NEW,

A provincial government of Spanish America. At its first settlement it was usually denominated Terra Firma, at which time it included what is now the province of Caraccas, and the provinces in the isthmus of Darien. Since it has been erected into a viceroyalty, it has been called sometimes the kingdom of Santa Fé, but more correctly, the new kingdom of Granada. The northern extremity of this kingdom is in the 12th of north latitude, and the southern 39° 30' south latitude. Its length is about 1070 English miles, and its mean breadth about 280 miles. On the eastern side the boundaries of Granada are the Portuguese provinces on the banks of the Maranon or River of Amazons, Spanish Guyana, and the province of Caraccas. On the south it is bounded by the River Amazons, from its junction with the River Negro. Its western boundary is the Pacific Ocean from Golfo-Dolce, between Costarica and Veragua, where it joins Guatemala, to the port of Payta, which divides it from Peru. On the north it is bounded by the Caribbean Sea, from Cape de la Vela to the River Culebras. The whole extent is about 64,500 square leagues.

No part of the globe furnishes a greater variety both of soil and climate, and in no other part can every production of every country be produced so well as in this viceroyalty. This arises from the great inequalities in the surface of the country, for it contains, within its limits, mountains, till lately supposed to be the highest in the world; and though it is now ascertained, that they are exceeded in height by those of Tartary, they may still be classed among the most singular productions of nature. As climate is regulated by elevation as much as by latitude, the inhabitants of New Granada may be said to live in the extremes of heat and cold, and in all the different degrees of temperature which are to be found between the two extremes of habitable countries. The situation of these mountains, their elevation, and their peculiar formation, as well as their productions, have received much light from the journeys of Baron Humboldt, whose patient and laborious investigations have been communicated to the public.

Although these stupendous chains of mountains extend through the whole of America, they attain their greatest elevation in the kingdom of New Granada, where the cone of Chimborazo reaches the height of 21,440 feet above the level of the sea. From the equator they insensibly decline in elevation, both towards the south and the north, till, in the latter direction, they dwindle into slight hills in the province of Choco. From the sources of the rivers St Juan and Atrato in that province, where the communication between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean may be most easily effected, the mountains begin again to raise themselves, and increase in elevation as the chain passes through the centre of the isthmus of Panama. They rise still higher in the province of Veragua and Costarica, continue increasing through the viceroyalty of Guatemala, and then entering Mexico, branch off in various directions, which will be noticed under the article MEXICO. As these chains of mountains are extended to the south, they decline in height, in a similar manner, so that, gradually lessening, they almost wholly disappear in Terra Magellanica, the southernmost extremity of the Continent. There are three ridges or chains of mountains passing from north to south through New Granada. There are, indeed, projections from these of considerable extent and magnitude, which protrude into the surrounding country, and sometimes break the continuity of the valleys which separate the chains; but to have a clear conception of their configuration, it will be better to follow the mode of classification which is adopted by Humboldt. The westernmost chain of the Andes in New Granada runs parallel to the Pacific Ocean at the distance of 150 miles: it begins in the neighbourhood of Cartagena, to the westward of it, separates the River Cauca from the province of Choco, and proceeds to the southward till it unites with the other two branches in the province of Popayan, whence they proceed in a single ridge till they have passed the equator, when they divide again into two ridges in the province of Quito. It is in that district that the greatest elevations are found, in the cones of Chimborazo 21,440 feet, Cayambe-Urcu 19,386 feet, Antisana 19,146 feet, Cotopaxi 18,891 feet, and Illinissa 17,240 feet. There the volcanoes are most numerous and striking, and there the inhabitants are most frequently exposed to the devastations of earthquakes. In passing between the province of Choco and the river Cauca, the Andes scarce ever reach beyond the height of 4500 feet.

The central ridge of the Andes begins at the Sierra-nevada in the province of Santa Marta, whose highest peak is 16,000 feet above the level of the sea, and, as the limit of perpetual snow in that latitude is about 15,000 feet, its top is to be seen constantly white, and exhibiting a beautiful contrast to the deep azure of the cloudless sky. In its progress it separates the River Cauca from the Magdalena, till, beyond the sources of both these rivers, it unites with the other parallel ridges. It is the highest of the three; some of its loftiest points enter the regions of eternal frost and snow; and such are its asperities and precipices, that no one has ever ventured to pass from the Cauca to the Magdalena over this cordillera. The eastern ridge separates the River Magdalena from the plains on which the River Meta rises. It begins near Cape de la Vela, passes through the province of Merida and Santa Fé, and unites with the other two branches in Popayan. It is less elevated than the central ridge, but considerably higher than the western. None of its highest peaks ascend to the limits of perpetual snow, nor are estimated at more than 12,000 feet above the level of the sea.

Besides these chains of mountains which run from north to south, others run from west to east, and enter the province of Venezuela; one beginning near the River Atrato forms the sierras of Abibé and of Cauca, crosses the River Magdalena, forms a narrow chain on the coast to Cape de la Vela, where it separates into two ridges, and they continue through Caraccas and Cumana, till they terminate near the Gulf of Paria in the Atlantic Ocean.

Another part of the Andes, though but a small portion of them is within the new kingdom of Granada, may not be improperly noticed here. It is called the Cordillera of the cataracts of the Orinoco. It runs between the 3° and 6° of northern latitude, contains the sources of the great River Meta, of the Guaviare, and of the Zama, and occasions the tremendous cataracts of Maypuré and Aturé. As it bends towards the southward it increases in height, and becomes extended in breadth, stretching towards the boundaries of the Portuguese territories. It has not yet been traced in many of its directions. It borders the uninhabited country in which the unknown sources of the Orinoco are supposed to be situated. It then extends to the eastward, and soon bends to the southward, passing the lake Parimé, and the hill of Ucucuamo, which, being formed of shining yellow mica, gave birth to those fables of an El Dorado, or Golden Region, which misled the great Sir Walter Raleigh, and a crowd of inferior adventurers. The Rivers Demerara, Berbice, and others in English, Dutch, and French Guyana, are supposed to derive their waters from some of the branches of this Cordillera.

The stupendous mountains of New Granada, from the quantity of snow which the direct rays of the sun perpetually dissolve on the higher points, and from the vapours which are collected by the whole of them, form reservoirs, from which are supplied those astonishing rivers which water all the valleys and plains of this immense continent.

In treating of the rivers which issue from these mountains, we remark, first, the Purumayo and the Cageta in the south, which rise in the mountains of Pastos, and, passing over an extensive plain, unite with the river of Amazons, and which are capable of being navigated almost to their sources. In the same direction, the Guaviare, a branch of the Orinoco, and the great river Meta, have their origin. They spring from that mass of the Cordilleras which touches the provinces of Neyva or Timona; they unite their streams at Carichina, and, running through their whole extent, over a country perfectly level, are capable of being used for purposes of internal navigation; and will, at some future period, probably, afford an easy access to the cities of Popayan, Santa Fé, and Quito. The rivers Cauca and Magdalena both rise near each other in the province of Popayan, in the vicinity of the capital, from the mountains of Guanacas. These two rivers are separated from each other by the impassable chain of the central Andes, till they have passed the Sierra of Guamosco, a little to the south of Mompox, where the two streams unite, and run to the Caribbean Sea. The two rivers collect such vast quantities of water from the draining of the mountains which border them, whose streams run with a rapidity correspondent to the height from which they descend, and the valleys through which they pass are so confined, that the rapidity of their currents renders the upward navigation extremely difficult, while the descent is proportionally easy. From the city of Honda, the passage to Cartagena, or Santa Marta, may be made in eight or ten days, whilst it occupies more than thirty days, and requires the severe labour of numerous rowers, to return, in the most favourable seasons; but, when the waters are much swollen, as is the case at some seasons, it requires months to perform the voyage, and is attended with great danger and many inconveniences. The river Atrato, at the foot of the western Cordilleras, passes through one of the richest countries of the globe, both for its vegetable productions and for its mines of gold and of platina, which last mineral is exclusively found in the province of Choco, in which this river is placed. It is principally remarkable on account of the vicinity of its source to that of the river St Juan, which runs into the Pacific Ocean. The small rivulet St Pablo nearly unites them in the rainy season; and, to consummate the junction, a priest of one of the parishes has dug a small canal, by which the productions of the eastern have been carried to the western shores of America. By the narrow policy of Spain, both these rivers were forbidden to be navigated, because they were supposed favourable for contraband trade; and, though the restriction has been removed of late, the troubles which have agitated that country have prevented any great use being made of the channel of communication.

The other rivers whose copious streams water this favoured country are the Julia and the Catatumbo, which discharge themselves into the Gulf of Maracaybo; the Pedral or Sogamoso, and the Suarez, which run into the Magdalena and the Casanare; the Apure, and a multitude of smaller streams, which, in Europe, would be considered important rivers, that discharge their waters by the channel of the Meta into the Orinoco.

Europeans, accustomed to behold the constant succession of seasons, can scarcely believe that, in the midst of the torrid zone, which they suppose to be visited with the eternal ardours of a burning sun, all the fruits of our climate can be produced in their fullest perfection at all periods. The succession of flowers, of fruits, and of pastures, is constant; and, within the same horizon, they may be seen budding, flowering, and bearing ripened and unripened fruits at the same time. Even the same tree may be seen in flower, with green and with ripe fruits, without any sensible declension in its vegetative faculties being perceived to arise from this constant reproduction. Although vegetation is constant through the whole of the new kingdom, there is a considerable difference arising from the influence of climate, which is created by the various bendings and aspects of the mountains, by the height of the station, the winds which prevail, and other local circumstances. We may experience the temperatures of all the climates of the world within the compass of a few leagues and their various productions may all be cultivated within the same limited space.

The parts of the country which are on the sea-coast experience great heat, but much tempered by the sea breezes in the day, and by the land winds at night, which latter, blowing from the cold and often snowy mountains, convey a coolness that is both refreshing to the senses, and salutary to the constitution. In the wet or warm season, at Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Maracaybo, Fahrenheit's thermometer varies from 85 to 90, and seldom rises higher than 94; and the degree of heat is nearly the same every where at the foot of the Cordilleras. In ascending the mountains, the thermometer gradually descends to the lowest point of congelation. A little below this point of congelation, nature seems to have lavished her bounties, by bestowing extensive plains of perpetual verdure, watered with innumerable rivulets, which descend from the snowy mountains most copiously at the warmest seasons, when they are most needed, and most beneficial.

The breadth of the Cordilleras is generally about 160 miles, and in no part much less than 100. There is, consequently, a sufficient portion of that moderate elevation and temperature which best comports with the subsistence and health of man. These positions are called by the inhabitants cold lands, to distinguish them from the tropical climates which are at the foot of the Cordilleras. The temperature varies but little. In a course of observations made daily for two years, at Santa Fé de Bogota, the thermometer never descended below 59, and never ascended more than three degrees above that point, in an apartment, the windows of which were always open. The greatest depression was in the months of June, July, and August, and the greatest elevation in January, February, and March. The city of Santa Fé is about 8700 feet above the level of the sea. The districts of Tunja, Pamplona, Merida, and Timana, are at nearly the same height; whilst Popayan is about two thousand feet lower. These are by far the most populous portions of New Granada, and what we remark of their productions will apply equally to all, with the exception of those parts which are at the foot of the mountains, in what is properly denominated by the inhabitants the hot countries.

From the equality of temperature, and from the abundant means of irrigation which the melted snow from the mountains produces, the vegetative power continues in equal operation during the whole year. As the leaves fall from the trees, new ones are constantly shooting forth, so that a superficial observer would suppose no change took place. The meadows are covered with an unvarying verdure, composed of grasses of great variety, and of odoriferous plants, which produce most rapid improvement in the cattle sent from the lower countries to be fattened on them.

The vegetable productions of the best peopled divisions of New Granada are similar to those of Europe. They have abundance of apples, pears, peaches, plumbs, figs, cherries, &c. and they are in bearing through the whole year. Wheat is both good and productive, and might be reaped in every month, but by a kind of understood agreement between the cultivators themselves, and between the masters and servants, it is sowed but twice, and they have one wheat harvest in January and the second in August. Humboldt, after diligent inquiry into the increase of wheat in different countries, states it in France, Germany, and Poland, to be from 5 to 6 for 1; in Hungary, Croatia, and Sclavonia, 8 to 10 for 1; in La Plata 12 for 1; in Northern Mexico 16 for 1, in Equinoxial Mexico 24 for 1; and in the province of Pasto, in New Granada, he says they commonly produce 25, and, in fertile years, 35 for 1.

Barley is sowed in every month of the year. It is not used as food for man, but is grown near the cities, and cut in a green state for the horses of the richer class. None is suffered to stand till harvest, except sufficient to furnish seed for the green crops of the following year. The markets of the cities of Santa Fé, Quito, and Popayan, are furnished with varieties of fruits which can meet in no other countries. The apples and pears of Europe, cherries and strawberries, are to be seen with plantains, bananas, guavas, pine-apples, and the other productions of the tropical regions.

The potatoes, for which Europe is indebted to New Granada, are there of two species, though of the same genus. One, called Papas de Anno, is the same as has been transplanted and diffused through America and Europe, and which has numerous varieties. The other is called Papas de Criollas; they are more delicate of flavour, easier to be applied to various kinds of cookery, and so abundant in their increase as to obtain a general preference over every other vegetable as food for the inhabitants. These criollas are to be found in every altitude of the cold regions, even in those situations which are too cold for human existence. The seed from higher regions is necessary every year to renew them in the lower, when those produced there will not grow. The primitive stock maintains itself in the highest situations in all the openings of the woods: it is known as the Papa Silvestris, and is probably the origin of all the different species of that useful plant, which has become diffused throughout the world.

A most important vegetable production to the inhabitants of Santa Fé, is a root known there by the Indian name of Arracacha. It resembles somewhat the European celery, but grows to a much larger size, is of various colours, and branches out, in different directions, in shoots which, both in shape and size, resemble the horn of a large cow. Its flavour is pleasant, and it is accounted most nutritious, and is given to the sick and the convalescent on account of its lightness of digestion.

Olives, vines, oranges, and lemons, do not arrive at perfection on the elevated lands, and the inhabitants have no inducement to force them by artificial means, as they are abundantly and cheaply supplied from the warm regions which are within a few leagues of them. Such is the bounty of nature in dispensing her fruits, that little attention is given or required by man: the trees are never grafted nor the fields manured. Although Cocoa is very generally produced in every warm climate, yet from peculiarity of situation in the province of Guayaquil, one of the divisions of New Granada, it is raised with more facility, in greater quan- tities and of better quality than in any other part of the world. It delights in a moist soil, a warm climate, and requires shelter from the direct rays of the sun to bring it to full perfection. No other care is required in its cultivation, than to keep the ground clear of weeds, and to plant the shrub under the shade of some high trees. It usually grows from ten to sixteen feet in height, and occasionally attains to eighteen feet. It is divided into four or five branches as soon as it shoots up. The leaf is from four to six inches in length, and in breadth two-thirds the length, in colour like the orange, but somewhat lighter. The pods which contain the cocoa grow both from the stem and the branches, to about six inches in length, sometimes singly, but sometimes two in a cluster, when the smaller of the two does not ripen, the larger one appearing to extract the whole nutritive matter. The pod at first is of a deep green, but as it advances to maturity, gradually changes to a yellow colour. The pods are considered pleasant fruit, containing a substance of a viscid kind, in which the seeds are found. When first gathered, the seeds are very soft, being contained in a thin and transparent skin: they are dried in the sun, and in a short period become fit to be packed for the various markets which they are destined to supply. The cocoa trees yield two crops in each year, and both of equal goodness and abundance.

