step in the Negociation. Their first and last interviews with Señor Bardaxi de Azara did not take place until June 5th, in presence of the other Secretaries of State, and was confined to a conversation of trifling interest. This, together with other circumstances, shewed, that no Negociation would be entered into with Colombia separately, whilst so many were occupied with forming Plans of General Pacification, with opposite views and interests. The most strenuous Enemies of America had at last learned, that their wretched ridiculous system of amnesty, far from producing any favourable effect, was every day increasing the irritation in the minds of the Inhabitants of this Continent, confirming some in their noble intention of being independent, and inspiring others with the wish of being so. It was, therefore, necessary to set that temporizing Policy aside, and seek more efficacious measures. It was now requisite to examine the question thoroughly, and to remove the obstacles opposed to the Pacification. The Report presented by the Minister, Don Ramon Gil de la Cuadra, to the Ordinary Cortes, on March 1st, 1821, on Ultramarine Affairs, offered no mateIn it Mr. rials which could be made use of in such a discussion. Cuadra speaks diffusely of Lazzarettoes, Hospitals, Schools, the arrangement of his Office, and other minor and irrelevant matters, as if the whole of America were in profound Peace. The Committee of the Cortes, which examined this Memorial, shewed, in their Report of June 4th following, on the Population of the Ultramarine Provinces, what People are capable of doing, who shut their eyes and ears to the causes of the evils with which they are surrounded. The Committee thought of rendering us a great service by their Project for the division of waste lands, because M. Cuadra had asserted in his Memorial, that the measure was of the highest importance to America, as well economically as politically, and in both respects the King expected wonderful results from it. A long period did not, however, elapse before the King and the Cortes discovered, that they were losing their time in extraneous questions, while the real matter was left untouched. The Cortes, on the proposal of M. Paul, appointed on their part a Committee of their own body, to suggest the best means of closing the dissensions with which various Countries of America were unfortunately afflicted. The Committee, after frequent and long Sittings, at which the Ministers and a great number of Deputies attended, presented their Report, June 24th, concluding with an opinion, that the Government should be invited to propose to the Cortes the fundamental measures which the situation of America required. In this it was easily seen, that several, or all, of the Committee, wished to enter into the merits of the Case, but abstained from doing so out of respect to the private opinions of His Catholick Majesty's Ministers. Great hopes were formed from the plan of Regencies, which the major part of the Ultramarine Deputation, and particularly that of Mexico, presented

to the Cortes the same day. Ministers secretly supported the plan, but, as we learn, refused doing so openly, that they might sound public feeling without compromising themselves. Messrs. Ravenga and Echeverria immediately sent a Copy of our Fundamental Laws to the Secretary of State, to shew the incompatibility of the measure proposed, with our Social Organization. The Plan of Regencies was finally given up, Ministers themselves thinking it unconstitutional, and the King finished the Speech, with which he closed the Ordinary Cortes on the 30th June, by saying, that urged to propose the most proper means for the well-being of the Ultramarine Provinces, he would do so with all possible expedition and liberality, but that the Spaniards of both Worlds might be persuaded, that he desired nothing so much as their happiness, founded on the integrity of the Monarchy, and the observance of the Constitution.

This decisive and solemn declaration, together with the false direction given, at the same time, to public opinion, by means of virulent invectives and calumnious Publications against America, caused every shadow of hope for Peace to vanish. Our Plenipotentiaries, however, in spite of all this, determined to remain at Madrid until the 1st September, when they received a Note from the Secretary of State, of the 30th August, in which, after having, amongst other charges, accused the Government of Colombia of the infraction of the most Solemn Compacts and of the Law of Nations, he enclosed their Passports, observing, that they should lose no time in commencing their Journey, as their remaining in Spain might be prejudicial, and was moreover quite useless, from their not being in a condition to be listened to by His Majesty, and for other reasons which he did not think it necessary to explain. This unexpected determination, which had been for some days previously announced in the Publick Papers, together with the irritation excited against Americans in general, in the most scandalous manner tending to implicate them in the tumult of the 20th August preceding, against the person of General Morillo, convinced our Plenipotentiaries that they had not a moment to hesitate as to the part they had to take.

