give it a double estima tion to that grown in North America, and place it next to that of Cuba. The trade to Asia by the South Sea from Acapulco was estimated at ten millions of dollars, which were sent to purchase muslins, printed goods, silks, spices, and perfumes; and through this channel the kingdom of Mexico and other provinces were supplied. Since the late years of war, however, necessity has driven them to use European goods for ornamental apparel ; these have circulated by the way of Vera Cruz, whither they have been sent from the United States and English islands ; nor would it be difficult to retain this consumption in the same channel, or rather give it a direct one in case of commercial re gulations being established, if our manufac turers would attend to the outre taste of the Spaniards in that country, and our shippers ot goods be more discriminate in their assort ments (See Appendix A. vol. I.) The sup plying of this quarter might also be made an interesting branch to the trade of the East India Company. Among the great undertakings that yet re- jnain to be accomplished for the benefit of piankind, as the great medium of the circulation 172 of wealth, is, the opening a navigation with the South Sea by means of a canal across the isthmus of Panama. When we consider the obstacles that have been overcome in uniting the trade of two small towns in England, and how much nature has been brought to a level by the industry of man, the magnitude of this effort appears to diminish, and its success ful execution may be expected to form a me morable epoch in the annals of future times. It is to be hoped, that the locality of the country will be now explored for the purpose. An isthmus of only thirty miles between two oceans cannot be an insuperable barrier to the inventive genius and perseverance of man in the present age ; the ground is generally thought by late travellers to be more suitable for an enterprise of this kind, than the acade micians sent over for its survey have reported. Panama in the Indian language signifies a place abounding in fish; and the navigable rivers, inlets, and bays, which were formerly examined by Alcedo, would much facilitate this great and laudable work. Commercial disputes in Spanish America are not subject to the common process of the law, but are carried before a board of commerce, called el consulado, whose sum- 173 inary is short, definitive, and promptly en forced. In vending a cargo, if the purchaser is debited to sales per such a vessel, and not in the name of the merchant who vends, the debt is easier collected, as a delay beyond the time agreed upon, makes him liable for any detention in the returns of the vessel, which is a considerable check where the regularity of bonds is not adopted. The rules by which commercial transactions are guided, are las ordenanzas de Bilbao, as complete a digest of mercantile law and usage as any nation would wish to have, as it comprehends a remedy for every distress which misfortune or fraud may bring on the trader. It was drawn up by the most learned and experienced body of merchants the nation ever had. Those of Biscay had the greatest share in its formation, from whom it takes its name, and have al ways been the most famed; in this work they particularly had in view the counterac tion of abuses, likely to originate in the ex- tention of that good faith, which forms the basis of all trade on a large scale. As it is only by shewing what has been the trade of those individual ports of which we have authentic information, that it becomes possible for us to judge of the value and ex- tent of trade with Spanish America, and the mode in which it is carried on, we insert the following statements ; and in addition to them a short detail of the fair of Xalapa, that has for many years been the standard of trade in that country, and may be of general use to the trader in England, as the state of war alone has suspended it. Under are particulars of the amount and value, which are furnished by each European nation that supplies Spain with various goods sent out annually (in time of peace) to her settlements and colonies in Mexico, the greatest part of which are shipped at, and sent from, the port of Cadiz to the port of La Vera Cruz, which is distant 201 miles from the city of Mexico. Millions of Spanish hard Dollars. Pounds English Money. 15 The manufactures and products of France- -3,375,000 8 do. of England .-1,800,000 | 4 do. of Spain 300,000 -g 3 ......do.-.-.- of Italy 675,000 3 do. of Germany 675,000 *o 3 do. of Flanders 675,000 o 2 do. of Holland - 450,000 o 2 do. of Swisserland 450,000 P- o a-< 40 Millions of Spanish hard Dollars at four and six.pence English each, make .......... 9,000,000 175 France supplied Spain with the following" kinds of goods for Mexico, as likewise for her other settlements and colonies in Ame rica. Jewellery of all descriptions, made in Paris of the most superb and shewy kinds. Gold watches and ornaments for them, as chains, seals, keys, rings, &c. which they sell at very low prices, but in quality they are very inferior to those of England ; nevertheless they were preferred both in Old Spain and in Spanish America, because they are shewy as well as very cheap. Gold and silver plate for the churches, and for private families. Gold and silver laces, for which the demand is immense. French white and black laces for the ladies, and likewise for church orna ments. Silk goods of all descriptions, silk velvets, &c. manufactured at Lyons, &c. are in immense demand for the churches as well as for the dresses both of ladies and gentlemen. Millinery goods made in Paris. Superfine French woollen cloths, formerly excelling in blacks, blues, as well as in high colours, such as scarlets, roses, crimsons, &c. Hats both white and black, manufactured in Paris ; they are particularly calculated both for Old Spain and Spanish America. In this article of hats, 176 the French excel, and make them light. White linens, called in Spain, Bretanas legitimas, the consumption of them is considerable, both in Old Spain, and in Spanish America. Cam- bricks are consumed in great quantities, by the chureh,by ladies, and by gentlemen. All the be fore -mentioned French goods and manufactures were in immense demand, in all the Spanish American settlements, and wonderful quanti ties of them, were constantly sent out, (in time of peace) which gave to France a decided su periority over England, in the value of goods sold and supplied to Spain, by these two great rival nations. This estimate, however, is more conformable to the old system of things than the present one, but w 11 evince the precedents the French have for their estimation of this trade, which the energy of the English mer-^ chant may yet more fully rival. The goods intended for this fair of Xalapa, the greatest in all Spanish America, are sent up from La Vera Cruz on the backs of mules, asses, &c. It continues open for the sale of goods ex-r actly six months. It is opened and pro claimed with grand public processions and other solemnities, at which immense numbers of people assist, attended by all the clergy, 177 religious orders, &c. with bands of music, guards of soldiers, &c. On this occasion the factors and others who have goods for sale, are very liberal in their donations to the churches, in hopes thereby to insure good luck, quick sales, and large profits. These processions are repeated on the day after the fair has been closed, and the factors attend the churches in order to return thanks to the Almighty for their respective successes, when they present such further gifts to the churches as are most agreeable to themselves. By the laws of the Spanish Indies, not any sales, even of the most trifling articles, are permitted to be made until the fair has been proclaimed, and the processions are com4, pleted ; nor can any more or further sales be made after a proclamation of the close of the fair has been made, by the second display of the public processions and other ceremonies as before exhibited; which being completed, all goods and other articles whatever, which may then remain in the factor s hands unsold and undisposed of, are immediately locked up in the king s warehouses, under the ma nagement and care of the king s officers,, who are appointed for that express purpose ; where they must remain untouched until the next u, N 178 or succeeding fair has bren proclaimed and opened, when they are again delivered up safe, and in good condition to their respective owners to be again offered for sale. If the commodities prove to be such as please, at tract, and suit the purchasers, the profits made thereby are frequently prodigious ; frequently three to six hundred per cent. If they do not please the buyers, it becomes extremely difficult to dispose of them at any price. In the last month that this fair is kept open, the factors become very anxious and pressing to make sales on the best terms they can pro cure ; of which disposition the purchasers naturally take every benefit and advantage. The sales at this fair are in general made for immediate payments, which consist of coined dollars, gold and silver in ingots, bars, wedges, &c, and products of the country, such as indigo, cochineal, Jesuits bark, &c. It very rarely happens that any credits are given with the goods sold at this fair on ac count of the very great risks which the sellers would run in trusting strangers who purchase, many of them residing five hundred to two thousand miles from Xalapa. This great fair, like those of Frankfort, Leipsic, Brunswick, and Nuremberg, has been 170 suspended in consequence of the war, but is expected to be revived. The indigo brought from Guatemala to this fair consists of four different qualities, all of them excellent, but the finest is superior to any other brought to Europe. Cochineal of Mexico, without which neither purple nor scarlet colours can be produced, is found genuine in no part of the world what ever but in that viceroyality. Its natural history and the process of breeding and preparing it is described in the Appendix (C.). Quinquina, or Jesuits s bark, also brought to this fair, is a drug of the most salutary and re storative virtue that Providence, in compas sion for human infirmity, has made known to man, is found only in Peru, to which it affords a most lucrative branch of commerce, and is of the highest value in a climate where the corporeal system is so much debilitated. As all these goods, from a want of inland navigation, are carried, for the supply of the fairs and the greatest consumption of the country, on mules and the heads of Indians, the packages ought to be assorted and made up in the lightest way possible, and not to ex ceed loo Ibs. The Indian carries and travels quickly with that weight on his head, and its X 2 180 doubled proportion serves to load a mule, as a package on each side is put in a kind of arga- nas, orfpannier, and makes a perfect equipoise. Small bales are therefore preferable to cases, but cards ought to accompany each. The proportions for these packages are fully given in the Appendix (-E) of the first volume. The wrapper for fine goods, as those from the East Indies, ought to have oiled or waxed linings to keep out the damp. 181 CHAPTER XXIII. POPULATION, &C. THE population of Spanish America is com posed of Spaniards, Indians, negroes, and descendants from the mixtures of all, now so blended that it would be difficult to trace them. From these successive mixtures, come the quarteroon, mulatto, and mestizo. From the difficulties we have before pointed out of establishing an exact census of these coun tries, it cannot be expected that an aggregate amount of population will accurately be given ; but we are enabled to lay before the public those of Mexico, Peru, and what is called the east part of the Spanish main, derived from ecclesiasti cal sources, which will greatly assist to form a general estimate ; the more so, as we are already in possession of something novel on Buenos Ay res and La Plata. 182 Inhabitants in Mexico, Subjects of the Spanish Government, in the year 1802. 2,315,160 Indians, men, women, and children. 1,536^262 Mulaltoes, Mestizos, Sambos, Quadroons, and Negroes, men, women, and children. 582,315 Creoles born in Mexico, the descendants of Spaniards. 364,742 Spaniards born in Old Spain, but residents in Mexico. 4,798,479 Inhabitants in Mexico. Inhabitants in Peru, Subjects of the Spanish Govern" ment, in the year, 1802. 2,846,351 Indians, men, women, and children. 1,227,040 Mulattoes, Mestizos, Sambos, Quadroons, and Negroes, men, women, and children. 476,593 Creoles born in Peru, descendants of Spaniards, 294,412 Spaniards born in Old Spain, residents in Peru. 4,844,396 Inhabitants in Peru. 4,798,479 Inhabitants in Mexico. 9,642,8/5 In Mexico and in Peru, subjects to Spain, General Statement, 5,161,511 Indians. 2,763,392 Mulattoes, Mestizos, Sambos, Quadroons, and Negroes. 1,058,908 Creoles born in Peru, descendants of Spaniards. 659,154 Spaniards born in Old Spain, residents in Mexico and Peru. 9,642,875 Mexico and Peru, subjects to Spain. 183 East part of the Spanish Alum. Person;; . The province of Venezuela, comprising Darinas 500,000 The jurisdiction of Maracaibo ,...., 100,000 Ditto Cumana 80,000 Ditto Spanish Guiana 34,000 Ditto The island of Marguerita 14,000 Total 728,000 Population of the largest Cities on the Continent of Spanish America. Number of Inhabitants Names of the Cities in which of all colours. they reside. 200,000 Mexico (capital of Mexico). 80,000 Lima (capital of Peru). 70,000 San Francisco cle Quito (in Peru). 70,000 Los Angeles. 36,000 Cuenza. 35,000 Guadalaxara. 30,000 Potosi. 28,000 Carthagena. 25,000 Popayan. 22,000 Guayaquil. 20,00o Riobumba. 30,000 Buenos Ayres. 31,234 Caracas. The population of Spanish America may be divided into five classes. The first is composed of the native Spaniards who repair thither to hold employments under government, or for 184 the purposes of trade, and whose number is very diminutive compared with even any one of the other four classes, as may be seen in the preceding statement. The second is formed of a very numerous set of Creoles, or persons born in the country from originally Spanish descent, whose alliances are all local, but who, by the policy of the government at home, are excluded from any posts or distinguished places, though they possess nearly all the riches, lands, and resources of the country. These being under preclusions, most feel the in equality of the ancient system of things, and if they do not aim at its entire overthrow, will, at least, endeavour to bring about those re forms, which certainly are required. The third is formed out of the Indians, Mes tizos, Sambos, and Quadroons, having no connection whatever with Spain, who, though attached to the spot on which they were born, are orderly, well trained, and naturally predis posed to quiet, and have great veneration for their sovereign, and respect to the clergy. This is a passive body of population, either under the influence of the latter class, or to be worked upon by the most active and powerful of the former. The fourth consists of a considerable number of blacks arid mulattoes, partly slaves and 185 partly freed-men, who are attached to the country, and greatly within the control of their respective pastors. The fifth division is not so much a distinct species of men, as it is a mixture of the first and second, but in point of influence, it coun terbalances all the other. It consists of the clergy, who form a powerful body, as well from the number who compose it as from the riches of which they are possessed ; the hierarchy of its members, and particularly the influence it has over the other four classes, especially over the secondary orders in society, who are the most numerous though the most passive. Between the two first classes there exists a constitutional hatred, from the restrictions to which the one is exposed, and the control exercised exclusively by the other. The Indians again, and their mixed descendants, clash with negroes and their subdivisions, so that in a mass of population, so heterogeneously composed, were the flames of discord and civil war ever to be enkindled how dreadful would be the consequences ! For, should the conflagration spread, it must end in the extinction of the first two classes. It is hard to stop a nation that has once begun to roll down the preci- 180 pice of anarchy. We have seen whole vo lumes written to prove the advantages of re volutionizing America, without considering the consequences that would follow ; for what would be the advantages that any nation could derive from such a country being thrown into confusion, where good faith and personal safe ty would be at an end, and where expensive and productive regions would present us with a picture of hordes of savages, disputing their ex istence with the wild beasts by which they are surrounded. The Indians are a peculiar class of people unlike the passive peasantry of Russia ; it has taken ages to unite them in their present bond of allegiance, and if that is once severed, unless it is on the best grounds possible, well explained to them, and recommended by the grant of certain rights, the greatest danger will ensue ; for they are accustomed to reason, and are formidable from their numbers as well as their talents for dissimulation. The collective number of inhabitants in Spa nish America, on the authorities of Clavigero, Viscardo, and several other good Spanish au thors, is between eighteen and twenty millions ; and Humboldt says, it is in a progressive state. Of this, two thirds may be considered as In dians, but tHese are a valuable class of beings, 187 > naturally ingenious, and capable of great things when their energy is once called forth ; but hitherto they have been of little import, because left to themselves. Hitherto their wants have been few ; for, they have in general nothing wherewith to purchase luxuries ; but let them once feel the stimulus of industry, and be taught the advantages of decent clothing and domestic conveniences ; let them be sure that the products of tillage will meet a market, and reward them for their manual labour, and we shall then see each native of the forest in the bosom of his family, produce his quantum of indigo, cotton, cochineal, or cocoa ; and by this subdivision of industry, the general productions will increase, and flow in to pay for those goods brought thither by the foreign merchant, of which, the consumption will be .equally augmented. The immense value of the consumption of a country, containing such a number of inhabi tants as this vast continent, to a manufactu ring nation, appears unquestionable, the de mand being principally for fine goods, which leave a double profit to the maker, and for which, payments are made not in the refined way of European trade, by bills, the accept- 188 ance of which is dubious, or on credits that are exposed to contingent circumstances, but in articles sent us to manufacture into those same goods, or in, (a good equivalent,) specie. Of the variety of raw materials that enter generally into the lists of articles furnished by the continent of Spanish America to the com mercial world, wool is not the most inconsider able ; that of the vicuna equally with that of the sheep. Every author, who has written on these countries, has not failed to dwell on the great increase of all species of European cattle placed in these regions, which are not alone suited to the increase and multiplication of horned cat tle, but also those of sheep. A French author goes even so far as to say, that the wools of this country would supply all France and Eng land. Certainly, if that quantum which we received from Spain, be eventually cut off, this is the best means by which we can replace it, not that its quality will be as good, but it will be found very little inferior when the sheep is annually shorn. For, if the fleece is left on for three years, which is commonly the case, or rather as long as the animal lives, the climate will naturally engender hairs that out-top the curling wool, but an exceeding isg <rood quality is nevertheless found underneath, Both Chili and Mexico are capable of supply ing this article, England has ever looked upon an opening of trade and intercourse with Spanish America, as a point of the greatest importance ; and from the time of Sir Walter Raleigh to the present, expensive expeditions have been formed to effect it, which may be considered as measures hostile to the end in view. Conquest has ge nerally been the means recurred to, and expe rience has convinced us that this system has tended to retard our progress, rather than ad vance it. It is a remark that often strikes the traveller, who mixes with those foreigners amongst whom his pursuits carry him, that the French are more active in their intrigues than they are even in arms. He cannot but see, with what cunning and address the common enemy en deavours, wherever his artifices can penetrate, to turn the opinions of nations against us, This is certainly unfavourable to the enter prises of the Cabinet of St. James s, whether the obloquy and charge of interested intentions be true or false, the impression is still left to exist, and England is artfully reproached for half the evils which desolate the rest of Europe. 1QO It is inconceivable to what length this system has been set on foot amongst the American Spaniards. Modern France, formidable as she is, has not been rendered so, merely by force of arms ; she endeavours to gain, if possible, and if not, to divide the councils of those po tentates she may have to combat in the open field ; and might not we pursue a more digni fied line of policy and conduct, by uniting and giving energy to those states whose interests are united to ours, and who, if they require our aid to fight their battles, equally stand in need of advice, to maintain their political con cerns. Spain has hitherto been considered as the channel through which the riches of the New World pass into France, as well in payment of those goods furnished, which in former times bore a considerable proportion with those of every other nation, as also, the im mense tributes she drew from the long depen dent Cabinet of Madrid, She long experienced the advantages of supplying the sea-ports of Spain with goods for her colonies, and French merchants were amongst the richest in the Spanish marts. Since war has prevailed, sup plies have flowed into the colonies through other channels, partly by purchases made in the English islands, and partly by shipments from the United States, in which case, Ger man goods have had the prevalence. Any one, who has followed up the great neutral trade that existed to the Hanseatic towns, as long as they withstood the prohibitions of the great destroyer of trade, must have contemplated in them mere supplies, eventually destined to a port on the Spanish main, for few were con sumed in the countries to which they first went. Hitherto then, others nation have been en joying the fruits of this great and advantageous trade ; nor, though such a near alliance exists between the mother country and England, which might naturally be extended to her co lonies, is the English the most favoured flag in those distant regions. It appears strange, that the object of the most eager efforts of this na tion, and of the sanguine wishes of all parties, viz. an intercourse with Spanish America, was more eagerly pursued at the moment when it was less attainable, when that nation had not the experience of what England had done for the welfare of the mother country ; but since the ties of amity have been multiplied and strength ened, no commercial treaty has been negoci- 1Q2 ated, though a measure so consonant to the popular wishes and to the mercantile interests of both parties. If the increase and rapid advancement throughout the whole Spanish main, for these last twenty years, be so obvious as to strike the most superficial observer, and this owing to a degree of relaxation on the part of government, since the mother country has been engaged in a state of warfare, what may not be expected to result from a general state of melioration, the crisis of which is now come, and which must lead to a freer intercourse with foreign states. The principal cities already rival those of Europe, in arts, sciences, and luxury ; and society is on a scale of refinement highly pleasing to the polished traveller. To attempt the description of all of them, would require vo lumes, but in the Appendix (C.j will be found a few outlines of Mexico, the great seat of the Spanish empire in America, and the emporium of the New World. It possesses several good institutions in painting, botany, mining, sculp ture, engraving, &c, and schools for mathe matics, and all the sciences, provided with good apparatus, and may be said to surpass in point of intellectual information, most of the cities in Spain. 103 Such establishments tend to keep alive at taste for knowledge, and only require a more general introduction of the mechanic arts and agriculture to extend widely their advantages- It is, however, much to be regretted that these valuable objects are confined to the upper classes, who are too wealthy to turn them to national utility ; there is nothing diffused to facilitate the labours of the industrious and ingenious, or to guide the hand of the me chanic or artisan. Whatever is produced by the latter, is the work of labour, in which, art has little share ; nor are the extensive improve ments of refined Europe yet of any use or ap plication amongst them. There is an excellent highway from Vera Cruz to Mexico, over the mountains, and the road is lined with taverns and lodging- houses supported by the king, and for the convenience of travellers, whose conveyance is rendered easy by the quantity of Indians who gain a livelihood in carrying a kind of sedan chairs, in officiating as muleteers, and in bearing loads on their shoulders, with which they travel with safety and dispatch. There are guard-houses at appropriate dis tances, and travelling is safe, A muleteer YOL, II. O often receive 1 00 boxes of dollars with a giua or certificate, which he carries to Vera Cruz with out escort, a distance of better than 200 miles. Of late years also, a large causeway has been opened, to convey the indigo from Guatemala- to Vera Cruz. 195 CHAPTER XXIV. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE RELATIVE SITUA TION OF THE SPANISH COLONIES TO THE MOTHER COUNTRY. IT were acting the part of an unfaithful narra tor, in an undertaking of this kind, not to sub join a few remarks on the present situation of the Spanish Colonies, relatively to their mother country, by taking a review of their reciprocal conduct, and of the symptoms of alteration that have already begun to fix the attention of the beholding world. From the .preceding outlines, it may be easily seen, that the form of government established by the court of Spain, for her distant settle ments in America, was more intended to ex tend and support a degree of sovereignty and dependence, than to promote the improvement, prosperity, and happiness of the people go verned. The accession of the Austrian monarchs to the crown of Spain was an epoch fatal to o 2 196 the peace, aggrandizement, and consolida tion of Old Spain ; and could, therefore, be little consoling to countries so far removed, which were considered in no other light than as contributing to the wants of the state. Charles the V. of Austria, received from the hand of his grandfather, the sceptre of an em pire that had not long been united into one common mass, that was formed of different states, kingdoms, and provinces, that had but recently been reconciled to each other, whose respective customs and manners differed ; whose pursuits and language were opposed ; Which had so lately been torn- asunder by civil and foreign wars ; yet, instead of rallying them round the standard of laws, formed for their mutual and general felicity ; instead of con trasting their past state by the introduction of a new one, founded on those bonds which reconcile jarring interests, diffuse human hap piness and knowledge, he neglected the inter nal political state of the kingdom ; fresh wars were commenced, scenes of distress and con fusion again arose, and, as it may be well de duced, in such a stage of general dereliction, comparatively, little was done to meliorate the condition of the newly-acquired colonies. The nation continued depressed and ex- 197 hausted till the reign of Charles the III.., who began to relieve the public wants and calama- ties, by a partial diffusion of wise regulations ; restored the drooping arts and sciences ; en couraged industry, and generally improved the face of the country : yet, he did not effect much for the solid and durable happiness of the nation ; and though he left traces of his patriotic endeavours, they were soon effaced by the intrigues of ministers, the relaxation of public morals, and the general venality that pervaded every class of men in power. The reign of the succeeding monarch served but to aggravate the wrongs and rivet the chains of this wretched and enfeebled people. In the late convulsions of Europe, though not reduced by force of arms, Spain, against the general wishes of its inhabitants, was the first to bend her servile neck to the .great usurper of nations, and her government basely lending itself to his designs, she ceased to hold, in the scale of nations, any other estimation than that of a vassal power. Whilst Portugal presented to the admiring world, the spectacle of ho nourable and energetic resistance ; whilst she braved the threatened invasion and pillage of a formidable foe, Spain was undermined by foreign and domestic intrigues; every avenue 1Q8 to influence bought up ; sunk in indolence, and reposing on the professed good faith of her ally, her wonted martial spirit fled, her trea sures were exhausted, her forts and garrison- towns were left without defence, and she pre sented a general picture of duped confidence, and enervated debility. The plans of the Cabinet of St. Cloud, were, however, now matured; every toil and artful snare was now spread, and there was only required one general and well-directed coup de main to raze the whole fabric of the tot tering and sapped government of Spain, and to seize on her territory, as an annexed pro vince to the empire of France. The consequent deprivation of the legal sovereign of his crown, and of all communi cation and co-operation with his people, ought to have been followed by that only means of giving energy and confidence to the people, and of consolidating the interests of the king dom, the compliance with the unanimous voice of the nation in favour of the Prince of Asturias. In such a distressing dilemma, this could only be done, consistently with their own laws and constitution, by a convocation of the Cortes, which being formed out of the representatives of deputies of each city and province, assembled in one general council, should unite the confidence of their consti tuents, and give efficient energy and force to every measure adopted for the public good. In a country like Spain this was the more necessary, from the clashing opinions of each division, and the old and unextinguished pre judices of each province ; and in such an emergent case, it ought equally to have ex tended to her possessions abroad, as will here after be proved. Each province and island was, by the Cen tral Junta, indeed authorized to send over de puties, but they were intended rather to serve as an expedient to give greater consistency to the body to whom they were to be united, than to insure any participation of good to the colonies they were to represent, and had no connexion whatever with the melioration of their state by a change of the old system, or by any reform in the distribution of power. The formation of the Junta was indeed the first measure which succeeded that void, the people must naturally experience, when a be loved sovereign, such as they considered Fer dinand VII. was snatched from them. It appeared to every nation, but the one it was framed for, an adequate form of provisional 200 government ; for the thinking part at least of the Spanish people, were not insensible, that it was an inefficient representation both of themselves and of their king, and that it was more a legislative, than an executive council. Not being endowed therefore with the means either of calling forth the energies and re sources of the nation at home, or of extending redress abroad, little advantage could be an ticipated from the administration of the Junta by the colonies, which could not expect a removal of their existing grievances, nor a change suitable to the wants, and grounded on the happiness of the people. More than two years have now elapsed since the change of government in Spain took place, and the councils that have suc cessively swayed that kingdom, are not marked by any act in favour of the American settle ments, nor does there exist on their records a deliberation, that tends to correct the abuses under w-hich, they have so long groaned. This cannot; but; be disheartening to so large ^nd interesting a mass of population as that of the South American continent ; and it is na tural for them, as thinking men, to indulge those obvious reflections which their situation obtrudes upon their minds. "Of what use" 201 do the Americans justly say, " is it to us, to drain ourselves of our public resources and private means, if the government, in support of whom the whole is lavished, only thinks of us at the moment our remittances arrive, and calls us good and faithful subjects in pro portion to the amounts and contingencies we furnish ?" In this state of general abandonment, therefore, on the part of that body, which was placed at the head of affairs, it is not strange that whole provinces should be in commotion; and, swearing eternal enmity to those com mon foes who have spread desolation amongst their brothers in Europe, in hopes of equally extending the same horrors beyond the seas, should think of their own safety, and be anxious about a national existence. As soon as the successes of the French arms in Spain had forced the provisional govern ment to retire to Cadiz; at the time when every thing became in some measure gloomy, particularly to the Americans, at that distance, this degree of consternation and depression afforded fine scope fo the arts of the French agents and spies amongst them; defeats that never existed were depicted ; Spain was re presented as sunk in a state of effeminate apa- 202 thy and carelessness, reposing only on the aid and protection of England, with no resources but those she drained from her almost ex hausted settlements, and reduced nearly to the condition of a conquered province. Their beloved sovereign was described to them, as overcome by the weight of his misfortunes, and degraded into the mere tool of Bonaparte. Cast down, therefore, in this state of orphan desolation, and left to themselves, it naturally became a predominant consideration, who was to succeed their sovereign, whom they sup posed for ever lost to them ; and what was to be the future form of government, that was to guard them from anarchy and French machinations. Nor was this a question of inferior interest to the nations of Europe, who felt for the welfare of all belonging to Spain, and who were spectators in what had passed. As early as August, 1808, a proclamation, or manifesto, was issued by Dona Carolotta Joa- quina de Bourbon, daughter to Charles the IV. of Spain, and married to the Prince Regent of Portugal and the Brazils. It is addressed to the loyal and faithful vassals of his catholic majesty in the Indies and Spain, and to those chiefs and representative bodies in whom are 203 Deposited the authority and administration of the laws. After recapitulating the many out rages that have been heaped by the common enemy on the legal heirs to the crown of Spain and the Indies, she reminds them of their allegiance to her family, as the next member and immediate representative of whom, she publishes her rights, promising to maintain the same inviolable ; and pledging herself, as depositary thereof, never to alter the fundamental laws of the country, nor to vio late either its privileges, or the honours, or exemptions of the clergy and nobility, all of whom she, from that time, acknowledges under her care. How far this manifesto w r as circulated through the provinces of South America, it is not easy to determine ; though generally it is believed to have been partially conilned to that of Buenos Ayres, from being nearest the Brazils. Be that as it may, the experi ment had no effect, nor could any be ex pected ; for, besides the jealous eye with which the Spaniards view every thing done by the Portuguese, it was considered as an illegal interference ; for though the persons of their royal sovereign Ferdinand the VII. and his two brothers were for ever wrested from them, 204 their rights could not devolve to that branch of the family, as by the law of succession made in May, 1713, and sanctioned by the Cortes, the female line is excluded as long as there is male issue to be found ; and the crown would, therefore, devolve on Ferdinand of the two Sicilies, son to the late Charles the III. It would, however, argue an ignorance of the present state of mind of the South Co lumbians, to suppose they would submit to be governed by any other member of the royal family, than Ferdinand the VII. him self ; for though they may be sensible of the wrongs that have marked the reign of his father, they are fully convinced they origi nated