The most extraordinary production in the vicinity of the cocoa district is a species of grass called Gama-lote; its blade resembles barley, but is longer, broader, thicker, and rougher. It grows in many places, and attains the prodigious height of eight or nine feet. In the time of the inundations it is beaten down, and becomes rotten, but as soon as the water has subsided and it begin to get dry, the heat of the sun produces a quickness of vegetation unknown to any other tribe of vegetables. In a few days it shoots up to its natural growth, and then furnishes to the proprietors of cattle the most nutritious means for fattening them that is known in any part of the world. Among the curious productions of this favoured climate, one deserves notice on account of its singularity and utility. On a shrub called Ubillo, similar to the Uva-espina, small berries are produced of a blackish colour, and very abundant. From the juice of this berry, without any other operation than merely expressing it, an excellent ink is procured. On its first application to paper, it assumes a scarlet colour, but by a short exposure to the air it becomes a beautiful black. Its colour is so durable, that when the hands are stained with it, great pains and much time is required to remove the stain. The berry is sometimes dried and reduced to powder, which is converted into a very useful portable ink, by the addition of water alone. The government is so satisfied with the durable colour of this ink, that the Viceroy of Santa Fé has issued a decree, which is still in force, forbidding any other ink to be used in the public records but that which is prepared from this berry. A tree called Tibar has its wood of a deep mulberry colour; it is beautifully veined and almost incorruptible; it is used for furniture to some small extent, but if introduced in more polished countries, would probably become an article of active commerce. A most valuable production is the plant called Trezlejon. It is about six feet in height, has no leaves except at the top, where they grow in a bunch, each leaf a foot and half broad, covered with white and soft cotton like down. It is a resinous plant, and a gum of delicate whiteness and great purity exudes from it. Those who travel in the mountainous countries use the down on the leaves to make beds; the leaves form coverings for their huts; the wood supplies them with fuel, and the gum is used for illumination in the churches, and on occasions of public festivals in the streets. The most important vegetable production of New Granada is the Cinchona, or Jesuits' bark, a production which has conferred most extensive benefits on the whole human race. The tree from which the bark is produced is called, in Santa Fé, Palo de Calenturas by the Spaniards, and Cascara de Loxa by the Indians. It grows principally on the mountains which surround the city of Loxa, in the southernmost part of the viceroyalty; but became known in Europe by the name of Peruvian bark, from that province having, at the period of Pizarro's conquest, formed a recent addition to the empire of the Incas. The tree is of a moderate height; its trunk is short, and produces several branches; the leaves are smooth, entire, and thick, and in shape resemble the head of a lance; they are about two inches broad, and three long. The top of each branch of the tree bears flowers resembling those of the lavender plant. These flowers turn red, and are succeeded by russet grains, flat, and resembling small leaves. It is difficult to procure these seeds from the tree in a perfect state, because, as they ripen, they immediately fall, and leave the pods dry and empty. The Indians, who knew its virtues, kept this tree long secret from the Spaniards, who only introduced bark into Europe in 1640. The lady of the viceroy having been attacked by a violent fever, the corregidor of Loxa administered the powder, and performed a cure. As she first distributed it, it obtained thereby the name of the countess's powder. In 1649, the procurer-general of the Jesuits of America returned to Rome with a considerable quantity of the powder, which the members of the society dispensed, and cured fevers, as if by magic. Hence, in France it acquired the name of Poudre des peres, and in England of Jesuits' bark. It has been found in other mountains in the equinoctial regions; and the examinations of that able botanist, Dr Mutis of Santa Fé, have been directed with great ability and effect, to discriminate the various species, and to ascertain the efficient value of them.

The plains in the elevated parts of the viceroyalty are admirably calculated for the breeding and fattening of cattle, and the number of sheep and cows is very great. Many individual cultivators have flocks of twenty-five thousand sheep, others more, and even the poorest Indians have large flocks. The flesh is excellent, and the wool furnishes the inhabitants with warm clothing; but by the impolitic laws of Spain, which discourage manufactures in her colonies, no cloth is made; and therefore the domestic manufactories produce only blankets and coverlids, which are afterwards appropriated to clothe the poorer classes. The ewes produce lambs twice in the year, at Christmas and at St John's tide, or the European midsummer.

The black cattle are fattened on the elevated pastures in a very short period; they are brought from the extensive plains in the lower regions for that purpose, and improve rapidly by the change of climate; but whenever the contrary plan is adopted, and the cattle from the hills are sent to the low country, they become lean, sicken, and soon die, from the profuse perspiration which the change creates.

In the best inhabited parts of the viceroyalty, they are neither troubled with muskitos, jegos, or any venomous snakes. Hurricanes, tempests, and earthquakes are unknown near the capital; but the southern part of the country seems to be the theatre on which the latter exhibit their greatest force.

The temperate elevations are peculiarly healthy; the length of human life, and the increase of population consequent upon it, exceeds that in any other part of the Spanish dominions, and perhaps any other country in the globe. The most common disease is the dropsy, which afflicts all ages, but more especially advanced life. It is supposed to arise from that want of due perspiration, which is experienced in a climate of moderate temperature, and of unvaried uniformity. The common cure for this disease is a journey to the warm regions below them; if the removal is made by gradual descents from one warm situation to another, the patient does not suffer, but receives benefit, when thus removed even from extreme cold to extreme heat. Those who are most anxious to preserve their health change their residence from one climate to another annually.

What we have hitherto said relates to the most populous portions of the country, which are situated at the elevation of from 5000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea. The country on the lower levels, such as Carthagena, Santa Marta, Rio de la Hacha, Maracaibo, Panama, and Choco, differ but little in soil, climate, and productions, from the islands in the West Indies, or from the Dutch, French, and English settlements in Guyana.

Those immense plains at the foot of the Cordilleras, which are crossed by the Meta, the Orinoco, and the numerous tributary streams which supply their waters, merit some notice. The whole country is a continued plain, covered with grasses, which grow to such a height and thickness as to be impassable, except on horseback. Travellers who cross them follow each other in single files, each keeping the same track; if they should deviate from it, they are exposed to the danger of losing themselves. These plains are stocked with unreclaimed sheep, horses, and cows in prodigious numbers, luxuriating on the spontaneous productions of the uncultivated and unexhausted soil. On these extensive districts, rich as they are in animal life, and in vegetative power, there are scarcely any owners of land; each takes what extent he pleases, and occupies it without interruption, and without any other measurement, than that of walking round a portion for eight, ten, or twelve days, according to his desire, for more or less extensive tracts. Those who wish to establish a cattle farm, hacienda de ganado, begin by constructing, on the spot they select, a house, the materials for which the palm trees supply them with. A few friends are joined with them, well mounted, and a provision of dried meat is furnished, when they proceed in quest of the cattle to stock the farm. They are easily found, by beating about in the high grass which conceals them; they are driven to the new habitation, are there branded on the horn with a hot iron, or their ears slit in some peculiar manner, so as to be recognised as cattle that have an owner. If they find any previously marked, they are dismissed from the selection, but all the others are considered, when marked, as belonging to the new farm. They frequently select, when driven into a large court or inclosure, such of the cows as are with calf, and are the best, which serve as a breeding stock, and, slaughtering the others, either dry them for distant consumption, or for their own food. Many of these haciendas have belonging to them from 60,000 to 100,000 head of black cattle, all branded or ear-marked. It is found less difficult than would be previously supposed to collect these extensive herds. In the unclaimed state they are not vicious, and, being very well fed, they are not disposed to roam far. They are more easily conducted when in herds than when solitary, and the natives have acquired wonderful dexterity in catching them. The stocking a new hacienda is a kind of holiday, which collects to the spot all the most robust and agile inhabitants of considerable districts; abundance of meat is to be obtained for killing it; the sport is to them highly exhilarating, and the feast is prolonged through many days, accompanied with all the demonstrations of rustic hilarity.

This low country is, however, generally unhealthy, from the great humidity of the climate, the extensive woods, and the periodical inundations. From the month of June to December, the rivers Magdalena, Orinoco, Meta, and others, overflow their banks, and compel the inhabitants to take refuge in their canoes, with which they are all abundantly provided. The humid effects of these inundations remain long after the waters have subsided, and the exhalation from the power of a vertical sun generates diseases, whose effects are exhibited in the pale yellow complexions, and thin bodies of the inhabitants. The females produce but few children, and those of sickly constitutions; and depopulation would ensue without recruits from the higher lands, who are induced to emigrate to the plains by the ease with which all that life absolutely requires can be obtained. It is clear, that not the heat but the humidity of the climate creates the numerous debilitating infirmities of these plains; for in Maracaibo, Santa Marta, Rio de la Hacha, and other places on the banks of the rivers, equally warm, but not subject to inundations, and their consequent humidity, the inhabitants are as healthy, and live as long, as in the more temperate climates, either of the new or the old world.

In these warm countries there are many tigers, resembling those of Africa and Asia in size, and mails. somewhat in fierceness; but in the colour of their skin, and in the spots, are more like the leopards of the ancient continent. They seldom attack human beings, but destroy considerable numbers of horses, cows, and sheep, and especially the wild hogs, which wander in herds of three or four hundred in some districts, and whose flesh and blood the tigers prefer. Some of these tigers, on the sea coast and banks of the rivers where they are abundant, feed on tortoises, they turn them on their backs with much dexterity, and then gorge themselves by sucking their blood at their leisure. No other quadrupeds are known in Santa Fé of the ferocious tribes. There are a few bears in the mountainous parts. They are shy and timid animals, avoiding and never attacking either man or the other inhabitants of the forests.

Besides the animals we have noticed, and which are not indigenous, but derived from the races imported from Europe, there are immense quantities of wild pigs. They are of two species, one of which, contended by some to be of European origin, is gregarious, and resembles ours in shape, but is smaller, is of a chestnut colour, and finds abundant subsistence on the fruits and roots in the forests. The other species is certainly indigenous. It forms burrows in the earth, which are occupied by a single male and female. They never wander far from their dens; they bring forth fewer young than the others, are rather smaller in size, and their flesh is deemed a preferable food.

There are two species of deer, one which wanders in large herds in the woods; the other sedentary, living in retired spots in pairs: both are smaller than the domesticated deer of Europe, and the wandering race the smallest of the two. Another species of deer, without horns, is found on the banks of the Meta and the Orinoco, called Venados Pellones. They are timid and swift, and have not yet been accurately described. They live in the thickest of the woods the greater part of the day, and only come to the savannahs to feed in the morning and evening. The least noise makes them take to flight. They have been classed by some persons as a species of gazelle or antelope; but the only good naturalist that has traversed these plains could not approach near enough to describe them with any confidence in his observation.

Without entering into a circumstantial detail of the indigenous quadrupeds of New Granada, which are well known, we enumerate only some of those whose imperfect description deserve to be rectified, which we are enabled to do from the manuscripts of Don Pedro Vargas, a natural historian of considerable knowledge.

The Danta, or great beast, is one of those animals which most abounds in the marshy meadows and low plains of Santa Fé. This animal, which Buffon describes under the pompous title of the Elephant of the New World, is easily domesticated, and lives in the houses with the familiarity of a dog. He knows those who benefit him, and demonstrates his gratitude by numerous unequivocal symptoms. "I have seen one," says the naturalist just mentioned, "which went loose about the house, absented himself for several days occasionally in the woods, and returned when he chose it without compulsion. When after a drought, in which he appeared heavy and torpid, there was an appearance of rain, he seemed singularly enlivened and animated, and with evident delight ran about, turning up with his snout the straw and other light substances that lay about the farm-yard, in the same manner as the pigs did in similar circumstances."

The sloth, the ant-eater, and many other species of monkeys, as well as the armadillo, and a smaller kind called Cachicamos, are common in New Granada. With the exception of the sloth, all these animals are highly esteemed as food, as well by the whites as the Indians. Tortoises are bred in innumerable crowds in the river Orinoco, and, with their eggs, afford sustenance to the native Indians in that half of the year when the dry season permits their living on the banks of the Meta. On the river Orinoco, a little below its confluence with the Meta between Carichana and Caycara, there are some sandy shores, which the tortoises are fond of resorting to and there depositing their eggs. The inhabitants of the several places between that spot and Angostura regularly appoint a guard in the place to prevent the destruction of the eggs, which are thus protected, that they may make from them the oil which they use both for cookery and for lamps. The season of making this oil is the great jubilee of the inhabitants of these districts. In the months of April and March every year, all ages and both sexes are collected on these sands, where tents or temporary huts are erected to protect them from the rays of the sun. Some are employed in beating the eggs into great jars, others in purifying and boiling the oil; some seek amusement in the chase or in fishing; and each seems occupied with some favourite pursuit. The occupations of the day give place to the song and the dance at night. This kind of festival usually continues about three weeks, and is considered as the general annual fair of the country, where the traders and victuallers resort to exchange their provisions and goods for the oil, which is by their means diffused through the whole extent of the low country.

The Cabiai or river-hog is found in considerable numbers in all the rivulets and brooks. It is an amphibious animal, of delicious flavour when young, weighs about 150 lbs., is gregarious, and sometimes met with in large herds. It takes to the water for safety from its pursuers; but as it must frequently rise to the surface to breathe, it is easily taken by the natives, who are accustomed to, and fond of, the sport.

Alligators are very numerous in all the rivers of the plains, but more especially abound in the River Magdalena. One species of them grows to the length of 20 feet. The other kind is smaller, is seldom found in running streams, but inhabits lakes and stagnant waters; it will seldom attack a man unless provoked by excessive hunger, or in a situation in which it has no resource but fighting. A third kind is still more harmless, being quite tame, and it is not unfrequent to see persons bathing in the river with this species of alligator swimming near them.

The animal called by the Spanish Americans Manati, and by the French naturalists Lamantin, is found in the lakes and rushy pools of the warm climate. It is said to feed only on grass, and its flesh is reported to be of most delicious flavour, equalling in tenderness that of a lamb or a sucking pig, and not unlike the latter in taste. They are very abundant in the lakes of Zapatosa, in the river Sinu, and in the various streams which contribute to the Orinoco. During the inundations these animals are spread over the whole country. As the inundations subside, the natives erect stockades at the passages by which the waters return to their regular channels, and take great quantities of them. Some of them are 800 pounds weight, and, when first produced, weigh about 30 pounds. The fishery for this amphibious animal is of vast importance to the inhabitants, who feed on its flesh, and convert its skin to several useful purposes, but especially to horse-whips, for which it is admirably adapted. It is well known that the ruder inhabitants of warm climates esteem the iguana a delicious food; its description is familiar, but there is a species in New Granada of a dark colour, with white spots, the size of a water-dog. These, unlike the others, never ascend the trees, but, in running about, make a rustling on the decayed leaves, and utter cries somewhat resembling those of a tiger, to the great alarm of those unaccustomed to the sound.

