Upon the breaking out of the Spanish revolution, the resentment of the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres was di verted from the English, and fixed upon the ruler of France. The plan of Bonaparte had no sooner been 'accomplished against the royal family of Spain, than French agents were dispersed throughout the Spanish American colonies, to obtain from the different govern ments a recognition of Joseph Bonaparte as their right ful sovereign. One of these had been received by Li niers, who was evidently well inclined towards France. and who waited only for the issue of the contest to ac knowledge the strongest ; but as he had, at the same time, received instructions from the council of the In dies to proclaim Ferdinand VII., he was obliged to com ply ; and the ceremony was performed with solemnities and public rejoicings. But notwithstanding the known principles of the governor, the patriotic cause daily ac quired strength ; and it soon became as unpopular to speak French as it ever had been to speak English. Arrangements were even made with the government of Brazil, for opening Buenos Ayres to British and Portu guese ships. Liniers, however, soon showed himself hostile to these measures of reconciliation. He entrap ped and sent to sea some members of the Cabildo, who opposed the recognition of Bonaparte ; and prohibited the admission of all British goods into the La Plata. Affairs continued in this disturbed state until the 22d of May 1810, when a complete revolution took place in the government of this settlement. At a meeting of the inhabitants held with the consent of the viceroy, it was resolved to appoint a superior junta, who should exercise the powers of government until the establish ment of a general junta for the viceroyalty. This body were bound by oath, faithfully to discharge their func tions, punctually to observe the laws of the kingdom, and to maintain the integrity of that part of the domi nions of America, in favour of their beloved sovereign, Ferdinand VII. In a proclamation which they issued upon entering into office, they declared their intention of increasing the force of the country; and required, in the first place, that all persons between IS and 40 years of age, who were without any visible means of livelihood, or were unemployed in the public service, or in any profession, should immediately enrol themselves. " The nations of the old world," said the junta, " never wit nessed a spectacle so affecting as that which we have exhibited. \Vhen your spirit was supposed to be com pletely exhausted by the affliction you were plunged into by the melancholy-situation of the Peninsula, you, by an heroic effort, resolved to avenge so many misfor tunes, and to teach the general oppressor of Europe, that the American character opposes to his ambition a still stronger barrier than the immense ocean, which has hitherto set bounds to his enterprizes." At the same time, however, that the junta declared their attachment to Ferdinand VII., a general disposi tion seemed to prevail among the prol,inces to shake off their dependence upon the mother country, until that monarch should be restored to his throne. They accordingly refused to admit Don Xavier de Elio, who had been appointed by the regency of Spain to take pos session of the viceroyalty, leaving the acknowledgment of the regency, and consequently the viceroy's appoint ment, to the decision of the representative assembly, which was about to be held at Buenos Ayres. But the junta, in their answer to Lord Strangford's offer of me diation between them and the Peninsula, plainly inti mate a determination to resist all authority which the government of Cadiz may assume in the direction of their affairs. " The Peninsula," say they, " is no more than a part of the Spanish monarchy, and that so maim ed, that it would be no small concession to put it upon an equality with America. It therefore follows, from this principle, that the Peninsula cannot hold any au thority over America, nor this over that." The govern ment of Monte Video, however, which had at first re solved to adhere to the proceedings of the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres, now received Elio as viceroy, and determined to acknowledge the regency of Spain. llos tilities were, consequently, commenced between the two Buenos Ayres was blockaded by a squadron of English, Spanish, and Portuguese vessels. Frequent skirmishes took place between the troops of the junta and the Monte Vidcans, in which the former in general had the advantage ; and, in a battle fought on the 13th of May at Las Piedras, Elio's force was complete ly defeated, when Monte Video was immediately in vested by the Buenos Ayres army under General Arte gas. Several actions had also been fought by the revo lutionists and the troops of Peru; the viceroy of that country having successfully checked, for a time, all at tempts at a reformation in the government, and endea voured to enforce the authority of the regency upon the other provinces. After various successes, the revolu tionary army tinder Castelli (who had been appointed generalissimo by the junta) sustained a complete defeat from the Peruvians under Ygoneche ; and it is said that Castelli and General Balcarse continued their flight for 100 leagues, without waiting for any of their followers ! This disaster, and the discouragements which the be sieging army before Monte Video had experienced from the strength of the place, and the facility with which supplies were obtained from Brazil, together with the bombardment of Buenos Ayres, which had commenced on the 14th of July by the command of Elio, induced the junta to listen to terms of accommodation. Elio had taken advantage of the present unprosperous state of affairs, and had sent two senior officers, who were his prisoners, to propose a negotiation ; intimating, at the same time, that he was not averse to the formation of juntas in the colonies, provided that fit boundaries were assigned to their functions, and proper restrictions were applied to their powers. The proposal was assented to by the junta; and the first conference between the vice roy and their accredited agent was to be held on board the Nereus British frigate, then lying in the La Plata, in August 1811. Of the result of this conference, how
ever, no account has been yet received in this country ; but by the latest intelligence from this quarter, dated September, we learn, that sanguine hopes were enter tained by the inhabitants of both cities, that it would lead to a speedy and amicable accommodation.