more in the corrupt conduct of his ministry, than in any premeditated hostility to their happiness. Of that ministry the Prince of Asturias always testified his disapprobation, and even absented himself from the court of his father, not to be an eye-witness of its irregularities. He wept in solitude over the state to which his country was reduced ; and the people considered him a martyr to their cause, when through the influence of Godoy, though heir-apparent to the crown, he was deprived of his liberty ; and when his generous 205 efforts in their behalf, received even the exe crations of his own parents. Alone, or se conded only by the minister Cavallero, he dared to tear away the mask of hypocrisy and guilt, and developed those base designs, by which the Prince of Peace had sunk the nation into an abyss of horror. In short, he stood as a shield to his future subjects, against that oppression under which they had so long groaned, and his conduct was distinguished by the most magnanimous efforts in their fa vour. The blessings of the people of Spain which were heaped upon his head, resounded through America, and all hailed his late ac cession to the throne, as the era of regenera tion, and the epoch of a new existence ; hence his subsequent distresses served but to rivet their affections. The revolution of Spain will ever be memo rable in the annals of history, and will in future ages excite the admiration of posterity. At the zenith of oppressive power to which France had ascended, after subjugating almost every other potentate and state, that had till then resisted the force of arms and the in fluence of intrigue, and adding their resources to her own strength, Spain, that had been anti cipated as an easy prey, was the first to oppose 206 a barrier to her hitherto resistless career ; its" people, though long enervated by inaction, in want of chiefs, and undermined by the ma chinations of their invader, yet withstood his iron rod, and in the early days, at least, of the contest, promised not only to effect their own desired independence, but to second the common cause of the other nations of Europe. The first and most advantageous moments were, however, lost ; no government existed to direct and second the armies, or give confi dence to the people, and, meanwhile, France redoubled her efforts. Notwithstanding the increased forces of the invader, and the cruel means he has resorted to in order to maintain his conquests, the work is yet left unfinished ; fresh valour seems to rise on the ruins of dis persed armies ; and in the new mode of war fare now adopted by the Spanish natives, more distress is caused, than he has yet experienced, in subjugating the rest of Europe. Let the issue be what it may, the struggle will be glorious ; the attempts to repel a foreign foe will be respected in history, and the heroic defence of Zaragoza, Gerona, and Ciudad Rod- rigo, will be ever remembered. In the present crisis of Spanish affairs, how ever, an epoch highly interesting to the nation^ 207 but more particularly so to her allies, is approach* ing. No sooner had the insufficiency of the late government been fully perceived, and acknow ledged by all parties, than the general voice of the people called for the legal constitution that was yet preserved ; and the Cortes were, in the month of January, 1810, summoned by the Council of Regency, which succeeded the Jun ta, to convene in the month of August of the same year. The hopes of future liberty to Spain, and of welfare to her colonies, may be said to depend on this interesting convocation ; and the nations now in league and treaty with her, will then have better grounds on which to raise the superstructure of their alliance. This is a plank, that amidst the wide ocean of misfortune, in which she had nearly foun dered, yet remains to save the state. In recurring, however, to the decree of the Regency, published in Cadiz, on the 18th of June, 181O, in which this representative body, announce their wish to give an irrefragable proof of their ardent desire for the public good, and for the safety of the nation, each province of which, is directed to proceed to elect deputies to represent it in the general congress about to be formed, nothing is found to invite the distant provinces of their Ame- 208 rican dominions, to send forward persons to stipulate for their wants, and thus to form part of that great national congregration, in tended to ground the rights of the state, in which they have so great an interest. This would have been a means of union, and a bond of fraternal amity, which the ex isting circumstances forcibly called for, and would have healed the wounds caused by the neglect of the preceding administration. Not withstanding the professions set forth in the valedictory address of the Junta to the nation, experience had well convinced every party, that its interests had been neglected ; and though composed of some of the most respectable and enlightened members of the country, it was, from the mode of its establishment, devoid of power ; and if its authority was not defined at home, it was impossible for it to be delegated to countries divided from it by immense oceans. At such a distance, therefore, with such an extent of territory, and mass of population as Spain held in America, without a concentra tion of efficient and executive authority, it was almost impossible to conciliate the local and jarring interests ; for, if European nations have found it difficult to extend the force of control over detached islands, bounded by na- 2og ture and held together by political union, how much more so must it be over an assemblage of provinces, where each is nearly equal in size to the distant kingdom, and where there exists a division of interests that defies every effort to keep rivetted each corresponding link of the whole chain. It is equally palpable, that amidst the weighty cares and local occupations which, since the revolution in Spain, have engrossed the whole time and attention of its unstable government, marked as it was, by improvident legislation and abortive pleas, much cannot have been done for the welfare of this interest ing part of the Spanish empire ; nor can an equivalent have been adopted for the system of polity, by which the council of the Indies conducted its affairs. The want of maternal care, advice, and pro tection to their children, now rising into pu berty, is the greatest matter of reproach to the provisional government ; and the hopes which the Spanish Columbians entertained of a new administration founding its measures on the experience of the past, and acting for the mutual benefit of the pern c :la and the colonies, have been cruelly disappointed. That promised foresight, and prudent distri- VOL.II. ? 210 bution of the benefits arising from a regene-* rated state of things, they have seen confined to the removal of a few officers originally sent out by Godoy ; the old system of things is unchanged, and the same rotten and tottering fabric remains. This consideration naturally calls us back to a review of that expected salutary change in the affairs of Spain. It may then naturally be concluded, that the mass of the Spanish nation are anxiously solicitous for that reform which they see ne cessary, and have anticipated, as competent to produce that regeneration essential to the very existence of the state itself, the correction of abuses ; the alleviation of their wrongs, and those of the colonies ; combining a more just representation of the throne, an authority more uniform and concentrated, and an ad ministration more effective and vigorous in the executive power. The removal of the court of Lisbon to the Brazils, has been attended with local conse quences of a most happy nature, and serves as a strong and exemplary stimulus to its sur rounding neighbours. It has given a new energy and nerve to industry, and the avenues of redress are direct, immediate, and accessi ble. The commercial intercourse with Eng- ill iand, and the free navigation of their own flag, has filled their American ports with traf fic, and given value to the productions of agriculture ; the certainty of sale which the planter now sees for his produce, redoubles his eagerness to increase his crops. The pro tection of his own government now no longer reflective, promises efficient security, and this happy combination of things, that has arisen from the untoward fate of Portugal in transfer ring the strength and splendour of empire to the shores of the vast continent of America, forms too great a contrast with the languishing state of the confining provinces, not to impress them with considerations drawn from analogy.* That inherent jealousy of the Spaniard to the Portuguese, which springs unabated from the remembrance of wars that once raged between them, and which the policy of their respective courts could never efface, makes this contrast doubly prominent and impressive ; an as sertion that might be doubted, were it not the result of actual observation. The prospect of increasing prosperity on one side, and that of a solid substantial government formed in their own days on the other, excite a wish in the * See Treaty of Alliance with England. (Appendix G) P 2 212 enlightened of the Spanish intervening pro vinces, and those who have most the public good at heart, that their government in Europe would adopt some mode of assiduous and general revisal, satisfactory to their wants, grounded on the destruction of monopoly, and distinguished by an equal extension of rights with all their fellow-subjects. Such combina tions w r ould become the proper instrument of their political improvement and national union. The refusaj of this, can only be attended by an alternative, which however to be deprecated from the confusion that would ensue, is con sistent with justice and humanity, for they cannot be accused of a want of moderation, or of patriotism, since they are not held by the bond of affection to their European brothers. But this long neglect affords a plea to the disturbers of the public repose, who are not backward to fan the embers of discontent, and keep alive those enmities and dissentions which have but too often originated in the abuse of distant and delegated power, and from which they would now wish to propa gate a general odium to the European name. It has been considered by the best Spanish patriots, and the most disinterested in the great national cause, as the heaviest misfortune that 213 could happen at that important crisis, that the legal representation of the nation was not called in the moment that the captivity of their sovereign was made known. The Council of Castile, the leading constituted body in that common-wealth, early judged that the instal lation of the Junta w r as not only inadequate to the wants of the nation, but irregular, as being inconsistent with the laws of the realm, and unsanctioned by precedents. As this parti cular trait in the late Spanish history is im portant, and connected with the present un stable state of the mother country, and the orphan situation of the colonies abroad, we may be allowed to indulge a few remarks on the subject, in treating which, we shall avail our selves of the best existing authorities. The representation or remonstrance, made officially, by the Council of Castile to the Central Junta, under date of the 8th October, 1808, is a document highly illustrative of the point in question, and throws considerable light on the history of the late Spanish affairs. This latter body having constituted itself into an executive administration, as the de pository of the sovereign authority, during the captivity of the king ; but not being thus con stituted by the votes of the people, exacted 214 obedience, and took into its own hands, the entire reins of the government. This formation of the deputies of the several provincial Juntas, into one supreme governing congress, appears opposed to the spirit of the Spanish history, more so, as the famous Ley de Partida point ed out to the nation a course, in which would have been found a remedy applicable to the reigning evil, and a means of rallying the opinions of ajl. This is forcibly testified in the words of king John, in the year Ml 8, and dated in Madrid. " Porque en los hechos. arduos de nuestros reynos, es necesario consejo de nuestros sub- ditos y naturales, especialmente de los pro- curadorcs de las nuestras cindades, villas y lugares de los nuestros reynos ; por ende erdenamos y mandamos que sobre tales fechos grandes y arduos se hayan de ajunter Cortes, y se faga con consejo de los tres estados de nuestros reynos segun que lo hicieron los Reyes nuestros predecesores," "As in the arduous and momentous occur rences of our kingdoms, it is necessary to re ceive advice from our subjects and people, espe cially from the representative deputies of the cities and towns of our said kingdoms; for this reason, we ordain and command, that in 215 cases of such arduous and momentous occur rences, the Cortes (courts or representative congress of the nation) be assembled and act by the advice of the three states,* as was done by the kings, our predecessors." Such was the line of conduct the Spanish nation adopted during the minority of Henry the III. and also in the years 1480 and io38. The reign of the Emperor Charles the V. is the last epoch in the history of Spain, that presents an instance of this great national occurrence, founded on the exigence of the moment, and the dangers to which the state was exposed. The formation of this august body, dates from the re-establishment of the several king doms of Spain after their almost entire subver sion by the Goths, and was intended by the nation, who, at that time, had purchased their freedom at the expense of their own blood, as a barrier against the abusive power of the sovereign ; and it was for this reason, that they concentrated the supremacy ot jus tice, and the discretionary powers of peace and war, in the representative assemblies ot the people, of whose rights and franchises they were the depositaries and guardians. This was long the idol and pride of the Spanish nation, * Meaning the clergy, nobility, and people. 216 and forms an interesting contemplation in the annals of that country ; but how it was overlooked in their late distress, seems a pro blem. The nation, thus represented by the body of the elected deputies of the people, alone be came adequate to the solution of all arduous cases, for which there was not immediate pro vision in the established laws of the land. Its powers emanated from the delegation of the rights of man in society, from the essential prin ciples of the constitution of Spain, and, as has been aptly observed by one of their legislators, this was a body that could depose the king himself, in grievous cases, a right that was established by a secret pact or convention be tween the king and his people. The former contracted the obligation of doing justice, of supporting the public good, the rights and liberties of the subject, and of governing in conformity to the laws, without altering or infringing them, and in compliance and ac cord with the votes of the nation at large. The people on their part, contracted the obli gation to obey, and serve w r ith their properties and persons, their sovereigns and the state, as long as the conduct of the king, warranted their allegiance. 21? This power of remonstrating with the king, is aptly proved by the words of the Cortes of Valladolid, addressed to Charles the V. in the year 1518. " Considering that the first duty of your highness is to succour and provide for your people at large, who are your vassals and natural subjects, in preference to your own proper affairs ; we wish to remind your highness, that you were chosen and called to be our king, the interpretation of which is, to govern well, for in that case only, could you be called king ; and to govern well, is to do justice, which means, to give each person his own, and this is truly to be a king. It is for this reason also, that your subjects give you part of their fruits and earnings, and serve you with their persons when they are called upon ; let your highness then see, if by silent pact you are not obliged to uphold them, and ren der them due justice/ Such was the free and energetic language of the representatives of the Spanish people to their monarchs, so late as the reign of Charles the V. and in this way did they remind him of his duty as a king, and complain of the abuses with which his administration was tinc tured. It however appears nearly the last generous effort of the nation, which, from the 218 accession of the Austrian monarchs began to decline ; a convocation of the Cortes was avoided by the ministers, successively pre siding in the Cabinets of Madrid, who dreaded restrictions on their powers, and from that time the people, who till then had been pre dominant, became connected with the realm, in no other way than by subjection. The Cortes of Spain, in cases of war, re sembled the parliament of England, with re gard to its sovereign, and though the Spanish monarch could make war, it rested with the former to give him the necessary supplies ; and the calling out the armed force, was particu larly vested in the municipalities. The above-mentioned Cortes of Valladolid, in the twenty-second article of their constitu tion, establish this point, when they say, that " whenever the king wishes to make war, it is his duty to assemble the Cortes, to whom he will exhibit his reasons, that they may see whe ther it be just, which if it should prove to be, and against Moors, they are to deliberate on the force that may be necessary, and fix the supplies required, but that without the will of the said deputies of the people, the king cannot declare or wage war." Numerous are the traits of Spanish history that appear to support the legality of the Cortes, and prove that it was the only means of national representation that was left to a people bereft of their sovereign, and reduced to an orphan state ; for it will be found in the annals of nations, that the universal parti cipation of council creates reciprocity of ge neral obedience, a consideration that alone- gives efficiency to government, and creates that consensus obedientium, and union of parts, on which solely the empire of a state can be founded. It has, therefore been judiciously observed by a Spanish politician of the present day, that there cannot be a greater misfortune to a rra^ tion than to have a constitution not perfectly definite, and to have lost its outlines from the length of time, in which it has been out of use. Yet this position is applicable to the late distresses of Spain ; for the history and gjory of their forefathers seemed to be buried in the ruins of that fabric, which they had once erected as the safeguard of their rights, but which had been gradually sapped by the successive designs of power, and lay moulder ing in such decay, that by the mass of the 220 people, no fragment of the great corner-stone could any longer be found. Those bonds of dependence and commu nion which form the accordance of the sub divided parts of the state, with the centre of its operations, being loosened, or rather broken asunder, the public machine is disorganized, and the common spring loses its effect. These again it becomes necessary to adjust and re gulate, before a new motion can be produced, otherwise a confusion, similar to the error of Phaeton, ensues, and the confidence of the people becomes vague and misdirected. Such was the spectacle the provinces of Spain pre sented at the capture of their king, and the destruction of his government ; and such the colonies will continue to present, till a general explanation and mutual agreement takes place ; for till then, there can be no government properly so called, the different interests and opinions will occasion party-divisions ; the spirit of animosity and opposition will take advantage of the total want of established and fixed principles ; faction, nay, confusion may follow, whilst the government at home is balancing which is the true, legal, and con stitutional way of administering for them. But no trait in the Spanish history is so 221 analogous to the late situation of Spain as that which occurred in the beginning of the reign of Henry the III. and which the pen of the archbishop of Toledo has handed down to pos terity. During the minority of that prince, it be came necessary to govern the kingdom by a Council of Regency, for whose establishment the Cortes were called, and assembled in Ma drid, in 1391. The concourse was the greatest the nation had ever witnessed, and represen tatives were sent from all the principal cities in the kingdom- After a series of most weighty and important deliberations, it was concluded, that the best and safest way to govern the state under existing circumstances, was to elect a Council of Regency, which was accordingly done, and for several years this form of government continued glorious to the nation, and respected by the people. Conformable to the history of the country, and the precedents found in its annals, were also the wishes of the unfortunate Ferdinand the VII. in the decree he issued on the 5th of May, 1808, in Bayonne, where he addressed himself to the Supreme Council of Castile, in the following words, " That, finding him- 222 Self deprived of the power of acting for self, it was his royal will that the nationf should proceed to convene the Cortes in the place that might appear most convenient; that in the first instance they were to devise means and raise supplies for the defence of the kingdom, and that they should remain in session for whatever else might occur." The greatest part, therefore, of the calami ties which have obscured the horizon of Spain, were owing to the tardy adoption of this great national resource, from whence originated a debility of government ; a want of activity in its councils, and of vigour in its execution. The system of internal policy being thus re laxed, her passive reliance on the efforts of her allies, served but to blight those laurels which each had gained, and render fruitless the valuable blood, that in so noble a cause had been already shed. Spain became weaken ed not so much by the energy and success of her enemy, as by the disorders which rankled in her own bosom. This unhappy abortion of the first zeal of the Spanish people, did not however destroy it ; neither the reverses of war, nor the fortune of the usurper, have en feebled its constancy, or diminished its ardour ;. 223 and nothing is yet wanting but a systematic and well- combined plan of resistance through the whole provinces. Of this inadequate power on the part of the Junta, the British ministers near the Spanish government were sensible, when they defined it to be an instrument, not of sufficient force to carry into effect the objects for which it was formed, nor capable of calling forth the resources of the nation, and directing the spirit of the people with that degree of vigour necessary to second a foreign alliance, and re pel a powerful invader. Considering the very great means set in motion by so formidable a power as that of the French, aided by the internal plots that may be said to have existed for several pre ceding years, double efforts became necessary to form an effective organ of defence on con stitutional principles, adequately to supply the place of the absent monarch. The election of the Central Junta did indeed appear in the first ardour of public zeal, which seemed to pervade every breast, to possess these requisites, but the least reverse of fortune proved to that body itself, that it w r as nota legal confederation of the provinces ; it was too numerous to act with unanimity ; though, had the affairs of 224 Spain proved prosperous in its hands, perhaps it would still exist, for in that case only would it have acquired the voice of the people, If it be evident that the state of the Spanish settlements needed reform and melioration, it is no less so, that they will not consent to be governed by the regulations and laws to which they have been hitherto accustomed ; but though they are unanimous on this head, they are nevertheless, determined to repel every fore gn attack or intrigue, and to swear eter nal enmity to the French name ; for they are equally interested and anxious for the fate of the mother country, and for the welfare of a beloved sovereign, whose virtues they revere. Nothing can be more congenial to the in terests of Spain, and the wishes of the people, than to establish commercial regulations with England. They have before them, as already remarked, the example of the Portuguese, who have known the value of a powerful, just, and disinterested ally ; and with whom the long and uniform continuance of that friendly con nection, which mutually subsists, is the best proof of its sincerity and solid foundation- When France and Spain united, in the year 1762, to subjugate Portugal, England came to her aid, supported her independence, and 225 established the house of Braganza on its throne. Since then, she has possessed privi leges in the Portuguese ports, and has sup plied her with goods, whilst the wines of the latter, have held a preference in hers. She has been the bulwark of the rights of Portugal, and the guardian of her trade. Since the re moval of the Court of Lisbon, England has continued firm to her interests, and their al liance forms a striking contrast to that of Spain with France. When the leader of the French incorporated Piedmont with his own states, he openly avowed that he was impelled by existing cir cumstances, and by a conviction of its inability to support either the weight of its own inde pendence, or the expense of a monarchy. Such also, was his public language to Portugal, and such his private sentiments respecting Spain, yet how much more sublimely would he have triumphed, if he could have got to their united possessions beyond the seas. Long ago, he would have used the language of his predeces sors, " that those haughty islanders could not insult all the maritime powers, if the riches of Portugal did not pass into their hands." That France wished to avail herself of the same resources, and also to engross the ac- VOL. II. Q 226 cumulated wealth which the possessions of Spanish America afforded, may be well con ceived. For this purpose, as we have already said, emissaries were spread throughout them ; and even the present government of Spain, ap pears, in some degree, sensible of the machi nations that exist against her peace, and the allegiance of her establishments abroad, as is proved by the following edict, issued by the "Regency in Cadiz, under date of the tenth of May, 1810. It will be hereafter seen, that if Spain wishes to preserve her settlements entire* she may yet profit from that intrigue which is applied to existing circumstances, by extend ing redress to those springs on which it is intended to act. Correction and reform are the best antidotes to foreign corruption ; for let us make a people happy, prosperous, and contented, and we may then rely on their allegiance. Dccrelo del Consejo de Regencia, publicado en la Gazeta de Cadiz de lo. de Mayo de 1810. " El Rey, y en su real nombre el Consejo de Regencia de los reynos de Espana e Indias, se ha servido expedir la real orden siguiente : Noticipso S, M. de que por diferentes puntos 227 intenta el perturbador general de Europa, Na poleon Buonaparte, enviar emisarios y espias a los dominios Espa^oles ultramarinos, y que ha verilieado ya el envio de algunos con el depra- vado designio de introducir en ellos el des ; ;rden y la anarquia, ya que no alcanzan sus fuerzas a paises tan remotos : y constando tambien a S. M. que la mayor parte de dichos emisarios, entre los quales se cuentan algunos Espanoles desnatnralizados, se reunen en los Estados- Unidos de America, desde donde con disfraces y simulaciones procuran penetrar furtivamente por tierra en la provincia de Texas, 6 se em*- barcan para otras posesiones Espafiolas : ha resuelto S. M. que a ningun espanol, ni ex- trangero, de qualquiera clase 6 nacion que sea, y baxo de ningun pretexto, se permita desembarcar en ninguno de los puertos Espa noles de aquellos dominios, sin que presente los documentos autenticos y pasaportes, da dos por las autoridades legitimas, residentes en los puntos de su procedencia, a nombre del re\^ nnestro senor D. Fernando VII. y que acrediten de un modo indudable la legitimi- dad de sus personas y el objeto de su viage : que los vireyes, gobernadores, y demas auto ridades militares y civiles de los referidos dominios, observen y hagan observar inviola- Q 2 228 blemente el exacto cumplimiento de esta so- berana determinacion ; y que si por alguno de aquellos accidentes, que no siempre se pueden precaver, se verificase el desembarco o introduccion por tierra de alguno de los emisarios o espias franceses en aquellos paises, se proceda desde luego a formarle breve y su- mariamente su causa, se le imponga la pena capital, y se mande executar, sin necesidad de consultar a S, M : procediendo asimismo a la confiscacion del cargamento y buque en que dicho emisario o espia hubiese sido con- ducido : debiendose executar esto ultimo con toda embarcacion, de qualquiera nacion que sea, por el solo hecho de llevar a bordo per- sonas que no tengan los correspondientes per- misos, dados por la autoridades legitimas y a nombre de Fernando VII. aun quando los sugetos fuesen naturales de aquelos dominios." TRANSLATION, " The King, and in his royal name the Council of Regency for the kingdom of Spain and the Indies, has been pleased to issue the following royal order : " His Majesty being informed that the ge neral perturbator of Europe, Napoleon Buo naparte, endeavours from different points, to 229 send spies and emissaries amongst the ultra marine possessions of Spain, and that he has already dispatched some, with the base design of there introducing anarchy and disorder, since his arms cannot reach countries so re mote ; and it being further notified to his ma jesty, that the greatest part of these emissaries, amongst whom are reckoned some denatura lized Spaniards, are now collecting in the United States, whence, in disguise and under false pretexts, they are to penetrate by land into the provinces of Texas, and by sea to other places Has resolved, that no Spaniard or foreigner, of whatever class or nation he may be, shall land in any port of the Spanish do minions, without producing proper passports from the legal and constituting authorities, re siding in the country from whence they pro ceed, and given in the name of our sovereign Ferdinand the VII. and this under pain of death, confiscation of property," &c. &c. In the early stages of that opposition, which France encountered in her general usurpation of Spain, whilst yet the result was more du bious, she was well aware that the best means to strike at the root of resistance, was to at tack the sources of foreign supplies. Per suaded of the impossibility of any attempt to 230 relax that spring of energy and strength, which impelled the British nation to the generous succour of her allies ; but, seeing at the same time, that those loans of treasure and supplies which this nation afforded; must in defect of all local and domestic resources be replaced ; France did not lose sight of the spot from whence they were to be derived, or the point to which she was, in the mean time, to direct, her attacks. No sooner had the abdication of the Spanish monarch taken place in Bayonne, in favour of the French emperor, than persons of a proper stamp, where chosen to visit those rich posses sions, which the latter hoped would equally devolve to his new crown ; and Depons, whose literary researches and description of, what he calls, the eastern part of South America, rank among the productions of merit, was the first of many others, fixed upon as a suitable emis sary. From his long residence in that coun try, as agent and representative of his own nation, daring which, he acquired a local knowledge and intimacy with many of the rich and powerful in the provinces, much good to the cause of Joseph was expected. He pre pared himself, by every credential that might give efficacy to his mission, particularly by let- 231 ters from mercantile houses in Biscay ; and there are Spanish merchants now in England, whither they have retired since the desolation of their own country, whose correspondence to their agents in Caracas he solicited, and from whom I have verified the fact. The Cabinet of Paris, in better possession of the real state of feelings of that country, than were even its owners, and aware that to create in it, an effervescence founded on disgust to the late form and name of government, would be the best means to sever the branches from the trunk, set to work every engine for the purpose, and unfortunately, too many Spa niards were met with ready to second these views. The destroyers of the peace and tran quillity of South America, found an abundance of existing abuses, on which to ground their schemes of subversion and alienation. Thus was it discovered, that the real situation of things, arising from the long mistaken policy of the Spanish government at home, and the neglect in which these distant regions were left, in some measure accorded with the views of the usurper, which were no other, than to se parate the colonies from the mother country. Persuaded that reason is the genuine exercise of the mind, and truth the native and congenial 232 element of an intellectual being, the French ruler thought, that if he could induce that people against whom his artifices were direct ed, once to ponder over their past wrongs, it would be easy to rip open those wounds which time had, in some measure closed, and which only wanted a degree of healing balm entirely to efface, his work would be complete ; and that if he could not obtain these vast, and desirabe regions for himself, he would at least be en abled to render them useless to the parent country. He trusted to his own force, and to the unstable and wavering form of the Spanish government, for the subjugation of European Spain, and to his intrigues for the dissemina tion of anarchy and confusion in her distant possessions, in hopes that fortuitous circum stances might eventually turn them to his own advantage, and in the interim, leave the for mer bereft of a material and essential means of support. The Vales Reales, or governmental stock, that for late years had circulated to a consider able amount in the commerce of Spain, du ring the war that existed with England, sup ported to a degree of credit, founded on the unavoidable delay and difficulty of bringing home the public funds, which lay stagnant in 233 America ; but as soon as the late revolution and change of affairs in Spain broke out, they fell sixty per cent. To take fresh hold on the commercial classes of the nation, in whose hands they were principally . lodged, and to whose entire thraldom he aspired, Joseph Buo naparte decreed, that, all such as had been re newed by the Junta in Seville, should be de clared null, and irrecoverable, by which act he he rendered himself, in a promisory way at least, responsible for those held by his partisans. France, from the earliest date of her alliance with Spain, had active agents in all her pos sessions abroad. In Cuba and Puerto Rico, they were accredited for the protection of their privateers, and the sale of their prizes ; and in the sea-ports of the main, they were destined for local researches, and for the support of that trade which they had planned and anti cipated ; for, on that footing, their chief ex pected to be able to maintain his troops, when the exactions and pillage of Europe were ex hausted ; a period, which he saw, was not far distant. If not avowed as public function aries, he had them travelling through the interior, in the characters of philosophers, botanists, and natural historians, under li censes from the Spanish Court; so that he 234 knew the country, its resources, and the sti muli of action, by which its population might be roused and convulsed. In that long and momentous struggle, that has of late years agitated the bosom of Europe, and in which two great nations seem to con tend for reciprocal destruction, an evident difference in policy marks the cabinets of each, producing opposite consequences. The popu lar and representative share, that forms part of the constitution of England, so admirably cal culated to confine the executive within the li mits of the law, has justly been said, to have a direct influence on the career of external operations, far beyond what is consistent with a wise system of policy, and often op posed to success. The history of the ancient republics proves to us, that publicity of discus sion and the spirit of party, are elements often injurious to the enterprises of the politician, and must particularly be so when opposed to the espionnage and subtle policy of the French. Whilst England, as well from the candour of her inhabitants, as from the undisguised plans of her government, undertakes every thing in the face of day, and acts often by popular impulse, France matures her views in 235 the council of a few, and spreads, nay executes, her machinations in a distant country, almost before the nation at large is aware to which quarter an army has marched. Every thing is disguised, and she converts into means of ad vantage, that very openness of conduct, which she cannot but admire in her enemy. Whilst England trusts to the energy of her expeditions, and relies on force of arms, policy is the wea pon of France, she trusts to the empire of in fluence in