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INTRODUCTION. 



vited; and to the uninterrupted calm of ages, by which 

 the human mind came to be deprived of its energy. 

 One part of America could be turned against another; 

 and from the vast extent of the Spanish possessions, 

 and their separation by almost impassable boundaries, 

 their was little likelihood of their making a common 

 cause. Perhaps the most powerful auxiliary was 

 the great number of European Spaniards, indepen- 

 dently of those in office, distributed throughout the 

 Indies. Another cause may be mentioned; which is, 

 that they required the protection of Spain from foreign 

 aggression; bat they did not see that they were ex- 

 posed to this, chiefly on account of their connexion 

 with her, that whenever they have been molested, it has 

 been on account of quarrels between Spain and some 

 European power. 



It is most truly observed by Mr. Rodney, "that 

 this state of things would long have continued but for 

 events in this country and changes in Europe." The 

 failure of the revolution in Caraccas in 1798, proves that 

 the great body of the people were not then prepared for 

 independence. They required the powerful excite- 

 ment of some event, whose shock would produce an 

 effect similar to that of galvanism to the apparently 

 dead, in order to awaken in them political life; or as 

 they express it themselves, to cause a regeneration. 

 Such a one was presented in the captivity of Ferdi- 

 nand, and the acts of that singular political drama, 

 when the Spanish monarchy seemed to be threatened 

 with dissolution. It was now seen that there was no 

 want of susceptibility, and that all that was requisite 

 in the first instance, was some event of transcendant 

 interest. Their enthusiasm, even exceeded that of 



