432 



CARACCAS. 



CUraccas. Margaretta. He is likewise president of the royal au- 



v * dience, and of all the tribunals, excepting those which 



Govern- re j ate tQ the aj treasures and to commerce. Al- 

 " ieW ' though in the capacity of captain-general he may 



form whatever regulations he pleaces without advice 

 and without controul, he generally submits any case 

 of importance to & junta de guerra, composed of the 

 first military officers. He is exclusively charged with 

 all political relations between the colonial govern- 

 ment of foreign powers, and his particular district. 

 In civil matters, his jurisdiction is confined to the 

 province -.f Venezuela. Maracaibo, Margaretta, Cu- 

 mana, and Guiana, have each a governor, who ex- 

 ercises the same civil powers in his own province that 

 the governor of Caraccas enjoys in his. As the qua- 

 lities of a good soldier are not always combined with 

 the knowledge and habits essential to the proper ad- 

 ministration of justice, the governor is obliged, in 

 all judicial affairs, to have recourse to a counsellor 

 at law, entitled his assistant, who records and signs 

 the sentences. These sentences have no validity 

 Xvithout the signature of the governor ; and if they 

 do not meet his approbation, he can pass the docu- 

 ments to another person, termed assistant adhoc, who 

 furnishes a new sentence. The governor may even 

 give a decision contrary to the advice of these legal 

 counsellors a power which he never employs, how- 

 ever, except in cases where it appears necessary, and 

 may be readily justified. Though president of the 

 royal audience, he has no voice in its deliberations, 

 nor any influence, even by vote, on its decisions. 

 That court, where he represents the majesty of his 

 sovereign, is the only tribunal which is permitted to 

 investigate his actions. Great as the power of the 

 captain-general is, he is in general prevented from 

 abusing it, by the responsibility which he incurs, and 

 the certainty of being called to a rigid account for 

 every act of his administration. His office termi- 

 nates in seven years, and no sooner is his successor 

 nominated, than a commissary is appointed to receive 

 his resignation. This commissary immediately an- 

 nounces, in the most public manner, the time and 

 place appointed for the examination of the transac- 

 tions of the late governor ; and all who have any 

 complaints against him are invited to attend and sub- 

 stantiate their charges, that strict justice may be 

 awarded. The results of these examinations are for- 

 warded to the council of the Indies, who decide on 

 them definitively, 



The Royal Audience is a council, composed of a 

 president, ( the captain -general ) , a regent, three oidors, 

 two fiscals, one for civil and criminal affairs, the other 

 for the finances ; a reporter, and an alguazil major. 

 This audience is invested with a power of superin- 

 tendance over all other constituted authorities, not 

 even excepting the ecclesiastical tribunal. The cap- 

 tain-general is charged by the king to consult the 

 audience on every extraordinary emergency ; and 

 they enjoy the very uncommon privilege of corre- 

 sponding with his majesty without the knowledge of 

 the governor. 



The members of this audience are distinguished 

 by the title of higknetscs; and, according to a royal 

 decree, ..he viceroys are commanded to treat them 

 \vith all respect, as their brethren, and as magistrates 



whom the king honours with his confidence ; to ad- Caraccas. 

 mit them immediately whenever they visit them, and --~y~*"' 

 listen to them as fathers, chiefs, protectors, and pre- 

 sidents. 



The Cabihlos are courts invested with the charge 

 of police and of municipal affairs in the different 

 towns, villages, and districts. They are composed 

 in general of alcades in ordinary t or municipal offi- 

 cers, regidors, and a syndic. By the constitution of 

 the cabildos of Caraccas, the governor is president of 

 all the cabildos within his district. The alcades are 

 elected every year, on the first of January. In 

 places which have no cabildos, the police, and admi- 

 nistration of justice, is committed to a lieutenant of 

 justice, whose jurisdiction generally extends over 

 three or four villages, For the exercise of his au- 

 thority, which is almost unlimited, the lieutenant of 

 justice is accountable only to the governor. His of- 

 fice continues for two years, but he may be re-elect- 

 ed. 



The forms and proceedings of all these tribu- 

 nals are complicated, tedious, and expensive. No 

 nation is so much addicted to litigation as the Spa- 

 nish, both in Europe and America ; hence the num- 

 ber of judges, advocates, attornies, notaries, scriven- 

 ers, alguazils, and clerks, is quite incalculable, and 

 the citizens arc divided into two classes, one of which 

 is duped and ruined by the chicanery of the other, 

 which supports and enriches itself by the follies and 

 misery of the simple and litigious. 



There is perhaps no country where an invading Military 

 army would meet with fewer obstacles than in Ca- establiin- 

 raccas. Its sea-ports, indeed, are in general pretty nient. 

 well fortified, and might repel, with considerable 

 success, an attack upon the single point in which 

 they are situated. But their great distance from each 

 other would render them totally useless for general 

 defence. On the wide extent of shore, many places 

 would be found of easy debarkation ; and, with pro- 

 per guides, a hostile army might, with the utmost 

 facility, overrun a country abounding in every kind 

 of provisions, while its protecting force, at the best 

 but small, would be rendered still less efficient, by 

 being distributed in a number of remote garrisons. 



The defence of all the provinces included in the 

 government of Caraccas is committed to the captain- 

 general. The governors of particular provinces may 

 adopt such provisional measures as exigences require; 

 but for these measures they are accountable to the 

 captain-general, whose orders they must eventually 

 execute. One great and obvious disadvantage attends 

 this system. The immense distance by which the 

 provinces are separated, prevents the union of their 

 forces without much difficulty and delay ; while the 

 governors are often prevented from adopting the pro- 

 per provisional measures, by the fear of giving of- 

 fence to their superior. But were there nothing to 

 prevent the united action of the whole military force 

 of Caraccas, it would still be very inadequate to the 

 defence of such an extensive and valuable country. 

 The whole army consists of 13,136 men, who, be- 

 fore the present civil war, were distributed among- 

 the different provinces in the following proportions : 

 In Caraccas audits environs, 918 troops of the line, 

 900 artillerymen, 1630 militia; in Valencia, 15"0 