those countries into which she can not pour her legions, and that this policy has been long pursued in foreign operations, even under the ancien regime, may be proved by a short recurrence to the history of the Indians in North America, which forms a contrast of that of the two nations, who mutually at tempted their subjugation and control. Pursuing this inquiry by the experience of fact, we are told, that the French in their first attempts to settle in those distant and recently discovered parts, endeavoured to penetrate by force of arms, and fix their possessions by mi litary expeditions, till through the perpetual and unvaried abortion of these measures, and the certain disappointment and loss that at tended them, they found it necessary to change their mode of conduct, and make ad- 230 vances in a way perfectly contrary, and more consistent with the nature of the service. The settlers of Canada began to study the peculiarities of their Indian neighbours, and found that their leading and predominant pas sion was hunting. They assumed the same ha bits of life, joined them in the fatigue and toil of the field, shared with them the same dangers, and gradually insinuated themselves into a close connection with the natives. They not only assimilated to them, but, to increase their in tercourse, stooped even to practise many of their savage eccentricities. Thus did they create that empire over the Indians, which Eng land eventually witnessed, and tried to eradi cate, but which, after the lapse of so "many years, still remains. With this footing gained, they examined the local situation of the country, and found that in obtaining the dominion of the waters they would establish a general alliance and communication with every part of the whole, and acquire a command over them at different points which would give them a key to the continent at large. Thus their policy pointed out to them the efficient centre of dominion in this country, by which they assumed an active influence that was contrasted by the 237 languid control of their more numerous rivals. The various possessions and forts of the French, had an order, connection, and com munication, an unity and system of interest, and being well located, with relation to the friendly guidance of the waters, they held an entire command over the country, and by means of this political tie, converted the In dian interest into their own. Such then was the successful policy of the French in extending the empire of influence over the Indians ; they knew too well the spirit of their politics to affect a superio rity and government over them ; all they sought for, was an ascendancy in their coun cils, in which they had always persons in their own interest who directed their measures. Such has been the conduct of the French to the different nations of Europe ; such particu larly was her policy to Spain, and which she hoped equally to extend to her settlements abroad. Hence their policy always forrr ed a counterpart to that of the English, whose views they aimed in secret to traverse, and if France has risen high on the destruction of other nations, the force of arms, has not been the only medium of ascent. The decline of Spain was no ephemeral 238 phenomenon ; it has been uniform since the accession of the Austrian monarchs to the Spanish throne, and must have been occasion ed by one unceasing, invariable cause. The councils of Spain long undermined by France, had become foreign to the feelings and in terests of their own nation, and that noted answer of a minister of Lewis the XV. when he was asked, how the Cabinet of France could bias and govern Spain in the way it did, at the same time that there existed between the people such a deadly hatred, will prove my position, " It is," replied the minister, "by setting proper persons round the royal family, and by first governing them ; through their means, we afterwards command the nation." This line of conduct has been uniform in the subsequent relations with Spain, and in the successive efforts, France has made to con quer her provinces, since war has been de clared. How much this policy was pursued by the partisans of the French, when the Bri tish army was obliged to fall back on Portu gal, was evident to the most partial observer, every effort was redoubled to spread distrust in the breasts of the Spaniards, in hopes to convince them that the views of their allies were insincere ; a means the French found ap- 239 plicableto the wary character of the Spaniards, but in the application of which they failed of success. Bonaparte had a double means of obtaining the information he so much wanted, not only with regard to Spain, but other countries. The emigrants, who, in the early convulsive distresses of France, had been received by the surrounding nations in the most humane and generous way, in Spain had rank both in the army and navy, and were admitted in the first families as confidents and companions, by which means they had access to every subject of information that might become interesting ; and unfortunately there were found amongst this, in general, dignified class of persons, many who purchased their return to France by dis closures of all they had been able to collect during their absence : a fact well ascertained with regard to Spain ; for the armies that have since overrun those provinces, are attended by persons who formerly lived in them as emi grants, and w^ho exercise their local know ledge as well on the situation of the country and its resources, supplies, &c. as also in the capacity of civil commissioners, in attempting to doctrinize the minds of the common people. Few political contemplations are calculated 240 to afford more delight and satisfaction to feeling mind, than the prospect of ameliora tion in the state of the inhabitants of Spanish America, and no theme has been more dis cussed by the cabinets of Europe, which have been successively at war with that of Madrid. Different able writers have been employed on this subject ; it has interested the feelings of the philanthropist, and has given rise to some of the most powerful expeditions that have left the shores of England, though all seem to have been mistaken in the means, as well as in their application. The engines, however, employed, as well by the nations of Europe aiming at conquest, as by some individual adventurers, who have attempted to sow the seeds of discontent and rebellion in these provinces, indicate a mis conception of the character of the people, and of the bias of action by which they are go verned. Language has been put into the mouth of the half-clad and unlettered Indian, suited indeed, to the restless and unquiet genius of the present age, but foreign to the breasts of that class of beings ; for, though the most enlightened are sensible of an extent of wrongs, they are equally aware of the pro portion of remedy required ; they are afraid 241 that the advice dealt out to them springs more from interest than sympathy ; they have seen, that all efforts proposed to meliorate their state, are warlike, and they feel a repugnance to them, similar to that displayed in a domes tic dispute, when a third party interferes. We have been told that " the American, and French revolutions have flashed light round the South Columbians, which has en abled the most remote and secluded slaves to see the injustice of their oppressors, and the deformity of the fetters in which they were bound." It is indeed certain, that these two great occurrences, which may be said to have been engrafted on each other, have afforded every nation to which their lessons have been able to penetrate, means of pondering on their own situations, but this may be said to be applicable only to nations, where communica tion and intercourse serve to collect, express, and consolidate the public opinion ; but in the common classes of the Spanish natives of both regions, these two great political changes have rather served to counteract, than pro mote any attempts to take them as models. Never did a nation enter into a war with so much alacrity as that waged against the French regicides, nor have any national occurrences YOI-. He R 242 been since held in such sovereign detestation, as those which have formed the leading fea tures of that all-grasping nation. Those who were in Spain at the declaration of war with France, saw it the subject of discourses from the pulpits, and the enthusiastic ardour raised, particularly pervaded the lower branches of society. The extension of this abhorrence has not been less in the colonies, where more disgust was witnessed, when a handful of Frencti troops went over in 1800 from Guadaloupe to Caracas as friends, to aid in the defence of that province, than even at the hostile advance of the British lines on the shores of the La Plata. They know the years of blood, toil, and deso lation both revolutions have cost ; all seek for a reform, but few think it ought to be pur chased by similar means. They have not forgotten that to revolution ize has been aptly defined, the greatest scourge that can afflict the human race ; that it ex presses the union of every evil, universal plunder, and proscription, assassination in all shapes, a systematic confiscation of property, the arming of the strong against the weak, the slave against the master, the overthrow of all laws human and divine, of all institutions, religious and political, and producing even- 4 243 tually either complete anarchy, or a degrada tion of civil life. That it is in short, a con dition of lawless force, an awful state of violence which subverts the fundamental prin ciples of society and right, and legalizes crimes the most nefarious. The portraits of the Indians particularly,, but generally of the natives of Spanish Ame rica, that have been given within these three years, by the enthusiastic, for the purposes of hurrying the nation into forcibleattempts, that bore not the prospect of successful issue, ap pear to be the workings of misguided fancy, founded on miscalculation and a wrong esti mation of the Spanish colonial mind. They have been represented as " trampled to the dust in their own land the country as a dreary range for wild beasts, a wretched thea^ tre for a few oppressors and slaves without security for life, freedom, or property ; its inhabitants goaded by long and galling op pression, and as panting for a release from, their sufferings, " &c. What a contrast, how ever, would the still, inactive, and quiet life of the common people of South America form with that even of those of any of the Euro pean nations, wherein the former, a day s labour per week places them beyond want, and where R 2 244 they have not a tax, or an exaction that may be so called, for even the niita or division of the Indian population for the purposes of pub lic labour is abolished in every province ex cepting Peru ; nor is it found of much use there, for plenty of labourers are met with, for the daily consideration paid them for their toil. That they want civilization, and being formed into active society is a fact, but that they aspire to greater civil rights than what they al ready possess, or to another mode of government unknown to them, can be safely denied. Even the tribute of the Indians, when it comes to be considered, from its trifling nature, can not be deemed a hardship ; it is a mere con tribution towards the support of that society that has adopted them as members, so that if it has any thing harsh, it is in the name, for they are exempt from the alcabala, and en joy other privileges which neither the Creoles nor Spaniards can boast. Those, therefore, who have recommended the invasion of Spa nish America, for the purpose of being joined by the Indians, on their proffered emancipa tion, were not only ignorant of the character and habits of that people, but of the real situa tion in which they stood ; and it has been most justly observed, that though the con- 245 quests of the Spaniards in the New World were founded on injustice, stained with blood, and marked with cruelty, it would yet be a greater crime than even the enormities of Pizarro in Peru, and Valdivia, in Chili, united, at presient to move the Spanish settlements to reclaim the dominion, that was usurped from their ancestors. The Indian, brutal from want of civilization, abandoned from possess ing no sense of honour, and sunk in apathy from the torpid state in which he has been left, might yet be reclaimed from his vices by wise policy and schooling, of which ex perience has always taught us they have been most susceptible ; but to place in his hands authority, possessed as he is of the secrets of Europeans, even were it practicable, or he disposed to assert it, would be a project, more perniciously visionary, than ever entered the brain of religious fanaticism, or revolutionary fervour. It has has been the work of nearly t two ages, to bring the Indians to that state in which they now are, for it was about the middle of the sixteenth century that the Jesuit missionaries first began to increase their numbers, and obtained in some parts of the main, the exclusive right of opening their 246 spiritual campaigns. By their indefatigable labour, as we have already seen, and by their masterly policy, they softened the minds of the most savage nations, and forced the wild ramblers of the woods to collect into villages, and submit to their government, forming them as it were, into a patriarchal common wealth. Paraguay was the principal seat of the ex ertions of these zealous men, and most re nowned for their civil and religious establish ments. Three hundred and fifty thousand Indian families lived in voluntary obedience to the fathers, in filial awe and respectful love. They were taught to till the ground, to ma nufacture a variety of coarse goods, and ex perience the advantages of being paled into society. Their existence became less pre carious, the fruits of the labours of all, served for the wants of the individual ; they were cloathed, and the basis of their control was formed on the restraints of education, and moral and religious precept. Thus the in- habi tants of these inland provinces, against whom the force of arms could not prevail, were subdued by the powerful persuasion of religious men, who added to the strength of their doctrines the influence of example. They trained them not only in the useful arts. 247 but also in the usages of war. They found that to reclaim and win over the hearts of these rude untutored beings, till then living in a state of nature, and sensible of no laws, but those wilich she inspires, mild and lenient measures must be adopted ; and that men, who had made such heroic stands to preserve the native blessings of their own indepen dence, could only be overcome by induce ments opposed to coercion ; their plans, therefore, were to turn the result of their labours into a species of theocracy, which rose at one time to be so great, and pos sessed of such influence, that the govern ment itself became jealous of its extension ; and had that body of men, at their expulsion, been inclined to resist that force, which was sent to dislodge them, by calling their con verts to arms, they would yet be masters of those very regions they at first civilized, and formed out of the savage wild. This service done to civilization and the cause of pro gressive humanity, in the opinion of Montes quieu, was the greatest any body of men ever performed, and when one considers the fra gile foundation on which they erected such an edifice, we know not which to admire most, their zeal for religion, or their superior po- 248 litical wisdom, and complete knowledge of the human heart. But rend asunder these bonds, set them at defiance with the European whites, put the rod of power into their hands, or place them on an equality, and the charm is broken, they would take to their own woods, form a new defensive common wealth for themselves, and form a fresh blank in the estimate of civilized population.* Ihese same ties, however, still continue to retain a degree of empire, and placed, as is this class of population, in the enjoyment of quiet repose, and aloof from jarring political questions, on the defensive as it were against foreign intrusion, and secluded from any means of communication, and in possession of their own native mountains, it may be con sidered as a happy event, that a change of policy in Spanish affairs has laid at rest fur ther hostile attempts against that country, which might have been rendered the tomb of so many valuable and brave men. * It is remarkable of the Indians of North America, that the sons of several chiefs have been sent very young, both to France and England, for the purposes of education, where they have adopted European dress and manners ; but, on returning amongst their own clans, they have thrown off the restraint of tight cloath-. ing, folded themselves in a blanket, daubed, greased, and painted themselves as the rest, and naturally tried to rival Uieif fellow^ savages in their rude practices. 2 240 Reduced as Spain was, to that political chaos in which she was surprised, and already bending under the vices of a corrupt govern ment, she seemed to leave her ultramarine possessions exposed and laid open to anarchy, confusion, party, and even foreign control, ready also to be enveloped in those same con vulsions that agitated her in Europe, the trains of which were so early and so widely spread in her slumbering Indies ; yet, in her first outset, if like a second Sparta, she glowed with patriotic fire, her example was followed by her colonies abroad, and they strove to display the same energy of character, and re sist every thing that could stagger their alle giance. The mind of man, irresistibly and univer sally points to a melioration of his situation, and the full enjoyment of those blessings, which the hand of nature has planted within his reach. That this should be the ambition of the inhabitants of South Columbia, after the long night of depression in which they had been retained, cannot appear inconsistent, or that they should wish for an exchange of situa tion more congenial, leading them to a state of prosperous, enlightened, and happy humanity ; that they should anxiously expect the arrival of 250 the sighed-for moment, in which agriculture might flourish, in which industry might be increased, and free navigation waft the means of plenty into their own naked ports ; that they should look forward, in short, for that happy remove from a state of apathy and passive inaction, to civil liberty and useful knowledge, from privations of various kinds, to the enjoyment of rational life, and from the abuses of distant and delegated power, to the active energy and dignity of mind, the great characteristics of freemen, yet they waited, and long, for these same reforms to originate from ^ home, nor generally burst into those terms of reproach and revolt that, with grounded reasons, might have been dreaded. They cannot be called indisposed to Spain ; they are not weary of being called Spaniards, and though they are fully conscious, that their situation might be rendered more happy, their people more enterprising and industrious, that they might attain a new political existence by their old system being replaced, for one more equitable, and from their civil rights being founded on a secure basis ; yet the people at large are convinced, that where the laws, and not the will of the . individual*.- are in force^ government, however modified^, is, .in a great 251 measure, the same. They want equitable, wise, and just enactions, but they are still am bitious of forming part of the Spanish nation ; nor do the common people, particularly the Indians, think that a very material change would be conducive to their happiness ; for, there are few classes in the low orders of so ciety, in any country, possessed of more ex emptions ; and there are ranks of population amongst them, who, if vested with too much authority, might not use it to better purposes, than has hitherto been experienced. The Spanish Creole, perfectly dissimilar to the petulant, intriguing, variable, and in flammable Frenchman, is naturally timid, thoughtful, reserved, prudent, and accustom ed to weigh well the result of an enterprise, before he hurries into it. This disposition extends in a remarkable way, even to their speculative or commercial undertakings, and jnay be taken for their distinctive stamp of character. Habituated to view men and things with a jealous eye, they are averse to innovation, and generally look at the dark side of an object, before they ground their .opinions on it, by which foresight and cau tious conduct, if they fail in any enterprise, ihey avoid falling into desperate misfortunes. 252 They endure a present evil, by ca^ulating its change might be for the worse ; and thus (in the words of the poet), " Rather bear the ills they have, Than fly to others \\hich they know not of. 1 The influence of passion , and the result of rous ed feelings, does not make them burst out into loud and violent sallies ; it makes them reflect, inspires them with a calm, philosophic thought- fulness, and leads them to disguise the pertur bations of their own breasts ; a species of self control, which, whilst it preserves the citizen from the snares of intrigue, gives also a securi ty and stability to the allegiance of a people. It has been frequently and justly observed, that laws of a public or a private nature, can have no other good foundation than justice ; and their consonance, with that principle, is certainly the surest test of their purity. The bonds of equity that exist between individuals, equally extend to congregated masses, of men ; and the same duties and charities which im pel the feeling mind in private life, to alleviate the wants of distress, and interest itself in the happiness of its surrounding fellow- beings, embrace, on a proportionate scale, the whole family of mankind. Though the outlines presented to us, of the 253 Spanish American people, have been generally exaggerated and charged with gloomy colours, yet they have been partly the lineaments of truth ; and in the present advanced stage of moral refinement, the philanthropist could not but perceive, that the sacred and imprescrip tible rights of nature and justice, were here often trampled under foot ; and that, in these distant climes, delegated power has but too frequently been converted into a warrant, to carry on the most nefarious, cruel, and tyranni cal oppression. If he beheld Spain, sunk to a state of abject slavery, he was also sensible, that the contagion of the same evils, must naturally have been spread among her colonies abroad ; and when the trumpet of reform sounded through the one, he Loped it would be re-echoed to the other. When he wit nessed the supine state of the government that undertook its direction when he saw it inadequate to the guidance of the mother coun try, from the unconstitutional and partial man ner in which it had been formed, he could not but foresee the effects it would produce on the minds of a people, who, though naturally well disposed, as their long endurance and pre sent moderation in the fullest manner prove, Would be to put on the alert, and incline them 254 to claim those rights which are the unalieriable inheritance of all men. He already anticipated the remonstrances of a people, long exposed to civil privations ; and he saw, that if Spain eventually lost the power of relieving them, by failing to preserve her national existence, her distant settlements would unfurl the stand ard of independence, as a safeguard from fo reign influence, and from those scenes of an archy and confusion that have so lately deso lated the countries of Europe. Nevertheless, it may be naturally concluded, that a people, habituated to weigh every, even the most trifling act of their private life, with scrupulous calculation, can never be so much misled as to lift a profane hand against a go vernment, which, from their infancy, they have held sacred, or against the person of that legal descendant of the throne, whom, as we have before remarked, they all revere. Yet, it cannot be expected, that they feel a great share of respect for that government which supplied his loss ; and if by an extraordinary accident there should arise amongst them, one of those daring and ambitious men, who sometimes avail themselves of political convulsions ; his efforts for dominion would fail, when opposed by these principles of moderation in the peo- 255 pie, by their coldness and apathy, and by their religious respect for the authority of the laws, and the influence of the clergy. This must, however, appear much at va riance with the statements made by many adventurers to revolutionize the country, and is indeed, opposed to the ideas which the pub lic in England have of it. To create a schism between the European and the Creole native, has been a favourite object with many, and the rousing and arming of the Indian, a pro ject represented by them, equally easy and efficient. That some new organization might better the state of the country, is a fact uni versally evident ; but anarchy must not be the forerunner, nor discontent the lever of action. The ideal speculations, relating to changes in this country, which were once ra pidly propagated in England, and even coun tenanced by some of her greatest statesmen, are incompatible with a true knowledge of the existing state of things, and drawn from the analogy of occurrences in other countries, and not from local information of that in ques tion. Notwithstanding, however, these grounds of support and allegiance, which the legal go vernment of Spain yet enjoys in her posses- 256 sions abroad, in the year 1797* it received a shock, which although partial and confined to few persons, has not failed to be quoted, and relied upon, as a general sensation of the peo ple, and favourable to the wishes of those who have had designs on the repose of these provinces. This being an interesting occurrence, which, from exaggeration and misrepresentations, mis led the most reflecting in Europe into a too sanguine anticipation of its results, it may deserve some particular notice, as connected with what has more recently occurred in the province of Caracas and La Plata ; and I can not do better than follow the authority of the French themselves ; since it may relieve the Spaniards from wrong impressions, with re gard to the incentives used, and the springs of action set to work, the obloquy of which, the former have endeavoured to throw on a peo ple, who never acted but openly and in the face of day ; who have, indeed, attempted reprisals sanctioned by a state of warfare ; but have ,not stooped to these marked designs, which have ever disgraced their adversaries. It is, however, neither unnatural nor unusual for a foreign nation to blame a whole country for the misguided conduct of a minister, or the 257 selfish policy of a chief, of which, perhaps, the country itself is the first to disapprove. Depons, in speaking of the disturbance in Caracas, that occurred in 1797, says, " the principles graven on the victorious standard of the French Republic, too simple not to be understood, too natural not to be adopted, soon became the admiration of the four quar ters of the globe." Their morality was, in effect, so alluring and persuasive, that without the aid of experience, which has pointed out its defects, wisdom would have thought that such principles never could have proved falla cious : It is not, therefore, astonishing that they should have inflamed some enthusiasts on the Spanish main, who, in the commotion, might have conceived the idea of carrying their project into execution. The moment might appear the more favourable, as Spain, by the war she had just sustained against France, and again by the draining of her resources in that she had commenced against England, was toa much exhausted to be at ease at home ; whilst at the same time, she was too much threatened by sea to leave her own coasts uncovered, and send fleets to America to defend her insulted rights, or avenge her outraged sovereignty. Such was the crisis of things, when three VOL. II. S 258 state ^prisoners were banished to La Guira, from Spain, for their revolutionary principles, who possessing talents and intrigue, set on foot their own plans in the seat of their exile. Some proselytes were, indeed, gained to their cause, but during several months that this leaven was fermenting in secret, a very dis couraging progress was made ; and the plot ters seeing their endeavours frustrated, and dreading discovery, made their escape. When the government was put in full possession of the clue, it was found that there were seventy- two confederates, who had been gulled by the artful deceptions practised upon them, of which number, the greatest part were Europeans ; yet this was bandied about by the cosmopolites of Europe, as the unanimous rising of more than seventeen millions of people, who were ready for revolt : and what is equally false, the French did not fail to attribute the whole to the English. To retrace the footsteps of the many dark approaches the French have lately made on these provinces, and to develope their mode of attack, would be equally complex, desultory, and difficult ; but the observing traveller, who has had an advantageous opportunity of mixing with every class of inhabitants, in situations 259 frequently favourable to the acquisition of irH formation, their progress could not be un marked, or their tendency unregretted. As in the whole of the preceding pages I have particularly had in view, a wish to establish more correct criteria of the Spanish character, and assist in pointing out what may benefit their communities ; as I have ad ded the information I have been enabled to col lect, from a long intercourse with them, to our knowledge of their possessions, which I have endeavoured to caution and to bring into greater notice ; and as it has been my aim to demon strate the disinterested participation and con cern, which England feels for her ally, 1 have thought proper to add in my Appendix, a trans lation of a letter, addressed by a Spanish Ame rican to his countrymen, one of the printed and circulated copies of which fell into my hands in those distant settlements ; but which, on arriving in England, I found also in pos session of a few individuals, and reprinted in the Spanish language, in London. Though a forced and highly coloured repre sentation, of rather the past state of the people of that country, it will be found interesting, as it traces the sources whence their political grievances arise, and the hinges on which they s 2 turn ; and as it exhibits that confusion of inter-* ests, caused by the wide sweep of ambition and injustice. It is impossible for the most skilful physician to apply efficient remedies to the patient before he is aware of the stages and symptoms of disorder ; and it is equally so, in those, who are concerned in the welfare of Spain and her colonies, to prescribe the means of re dress unless informed on all points relative to the conciliation and consolidation of jarring inter ests ; w T hence must arise the sovereignty and in dependence of that nation, the effecting and maintaining of which, as it forms my most sanguine hope, is also my only excuse for so long an insertion. See Appendix (D.) This valuable tract, came from the pen of Don Juan Pablo Viscardo y Gusman, a Jesuit, native of Arequipa, in the kingdom of Peru, who died in London, in February, 17QQ. It has since been published in Spanish, in the United States, and partially circulated in some parts of the main. It was written in the year 1 79 1 , and though the author displays a just and noble indignation at many acts of the Spa nish government, and may be called a true pa triot and philanthropist, yet his own individual feelings as an injured Jesuit, are predominant. Many years of intercourse with other states, 261 during which the connection with the parent country was nearly cut off, added to the par tial, though timely correction, of many wrongs, have much bettered the situation of her co lonies ; and hence the application is less forcible, and as we have before observed, though all are convinced of the necessity of reform, they are aware it must not be pur chased by a renunciation of the Spanish name. It may be safely said, that defection or re volt, are very far from being the systematic objects of the natives of Spanish America; their attachment to the Spanish cause, in ge neral, and that branch of the royal family, whom they revere as their anointed sovereign, and esteem as the friend of the people ; whom they regard as the palladium of their national independence, to whom they attribute many virtues, whom they considered ready to snatch from France, the prey on which she had cast her devouring eyes, will ever be their shield against general faction, for as long as a beam of hope gleams over the fate of their injured prince, and the peninsula, this attachment will not be eradicated from their hearts. These colonies have felt a zealous interest in the welfare of the mother country, throughout the 202 whole gigantic struggle, and justly deserve to be considered, in order to put any grievances and disputes in a proper light, and to extend the benefits of reconciliation for the past, by establishing a fair discussion and equitable set tlement. Amidst the vario us scenes of reverse and confu sion, to which the provinces of Spain have been exposed, since the commencement of hostilities, one common bond has kept them together, and has equally served as a link of union to her colonies abroad. This has been formed by the dread that all have entertained of being con quered by the French, of having to bend with the neck of servility to a foreign foe ; and the national mind has kept pace with the increase or abatement of this dread. The colonies of Spain have hitherto been administered as distinct and separate commu nities, and held under the jurisdiction of that crown, on the principles of the feudal so vereignty, though the stipulations made to the first settlers, had a different basis, Partly si milar were the colonies of North America in title at least, when they were held by England, and called the kind s demesne lands in par- films exteris ; they were considered as be- longing to the crown, but not incorporated 263 parts of the realm. The inhabitants were viewed in the light of subjects of the king in his foreign dominions, and not of the state ; but they had constitutional laws adapted to their own situation, and a local representative government or council, yet something was wanting, and the subsequent history of those countries has proved, that in all probability they would not have been severed, if a timely and better suited form of government had been extended to them, on the principles of a civil union. Yet what a contrast does their former state present, with that of the several provinces of Spanish America ! In recurring to the history of the Romans, we find, that as long as they governed by wise policy their distant and conquered provinces, which were no other than colonies, they pre served their dependence ; this was the case with Macedon after the defeat of Perseus, but when its influence was no longer felt, when they enacted regulations conformable only to their own interests, and in opposition to those of the people governed, the latter then subverted the empire of the Romans amongst them. From the chapters which have preceded, it will have been evinced that Spain, in go- 264 verning her colonies, had little else in view than retaining them in perfect subjection, and that her measures adopted for that purpose were hostile to the interests of their inhabi tants ; notwithstanding it is the axiom of all regular constitutions, that the nature of the power, and the obedience of the subject, ought to be reciprocal. Besides extending the general bond of al legiance, the spirit of policy which Spain has hitherto adopted for her colonies, with regard to their trade particularly, has been to confine it to her own special intercourse. It has been on the principle of repulsion that they have been governed, a principle highly in consistent with both the past, and the present state of Spain ; for if, from the want of in dustry and the depressed state of manufac tures, the parent country could supply her colonies with little or nothing adequate to their wants, an exclusion of all other inter course, became a grievance under which the people could not but bend, and the weighty imposts, vexatious in themselves, were ren dered doubly so, by the manner in which they were collected. The enlightened citizens of Spanish America are not ignorant that a great reform in their 265 constitution is necessary from home ; but they also feel, that a considerably greater is requi site in their own colonial administration. The number of sinecure places, the variety and abundance of offices and officers, serve but to burthen the people, and produce an ex haustion of their local resources. Notwith standing that their colonial revenues are very considerable, they are absorbed by such a number of leeches, constantly fixed on the body politic to drain the public coffers, that the country having no contingent expenses of war, nor any drawback to its maintenance and prosperity, cannot suffice to its own ex penses. But the abolition of the many exac tions on every branch connected with the in dustry of the country, which they only serve to damp, would not produce a loss to the go vernment in the present state at least, as their collections are attended with such heavy ex penses and malversation, that little good re sults to the fiscal branch, although they are severely felt by the people. The late reign of Charles the IV. presented in Spain even a more lamentable picture than it did in her colonies ; for the Council of the Indies yet retained some shadow of influence, from which a degree of good was derived. 