HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



231 



rait to the yoke of the common 

 enemy, whether by real compul- 

 sion, or a convention that should 

 leave only the shadow of inde- 

 pendence : on the same principles 

 his Majesty would think it his 

 duty to afford every kind of assist- 

 ance to the provinces of America 

 that should render them indepen- 

 dent of French Spain, open an 

 asylum to such of the Spaniards as 

 should disdain to submit to their 

 oppressors, regard Americaas their 

 natural refuge, and preserve the 

 remains of the monarchy to their 

 lawful sovereign, if ever he should 

 recover his liberty. It was a satis- 

 faction to his Majesty to learn by 

 papers he had received, that what 

 had passed in Caraccas, was in 

 a great measure owing to the 

 erroneous impressions they had 

 received of the desperate state 

 of Spain. These being removed, 

 the inhabitants of Caraccas* 

 would be disposed to renew 

 their connections with Spain, as 

 integral parts of the empire, on 



their being admitted to take their 

 place in the Cortes of the king- 

 dom." 



Nothing could be more prudent 

 than this conduct of the British 

 government in a situation so new, 

 delicate, and difficult. 



A copy of lord Liverpool's let- 

 ter was communicated to the 

 Council of Regency at Cadiz, and 

 published in all the Spanish 

 newspapers. 



A strong suspicion was enter- 

 tained by the Independents, as a 

 Portuguese army, 10,000 strong, 

 had been sent in March to the 

 frontiers of the Spanish colonies, 

 that there might be a secret nego- 

 ciation for enforcing the preten- 

 sions of the princess of Brazil to 

 the whole country between the 

 Porana and La Plata, in exchange 

 for the islands of Madeira and St. 

 Catharine. But this apprehension 

 was quieted by a letter from lord 

 Strangford, British minister at the 

 court of Brazil, to the Junta of 

 Buenos Ayres. 



* The noble Secretary should have said not Caraccas, but Venezuela, of which 

 the city of Caraccas is the capital. The province of Caraccas was only one member 

 of the confederation of Venezuela, as above noticed (p. 225). In our common books 

 of geography, and particularly in the last edition of Pinkerton's Geograpliy, the 

 names of provinces are generally confounded with those of the department, or 

 political division to which they belong, and vice versa ; which cannot fail to occasion 

 much equivocation and much embarrassment to English readers of newspapers and 

 other periodical publications, who are guided by common compilations about 

 geography. The grand political divisions of Spanish America are, four viceroyal- 

 ties and five general capitanias, or principalities, independent of the viceroys. The 

 four viceroyalties are, Mexico or New Spain, New Grenada, Peru, and Buenos 

 Ayres. The five states, independent of these, are Cuba, Porto Rico, Guatemala, 

 Venezuela, and Chili. 