The birds of this region are very numerous, with plumage of the most brilliant and beautiful colours. The condour, or bustard of America, is a bird of great strength, sometimes eighteen feet from the extremity of wing to wing when extended. It is to be found in all the climates of South America, but makes its nest only in the high and cold regions, in the concavities of rocks covered with thorny plants, where it is inaccessible to man. It is fierce, and frequently commits depredations on the smaller kinds of animals. Migratory ducks, of very large size, and in innumerable flocks, make their appearance on the lakes in the months of January, February, and March. The natives who wish to take them float a great number of calabashes on the surface of the lakes they frequent, till the birds become familiarized to them. Men with calabashes on their heads, level with the water, then go into the pools, and the ducks permit their approach sufficiently near to seize them by the feet, and draw them under water. This they do without disturbing the flock, who are thus caught in very great numbers. The turbid state of the water in these pools is a very great assistant to the sportsmen in the taking this species of wild fowl. Another species of these ducks, migratory likewise, but in smaller numbers, is found of a beautiful rose colour, which are more highly valued as food by the natives than the others.

They have a bird which, for its curious instinct, deserves to be noticed. It is called the Trumpeter by the Spaniards, and Agami by the Indians. It is easily domesticated, and taught to act as a guide and protector of the other poultry. It will lead the turkies, parrots, and other fowls, to the fields to feed in the morning, conduct them home in the evening, and during the day give notice of the approach of any noxious animal, by the peculiar sounds from which it has obtained its name.

New Granada, though inferior in the quantity of the precious metals yielded by its mines to Mexico and Peru, is known to abound with all the mineral wealth which those two countries possess. Gold mines have been found in the mountains of Guamo-co and Antioquia; but they are very slightly worked, and produce but little. The far greater part of the gold is obtained by washing the sand which is brought down by the torrents from the mountains. The washing places for gold (lavaderos) are to the westward of the central range of the Andes, in the provinces of Antioquia and Choco, in the valley of the river Cauca, and in the department of Barbacoa, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. All the gold found in the viceroyalty is directed to be coined either in the mint at Santa Fé, or in that of Popayan. On an average of seven years, the quantity coined in both places amounted to about 7700 marks annually, or 61,600 ounces, worth L240,000 Sterling. Of late years, the quantity has increased, and is stated to be nearly doubled. The province of Antioquia, whose entrance is impracticable for wheel carriages, and even for horses, contains very rich veins of gold, in micaceous slate, at Buritoca, San Pedro, and Armos; but, for want of hands, they are not yet worked. In the alluvial grounds of Santa Rosa, and in the valley of Orsos, the washing is performed by the labour of negro slaves; who, between the year 1770 and 1778, were increased from 1462 to 4896 individuals. None of the gold found in America is of the purest quality; that of Antioquia is of the fineness of 19 to 20 carats, of Barbacoas, 21 1/2 carats, Inderperdu, 22 carats, and of Giron 23 carats. At Marmato, to the west of the river Cauca, a whitish gold is procured, which does not exceed 12 or 13 carats fine, and which is mixed with silver. It is the true electrum of the ancients. In Choco, the richest river in gold is the Andageda, which, with two other streams, forms the great river Atrato. All the ground between the Andageda, the San Juan, and the Tamaná, is auriferous. The largest lump of gold ever found in Choco weighed 25 pounds. The negro, who discovered it, did not, as was usual, and therefore expected, obtain his manumission. The master presented it to the royal cabinet of Spain, expecting to be rewarded with a title of Castile, the great object of desire to all the rich Creoles. He was, however, disappointed, and with difficulty obtained payment of its value. There are no other bounds to the finding of gold in Choco than that arising from the scarcity of labourers, which may be attributed to the neglect of agriculture; for the roads are too bad to admit of much foreign intercourse, and the inhabitants too intent on finding gold to apply to other labour, which, with patience and perseverance, would be more surely, and more extensively beneficial to them. New Granada possesses several rich mines of silver, but they are not worked to any great extent. About sixteen years ago, some rich veins were discovered at Vega de Supia, between the Cerro de Tacon, and the Cerro de Marmato. The operations were stopped by a lawsuit between the different proprietors, at the very moment the mine began to be productive. The working of the mines of Santa Anna, near Mariquita, and those of Pamplona, which had been suspended, was resumed a few years ago, and found to be very productive in silver ore, lying in beds of gneiss. The mine of Manta has been stopped by order of government, to prevent the ruin which threatened the numerous proprietors who were engaged in it. The expenses were enormous, and though the ore contained six ounces of silver in each quintal, it afforded no prospect of reimbursing the expenses of those who had embarked the capital in this hazardous enterprise.

Platina is the exclusive production of New Granada; it is found only in the province of Choco, to the west of the Andes, and in the province of Barbaoca, between the 2d and 6th degree of north latitude. It is peculiar to one alluvial spot of ground, about six hundred square leagues. It is found in Lavaderos, principally at Condotto, Santa Reta, Santa Lucia, and the ravine of Iro, between the villages of Novita and Taddo.

To a country abounding with silver mines, mercury is indispensable for working them to advantage. The impolicy of the court of Spain, which has placed mercury under a royal monopoly, has, of necessity, imposed great restrictions on the mines of America. The government supplies the wants of the miners from Almadon, in Spain, in some degree, but principally from the mines of Istria. There are, however, in New Granada, as well as in Peru and Mexico, mines of quicksilver, which, with due encouragement and protection, would be sufficient to render the American dominions of Spain independent of Europe for the supply of this important mineral. Sulphuretted mercury is found in the province of Antioquia, in the valley of Santa Rosa, to the eastward of the river Cauca, in the central Cordillera, between Ibague and Carthagno, and in the province of Quito, between the villages of Azogue and Cuenca. The celebrated Professor Mutis made the discovery of the Cinnabar in the mines of Quindiu. At his own expence, in 1786, he caused the miners of Sapo to examine that part of the granite mountains which extends southward from the Nevada de Tolima towards the river Saldana. The sulphuretted mercury was found in round fragments, mixed with small grains of gold in the alluvial earth, with which the ravine at the foot of the table land of Ibague is filled. Near the village of Azogue, to the north-west of Cuenca, the mercury is found as in the department of Mount Tonnerre, in Frana, in a formation of quartose freestone, with argillaceous cement. This freestone is near 1500 yards in thickness, and contains fossil wood and asphaltum. In the mountains of Guazon and Upar, to the north-east of Azogue, a vein of cinnabar traverses beds of clay filled with calcareous spar, and contained in freestone. This mine must have been formerly worked, as there are the remains of a gallery 130 yards in length. At five leagues distant from the city of Popayan, there is a ravine known by the name of the quicksilver ravine (quebrada de Azogue), from whence it is probable that mercury was formerly extracted, but at present no attempt at working it is made.

In New Granada, there are considerable iron veins, but they are forbidden to be worked, lest they should injure the iron manufactures of the peninsula; hence, though their situation is well known, and the richness of the ore ascertained, they have not been explored with that degree of diligence which the prospect of reaping benefit by their working would produce. Coal mines exist near the city of Santa Fé de Bogota, at the height of more than 8000 feet above the level of the sea; but, not being wanted for manufactories, wood being abundant, and the climate too warm to need fires in the apartments, they are not worked. There is also a most abundant mine of rock salt at Zepaquira, and, it is said, in other parts; but the wants of the inhabitants being abundantly supplied with salt from the sea-coast, there has been no necessity for bringing the other into use.

It is generally supposed that the richest mines are unexplored, and even unknown to the Spaniards. A sensible resident in Choco, whose notes are before us, says, "I know that in Choco, the Indians have knowledge of several rich mines of gold, whose existence they obstinately conceal from the whites, because they say they reserve them for themselves or their heirs, when they shall be freed from the Spanish yoke, which they all believe will some day happen."

When this part of America was first visited by the Original In-Spaniards, the natives were divided into various tribes, and lived in a state but little removed from the condition of the lowest savages. Some of the tribes had made more considerable advances, and were gradually subduing, and perhaps leading towards civilization, their ruder neighbours. Two states had risen to more eminence, and formed some kind of regular government. The Moscas or Muyscas had built their capital on the spot on which the present city of Santa Fé stands. Like most rude nations, their government was founded on superstition, and its origin supposed to be of divine institution. They had a prevalent tradition, that, at some remote period, a child of the sun, designated among them by the name of Bochica, had appeared, in some mysterious manner, and invested with supernatural power; that, in his contests with malignant beings, he had succeeded in rendering the plains habitable and fertile, and had recommended for their monarch Huncahua. This king mounted the throne; and, during a reign of two thousand years, extended his dominions, and introduced religion, and the arts of civilized life. The government was a theocracy; and the offices of king and high priest were united in him and his successors. The religion was of a sanguinary kind, and required the sacrifice of human victims. The first advances only had been made in knowledge; for, though they had a calendar which divided the year into weeks and months, they could only express numbers beyond ten by adding to them the word which signifies foot, and then counting the decimals by numbering the toes. They had attained the art of spinning cotton, and of weaving it, so as to form garments; and they had workmen who exercised some rude ingenuity in making ornaments of gold and silver. The mixed character of Monarch and High Priest, which was borne by their King, impressed a kind of awe on the inhabitants, which kept them in cheerful subjection. Their king never walked on foot, but was carried by men on a species of palan- kin, in paths strewed with flowers, by his willing subjects, whose respect and dread made them consider it an act of impiety even to look on his countenance. When the Spaniards first discovered this country, it was designated by the natives with the name of Cundinamarca, and the civil and ecclesiastical government was vested in a chief called Bogota, who was engaged in war, as his predecessors had long been, with the Muzos or Musos, a nation whose traditions and superstitions differing, had caused perpetual animosity with the Muyscas. The tradition of the Musos, concerning the origin of their race, taught them, that, in a remote period, the shadow of a man, or a spirit called Ari, was accustomed to make faces of men and women in wood, and throw them into the river Magdalena, from whence they issued in the shape of human beings, and that, being taught by him to cultivate the soil, they had multiplied, and dispersed themselves, and thus peopled the whole country:

Whilst Benalcazar, who acted under the orders of Pizarro, was reducing the south, towards Quito, another of the Spanish commanders was accomplishing the same object in the north part of the country. Gonzalo Jimenes de Quesada was sent in 1536 by Fernando de Lugo from Santa Marta to explore the countries bordering on the Magdalena. His greatest difficulties at first arose rather from the impenetrable thickets that opposed his passage, than from any warlike force which the savage natives, who were few in number, and of little bodily strength, could present. After ascending to the junction of four rivers, he formed an establishment, from whence, after a short interval, he continued his progress. As he advanced to the higher regions, he found the inhabitants more warlike, but much divided among themselves, whilst some, with great vehemence, opposed his passage; their enemies soon formed alliances with him, and afforded him every assistance in their power. Bogota, the greatest of the monarchs, was his most decided opponent, and collected all his force in the fertile plains of Santa Fé. A pitched battle, whose fate was not long doubtful, decided the future lot of the principal power, and by the fall of Bogota and his auxiliaries, the Spaniards and their allies were enabled to establish a durable dominion. The conquerors were rewarded with considerable booty in gold and emeralds, and if we may draw inferences from some facts narrated by their own historians, conducted themselves with both cruelty and fraud to the wretched inhabitants. Quesada lived to an extreme old age, and saw, before his death, the country he had conquered, flourishing in agriculture, in population, and in mines. Cities, towns, cathedrals, and churches were built, and the Catholic religion professed by the old as firmly as by the new inhabitants. He lived sixty years after he had completed the conquest, dying in 1597. During his long life the mixture of races had been completely effected, and those derived from the union of Spanish men with the Indian women, were making rapid advances towards an equality in numbers with the pure Indians.

As the tranquillity of the country became established, and the natives became reconciled to their new master, the arts of life from Europe were introduced; and though, from the richness of the soil, and the mildness of the climate, there were few inducements to much exertion, yet a gradual increase has been going on in population; and having no wars, either external or internal, to rouse their energies, the quiet and peaceful country has enjoyed a degree of repose unknown in any other part of the globe. New Granada has exhibited none of those mixed scenes of glory and of suffering which other countries have displayed. During two centuries and a half the furious passions have not been displayed; the whole prospect has been calm, still, and quiet; amidst the indulgence of every degree of indolence, however, this country has been gradually progressive; it has increased in numbers with considerable rapidity; in knowledge and civilization with a slower pace; but in great powers of mind, if any progress has been made, it is scarcely perceptible. Two insurrections, indeed, have happened within our time, but the power of that soporific superstition which Spain has fostered in all her settlements, with most sédulous anxiety, lulled to rest the waves of tumult, and calmed the temporary rage of the population. The particulars of these partial risings, and the narrative of the more important events, which arose out of the occupation of Spain by the troops of Bonaparte, will, with more propriety, be related, after we have described the classes of the inhabitants, and the forms of government and law, by which, since their first establishment, they have been regulated.

All the various classes of inhabitants in the Spanish settlements, numerous as they are, and distinguished by jealousies greater in proportion to their proximity, are derived from the three races of Europeans, Indians, and Africans. Considerable numbers of each of these races have continued, ever since the first settlement of New Granada, without any mixture with the other classes. Many families of the European race, the descendants of the first conquerors, or the more early settlers, have continued, without any legitimate intercourse with the other races, to transmit through successive generations the pure Castilian blood. These have the rank, and frequently the titles of nobility; they are the proprietors of the most extensive estates, and sometimes of the most valuable mines. Their pride is excessive, and their power over the inferior castes is exercised with considerable rigour; notwithstanding the restraints placed on their authority by the mild laws which are framed in Europe. Those whites of ancient origin, but of American birth, are very rarely trusted with any high offices in the church, the state, or the navy. The few white inhabitants of European birth who are sent by the court of Madrid to America, are in almost exclusive possession of every office of emolument or authority. The ancient nobility of America view the officers who are sent from Spain with a mixture of envy, jealousy, hatred, and disdain, but ill suppressed by the fear of the superior power with which they are invested.

The fact cannot be disguised, that a long residence in a country where the principal labour is performed by slaves and inferior castes, has a ten- dency to destroy those fine feelings of justice, and that warm sympathy with distress, which is created by the approximation towards equality, which prevails, in a greater or less degree, throughout Europe. The white natives of America have lost the idea that a slave is a man, and consider him as a thing, a subject of gain or of loss, rather than an object of sympathy and fellow-feeling. The Indians and Negroes, and all the mixed variety of intermediate races, are too sensible of the light in which they are regarded by their white fellow-countrymen to look up to them with any other feelings than that of dread and hatred. When they want protection from injury, or redress for their wrongs, they look up to the few Europeans who are settled there to administer the government, who have the power, and are supposed alone to have the inclination, to protect them. The natives of Europe are so few in number, and so conscious of their weakness, that they endeavour to secure the affections of the Indians and Negroes by such conduct as is most adapted for that purpose, as far as it does not interfere with the principal object of their desire, that of amassing wealth, with which to return and enjoy themselves in Europe. The policy of the Court of Spain, towards its American subjects is not very dissimilar to that which prevailed in Europe during the existence of the feudal system; it was then the desire of the monarchs to lessen the power of the nobles by supporting the commons, and even the peasants, against them. The ancient white inhabitants of Spanish America are a species of nobles, and these appearing to support the Indians and the Negroes who are the commons and peasants of America, gives a firmness and authority to the Court of Madrid, which it could not have retained by any other system of proceeding.