266 Whilst the court of Madrid presented one scene of indolent corruption, that was preying on the vitals of the nation, and preparing it to become an easy sacrifice to an ambitious neighbour, a state of warfare kept the tie of distant power over the colonies comparatively relaxed ; the swarms of place-hunters were kept back ; a spirit of contraband spread through the different provinces, at which the heads of government winked from the advan tages they gained ; and whilst the inhabitants of Old Spain had their harbours blockaded, their agriculture destroyed, and every active princi ple laid dormant, an enterprising and benefi cial spirit of intercourse and exchange, kept the Columbians in a state of activity. They mixed with the neighbouring islands, visited the United States, saw the advantages of in dustry and good legislation, had means of contrasting the destructive systems of their own parent government with those of other nations, and naturallybecame politicians. They dwelt on the monopoly that existed amongst themselves, and on the prevalence and danger of ostentatious privileges and vain distinctions ; intercourse gradually expanded their minds, and they found, by comparison, that the por trait of their own situation, was unblended 267 with any of those light, and softer shades which give effect to the dark perspective. Nor can this spirit of clandestine intercourse for which the Spaniards are so well suited from their wary, disguised, and thoughtful character, be better evinced, than by reflecting, that the single port of Puerto Cavello, which in time of peace never received more than five vessels annually from Europe, had lately more than one hundred schooners, from thirty to seventy tons each, employed in this way, that made successively one or two voyages every month, in w r hich they took their own produce to be exchanged for necessary sup plies of clothing and luxuries ; an intercourse attended with those beneficial consequences, of which we have given a succinct outline. It is a remark applicable to the colonies of .Spain, in the present instance particularly, that every attempt to connect or bind them to the mother country by force, or impolitic measures, will remove them further, and unite them politically to one another. The question now agitated becomes simply this, are they at all, or how far are they to be governed by the yigour of external principles, and by the su preme power of the mother country ? Or how far by the strength of their own body politic ? 268 and what ought to be the mode of adminis tration for their executive, legislative, judicial, and commercial departments, by which these vast and distant provinces may be kept con nected, and not hurried into a civil war amongst themselves. The first alternative can only be effected by a communion of all rights, franchises, and liberties, which Spain herself enjoys, and a combination into one grand, commercial, po litical, and defensive dominion, forming an incorporated empire, with a seat of govern ment and members to represent the whole, in a manner adequate to the entire system. If this means be not adopted, much confusion may follow; the different disunited parts, may be led to weigh their respective situations, and ponder on those undoubted rights, which are forcibly called into view> by the experience of the past. The great moderation and forbearance of the colonies ought to inspire in the govern ment of Spain, the most generous considera tions towards them, for they may be justly appreciated amongst her well-deserving sub jects ; and it is to be hoped, they will be ac tuated by feelings of a more dignified policy, than to allow themselves to be hurried into any injudicious and inglorious opposition to those best rights and interests of her colonies, as long as their pretensions extend only to a reform, and to enlarge the means, as well as the field, of human happiness, and the adop tion of those measures which may be con sistent with their safety. Though she has been too distant and too weak to protect them, yet she has been sufficiently powerful and and impolitic to impose the severest restric tions not only on their trade, but on the productions of their soil ; and notwithstanding that her past conduct, as a government, has more contributed to alienate than attach them, she still possesses a national control over them ; nor have any of the late occurrences in Ca racas or Buenos Ayres which we shall pre sently review, been marked by any hostility to the nation at large, to the beloved heir to the crown, or to the harmony they feel, and veneration they bear the Spanish name. When an entire mass of population are persuaded that there is yet wanting to them, a share of happine<^, and an extension of just rights; but that this default originates not from their civil and moral situation, but from the caprice and abuses of government and delegated power ; let that oppressive lever be once broken, as it is in Spain, and the case widens very much, with regard to the coun tries thus oppressed ; for had that same go vernment still continued and recurred to force to confirm her old systems, an entire and eternal separation must have folio wed ; but now, from that very objectionable radix being de stroyed, the gaping chasm is filled up, and motives of past animosity are swept away : for, as we have before observed, they revere and cling to the Spanish name, think none so honourable, and only deprecate the form by which the monarchy has hitherto been swayed* The occurrences which began in the city of Venezuela on the 1 oth of April, 1 8 1 o, and ex tended thence to the province of Caracas, may be deemed worthy of a little consideration, from their natural connection with the sub ject in question, and of which it may be now in order to indulge a few remarks. This great and eventful circumstance implies a firm, steady, and matured determination of the per sons of influence in those provinces, to form an internal government during the captivity of their king and lawful sovereign ; such a one as in the several provinces of Spain was esta blished at the breaking out of the disasters of the peninsula, and which may, at the same 271 time, unite the wishes of the people, and not expose them to any of those fatal schemes directed against them by the common enemy, and intended to be realized by many of the heads of departments, who were sent out to America from Madrid, previous to the Bayonne transactions. Caracas and Venezuela, for many com bined motives, have long been the provinces that most felt the ill effects of abusive power, and on former occasions they have partially shewn it, but in the present instance, they have generously forgotten their past injuries ; for in their new declaration of rights, they have not given them the most faint consideration. The late distresses of Spain, which at that dis tance must have been greatly magnified, ap pear to have given rise to the adoption of measures which they thought consistent with their political safety ; and their professions breathe moderation, and are far from being tinctured with any hostility to the Spanish name. From the maritime position of these provinces, they became particularly the seat of French intrigue, and were thus exposed to double dangers ; hence greater energy was necessary on the part of their patriots, to form a barrier against their influence, as well as 272" to meliorate their own situation, and remain firm within themselves,, till a new basis should be laid for the monarchy at home, and the Spanish nation should again acquire consis tency. The editor of a periodical work, in London,* gives the following definition of the occur rences of Caracas, which have so generally and erroneously been termed a revolution, and for which, he was indebted to the deputies sent from that province to London. "The revolution in Caracas was produced by the general sensation felt amongst the inhabi tants at the gloomy aspect of affairs in Spain, and the danger to which the province was exposed, placed in the hands of authorities, who had justly become both odious and sus picious, by their repeated transgressions against the laws." These provinces, as early as July 1808, had been called upon by the emissaries of Joseph Buonaparte to acknowledge the new dynasty, and to conform to the act of abdication, made in Bayonne in May preceding, in favour of the Emperor of the French, in which Charles the IV. expressly says, that he gives up his sub" * El Esp^nol. 273 jects of both hemispheres, and adds " there fore, by a treaty, signed and ratified, 1 have ceded to my ally and dear friend, the Emperor of the French, all my right to Spain and the Indies, having stipulated that the crown of Spain and the Indies is always to be indepen dent and entire, as it was under my rule, and likewise that our holy religion is not only to be the predominant one in Spain, but the only one to be observed in all the dominions of the monarchy. Of all which you will take due notice, and communicate it to all the councils and tribunals of the kingdom, chiefs of pro vinces, civil, military, and ecclesiastical, and to all the justices of districts, in order that this last act of my sovereignty may be notorious to all and every one in my dominions of Spain and the Indies ; and you are all to concur and assist in carrying into effect the dispositions of my dear friend, the Emperor Napoleon ; as they are directed to preserve the peace, friend ship, and union between France and Spain, avoiding disorder and popular commotions, the effects of which can only be havoc and destruction of families, and the ruin of all." This piece of arrogance on the part of the French usurper, and the distresses of the pa rent country, almost at the same time broke VOL. n. T 274 upon their ear, and produced that energy which might be expected from a loyal people, who felt for the injustice done to the lawful possessor of their crown, and the dangers by which they were themselves menaced. Not* withstanding the opposition of the governor, and several other heads of the departments, with unanimous voice they early swore al legiance to Ferdinand the VII. and the senti ments of fidelity to him as sovereign, and of adherence to the fate of the mother country, were mutually proclaimed ; sentiments by no means less popular on the late occasion, than they had been on the first. The constituted au thorities forming the government, intendancy and judiciary, all Europeans, nominated from home, were however now dismissed ; and the executive was lodged with a council formed into a Supreme Junta, (till the votes of the whole province were collected to form a basis of government), to whom also the adjacent towns and districts sent in their allegiance, and the new government, on the 20th, published a manifesto of their proceedings. The objects of this reform in the government of Caracas are statedto be, that in consequence of the fall of Spain, which they at that time considered inevitable, it became necessary for 275 them to place themselves beyond the reach of the pretensions of the other nations of Europe, the intrigues of the French cabinet, or those of any of the members of the dissolved Central Junta, on that country ; to maintain their own political character ; to sustain as much as lay in their power the lawful dynasty to the crown of Spain ; to relieve the fate of Ferdi nand the VII., in case he should obtain his freedom ; to preserve the glory and dignity of the Spanish name ; and, lastly, to offer an asy lum to the unfortunate remains of that generous nation. The original Spanish papers, relating to this memorable occurrence, will be found in the Appendix (E.) The duty of alcabala was, by the new pro visional government, annulled, as also the tribute of the Indians ; to the end that, as the Venezuela Gazette says, " the primitive inha bitants of the country may enjoy the first fruits of our civil regeneration." A great number of persons, who had been long con fined, through a principle of wrong policy, were set free, and restored to their friends, and re sumed their suspended pursuits of industry ; voluntary contributions were made, and all this great change was effected, without the T 2 276 smallest interruption of harmony and public quiet. Yet how much more noble and dignified would it have been on the part of the govern ment at home, to have anticipated, in some degree, these salutary and necessary reforms ; and how much would it have strengthened the common tie of affection and zeal, in the national cause. The provinces of La Plata were the next to prescribe means for their own safety ; and the success of the French arms in the peninsula, was equally the motive for adopting the neces sary measures. Their government had still con tinued under the command of a viceroy; but the people resolved, on the 25th of May, to place it in the hands of a council, till the votes of the whole kingdom should be made known. That officer, though belonging to the crown, persuaded that it was consistent with the in terests of the nation, in existing circumstances, to establish a local representative form of go- vernment, invited the inhabitants by procla mation to form a council, and establish the means that might seem best to preserve the rights of their sovereign, and the tranquillity of the whole viceroyalty. 277 A form of government was modelled and given in charge to the most distinguished and respectable heads of the people ; allegiance was sworn to Ferdinand the VII., and in his name they began to administer under the title of " Provisional and Governing Junta for the Pro vinces of La Plata/* The documents of this interesting reform, are found in the Appen dix (F) and will shew, that La Plata has also commenced the noble and invigorating career of prudent regeneration, under auspices the most favourable to the cause of humanity and fu ture national good. The sentiments of these provinces are the same in their acts and declarations as those of Caracas; profess the same participation in the fate of the parent country, and breathe the same generous feelings to their unfortu nate brethren, whose situation, they, at that distance, considered more melancholy than in reality it is. Mexico has also deposed her go vernors sent out from Europe, and has chosen fresh ones for herself ; but, she has even been more zealous than the other provinces, in swearing eternal allegiance to Ferdinand. The independence or emancipation of the provinces of Spanish America, form a question that has long exercised the pens of several able poli- 278 ticians, and has interested some of the greatest statesmen ; but practical experience and sub sequent occurrences prove, that there have existed, and still exist, respecting this great political corollary, not only mistakes, but many great miscalculations. It has been held out as an undeniable fact, " that the people of South America have long been ripe and panting for a revolution ; that is, for a separation from Spain ; and that they are obstinately determined on becoming an independent nation," These were sentiments published after the affairs of Buenos Ayres; yet, though many months of dereliction on the part of the mother country have intervened, though occurrences have since happened, that almost naturally called for such a determina tion, not the most distant symptoms of it have broken forth. The deplorable situation of Spain, her dis tance, her unstable, inadequate, and changing government, concurred to render the local establishment of a representative council neces sary ; but every step has been taken in the name of their sovereign, and their obedience and allegiance to him is prefixed to every act, so that their independence can only be consi dered in the light of a reform, and the adop- 279 tion of means of general defence, and pre ventions against this vast and dangerous ac cession of power to the rival of Spain ; no political separation from her fate, or her in terests, was ever thought of. They still ac knowledge the same monarch, have the same enemies ; and though they have taken upon themselves to better their own situation, and, by common consent, have abolished the grievances under which they laboured, the ob ject in view, has been to extend the ties of mutuality ; for, as has been aptly observed, never are brothers so much united in the same family, as when all preference and distinction is laid aside, and sincere accord subsists. This timely and salutary change, so Jong as it wears the same moderate and favourable appearance, which it has already assumed, and remains con fined within the bounds which their own me lioration has prescribed, may save those distant and interesting countries from civil contests, and the pernicious designs of the enemy, and maybe viewed as a happy dawn of national improve ment, the advantages of which must eventu ally also redound to England ; so much is the prosperity of one nation connected with that of another. When the English colonies of North Ame- 280 rica were first put in motion, it was a ques tion of law that gave the impulse ; but, had there been a degree of pliability on the part of the ministers, those colonies most likely would have been preserved. Situated as Spain now is, a conciliating and protecting policy be comes doubly requisite, particularly to a coun try where there exists such a variety and differ ence of classes, difficult to combine in one general interest. She cannot accuse her co lonies of disaffection ; all circumstances well considered, and their past conduct affords cor- roboration to the leading positions and de ductions contained in this essay. If, by the patriotic Spaniard, the revolution that burst upon them in Europe, was hailed as the dawn to national honour, and as a pre- ventative to a more bloody one, that soon would have become unavoidable ; if he looked upon it as the first revival of their long lost independence ; if, by having a foreign foe to repel, he saw the dread of a civil war amongst themselves disperse, he equally hoped its ad vantages would extend to his brothers beyond the seas. The sentiments of the people of Buenos Ay res in their proclamation are wise, moder ate, and even exemplary. Addressing them- 281 selves to their fellow-subjects, " Speak" they say, " with all freedom, but with that dignity which is your characteristic, and which proves you a wise, noble, docile, and generous peo ple. Your principal aim must be, to guard against all division, to ground confidence be tween the subject and the magistrate, to en sure your reciprocal union, and that of the other provinces, by establishing relations with the other viceroyalties of the continent. Avoid every innovation and change, for they are generally dangerous, and exposed to divi sion. Do not forget that you have almost in sight, a neighbour* who is on the watch for your freedom, and who would not fail to im prove any moment of disorder. Be assured, that you cannot subsist but by an union with the internal provinces of the kingdom, and that your deliberations will be frustrated, if they do not emanate from the law, and be accom panied with the general concurrence of those same states. Consider, then, well on your ac tual situation, that the remedy you apply to guard against evils which you dread, be not the means of accelerating your own destruc tion. Avoid resorting to any extremes, which * Supposed to mean the court of the Brazi. 28.2 are always dangerous ; let all hasty and vio lent measures be proscribed; embrace those which are most .simple and adequate to con ciliate your future situation with the spirit of the law, and the respect due to your magis trates." The manifesto of the Council, elected to govern them, breathes the same sentiments, and professes to sustain those provinces in " the most constant fidelity and adherence to their beloved sovereign Ferdinand the VII., and his legal successors to the crown of Spain." These they add, " are the objects of their firm zeal, and unceasing efforts," swearing, at the same time, to acknowledge him alone, or his lawful heirs, as their rightful sovereign. They offer their wonted succour and supplies, and an asylum to all emigrants. This is in perfect allegiance to the same government and authority that Spain herself possesses, though a delicate line of conduct now becomes necessary on her part ; and no moment could be more favourable, than that which is about to arrive in the convocation of the Cortes, a moment that must for ever decide what are to be the mutual relations of the parent country to her colonies. It now rests for her to extend a general bill 283 of rights, and to found their government and commerce on the great plan of union and in corporation. By this means, notwithstanding even the fate of the peninsula, they may yet become the centre of attraction to the whole, to which every movement will converge, and form the principle of perfect political coher ence. This incorporation can only be found ed on a basis of equal extension and communi cation of government, to wheresoever the people and dominions, claiming the same rights, may extend. It is equally necessary, that these provinces should be legally declared constitutional parts of the same state ; for the acts of the Central Junta, whom they not acknowledge, cannot be considered in that light. This declaration must be followed by a government formed in the country itself, of deputies from the several provinces, according to their extent and po pulation, in which the Indians should have participation, and in which the election should be free and general. For these representatives to join a congress or an assemblage of the Cortes in Spain, would be a source of gre#t inconvenience, even were they elected to represent their local provinces for three years, as it would remove them to 284 too great a distance from their constituents, whose principal object would be their own legislation ; but this general body established, for example, in Mexico, might have two ministers near the government in Spain, as well to co-operate as to be a channel of communi cation ; and reciprocally the mother country might send the same number of plenipoten tiaries ta the American Congress, to remon strate on all acts that were not mutual, and consistent with the interests of both. Nor would it be possible, on the other hand, for the representatives of Spanish America to be added to the Cortes of Spain ; for, from their having to represent nearly double the population, as that country at present stands, partly subjugated by France, the preponder ance in votes would then be too great, and all representative equilibrium destroyed. Yet South America might be incorporated to Spain in the same way as Ireland is with Great Britain, and mutual relations establish ed in the former way, and each might enjoy the same form of government for themselves ; nor is the mode without other precedents in history. Although the Romans governed their pro vinces by an absolute imperium, which super- 285 seded all civil government, properly so called, yet the inhabitants of their colonies were, in their civil constitution, divided into senate and people, in like manner as the ruling city, and on the model of the sovereign senate. *As the order of the patres conscript! were the constituents of that body ; so the decuriones, or tenth part from amongst the people, were enrolled for the purpose of making a senate for the colony. Both deliberation and decision, therefore, were left with the community who made, and were governed by their own law*, but subor dinate to those of the empire, and the people created and weie even ruled by their own ma gistrates ; this the people of South America also appear to have thought essential to their safety and prosperity ; for, as has been justly ob served, there are certain constitutional proper ties belonging to vast and distinct regions of the earth, inhabited by large masses of men, which no human force can destroy, for they grow out of physical reasons beyond the reach of man, and the right to legislate for them selves, as far as they are intimately connected, is one of these. This is a right, arising with * See Marcus Verranius Maurus cle jure liberorura. Cap. 8. 286 themselves, that cannot be alienated, and its prudent use cannot but be attended with good. The advantages that must generallv result, even to the mother country herself, from a general and radical melioration of her colonies, cannot appear dubious ; and this must be effected by raising such a large mass of her subjects, who are not the least deserving amongst them, to the rank of men, of social and civil beings, with defined rights, and a constitution analagous to their wants. This were to place them beyond the reach of intrigue, and guard them against the evils of disorganization. Spanish America has felt for the wrongs and distresses of her parent, lias shared them, and possesses too much generosity ever to abandon the cause in which they are mutually engaged, as long as a ray of hope beams over her dejected state. If again, to restore that drooping and di vided patriotism, and concentrate its strength, Spain now calls together her Cortes ; cannot her colonies, at her invitation, do the same, to deliberate what is best for the public good ? Confidence is the parent of attachment, and, as we have already said, let us make a people happy, and we may then rely on their alle- 287 glance. Thus to pre-existing causes of dif ference and discontent, no further fuel would be added. Surely amidst the pressure of external danger, it befits the genius of every government not only to be possessed of ferti lity of measures, but also to invent expedients suited to emergencies. By this means would Spain defeat the views and intrigues of her enemies, and disarm them of all those instru ments, with which they now try to sow the seeds of discord and dissention, to rouse the passions of the people, to avail themselves of prejudices and weaknesses, to increase the flames of irritation against their fellow-sub jects, and to animate them with a spirit of re venge, common to those who have suffered in civil contests. The preponderance that France has ac quired, by the subjugation of so great a part of Europe, has overthrown the balance that long upheld the equilibrium of its component nations ; hence, a new system of interests is formed, a new concatenation of force is brought into operation, and the political and commercial scale of things has been totally changed, A relief to this alteration, in the present exigence of affairs, ought to be pro portionate to the existing crisis, and equiva- 288 lents resorted to, on whatsoever side a dimi nution is felt, or the scale relatively inclines. To open new and wide channels to the trade and enterprise of the nation at large, is, in other words, to augment its strength ; it is, to call forth fresh resources, to check the spread of the pernicious empire of the com mon enemy, and add strength to the great sinew of the state, Were it possible, a foreign author has justly said, for an enemy to undermine this funda mental pillar of the British commonwealth, or even to corrode or impair its energy and extent, then the enemies of that nation might fairly boast of having parted the claws of the lion ; then modern Carthage would really totter, while her contemporaries, struck with amazement, would behold the gigantic task achieved, and the commercial world would be shaken to its foundation. What then will not be the envy of her rival, on seeing fresh sources for the consumption of British goods, open in those very regions, on which she had herself cast her prowling eye. The provinces of South America in commercial league, and protected by a power ful naval force ; for the political existence and support of these regions, either as annexed and incorporated with Spain, or independent and separate, are interested in procuring an advan tageous medium for the supply of their wants, and for the sale of the produce they may have to give in return ; and no other nation appears to unite these two desideratas, so completely as England, At the advanced state of commercial con sequence in which She now stands, command ing exclusively every foreign market, by the influx and cheapness of her goods; having raised her cotton manufactures to that pitch, in which they have almost overcome the pre judices of the wearer in the hottest climates ; having now thrown into her own scale, the balance of merchandise, formerly furnished by the Hanseatic towns, and other people of the north ; a further increase to the whole, would be an object of great national import, nor can there be any so great, as a commercial exchange with the colonies of Spain. Such establish ments as these, are more valuable to England than distant conquests, which, even if ef fected, cost lives to accomplish and to pre serve ; distant and extended sovereignty, being superfluous to the power and prosperity of the nation. With what pleasure the people of South VOL. II. U 2QO America will see a commercial league, esta blished on good and solid foundations with England, may be easily conceived ; it is a na tion they respect as a friend, but would never admit on any other footing.* A commercial existence also to the Spanish colonies, is the basis of their happiness, and a civil regenera tion is to them, the harbinger of every good, that constitutes the nourishment, comfort, and delight of mankind. Thus will they one day possibly become heirs to all the glory and merit of their ancestors ; the depositaries of the national language and manners, and of every thing that in the opinion of the world, may yet constitute the honour of the Spanish name. Be united then, citizens of Spanish Ame rica ! shut up your hearts against the perfidious * This predilection in favour of the English has uniformly been remarkable in the clergy, who form the most powerful body of men amongst the Spaniards. When Sir James Cockburn, accom panied by Captain Fiffe, of H. M. S. Hebe, went over to Caracas on the first breaking out of Spanish affairs, amongst other de monstrations of joy, they partook of a feast given by a convent of friars, in which the abbot sung extempore verses, expressive of a wish, that an alliance could be formed between one of the Prin cesses of England, and Ferdinand the VII. ; a means that would more closely unite the two nations, and form a double bulwark against the designs of Napoleon, 2gi precepts of anarchy ; it is her characteristic to personate virtue, whilst her composition is vice. Civil contests are the greatest calami ties that can befal a nation ; may they never be known to you- Let your reform be the work of loyalty, wisdom, foresight, and com mon consent ; let it be on principles that the rest of the world will admire and approve ; but abandon not your mother country in dis tress, nor give your enemies cause to triumph in the success of their designs. Be united and unanimous ; as long as Spain can withstand invasion, as long as she has not bent her neck to foreign dominion, let not the moment of distress be that of your desertion ; but resolve to share her woes, as you have hitherto done her fortunes. Have equally the same ene mies, and the same friends ; let Ferdinand the VII. union, friendship, and aid to the mo ther country, be your motto ; and ye Euro pean Spaniards, whose character is moderation and prudence, whose strength consists in con cord, dissolve not those ties it has cost so much to unite ; let brotherly union and con stancy be your anchors, and you will yet out ride that storm, in which you have mutually been surprised. By this means, will Spanish America form u 2 292 a new epoch in the annals of history, and thus will its inhabitants, united with those of Spain, promote the prosperity of each, and formed into one nation, elevate themselves one day to rank with the other great and happy nations of the world. APPENDIX, A. Comparative view of the highest Mountains in different parts of the .world) with those of Spanish America. Names of said Mountains, and in what Coun tries they are situated. In Spanish America. Cotopaxi, in the province of Quito, in Peru, Chimborazo, in Peru, Carambour is under the equator, Dezcabezado, in Chili, fifty miles from the sea, Carason, in Peru,* Petchincha, in Peru, In Europe and other parts. The Peak of Teneriffe, one of the Ca nary island?, . Mount Blanc, Mount Etna, in Sicily, Gemmi, in the Canton of Berne, in Switzerland, Summit of Buet, Summit of Grenarion, The Blue Mountains in Jamaica, East end of the Table Mountain Cape of Good Hope, In England and Wales the six high est Mountains are Whernside, in Yorkshire, is the highest in South Britain, . Inglcborough, in Yorkshire, Pennygant, in Yorkshire, Snowden, in North Wales, Pendle Hill,, in Lancashire, Cross Fell, in Westmoreland, In Scotland the six highest Moun tains are Benevish, in the county of Inverness, Benlawers, in Perthshire, Cairngorm, in the county of Inver ness. f > - Bengloe, in Perthshire, Schichallion, in Perthshire, Bendeng, in Perthshire, Height in feet. 3,585 4,050 3,987 3,93 3,568 3,4" 3,39^ 4,350 4,280 4,000 3,724 3,564 3,550 Height in yards. Height in miles and yards. 19,929 6,643 3 and 1,363 19,320 6,440 3 1,160 18,000 6,000 3 720 18,000 6jOco 3 720 14,820 4,940 a 1,420 14,580 4,860 a 1,340 15,396 15,243 12,000 5, 1 32 5,081 4,000 a z I,6l2r I,56l 480 IO,IIO 3>3/o i 1,610 9,945 8,874 7,483 3,315 2,958 2,494 i i 1,555 1,198 734 1,195 1,350 1,329 1,310 1,189 1,137 i,459 1,426 1,241 1,188 1,183 * The Spanish Academicians observe, that amongst the Cordilleras, in the province of Quito, Carason and Petchincha are the highest accessible Moun tains, and that all of greater height, are vested with eternal snow. B. MINES IN THE BRAZILS. I HE diamond mines and gold mines in the Brazils are of great extent; they were first discovered and opened in the year 1681, since which time they have yielded annually upwards of five millions sterling in value, of which one fifth part, or share, belongs to the crown of Portugal. The extraction of gold in the Brazils is neither very labo rious, nor very dangerous. It is sometimes found in its purest state on the surface of the soil, and at other times it is necessary to dig for it. Gold is found upon the moun tains and barren rocks, in larger pieces than in the valleys, or on the borders of the rivers. The queen of Portugal has in her possession the largest diamond in the world, which was sent over, in the year 1746, from the Brazils to Lisbon j it weighs 1680 carats, and is valued by the Portu guese lapidaries, at a sum beyond what any nation in the world could afford to pay. The following statement of their respective weights, will clearly shew, that all other large diamonds at present known of in the world, are very small when compared with this. Carats in weight. 106 A diamond in possession of the emperor of Russia. 136 A diamond in possession of Buonaparte, called the Regent s diamond. J39 A diamond in possession of the grand duke of Tus cany. 279 A diamond in possession of the Great Mogul. 493 A diamond in possession of the king of Persia. 