Vain, indeed, would have been all explanations given, at that time, however clear and convincing, against the imputations, and the general and indefinite charges, of the Spanish Government. The resolution was taken not to lend an impartial ear to any thing that might be advanced; and accustomed to decide on the Destinies of America from the interested information of its own Agents, this first instance of respect and consideration towards those hitherto held in degradation, must have been particularly mortifying. Such is the force of habit, that it confounds times and circumstances, and keeps those under its influence in a state of continual delusion most flattering to their self-love. The Plenipotentiaries of Colombia were obliged, in consequence, to content them.

selves, for the moment, with a simple reply to the Note of dismissal, and left Madrid in 36 hours after receiving their Passports, reserving for a more favourable opportunity the vindication of the honour and dignity of their Country, of which they availed themselves at Bayonne, under date of September 14th. In their detailed explanation, the facts are set forth which appear to have given rise to those general and indefinite charges. In it, the Enemy will have seen the Principles on which our Right was founded of protecting Maracaibo, then independent, by the spontaneous declaration of the Spanish Authorities and the People, and in which affair our Chief Magistrate could not have given a stronger proof of his love of justice, than by offering to leave it to the decision of Arbitrators, and by nominating on his part the Spanish Brigadier, Don Ramon Correa. In it will have been seen, that we did not (26 days before the expiration of the term of the Armistice,) renew hostilities, except for our own preservation, the first Law of Nature, when it become unavoidable, and after fufilling the formalities prescribed by Article XIV. of that Treaty, in the event of such an unfortunate contingency taking place. In it, in short, the Government of His Catholick Majesty will have seen, that if, on their side, they had vague and indefinite accusations against us, we could, on ours, complain of positive infractions by irrefragable acts, which, from the very first, placed beyond a doubt the want of sincerity and good faith with which we were invited to enter into the Negocia tion for Peace.

Since the departure of Messrs. Ravenga and Echeverria from Spain, the Government of that Country has, by degrees, been moderating its pretension of addressing America with that decided and imperious tone which it had previously assumed. In the Speech with which the King afterwards opened the Cortes, he slightly noticed the Pacification of America as a point not inseparably connected with the Constitution. The Cortes, after hearing the Reports of the respective Committees, resolved, on the 13th of February, 1822, to recommend to His Majesty, that he should without loss of time appoint fit Persons to present themselves to the Governments established in America, to listen. to and receive such proposals as they might have to submit. The King did not order this Decreee to be complied with and carried into effect, until the 5th of March; the Minister of Ultramarine Affairs did not transmit it to the Minister of War, until the 31st of the same Month, no the latter to the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Army, until the 15th of April, and it was not before the 18th of May that the said General-in-Chief learnt, that His Majesty had appointed Brigadier Don José Sartorio, and Capt. Don Juan Barry, to treat with our Government.

In commencing this extraordinary Negociation, His Catholick Majesty, in consequence of Article IV. of the Decree of the 13th of February, addressed a Manifesto to the Courts of Europe, protesting

