GENERAL HISTORY. 



[207 



ported what he had heard to a 

 person in his confidence, by whom 

 it was disclosed to the government. 

 The fact was made known in a 

 proclamation, issued on July 4, by 

 the superior authorities ; and on 

 the 25th it was announced in ano- 

 other proclamation that twenty-five 

 of the conspirators had perished on 

 the scaffold, and that judicial pro- 

 ceedings were still going on against 

 persons suspected of being accom- 

 plices. Upon the first alarm it is 

 said that more than six thousand 

 men speedily collected to assist the 

 regular force in guarding the city, 

 and apprehending the guilty. The 

 government of Montevideo in con- 

 sequence of these events prohi- 

 bited all intercourse with Buenos 

 Ayres. The Portuguese troops 

 commenced a retreat from San 

 Francisco on July 13, an armistice 

 having taken place between the 

 Prince Regent of Portugal and the 

 government of Buenos Ayres. This 

 measure was notified by the latter 

 in a gazette extraordinary, in terms 

 that gave oiFence to the court of 

 Rio Janeiro, which thought proper 

 officially to contradict the assertion 

 that his Royal Highness had soli- 

 cited the armistice, and affirmed 

 that he had assented to it only in 

 furtherance of the beneficent views 

 and wishes of his Britannic Ma- 

 jesty, for the restoration of tran- 

 quillity to the provinces of the ri- 

 ver Plate. The friendly media- 

 tion of the British court on this 

 occasion was well received at Bue- 

 nos Ayre?, and rendered the Eng- 

 lish name more popular than it had 

 lately been. 



In a further account from that 

 city dated August 31, it is said 

 that the Junta had dispatched an 

 officer to the viceroy at Montevideo 



with a proposal to send deputies to 

 treat for the cessation of hostilities, 

 which, it was hoped, might lead 

 to the renewal of a friendly com- 

 munication between the parties. 



The province of Venezuela, 

 which had so decidedly declared 

 an absolute independence on the 

 mother country, was in the early 

 part of this year visited by a ter- 

 rible catastrophe, the efi'ects of 

 which had a powerful influence 

 upon its political state. On the 

 26th of March, in the afternoon, 

 a violent shock of an earthquake 

 was felt at the city of Caraccas, 

 which threw down the greatest 

 part of its buildings, and buried a 

 great number of the inhabitants 

 under their ruins. Its port of La 

 Guayra participated in the destruc- 

 tion ; and several other towns in 

 the province were sufferers from 

 the same dreadful calamity, which 

 extended over u wide district (See 

 Chronicle). To tranquillize the 

 minds of the people after this dis- 

 aster, a proclamation was issued 

 by the government, drawn up ia 

 an admirable spirit of patriotism, 

 and sound philosophy. The fol- 

 lowing extract will show what were 

 the impressions on the occasion 

 from which it was thought most 

 necessary to guard the public mind. 

 " What consequence will you 

 draw from this terrible event ? 

 The superstitious and fanatic will 

 tell you, in mysterious language, 

 that it is a punishment of God, 

 who, in his displeasure, especially 

 against the inhabitants of this city, 

 has in this manner manifested hift 

 wrath. The ill-affected will sug* 

 gest to you, that nothing better is 

 to be expected by a city hated by 

 God for having proclaimed her in- 

 dependence, and declared herself 



against 