1680 The queen of Portugal s surprising Brazil diamond. The Brazil diamonds are neither so hard nor so clear as those which are brought from Soulempour, and other places in the East Indies^ nor do they sparkle so 295 much; but Brazil diamonds are whiter than those of the East Indies, and arc sold ten per cent, cheaper, supposing the weight of them to be equal. The large star and cross which the Prince of Brazil wears on his breast on grand gala days, as sovereign of the diffe rent Portuguese orders of knighthood, viz. the knights of Avis, the knights of Christ, the knights of St. James, &c. are both composed of a great number of large diamonds, being of the very first quality and water, set in gold. The centre diamond in the star is alone worth eight hundred thousand pounds sterling; the star and the cross together are ralued at four millions. C. MEXICO. Anahuac was the original name given to the vale of Mexico, and signifies near to the water. The city of Mex ico was anciently called Tenochtitlan; it was founded Anno Domini 1325, and is, beyond a doubt, much the largest and most beautiful city of the New World. It is situated in latitude 20 2 North, and in longitude 100 34 West, from the meridian of London. The finest district in the kingdom of Mexico is the vale itself of Mexic, crowned by beautiful and verdant moun tains, whose circumference, measured at their base, exceeds one hundred and twenty miles. A great part of this vale is occupied by two lakes; the water of Chalco, the upper lake, is sweet ; that of Tezcuco, the lower lake, is brack ish. They communicate by a canal. In the lower lake (on account of its lying in the very bottom of the valley) all the waters running from the mountains collect; from thence, when extraordinary abundance of rains raised the waters of the lake of Tezcuco over its bed, it overflowed the city of Mexico, which is situated on an island in the lake of Tezcuco. These inundations happened not less fre- 296 quently under the Mexican monarchy, than since it has been in possession of the Spaniards. These two lakes, the circumference of which united is not less than ninety miles, represent the figure of a camel, the head and neck of which are formed by the lake of sweet water, or Chalco; the body, by the lake of brackish water, or Tezcuco; the legs and feet are represented by the rivulets and torrents which run from the mountains into the lakes. Between these there is the little peninsula of Iztapalapan, which divides them. The mountains make the air delightfully cool and plea sant, with gentle breezes descending and spreading them selves all around, so that its climate is one of the finest and most salubrious that nature ever formed; so remarkably temperate, and the variation of the seasons so very small, that the slightest precautions are sufficient to prevent incon venience from either heat or cold, and woollen clothing is worn there all the year round. Charles the V., who was at the same time emperor of Germany and king of Spain, asked a witty Spanish gentleman, on his arrival at court from Mexico, how long the interval was in the city of Mexico between summer and winter? " Just as long," replied the Spaniard, with great truth and humour, " as it takes to pass out of sun-shine into the shade." The circumference of the island on which the city stands, is about twelve miles. For the convenience of passing from this island to the main land, there, are three great cause ways, formed df earth, stone, and timber, raised in the lake. The causeway of Iztapalapan, towards the South, is about seven miles in length. The causeway of Tepejacac, towards the North, is about three miles in length. The causeway of Tlacapan, towards the West, is about two miles in length. They are each about thirty feet in breadth. Besides them, there is another or fourth causeway, a little 297 narrower, in continuation of the double aqueduct of Cha*. poltepec, two miles distant, by which the fresh water is brought to the entrance of the city, and from thence dis-^ tributed to the fountains, and all parts of the city and the island. All the water which collects in the lake of Tezcuco, is sweet when it first enters, but it afterwards becomes so very brackish and unwholesome, that if drank, or used in cook ing by the inhabitants, it gives them fluxes, and complaints in the bowels. This bad property arises from the salt and nitrous bed of this lake; hence the island intirely depends on this double aqueduct of Chapoltepec for its supplies of fresh water. The churches and houses are built of stone and of bricks, and the houses in general, where the ground will bear their weight, are three stories high. The foundations of the large houses of the capital, as at first built by the Mexicans, were laid upon a floor of large beams of cedar, fixed in the earth, on account of the want of solidity in the soil, which example the Spaniards have found it necessary to imitate and adopt. The great square is in the centre of the city, from whence the streets run quite through, the whole in a direct line, either North and South, or East and West, crossing each other at right angles, so that the length and breadth of the city may be plainly discerned at the corner of any of the streets, all of which are wide and well paved. There is a public walk, with a jet d eau, where eight avenues meet, which is very grand, and the principal squares have each a fountain of water in their centre. Every morning at sunrise, innumerable boats, canoes, and crait of various descriptions, laden, with a vast variety of fruits, herbs, flowers, garden-stuff of all kinds, fish, fowls, turkies, geese, ducks, venison, game o all kinds, flesh meat of all kinds, and a variety of other provi- sions, are seen arriving by the lake at the great market-place of the city, where the inhabitants are supplied with the greatest abundance, and at very moderate prices. The natural strength of the city is great, there being no approaches to it but by the causeways, which may easily be obstructed, by breaking them down at intervals, or by de stroying the whole of the causeways, if necessary. All other modes of capture must be by boats, canoes, &c. and cutting off their supplies of provisions, and fresh water, &c. which they receive by the aqueduct of Chapol tepee. Mexico is an archbishop s see, and contains one most magnificent cathedral, thirty-four public churches, thirty- six monasteries of men, and twenty-nine nunneries of wo men, with each a church. The cathedral possesses a revenue of ninety thousand pounds sterling per annum, of which the archbishop receives thirty thousand pounds, besides casual fines, which make him fifteen to twenty thousand pounds a year more. The remainder, amounting to sixty thousand pounds, is divided amongst the dignitaries and other clergy belonging to this cathedral, which amount to upwards of four hundred, without including organists, mu sicians, singers, &c. The cathedral is built in the form of a cross, is lofty and spacious, the windows numerous, the paintings, gilding, and carving, are in heavy style, and it contains a great number of chapels and superb altars. The high altar stands in the middle of the choir; the riches and treasures therein are great beyond description. The custodia is made of silver, and contains thirty thousand ounces of that metal ; it took sixty-four ounces of pure gold to gild it. It con tains a great number of silver pillars, and one hundred little images of different saints, all of most rare workmanship. In the centre of the cathedral stands the image of St. Hy- polito, the patron of Mexico, as large as life, made of pure 299 gold, and placed on a shrine of silver. In another silver shrine stands an image of the infant Jesus, made of pure gold, and adorned with eight hundred precious stones; like wise a grand silver throne, on which is placed the image of the Blessed Virgin, made of silver, wearing a superb crown, and adorned with a profusion of valuable and precious stones, the whole weighing sixty arrobas of silver, which at twenty-five pounds in each arroba, make fifteen hundred pounds weight. In the chapel of the Blessed Virgin is a beautiful altar, made of silver and richly inlaid with gold, worked in the most curious manner, by an ingenious artist. In this cathedral, there are forty-eight candlesticks, all made of silver, each measuring six feet in height, and of curious workmanship. There are three hundred masses said every day in this cathedral. They consume annually at the altars and in the processions, eight hundred arrobas of oil, making 2,500 Spanish gallons: twelve hundred arrobas of wax, making 30,000 Spanish pounds : one thousand arrobas of wine, making 3,125 Spanish gallons. Ten large gold lamps, and thirty large silver lamps, burn oil, both night and day. The vestments and other ornaments, of the archbishop and the rest of the clergy, as likewise, the ornaments exhibited on the altars, are beautiful beyond description, and as rich as can be made, with gold and silver, covered with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and other precious stones, of dazzling lustre : gold and silver stuffs; embroidered velvets, satins, silks, &c. are the richest and most valuable that money can purchase and procure, in any part of the world, and were brought from Europe by the register ships. The rest of the churches, the monasteries, and the nunneries, are proportionably rich and splendid, and their revenues are great. Their warehouses and shops, from their great display of 300 precious metals, and massive jewelry, are the richest and most valuable that can be imagined, though art has done little for their arrangement. Many of their household utensils are made of gold and silver. The great market-place, is a superb and spacious square, in the centre of the city ; on one side of it runs an arcade, under which are some of the richest shops, and on the other side, stands the magnificent palace of the viceroy of Mexico, built with a large square in the centre, so that it forms four* magnificent fronts ; the grand front presenting itself to the market-place. In this city there is a royal mint, for the coining of dol lars and other silver coins, as likewise of gold coins. There is also, a royal university, conducted by some of the most able and learned clergy, masters, and instructors, sent out from Old Spain, which contains upwards of three thousand students, sent for education from all parts of Mexico, Peru, and the other Spanish settlements. It has eleven hospitals, and houses of asylum^ all most amply and richly endowed ; amongst the rest, is an assylum for the reception of young female orphans, who are maintained and educated in a very decent and handsome manner, whilst they remain therein un married ; and they have five hundred dollars each, given to them as a portion, when they leave this asylum, and marry to a decent proper person, approved of by the managers. There is a beautiful park, well planted with trees, and ornamented with fountains and water-works, where the no bility, gentry, and gay part of the inhabitants assemble every evening, some in coaches, great numbers of gentlemen on horseback, with multitudes of men and women on foot, and it is here, that the young bucks, cavaliers, and majos, endea vour to attract the notice and favour of the ladies, by feats of activity, and the superb fancy dresses, in which they make 301 their appearance, when mounted on their lively and beauti ful horses. Several hundreds of coaches, drawn by two or by four mules or horses, parade here, every fine evening, attended by numerous retinues of black slaves, dressed out in the richest liveries, and in which they keep up great state and form ; the carriages move very slowly, and gently along, in order that those within them, may, see, and be seen the better. The ladies, within the carriages, make their appearance without veils, in their richest dresses, decorated out, and ornamented with gold, pearls, jewels, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and other glittering ornaments in their hair, ears, round their necks, and round their wrists, with superb gold watches and equipages, fitted up in the highest style. They take great pride in having fine heads of hair, which they preserve with the greatest care and at tention, in order to make it very thick and very long behind, they wear it plaited down their backs, and in general, so long, even when pendant, it reaches down to their feet. They wear no caps, but in their tertulias, or visits, they have ornamental head-dress es. The Mexican ladies, in general, are about the middle stature, very few of them are tall ; the greatest part of them have beautiful black hair, fine eyes, and the most regular sets of teeth, remarkably white and even, which they take great pleasure in shewing when they laugh ; they are remarkably lively in their man ner and address, talk a great deal, dance remarkably well, enter a room in the most graceful manner, and no women whatever, in any country in the world, not even those of Cadiz, walk better. They are fond of music, sing ing, and dancing ; the Spanish guitar, in particular, is universally played by them. Their favourite dances are el fandango, which is as much the rage here, as in Old Spain ; the young, the old, the brisk, the grave, the gay, nay even the most stupid and dull people, become all alive, and put. 302 themselves into motion the very moment the guitar strikes up, and begins to play. Las seguidillas or couplets, are in great vogue, as songs ; and minuets, boleros, waltzes, &c, as dances. The Mexican ladies in general are handsome, polite, genteel, and particularly attentive to strangers. Great num bers of them have, naturally, fair complexions. They are not inferior to the ladies of Old Spain, in personal charms, they speak the Spanish language remarkably well, their minds and ideas are clear and comprehensive, their expres sion pure and just, their manners and their behaviour, in imitably graceful and affable. One of the favourite diversions of the citizens of Mexico is fishing in boats on the lake, whither they carry with them cold provisions, wine, liquors, &c. with which to regale themselves on the water. The neighbourhood of this fine city, is rendered remarkably pleasant, and beautiful, by the numerous palaces, country seats, monasteries, nunneries, churches, large and beautiful towns and villages, which are within view of the city, and built upon the banks of the lakes, to which the citizens go in boats, when they are inclined to retire from the hurry and bustle of the town. Mexico is the most populous city of all those which the catholic king has in his vast dominions, and contains upwards of two hun dred thousand inhabitants, which are comprehended under five different classes. Those who invariably hold the first rank are Spaniards, born in Old Spain, who have settled in Mexico. All offices, places, and appointments, under the Spanish government, are filled and held by them, the court of Spain being jealous in the extreme of all the other descriptions of people. The second class, in point of rank, is that of the Criollos, Creoles, or descendants from Spaniards who formerly settled in America. Great numbers of these Creoles are very rich, 303 have most elegant houses and furniture, and very large estates in land, which give them greater influence in the colonies, than the court of Spain approves of, therefore she adopts such plans as she thinks will lessen their conse quence. She never employs them in offices of power and trust, under her government, whence arise jealousies, of pre ference given to the first class. These Creoles, in general, are too indolent and luxurious to engage in trade of any kind ; the commerce and navigation to, and from Old Spain, as well as the internal traffic of the colonies, have al ways been carried on by the natives of Old Spain, who ac cumulate immense fortunes thereby, and generally return with them to their native country. The third class, in point of rank, is that of the people of colour, under the denomination of Mullattoes, Mestizoes, Sambos, and Quadroons ; they are the offspring of Euro peans and Creoles, with negroes, Indians, Mullattoes, &c. and may properly be styled a mixed breed of such a diversity of heterogeneous gradations from the white to the black, that among a hundred faces, scarcely two are of the same colour The handicraft and mechanic trades are carried on by them, in all which kinds and descriptions of labour, both the Spaniards and the Creoles disdain to employ themselves, and depend upon this third class of people for the supply of the various articles which they may want, and which are not pro cured from Europe. The fourth class, in point of rank and of real utility, is that of the negroes. They are employed as menial servants; on gala and parade days, and visits, they drive the carriages and attend their masters and mistresses, dressed out in their richest liveries. They work in the fields, in the mines, See. The free negroes receive, as their own private property, re wards and wages, and whatever they may gain by their own labour. The negro slaves are generally employed to work 304 by their own masters and mistresses ; in case they are hired out to work for other people, their wages and gains belong to their owners, by whom they are clothed, fed, and supported; in case of sickness and inability to work, every assistance is rendered to them. The negroes look upon themselves as a race of people superior to the Indians, in point of knowledge and abilities, and treat them as their inferiors. This kind of supercilious conduct and contemptuous behaviour, is car ried to so great an extreme by the negroes, that they and the Indians have a mutual and violent hatred and aversion to each other. Though there is a great number of blacks in the province of New Spain, they are mostly free people > and the slaves are comparatively few. The fifth and most inferior class, in point of rank, is that of the proper Americans or native Indians, descended from the ancient peoplers of America. They are those who. have not mixed their blood with the people of the old continent. They are a free people, (except a small annual tribute, of about one hard dollar, or four shillings and sixpence English, which each male Indian from the age of eighteen to fifty years, pays to the Spanish government,) and cannot be com pelled to work, but in such time, manner, and kinds of work, as are agreeable to themselves. When disposed to work, they are employed in cultivating the lands, and in raising the various kinds of produce, as cacao, wheat, maize, rice, beans, &c. and as herdsmen, shepherds, &c They likewise work in the mines of gold, silver, copper, Sec. and whatever they gain by their labour is their own property. Their employers pay them a very fair and reasonable price in proportion to the value of their labour, when working in the fields they gain from one to two English shillings- per day, and when in the mines, they gain from half a dollar, (two shillings and threepence English,) to one hard dollar (four shillings and sixpence English.) per day. In 305 Spanish America no European, whatever, is to be seen em ployed in the labours of the field. The Mexican Indians are of a good stature, generally rather exceeding than falling short of the middle size, and well proportioned in all their limbs ; they have good complexions ; narrow foreheads ; black eyes ; clean, firm, regular, white teeth ; thick, black, coarse, glossy hair ; thin beards ; and generally no hair upon their legs, thighs, and arms. Their skin is of an olive colour. There is scarcely a nation, per haps upon earth, in which there are fewer persons deformed, and it would be more difficult to find a single hump-backed, lame, or squint-eyed man, amongst a thousand Mexicans, than among a hundred of any other nation. Their ap pearance neither engages nor disgusts ; but among the Indian young women, there are many very handsome and fair ; they have a sweetness of manner and expression, and a pleasantness and natural modesty in their whole behaviour, The men are very moderate in eating^ but their passion for strong liquors, is carried to the greatest excess^ A peculiar feature in the description of Mexico is, the celebrated artificial fields and gardens which float in the lakes, and add to their picturesque appearance. The ori ginal method of forming them is extremely simple: they plait and twist willows, and the roots of marsh plants, or other materials together, which are light, but capable of supporting the earth of the garden firmly united. Upon this foundation they lay the light bushes which float on the lake, and over all, the mud and dirt which they draw up from the bottom. The regular figure of these islands is quadrangular, their length and breadth various, but in ge neral they are about eight perches long, and not more than three perches in breadth, and have less than a foot of eleva tion above the surface of the water. These were the first fields which the Mexicans owned after the foundation of ths VOL.II. x 306 city of Mexico ; there they first cultivated the maize, great pepper, and other plants necessary for their support. In; process of time, as these fields grew numerous, from the industry of those people, there were cultivated among them gardens of flowers, and of odoriferous plants, which were used in the worship of the gods, and likewise served for the refreshment of the nobles. At present they cultivate flowers, herbs, and every kind of garden-stuff Every day of the year at sunrise, innumerable boats laden with flowers, fruits, and vegetables, which are cultivated in these gardens, are seen arriving by the canal at the great market place of that capital. All kinds of plants thrive therein surprisingly; the mud of the lake is an extremely fertile soil, and requires no irrigation. In the, largest gardens there is commonly a little tree, and even a little hut to shel ter the cultivator, and defend him from rain, or the sun. When the chinampa, or owner of a garden wishes to change his situation, to remove from a disagreeable neigh bour, or to come nearer to his own family, he gets into his little vessel, and by his own strength alone, if the garden is small, or, with the assistance of others if it is large, he rows it after him, and conducts it wherever he pleases, with the little hut and tree upon it. That part of the lake where the floating gardens are, is a place of infinite recrea tion and amusement, where the senses receive the highest gratification, and multitudes of people are constantly visit ing them in boats, on parties of pleasure. The fields and gardens round the city of Mexico are wonderfully productive of maize, called by the Mexicans huolli, which the Spaniards first carried from America, and introduced into Spain. There abounds also wheat, barley, oats, and every kind of grain that Europe produces, as well as pease, beans, vetches, and , other kinds of pulse; let tuces, cabbages, turnips, carrots, artichokes, potatoes, 307 lentils, mint, marjoram, balm/ sage, French beans, racU ishes, garlick, asparagus, onions, and, in short, every sort of kitchen herbs; carnations, roses, tulips, violets, ranun culuses, Jonquils, jessamines, and other flowers and odori ferous plants brought from Europe, all prosper there in the highest perfection. The city of Mexico is the emporium, or grand magazine, in which are collected all the gifts of nature, wherein are found apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, quinces, cherries of all kinds, currants, grapes, water melons, figs, almonds, olives, walnuts, chesnuts, filberts, hazel-nuts, dates, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, limes, pine-apples, guanas, citrons, melons, cucumbers, plantains, cassava roots, yams, and many other fruits which cold or hot countries equally produce. At all seasons of the year, their market is plentifully provided; even in the winter, vessels daily enter their mar ket by one of the innumerable canals of the city, laden with such an abundant variety of fruits, flowers, and herbs, that it seems as if all the seasons of the year offered their productions simultaneously. The gulf and the sea-coasts of Mexico, abound with a great variety of fish, viz. whales, dolphins, porpoises, manatis, sword-fish, saw-fish, bonitos, thornbacks, flying fiih, sharks, mullets, shad, cod, polypus, spunges, soles, several species of tortoises, sturgeons, pike, congers, tur- bot, carp, nautili, lampreys, sardinias, haddock, eels, crabs, lobsters, shrimps, prawns, and shell-fish. In the lakes and rivers there are upwards of one hundred species of fish, as various kinds of white fish, carp, trout, bar bels, mullet, eels, pike, salmon, bobos, &c. Sea-shells are found on these coasts in prodigious numbers, asid some of them of extraordinary beauty. The ancient quadrupeds common to Mexico, are lions, X 2 JOS tigers, wild cats, bears, wolves, foxes, common stags>. white stags, bucks and does, wild goats, several species of apes and monkeys, polecats, badgers, weasels, martens, squirrels, hares, rabbits, otters, and rats. The modern quadrupeds which have been imported and introduced from the Canaries and from Europe, are camels, horses, mules, asses, bulls, cows, sheep, goats, hogs, dogs, and cats,, all of which, except camels, have multiplied and increased in a most wonderful manner. There are private persons who are masters of fifty thousand head of cattle. In the country round the city of Mexico, a pair of large oxen for the plough are sold for fourteen to eighteen dollars, and bulls are sold by wholesale, at four to six dollars each. The multiplication of sheep is most surprising, there being in New Spain individual persons, who own four and five hun dred thousand sheep each, and with respect to size, there are no rams in Europe larger than the rams in Mexico. The size of the horses of Mexico is that of the common horses of Europe; their saddle-horses, although they are geldings, for the most part have an amazing spirit. Mules, which through the whole country of Mexico are employed to draw their carriages of all kinds, and to carry burdens, are equal in size to the mules of Europe. The mules for burdens are conducted by drivers, and carry loads of about 500 Ibs. weight each. They do not usually travel more than twelve to fifteen miles per day, (the Mexican day s journey for loaded mules) but at this rate they make jour- nies of five hundred to two thousand miles. Carriage-mules- travel at the rate of four to five miles per hour, and besides the passengers, draw great weights in their baggage. Sad dle mules are made use of for very long journies; it is com mon to make a journey on the same mule from the city of Mexico to the city of Guatemala, which is upwards of one thousand miles distance, over a country that is moun tainous and very rough, at the rate of thirty miles per day. 309 Mexico in general, as it is extremely extensive, and di vided into so many various provinces, different in their situa tion, is consequently subjected to a variety of climate. The maritime parts being low and flat when compared with the in land country, are hot, and generally moist and unhealthy, and in particular districts, mountains of sand gather on the sea shore. This moisture proceeds not less from the sea, than from the abundance of waters descending from the eleva tions that command the coast. The inland parts being ex tremely high, are temperate, dry, and healthy, rendered cool and delightful by the plentiful showers which fre quently fall after mid-day, from April and May to Sep tember and October, and by breezes from the high moun tains continually covered with snow, scattered here and there through the country of Mexico. The greatest cold of any of the inhabited places, docs not equal the cold of England, or even the cold of Spain; nor can the greatest heat be compared even to the heat felt during the dog-days, in many countries of Europe. The difference between summer and winter is actually so little felt in any part, that the most delicate persons wear the same clothing in June and in January; no other relief is wanted in the hottest season but to retire to the shade, and the animals sleep all the year round under the open sky. But the agreeableness -of the climate is counterbalanced by thunder-storms, which are frequent in summer, as like wise by earthquakes, which are felt at all times, although in general producing less real danger than terror; yet it may be remarked, that they have been sometimes attended with most dreadful consequences, as was experienced on the 29th day of July, in the year 1773, when the large and populous city of St. Jago de Guatimala, at that time the capital of the audience and province of GuatLrnafa, in New Spain, and one of the largest cities in Spanish Ame- 310 rica, was totally destroyed by a dreadful earthquake, ac companied with an eruption from a neighbouring volcano- By this terrible earthquake, one hundred and twenty thou sand persons are supposed to have perished. There are an infinity of nitn v^ sulphureous, vitriolic, and aluminous mineral waters, some of which spring so very hot, that in a few moments, any kind of fruit, eggs, or animal-food is boiled in them. There are also abundance of petrifying waters. Mexico is most singularly fertile in plants, which yield balsams, gums, rosins, and oils; among these are the huitziloxitl, from which is distilled a balsam no wise infe rior to the celebrated balsam of Meccha, and the Mexican tree, xochiocotzotl, from which is extracted that precious rosin, called by the Spaniards amber; likewise the oil called liquid amber, which is still more odorous and esti mable than the rosin. From the Mexican tree, copalli, is extracted gum copal; it is used in Europe in medicine and in varnishes, and a great quantity of it is consumed as in cense on the altars in catholic churches. The caragna and the tecamaca are rosins well known to the apothecaries in Europe, and are distilled from two Mexican trees. The thorny shrub, mizquitl, yields the true gum arabic. Gam ma iaca runs in such abundance from a tree like the miz quitl, that the branches are covered with it. Expatl.i, or dragon s blood, runs from a large Mexican tree, named ex- quahuitl. Olli, or the elastic gum, distils from the Mexican tree, olquahuitl ; those who gather it can model it to any form: the Mexicans make their foot-balls of this gum, which, though heavy, rebound more than those filled with air. Besides other uses to which they apply it, they varnish their hats, their boots, cloaks, and great coats with it, which makes them all water-proof. Mexico may be justly styled the country of birds, there 311 being upwards of two hundred species peculiar to that king dom. Among the birds of prey are several species of eagles, the most powerful and valuable of which is, that named by the Mexicans itzquauhtli, w r hich not only pursues the larger birds and hares, but will even attack men and beasts. The Mexican falcons are so excellent in their nature, that they were sent as presents to the king, and the nobility of Spain. There are two kinds of kestrels, birds of prey; the one called cenotzqui is particularly beautiful: likewise goss- hawks, and sparrow-hawks; zapilots, or gallinazos, which are larger than the raven; these not only clear the fields of carrion, which they discover by the acuteness of their sight and smell, when flying at the greatest heights, but they likewise attend the female crocodiles, and destroy their eggs. It is illegal to kill them. There are upwards of seventy species of birds which afford a wholesome and agreeable food; amongst which are woodcocks, partridges, gnipes, pheasants, cranes, turtle-doves, pigeons, quails, wild turkeys, &c. with a vast variety of others that are esteemed in Europe. Of aquatic and other fishing-birds which live chiefly on the sea-shore, upon the sides of lakes and rivers, and seek their food in the water, the numbers are prodigious; geese in wonderful quantities, at least twenty species of ducks, several kinds of herons and egrets, with vast flocks of swans, gulls, water-rails, divers, kingfishers, palmipedes, ximantopedes, pelicans, and others. There are thirty-seven species of Mexican birds that are superlatively beautiful for their plumage, of which the hacuiloltototl, or painted bird, justly deserves its name, for its beautiful feathers are variegated with red, blue, purple, green, and black. Its eyes are black, with a yellow iris, and its feet are ash-coloured. The huitzitzilin is that wonder ful little bird, so often celebrated by the historians of Ame- 31* ricafor its smallriess, its activity, the singular beauty of its plumage,, the spareness of its food, and the length of its sleep in the winter; it lives by sucking a plant similar to a myrtle. There are nine species of this bird, differing in size and in colour 5 the Spaniards call it chupamirto, or myrtle-sucker. There are in Mexico twenty-six species of singing-birds, amongst which are included nightingales, goldfinches, &c. but all the singing-birds that are as yet known, are surpassed by the very famous centzentli, (four hundred) so named by the Mexicans, to express the wonderful variety of its notes. The centzentli, or polyglot, is to be found in all parts of Mexico in great numbers, where they are held in such estimation, that twenty dollars have been paid for a superior one. It is impossible to give any idea of the sweet ness and mellowness of its song, of the harmony and va riety of its tones, or of the facility with which it learns to imitate whatever it hears. It counterfeits naturally not only the notes of other birds, but even the different noises of quadrupeds. It is of the size of a common thrush; its body is white upon the under side, and grey above, with some white feathers, especially about the head and tail. It eats any thing, but delights chiefly in flies, which it will pick from one s finger with signs of pleasure. Attempts have been often made to bring it to Europe, but without success; it always died on the passage by change of climate, or the hardships of a voyage. The birds, called cardinals, are not less delightful to the ear from the sweetness of their song, than to the sight by the beauty of their scarlet plu mage and crest. The Mexican calandra sings very sweetly also, and its song resembles that of the nightingale. The tigrillo, or little tiger, (tigret) is so named from its feathers being spotted like the skin of a tiger, and its music is sweet. Tfce Mexican sparrows, called gorriones, have & 313 song most delightful and various. There are great num bers of these singing-birds in the capital, and in the other cities and villages of Mexico. In speaking-birds the parrots hold, perhaps, the first place; there are four principal species of them in Mexico, namely, the huacamaya, the toznentl, the cochotl, and the quiltototl. The madrugadores, or twilight-birds, called by the Mexicans tzacua, are the last among the day birds to go to roost at night, and the first to leave it in the morning, and to announce the return of the sun. They never cease to sing and frolic till an hour after sunset, begin again long before the dawn, and never seem so happy as during the morning and evening twilight. The madrugadores are about as large as sparrows. Among the night-birds are se veral kinds of owls and bats. The reptiles of Mexico are of two classes, the four- footed, and those without feet. The first class are croco diles, lizards, frogs, and toads; in the second class are all kinds of serpents. The Mexican crocodiles resemble the African crocodiles in size, form, voracity, way of living, and in all the other peculiarities of their character; they abound in many of the lakes and rivers of Mexico, and sometimes destroy men as well as animals. Among the greater lizards is the acaltetepon; the bite of this animal is painful, but not mortal. The iguana is a harmless lizard. Among the poisonous lizards, the worst is the tetzauhqui. Of serpents, the most considerable in point of size is the canauhcoatl, which is about twenty feet long, and five to six feet in thickness. Among the poisonous serpents is the iectlacozauhqui, which is the famous rattle-snake; its co lour and size are various, but it is commonly three or four feet long ; the rattle sounds whenever the snake moves, and particularly when he is in motion to bite; the bite is at* 314 tended with certain death, unless remedies are speedily ap plied, of which the most efficacious is thought to he, the holding of the wounded part some time in the earth. The ahueyactli is three to four feet long; it communicates a kind of poison, which occasions the blood to burst from the mouth, nese, and eyes of the person bit. The cui- cuilcoatl, so named from the variety of its colours, is not quite eight inches long, and of the thickness of the little finger, but its poison is most active and deadly. The teix- minani is of a long slender form, with a grey coloured back, and purple belly; it moves always in a straight line, never coils, but springs from the trees upon passengers ; its poison is most fatal. The cencoatl is also a poisonous snake, is about five feet long, and eight inches round at the thickest part. The most remarkable quality of this snake is its shining in the dark. Of harmless snakes there are several kinds, of which the tricatlinan, or mother of ants, is very beautiful, about a foot in length, and of the thickness of the little finger ; it lives always in ant-hills, and feeds upon the ants. The maquizcoatl is about a foot in length, and an inch in thick ness; it is of a shining silver hue, the tail is thicker than the head, and it moves progressively with either extremity at pleasure. Of insects, in Mexico, there are three classes, viz. the flying, the terrestrial, and the aquatic; Among the flying insects are beetles, bees, wasps, flies, gnats, butterflies, and grasshoppers. The beetles are of several kinds, and mostly harmless. Some of them are of a green colour, called by the Mexicans majatl; they make a great noise in flying. There are others black, of a dis agreeable smell and irregular form, called pinacatl. The cucullo, or shining beetle, is more than an inch in length, and, like other flying beetles, is furnished with double 315 wings. It shews much light when it flies, but none at all when it sleeps, as the phosphorous part is then covered with opaque membranes. Near the eyes are two small webs of fibres, and upon the belly is one somewhat larger, of a thin, transparent substance, which arc full of lumin ous matter, affording alight strong enough to read by, and to shew the way to those who travel at night. The lumin ous matter is a white, mealy, viscid substance, which pre serves its quality after it has been taken from the body of the cucullo, and one may draw shining characters with it upon a hat. There are great numbers of these flying phos- phori upon the sea-coasts, which, seen on the neighbouring hills at night, form a very beautiful and brilliant spectacle. The boys easily catch them by waving a light in the eve ning; the insects drawn or attracted by it, come into their hands. It is more particularly described in our chapters on Hispafiola. The temolin is a large beetle, of a most dis agreeable form, and a reddish chesnut colour, with six hairy feet, and four toes upon each. Of bees there are six kinds: the first is like the common bee of Etirope in size, shape, colour, disposition, and ha bits, and in the quality of its honey and wax. The second species is without a sting; it makes the fine clear honey of estabentun, of an aromatic flavour, superior to all the other kinds which are at present known. The honey is taken from them six times a year, that is, once in two months; but the best is that which is got in November, being made from a fragrant white flower like the jessamine, which blows in September, and is called in that country estaben tun, from whence the honey has derived its name. The third species of bee is smaller than the bees of Europe, and without a sting; it forms nests in si^e and shape resem bling sugar-loaves. The populousness of these hives is much greater than those of the common bee. The honey 316 is of a greyish colour, but of a very fine flavour, and greatly esteemed. The fourth species is a yellow bee, smaller than the common bee, but is furnished with a sting, its honey is not equal to the three species of bees before mentioned. The fifth species is a small bee, without a sting, which constructs hives of an orbicular form, in subterraneous cavities, and the honey is sour, and somewhat bitter. The halpipolli, which is the sixth species, is black and yellow, of the size of the common European bee, but has no sting; its honey has a very disagreeable taste and flavour. Of wasps, there are at least four kinds. The quetz- almiahuatl is the common wasp of Europe. The tetlatoca or wandering wasp, so called from its frequent change of habitation, has a sting, but makes no honey or wax. The xicotli, xicote, is a thick, black wasp, with a yellow belly, which makes a sweet honey, in holes made by it in the walls i it is provided with a strong sting, which gives a very pain ful wound. The cuicalmiahuatl has likewise a sting, but does not make honey. The quauhxicotli, is a black hornet with a red tail, whose sting is so large and strong, as not only to go through a sugar cane, but even to pierce into the trunk of a tree. Among the flies, besides the common fly, which is nei ther so troublesome nor in such numbers, as are found generally in Europe during summer ; there are some lumin ous ones, as the glow-fly. The axayacatl is a marshy fly ot the Mexican lake, the eggs of which, being deposited in immense quantities upon the rushes and corn-flags of the lake, form large masses, which are taken up by fisher men, and carried to market for sale, for the purposes of fishing. Gnats abound in the maritime parts, and in all place? 