Whatever be the fate of this country—whether it shall again acknowledge its subjection to the Spanish mo narchy, or erect itself into a separate and independent state, the enlightened proceedings of the provisional junta will ever be remembered with gratitude and ad miration by every friend of humanity and freedom, but particularly by the posterity of the present oppressed and degraded sons of America. " We have beheld with regret," says the new government, in their decree of September 1811, "the miserable and debased condition of the race of Indians. Those our brothers, who are certainly the first-born sons of America, were excluded from the blessings and advantages of their native soil, and made the victims of ambition. They were not only buried in the most ignominious slavery', but were con demned to glut the avarice and luxury of their oppres sors. A fate so humiliating could not fail to interest the sensibility' of a government, which endeavoured to pro mote the general happiness of the country, by carrying into effect the same liberal principles to which it owed its formation, and which must produce itS continuance and felicity. The government, deeply impressed with these principles, and desirous of adopting all the means calculated to restore the Indians to their primitive rights, have declared them as capable of rising to all the ranks, offices, and posts, which have been the birth-right of Spaniards, as any other class of the inhabitants : and, to destroy the last link of the chain of servitude, have resolved, that henceforth, in all time coming, the tri bute which the Indians paid to the crown of Spain shall be abolished in all the districts of the provinces united to the existing government of the river Plata." We shall now conclude this article with a short ac count of the government and revenues of this viceroy alty, as they existed before its separation from the pa rent state.
The government of Buenos Ayres is vested in a vice roy, who represents the person of the Spanish monarch. and who exercises the supreme authority in every depart ment of the state, civil, military, and criminal. Ilc possesses the power, and is surrounded with all the splendour and dignity of a sovereign prince ; and though his salary is extremely moderate, not exceeding 40,000 ducats, yet, from the numerous opportunities which he possesses of accumulating wealth, he may raise an an nual revenue superior to that of any European subject. It is a common saying among the Spaniards : " The legal revenues of a viceroy are known, but his real pro fits depend upon his opportunities and his conscience." He is generally nominated only for three years, though he is sometimes enabled to purchase a prolongation of his government, by his influence at the court of Spain. The administration of justice is entrusted to the royal audiences of Buenos Ayres and Los Charcas, who take cognizance of all civil and criminal causes.—Their sen tence is final in all lawsuits concerning property, not exceeding 10,000 piastres in value ; but if the subject of dispute exceeds that sum, the cause may be carried by appeal before the royal council of the Indies in Spain. Those tribunals have the power of remonstrating against any of the political regulations of the viceroy, which in volve in them a question of civil right, and of laying the matter before the king and the council of the Indies. They possess also the more substantial prerogative, of exercising all the functions of viceregal authority, upon the death of a viceroy, until another is appointed by- the king. Each province has a governor, who is subject to the commands of the viceroy, and amenable to his juris diction ; and subordinate to these are magistrates of va rious orders and denominations.—" Every department of domestic police and finance," says Wilcocke, " is en cumbered with a variety of tribunals, and of officers, multiplied with anxious attention, from the jealous spi rit with which Spain watches over her American settle ments, and from her endeavours to guard against fraud in provinces so remote from inspection." And NI. Azara, speaking on the same subject, says, " On erigea tam de tribunaux, et on multiplia tellement les employ6s de tous cotes, qu'il me serait impossible de les compter." The ecclesiastical establishment of Buenos Ayres equals in power and splendour that of any kingdom in Europe. The Indians are attracted by the magnificence and pageantry of its rites; and the superstitious libe rality of the American Spaniards Ws adorned their ca thedrals and churches with the most profuse magnifi cence. The tithes, which are exacted with the utmost rigour, are almost entirely devoted to the support of the hierarchy ; but while the dignitaries of the church are endowed with splendid incomes, many of the inferior orders are allowed to languish in poverty and depen dence. One fourth of the tithes is allotted to the bishop of the diocese ; another fourth to the dean and chapter, and other officers of the cathedral ; and the remaining half is divided into nine equal parts ; two of which arc paid to the crown, under the name of los dos novcnos reales ; and the other seven arc applied to the mainte nance of the parochial clergy, the erection and support of churches, and other pious uses. Numerous monas teries and convents are scattered throughout the whole viceroyalty, which have proved most inimical to the prosperity and population of the country. The supersti tion and misguided zeal of the European Spaniards are Ear surpassed by their brethren in America ; and even the most remote and desert provinces are filled with these mansions of bigotry and sloth.