Besides the unmixed race of native whites, there are great numbers of inhabitants descended from the European men and Indian women. The first and second generation of these are considered as a degraded cast; but in the course of a few generations, each increasing in the proportion of the white blood, they come to be considered as whites, and though they scarcely attain to the dignity of the pure European race, they assume a rank in proportion to their nearer approximation to that complexion. This description of persons increases more rapidly than any other cast. Every union with a white person elevates the offspring one step in society, and hence all the various tints are ambitious of contracting matrimony with those who are whiter than themselves. The intermediate casts, after several crosses, are generally, when speaking of the mass, confounded with the pure whites, and distinguished from the Europeans by the name of Creoles. It is under this denomination we shall speak of them in the future part of this article, as it will be a sufficient distinction between them and the other cast. The proportion of the numbers of the Creoles to the other inhabitants varies in the different settlements, but in the kingdom of New Granada they bear a larger proportion to the whole population than in any other country. In the whole of Spanish America they are estimated at one-fourth, but in this viceroyalty they are considered to be between one-third and two-fifths of the inhabitants. Their wealth far exceeds the proportion of their numbers; the land, the mines, the cattle, the utensils, and the arts of industry, are principally to be found in this class; the few manufactories that have been established are conducted by them, and the Indians are employed as their workmen. The oppressions they practise towards that unfortunate race are such as no laws have yet been able to relieve them from; every salutary regulation that could be devised in their behalf has been enacted, but the execution has been lamentably defective.

The Indian races are, by the laws of Spain, declared to be freemen, and the old practices, known by the name of repartimientos, by which, under the pretext of being protected by individual Spaniards, they were, in fact, reduced to the condition of slaves, has been long abolished. Many of the Indians reside in their own separate villages and towns. They are kept distinct whilst there from the white race, and ruled by their own hereditary chiefs. The government of Spain requires from each chief an annual tax of two dollars for every individual under his government, which he collects from his unfortunate dependants, often with great severity; though that severity has been attempted to be softened by the appointment of white corregidors, whose duty it is to protect the Indians from the oppressions of their native princes. This tribute from the Indians was intended to favour rather than oppress them, as, in consideration of it, they are exempted from all other imposts. In the Spanish dominions, a most impolitic tax, called Alcavala, originally imposed by the Moors when they ruled the peninsula, is universally levied. It is six per cent. upon all sales of property; but in consideration of this tribute, the Indians, in those places where they are ruled by their own chiefs, are exempted from this payment.

The chiefs who rule these Indian tribes are under the superintendence of the corregidors, who are considered as their guardians; and the people, in the eye of the law, considered as minors, in a state of pupilage. They can enter into no contracts, nor do any other act, without the direction of their chief, who avails himself of this condition of their being, to enrich himself from their scanty possessions, whenever he can blind or bribe the corregidor, by whom he is controlled. Whilst residing in their native villages, these Indians can contract no marriages with the whites. The only liberty they enjoy is the power of removing from their towns to the places where no chief rules. This they can do at their pleasure, and may then hire themselves as servants or labourers for their own account. In these changes of situation, they too often only remove from the slavery of their native chief to the worse slavery of their own vicious propensities. Like all uncivilized people, they are excessively addicted to the abuse of ardent spirits; the first money obtained by labour is generally applied to this pernicious gratification. The Creoles, who know their weakness, when they wish to engage them as workmen in mines or manufactories, gratify them with spirits, till they become indebted to them in such sums as give them a power to keep them at work on their own terms, under pretence of extricating them from the debts they have contracted. As in these situations they have no natural protector, either in their own chief or their corregidor, as they had in their native villages, they become the prey of the Creoles, who know they are not able to procure redress from the ordinary courts of law, which are both tedious and expensive. In spite of the benevolent attention which the court of Spain has constantly given to the situation of the Indians, the lot of the general mass, though in law they are freemen, is certainly much worse than that of the Negro slaves in the Spanish dominions, or even of the slaves in the English, Dutch, and French colonies, where they are treated with more harshness than by the Spaniards.

New Granada has partaken less of the iniquity of the African slave trade, than any other division of the western world, except Mexico. In the interior, the most populous part of the country, there are few or no negro slaves. What do exist are in the towns on the coast, or in the plantations in the lower and warmer climates, where the tropical productions are cultivated. Of late years, very few have been imported; and those who were formerly brought into the country have so mixed with the other races, from the natural desire of bettering the condition of their offspring, that the number of mulattoes, quadroons, quinteroons, and other mixtures of whites and negroes, far outnumber the unmixed blacks, and the Zambos, the race between the Negro and the Indian, are supposed fully to equal them.

We have before remarked, that the condition of the negro slaves in the Spanish colonies is preferable to that of the same class in the other European establishments. Their state, indeed, more nearly approximates to that of apprenticeship for life; than what may be properly termed slavery. They are considered by the law as persons capable of holding property, and enjoying other rights. Ill treatment from the master, or any member of his family, entitles them to manumission, without price, however highly they may be valued. When, by their economy in the time allotted them to labour for themselves, they have saved a stated sum, they may redeem themselves, though the price the master may have paid for them, or can sell them for, should ever so far exceed that amount. They are allowed two days in each week to work for themselves; when, by the labour of those days, they have saved sufficient, they may at the fixed price purchase another day, and so proceed till they have obtained their freedom. A slave may purchase the freedom of his child at a very low sum. By these regulations the number of slaves is considerably lessened, and the lot of those who are not redeemed is considerably softened. These humane regulations have been framed in Spain. They have been opposed or censured by the Creoles, and can only be put into practice by the European Spaniards, who, by acting the part of protectors to this race, acquire their confidence, and incur the animosity of their masters.

Both the Indian and negro population are carefully imbued with the doctrines of the Catholic religion. The missionaries are numerous, sober, and diligent; and, if the ceremonies of the church have no great tendency to enlighten the minds, or amend the morals, of these castes, it cannot be doubted that, by the example of more cleanliness, industry, and freedom, they must produce some good; and, perhaps the practice of auricular confession, which, in polished society, and with civilized people, begets either hypocrisy or mental debility, may, with those rude people, be made the instrument of correcting some of their grosser vices. Though the missions are scattered over the whole country, the number of priests, including both regular and secular, is far less than in the Catholic countries of Europe. The best benefices are generally filled by European Spaniards; though there have been instances of Creoles and Indians being promoted to the Episcopal chair. A great degree of animosity and jealousy subsists between the Indian and the Negro races. The latter, but more especially their descendants, the Mulattoes, view the former with contempt and disdain; and the poor timid Indians hate, but cannot despise, the Negroes and Mulattoes, whose activity and exertion is greater, and who appear to have naturally minds less degraded.

Within the kingdom of New Granada there are several tribes of Indians who are in a state of savage barbarity, or at least who have never yet been subdued by the Spaniards, among whom they are known by the description of Indios bravos. In the mountainous parts of the province of Santa Marta, one nation subsists called Goahiros. Their stations are between the entrance to the Gulf of Maracaybo and Rio de la Hacha, and extend near one hundred miles on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. Their numbers have been calculated at thirty thousand souls. Their chief resides in a fortified town, on a hill called La Teta, some miles from the shore. They are constantly at war with the Spaniards, and are reported to receive muskets and ammunition from contraband traders who approach to their coasts from Jamaica and Curacao, and trade with them under the severest caution, from the apprehension of becoming the victims of their treachery, whilst engaged in this commerce. They sometimes traffic with the Spaniards of Rio de la Hacha, principally for spirituous liquors, in exchange for which they give dye-woods, horses, oxen, and mules, and sometimes pearls. It is said that this nation has subdued another tribe of Indians in their vicinity, called the Cocinas; and, after the conquest, distributed the prisoners among their own nation, where they have since continued in the condition of slaves.

In reciting the territorial divisions of the kingdom of New Granada, it will be better to take them according to their local position than to their importance; and therefore we begin with the northern provinces. Three provinces in the isthmus of Darien form part of the viceroyalty of New Granada; and are generally distinguished by the name of the provinces of Terra Firma. One of these, though sub-Terra Fir-ject to the viceroy of New Granada, is not in South ma- but in North America; and therefore, in strictness, ought to form a part of the Presidency of Guatemala. Veragua, the northernmost part of New Granada, and the southernmost province of North Ame- rica, was first attempted to be settled by Columbus, in 1503; but the hostility of the natives prevented his accomplishing his design. Several successive attempts were subsequently made, and even as late as the year 1760, the whole of the mountainous district, which is by far the largest part of the province, was not subdued. The towns, or, as they designate them, the cities, built by the Spaniards, are, St Jago de Veragua, Neustro Senora de los Remedios, and Santiago de Angel. These are all in a warm, moist, and unhealthy climate, and the inhabitants are mostly Creoles or Indians. Having no sea-port, and no river navigable for any but the smallest boats, they have little commerce. The roads, too, through the whole province, are so bad as to forbid much intercourse. The industry of the inhabitants is principally applied to the production of articles for their home consumption; and these are easily procured in that fruitful soil. Maize, rice, sugar, and all tropical fruits, are abundant; and black cattle and horses are to be found in great numbers, with scarcely any who think them worth owning. Gold and silver mines exist in this province; but they are very partially worked. They are situate on mountains, from whence there being no roads, and having no water, the ore must be brought on men's backs, by which the expense becomes so great, that they scarcely can obtain their expences.

Panama is a province on a well known isthmus of that name, and has been long considered the most important province of Spain. A branch of the Andes runs through its whole length, the higher summits of which are cold and barren, but the intervening valleys, as well as the low ground, on the Caribbean and Pacific seas, are rich and fertile, but on the eastern side generally unhealthy. From the centre of the ridge of the mountains of Panama the Southern or Pacific Ocean was first discovered by Balboa in 1513, and the province still continues the most easy point of communication between Europe and Peru. This route is accomplished by ascending the river Chagre from its mouth, near which is fort San Lorenzo, to the small town of Cruces, where the river ceases to be navigable. There is then an ascent by a road, practicable only for horses and mules, to the top of the Andes; an ascent so difficult that some cannon designed for Panama having been carried there, were found impossible to be removed. The distance from Cruces to the city of Panama is only five leagues, but from the accivities, and the badness of the road, it requires twelve hours to perform it. The rapidity of the river Chagre is also a serious impediment, when it is full of water, so that this short journey frequently occupies five or six days.

Panama, the capital city, is on the shore of the South Sea, is the residence of the Intendant of the province, the seat of a royal audiencia, and the See of a Bishop. It is estimated to contain about 16,000 inhabitants, a greater proportion of whom are negroes than is usually found in New Granada. It is about a league from the shore, and has no harbour; but the island of Perico affords both secure shelter and excellent anchorage for vessels of the largest size. It is slightly fortified, and might be easily taken by any power that possessed naval superiority on the Pacific Ocean. The trade of Panama is at present inconsiderable. The treasure from Peru in indeed in some degree conveyed through it, but the facility with which voyages round Cape Horn are made, and the freedom of trade which the court of Spain extended in 1786, have reduced its commerce very considerably. It has a fishery for pearls, which is principally carried on by negro slaves. Portobello is the next place of importance, but, though dignified with the name of a city, it has scarcely any permanent inhabitants. It possesses one of the finest and best defended harbours in the western hemisphere; but, from the intense heat of the climate, and the excessive rains, it is so unhealthy as to destroy life in an unexampled degree. It is said that no person born there ever lived to 20 years of age; and this conviction is so strong, that the wives of such officers as are stationed there remove to more healthy situations to bring forth their children. When the commerce of the South Sea was conducted through the isthmus, the fair of Portobello was a great commercial mart; and this led to the attack by Admiral Vernon, whose success, though exaggerated at the time, was neither in the transaction nor its consequences worthy of notice.

The only other place of importance in this province is Nata, or St Jago de Nata. It is about 50 miles south-west of Panama, on the western side of the Andes, on a spacious bay in the Pacific. It is a large town, depending almost wholly for its prosperity on the fertility of the fields which surround it, and which are highly productive in sugar, cocoa, and indigo, whilst the mountainous districts in its vicinity abound with cattle of every description. Its inhabitants are wholly either Creoles or Indians, and their intermixtures, with scarcely a single person of the African race.

The third province of Terra Firma, Darien, can scarcely be said to belong to Spain; for the Indiosbravos, notwithstanding repeated attempts, both by missionaries and by arms, to reduce them, have maintained their independence, and destroyed the settlements that have been attempted to be formed. These Indians are the descendants of those tribes who, during the existence of the buccaneers, gave to those freebooters every assistance they required, conducted them from one sea to the other, through ways now never attempted, and were the principal means of the success which attended their excursions. Their animosity to the Spaniards and their reclaimed Indians is still cherished; and the humidity, and consequent unhealthiness of the climate, is the powerful weapon which has defended their erratic independence. This province is principally interesting from the river Atrato running through it, by which only a ready communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean can be opened and maintained. If vessels ascended this river, and a canal were cut from it to the river St Juan, which is a short distance, and through a level country, a junction of the two seas might be effected. In this province the Scottish colony, projected in the year 1695, made an abortive attempt to establish itself,—an attempt which, though it ended in disappointment and ruin to the parties who embarked in it, displayed considerable expansion of intellect in the projection, but not accompanied with that accurate calculation of obstacles which is indispensably necessary in expeditions of such magnitude.

