of which, in return, he was declared president. He even succeeded in persuading them to recognise the Regency as the le gitimate representatives of Ferdinand VII. in Europe; + but his influence was of short duration. The massacre, at Quito, of many of the principal Creoles of that city, by a body of troops in the service of the Viceroy of Lima, excited universal detestation throughout America, and increased all the former jealousies and apprehensions entertained of the officers and servants of the mother country. The Viceroy of Santa Fé was deprived of his authority; and from that time, the rich and. extensive kingdom of New Grenada has followed the example, and trod, as nearly as possible, in the footsteps of Caracas. In spring of the present year, a general congress was held at Santa Fé de Bogota, which abjured the provisional governments of Spain, but acknowledged Ferdinand VII. as the lawful King and Sovereign of Cundinamarca; for such is the new. appellation they have chosen for their country. An angry reply has appeared from Caracas, abusing them for adhering to Ferdinand, and declaring that Caracas will never submit to a kingly government, or adopt any form of civil policy, but one manufactured for its own use by its own representatives. How Cundinamarca has received this rebuke, has not yet appeared. The insurgents of Buenos Ayres began with an appearance of moderation, which, unless we are greatly misinformed, was very far from corresponding with the real sentiments of their hearts. No part of America, it must be confessed, had greater provocations than Buenos Ayres, or stronger inducements to shake off the yoke of the mother country. Nowhere was the partiality of the government in favour of Europeans more exclusive, or less justifiable. Vagabonds from Old Spain, without education, merit or talents, were preferred in every department of the public service, to Creoles of the highest rank and consideration. No town of America is more commercial than Buenos Ayres, or depends more absolutely and directly on its trade. Its chief population consists of merchants; and its importance is derived entirely from its situation as the staple of the Rio Plata with Europe. The articles which it exports are of a perishable nature; and consequently every suspension of commerce is doubly injurious to it. No place had therefore suffered more severely from the rigid enforcement of the monopoly of the mother country, or from the heavy duties upon trade which the commissioners of the Central Junta had the folly to impose. Of these grievances, Buenos Ayres had made loud July 23. 1810. loud complaints to the government of Spain; but no attention had been given to its remonstrances. In the town of Buenos Ayres the revolution was accomplished without difficulty. * The Viceroy made no resistance to the people, and yielded his authority without a struggle. But in other parts of the viceroyalty a formidable opposition declared itself. Montevideo was induced, by the influence of the Spanish marine, to recognize the Regency of Cadiz. + Cordova, an inland town, about 500 miles from Buenos Ayres, became the seat of a counter-revolution under Liniers and other adherents of Spain. As it was from this quarter that the greatest danger was to be apprehended, the leaders of the revolution despatched a body of forces against Cordova. Doubtful of the fidelity of the people, the chiefs of the counter-revolution fled at the approach of the army of Buenos Ayres, ‡ and endeavoured to escape across the plains of Tucuman, and reach the frontiers of Peru. But they were pursued and taken; § and, without any form of process, barbarously murdered. Liniers, whose humanity to the English after the recapture of Buenos Ayres, entitles him to our regret, was deliberately shot through the head, some days after his surrender, by two of the opposite faction, on whom he had conferred the rank of officers for their services on that occasion. His popularity at Buenos Ayres was the true cause of this atrocious act. When the revolutionists found it impossible to gain him over to their party, they determined on his death, as the only effectual security against his opposition. After the suppression of the counter-revolutionists at Cordova, the revolutionary army proceeded towards the Andez, to oppose a force which the Viceroy of Lima was making against them. An action took place at Suipacha, in which the insurgents were victorious; and, as the price of their victory, they obtained possession of Potosi, and of the greater part of the upper provinces. But the army of Peru rallied; and, in a subsequent action at Desaguadero, ** the troops of Buenos Ayres were totally defeated and dispersed. An insurrection at Arequipa, on the South Sea, is supposed to be the reason why the Peruvian forces have not pursued their advantage, and totally expelled them from the upper country. Another detachment of the revolutionary army was sent into Paraguay to secure the Portuguese frontier, and to compel the indolent and unwilling inhabitants of that vast region to embrace * May 25. 1S10. June 6. 1810. August 5. 1810. ** June 10. 1811. brace the cause of independence. This expedition had no enemies to encounter, nor difficulties to overcome, but what a rose from the immensity of the regions they had to traverse, and from the passive averseness of the inhabitants to change the condition in which they were born. A more formidable opposition was established at Montevideo. The party of the mother country, which was predominant in that place, had the superiority at sea, and could therefore interrupt at pleasure the navigation of the river. But the influence of the English kept both parties within bounds, till the arrival of Elio, * an officer of the marine, who was sent out to the Rio Plata with the commission of viceroy of the province. After trying in vain to persuade the Junta of Buenos Ayres to recognise his authority, Elio declared war against them, attacked their ships, destroyed their commerce, and threatened to bombard their town, and to call in a Portuguese army from Rio de Janeiro to punish their rebellion. The Junta, provoked by his hostilities, and alarmed at his secret intrigues in Buenos Ayres, ordered all Europeans into banishment, † who could not find security for their behaviour; and recalling their army from Paraguay, sent it against Montevideo. Elio, driven within the walls of that fortress, had recourse to the bombardment of Buenos