INTRODUCTION. 103 
the neighbouring friendly provinces and kingdoms. Both building 
and repairing will be done for a fourth of what they cost now, from 
the facility afforded by machinery, which till this time you have 
never employed at all. Then will the monopolist be degraded and 
shamed. Then he who thinks he knows all things, ignorant that he 
knows nothing, will humble himself before his Creator, and bless the 
day in which Omnipotence permitted the veil of obscurity which so 
long hid the truth from your eyes under the despotism of Spain, the 
abominable tyranny of the Inquisition, and the want of the liberty 
of the press, which your government has now secured to you for 
the instruction and happiness of the public, to be torn aside. 
“ Let the duties be as moderate as the government seems inclined 
to make them, in order to promote the greatest possible consumption 
of foreign and domestic goods for the convenience and the luxury 
of the town; then smuggling will cease, and the returns to the 
treasury will increase ; and let every man be permitted to do as he 
pleases in his own property, views, and interests, because every 
individual will watch over his own with more zeal than senates, 
ministers, or kings. Set an example by your enlarged views to the 
New World; and thus, as Guayaquil is by its situation the Central 
Republic, so it will become the centre of the agriculture, commerce, 
and riches of this portion of the globe. 
“ Guayaquilenos ! the liberality of your sentiments, and the justice 
of your opinions and acts, are a bulwark to your independence and 
liberty, more secure than armies and squadrons can afford. 
« That you may pursue the road that will render you as free and 
happy as the territory you possess is fertile and may be productive, 
is the sincere wish of your obliged friend and servant, 
“ CocHRANE.” 
I have translated this paper to show the spirit in which Lord Coch- 
rane dealt with the South American provinces. No petty intrigues, 
or bargaining for power or personal advantages, which, situated as he 
was, he might have commanded to any extent; but contenting 