The province of Cartagena is the most important of the maritime districts of New Granada. On the sea coast, where the city of Cartagena, the capital of the province, stands, the climate is universally warm, and in most situations humid. Where the latter quality is found, the unhealthiness is most distinctly exhibited in the sallow countenances and attenuated muscles of the inhabitants, who are subject to malignant fevers of the most debilitating species, and whose lives, short as they usually are, are periods of sickness and debility. Notwithstanding the perpetual recruits which its population has been receiving both from Europe and from Africa, it has not perceptibly increased for the last century. The principal inducement to the first settlement at Cartagena was the security of the harbour and the strength of the military position. The fertility of the soil was soon ascertained, and in spite of its unhealthiness the country became settled, and has since, by repeated emigrations, been maintained in a flourishing condition. All the tropical productions are cultivated with success. Sugar, cotton, coffee, cocoa, and indigo, are common, and in their cultivation employ considerable numbers of negro slaves, who are, indeed, more numerous in and about Cartagena than in any other part of the viceroyalty. The city of Cartagena is the grand emporium of the central commerce of the whole of New Granada. Whatever of the luxuries of Europe are consumed in the centre of the kingdom must pass through this its only port, and though, from the difficulties of the communication, and the abundant supply of all indispensable articles which the interior furnishes, their wants are small when compared with the population, yet the transit to a whole kingdom passing through one port, must make that port the mart for considerable commerce. The interior of New Granada furnishes but few articles for exportation, but what few it does furnish can only pass through the single port of Cartagena. The number of rich merchants thus induced to settle in it is considerable, and the fortunes amassed are large; but it is observed that none of these capitals remain long stationary,—the possessors generally return to Europe to enjoy them, or remove to the more elevated and healthy situations, where they establish their families in climates favourable to longevity, and enjoyment. Before the introduction of what is called, though erroneously, free commerce, the trade of the city of Cartagena was much more considerable than it has since been. It was the port at which the galleons rendezvoused previous to their departure from Europe, and thus became a great mart to which the merchants from Lima, Guayaquil, Popayan, Quito, and Santa Fé, repaired, and met those of Europe. From thence the commodities of the old were distributed over the new world, and the precious metals shipped to be conveyed to Europe. The deposit of European goods in Cartagena is rendered very hazardous by the numerous insects, who, with remarkable voracity, destroy every thing which comes within their reach, especially all kinds of silks, cloths of linen, woollen, or cotton. One of these insects is called the Comegan, a kind of moth or maggot, but so expeditious in its depredations, that it soon reduces to dust the contents of any bale or other package on which it fastens itself. Without altering the form, it frequently perforates the covering, and with great dexterity consumes the contents, so that, when opened, it is found to contain only small shreds and dust. The strictest attention is necessary to preserve the goods from such accidents, because the insect is so small as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye, and yet so active as to destroy all the goods in a warehouse sometimes in a single night. The most effectual precaution is to place the packages in situations where they do not touch the walls of the apartment, and to raise them above the floor on stands, whose feet are placed in naphtha or tar, which these insects cannot pass over. Cartagena is strongly fortified, but military events have shown that it is far from impregnable. The principal defence of the harbours is derived from the numerous shoals at its entrance; but such obstacles are easily vanquished by the skill of able pilots, who are easily instructed, or soon instruct themselves, as our naval experience in many instances will prove. The streets of the city are broad and well paved, the houses mostly of stone, with virandas and lattices. It is the seat of a bishop, and has a cathedral with several churches and convents. The inhabitants are estimated at 24,000. The greater part are of Indian origin; the next in number are the Negros and Mulattoes; and the white inhabitants, including both Europeans and Creoles, are a very small portion. From the security of its harbour, and its supposed importance, this city has been exposed to successive attacks, and, notwithstanding its strength, each of them has been successful.

The province of Cartagena contains no towns of much note besides the capital. The greater part of the population is scattered on distant plantations on the plains, or in small settlements on the hills, where they are occupied in breeding cattle. The most considerable town is Mompox, situated about 110 miles south of the capital, in a very healthy country, about twenty-five miles above the junction of the rivers Magdalena and Cauca. A custom-house is established there, where the dues are paid on all goods transmitted from the city of Cartagena to the interior of the viceroyalty. The inundations at Mompox are considerable in the rainy season, the waters rising from twelve to fourteen feet above their usual level. This has induced the erection of an elevated quay, on which the custom-house stands, and is both an ornamental and useful work.

The other towns, Tolu, St Sebastian, Barancas, Santa Maria, Zamba, and Gumaco, are very insignificant, are mostly inhabited by Indian families, who, without commerce, and with little intercourse with the rest of the world, or with each other, subsist on the productions of the fertile soil that surrounds them.

The province of Santa Marta has, by its salubrity, beauty, and fertility, obtained in New Granada the title of the Pearl of America. It is about 300 miles in length and 200 in breadth. The greater part of the interior consists of mountains gradually rising in elevation till they ascend above the limits of perpetual congelation. The valleys between these mountains are refreshed with the perpetual streams that descend and the cool breezes that blow from them, so that an everlasting spring is enjoyed by the inhabitants. The air, unlike that of Cartagena, has not that degree of humidity which generates fevers and leprosy, or that tends to shorten life, nor are they plagued with that innumerable phalanx of scorpions and noxious insects which form the misery of the inhabitants of the adjoining province. This province was one of the earliest settlements formed on the coast of the Carribean Sea. Its founder was Alonzo de Ojeda, and his authority included Darien, Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Maracaybo, which were united under one government, and then called New Andalusia. The principal city, of the same name as the province, enjoys an excellent harbour, and is fortified with considerable attention. It is the see of a bishop, has a cathedral, several parish churches, and some convents. The inhabitants are estimated at 7000 souls, who are mostly Indians or mixtures of Creoles and Indians, but there are few whites, and of them very few are natives of Europe. The trade of the port has declined considerably of late years, the greater part of it as well as that of the other port, Rio de la Hacha, having transferred itself to Cartagena. The river Magdalena is the most important feature of the province. Numerous tributary streams descend with rapidity from the mountains, which increase its volume. In their course they have worn ravines so deep, and with banks so precipitous as to render them impassable. In order to cross these ravines, temporary bridges are formed of a most peculiar construction. They stretch over the stream two cables twisted from the flexible roots of trees; they are laid parallel to each other, and stretched, by means of a windlass, as tight as their great thickness and weight will permit; over these two parallel cables, bushes, and rushes are laid to form the flooring of the bridge; two other ropes a little above these distended cables are fixed, and form a kind of balustrade. The great weight of the cables causes them to drop in the centre, and thus form a concave semicircle. When the river is wide and the wind high, this bridge is much agitated, and swings backwards and forwards, to the no small alarm, and sometimes to the not slight danger of the passengers.

Another kind of contrivance for passing these rapid streams is frequently adopted by passengers. Three or four thongs of leather are twisted into a species of rope, and fastened on the higher and lower banks of the river, forming an angle of descent of fifteen or sixteen degrees. The passenger is suspended in a kind of basket, with a grove through which the rope passes, and when loosened from the higher bank descends to the lower across the stream, with such rapidity, that the friction causes sparks of fire to be elicited from the leathern rope, and sometimes in such quantities, as to endanger the eyes of the passenger. The Indians, who act as guides over these precipices, recommend those who are thus conducted to keep their eyes shut during the flight, for such it may be called, over the precipice. These kind of machines are constructed near to each other, where the unequal elevation of the banks will admit of them; one is for going, and the other for returning from one part of the country to another. The mouth of the River Magdalena forms a Delta, which is overflowed in January and February. On this land the deposit of slime which is left creates a degree of fertility, equal to what is known in any part of the world. The productions of the valleys of Santa Marta are all the tropical fruits, especially cocoa, which is supposed to be better than in any other part of the Spanish dominions on the eastern side of America. The hills abound with cattle, many of which are slaughtered for the sake of the hides and tallow, which form a considerable part of the export commerce of the province. The whole number of inhabitants is estimated at about 280,000 souls, the far greater part of whom are Indians, though some negroes and mulattoes are found in the plantations of sugar and coffee in the lower parts of the country. The town of Rio de la Hacha is next in importance to the capital, and has the advantages of a good harbour, and a river navigable for small craft. The other towns are Cordova, Puebla-neuva, Teneriffe, Oeasia, Puebla de la Reyes, and Tamalameque, none of which are considerable, or have any productions that deserve to be particularly noticed.

The province of Merida to the eastward of Santa Marta, and bordering on Maracaybo, is principally composed of a chain of the Andes, whose highest elevation is 15,000 feet, and is consequently within the line of perpetual snow. On account of the inequality of its surface, the climate partakes of every degree of variation from the extreme of heat to that of cold. The far greater part of the province is uninhabited, and the whole population is not estimated to exceed 70,000 souls. Plantations of sugar, coffee, and cocoa, are found in the lower levels, but their principal productions are raised at the elevation of from 5000 to 8000 feet, and consist of excellent wheat, beans, peas, potatoes, and maize. The cattle are abundant, and their hides and tallow form branches of commerce. Some of the most copious rivers of South America have their sources in this province, especially the Apure, which, after watering very extensive plains with the others, contribute to swell the stream of the Orinoco. Merida, the capital city, is estimated to contain from 10,000 to 12,000 souls: a great proportion of them are white Creoles, some few European Spaniards, and the rest mestizos or descendants of whites and Indians. Besides its agriculture, which is the most considerable pursuit, it has some manufactories of cotton cloth. It is a bishop's see, and has a college or seminary for the education of the clergy. The other towns are Pamplona (near which are some mines of gold), San Christoval, and La Grita, which are scarcely deserving of any notice.

The province of Antioquia equals any of the provinces of New Granada in the elevation of its mountains, of which it almost wholly consists; but at the heights below the limits of congelation, some plains are found which unite fertility and salubriousness in the highest degree. The dew is not hurtful, and the climate so mild and equable, that the inhabitants can always sleep in the open air. It is rich in minerals, but from the paucity of inhabitants, and the want of capital, the mines are not worked to any considerable extent. What silver is produced in New Granada is chiefly from the mines of Vega de Supia in this province. Quicksilver is produced at Santa Rosa; gold in Buricota, San Pedro, and Arenas; and more than 8000 negro slaves are employed in the small villages on the banks of the Cauca in washing the sand for gold dust. The capital town, Santa Fé Antioquia, contains but few inhabitants, though it is placed in a most healthy and fruitful spot. The rest of the population is scattered over an extensive surface, far removed from each other, and have but little intercourse with the rest of even their own province.

Choco. Choco is as thinly inhabited as any part of Spanish America, though occupying a considerable extent of coast on the Pacific Ocean, and extending from thence to the foot of the western ridge of the Andes. It contains no town whose name has reached to Europe. The heat of the climate is excessive, and its humidity makes it unhealthy. Its productions are those common to tropical regions. Choco is principally to be noticed as the country in which platina is exclusively found; it is to be met with in alluvial lands in small grains, in a district between the second and sixth degree of north latitude. No mines of it have yet been discovered; but it is highly probable, that, at some future period, when the country is more completely explored, such mines will be found, and render that valuable metal more abundant than it is at present. Gold is procured by washing the sand of the rivers at the foot of the Andes; it is usually in grains. This province has so little connection with the rest of the world, that what is not produced within it, such as iron and wheaten flour, are sold at most enormous prices. The increase of navigation on the river Atrato, which, till recently, was forbidden, will throw much light on the condition of this province, and perhaps raise it to considerable distinction. We have before noticed, that this province forms the easiest communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; and a ravine, called Raspadura, is said to have a communication through it, by which the river St Juan, which runs to the South Sea, is already in some degree united to the Atrato.

Santa Fé. The province of Santa Fé is in every respect the most important of this viceroyalty. The whole of it is situated in the finest possible climate; a perpetual verdure covers the earth and the trees; its fertility is excelled by no soil on the globe, and it is thickly peopled. Those who have visited it have compared it to the most beautiful and most populous parts of England in the months of May and June. Wheat, barley, potatoes, apples, pears, peaches, and, in fact, all the fruits of the temperate zone, are produced with little labour, and in great abundance, at the elevation of from 5000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea, whilst on the less elevated spots the choice fruits of the tropics are to be found. The plain of Santa Fé is an extensive district, which surrounds the capital, and furnishes its markets with every agricultural production that is valuable to the comforts of human beings. It is surrounded with mountains, but none so lofty as to be perpetually frozen. These supply rivulets, which water the plain in every direction; and the soil is evidently alluvial, collected when the plain was a lake, which its appearance plainly proves to have been formerly the case, and which the traditions of the natives strongly corroborate. By some extraordinary convulsion of nature, the barrier of mountains must have been burst; and that passage formed, by which the river that now precipitates itself by the fall of Tequendama in its descent has drained this vast plain. Few features of nature are more grand than the cataract of the river Funza, or Bogota, called by the inhabitants the Salta of Tequendama. The river, gentle and transparent, glides slowly along the plain, collecting in its course the tributary rivulets, which have descended from the hills, and fertilized the plain. It is about 140 feet in breadth near the point from whence it vanishes. It becomes suddenly contracted to the breadth of thirty feet, at the entrance of the fissure by which it escapes, and then with violent noise and agitation suddenly precipitates itself into the plain below. The descent is 600 feet, and it plunges into a dark gulf whose bottom is always invisible. It again emerges, and forms the river Meta, which runs to the Orinoco. Though at the beginning of its descent it appears a sheet of water, in the course of its fall it is broken into small particles, and alights at the bottom in the form of an everlasting shower of thick rain, whose drops obscure the prospects, and darken the lands on which they fall. The vapours which are evolved and scattered by the fall of this vast body of waters, fertilize the surrounding lands in a most extraordinary degree, so that the wheat grown at the farm of Canos, where the descent begins, is considered the best in quality, and the most abundant in produce, of any within this fertile viceroyalty. The river at one bound leaps from a temperate to a torrid region; at the top are seen the oak and elm trees of Europe, at the bottom the sugar cane, the palm tree, and the bananas of the West Indies.

The natural bridges of Icononzo are most extraordinary exhibitions of the effects of the greater convulsions of nature. The small torrent called Rio de la summa Paz falls from the eastern chain of the Andes, and would be impassible but for these natural bridges. A crevice, probably formed by an earthquake, receives this torrent in the valley of Pandi; and within the crevice are formed two beautiful cascades; over the top of the upper cascade, the enormous rocks have been—so thrown together, as to support each other on the principle of the arch. This arch, thus formed by nature, is forty-eight feet in length, forty-two feet in breadth, its thickness, in the centre, is seven feet. This bridge is about three hundred and twenty feet above the torrent, and the water, in the stream, is about twenty feet deep. About sixty feet below this, another similar bridge has been formed much resembling it; three enormous masses of rock have fallen so as to support each other; that in the centre forms the key of this natural arch. The torrent appears to flow through a dark natural cavern, where arises a melancholy noise, caused by the flight of numberless birds which haunt the crevice, and appear like bats of a most unusual size. Thousands of them are seen flying over the surface of the water, and they appear as large as a fowl. It is not possible to take them on account of the depth of the fissure, and they can only be examined by throwing down torches to illuminate the sides of the crevice.

The city of Santa Fé de Bogota is the capital of the province of Santa Fé, as well as of the viceroyalty of New Granada. It is on the plain before noticed, 8700 feet above the level of the sea. The thermometer sometimes, though but rarely, descends to the freezing point, and the temperature is, in general, remarkably equable. It is a handsome well built city. It contains four squares, which are connected by wide and regular streets; two small rivers run through it, over which five handsome bridges are constructed. The public buildings are sumptuous, particularly the cathedral and the palace of the viceroy. It contains several handsome churches, eight convents, four nunneries, a royal mint, a hospital, and a university, in which several of the professors, as well as their pupils, have acquired considerable celebrity. The inhabitants are estimated at 35,000; they are, in general, in a state of mediocrity, possessing lands in the province, and some are occupied in the more common manufactories, but it is not a place of extensive trade. The country around the capital is thickly studded with farms and cottages, the industry of the inhabitants is considerable, and it is principally exercised in agriculture, by which they obtain abundant crops of every species of grain, and usually have two harvests in the year. Next to Santa Fé de Bogota, the most considerable town is Honda, which is on the banks of the river Magdalena, and is the principal port. Vessels of larger size can reach this town, than are capable of ascending higher, though the river is navigable for smaller boats to a considerable distance upwards. This place, from being the point where an alteration in the size of the vessels becomes necessary, has become an entrepot, where goods are deposited, and is the residence of some opulent merchants.