Ayres, and renewed his threats of calling in the assistance of the Portuguese. An armistice has been since concluded; and, were Elio of a less violent character, this suspension of arms might possibly lead to a permanent accommo dation. In Chili, the authority of the mother country has been superseded by the aristocracy of the colony. The government has fallen, peaceably and without resistance, into the hands of the great Creole families, who seem hitherto to have used their power with temper and moderation. Very different has been the fate of Mexico. In no part of Spanish America have the flames of civil discord raged with such destructive activity as in that kingdom. Nowhere has so much blood been spilt, or such irreparable mischief committed. Six months ago it was calculated, that more than 60,000 persons had already perished in the contest; and though the party of the mother country was then triumphant, the insurgents had been dispersed, but were not pacified. Numerous parties of guerrillas occupied the mountains and infested the high roads, so as to interrupt all internal commerce, and render the communication of one city with another insecure. Hatred and * January 15, 1811. † March 23. 1811. and discontent were as strong as ever. The rigorous punishments inflicted by the conqueror, though they terrified for the moment, increased the alienation of the vanquished. The disdainful refusal of all redress of grievances, as derogatory from the dignity of government, removed to a distance all hope of concord or conciliation. Our information concerning this war is exceedingly defective. The revolutionary party have published no declarations to justify their insurrection, or explain their views; or, if they did, their manifestoes have not reached Europe. It appears, however, from a short account of the commencement of these troubles, published in that execllent but much calumniated periodical work, the Espanol, that the arrest and deposal of the viceroy, Harrigaray, in 1808, had divided the Mexicans into two parties, exceedingly inflamed against each other; and that the favour shown by the Central Junta to those who arrested him, had converted the opposite party into determined enemies of the mother country. Nor were other causes of discontent wanting. The same faults were committed in New Spain as in other parts of America. The Creoles were first buoyed up with extravagant expectations, and then disappointed and disgusted. Every new viceroy and servant of government that arrived from Europe, brought with him a fresh importation of jobs. The measures taken for the benefit of the country were dictated by ignorance, or suggested by prejudice and malevolence. The reverses in Spain lessened the respect for the mother country, and inspired distrust of the wisdom or the honesty that directed her councils. An extensive conspiracy had been formed, which was on the eve of breaking out, when a violent and mistaken exercise of authority at Queretaro occasioned it suddenly to explode. In an instant, more than half the kingdom of New Spain was in arms. The insurrection began at Dolores, † in the province of Guanaxuato, in the centre of the mining country, and spread with incredible velocity in every direction. The ringleaders were chiefly priests; but many lawyers and military officers joined with them; and, what was most alarming of all, some regiments of militia. Their forces rapidly increased to armies of 30 or 40,000 men, and more; and, so popular was their cause, that, after the severest defeats, they reassembled in a short time with undiminished numbers. At this critical moment, the viceroy Venegas arrived from Spain; and to the activity, firmness and energy, which he displayed on this occasion, his country is indebted for the preservation of Mexico. *Vol. III. p. 19. September 15th, 1:10, The The insurgents having taken by assault the populous town of Guanaxuato, * in which they found immense booty, advanced to Valladolid, where they were received † with demonstrations of joy; and, gathering strength as they proceeded, they passed through Toluca, and entered the plain of Mexico with an army of more than 40,000 men. Hidalgo, Allende, and their other chiefs, had great expectations froin the spirit of disaffection in the capital; but the prudence of Venegas disconcerted all their schemes. Their friends within the city were deterred from showing themselves, by the disposition which he made of his forces; and many were detached from their cause, by the sentence of excommunication which the Archbishop, at his instigation, fulminated against them. After waiting some hours, without daring to attack the troops, who remained in their entrenchments, they retired without attempting any thing; showing upon this, as upon other occasions, a miserable want of enterprise and deficiency of military skill. After their failure in this attempt, they were pursued by a succession of disasters. The judicious movements and well concerted attacks of Venegas baffled all their plans, and drove them from one end of the kingdom to the other. After innumerable defeats, the chiefs of the insurrection were at length surprised at Saltillo, § in endeavouring to make their escape into the internal provinces. Still, however, the country was not pacified. A month after the affair of Saltillo, a body of 12,000 insurgents were in arms in the neighbourhood of Queretaro, and were then defeated. || Such, indeed, is the scantiness of our information with regard to this war, that it is only from the official accounts of victories, that we know of the progress or continuance of the insurrection. The praise which Venegas has justly merited for his prudence and steadiness, in circumstances of great difficulty and alarm, we are concerned to add he has, in our opinion, forfeited, by the cruelty and severity of his punishments against the insurgents. In some places, we are told, he has decimated the inhabitants; and where he has spared the lives of his Indian prisoners, we have heard, that he has impressed upon them what they consider an indelible mark of ignominy, by depriving them of their ears. It is alleged, on the other side, that the insurgents had been equally cruel; and that, in many places, they had spared no European who fell into their hands. The charge of inhumanity is probably true on both sides. Civil wars are proverbially savage; and we have only to look back * September 29th. # April 20th, 1811. 2 + October 20th. to |