( 346 ) 



counted suspicious, and they were sent, without any form of trial, or the slightest 

 public allegations, to the peninsula, where their common fate was, either impri^ 

 sonment,or service in the ranks of the armies. Foreigners were persecuted in an equal 

 degree, although many of them claimed protection on the ground of their former 

 public services, or on that of having married and settled in the territory a consi- 

 derable time previous. 



The natural result of all this was, that the authority of the Viceroy was over- 

 thrown at the first shock. The 1 9th of May, 1 8 1 o, was the day which put to the 

 proof that old system which had rendered itself so odious : very dismal accounts had 

 been received of the state of the mother-country, and principally of the Anda- 

 lusias, the provinces that had made most stir in America : Cadiz was said to have 

 surrendered, and the Central Junta dispersed, not only with ignominy, but under 

 suspicions of treason. In this conjuncture, the Viceroy knew not what road to 

 take ; and his perplexity was manifested to the people by a proclamation, in which 

 he expressed his concern respecting the precarious state of the peninsula, and, far 

 from quieting their apprehensions, gave the most evident proofs of his own doubts 

 and dejection. The Cabildo saw the necessity of immediately assembling to de- 

 liberate on the measures to be taken for preventing the multitude from forming a 

 party of themselves to seize the government, for the continuation of which, as 

 the fountain of authority was stopped, the men who held it could establish no 

 claim. It is evident that, according to every principle of right, the magistrates 

 could no longer exercise their functions, and that, the Central Junta being dis- 

 solved, Cisneros had no more title to the supreme administration of these provinces 

 than the meanest citizen of Buenos Ayres. So far was this ferment from origin- 

 ating in any desire of independence which might be supposed to exist among the 

 natives, that not a thing was done without the assent and concurrence of the chief, 

 M'ith whom all the individuals of the Cabildo, the majority of whom were Euro- 

 pean Spaniards, consulted, and, in conformity with him, convoked a congress on 

 the 2 2d of the same month, at which the principal inhabitants assisted, in com- 

 pliance with a citation made to that effect. 



To the proceedings of this day, the Provisional Junta of Government now reign- - 

 ing in those provinces owes its origin : it was installed legitimately, and under the 

 best auspices, for restoring tranquillity to the people, and for withdrawing them 

 from that dangerous state into which they might at every step be thrown by the 

 vicissitudes of the metropolis. Not a single instance of violence can be found to 

 have taken place during that momentous crisis ; and the magistrates, under the old 

 system, have had no reason to complain of any vexation, except that of being 