Mariguita is dignified with the name of a city, has a cathedral and a bishop. It was, when the gold mines of Bocanime and San Juan de Cordova, and the silver mines of Loxas and Frias, were extensively worked, a place of more importance than it now is, but the declension of the mines has caused the declension of the city, and the inhabitants are not now more than 1500.

San Gil is a flourishing town, principally inhabited by Creoles, but the district around it has villages wholly peopled with Indians. Socorro is another town at a short distance from San Gil; the circumstances of both are the same; they are in a healthy climate, and the population has rapidly increased. They, however, deserve notice, principally from having been the seats of the insurrections which broke out in 1781 and in 1797. The inhabitants of these districts, in the first mentioned period, rose to resist a new militia law, which was very unpopular throughout the viceroyalty. They were in confederacy with some inhabitants of the capital, who, at the same time, discovered strong revolutionary symptoms, and assembled in great crowds. As the inhabitants of Gil and Socorro advanced towards the capital, and expected its support, the Archbishop, preceded by the host, addressed the populace, and, by the influence of religion, dispersed them. Thus the people of the provinces, disappointed in their expectation of support, were compelled to retrace their steps. They were followed by some troops, who attacked and defeated them. A few were punished, and the insurrection was quelled. In 1797, similar demonstrations were exhibited by the people of Gil and Socorro, on account of new regulations in the law for the extension of the monopoly of tobacco. The plan was better projected, and was rather combined with the new principles of government which had recently been developed in France, and which some of the younger men had imbibed. It was, however, counteracted by the vigilance of the viceroy, and, without any serious tumult, was suppressed. The revolutionary leaders were either imprisoned or made their escape; of the latter many repaired to France, some to the United States of America, and some to England, and from thence were afterwards collected by General Miranda, the subordinate agent employed by him to revolutionize Spanish America. They composed a part of the force with which he landed at Coro, in his ill-timed and unfortunate expedition. The population of these towns has exhibited an increase equal to what has been remarked in the most rapidly rising districts of the United States of America, having doubled twice between the year 1781 and 1811.

The other towns are, Velen, Mazo, Leiva, Villa de Purificacion, Tocaima, and Tunja, all of which, though rapidly increasing, are of less account than the villages filled with agricultural inhabitants, which cover the better portions of this province.

The province of Popayan was very early settled, and the descendants of the first settlers have remained fixed there. The proportion of noble families is greater than in any other part of America. Though many of these are reduced to poverty, they have not relaxed that pride which was the distinguishing characteristic of the old Castilians. The privilege of wearing a sword is one of which they are extremely tenacious; and it is not even now unusual to see in Popayan the proprietor of an hereditary estate, derived from the first conquerors, but diminished to a fraction by the misconduct of its successive owners, employed in cultivating his own field, with a sword at his side, as evidence to every passenger of the nobility of his origin. The province of Popayan is both healthy and fertile; and though it has no access to the sea, no intercourse with Europe, and very little external commerce, it has increased in population with a rapidity unexampled, except in the United States. The climate is mild and equable, storms are of short duration, and earthquakes are less known than in other portions of the presidency of Quito, of which this province makes a part. Such is its ex- cellency, that, "As good as the sky, the soil, and the bread of Popayan," has become a proverb in the kingdom of New Granada. Wheat, maize, and barley, are abundantly produced; and, in some of the deeper valleys, sugar and coffee, whilst the numerous herds of cattle furnish a cheap provision, and supply abundance of hides and tallow for domestic consumption, as well as for the neighbouring provinces. One vegetable production of considerable importance is grown extensively in this province. The Cuca or Coca grows on a weak stem; like the vine, it requires support from some more sturdy plant, around which it twines itself. Its leaf, the valuable part, is an inch and half in length, and is chewed in the same manner as the inhabitants of India use the betel. A small portion of calcareous earth is rolled in the leaf of the Coca, and, carried in the mouth; it produces heat, and excites a copious flowing of saliva, which is swallowed, and thus assuages the excessive thirst which the inhabitants endure in passing the lofty and arid mountains. The natives attribute to it the most nutritive and invigorating qualities; and affirm that they can labour with no other sustenance during several successive days. Whatever may be its qualities, the estimation of it may be inferred from its having been, even before the establishment of Europeans, an article of considerable commerce. It is carried to all the mining districts, and the masters provide themselves with a considerable store of it, without which they could procure no labourers; nor, as they affirm, would the labourers have sufficient strength to execute their severe work, without its invigorating use. In some of the southern districts, a gum exudes from the trees, called mopa-mopa, from which a varnish is made, transparent, and so durable as to be indestructible by boiling water, or even the strongest acids. It is applied to cabinet ware, and the superior kinds of furniture, and gives to them a beauty superior to any which India or China can produce. The roads in this province are generally bad; but the intercourse between Santa Fé and Popayan is carried on by means of so singular a nature, that, without the recent visit, and the detailed description, of that excellent traveller, Baron Humboldt, it would scarcely be credible. It is necessary to cross the central ridge of mountains, by a pass called Garito de Paramo. This pass is 11,500 feet above the level of the sea, and is consequently above the line of perpetual conge- lation. The mules which convey goods, and even passengers, over this ridge, are frequently destroyed by the severity of the cold; and the road, for leagues, is covered so thick with their bones and frozen carcases, that it is difficult to avoid treading on them. The road, or rather track, passes through an uninhabited forest, which occupies, in the most favourable weather, ten or twelve days to pass it. No habitation is to be seen, nor any provisions to be found; so that the traveller is compelled to carry at least a month's subsistence, to provide against the impediments which the sudden showers or swellings of the streams may oppose to him, and which often protract his journey till his food is exhausted. The path through the upper part of the pass is not more than two feet in breadth. It is a kind of deep gully, at whose bottom is a thick and tenacious mud. It is so deep, that, from that circumstance, and the great number of vegetable substances which cover the top, it is almost totally dark. Some of these natural ravines are more than a mile and a half in length. The oxen and mules have the greatest difficulty in forcing their way through the deep mud. Few greater embarrassments can occur than arise from the meeting of travellers in these horrible crevices. Sometimes the sludge is so deep as to cover the backs of the animals; and, in some cases, they are even obliged to drive in the oxen, and to make a kind of bridge of their suffocated carcases. The roots of the bamboos, which are studded with hard and short prickles, and project into the path, contribute no inconsiderable share of the miseries of these dreadful passes. In this journey, especially, the better class of people are carried on the backs of men, harnessed and accounted for the purpose. Besides their human load, these men carry a roll of leaves of the Vijao, of which to construct the nightly habitations of the party. These leaves are two feet in length, and a foot and half in breadth; and, being covered with a down, from which the rain runs off, they make good temporary roofs to the huts, whose sides are formed at the resting place by cutting a few trees, and inclining them to each other. The common price for the conveyance of the living load through this pass of horrors, which occupies from twelve to twenty days, is from ten to fourteen dollars, which, notwithstanding the cheapness of provisions, seems to be a very slight recompense for the labour and danger. There is, however, another pass, less terrific, though the danger from cold is greater. It goes by the sources of the Cauca and the Magdalena, between two summits called Coconoco and Houila, whence, if the carrier of goods is nearly benighted, he deposits his goods, and descends, lest he should be frozen to death, by the excessive severity of the cold.

The city of Popayan is large and well built, the streets are broad, and cross each other at right angles. The public buildings are numerous and handsome; it is a bishop's see, and contains, besides a magnificent cathedral, several parish churches, four convents, two nunneries, and an hospital. It had formerly a college under the direction of the Jesuits, but now governed by the secular clergy; the number, as well as the talents of the professors, has declined since the expulsion of the order; inferior studies only are prosecuted, and inferior degrees only conferred. Those who wish to attain higher distinction in the learned professions now study and graduate at the universities of Quito or Santa Fé. There is a mint here for coining gold and silver; but the produce of the mines is so small, that the expence of the establishment of the mint nearly equals the amount of the royal fifth. The inhabitants are estimated at 25,000, the far greater proportion of whom are either white Creoles, or mixtures derived from the European and African races, with but little of Indian blood. There are more than sixty noble families here, who have remained uncontaminated by alliance with the inferior colours, as they affirm, and on which they pride themselves excessively; though others assert, that few of these families are exempt from the Indian colour. It is, however, an aristocracy of a peculiar kind, and perhaps partakes less of the benefits of that institution, than is derived from it in our own and some other countries. Though the city of Popayan contains but few Indians, yet in the whole province they far outnumber all the other races together. Whole villages, very populous, contain no inhabitants besides them; and in the mines, that labour, which, at an early period, was performed by negroes, has devolved on them; whilst the Africans, from the paucity of late recruits, have gradually mixed with the other races, and become extinguished in the castes of mulattos, quadrons, quinteroons, and similar denominations. The river Moline rises in a mountain near the city, and passes through it; sometimes it overflows its banks, but generally for a short period; it has two handsome stone bridges built over it. Its water is considered as highly salubrious, possessing some medical virtues, and being also pleasant to the taste.

The next town in population after the capital is St Juan de Pasto, a bishop's see, and chief town of a district, to which it gives name. It contains 8000 inhabitants, mostly Creoles and Indians. The other towns are Carthage, Ibague, near which is the quicksilver mine, Cali, Timana, Neyva, La Plata, and Mercaderes; nothing remarkable distinguishes them except the rapid increase of their population; but even in this respect they are excelled by the numerous small villages, where the enjoyment of ease, and plenty, a fine climate, and moderate labour, unite in producing a vast increase of the numbers of the people.

San Juan de Llanos is the eastward province of the viceroyalty, and one of the most extensive. It consists principally of plains, whose limits have not been defined, and scarcely ever explored. It is the country in which those great rivers rise, which contribute to form the immense river Orinoco. The Meta, Vechada, Casanare, and Guaviare, issue from the Cordilleras in the eastern division of this province. The climate is generally warm; the inhabitants are few, and those mostly Indians, who, in spite of the numerous missions established among them, care little for the religion or the laws of the Spaniards, but employ themselves in hunting the cattle, which, in herds without number, cover the plains. There are but two towns, dignified indeed with the title of cities, in this extensive province; San Juan, and San Joseph, the former containing about 1000, the latter 500 inhabitants. Colonies or missions were founded by the Jesuits, who certainly possessed, in an extraordinary degree, the power of conciliating the savage inhabitants, and civilizing them up to a certain point. With the dispersion of these missionaries, and the transfer of their undertakings to other orders of ecclesiastics, the civilization of the Indians here, as in other parts of America, has declined, and they are now little, if at all, removed from their pristine barbarism. The geography of this province was totally unknown in Europe before the recent travels of Humboldt, who has surveyed and mapped it with great accuracy.

Tacames, or Atacames, is a province on the Pacific Ocean, lately erected into a government; it is a narrow stripe of land, bounded to the eastward by the Andes. The productions and climate are those of the tropical regions. Its inhabitants are very few, mostly of the Indian race, though some Spanish noble families have extensive possessions. Maldonado, head of one of the principal of these families, opened a road from the river of Emeralds, which bounded his possessions, to the city of Quito, for which he was rewarded by receiving the appointment of governor of this district, which was erected into an intendency for that purpose. The river of Emeralds was, however, forbidden to be navigated, from the facilities which it was supposed to furnish to the contraband traders; and the province, which, whilst Maldonado lived, was rapidly increasing in wealth and population, has retroceded and become insignificant. The principal place is San Mateo the capital, which does not contain 500 inhabitants, and the other towns, Tumaco, Tola, and La Caucá, are still more inconsiderable. The other places scarcely deserve the name even of villages, but are either plantations or fishing stations.

The province of Quito has been generally placed in the kingdom of Peru, but ever since the year 1718 it has formed part of the kingdom of New Granada, and, indeed, must be considered one of its most important divisions. It is a country very various in its climate, soil, productions, and aspect; and besides Chimborazo, it includes, within its limits, all the loftiest mountains of America. The whole of Quito, sometimes called a kingdom, but more correctly a presidency, is governed by an officer under the orders of the viceroy of New Granada. The seat of his government is the city of Quito, built as early as the year 1534, on the site of an ancient town, in one of those beautiful plains, which, in the torrid zone, are to be found on the top of the lofty mountains. These plains possess fertility, beauty, mildness, and salubrity, and produce, almost spontaneously, every thing that mankind can want. This is eminently the case of Quito and the district that surrounds it; but it has natural horrors, which, if not familiarized, would be sufficient to destroy all enjoyment. In every hill that surrounds them, its inhabitants may justly dread that a volcano will burst forth; and every day they live, they may be alarmed with the apprehension, that an earthquake may swallow them up, or bring an inundation that shall drown them. Amidst all these surrounding threats of destruction, however, and the experience of past events to alarm them, the inhabitants are the most gay, lively, dissipated, and luxurious of any people in the American continent. The population is estimated at 70,000; many are of high rank, and enjoy great wealth: the descendants of the first adventurers affected this place, and established their families in it; and their descendants, ennobled by the Court of Madrid, shine in all the gaudy finery, which wealth, without taste, can display. About one-sixth of the inhabitants are whites, but mostly Creoles; one-third are a mixture of whites and Indians, one-third are unmixed Indians, and the other sixth various casts between Indians, negroes, mu- lattos, zambos, all of whom very proudly boast their nearer affinity to the white race, than that of the colour, but one degree farther removed from that distinction. There is a university in which the higher ranks are instructed, and, though the bigotry and superstition which prevails through Spain and her dominions fetters the mind, and prevents it from expanding to any great extent; yet the system is at least not worse than that which prevails in the country from which the government sprung, and far better than would have been enjoyed, if America had never been visited by the natives of Europe. Classical knowledge is pursued with that languid pace, which is to be expected, where every thing is measured by its relation to the degrading superstition that prevails. The exact sciences, notwithstanding their tendency to produce doubts respecting many dogmas, appear to have met with fewer obstructions; and hence mathematics have been prosecuted more ardently and more successfully than any other branch of learning. More progress has, however, been made in botany than in any other study; and the priests, who do not fear that the pursuit will stagger their faith, have pursued it with avidity and with considerable success. What is called philosophy in a Spanish university is beneath contempt, but the divinity is a study of a still lower cast, consisting of such inquiries and speculations as are revolting to common sense, and not unfrequently to common decency; for the immaculate conception is there as in Spain a test of orthodoxy, and scrupulously investigated. The universities of Quito, for there are two, have produced no scholar whose name has reached Europe, except Don Pedro Maldonado, whom we have before noticed as the governor of Tacames. He was a profound mathematician; he had pursued with avidity the study of physics; and would have been a blessing to his country, could he have resided there free from the fetters of the priests.