317 where heat, standing water, and shrubs encourage their propagation. They are in immense numbers in the lake of Chalco ; but the capital, although near to that lake, is en tirely free of that great nuisance. Cucarachas, or cock roaches, are in immense quantities ; and also bugs, which the cucarachas eat up and totally destroy. The butterflies of Mexico, are much more numerous, and of greater variety than in Europe. It is impossible to give an idea of their variety and beauty, and the finest pencil is unable to imitate the exquisite colouring and design, which the almighty Author of nature has displayed in the embel lishment of their wings. Locusts arc, at times, numerous beyond conception ; sometimes darkening the air like thick clouds, they fall upon the sea-coast, and lay waste all the vegetation of the country. Among the land insects, there are worms of several kinds, scorpions, scolopendrae, spiders, ants, niguas, chegoes or jiggers, and the famous and celebrated cochineal insect of Mexico. Of worms, some are useful, and some are pernicious. The Ileoculin, or burning worm, has the same qualities with the cantharides ; its head is red, the breast green, and the rest of the body is of a tawny colour. The temahuani is a worm covered with yellow venomous prickles. The temictli resembles the silk-worm, both in its operations and in its metamorphoses. The silk-worm was brought from Europe and propagated with success, till the court of Spain discouraged it, for fear the Mexicans should make silk goods, to supply Mexico themselves, and supersede the silk goods brought from Old Spain. Scolopendras are some times seen in the temperate parts of Mexico, but more fre quently in the warm and moist parts, some as large as two feet in length and two inches thick. Scorpions are common through the whole of Mexico, but in the cold and tern- 31ft pefate parts, they are not numerous nor very hurtful ; they abound in the hot parts, or where the air is very dry, al- though the heat is but moderate, and their poison is so active, as to kill children, and occasion terrible pains to adults ; their sting is the most dangerous in the hours of the day, when the sun gives most heat. Of spiders, the tarantula is a very large one, the back and legs of which are covered with a fine, soft, blackish down, like that upon young chickens ; it is peculiar to hot coun tries, is found in houses as well as in fields, and is supposed to be poisonous. The casampulga, is a small spider of the size of a chick pea, with short legs and a red belly, it is venomous and common in Chiapa. The most common ants of Mexico, are of three kinds ; the small black ants, are the same with the ants of Europe. The second species are the large red ants, called bravas or fierce, which give very painful wounds with their stings. The third species are the large brown ants, called arrieros, or carriers, because they are continually employed in carrying grain for their provisions, and for that reason they are more hurtful to the country than the common ant. Ticks are very common in the fields of Mexico ; they fix in the skins of sheep, horses, and other quadrupeds, and get into their ears, and sometimes even into the ears of men. The celebrated cochineal, is an insect peculiar to Mexico, and is the most useful of all that the land produces. The cochi neal at its utmost growth, in size and figure, resembles a bug: tbe female is ill proportioned and sluggish. The eyes, mouth, antennae, and feet, are so concealed among the wrinkles of its skin, that they cannot be discovered without the assistance of a microscope. The males are riot so numerous, and one male serves for three hundred females; they are likewise smaller and thinner than the females, but more brisk and active. Upon the heads of this insect are two articulated 319 antennae, in each articulation of which, are four small bristles^ regularly disposed. It has six feet, each consisting of three parts. From the hind part of the body, grow out two hairs, which are two or three times as long as the whole insect. The male has two large wings, which are wanting in the female: these wings are strengthened by two membranes, one external, stretching along the circumference of the wing; the other internal, which runs parallel to the former. The internal colour of this insect is a deep red, but darker in the female, and the external colour is a pale red. In the wild cochineal, the internal colour is still darker, and the external is whitish, or ash coloured. The cochineal is reared upon a species of nopal, opuntia, or Indian prickly fig, which grows to the height of about eight feet, and bears a fruit like the figs of other opuntias, but not eatable. It feeds upon the leaves of that tree, by sucking the juice with a trunk situated in the thorax, betwixt the two fore feet ; there it passes through all the stages of its growth, and at length produces a numerous offspring. This insect, so greatly valued in Europe on account of its dyes, and especially those of scarlet and crimson, being not only extremely delicate, but also assailed by several enemies, demands a great deal more care from the breeders, than is necessary for the silk-worm. Rain, cold, and strong winds destroy it. Birds, mice, and worms persecute and devour it ; hence it is absolutely ne cessary to keep the rows of opuntia or nopal, where these insects are bred, always clean, to attend constantly to drive away the birds which are destructive to them, to make nests of hay for them in the leaves of the opuntia ; and when the season of rain approaches, to take them along with the leaves of the plants, and keep them in houses. Before the females are delivered, they cast their skin, to obtain which spoil, thebreeders make use of the tail of the rabbit, brushing most gently with it, that they may detach the insects from 320 the leaves, without doing them any hurt. On every leaf they make three nests, and in every nest they lay about fif teen cochineals. Every year there are three gatherings, with a reserve, however, each time, of a certain number for the future generation ; but the last gathering is the least valued, the cochineals being then smaller, and mixed with the shavings of the opuntia. They kill the cochineal, most commonly with hot water. On the manner of drying it afterwards, the quality of the colour which is obtained from it chiefly depends. The best is that which is dried in the sun. Some dry it in the comalli or pan, in which they bake their bread of maize. Others dry it in the temazcalli, or Mexican vapour bath, which is usually built of raw bricks., in the form of ovens, for baking bread, its greatest diameter is about eight feet, and its greatest height six feet. The en trance like the mouth of an oven, is wide enough to allow a man to creep easily in. In the place opposite to the entrance, there is a furnace of stone or raw bricks, with its mouth outwards, to receive the fire, and a hole above it, to carry off the smoke. Cochineal, when it has been garbled, will pro duce in Europe from twenty shillings to thirty shillings per pound. Among the water insects of Mexico, the atetepitz is a marsh beetle, resembling in shape and size the beetles that fly; it has four feet and is covered with a hard shell. The atepinan is a marsh grasshopper, of a dark colour, about six inches long, and two broad. The ahuihuitla is a worm of the Mexican lake, four inches long, and of the thickness of a goose quill ; it stings with its tail, which is hard and poisonous. For the excellence, variety, and plenty of its timber, Mexico is equal to any country in the world. Besides oaks, firs, pines, cypresses, beeches, ashes, hazels, poplars, palm trees, and many others common in Europe, there are entire 321 Woods of cedars and ebonies ; the two woods which were the most valued by the ancient Indians. There is an abundance of a galloco, or wood of aloe, which produces a most delightful odour, especially when it is fresh cut. Camote also a wood of a most beautiful purple. Gran, dillo or red ebony, of a dark red colour. Guayacan or lignum vitae, well known in Europe for its hardness. The palo- gateado ; the caoba, or mahogany, and a variety of others odorous, ornamental, and useful. In Mexico, there are upwards of two hundred species of trees ; numbers of which are prodigious in their height and thickness. In the capital, as well as in other places, there are very large tables to be seen, made of cedar, consisting of one single piece, and in some of the houses, there are beams of cedar, which measure upwards of forty English yards long. His excellency Don Fernando Lorenza, who was at that time archbishop of Mexico, and was afterwards archbishop of Toledo in Old Spain, attests in his annotations, printed in Mexico, in the year 1770, that he went himself in com pany with the archbishop of Guatemala, and the bishop of Angelopoli, to view the ancient and celebrated fir-tree in the valley of Atlixo, known by the Mexican name of ahuehuetl, which he found to be so very lar^e, that into a cavity of its trunk, which was occasioned by lightning, he made one hun dred young lads enter. This fact must be true, beyond a doubt, when related on the personal testimony of sojiighly respect able and venerable a prelate. The ceibas, Mexican pochctl, or cotton trees, grow the the highest of any trees yet known, and their thickness is proportioned to their prodigious elevation ; they have a most delightful appearance at the time they are adorned with new leaves and loaded with fruit, inclosing a particular species of white, fine, and most delicate cotton, with which VOL. II. Y 322 the Mexicans make various kinds of goods, for their own- consumption. They have a certain species of wood fig, which grows in the country of Cohuixcas and in some other places, it is a lofty thick tree, similar in leaves and fruit to the common fig. From its branches, which extend horizontally, spring certain filaments, taking their direction towards the earth, and growing till they reach it ; they then strike root and form so many new trunks, that from one single fig, a whole wood may be generated. The fruit of this tree is altogether useless, but its timber is good. The mines of Mexico produce sulphur, alum, vitriol, cinnabar, ochre, quicksilver, iron, lead, tin, copper, silver, and gold. With respect to precious stones, diamonds are still to be found, though but few in number. There are amethysts, cats-eyes, turquoises, cornelians, and some green stones which resemble emeralds, and are not much inferior to them in quality. There are mountains of loadstone ; im mense quarries of the finest stones for buildings ; quarries of various kinds of marble, of alabaster, of jasper -, and great abundance of the famous stone called itztli, or piera del galinazzo ; it is semi-transparent, of a glossy substance, and generally black, but is found also white and blue ; the Indians made looking-glasses, &c. of it. There are also infi nite quantities of lime-stone, of plaster, and of talc. The most common diseases in Mexico in the hottest parts, and on the sea-coasts, are intermittent fevers, spasms, con sumptions, agues, catarrhs, fluxes, pleurisies, and acute fevers. The black vomiting is very common, and fatal in the towns on the sea-coast, as in La Vera Cruz, &c. Tn the city of Mexico, the diarrhoea is very frequent. The small pox was originally brought to Mexico by the Spaniards from Old Spain 5 it is not so frequent there as in Europe, but 323 generally appears after an interval of a certain number of years, and then attacking all those who had not been affected by it before; it makes much havoc. The method which the Mexicans use to catch ducks, &c. is artful and curious. The lakes of the Mexican vale, as well as all the other lakes of Mexico, are frequented by prodi gious multitudes of wild ducks, wild geese, and other aquatic birds. The Mexicans leave some empty gourds to float upon the water, where those birds resort, that they may be accus tomed to see and to approach them without fear. The bird- catcher goes into the water so deep as to hide his body, and covers his head with a gourd; the ducks, &c. come to peck at it, and then he pulls them by the feet under water, and in this manner secures as many as he pleases. The Mexicans take serpents alive, either by twisting them with great dexterity, or by approaching them intrepidly, and then seizing them with one hand by the neck, and closing their mouths with the other. Every day in the apothecaries shops, of the capital, and those of other cities, may be seen live serpents which have been taken in this manner. The lake of Chalco abounds with a great variety of fish, and from its vicinity to the city of Mexico, affords great amusements to the citizens who constantly frequent it in boats, in order to enjoy that most pleasing and favourite di version ; they make use of nets, as well as hooks, harpoons, &c. and they are wonderfully dexterous in catching the fish. Among the eatables, the first place is due to maize, which they call haolli, a grain granted by providence to that part of the world, instead of the corn of Europe, the rice of Asia, and the millet of Africa, over all which it possesses some ad vantages ; as, besides its being wholesome, relishing, and more nutritive, it multiplies more, thrives equally in different climes, does not require so much culture, is not so delicate as corn ; stands not in need, like rice, of a moist soil, nor is it hurtful to the health of the cultivator. They have several Y 2 321 species of maize; the large and the small, the white, the yellow, the blue, the purple, the red, and the black. Of maize they make their bread, which is totally different to the bread of Europe in taste, inappearance, and in its prepar ation. They put the grain to boil in water, with a little lime; when it becomes soft, they rub it in their hands to strip off the skin, then pound it in the metlatl, or stone, in which they grind their maize, then they take out a little of the paste, and stretching it _by beating with both hands, they form the bread, after which they give it the last preparation in the comalli, which is a round and rather hollow pan,, about an inch thick, and fifteen inches in diameter. The form of the bread is round and flat, about eight inches in diameter, some less than a quarter of an inch in thickness, and some as thin as strong paper. The making of bread, as well as the preparing and dressing of every kind of meat, is the peculiar occupation of their women. The atoll iis a gruel made of maize, after it has been boiled, well ground, dis solved in water, and strained. They give it commonly to sick persons, as a most salutary food, sweetening it with a little sugar, instead of honey, which is used by the In dians. To them it is so grateful, that they cannot live with out it ; it forms their breakfast, and sustained by it, they bear the fatigues of agriculture, and other servile offices in which they are employed. The maguei, called by the Mexicans metl, by the Spa niards pita, is one of the most common and most useful plants of Mexico. From it is made a kind of wine, which is called octli, by the Mexicans, and by the Spaniards pulque. Pulque is neither a Spanish, nor a Mexican word, but is taken from the Araucan language, which is spoken in Chili, in which the pulcu is the general name for the beverages these Indians use to intoxicate themselves ; it is difficult to say how the term has passed into Mexico. The method of 325 making it is this : when the maguei or Mexican aloe, arrives at a certain height and maturity, they cut the stem, or rather the leaves while tender, of which the stem is formed, after which there remains a certain cavity. They shave the inter nal surface of the large leaves which surround the cavity, and collect the sweet juice which distils from them in such abundance, that one single plant generally yields in the space of six months, six hundred, and in the whole time of its fruitfulness, more than two thousand pounds weight. They gather the juice from the cavity with a long narrow gourd, and pour it into a vessel, where it ferments in less than twenty-four hours. To assist the fermentation, and make the beverage stronger, they infuse a certain herb, which they name ocpatli, or remedy of wine. The colour of this wine is white ; the taste is a little rough, and its strength suf ficient to intoxicate, though not so much as wine of the grape. In other respects it is a wholesome liquor, and valu able on many accounts, as it is an excellent diuretic, and a powerful remedy against the diarrhaea. The consumption made of pulque is most surprising, as well as profitable, for the Spa niards become rich by it. The revenue produced by the pulque alone, which is consumed in the capital city of Mexico, amounts annually to three hundred thousand dollars, one Mexican rial only being paid as duty for every twenty-five Castilian pounds weight. The quantity of pulque which was consumed in the capital, in the year 1774, was 2,214,294 arrobas. Every day are brought into the city of Mexico, upwards of six thousand arrobas of pulque ; but in this com putation we do not comprehend what is introduced by smuggling, nor that which the Indians, who are privileged, sell in the principal square of the city. Pulque will not keep above one day, and therefore what is made, is daily consumed. The daily consumption of tobacco for smoking, in the 326 capital, is reckoned at one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars, or thereabouts, which in one year makes the sum of 450,000 dollars. But it is necessary to be understood,, that among the Indians, very few use tobacco ; among the Europeans, Creoles, Mullattoes and negroes, great numbers also do not use it. Tobacco is a name, taken from the Cubean language. The Mexicans had two species of it, very different in the size of the plant, leaves, and in the figure of the flower, as \\ell as in the colour of the seed. The smallest plant, which is the common one, was called by them picietl, and the largest quaujetl. The quaujetl grows as high as a moderate tree, Its flower is not divided into five parts, like that of the picietl, but only cut into six or seven angles. These plants vary much, according to clime, not only in the quality of the tobacco, but also in the size of the leaves and other circum stances, on which account several authors have multiplied the species. D LETTER TO THE SPANISH AMERICANS, BROTHERS AND COUNTRYMEN, V^UR near approach to the fourth century, since the establishment of our ancestors In the New World*, is an oc currence too remarkable, not seriously to interest our atten tion. The discovery of so great a portion of the earth is, and ever will be, to mankind, the most memorable event in their annals ; but, to us who are its inhabitants, and to our d&- * This letter was written apparently in 1791. 327 scendants, it is an object of the greatest importance. The New World is our country ; its history is ours ; and it is in the latter, that duty and interest oblige us to examine our present situation with its causes, in order to determine us, after mature deliberation, to espouse with courage, the part dictated by the most indispensable of duties towards ourselves and our successors. Although our history for three centuries, as it relates to causes and effects the most worthy of our attention, be so uniform and plain, that one might abridge it into these four words ingratitude, injustice, slavery, and desolation; it be hoves us to study it a little more at large. Our ancestors, in removing themselves to an immense distance from their native country, and in renouncing the support that belonged to them, as well as the protection which could no longer succour them in regions as distant as unknown ; our ancestors, I say, in this state of natural inde - pendence, ventured to procure for themselves a new subsist ence, by the most excessive fatigues, with thegreatest dangersj and at their own expense.* The great success which crown ed the efforts of the conquerors of America, gave them a right, which, without being the most just, was at least bet ter founded than that of the ancient Goths of Spain, to ap propriate to themselves the fruit of their valour and their labours : but the natural affection for their native country, led them to make her the most generous homage of their immense acquisitions, having no room to doubt that a gra tuitous service of that importance, would secure them a pro portionate gratitude ; according to the custom in this cen tury, of recompensing those who had contributed to extend the dominion of the nation. These legitimate hopes having been frustrated, their de- * Herrera says, that all the conquest! were made at the expense of the con. qucrors, without the smallest cost to the government. 328 scendants, and those of other Spaniards, who successively emigrated to America, though we acknowledge the latter only as our country, and that the whole of our subsistence, as well as that of our posterity, is centered here ; have re spected, preserved, and cordially cherished the attachment of our ancestors to their former country : it is to her that we have sacrificed incalculable riches of every kind : it is for her alone that we have to this moment lavished our sweat \ and it is for her besides, that on every occasion we have vo luntarily shed our blood. Led by a blind enthusiasm, we have not considered that so much eagerness for a country to which we are strangers, to which we owe nothing, on which we do not depend, and of whom we expect nothing, becomes the worst treason to that in which we are born, and which furnishes nourishment to us and to our children ; that our veneration for the affectionate sentiments of our ancestors, towards their former country, is the most decisive proof of the preference which we owe to our own ; all that we have lavished upon Spain, has been snatched from ourselves and from our children, whilst our folly has been forging chains for us, which, if we do not break in time, no other re source remains to us, than to bear patiently this ignominious slavery. If our present condition were as hopeless as it is afflicting, it would be an act of compassion to hide it from your view : but having in our hands the most certain remedy, let us un veil this frightful picture, and consider it by the light of truth. She informs us, that every law which opposes itself to the general good of those for whom it is made, is an act of tyranny; and that to exact observance to it, is enacting slavery ; that a law which would directly tend to undermine the foundation of the national prosperity, would be monstrous beyond expression. Besides, it is evident, that the people whom they would rob of their personal liberty? and of the 329 Disposal of their property, whilst all other nations have at all times unanimously judged in similar circumstances that their vital interest was to extend them ; that this same people would find themselves reduced to a state of vassalage, such as was imposed on enemies in the frenzy of victory. These incontestable principles being admitted, let us see how they apply to our situation reciprocally with that of Spain. An immense empire, by us acquired, with treasures which surpass all imagination ; a glory and a power superior to all that was known to antiquity : these are our titles to the grati tude of Spain and of her government, and to their most distin guished protection. Yet our recompense has been such, that the most rigid justice would have hardly inflicted it as a pu nishment, if we had been guilty of the greatest crimes : she exiles us from the whole of the Old World, and cuts us off from the society to which we are connected by every tie; adding to this unprecedented usurpation of our personal li berty, a second usurpation, no less important, that of our properties. Since men began to unite in society for their mutual interest, we are the only people whom government has com pelled to provide for our wants at the highest price possible; and to part with our productions at the lowest price. In order that this violence should have the most complete suc cess, we have been cut off, as in a besieged town, from every channel through which we might have been able to obtain from other nations, at moderate prices and by fair exchanges, the commodities which we wanted. The imposts of govern ment, the fees of officers, the avarice of the merchants em powered to exercise conjointly the most unbridled monopoly, all bearing the same way, scarcity no longer left a choice to the purchaser ; and as this mercantile tyranny might force us to have recourse to our industry to supply our wants, the government took care to enchain it. One cannot, without indignation, observe the effects of 330 this detestable plan of commerce ; and the details of it would be incredible, if those which have been given by persons of impartiality and worthy of belief, did not furnish the most decisive proofs for judging of the rest : without the occu- lar testimony of Don Antonio Ulloa, ifc would be difficult to persuade Europeans, that the price of articles essentially ne cessary in all parts, such as iron and steel, was, in Quito, in time of peace, regularly beyond a hundred dollars* for the quintal of iron, and about 150, for the quintal of steel ; the price of the first being in Europe only from five to six dollars, and that of the second in proportion : that in a port so celebrated as that of Carthagena, in the Indies, f and in like manner in time of peace, there has prevailed so great a scarcity of wine, that mass could be celebrated only in one qjiurch ; and that generally this scarcity and the exorbitant price, prevented the use of this beverage, rendered necessary above all others, by the insalubrity of the climate. For the honour of humanity and of our nation, it is bet ter to pass over in silence the horrors and the cruelties of another exclusive commerce (known in Peru, under the name of repartimientos) which the Corregidors and Alcades claimed to themselves, for the ruin of the unhappy Indians and Mestizos. What wonder then, if with so much gold and silver, with which we have nearly glutted the universe, we possess scarcely sufficient raiment to cover our nakedness. Of what use such a quantity of lands so fertile, if wanting the necessary instruments to till them ? It is besides useless for us to cultivate them beyond our consumption. Such be nefits which nature bestows upon us, are in vain ; they ac cuse the tyranny which prevents us from drawing a profit from them, in partaking of them with other people. * Voyage to South America, vol ii f Voli i. 331 It seems, that without renouncing all sense of shame, no accession could be made to such great outrages. The in genious policy which, pretending our good, had stript us of liberty and of property, ought, one would think, to sug gest, that it was necessary, at least, to leave us a shadow of honour, and some means for recovering us, and for preparing new resources. Thus it is, at least, that man grants nourish ment and repose to the brutes that serve him. The economi cal administration of our interests might have consoled us for our other losses, and have procured also advantages to Spain. The interests of our country being no other than our own, their good or bad administration recoils necessarily upon ourselves ; and it is evident, that to us alone belongs the right of exercising it ; that we alone can fill its functions with reciprocal advantage to our country, and to ourselves. What discontent did not the Spaniards shew, when some Flemish, subjects as well as they, and fellow countrymen of Charles the V. occupied some public employments in Spain ? What murmurs ? What expressions of dissatisfac tion ? By how many remonstrances and insurrections did they not demand that those foreigners should be dismissed ? nor could their small number and the presence of the monarch, calm the general inquietude. The fear that the money of Spain should pass into another country, although belonging to the same monarchy, was the motive which made the Spaniards insist with the greater warmth upon their de mand. What a difference between this temporary situation of the Spaniards, and ours which continues three centuries ! Deprived of all the advantages of government, we have ex perienced from it only the most horrible disorders and the greatest vices ; without the hope of ever obtaining, either an immediate protection, or a prompt justice, at the distance of from two to three thousand leagues, without the resource of objecting to them, we have been made the victims of the pride, the injustice, and the rapacity of ministers, as greedy at least as the favourites of Charles the V. Having no feeling for people with whom they were unacquainted, and whom they regarded as foreigners, they have sought solely to satisfy their cupidity ; in perfect assurance that their iniquitous conduct would be concealed from the knowkdge of the sovereign, or would remain unpunished. The sacrifice of our dearest interests to those of Spain, has been with them a patriotic claim, on which they all affected to pride them selves, in order to excuse the injuries with which they over whelm us ; but the misery into which Spain herself is fallen, proves that these men have never known the true interests of the nation, or that they have only sought to mask with this pretext their shameful proceedings, and the event has once more proved to a demonstration, that injustice never produces solid advantages* To fill the measure of our humiliating slavery, indigence, covetousness and ambition, have always furnished to Spain, a host of adventurers ready to hurry to America ; they arrive there determined to repay themselves amply, with our substance, for that which they have advanced to obtain their employments; they indemnify themselves for the abandoning their native country, for their hardships and dangers, by bringing with them all possible calamities; without ceasing, they revive those horrid scenes, which have made to disappear from the surface of the earth en tire nations, whose sole crime has been weakness ; they change the splendour of the grandest conquest, into an ignominious stain on the Spanish name. Thus it is, that after having thriven in robbery covered with the name of commerce, in exactions of the government in return for its liberal benefits, and in rich places for the innumerable crowd of foreigners who^ under different derio- 333 minations, in Spain and in America, gorge themselves to satiety on our properties ; the remaining part is the con tinual object of the snares of those proud tyrants ; whose ra pacity knows no other bounds, than those of insolence and the certainty of impunity. Thus, whilst at court, in the armies, and in the tribunals of the monarchy, they lavish riches and honours upon foreigners of all nations, we alone are declared unworthy of them ; we are declared incapable of filling, even in our own country, places which, in the strictest right, belong to us exclusively. Thus the hard-earned glory of our ancestors, is converted for us into an inheritance of infamy ; and with our immense treasures, we have purchased only misery and bondage. Let us survey our unhappy country all over, and we shall every \vhere find the same desolation ; every where an avarice as excessive as it is insatiable; every where the most abominable traffic of injustice and inhumanity, on the part of blood-suckers employed by government for our op pression. Let us consult our annals for three centuries 5 they discover to us the ingratitude and injustice of the Court of Spain, and its treachery in not fulfilling the engagements contracted at first with the great Colunibus, and afterwards with the other conquerors, who gave to it the empire of the New World, on conditions solemnly stipulated; we shall see the offspring of those magnanimous men branded with scorn, and pursued by the hatred which has calumniated, persecuted, and ruined them. After these simple particu lars, should the spirit of persecution be doubted, which has at all times signalized itself against the Spanish Americans; read only what the authentic Inca Garcilaso de la Vega has written in the second volume of his Commentaries, book 8, chap. 17. When the viceroy, Don Francisco de Toledo, that fero- 334 clous hypocrite, put to death the sole direct heir to the em pire of Peru, in order to secure the possession of that un<* happy country to Spain, in the process which he instituted against the young and innocent Inca Tupac Amaru, among the false crimes with which this prince was charged, < They accuse," says Garcilaso, " those who were born in this country, of Indian mothers and Spanish fathers, the conquerors of this empire; they alleged that they were se cretly agreed with Tupac Amaru and other Incas, to excite a rebellion in the kingdom, to favour the discontent of those who were born of the royal blood of the Incas, or whose mothers were the daughters, nieces, or cousins-ger- rnan of the family of the Incas, and the Spanish fathers, and first conquerors, who had acquired so much reputa tion: that the former were so little considered, that neither the natural right of the mothers, nor the great services and merits of the fathers, procured them any advantage, but the whole were distributed amongst the relations and friends of the governors: that themselves alone remained exposed to the horrors of hunger, or reduced to the dreadful alter native of living on charity, or becoming highwaymen, and ending their miserable existence on the gallows. These ac cusations being preferred against the sons of the Spaniards born of Indian women, they were all seized, and those amongst them who were of the age of twenty and upwards, capable of carrying arms, and then dwelling at Cusco, were imprisoned : some were put to the torture, to force them to confess that of which there were neither proofs nor appear ances. In the midst of these furious and tyrannical pro ceedings, an Indian woman, whose son was condemned to the rack, came to the prison, and raising her voice, ex claimed: c My son, since they have condemned you to the torture, endure it courageously, like a man of honour; ac cuse none falsely, and God will give you strength to bear 335 it; He will compensate you for the dangers and the trouble* which your father and his companions have endured to ren der this country Christian, and to introduce its inhabitants into the bosom of the church/ This magnanimous ex hortation, uttered with all the vehemence of which this mother was capable, made the greatest impression upon the mind of the viceroy; she diverted him from his design of putting those unhappy persons to death ; however they were not acquitted, but were condemned to a slower death, in exiling them into different parts of the New World some were even sent to Spain. " Such were the first fruits which the^ffspring of the dis coverers of the New World, received from the gratitude of Spain; when the remembrance of the deserts of their an cestors was still recent. The viceroy, this sanguinary mon ster, then appeared the author of all those wrongs; but we deceive ourselves respecting the sentiments of the Court, if we believe that it did not participate in these excesses; in our days it has thought proper to renew them in erery part of America, in snatching from her a greater number of her children, without seeking even to disguise its inhuman ity: they have been deported even as far as Italy. After having cast them upon a country a stranger to her domi nion, and having renounced them as subjects, the Court of Spain, by a contradiction, by an unheard-of refinement of cruelty, and with that unrelenting rage which the fear alone of sacrificing innocence inspires in tyrants, has reserved to itself the right of