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that Spain would consider a partial or entire acknowledgment, by any of them, of the Independence of the Ultramarine Provinces, as an infraction of existing Treaties, whilst discussions with the Mother Country were still pending. This interesting Document, of which Extracts had appeared in Foreign Newspapers, did not reach the Government of Colombia, in an authentic shape, until very lately, when it was authenticated by the signature of M. Clemencin. In it the Spanish Monarch endeavours to employ against the Right of Insurrection in America, the very same principles which, either voluntarily or otherwise, he had acknowledged and recognized in favour of his Subjects in Europe. The Emancipation of America is so clearly demonstrated to be the interest of the whole World, that, in order to oppose it, recourse was had to the sophisms and vague protestations with which that Manifesto most profusely abounds, and the Cabinets of Europe will have bestowed upon it the value and consideration which it merits, its clauses appearing to be directed against the Principles of Disorganization which have for some time past been introduced into Spain. In comparing the Political Institutions and the conduct of the two Countries, the opinion of an impartial World cannot but be in our favour. The Government of Colombia was prepared for so new and singular a Negociation, and, on the 19th of May last, communicated to the Intendants of the Maritime Provinces the orders it conceived necessary, and which were founded on the information which could be procured of the Character of the Commissioners; the Executive being fully convinced, that Colombia and Spain could not come to a decorous understanding, without mutually observing those usages and customs, which are consecrated by practice amongst civilized Nations; and which absolutely preclude such a mode of negociating in time of War, as that which was to be expected, from the discussions in the Extraordinary Cortes, from what the Minister of Ultramarine Affairs observed, and from the letter itself of the Decree of the 13th of February. The door, however, has been left open for discussion, which, although probably useless, may conduce indirectly to the termination of the War; and, if there has been any condescension in this, it is a sacrifice to the consideration in which we hold other Nations, to whom we are desirous of giving positive proofs, that passions excited by Civil War, and the irregular conduct of the Enemy, have not shut our ears to the voice of Nature, and that, although we do not fear War, we most anxiously wish for Peace. Convinced of this truth, many of the most illustrious Deputies of the Cortes exclaimed violently, in the preceding Session, against the inefficacy and irregularity of a measure, which, far from being conciliatory, gave strong reason to suspect, that what was proposed to be done was merely meant for the purpose of introducing Spies into these Countries; and the Ordinary Cortes, which subsequently followed, saw this so clearly, that, on the 28 June, they gave

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the King ample authority to take such steps, with respect to the Ultramarine Affairs, as might be expedient, and required by the various circumstances of the Places where his influence or authority might be necessary, or for the adoption of more energetic and active means for supporting his measures. The King was moreover charged, among other things, to empower Commissioners to form and conclude Provisional Conventions with the American Governments, in order that, dur ing the negociations, the reciprocal commerce should not be interrupted.

The Executive of Colombia saw from these Decrees, that the Spanish Government was beginning to know its own interests, and to adopt a more frank and liberal policy; but, remarking on the other hand the silence, which up to this day has been observed with regard to the projected Negociation, and the assurance given to the Cortes by the Minister of Ultramarine Affairs, that he had put all the elements of discord into motion, it cannot be persuaded, that the Enemy is acting with the good faith he so loudly proclaims.

Nearly about the same time, the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Army published two Decrees at Maracaibo, in Septem ber and October, of consummate importance from their nature and consequences. In one, he abolishes the regularization of the War, thereby opening a field for a repetition of his past excesses; and in the other, condemns to Confiscation, to the Public Works, and to Death, the Subjects and Properties of Neutral Powers, which might be found in the Provinces which his Arms might occupy. The Government of Colombia ought now to resist, with her accustomed energy, the aggressions of that desolating Barbarian, and make him know that none under the Canopy of Heaven can offend, with impunity, the People and Foreigners living under the protection of our Laws. To other Nations, however, it belongs to defend the Persons and Properties of their Subjects, which, by the fortune of War, may fall into the hands of so callous and cruel an Enemy, from his proscriptions and sanguinary Edicts. In like manner they may judge of the sincerity of the protestations of His Catholick Majesty, contained in the Manifesto abovementioned.

When the History of this 13 Years' War shall be published, into which we at first entered with the view of bettering our domestic condition, and afterwards continued, in defence of our existence, menaced with total destruction by the anathemas of the Court of Madrid, the World will see, with astonishment, that the Enemy has had no other means for restraining the progress of our majestic career, than those of seduction, amnesties, and perfidy. Until February and June, 1822, the Spanish Government would not admit that our Re volution originated otherwise than in an insane love of change, and not in the desire, natural to Man, of promoting his own felicity, excited and put in motion by the stupendous Events which followed the Abdica