The city of Quito is in a narrow gorge, where two beautiful plains are connected together between high mountains. This necessarily destroys the symmetry of the form of the city, contracting it by the mountains in some parts, whilst it is extended in undue proportion in others. The high mountain Pichinca adjoins the city, and, indeed, a part of the city may be said to be built on its lower side. It rises about 6000 feet above the level parts of the city, and 16,000 above the level of the sea. Its extreme summit is covered with eternal snow, and supplies rivulets by its melting, which water the plain, and dispenses to the inhabitants the luxury of ice in the warmest seasons. In ancient times it was a tremendous volcano, but its eruptions have ceased, and it now discharges neither fire nor smoke, but at frequent periods rumbling noises issue from the crater, which call to mind the devastations its fiery streams formerly occasioned, and give to the inhabitants notes of fearful alarm. The principal square of Quito is a magnificent pile of building; the whole of one side of it is filled with the cathedral church, the other by the episcopal palace. The other two sides opposite to each other are occupied by the Caza de Cabildo, or town hall, and by the hall of the royal audience, public buildings thus forming the whole, with a beautiful fountain in the centre. There are two other squares, and the streets are numerous and wide, but, from the acclivity of the ground on which they stand, very irregular. This irregularity prevents the use of carriages, and the people of rank are carried in sedan chairs. Besides the cathedral, which is most sumptuously ornamented and adorned with images, covered with jewels, altars of pure silver, and candelabras of gold, there are seven parochial churches, various chapels, eight convents, five numerries, and two hospitals, which are magnificent buildings, and give an appearance of grandeur to the whole city. There are no theatres, but the inhabitants are indulged with numerous processions, which are intended to be of a religious nature, and were introduced under the pretence of appeasing the Deity, and thus restraining the force of that elementary war which, from their volcanic position, they have reason to dread. These processions, accompanied with all the parade that rich dresses, gilded images, and gold and silver church furniture, can afford, pass through the streets, whose inhabitants decorate their houses by exhibiting their most costly ornaments and dresses, whilst thousands of Indians join the procession, and accompany it with their native music and dancing, to the delight of the silly and the contempt of the wiser part of the citizens. There is little commerce in the city; the numerous offices of government, the courts of law, and especially the church, furnish callings to those who have what is there considered a liberal education, and trade is too degrading for such persons. There are some manufactories, however, both of cotton and of baize, but they are of inconsiderable extent, and conducted without either spirit or skill. The workmen in jewellery are considerable, and the number of silversmiths is great in proportion to the population, as every man, above the vulgar, is furnished with silver forks, plates, spoons, and other domestic utensils, and decorates his horses with silver bits, buckles, and stirrups.

The fertility of the surrounding district equals, if it does not exceed, the best portions of Santa Fé, and may be traced to the same causes,—the alluvial and volcanic nature of the soil, the facility of irrigation, and the equable temperature of the climate. The progress of vegetation is constant and uniform through the whole year. Whilst some plants are fading, others of the same kind are springing up, and whilst some flowers are losing their beauty, others are beginning to bloom; when the fruits have gained maturity, and the leaves begin to change their colour fresh leaves, blossoms, and fruits, are seen in their several gradations, on the same tree. The same circumstances are exhibited in the several grains: as sowing and reaping are carried on at the same time. The corn recently sown is springing up, that which has been longer sown is in the blade, that longer is in blossom, and some fit for the sickle, thus exhibiting, on the declivities of the mountains, all the beauties of the four European seasons within one view.

The breeding and fattening of cattle is conducted with equal facility, and the beef and mutton brought to the market of Quito is very good. The produce of the dairy is equal to that of the best parts of Europe; butter is abundant, and the quantity of cheese, made beyond what the wants of the inhabitants require, is so considerable as to form one of the chief branches of their commerce with the warmer districts. Though thus favoured with all the productions of the temperate zone, Quito is far from being destitute of the fruits of the tropical climates; in the valleys oranges, limes, and lemons, grow abundantly; and the plantains, bananas, sugarcanes, melons, and guavas, are cultivated with very great success and little labour. They make from the maize, by fermentation, a species of beer of an intoxicating quality, to whose excessive use the Indians are addicted, whilst the sugar-cane produces, by distillation, an inferior kind of rum, which is too abundantly consumed by the higher classes, who prefer it to the wines of Peru. The mineral riches of the province of Quito are but small, few mines are worked, and those have only commenced lately, and give no favourable prospect of success. Some mercury has been found, and from the name Azogue, being that of a village near Cuenca, it is supposed a mine of that mineral in former times was worked there. Quito is celebrated for having been the spot chosen by the corps of Spanish and French mathematicians, who were occupied in measuring a degree of the meridian in 1736, and the three following years. The sufferings they endured in the progress of the operation were severe, and might have been avoided by executing the experiment on some of the level and extensive plains to the eastward of the Cordilleras.

Within the presidency of Quito are several considerable towns and populous villages. San Meguill de Ibara, which stands on a high cultivated plain, contains a population of 10,000 persons. It is somewhat warmer than Quito, which causes the productions to approach nearer to those of the tropics; it contains a church, a college, and a nunnery. The most striking natural curiosity is the valley or fissure of Chota, 4900 feet in depth, always covered with luxuriant vegetation. Olalobo is thirty miles north of Quito, and somewhat colder. The population amounts to 15,000, mostly white Creoles; but the populous villages that surround it are chiefly peopled by Indians. In some of these villages are numerous tumuli, the burying places of the ancient inhabitants. These have sometimes been perforated for the hidden treasure they were supposed to contain, and, though the reward has usually been inadequate to the labour, they have discovered, among bones and skeletons, idols of gold and jewels, drinking vessels of earthenware, tools of copper or stone, with mirrors of obsidian and polished flint. Latacunga contains about 12,000 inhabitants, and, though it has been the frequent victim of the convulsions of nature, it has always risen from its ruins, and soon assumed a flourishing appearance. Being in a colder climate than Quito, the character of its productions are conformable. Large quantities of cheese, butter, and salted pork, are sent from hence to Guayaquil, and cloth and baize are manufactured to a moderate extent. Riobamba has been rebuilt since the tremendous catastrophe of 1797, in what is considered a more secure spot; and its population has so increased, as now to amount to 20,000 persons. It contains two churches, four convents, two nunneries, and a hospital, and carries on a considerable traffic with Guayaquil, for wheat, maize, and salted meat. Hambato, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, has suffered much from the convulsions of its neighbouring volcano; but, like Riobamba and Latacunga, has soon recovered, been rebuilt, and quickly peopled. In proceeding southward from Quito, the plains about Hambato and Latacunga are the first places in which the Llamas or Peruvian beasts of burden are found. These animals, whose native place is the high mountains, cannot endure a warm climate; and as some deep and warm valleys intervene betwixt this district and Quito, which they would never voluntarily pass, they are never seen in a wild state to the north of it. In Riobamba they are the common beasts of burden, and so general, that few even of the Indians are without one or two to carry his baggage and goods, when he has occasion to travel from one place to another.

The next portion of the presidency of Quito to be noticed is the city of Guayaquil, and the district that surrounds it. The city is the most important commercial place in the Pacific Ocean in the whole of South America, and more ships are probably loaded there for Europe than in all the ports of Peru and Chili. It is in latitude 2° 12' south, and 79° 6' west longitude. The river, of the same name as the city, is navigable for small vessels as high as Babahoya, but ships of more than 250 tons burden cannot even ascend to the city, but must have their cargoes sent down by balsas, a species of raft of singular construction, which are peculiar to this part of the South Sea. These balsas are constructed of very light logs of wood, the number of which is uneven, and the centre one longer than the others; these are lashed parallel to each other by strong ropes of bejuco, but not so close as absolutely to prevent all access of the water between the logs; by means of sliding-keels, which descend or ascend as the direction of the balsa may require, they are enabled to turn to windward, to bear up, lie to, or to steer large as well as any vessels whatever. Such is the buoyancy of the trees from which the logs are framed, that they rise and fall with the waves, and scarcely ever damage the cargo by admitting water between the opening of the logs. These balsas are evidently of Indian contrivance, and better adapted to the peculiarities of the navigation of this coast and river, than any vessels that the Europeans have invented. The country on each side of the river Guayaquil is subject to considerable inundations, which, though they render the soil fertile, tend to make the country extremely unhealthy, and to crowd it with the insects, reptiles, and amphibious animals most noxious to man. Fevers and leprosies prevail extensively, the rivers swarm with alligators, the air is filled with mosquitos, and the land pestered with snakes of all descriptions. In spite of all these impediments to enjoyment, the attraction of wealth has drawn to this district a considerable population, who overlook its inflictions in the pursuit of the riches they seek. The principal article of export is cocoa, which amounts to about 45,000 quintals annually, though of late years the cultivation and consequent exportation of it has very considerably increased. The imports, consisting principally of articles of luxury from Europe, have usually amounted to double the exports, and the balance has been paid in the precious metals obtained by exchange from the mining districts. It has been declared to be a royal dock, but few ships of war have been yet constructed, though the size and qualities of the numerous trees which grow would be most admirably adapted for that purpose. There are many trees of a kind resembling the teak of India, and, like it, neither subject to be injured by worms or the rot. The city of Guayaquil itself contains about 24,000 inhabitants, but the district around it is very populous, containing towns such as Baba, Daule, and others, of from 4000 to 5000 inhabitants, and thickly established villages, which are filled with a Negro and Indian population. The buildings are mostly of wood whitened with calcareous earth, and hence it has been subject to great conflagrations; but the new houses being forbidden to be covered with thatch or shingles, they have not of late suffered from that calamity. The streets are broad, well paved, and the houses have piazzas, which afford to the passengers shade from the vertical sun. The public buildings are very splendid, consisting of two churches, three convents, a hospital, and a college, which was founded by the Jesuits. The town-hall is the best of the public erections, being established within a recent period. The city of Cuenca contains 20,000 inhabitants, and the fruitful plain on which it stands maintains an equal population; being higher than Guayaquil, it is not subject to many of those circumstances which produce discomfort; it is tolerably healthy, and has few venomous reptiles or insects. Its productions partake rather of the nature of the tropical than the temperate zone, and it has some manufactories of cotton and woollens. It contains three churches, four convents, two nunneries, and had formerly a college of the Jesuits. The population is mostly of Indian origin, with a mixture of European blood, but there are few if any natives of Europe established in it. Loxa or Loja is a city of 10,000 inhabitants, among whom are some noble families. It is somewhat more elevated than Cuenca, and is still more healthy; it is principally to be noticed from its being the district in which the greatest quantity and the best kind of the bark is found. The Indians cut down the trees, strip off the bark, and, after drying it in the sun, pack and prepare it for exportation. The cochineal insect is found in the district of Loxa, but as the inhabitants take little pains to propagate or preserve them, the quantity collected is barely sufficient for the consumption of the dyers of Cuenca, and none is exported.

The province of Jaen de Bracameros is to the southward of Quito, and eastward of Pern. Its capital, Jaen, contains about 4000 inhabitants, mostly a mixture of Europeans and Indians; in the rest of the province, there are few of any other than the unmixed Indians, some of whom are in subjection to Spain, but more are in their savage state. It is principally to be regarded as the district through which, when South America shall be fully peopled, a connection between the eastern and western side of the Continent may be maintained. In the present state, when the greater part of the natives live a migratory life, the scarcity of a fixed supply of provisions forbids extensive intercourse, but as all the rivers of Jaen run into the Lauricocha, or by other channels to the Maranon, it is the most easy passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. The communication is now carried on by the post down these streams. The carrier of the letters securing them on his head, plunges into the stream, which carries him along, whilst he occasionally rests himself on a tree, of the bombon species, which he carries with him, and which is lighter than cork. In this way he passes the rapids, and finding such provisions as the huts of the natives afford, or as the chace may yield, he carries the correspondence with safety and dispatch. The climate of Jaen is generally unhealthy, and from the nature of the population and their wandering life, there can be no productions to create commerce, though tobacco, if it were cultivated to the extent it might be, would enrich the province vastly.

The two provinces of Maynas and Quixos may be described at the same time; they are both at the eastern foot of the Andes, and, without defined limits, stretch across the Continent till they unite with the Portuguese dominions in Brasil. The wandering tribes, that are scattered over these immense plains, have never been subjected to European dominion, and have no disposition to be reconciled to it, notwithstanding the efforts of numerous missionaries have been directed to that object. The tributary streams of the Maranon, or river of Amazons, intersect these provinces in every direction. Streams with which the mightiest rivers of Europe will bear no comparison, unite together at various positions, till they at length form that vast magazine of water, which empties itself into the Atlantic Ocean under the Equinoctial Line. It is now clearly ascertained that in one branch of the Rio Negro there is a junction between the Orinoco and the Amazons. This river rises a little to the north of the Coqueta, and, after a very long course, divides into two rivers, one of which runs to the Orinoco, the other to the Maranon, thus providing an internal navigation to be used at some future period when the provinces of Caraccas and of Guyana shall be more fully peopled.

The river Maranon is the most remarkable object in these provinces. On every side during its protracted course it receives numerous tributary streams, which, in the quantity of water they contribute, far surpass any of the rivers of Europe. The most remarkable of these are the Lauricocha, the Beni, the Madera, and the Negro, which join it in this province; and the Apurimac, which, near the city of Arequipa, almost at its source, raises itself to the importance of a great river. Its waters run the space of 4500 miles, and it is supposed that ships of 400 or 500 tons burden might navigate it for that distance. It passes through the Andes, in 13° 10' south latitude. The pongo, or strait through which this river passes, is one of the most singular natural curiosities of the district. It is suddenly contracted from 1600 to 600 feet in breadth, and rushes with tremendous force, between stupendous perpendicular rocks, which form a crevice eight miles in length. When M. Condamine passed this fissure, he was carried with an impetuosity that terrified him, till he suddenly emerged into an open and extensive lake, from whence, owing to the force of the current, the possibility of his return was prevented. The breadth and depth of this vast river are every where correspondent to its length. At Coari, where it is one mile and a half in breadth, Condamine could find no bottom with a line of 100 fathoms. At the straits of Pauxis, 200 leagues from its mouth, the tide is perceptible by the rising of the river; but such is the quantity of water that rushes to the sea, and such the impetuosity of its course, that no salt water enters the river; and, on the contrary, the fresh water enters the ocean in such a volume as to displace the salt water, and it has been taken up in a drinkable state at 250 miles from the shore. By an estimate, founded on the actual measurement which Condamine made for more than 1800 miles of its course, it will appear, that, in the 4500 miles which it runs, its whole descent is about 290 feet, and that the descent from the part in which the tides are first visible is 90 feet to the sea. It is subject to most extensive floods, which inundate the country to a considerable distance from its banks during the periodical rainy seasons; but the fertility communicated by it more than compensates the temporary inconvenience.

These two provinces can scarcely be said to possess any towns; for in Borja, the capital of the one, there are few inhabitants, though it is the residence of the governor; and Archidona, the capital of the other, has not more than 700 inhabitants. There are, however, a considerable number of missions scattered over the face of the country, whose names are to be found in the maps, but whose residents are fluctuating and never numerous.

