WAR OF EMANCIPATIOiV. 305 



Acts of the above description, more es- 

 pecially when they were approved of by 

 the ruling authorities of Spain, tended of 

 course to exasperate the Spanish Ameri- 

 cans; to stimulate them not only to un- 

 sheath their swords, but to throw away the 

 scabbards; and to render the contest which 

 had commenced, one of victory or death. 

 It is painful to humanity to contemplate 

 the excesses by which this contest was, in 

 the course of its progress, disgraced ; nor 

 can the Spanish American Independents 

 be held, in this respect, altogether blame- 

 less. It may be said, however, with truth, 

 in their behalf, that they were first insti- 

 gated to acts not justifiable by the usages 

 of civilized warfare, by the cruelties and 

 shameless breaches of faith of the royalists. 



I now return to the series of events in 

 Spanish America. Some months after the 



VOL. I. X ; 