unceasingly persecuting and oppressing them : death has already delivered the most part of these exiles from the calamities which have accompanied them to the tomb; the others drag on a miserable existence, and furnish a new proof of that cruelty of character, which has been, such a reproach to the Spanish nation, though really 336 this reproach ought to fall only on the despotism of hef government. * Three whole centuries, during which this government has, without interruption, held the same conduct with regard to us, afford complete proof of a meditated plan, to sacrifice us intirely to the interests and the convenience of Spain; but above all to the passions of her ministers. It is not less evident, that notwithstanding the multiplied efforts of a false and iniquitous policy, our establishments have ac quired such consistence, that Montesquieu, that sublime genius, has said, u The Indies and Spain are two powers under one master, but the Indies are the principal; Spain is only the accessory. In vain policy pretends to bring back the principal to the accessory; the Indies however draw Spain to them."t This means, in another sense, that rea sons for tyrannizing over us are every day increasing: like a perverse guardian, who is accustomed to live in pride and opulence at the expense of his ward, the Court of Spain- sees with the greatest fear the moment approach, which na ture, reason, and justice have prescribed, for emancipating us from such an oppressive guardianship. The void and confusion which the annihilation of this prodigal administration of our wealth will produce, are not the only motives which engage the Court of Spain, in per petuating our minority, to increase the weight of our chains : the despotism which, with our treasures, she exer cises over the ruins of Spanish liberty, would receive a mor tal blow from our independence; and it is the business of ambition to prevent it by every effort. The claim of the Court of Spain to a passive obedience to its arbitrary laws, is founded principally on the ignorance * In the year 1785, there were living in Italy five hundred Ex-Jesuitv natives of Spanish America. f Liv, xxi. chap, az. 337 which she has taken care to keep up and encourage, espe cially with respect to the indefeasible rights of man, and the indispensable duties of every government; she succeeded in persuading the common people, that it is a crime to reason on subjects which concern vitally every individual, and consequently that it is always a duty, to extinguish the pre cious torch which the Creator has put into our hand to en lighten and conduct us. In spite of the progress of so fa tal a doctrine, every page of Spanish history deposes against its truth and legitimacy. After the memorable epoch of the arbitrary power and in justice of the last Gothic kings, which brought on the ruin of their empire and of the Spanish nation, our ancestors, in re-establishing the kingdom and its government, thought only of guarding against the absolute power to which our kings have always aspired. With this design, they con centred the supremacy of justice, and the legislative powers of peace, war, subsidies, and the granting of monies, in the Cortes which represented the different classes of the na tion, and were to be the depositaries and guardians of the rights of the people. To this solid barrier the people of Arragon added the ce lebrated magistrate, named El Justicia, to protect them, against every violence and oppression, as well as to repress the abusive power of the kings. In the preamble of one of their laws, the people of Arragon say, according to Jerome Blanca, in his Commentaries, page 751, " That the ste rility of their country and the poverty of its inhabitants are such, that if liberty did not distinguish them from other nations, the people would forsake their native country, and would seek establishments in a more fertile region. And to the end that the king may never forget the source whence he derived his sovereignty, the Justicia, in the solemn ce remony of coronation, addressed him with the following VOL. II, 1 33S words : " Nos, que valemos quanto vos, os hacernos neus* tro rey y senor, con tal que guardeis neustros fueros y liber- tades, y sino, no;" * as is related by the celebrated Antonio Perez, secretary to Philip the It. It was therefore a fundamental article of the constitution of Arragon, that, if the king violated the rights and privileges of the people, the people had a right to disown him for their sovereign-, and to elect another in his place, even of the Pagan reli gion, according to the same Jerome Blanca. It is to this noble spirit of liberty, that our ancestors have been indebted for the energy which made :hem achieve such grand enterprises, and which, in the midst of so many burdensome wars, made the nation flourish, and filled her with a prosperity equal to that of England at present, and Holland formerly ; but since the kings have overleaped the limits which the constitution of Castile and that of Airagon had prescribed, the decline of Spain has been as rapid as the extraordinary power acquired, or rather usurped by the sovereigns ; and this sufficiently proves, that absolute authority, with which arbitrary power always blends itself, is the ruin of states. The re-union of the kingdoms of Castile and Arragon, as well as the great states which, at the same time, fell to the kings of Spain, together with the treasures of the Indies, gave to the crown of Spain an unforeseen preponderance, which became so powerful, that in a very little time, it overthrew all the barriers raised by the prudence of our forefathers, for assuring the liberty of their posterity: the royal authority, like the sea overflowing its boundaries, in undated the whole monarchy, and the will of the king and his ministers became the general law. Despotic power once so solidly established, even the sha- * We, who are as good as you, make you our King and Lord, provided that you preserve our rights and liberty, and if not, no. . 33S dow of the ancient Cortes existed no more; there remained to the natural, civil, and religious rights of the Spaniards, no other safeguard, than- the will and pleasure of the mi nisters, or the ancient formalities of justice, called viasju- ridicas; these last have sometimes been successfully op posed to the oppression of innocence, without however pre venting the verification of the old proverh: Where kings will, the laws give way. A happy invention furnished, at last, the most fruitful means for removing those troublesome restraints. The su preme economical power, and the motives reserved in the royal bosom, (expressions which cannot fail to astonish pos terity) discovering at last the vanity of all the reveries of mankind about the eternal principles of justice, on the rights and duties of nature and of society, have suddenly displayed their irresistible force on more than Jive thousand Spanish citizens.* Observe, that these citizens were united in one body, which, to its social rights in quality of members of the na tion, joined the honour of public esteem, merited by ser vices no less useful, than important, f Omitting the reflections suggested by all the circum stances ef so strange a proceeding, and leaving apart the * In the year 1786, there were in Italy more than three thousand Spanish Ex-jesuits the remainder of those five thousand unfortunate persons : having for the: whole of their subsistence only a pension of two paolis per day, a pit tance scarcely sufficient to maintain a servant. f " Paraguay (says Montesquieu) can furnish us another example. It has been imputed as a crime to the company of the Jesuits, that they were fond of command; but it will ever be a sublime appendage of authority, to use it to make a people more happy. " It will be ever glorious for them to have been the first to spread in those countries the light of religion, joined with that of humanity. In repairing the deva tationa of the Spaniards, she has begun to heal one of the deepest Wounds which mankind has received. Z 2 340 unhappy victims of this barbarous outrage, we will consider it only with regard to the whole Spanish nation. The preservation of the natural rights, and especially of the liberty and security of persons and property, is undoubt edly the foundation-stone of every human society, under whatever form it may be constituted : it is therefore the in dispensable duty of every society, or of the government which represents it, not only to respect, but still further effectually to protect the rights of every individual. Applying these principles to the present subject, it is- clear that five thousand Spanish citizens, whom to that mo ment the public opinion had had no reason to suspect of any crime, have been stript by the government of all their rights, without any accusation, without even the forms of justice., and in the most arbitrary manner. The government has solemnly violated the public safety, and until it gives a sa tisfactory account of the motives which have made it act so despotically, there is no individual who, instead of the pro tection which is his due, may not have a like oppression to fear, particularly as his individual weakness exposes him more than a numerous body, and which, for many reasons, interested the whole nation. A fear so serious and well founded, naturally excluded every idea of safety ; the go vernment, guilty of having destroyed it in the aggregate, has converted into instruments of oppression and ruin, the means entrusted to it for the protection and security of in dividuals. " A lively sentiment which this society entertains for what they call ho nour, their zeal for a religion which humbles much more those to whom it is preached than those who preach it, have made them undertake great things, in which they have been successful. They have collected from the woods peo ple before dispersed ; they have given them a secure subsistence, and have clad them ; and even this increase to society and stimulus to industry alone, would entitle them to the gratitude of posterity." Esp, des Lois, liv. iv, chap, 6, 341 If government believe itself in duty bound to revive pub lic security, and the confidence of the nation, in the inte grity of its administration, it ought to manifest in the clearest juridical manner, the justice of its cruel procedure towards the above-mentioned five thousand individuals; and, in the mean time, it is obliged 1o confess the crime which it has committed towards the nation, in transgressing an indispensable duty, and in exercising a merciless tyranny. But should the government think itself superior to this justification, what difference is there between i^s subjects and a flock of sheep, of which the capricious owner can dispose or make sacrifice at will ? The base and timid si lence of the Spaniards on this horrible procedure, justifies the discernment of the ministry, which has dared to un dertake without fear an enterprise as difficult as it was un just. And if it happens in political diseases as in those of the human body, that the symptoms are never so danger ous as when the patient seems insensible to the violence of his distemper, truly the Spanish nation, in its present con dition, has some consolation for its misfortunes. The progress of this great revolution in the constitution and government of Spain, which we have just sketched, and which has been handed down to us, coincides with our national history; let us now proceed to examine the in fluence we ourselves may hope or dread from its results. Whilst the known causes of any evil gradually grow worse, it would be folly to expect the opposite good. We have seen the ingratitude, the injustice, and the tyranny with which the Spanish government oppressed us from the foundation of out colonies, that is to say, when it was very far from possessing the absolute and arbitrary power to which it has since arrived; now that it knows no other rules than its will, and that it is accustomed to consider our property as an estate which belongs to it, all its study con- 342 sists in increasing it at our expense, in always giving the colour of utility to the mother country, to the infamous sacrifice of all our rights and of our dearest interests. This logic is that of highwaymen; it justifies the usurpation of the goods of another, by the utility which arises from them to the usurper. The expulsion and the ruin of the Jesuits had, according to every appearance, no other motives than the report of their riches : the latter being exhausted, the government, without pity for the disastrous situation to which it has re duced us, wished to aggravate it still further by its new im posts, particularly in South America, where, in 1780, it cost Peru so much blood. We should groan still under this new oppression, if the first sparks of an indignation too long repressed, had not forced our tyrants to desist from their extortions. Generous Americans of the new kingdom of Grenada! If Spanish America owes you the noble ex ample of intrepidity, which ought always to be opposed to tyranny, and the new lustre added to its glory, it is in the annals of humanity that we shall see engraven in immortal characters, that your arms protected our countrymen, the poor Indians, and that your deputies stipulated for their in terests with the same successful zeal as for your own. May your magnanimous conduct become a useful lesson to the whole human race ! The ministry is far from renouncing its projects of swal lowing up the miserable remains of our property; but dis concerted by the unexpected resistance which it experienced at Zipaquira, it has changed the means of arriving at its aim, and adopting, when least expected, a system contrary to that which its mistrustful policy had invariably observed, it has resolved to furnish arms to the Spanish Americans, to instruct them in the military discipline; it hopes, withr out doubt, to obtain from the regular American troops, the 343 same assistance which it finds in the bayonets of Spain, to enforce obedience; but thanks to Heaven, the corruption of the principles of humanity and of morality, is not arrived at its full measure amongst us ; never shall we become the barbarous instruments of tyranny, and sooner than stain ourselves with the least drop of the blood of our harmless brothers, we will shed all our own, in defence of our rights and of our common interests. A powerful navy ready to convey to us all the horrors of destruction, is the other means which our past resistance suggests to tyranny ; this is the necessary support of go vernment, and of the preservation of the Indies: it is or dained by the decree of the 8th of July, 1/87, that the rents of the Indies (the article of tobacco exceptedj pre pare funds sufficient for defraying the half or the third of the enorniczis expenses which the royal navy requires. Our settlements on the continent of the New World, even in their state of infancy, and when the power of Spain was in its greatest decline, have always been sheltered from every hostile invasion; and our strength being now much more considerable, it is clear that the increase of the land and sea forces is, in respect to us, an expense as enormous as useless to our defence ; thus this formal declaration, an nounced with so much candour, seems only to indicate that the paternal vigilance of the government for our pro- cperity, of which to this moment it has afforded us the sweets, intends to give us new proofs of its zeal and its at tachment.* In consulting the ideas of justice, which one may suppose to belong to every government, we would be tempted to believe, that the funds which we ought to fur- * As often as the Spanish government announces to us a benefit, one re members what the executioner aid to the son of Philip the II., in putting the knife to his throat, " Silence, silence, my Lord Don Carlos, this is all for your good." 344 nish for defraying the enormous expenses of the royal navy, are destined to protect our commerce and to multiply our riches, so that our ports, like those of Spain, are to be free to all nations ; and that we shall be at liberty ourselves, to visit the most distant regions, there to sell and buy at the first hand : then our treasures will no more issue forth like torrents never to return, but circulating amongst our selves, they will perpetually increase by industry. We should the more indulge in those flattering hopes, as they are conformable to the system of union and equality, of which the government, in the royal decree, desires the establishment between us and the Spaniards of Europe. \Vhat a vast field will then open, for obtaining at court, in the armies, and in the tribunals of the monarchy, the honours and the riches which have been so constantly refused us ! The European Spaniards having had to the present moment the exclusive possession of all these advantages, it is but just that government, to establish this perfect equality, begin by placing them on the same footing in which we have been so long a time. We should then alone frequent the ports of Spain, and become the masters of her commerce, of her riches and of her destiny; we cannot doubt but that the Spaniards, witnessing our moderation, will quietly submit to this new arrangement ; the system of equality, and our example justify it wonderfully. What would Spain and her government say, if we should seriously insist upon the execution of this fine system; and why insult us so cruelly in speaking of union and equality ? Yes, equality and union, like that of the animals in the fable, in which Spain reserves to herself the part of the lion. Is it only after three centuries, that the pos sessions of the New World, our country, is our due, and that we ought to hear of the hope of becoming equal to the Spaniards of Europe ? And why, and by what title, should 345 we be deprived of this equality ? Alas ! it is by our blind, our base submission to all the outrages of the government that we have deserved, that it has conceived of us an idea so con temptuous and insulting. Dear brothers and coun trymen ! if amongst us there be a person who does not know and feel his wrongs more sensibly than I should know how to express them, the ardour which mani fests itself in your soul, the great examples of your ances tors and your eager courage, prescribe to you the resolu tion that alone suits with the honour which you have in herited, which you cherish, and which you value beyond every thing. This resolution, the government of Spain has itself pointed out to us, in constantly considering you as a people distinct from the European Spaniards, and this distinction imposes on you the most ignominious slavery. Let us agree on our part to be a different people ; let us renounce the ri diculous system of union and equality with our masters and our tyrants ; let us renounce a government, whose excessive distance prevents us from procuring even in part, the advan tages which every man ought to expect from the society to which he is attached ; this government, which in place of performing its indispensable duty, in protecting the liberty and safety of our persons and properties, has shewn the greatest eagerness to destroy them ; and which, in place of endeavouring to render us happy, continues to overwhelm us with all kinds of calamity. Since the rights and duties of government and of the subjects are reciprocal, Spain has been first in transgressing all her duties towards us ; she also has first broken those feeble bonds which would have been able to attach and retain us. Nature has separated us from Spain by immense seas : a son who should find himself at a similar distance from his father, would without doubt be a fool, if in the conduct of 346 liis least concerns, he always waited the decision of his father, The son is set free by natural right: and ought a numerous people, who do not depend forany thing on another people, of whom they have no need, to be subjected to them like the vilest slaves ? The local distance which proclaims our natural indepen dence is still less than that of interests. We have essential need of a government which would be in the midst of us, for the distribution of benefits, the object of the social union. To depend on a government removed two or three thousand leagues, is equal to our renouncing those benefits; and this is the interest of the Court of Spain, which aspires to give us laws, to domineer over our commerce, our indus try, our wealth^ and our persons, only to sacrifice them to its ambition, its pride and its avarice. In fine, under whatever aspect our dependence on Spain may be viewed, we shall see that all our duties oblige us to put an end to it. We owe it in gratitude to our ancestors, who were far from lavishing their blood and sweat, in order that the theatre of their glory and of their labours should become that of our miserable slavery. We owe it to ourselves, by the indispensable obligation of preserving the natural rights received from our Creator, those precious rights which we have not the power to alienate, and which cannot, under any pretext, be ravished from us without crime. Can man renounce his reason, or can it now be torn from him by force? Personal liberty belongs to him, not less essentially than rea son. The free enjoyment of those same rights, is the in estimable inheritance which we ought to transmit to our posterity. It would be a blasphemy to imagine, that the Supreme Benefactor of man has permitted the discovery of the New World, merely that a small number of imbecile knaves might 347 always be at liberty to desolate it ; and that they should incessantly have the odious pleasure of stripping millions of men, who have given them no cause of complaint, of essen tial rights received from his divine hand ; to imagine that his eternal wisdom wished to deprive the remainder of man kind of the immense advantages which, in the order of na ture, so great an event ought to procure for them, and to condemn them to wish with a groan, that the New World had remained for ever unknown. This blasphemy, however, is put into practice by the right which Spain arrogates over America, aad human malice has perverted the natural course of the bounties of the Almighty, without regard to what was due to our particular interests on account of the defence of the country. We are bound, as far as lies in our power, to fulfil the hopes of which hitherto they have frustrated man kind. Let us throw open a second time America to all our brother inhabitants of this globe, from whence ingratitude, injustice, and the most senseless avarice have exiled us ; the recompense will not be less to us than to them. The many regions in Europe, which the crown of Spain has been obliged to renounce, such as the kingdom of Por tugal,, placed within the compass of Spain, and the cele brated republic of the United Provinces, which shook off its iron yoke, tell us that a continent infinitely larger than Spain, richer, more powerful, and more populous, ought not to depend on that kingdom, when it finds itself at such a distance ; and still less, when it is reduced to the hardest slavery. The valour with which the English colonies of America have fought for the liberty, which they gloriously enjoy, covers our indolence with shame ; we have yielded to them the palm with which they have been the first to crown the New World by their sovereign independence. Add theeager- jiess of the Courts of Spain and of France to assist the cause 343 of the English Americans ; it accuses us of insensibility ; let at least the feelings of honour be roused by outrages which have endured for three hundred years. We have no longer any pretext to cover our resignation ; and if we longer bear the oppressions which overwhelm us, it will be said with reason, that our cowardice has merited them; our descendants will load us with imprecations, when, biting in vain the curb of slavery of a slavery which they shall have inherited, they will remember the moment in which to be free, we had only to will it. That moment is arrived, let us seize it with all the feelings of pious gratitude ; and if our efforts be ever so faint, well- ordered liberty, that precious gift of heaven, accompanied by every virtue, and followed by prosperity, will commence her reign in the New World, and tyranny will be speedily exterminated. Animated by so great and just a motive, we may, with confidence address ourselves to the eternal principle of order arid justice, to implore with our humble prayers the divine assistance, and in the hope of being favourably heard, to console us for any misfortunes that may ensue. This glorious triumph will be complete, and will cost little to humanity ; the weakness of the only enemy who has an interest in opposing it, does not permit him to employ open force, which would accelerate his entire ruin. His prin cipal support is in the riches which he draws from us -, with hold those from him, and let them be applied to our own defence, we shall render his rage impotent. Our cause, besides is so just, so favourable to mankind, that there is but little chance of finding amongst other nations, one who will load itself with the infamy of combatting us ; or who, renouncing its personal interests, will venture to oppose the general wishes in favour of our liberty. The wise and virtu ous Spaniard, who groans in silence under the oppression of his country, will himself applaud our undertaking. We shall see the national glory revive in an immense empire, be come the secret asylum of all Spaniards, who, besides the brotherly hospitality which they have always experienced, will be able moreover to breathe there freely under the laws of reason and justice. May that day, the happiest that shall have ever shone, I do not say upon America, but the entire surface of the globe, arrive speedily ! That day, when to the horrors of tyranny, of oppression and of cruelty, shall succeed the reign of reason, of justice, and of humanity; when the tears, the distresses, and the groans of eighteen millions of men, shall give way to mutual confidence, to the most open satisfaction, and to the pure enjoyment of the benefits of the Creator, whose sacred name shall no more serve as a mask to rob beries, fraud, and ferocity ; when the odious barriers, which the most besotted selfishness, in sacrificing its true interests to the detestable pleasure of preventing the prosperity of others, in opposition to the happiness of all mankind, shall be overturned, what an agreeable and affecting spectacle will the fertile shores of America present, covered with men from all nations exchanging the productions of their country against ours ! how many from among them,flying oppression or misery, will come to enrich us by their industry and their knowledge, and to repair our exhausted population ! Thus would America unite the extremities of the earth ; and her inhabitants, united by a common interest, would form one GREAT FAMILY OF BROTHERS. E REV01UCION DE CARACAS. La revolucion de Caracas rompio en la ciudad de Vene zuela en 19 de Abril proximo pasado. La tropa tomo el paftido del pueblo desde los primeros momentos, y dsi si" evito la efusion de sangre. Confiose la administracion d los negocios pvjblicos a una Junta, con el titulo de Suprema, entretanto que se recogieran legalmente los votos de toda la provincia para la formacion de su gobierno. Nombraronse secretarios para los diversos departamentos de guerra, marina* hacienda, &c. El dia 20 : public6 el nuevo gobierno un manifiesto de sus procedimentos. Este documiento contien^ una relacion sucinta de las ultimas desgracias de Andalucia^ y describe la situacion de Espana como casi desesperada : declara que el objeto de aquella revolucion es ponerse a cubierto de lapretensiones de las demas naciones de Europa> de las intrigas del gabinete frances, y los designios que pu- dieran tener los miembros de la disuelta Junta Central, sobre aquel pays mantener su caracter politico sostener, quanto sea posible, la legitima dynastia de Espana aliviar 1 la suerte de Fernando 7. en caso de que se vea libre de su cautiverio, y conservar la gloria del nombre espanol, ofreciendo uri asilo a los desgraciados restos de aquella nacion generosa. El nuevo gobierno empezo a exercer el mando en favor del pueblo. Sus primeros decretos ban sido, la abolicion del impuesto de alcabala sobre los comestibles y genetos de primera necesidad ; del tributo de los indios para que los primitives halitantes de estt suelo (dice la gazeta de Vene zuela del 27 de Abril) sean de los primeros d gozar de Io3 lienes de nuestra regeneration civil. E I gobierno (continua) ha debuelto d la agricultura una multitud de personas utiles que con gran dano de tiucstria industria rural, gemian en prisiones, detemdospor una errada politica,y baxo pretexto de una insidiosa seguridad, denigrados con el nomlre de vagos. Todas las clases de la sociedad ban contribuido con donatives explendidos, y las corporaciones que no tuvieron parte en la revolucion primera, prestaronjuramenta de fidelidad al nuevo gobierno. Para reunir baxo este 351 fegimen toda la provincia, salieron emisarios del gobiernc? con proclaims en que se recomienda la paz, la union, y sub- ordinacion. Al mismo tiempo se publico otra proclama del tenor siguiente. Causa qua sit videris ; nunc quid agendum sit considerate. AMERICANOS ! Ei orden politico del otro hemisferio ha reducido la Espana a ser victima de la perfidia y la opresion; y aquel pueblo generoso, al fin de una serie de calamidades, esta a punto de ser borrado del catalogo de las naciones, y condenado a no existir, sino en la memoria de los hombres, y en los anales del heroismo. Las connexiones quehasta aora nos ban hecho companeros de su suerte, ban cesado ya ; porque ese poder que agita y oprime al universe, ha acelerado la fatal catastrofe que debe separar para siempre a entrambos mimdos. La Europa asombrada, y aun ignorante de qual sera su suerte, ha tenido fixos los ojos hasta aora en America, desti- nada siempre a servir de prenda, y ser la victima de todas las convenciones y tratados, con que reciprocamente se han enganado los gabinetes de Europa. Nuestra fidelidad invio lable anuestro rey, a nuestra nacion, y a nuestra religion, ha tenido suspendida hasta aora la espada que la Francia saco contra ella, persuadida de que la conquista de sus armas lle- varia consigo la de nuestra opinion. Estando Venezuela mas al alcanze de la rapacidad del usurpador, y rodeada de establecimientos maritimos de otras naciones cuyos intereses son diversos, tuvo mas motivos para estar inquieta acerca de su suerte futura, y para interesarse en saber la de Espa:;i. Tuvo igualmente mas facilidad en mformarse, y mas fuertes motivos que otros pueblos para, ser la primera en tratar de su seguridad propria. Hemos visto, que ni nuestros tesoros, ni nuestra fidelidad, ni el heroismo de nuestros hermanos, han sido capazes de libertar a Espana de la opresion, que habiendo empezado por per- 352 iidia, ha sido consumada por los esfuerzos reunidos de todos Jos principios de desorganizacion, quehan conspirado contra su existencia politica. Nuestro intento ha sido separarnos de su suerte, para con servar nuestra existencia, y para que podamos ofrecer un asilo a nuestros compatriotas, contra las calamidades que les amenazan. Con tan sagrados objetos a la vista, hemos re- suelto tomar la independencia politica que nos ha debuelto Ja serie de los acontecimientos : y esto se ha verificado con? toda la moderacion, toda la humanidad y todo el feiix exito que semejante causa merecia. Americanos ; Venezula se ha puesto en el numero de las nacwnes libres de America y se apresura a comunicar este acontecimento a sus vecinos, para que, si las disposiciones del Nuevo Mundo estan acordes con las suyas, le presten auxilio, en la grand e, aunque dificil carrera que ha empren- dido. Virtud, y moderacion han sido hasta aora su mote ; fra- ternidad, union, y genefosidad, debe serel vuestro ; para que, entrando en combinacion estos grandes principos, produzcan la grande obra deelevar la America a la diguidad politica que tan de derecho le pertenece. DOCUMENTOS RELATIVOS A REFORMA DE GOBIERNC EN BUENOS AYRES. EL VIREY DE BUENOS AYRESj &C. &C. &C. A los Pueblos Leaks y Generosos del Vireynato de Buenos Ayres, ACABO de participaros las noticias ultimamente conducidas por una fragata mercante inglesa, que habiendo salido de Gibraltar, arribo 4 Montevideo el 13 del corriente, Ellas 353 son demasiado sensibles, y desagradablcs al filial amor que profesais a la Madre Patria, por quicn habeis hecho tan generosos sacrifices? j Pero que vemajas pr.oduciria su ocultacion., si al cabo ha de ser precise que apureis toda la amargura que debe produciros su inescusable conociniiento ? Por otra parte es de mi obligacion manifestaros, el peligroso estado de la Metropoli, de toda la Monarquia, para que in- struidos de los sucesos, redobleis los estimulos mas vivos de vuestra lealtad y de vuestra constancia, contrx los revests de una fortuna adversa, empeiiada por decirlo asi, en probar sus quilates. Sabed que la dicha de im tirano, 6 mas bien, la astucia con que ha sabido sembrar el desorden ladesunion, y la desconfianza de los pueblos con la iegitima autoridad reconocida por ellos ha logrado forzar el paso de la Sierra tan justamente creida el antemural de las Andalucias, y derra- mandose sus tropas por aquellas fertiles provincias, como uii torrente que todo lo arrastra, han llegado hasta las inmedi- aciones de la Real Islade Leon, con el objeto de apoderarse de la importante plaza de Cadiz, y del Gobierno Soberano que en ella ha encontrado su ref ugio : pero sabed tambieiu que si la Espafia ha experimentado tan sensibles desastres^ aun esta muy distante de abatirse al extreme de rendir su cerviz a los tiranos, ni reconocer en el Trono de sus Monar- cas, & los que segun sus leyes fundamentales no deben ocuparlo : sabed, que sin arredrarla la grandeza de los peligros^ ni la reiteracion de sus desgracias, aun empuiia las annas que juro emplear en defensa de su libertad, 6 de su venganza: sabed en fin, que provincias enteras, pueblos numerosos, y exercitos que cada dia se levantan de entre sus mismas ruinas, sostienen cada vez con mayor empeno la causo de nuestro adorado Soberano el Sr. D. Fernando VII. Pero aunque estas esperanzas no estan distantes de la es- fcra de lo posible, ni es extrana en la vicisitud de las cosas humanas una mutacion repentina b que especialmente estan VOL. II. 2 A 354 los sucesos de le guerra, no creais que mi anima es: calmarvuestros temores,ni adormecerlos con ideas lisongeras, < A que fin me empefieria en disminuir los riesgos k que esta expuestala Monarquia, siellosmismos deben concurrir a engrandecer vuestro espiritu, 6 para prevenirlos en liempo, 6 para vengar los ultrages de la Metr6poli ? Mi intencion pues-es hablaros hoy, con la franqueza debida a, mi caracter, y al vuestro, y deciros en el lenguage proprio del candor, y de la sinceridad, quales son mis pensamientos, y quales espero que seran los vuestros : suponed que la Espana, mas des- graciada que en siglo VIII, esta destinada por los inescrutables juicios de la Divina providencia a perder su libertad, y su independencia: suponed mas, que llegaran a extinguirse hasta las ultimas reliquias de aquel valor heroyco, que quebratando las cadenas de setecienos anos de esclavitud, la saco con mayor explendor a ser la envidia de las Naciones, y repre- sentar el papel glorioso que abora perdiera por su confianza 6 su desgracia. < Podran los tiranos lisongearse de haber ezclavisado a toda la Nacion ? j Que" insensatos si llegaran a concebir un plan tan desvariado ! Esto seria desconocer, aun mas que la enorme distancia que los separa, la lealtad innata, el valor y la constancia que os ban distinguido siempre. No, no llegaran a manchar las playas -que el Ser Supremo por un efecto de su inmensa liberal idad destine para que dentro de ellas, y en la extension de tan vastos Continentes conservase la libertad, y la independencia de la monarquia Espanola : sabran a su costa, que vosotros con- servareis intacto el sagrado dep6sito de la Soberania para restituirlo al desgraciado Monarcaque hoy oprime su tirania, 6 a los ramos de su Augusta Prosapia, quando los llamen las leyes de la sucesion : sabran que entretranto vosotros, animados de tan fieles sentimientos, sostendrcis esta sarrada O causa contra todos los conatos de la ambicion, y de la astucia que hoy parece triunfar de la Madre Patria ; y en fin, que en la America Espanola subsistira siempre el trono glorioso de 355 los esclarecidos Reyes Catolicos, a quienes debio su descubri- miento y poblacion, para que lo ocupen sus legltimos succsores. Tales son los sentimientos inalterables de que, con la mayer complaceacia mia, os veo animadoa, anora resta que con la franqueza de mi caracter os manifleste los mios. Encargado por la Autoridad Suprema de conservar intactos y tranquilos estos dominios, he dedicado a tan justo y tan interesante objeto, todos mis desvelos y faiigas. Nada be omitido de quanto he creido conducente al desempeno de tan elevada confianza : vosotros sois testigos de que no me dispenso una alabanza a que no tenga justos y conocidos derechos : Pero ni estos, ni la general benevolencia que os debo, y a que siempre vivire agradecido, me dispensan el deber que me he impucsto, deque en el desgraciado caso de una total perdida de la peninsula, y falta del Supremo Gobierno, no totnara esta Superioridad, determinacion alguna que no sea previamente acordada en union de todas las represensaciones de esta Ca pital, a que posteriormente se reunan las de sus Provincias dependientes, entre tanto que de acuerdo con los demas Vi- reynatos se establece una representacion de la Soberania del Sr. Don Fernando VII. Y yo os ahado con toda la ingenuiciad que profeso, que lejos de apetecer el mando, vereis entonces como toda mi ambicion se cine a la gloria de pelear entre vosotros por los sagrados derechos de nuestro adorado Monarca. por la libertad, 6 independencia de toda doraina- cion extrangera de estos sus dominios, y por vuestra propia defensa, si alguno la perturba. Dcspues de una manifestacion tan ingenua nada mas m$ resta que deciros, sino lo que considero indispensable a la conservation de vuestra felicidad, y de toda la monarquia, Vivid unidos, respetad e! orden^ huid, como de aspides los mas vcncnosos, de aqueilos genios inquietcs y malisrnos que os procuran inspirar zelos, y desconfianzas reciprocas, y centra los que os gobiernan : aprended de los terribles 2 A 2 356 exemplos que nos presenta la historia cle estos ultimos tiem- pos, y aun de los que ban conducido a nuestra Metropoli al horde de su precipio; la malicia ha refmado sus artificios de un modo tal, que apenas hay cautelas suficicntes para libertarse de los lazos que tiende a los Pueblos incautos y sencillos. Todo os lo ctexo dicho: aprovechaos si quereis ser felices de los consejos de vuestro Xefe, quien os los fran- quea con el amor mas tierno y paternal. Buenos Ayres 18 de Mayo de 1810. Bait as ar Hidalgo de Cisneros. Proclama del Ercmo Calildo al Vecindario de Buenos Ayres en sit Casa Consislorial para la apertura del Con- greso General, que se hizo el 22 de Mayo. FIEL Y GENEROSO PUEBLO DE BUENOS AYRES. LAS ultimas noticias de los desgraciados sucesos de nues tra Metropoli, comunicadas al Publico de orden de este Su perior Gobierno, han contristado sobre manera vuestro nimo, y os han hecho dudar de vuestra situacion actual y de vuestra suerte futura. Agitados de un conjunto de ideas, que os han sugerido vuestra lealtad y patriotismo, habeis esperado con ansia el momeiito de combinarlas para evitar toda division 3 y vuestros Representantes, que velan con- stantemente sobre vuestra prosperidad, y que deseari con el mayor ardor conservar el orden, y la integridad de estos do- minios del Senor Don Fernando VII. han obtenido del Ex- mo Senor Virey ; permiso franco, para reuniros en un con- greso. Ya estais congregados: hablad con loda libertad, pero con la dignidad, que os es propia, haciendo ver que sois un pueblo sabio, noble, docil, y gerieroso. Vuestro principal objeto debe ser precaver toda division, radicar la confianza entre el subdito y el Magistrado, afianzar vuestra, union reciproca, y la de todas las demas Provincias, y dexar 357 expeditas vuestras relaciones con los Vireynatos del Conti- nente. Evitad toda inovaciun 6 mudanza, pues general - mente son peligrosas y expuestas a division. No olvideis que teneis casi a la vista un vecino, que asecha vuestra li- bertad, y que no perdera ninguna ocasion en niedio del me- nor desorden. Tened por cierto, que no podreis por ahora subsistirsin la union con las Provincias interiores del Reyno, y que vuestras deliberaciones seran frustradas, si no nacen de la Ley, 6 del consentimiento general de todos^quellos Pueblos. Asi pues metitad bien sobre vuesta situacion ac tual, no sea que el remedio para precaver los males que te- meis, accelere vuestra destruccion. Huid siempre de tocar en qualquiera extremo, que nunca dexa de ser peligroso ; despreciad medidas estrepitosas 6 violentas, y siguiendo un camino medio, abrazad aquel, que sea mas sencillo y mas adequado, para conciliar con nuestra suerte futura, el espi- ritu de Ley, y el respeto a los magistrados. Juan Jose Le- zica.