: 
626 
autives of the soil, and possessed of the 
Jaryest property, were kept in a state of 
comparative degradation. The policy of 
the court of Spain had prevented the in- 
tercourse of all foreigners with their colo- 
“nies, a prohibition which, having been 
‘adopted by the other European nations, 
‘was not a subject of complaint, til the 
independence of British America excited 
the eager desire for privileges similar to 
those which their neiyhbours enjoyed: 
this desire was increased by the situa- 
tion in which ‘they were placed by the 
long-protracted war with England, during 
the continuance of which, the dificulty 
‘of maintaining an intercourse with the 
mother country was so great, as fo sepa- 
‘yate them from all but casual connec- 
‘tion. 
fhe same policy which forbade inter. 
course with foreigners, was extended to 
their agriculture and their mines. To 
gastain the vineyards and olive-gardens 
‘of Spain, the inhabitants of America to 
the eastward of the Andes, were prohi- 
‘pited from making wine or oil, and to 
‘promote the manufactures of the parent 
state, the mines of iron and lead with 
which the country abounds, were for- 
“‘bidden to be explored; and so far were 
these restrictions carried, that in some 
“Instances they were forbidden to navigate 
‘their finest rivers. 
Phe numerous tribes of Indians com-, 
plained bitterly of the capitation tax, not 
so much from its amount, as from the 
great power it gave to the individuals who 
‘collected it, and who ruled each district, 
to remove them from their native towns 
to distant places, as well as to practise 
various other oppressions. 
The embers of insurrection, which had 
‘been smothered in Santa Fee de Bogota 
‘and in Caraccas, were not extinguished, 
and an unshapen mass of discontent avas 
gradually, but silently, increasing in every 
part of Spanish America, at the period 
when Buonaparte, by his attempt to se- 
‘eure the throne of Spain to his family, 
created the revolution, and excited fee!- 
ngs in the breast of every man who spoke 
the languave of Spain, which have hi- 
therto frustrated kis expectations. The 
flame of liberty which had spread through 
the peninsula, was quickly extended to 
America, where the whole continent, as 
jf animated by a common soul, reitera- 
ted vows of attachment to Spain, de- 
nounced threats of vengeance to the 
agents of France; and opened an inter- 
tourse with the colonies of England, 
without waiting for the formalities of 
Mr, Jacob's Letters from Spain. 
peace. Their internal complaints were 
silenced, and Creoles, Spaniaids, and 
Indians, forgetting every former animo- 
sity, vied only with each other in the 
strongest demonstrations of hatred to 
France, and the firmest resoluuons to 
support the cause of the monarch whona 
Buonaparte had insulted and deposed. 
When the revolution broke out in Spain, 
and that kingdom was ruled by Provin- 
cial Juntas, none of those bodies claimed 
the night of legislating for America; none 
of them affected to exercise sovereignty 
over that country, or deemed themselves 
more entitled to such power than to 
authority over their brethren in the ad= 
joining provinces. They were bodies 
formed by the will of the people of 
Spain, the emergency of whose affairs 
justified such a choice; but in no legiti- 
mate sense were they, or did they affect 
to be, the sovereigns of Spain and of the 
Indies. When the necessities of the 
country led to the formation of the Cen- 
tral Junta, that body, composed of and 
delegated by these provincial assembhes, 
was certainly entitled to no power be- 
yond that which its constituents them- 
selves possessed, and therefore had no 
right to consider the Americans in any 
other light than as fellow citizens, and 
hot subjects. When the Central Junta 
assumed the name, and affected to ex- 
ercise the rights, of the captive Ferdinand, 
the language used towards America was 
flattering and soothing; promises were 
made, that their complaints should be 
attended to, their grievances redressed, 
and their privileges extended; that the 
Cortes should be assembled, in which 
America, no longer asa colony, but as 
an integral part of Spain, should be re- 
presented by deputies chosen from itself. 
These promises, though perhaps made 
with sincere intentions, were not realised; 
and, when the imbecile body which made 
them was dispersed, America was left 
without one effort having been made in 
its favour, or any attention having been 
paid to its situation. 
The patriotism of America never res 
laxed; the difficulties of Spain, instead 
of damping the ardour of that country, 
only simulated it to still further efforts, 
and millions of dollars from Mexico and 
Peru were poured into the treasury of 
the parent state, 
During the course of the past year, in 
every change of circumstances in Europe, 
the Junta has constantly directed its 
views to the retention of the dependence 
and of the monopoly of America; their 
system 
