VALENCIA. 329 



Valencia, under the command of the Mar- 

 ques del Toro, who was soon afterwards 

 superseded by General Miranda. The latter 

 general stormed the town ; but in conse- 

 quence of the resistance he met with, he 

 was compelled to retire four leagues, to Ma- 

 riana, on the road to Caraccas ; and it was 

 not till the following month that he was 

 enabled to obtain possession of Valencia. 



The next measure of material importance 

 regarded the formation of a constitution for 

 securing the freedom of Venezuela. There 

 w^s a numerous party in favour of a federal 

 one, which opinion had been strenuously 

 supported and disseminated by means of a 

 series of essays, inserted during several 

 successive months in the Caraccas Gazette, 

 and written by a native of Ireland, of the 

 name of Burke. A correspondence, with a 

 view to the same object, had also been 

 carried on by Don F. X. Ustariz, who had 