< Martin Yani%. Manuel Mansilla. Manuel Jos de Ocampo. Juan de Llano. Jayrne Nadal y Guarda. Andres Dominguex. Dr. Tomds Manuel Anchorena. Santiago Gutierrez. Dr. Julian de Leyva. Lidenciado D. Justo Jost Nunez, Escribano Publico y de Cabildo. BANDO. Hhi la Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de la Santisima Tri nidad Puerto de Santa Maria de Buenos Ayres d veintey tres de Mayo de mil ockocientos diez. Los Senores del IZxcmo. Cabildo, a saber D. Juan Jose Lezica y D. Mar tin Gregorio Yaniz, Alcaldes de primero y segundo T r oto, y Regidores, D. Manuel Mansilla Alguacil Mayor, D. Manuel Jose de Ocampo Alferez Real de turno, 1). Juan de Llano, D. Jay me Nadal y Guarcla, D.Andrts Domin- guez Juez Diputado de Policia, D. Tomas Manuel D. Anchorena Dejensor General & Pobres y Fid Executor, 353 D. Santiago Gutierrez Defensor General de Menores, y el Calellero Sindico Procurador General Dr. D. Julian de Leyva. PoRquantodelCongreso General celebrado aver 22 delcor- rienteMayo, ha resultado a pluralidad de votos^, deber subro- garse el mando Superior de estas Provincias que exercia el JExctno. Sr. D. Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, y refundirse en este Excmo. Cabildo provisionalmente, y hasta tanto se erija una Superior Junta, que haya de exercerlo dependiente siem- pre de la que legitimamente gobierne a nombre del Sr. D. Fernando VII.: se hace saber asi al Publico, pormedio del presente Bando, para su gobierno e inteligcncia, y que cles- heche qualesquiera recelos que hayan podido infundirle las ultimas infaustas noticias recibidas de la Peninsula; bien en tendido que este Exino Cabildo procedera inmediatamente a la ereccion de la Junta que haya de encargarse del mando Superior, hasta que se congreguen los Diputados que se con- vocaran de las Provincias interiores, para establecer la forma de Gobierno mas convenicnte. Juan Jose Lezica Martin Gregorio Yaniz. Manuel Mansilla. Manuel Jose de Ocampo. Juan de Llano. Jayme Ladal y Guarda. An dres Dominguez. Tomas Manuel de Anchorena. Santi ago Gutierrez. Dr. Julian de Leyva. Ante mi. Licen- ciado D. Justo Jose Nunes Escrilano pubtico y ae Cavildo. Se publico por mi el Bando precedente de que doy fe en su fecha. Mariano Garcia de Echaluru, Escribano pub lico, BANDO. Los Sres. del Excmo. Cabildo, Justicia y Regimiento d* esta Capital I). Juan Jose de 1 ezicay D. Martin Grego rio Yaniz, Alcaldes (/rdinar os de iO. j/ 20. Voto, Regi- dores D. Muf ,ud Mons dla dlquacil Mayor, D. Manuel Jose de Qcampo, D. Jua^ de Iblano, D. Jaymc Nadal y 359 Guarda, D. Andres Domingucz, cl Dr. D. Tomds Ma nuel de Anchorena, D. Santiago Gutierrez, y el Sindico Procurador General Dr. D. Julian de Leyva. POR quanto en Acta celebradahoydia25 de Mayo por el Excmo. Cabildo se ha determinado lo siguiente. En la Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de la Santisima Trinidad Puerto de Santa Maria de Buenos Ayres 15 de Mayo de 1810. Los Senores del Excmo. Cabildo, Justicia y Regi- miento, a saber: D. Juan Jose de Lezica y D. Martin Gre- gorio Yaniz, Alcaldes Ordinarios de 1. y 2. Voto, Regidor D. Manuel Mansiila Alguacil Mayor, D. Manuel de Ancho- rena, D. Santiago Gutierrez, y el Dr. D. Tomas Manuel de Anchorena, Dn. Santiago Gutierrez, y el Dr. D. Julian de Leyva Sindico Procurador General, se enteraron, de una representacion que ban hecho a este Excmo. Cabildo un considerable numero de vecinos, los Comandantes y varios Oficiales de los Cuerpos voluntaries de esta Capital, por si y a nombre del Pueblo, en que indicando haber llegado a entender que la voluntad de este resiste la Junta y Vocales que este Excmo. Ayunatmiento se sirvio erigir y publicar a conseqiiencia de las facultades que se le confirieron en el ca- bildo abierto de 22 del corriente; y porque puede habiendo reasumido la autoridad y facultades que confio, y mediante la renuncia que ha hecho, el Sr. Presidente nombrado y de- mas Vocales, revocar y dar por de ningun valor la Junta erigida y anunciada en el Bando de aver 24 del corriente la revoca y anula, y quiere que este Excmo. Cabildo proceda a hacer nueva eleccion de los Vocales que hayan de consti- tuir la Junta de Gobierno, y han de ser los Senores D. Cor- nelio de Saavedra, Presidente de dicha Junta y Comandante general de armas, el Dr. D. Juan Jose Castelli, el Dr. D. Manuel Belgrano, D. Miguel Azcuenaga, Dr. D. Manuel Alverti, D. Domingo Mateu, y D. Juan Larrea, y Secreta ries de ella los Doctores D. Juan Jose Posso, y D. Maria- 360 no Moreno; cuya eleccion se debera manifestar al Pueblo por medio de otro Bando publico: entendiendose ella baxo la expresa y precisa condicion de que instalada la Junta se ha de publicar en el termino de 15 dias una expedecion de 500 hombres para auxiliar las provincias interiores del Rey- no, la qual haya de marcbar a la mayor brevedad ; costean- dose esta con los sueldos del if.xcmo Senor D. Baltasar Hi dalgo de Cisneros, Tribunales de la Real Audiencia Pretorial y de Cuentas,, de la Renta de Tabacos, con lo demas que la Junta tenga por conveniente cercenar, en inteligencia que los individuos rentados no ban de quedar absolutamente incon- gruos: porque esta esla manifiesta voluntad del pueblo. Y los SS. habiendo salido al Balcon de estas Casas Capitulares, y oicln que el Pueblo ratifico por aclamacion el contexto dc dicho pedimento 6 representacion, despues de haberse leido por mi en altas e inteligibles voces, acordaron, que debian mandar, y mandaban se erigiese una nueva Junta de Gobi- erno compuesta de los SS. expresados en la representacion de que se ha hecho referenda, y en los mismos terminos, que de ella aparece mientras se erige la Junta general del Vi- reynato. Lo II. qne los SS. que fornian la presente corpo- racion comparezcan sin perdida de momentos en esta Sala Capitular a prestar el juramento de usar bien y fielmente sus cargos, conservar la integridad de esta parte de los do- rninios de America a nuestro Amado Soberano el Sr. D. Fernando VIL, y sus legitimos sucesores. y observar pun- tualmente las LL del Reyno. Lo III : que luego que los refendos SS. presten el juramento, sean reeonocidos por de- positarios de la Autoridad Superior del Vireynato, por todas las corporaciones de esta Capital y su vecindaric, respetando y obedeciendo todas sus disposiciones hasta la congregacion de la Junta General del Vireynato baxo las penas que impo- nen las LL. a los contraventores. Lo IV. que la Junta ha de nombrar quien deba ocupar qualquiera vacante por re- 361 nuncia, muerte, ausencia, enfermedad 6 rcmocion. Lo V: que aunque se halla plenisimamentc satisfecho de la honrosa conducta y buen procedimiento de los SS. mencio- nados, sin embargo para satisfaction del Pueblo se reserva tambien estar muy a la mira de sus operaciones, y caso no esperado que faltasen a sus deberes, proceda a la deposicion con causa bastante yjustificada, reasumiendo el Excmo Ca- bildo para este solo caso la Autoridad que le ha conferido el Pueblo. Lo VI : que la nueva Junta ha de celar sobre el orden, la tranquilidad publica, y seguridad individualode todos los vecinos, haciendosele como desde luego se le hace responsable de lo contrario. Lo VII: que los referidos SS. que compone.n la Junta Provisioria queden excluidos de ex- ercer el poder judiciario, el qual se refundira en la Real Au- diencia, a quien se pasaran lodas las causas contenciosas que no scan de Gobierno. Lo VIII: que esta misma Junta ha de publicar todos los dias primeros del mes un estado en que se de razon de la administracion de Real Hacienda. Lo IX: que no pueda imponer contribuciones ni gravamenes al Pueblo 6 a sus vecinos, sin previa consulta y conformidad de este Excmo. Cabildo. Lo X. que los referidos SS. des- pachen sin perdida de tiempo ordenes circulares a los Xefes de lo interior, y detnas a quienes corresponde, encargari- doles muy estrechamente y baxo de responsabilidad, ha- gan que los respectivos Cabildos de cada uno convoquen por medio de esquelas la parte principal y mas sana del vecinda- iio a para que formado un congreso de solos que en aquella hubiesen sido llamados elijan sus representantes, y estos hayan de reunirse a la mayor brevedad en esta Capital, para establecer la forma de Gobierno que se considere mas con- veniente. Lo XL que elegido asi el representante de cada Ciudad 6 villa tanto los electores como los individuos Capi- tu lares le otorguen poder en publica forma que debcra ma- nifestar quando concurran a esta Capital, a fin dc que se 302 Verifique su constancia jurando en dicho poder no reconocer otro Soberano que al Sr. Don Fernando VII. y sus legitimos sucesores segun el orden establecido por las Leyes, y estar subordinado al Gobierno que legitimamente les represente. Cuyos capitulos mandan se guarden y cumplan precisa y puntualmente, reservando a la prudencia,, y discrecion de la rnisma Junta el que tome las medidas mas adequadas, para que tenga debido efecto, lo determinado en el articulo X, como tambien el que designe el iratamiento honores y dis- tinciones del cuerpo y sus individuos: y que para que llegue a noticia de todos se publique esta Acta por bando imine- diatamente, fixandose en los lugares acustombrados, y lo firmaron de que doy fe Juan Jose Lezica. Martin Gregorio Yaniz. Manuel Mansilla. Manuel Jose Ocampo. Juan de Llano. Jayme Nadal y Guarda. Andres Dorninguez. Dr. Tomas Manuel Anchorena. Santiago Gutierrez. Dr. Julian de Leyva. Licenciado D. Justo Jose Nunez, Escribano Publico y de Cabildo. Por tan to y para que llegue a noticia de todos se publica por medio de este Bando, en virtud de lo determinado en la referida Acta, ordenando tambien se pongan luminarias en la noche de esta dia, Buenos Ayres y Mayo 25 de 1810. Juan Jose Lezica. Martin Yaniz. Manuel Mansilla. Manuel Jose de Ocam po. Juan de Llano. Jayme Nadal y Guarda. Andres Dominguez. Dr. Tomas Manuel Anchorena. Santiago Gutierrez. Dr. Julian de Leyva. D. Juan Jose de Rocha, Escribano Publico y del Real Proto Medicato. BANDO La Junta Provisional Gulernativa de las Provincias del Rio de la Plata por el Sr. D. Fernando VII. POR quanto ha tenido por conveniente esta Junta dis* 363 poner y determinar lo contenido en los articulos siguiented. I. Cue todas las corporaciones Xefes y Vecindario asistan a la Misa Solemne que se celebrara en la Santa Iglesia Cate- dral el miercoles 30 del corriente en accion de gracias por la Instalacion de esta Junta, y terminacion feliz que ban tenido las agitaciones de este Pueblo causadas por los desgraciados sucesos de la Peninsula. II. Due siendo la base principal del orden felizmente res- tablecido, la confianza del Pueblo en sus Mao istrados, y el respeto y puntual obediencia a sus determinaciones y manda- tos, se ordena la subordinacion a la autoridad nuevamente establecida, en inteligencia, que esta usara de toda la ener- gia conveniente para sostener con dignidad el sagrado depo- sito que el Pueblo le ha confiado, castigandoc on rigor a qualquiera que siembre desconfianzas, 6 recelos. III. Cue sera castigado con igual rigor, qualquiera que vierta especies contrarias a la estrecha union que debe rey- nar entre todos los habitantes de estas Provincias, 6 que con- curra a la division entre Espanoles Europeos, y Espanolcs Americanos, tan contraria a la tranquil idad de los particu- lares, y bien general del Estado. IV. Que todos los habitantes de este Pueblo guarden de- coro, y veneracion -a la respetable persona del Exmo. Sr. D. Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, dispensandole las conside- raciones correspondientes a su caracter y al distineuido pa- triotismo con que en favor de este Pais se ha ofrecido a repe- tir en qualquier destino sus importantes servicios. V. Que los Alcaldes de barrio celen el puntual cumpli- miento de las antedichas prevcnciones; avisando a los Se- nores Oidores de sus respectivos quarteles la menor inob- servancia. Por tanto, y para que lo dt-terminado en los precedentes cinco articulos llegue a noticia de todos loj vecinos estantes y Ivibitantes de esia Capital_, y que por los rnismos se cuuipla 364 pnntualmente, se publicaran en ella por bando en la forma de estilo, njandose exemplares para su mayor notoriedad, en Jos parages acostumbrados. Fecho en Buenos Ayres a 26 de Mayo de 1810. Cornelia Saavedra. Manuel Belgrano Miguel de Azcuenaga. D. Manuel Alberti. Juan Larrea. Dr. Mariano Moreno Secretario. EnBuenos Ayres dicho dia mes y ano : Yo el Escribano mayor del Vireynato sail de la Real Fortaleza acompanado de la tropa, pifanos y tambores de estilo, haciendo cabeza principal el Sefior Sargento mayor de plaza D. Jose Maria Cabrer, y en los parages acostumbrados de esta Capital hice publicar por voz del pregonero publico el Bando antecedente, fljando los exemplares que en el se previenen: el que pongo por diligencia y de ello doi fe. Basavilbaso. La Junta Provisional Gubernativa de la Capital del Rio de la Plata a los halitantes de ella, y de las Provincias de su superior Mando. PROCLAMA. TENETS ya establecida la Autoridad que remueve la in- certidumbre de las opiniones, y calma todos los recelos. Las aclamaciones generales manifiestan vuestra decidida vo- luntad ; y sola ella ha podido resolver nuestra timidez a en- cargarnos del grave empefio a que nos sujeta el honor de la eleccion. Fixad pues vuestra confianza, y aseguraos de nuestras intenciones. Un deseo eficaz, un zelo activo, y una contraccion viva y asidua a proveer por todos los medios posibles la conservacion de nuestra Religion Santa, la obser- vancia de las Leyes que nos rigen, la comun prosperidad, y el sosten de estas Posesiones en la mas constante fidelidad y adhesion a nuestro muy amudo Rey y Seiior Don Fernando 363 VII. y sus legitimos sucesores en la corona de Espana : ^ No son estos vuestros sentimientos ? Esos mismos son los grandes objetos de nuestros conatos. Reposad en nuestro desvelo y fatigas: dexad a nuestro cuidado todo lo que en la causa piiblica dependa de nucstras facultades y arbitrios; y entregaos a la mas estrecha union y conformidad reci- proca en la tierna efusion de estos afectos. Llevad i las Provincias todas de nuestra Dependencia, y aun mas alia, si puede ser, hasta los ultimos terminos de la tierra, la per suasion del excmplo de vuestra cordialidad, y del verdadero interes con que todos debemos cooperar a la consolidacion de esta importante obra. Ella afianzara de un modo estable la tranquil idad y bien general a que aspiramos. Real For- taleza de Buenos Ayres a 26 de Mayo de 1810. Cornelia de Saavcdra. Dr. Juan Jose Castelli. Manuel Belgr auo. Miguel de Azcuenaga.Dr. Mamtel Alvtrti. Domingo Mateu. Juan Larrea. Dr. Juan Jose Passo, Secretario. Dr. Mariano Moreno, Secretario. La Junta Provisional Gulernativa de las Provincias del Rio de la Plata a nombre del Sr. D. Fernando VII. manifiesta la siguiente Instruccion, que servird de regla en el metodo del despacho, y ceremonial en actospublicos. I. LA Junta se congregara todos los dias en la Real For- taleza, donde sera la posada del Sr. Presidente, y durara su reunion desde las nueve de la Manana, hasta las dos de la tarde, y desde las cinco, hasta las ocho de la noche. II. Todos los asuntos gubernativos y de Hacienda, se gira- ran ante ella por las Oficinas respectivas. III. El Departamento de Hacienda en la Secretaria, cor- rerk a cargo del Doctor D, Juan Jose Passo ; y el Departa- 356 mento de Gobierno y Guerra, a cargo del Doctor D Mans* no Moreno. IV. En los decretos de Substanciacion, contestaciones dentro de la Capital, asuntos leves, y de urgente despacho, bastara la firma del Presidente, autorizada por el respectivo Secretario. V. En los negocios que deban decidirse por la Junta, la foraiaran quatro Vocales con el Presidente ; pero en los a- suntos interesantes de gobierno, deberan concurrir todos pre- cisamente. VI. En las representaciones y papeles de oficio, se dara a la Junta el tratamiento de Excelencia : pero los Vocales no tendran tratamiento alguno en particular. VII. Las armas haran a la Junta los misraos honores que a los Excmos. Senores Vireyes ; y en las funciones deTabla se guardara con ella el mismo ceremonial. VIII. El Sr. Precedente recibira en su persona el trata miento y honore& de la Junta cbmo Presidente de ella; los quales se le tributaran en toda situacion. IX. Los asuntos de Patronato se dirigiran a la Junta en los niismos terminos que a los Senores Vireyes ; sin perjui- cio de las extensiones a que legalmente conduzca el suce- sivo estado de la Peninsula. X. Todo Vecino podra dirijirse por escrito 6 de palabra a qualesquiera de los Vocales 6 a la Junta misma, y comnuim- car quanto crea conducente a la seguridad publica, y felici- dad del Estado. Buenos Ayres 28 de Mayo de 1810. Dr. Mariano Moreno. Seerefari fr 367 Since this work was put to press, the following occurrences hi fiitenos Ayres have taken place, and are added ly way of explanation , without comment. BUENOS AYRES, JUNE 6. I wrote to you a day or two ago, by way of Monte Video enclosing the two last Buenos Ayres Gazettes, and acquaint ing yon, that by an order of this Junta, the late Viceroy, Cisneros, with the Fiscals, and three Oidores, had been em barked on board a vessel, to convey them from this country. I now enclose an extraordinary gazette, published by the Junta, setting forth their motives for these proceedings. To form a right opinion on this event in England, it is ne cessary you should know, the laws here permit this sum mary expulsion. The Junta, therefore, have not infringed those laws which they are bound to maintain, until the meeting of a general congress : nor have they assumed any power which was not exercised before by the Viceroys here, and since the revolution by the Juntas in Spain. It was, besides, absolutely a necessary measure, arid the circum stances of the times must justify it. It is well known that the men whom they have banished, were plotting the over throw of the present government. Cisneros, the late Vice roy, was allowed 12.000 dollars per annum. The Oidores and Fisnales remained in their employments. The Junta had dealt generously with all of them ; but their breasts could not contain their envy and rancour, at seeing Ameri cans raised to situations and employments, which they, native Spaniards alone, used to fill. They were, at last, for tunately embarked on board the Dart, a Guernsey cutter, with directions to land them either at Cadiz or Majorca. 368 Monte Video has not yet come into the measures of this government. They are influenced by fear, on one hand, as in case of Carlota, the Princess of the Brazils, advancing her claims, they lie most immediately exposed to invasion ; and on the other, they believe that Spain is still able to withstand the French, and therefore are unwilling, for the present, to make any change in the order of things. If it really be the case, that the court of the Brazils have any views on this country, there is no probability that they will move without the assistance and concurrence of England ; and, as I observed in my first letter from this, I hope no thing will blind our rulers at home, to make them attempt forcing upon this people any government obnoxious to them. Before the removal of the late viceroy, there were many partizans for Carlota ; but at that time the people would have rejoiced at almost any change from the old sys tem. There is every expectation that the same spirit which has shewn itself here will spread through the other provinces south of Darien. There may be partial opposition in some particular towns, but I have no doubt that the cause of free- dom will triumph) and that with little or no bloodshed. About 1000 men are soon to set off from this place on an expedition to Peru, to aid in the good cause there. In Teuuman, Salta, Potosi, La Pax, and other parts, they are likely to be received with open arms. I shall not fail to send you all the interesting news from this place with every opportunity. GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY, Published at Buenos Ay res on the 2d of June. MANIFESTO OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNING JUNTA OF THE PROVINCES OF THE -RIO DE LA PLATA. To the Inhabitants, The steady firmness of the government in which yow 369 reposed your confidence, has been powerfully attacked, and the Junta has been under the necessity of deviating from its usual moderation, that the state might not fall a victim to an ill-timed and pusillanimous concession. Those who disturbed your repose, were yet strangers to you, but the king will decide this great cause, and our fidelity will prove an accusation of their conduct, by dissipating every species of calumny. Senor Cisneros, three Oidores, and the Fis- cals will soon be presented to his majesty, and though your indignation have precipitated tneir departure, the Junta wishes to make known the causes that gave rise to it, with the same frankness they have always shewn you from the first moment of their installation, and which your unin terrupted confidence particularly demands of them. If ambition to govern, had led the way to our election, jealousy and distrust might have augmented dangers which prudence might dissipate. The Junta proposed to regulate its conduct by this virtue, and the first acts of its govern ment were to inspire a general confidence, and to strengthen the bonds between the magistrate and the subject, by re moving all suspicion that the rights of the former, were in consistent with the interests of the latter. The ministers of the royal audiencia, have received undoubted guarantees that their persons shall be respected, their employments preserved, and their ministerial offices supported, by the countenance that will be given them in all their proceedings. At the same time, the immunity and veneration of his per son has been solemnly guaranteed to Segno r Cisneros ; the same honours have been decreed to him that he enjoyed when he was Viceroy, and an increased pay has been as signed to him of 12,000 dollars, more than the president of the Junta himself enjoys. Every thing contributed to union and a good understanding, and the members of the new government, condescended to considerations that even com- VOL. II, fi B 370 promised their dignity, in order to secure the stability oi ? the ancient order, as far as it was possible to adopt it, from the peculiar circumstances of the times. Notwithstanding this conduct, the ministers of the au. diercia, formed a decided system of opposition. To the shameful weakness they discovered, when the question of legality and expediency was discussed in the General Con gress, they added a hardihood and obstinacy, which partook of all the marks of real insolence and malignity. The Junta was congratulated, after its installation, by all the corporations and authorities of the capital; but there was not among them a single minister, they affecting silence and disgust on account of an establishment, respecting the legality of which, they had just been publicly assembled to give their opinions. In a moment all the eclat of their rank disappeared, and in all their actions was studiously re peated, that apparent timidity which they manifested when this capital was occupied by the enemy. The necessity of consolidating the new system, and strengthening the bonds of union and obedience, made the example be adopted, of the provincial Juntas of Spain, who, in similar circumstances, required an oath of those, whose duty it was to acknowledge them. All the military and civil authorities cheerfully concurred in the celebration of an act so important ; but the ministers of the audiencia continued obstinate in not acknowledging the established authority, and the private remonstrances of several members obtained, with difficulty, one of the Fiscals to take the oath, which every public man voluntarily hastened to take. This act convinced the new government of the real state of their sentiments, and roused their former indignation. An oath was framed, requiring respect and obedience to the Junta, expressing that, the sole object of its installation, was fidelity to our monarch, Ferdinand VII. and the pro- 371 tection and conservation of his august rights. The Fiscal, at the time of taking it, confessed in a loud voice, that it was legally correct, and that it comprehended all the duties of a legitimate vassalage; he protested against it on the ground, however, that the royal audiencias had never been ac customed to take an oath. The public will decide respect ing the fairness and legality of this protest, considering the objects and extraordinary circumstances which occasioned the proceeding to which it referred; but the public them selves will also remember, the just indignation they felt, when they saw the criminal Fiscal in the presence of so respectable an assembly, and for the purpose of the august ceremony of an oath so solemn, present himself in the hall, rubbing his teeth with a small cane, and expressing in that gross manner, his contempt for the Junta. The Junta having retired to the Real Fortaleza, took into their consideration, the prejudice that the public con duct of the ministers might occasion, in the minds of a people already in a state of fermentation, felt the necessity of divesting them of their ministerial functions, and of put ting an end to the scandal of having the hall of justice shut up, to the reat detriment and delay of causes pending be fore it. They recollected also, the circumstances of their having formerly interposed their good wishes with respect to the tribunal, for the union of the provinces, without its having deigned to return the many acknowledgments ; and perceiving the necessity of checking, in its commencement, a hostile conduct that might end in irretrievable convulsions, agreed to transmit to the audiencia the following note: [This note states, that the Junta having directed that all the corporate bodies and authorities should take an oath of obedience to the said Junta, in imitation of the several Juntas of Spain, they called on the real audiencia to pro mulgate the act, and co-operate with them in preserving 2 B 2 372 the union of the provinces, by concentrating their repre sentation, that it might be determined which was to exer cise the functions of our august monarch. These notices, however., were regarded with so much disrespect by the audiencia, that they did not even deign to give them any answer ; that this conduct had produced a general irritation in the people, and left no other remedy to the Junta than to abandon a charge, which had become suspicious from the great opposition manifested by the real audiencia.] Before the Junta taking this step, however, it wished to secure itself against the fatal result that it might produce, and called on the audiencia in the name of the king and the people to answer the three notes that had been trans mitted to them, and state decidedly, if they would attend to take the oath of acknowledgment in the same terms the Fiscals had done, if they were to recommend to the pro vinces the objects pointed out by the Junta, and if that tribunal would continue in the punctual and free adminis tration of justice, as the Junta ordained, and the people re quired. The Junta farther declares, that the objects of its installation, and the circumstances that led the way to it, are compatible with fidelity and obedience to the king, and that it cannot permit self-love and interested views to sup port a conduct, that may endanger the public tranquillity. To this note the audiencia replies, that their intentions in no respect were hostile to the arrangements adopted by the Junta, for the better service of the king and benefit of the public, and that they were sufficiently interested in all the means that were considered necessary for the preservation of those dominions to their lawful sovereign Ferdinand VII. in dependence on, and union with, the mother country, and for the felicity of the people. They add farther, that one of the Fiscals took the oath in the name of the tribunal, although with a protest, which they thought necessary to 3 7 3 cover their responsibility, and in obedience to the laws respecting oaths; the Junta admitted it, and granted him the usual certificate. From these circumstances the tribunal conceived, that it had conformed to the desires of the Junta, for the objects repeatedly expressed by its members. The result of this communication was the going of the Oidore, D. Manuel Reges, on the following evening to take the oath in the name of the other Oidores, which he did exactly in the same forms as the Fiscal ; but the tribunal having concurred, on the following day to compliment the Junta in the hall of the Real Fortaleza, Segfior Ruges re peated the same insult that Seglior Caspe had done in the Cabildo, and not having a cane with which to rub his teeth, he did it with his nails, endeavouring to carry still farther the contempt of the Junta, by an action so indecent and ex traordinary in a man of his rank. These personal insults would have had no influence in the resolutions of the Junta, if it had not discovered in them the real spirit that animated those ministers; but the public has already marked them with a general indignation ; the administration of justice followed with a high hand ; the contempt of the Junta increased every day, and all had their eyes fixed on the real audiencia, knowing that there existed in it the standard of a party, among whom they were to consider all the discontented, and which serve to interrupt the union of the other states. In this state of things the Junta thought it proper to send the tribunal the following note : In this note the Junta states that the necessity of con solidating the new government, and the confidence and re spect that alone can support it, compel the Junta to make this farther communication to the audiencia, which will at least free it from all responsibility, should its just fears of a fatal convulsion be realized. While the necessity of sacri- 374 ficing every thing to the public tranquillity, ought to be a sufficient motive with the constituted authorities, and ma gistrates, there is observable in the ministers of that tribu nal, an open war in all its actions against the Junta. Their contempt of it, the chagrin of their associates, and the ob scurity to which they have voluntarily submitted every thing, they say, shews a discontent which is not concealed from those who flatter themselves with finding in this tri bunal, any undertaking against the Junta. The audiencia will know, they say, if they have opposed to the installation of the Junta, all the means that were in their reach ; bu* once installed, it is necessary to support it, and to shew the people where they may expect protection, especially when their provisional condition, presents an opportunity to re claim, in the General Congress, whatever tight may now be considered as dormant. To this note the audiencia again replies, that the fears which their excellencies the Junta had suggested in this note, might unfortunately turn out to be too well founded, but it was impossible they could either foresee or prevent the gestures of their minister, that had- given them so much of fence; and nothing of that kind could possibly be approved of by them, that was practised either directly or indirectly against the Junta. They conclude by stating, that they have, nevertheless, to conclude, with intimating to your Excellencies, that being fully convinced that their situation will daily become more unpleasant, and that it is impossible for them to shield themselves against prejudices, prudence dictates the removal of the cause. This rests in the hands of your excellencies; and the only, and the surest remedy will be to dismiss them from their situations* and even to remove them from this capital; the government granting them its protection, that, under its shade^ they may pass their lives in the class of private citizens, exempt from those 375 suspicions to which a public character gives birth with re gard both to actions and writings. God preserve your excellencies many years. MANUEL DE VKLASCO. MANUEL JOSE DE REYES. MANUEL DE VILLOTA. ANTONIO CASPE Y RODREQUEZ. Buenos Ayres^ June 8, 1810. To the President and Members of the Governing Junta. This act discovered that the minds of the ministers were not satisfied with moderation. If they had, the Junta would not have separated from them j but have expected from their will, what they could not obtain from their justice; they would have patiently waited for the time when a declara tion from his majesty would have abolished the influence of personal views, wherewith they pretend to support its august rights. This would have been the invariable conduct of the Junta, if an irresistible necessity had not made them re solve otherwise. The public perceived, with horror, the sys tem pursued by the ministers ; they saw in their actions and in their words, a spark which would one day produce a dread ful convulsion; and in the night of the 10th June, discovered itself in a numerous body of people, who assailed the person of the Fiscal Caspe, on his returning to his house, and beat him severely. This disgraceful transaction increased the grief and the fears of the Junta, because it took away that barrier of respect which makes the person of a magistrate invulnerable. It was calculated to produce fresh and greater disasters, and the Junta had only more weak means of pre venting them. At the same time there was daily discovered some secret communication with powerful persons in the 37<5 other towns, whereby it was endeavoured with the utmost solicitude to divide them from us, and thereby create a general dissolution ot the state, or a grievous anarchy in those provinces, before they could enjoy any of the rights which the fundamental constitution of the kingdom allows them, and the Spanish government has solemnly declared to them. These pernicious notions were no less prejudicial by the object, than by the manner in which they were propa gated. The intentions of the Junta were openly opposed by them; and, in disregard of their oaths and the two solemn acts of then* installation, they traduced our fidelity, and re presented us as persons having an interest contrary to the rights of our monarch. A Junta, which has sworn to pr