It is not easy to attain accuracy in calculating the population of a country, in which are such numerous tribes of wild and uncivilized or half civilized Indians. The only estimate that can approximate to accuracy is founded on the ecclesiastical returns of the numbers that come to confession; and the result of that estimate gives to the whole viceroyalty of New Granada a population of 2,200,000 souls.

It is scarcely possible to convey correct ideas on the subject of the late wars which have raged in New Granada, and in the other parts of the Spanish transatlantic dominions, without slightly viewing the causes which produced them. These provinces had long enjoyed tranquillity. The orders of the council of the Indies had been obeyed without hesitation, and without examination. They had suffered many privations from the wars in which the mother country was involved, but they had borne them with patience, and with unwavering loyalty. When Bonaparte, having kidnapped the royal family of Spain, appointed his brother to the throne, one of his first measures was to fill the council of Indies with his creatures, and issue orders to the different governments in America, announcing the change of family, confirming in their offices all the men who filled them, and announcing flattering promises of his care and attention to the well-being of the provinces. Before, however, the French vessels, destined to the different quarters with these dispatches, could be ready to sail, the spontaneous movement of the whole kingdom of Spain gave a different aspect to the state of affairs. Reports from all quarters reached various parts of America, and conveyed information of the opposition which universally prevailed to the measures of the imperial despot. In some parts the impulse was immediately communicated from the people to those who governed, and Ferdinand was proclaimed king amidst universal acclamations. In some parts those who were in possession of power hesitated what part to take, but they, too, were soon compelled to yield to the general wish. From the first arrival of the European intelligence, a marked difference was to be seen between the animated frenzy with which the Creoles proclaimed Ferdinand, and reprobed the French, and the cold and dubious manner in which the European Spaniards uttered the same language.

The viceroys and the other officers of government who had been appointed from Spain, though they all viewed the French domination with abhorrence, were apprehensive that, if the peninsula was subjected to the Corsican dynasty, and the intercourse with the colonies should be interrupted, their offices, if not abolished, would become less lucrative, and less authoritative; and that, at all events, they should be prevented from returning to Spain, to enjoy those large fortunes which they had acquired, or which they anticipated. The Cabildos of the corporations, composed principally of native Americans, felt that America was every thing to them. They had no thoughts of residing in Spain; and though they might not wish to have their parent state subdued by a foreign conqueror, yet, when placed in the alternative of either submitting to France, or breaking all the links that connected them with Spain, they could not hesitate to embrace the latter, which they did not consider as a good, but the least of two evils.

The views of the different parties were known to each other, though all united in vows of fidelity to Spain, of allegiance to the imprisoned monarch, and especially of eternal attachment to the religion they professed. The Negroes and Indians remained quiescent. They were told, that the French would rob them of their religion; and, as the value they set on that was equal to their ignorance of its nature and foundation, they were ready to receive every impression unfavourable to that nation, and to unite as far as they were able in opposing all change.

From the end of the year 1808, till the beginning of 1810, the Central Junta held rule. It was, however, found to be unfit for the government of the peninsula, and utterly incapable of directing the more distant affairs of the colonies. They knew some heats existed there, if not discontents; and, instead of a practical investigation, to which, indeed, they were incompetent, they issued abstract declarations of equality, which were of no other use but to be brought forward at a future time, in opposition to themselves or their successors; or as furnishing stimulants to the Negroes and Indians to rise against both the Europeans and the Creoles. This declara- tion of equality, whatever was meant by it by the Junta, was by no means acceptable in America. The Spaniards and the Creoles, though most violently opposed to each other, were equally opposed to a decree which, if interpreted according to the letter, gave equal rights and equal power to the degraded castes as to their own class. Even those of the mixed races, who approached nearest to the whites, felt indignant that those a little darker than themselves should be advanced to an equal rank.

Whilst these feelings were rankling in the minds of all parties in America, when no authority from Europe expressed any opinion, but a wish for remittances, and when no party in America was sufficiently cool to suggest practical remedies, the intelligence arrived that all was lost in Spain, that the French had overran the whole Peninsula, and all authorities there had at length submitted. Such were the exaggerated reports which generally prevailed, and remained long uncontradicted by any authority. The port of Cadiz, the only one remaining to the fragment of the government, was shut, to prevent premature intelligence; and, from this precaution, every report reached America with additions of disasters, acquired at every stage in its circuitous route. It is not, then, wonderful that, throughout America, the impression became general that they must henceforward depend on themselves alone, and endeavour to adopt such measures as should most effectually prevent them from falling under the dominion of the French ruler of Spain.

In Mexico and in Peru, the Europeans were sufficiently powerful, or had sufficient influence, to cause a suspension of independent measures; but, in every other part, assemblies actuated by fear, by fury, and by love of novelty, met and tumultuously chose delegates, who assumed the sovereign power, but exercised it in the name of Ferdinand. When these assemblies met, they had no previously settled principles, and no practical plans. They soon became involved in difficulties, and different parties had recourse to arms. The opinions and feelings of some towns in each province differed from others; and military invasions of each other were adopted, to settle the points in dispute. The whole of the provinces were in arms, and had assumed a semi-independence, before a new body in Cadiz was announced to them as the acknowledged legal government of the small portion of Spain which yet remained unsubdued by the French.

Previously to the entering of the French troops into Andalusia, and the dispersion of the Central Junta, the heats which prevailed in South America had been smothered; but the intelligence of that transaction caused the flame instantly to burst forth, and with perhaps more fervour, from having been long suppressed. This irruption took place in January 1810. Caraccas, as the nearest place to Europe, first received the intelligence. It had been almost the only portion of South America which had held much communication with England, and with the United States of America. It had, from that communication, imbibed a more free spirit, and had among its inhabitants more men who had speculated on political subjects. In April 1810, the occupation of Andalusia was known in Caraccas, and immediately turbulent assemblages were convened in the capital, who, with little care in the selection, appointed a junta to "preserve," as they stated, "the province for their king, to protect the Catholic faith, to repel all the projects of the French Emperor, and to preserve an asylum for such Spaniards as should prefer freedom in America to the slavery and irreligion which France dispersed in Europe." This Junta was composed almost wholly of Creoles; and, as soon as they were installed, and in possession of undefined power, they seized the viceroy and the judges of the royal audience; and, without trial, and with little ceremony, transported them to the United States. With a haste characteristic of such assemblies, they instantly decreed the abolition of the most efficient taxes, and thus destroyed the whole revenue, whilst they increased the expenditure, by arming the population, and left themselves no resource but confiscation and proscription, to which they speedily had recourse. Though the Junta of the capital thus assumed sovereign and independent power, and acted upon that assumption as far as they could in their decrees, yet several of the provinces refused to submit to the overbearing authority of the capital. Cumana, the second city in wealth and population, chose a Junta for itself, and refused to act with the capital, except upon terms of equality; whilst Maracaibo, Valencia, and Coro, absolutely refused to join them, and resolved to maintain their connection and dependance with the regency and Cortes at Cadiz. Armies were formed, and marched to attack those who were unwilling to enter into a revolution. The measures of the Junta of Caraccas being taken with more violence than judgment, all failed, and their armies were defeated and dispersed. Whilst the turbulent spirits of the city of Caraccas were thus plunging the province into all the miseries of a civil war, they took great pains to excite similar movements in New Granada. The inhabitants of that country were less disposed to insurrection; and it was not till three months after the revolution in Caraccas, that any similar movement took place in Santa Fé de Bogota, the capital of New Granada. In July, a public meeting appointed a Junta of its most respectable Creole inhabitants. This body, when they met, acknowledged the authority of the regency of Cadiz, chose the Viceroy as the president of their body, and confirmed the authority of the Audience, and the other magistrates. After a short time, however, the turbulent people, instigated by the emissaries from Caraccas, caused a commotion. The presence for this was, that a plot was discovered for the destruction of liberty. The populace overawed the newly-installed Junta, who, with little inquiry, and no trials, decreed the banishment of the Viceroy, the Audience, and the other magistrates. The authority of the regency of Cadiz was then disavowed, and the various provinces of the viceroyalty were invited to send deputies to the capital, to unite in a general system. Tunja, Pamplona, Casanare, Choco, Antioquia, Socorro Neyva, and Mariquita, joined in the project, and sent their deputies, whilst Santa Marta positively refused. Popayan, torn by internal factions, yielded a qualified consent; and several towns, es- pecially San Gil, Carthagena, Giron, and Mompox, formed petty states in their respective districts, independent alike of Spain and of the junta of the capital. An insurrection had broken out in Quito. Some troops from Lima had suppressed it; but, as the inhabitants were averse to the superiority of Lima, the viceroy acquiesced in the establishment of a junta, which acknowledged obedience to the regency of Cadiz, and preserved the tranquillity of that important portion of the country, whilst the more northern parts were suffering all the horrors which a revolution can inflict, when a rude and ferocious populace are the principal actors. Quito was not doomed, like Caraccas and Santa Fé, to have all its magistrates transported by the decision of the populace; and, therefore, a degree of order has been continued, which now gives it a prosperity, far superior to that of the districts which were at once deprived of all the authorities to which they had been accustomed to look up.

A civil war commenced to subdue those places which aimed at independence, or, according to their own language, resolved on a government of federative republics. After much savage warfare, these federalists were subdued, and a congress was assembled. Disputes arose among the members about their nomination, and, with a few impracticable decrees, they soon separated, without allaying the ferment, or suspending the general hostilities, that covered the face of the country.

The separation of the first congress took place within six months of the commencement of the insurrection, in December 1810, or January 1811, and left the whole country suffering under internal hostilities of the most ferocious description.

During the year 1811, Tacon, the Spanish governor of Popayan, maintained a feeble resistance; but at length he liberated and organized the negro slaves, and, at the head of these black royalists, annoyed the republicans on the side of Pastos, whilst the people of Maracaybo, and of Santa Marta, continued their opposition in two other quarters. This opposition of the royalists occasioned, however, but trifling evils, when compared with the sufferings which the different parties of the republicans inflicted on each other.

Another congress was assembled, consisting of the representatives of Pamplona, Tunja, Neyva, Carthagena, and Antioquia, whilst an assembly, under the title of Colegio Electoral Constituyente, sat, deputed by the province of Santa Fé, now called by them Cundinamarca. Each of these bodies formed projects of constitutions, but neither would accept that framed by the other. It would be tiresome to give even the briefest abstract of the projects and the arguments of the parties, which are, however, recorded in most voluminous state papers. The congress of Cundinamarca, from fear of the populace of its capital, removed its sittings to Tunja. Whilst there, they chose for their president one Narino, who had been a spectator of the French Revolution, and who had returned to his native province full of the projects and language to which it gave birth. Having the command of the troops, he proceeded to disperse the congress; but the division dispatched for that purpose refused to act, and, suddenly changing sides, declared for the congress. Narino had still a considerable force which was attached to him; more than equal, indeed, to the part that had deserted him. The congress vested the command of the army, which opposed Narino, in Baraya, the officer employed to dissolve them, and who was accused of having been withdrawn from his obedience to Narino by a considerable bribe.

A civil war now spread over the country. Narino was twice defeated; and, in consequence of it, the army under Baraya was enabled to besiege Santa Fé, the capital, which was possessed by the partizans of Narino. That chief proposed to surrender upon terms which the besiegers refused. It was attempted to be stormed; but the besiegers were repulsed with such loss, that their army was dispersed, only a small division making good its retreat to Tunja.

Whilst these events were passing in the centre of the viceroyalty, the southern part became equally agitated. The city of Quito had a junta, and, as we have before stated, acknowledged the authority of the regency of Cadiz. From the turbulent state of the populace, it could, however, scarcely keep the full exercise of authority. The royalist province of Cuenca, which adjoined it, had organized a military force. The regency at Cadiz had nominated a new governor of Quito, who was escorted to his government by a body of troops from Lima. The junta of Quito, though willing to receive a governor from Cadiz, would not permit him to enter with the royal troops, and formed an army to oppose him. The troops from Cuenca, and those from Lima, after some opposition, took Quito, and installed the new governor. He immediately commenced operations against the republicans. Upon this, the congress and Narino suddenly adjusted their disputes, and he was placed in the command of the united army to oppose the royalists from the south. Narino, at the head of 8000 men, engaged the royal army, commanded by Samano, and defeated it; but it rallied, was reinforced, and fought two other battles with similar success. By these events Narino became master of Popayan, and began to organize something like a government. The royalists were dispersed, rather than destroyed, and, retiring to the impregnable mountains of Pastos, maintained an incursive and predatory warfare. Narino followed them to their fortresses, and carried the strong position, called Alto de Juanamba, but with prodigious loss. He advanced to attack the town of Pastos; but a report, in the moment of commencing the assault, that he was taken prisoner, having spread among his troops, it produced confusion. The royalists suddenly became the assailants, and dispersed the irregular troops he commanded. He was made a prisoner, and with him the hopes of success to the southward of Popayan terminated. His life was spared; he was conducted to Quito, thence to Lima, and has since been transferred to Spain, where he is said to be chained for life in one of the dungeons in the vicinity of Cadiz. The event that terminated his career happened in June 1814.

We have already stated that Carthagena had, when the disturbances first began, declined joining the party that had predominated in the capital. The province of Carthagena contains a population of 230,000 souls, of whom about 24,000 reside in the city of that name. In August 1810 a junta was convoked, consisting, as in most other places, principally of members of the Cabildo. The authority of the regency of Cadiz was acknowledged in their decrees, but they refused to receive a governor appointed by that body, and thus became embarked in the revolution. Early in 1811, like the other communities, they began to arm the population. The junta, in February of that year, was debating on some regulations of the armed force, when the troops revolted, and dissolved the assembly. A new assembly was more indulgent to the soldiery; and, because the town of Mompor did not acquiesce in their measures, and wished to be represented in the congress previous to their obeying it, it was attacked, taken, and the principal inhabitants imprisoned or banished. In November 1811 an insurrection compelled the congress to declare all connection between the province and Spain to be terminated, and demanded a republican constitution. War was carried on with Santa Marta on one side; a state neither of peace nor of war existed with Santa Fé, and the government of Spain, in denouncing them as rebels, had interdicted all their commerce. The sufferings of the province were great, and their apprehensions increased, first, by the disputes between Narino and the congress of Santa Fé, and afterwards, by the defeats which were experienced when those opponents united against the royalists. By a convulsive effort they conquered Santa Marta; but the atrocities practised by their troops excited the inhabitants to rise upon them, and drive them out; and receiving reinforcements from Portobello, Havana, and Maracaibo, they were enabled to repel several subsequent attacks. The whole of the year 1813 was occupied by these successive events, during which a constitution had been formed, which, however, was never so far put in execution as to protect the inhabitants from the tyranny of the mob of the capital. The government, having no revenue, and confiscations having ceased to be productive, issued paper money, which soon became of no value, and, with no authority to enforce obedience, remained for two years in a state of stubborn helplessness, till they were roused from their lethargy by an attack made on them from Santa Fé, whose army had crossed the province and invested the city, when a formidable force from Spain, in 1815, appeared on the coast.

We must now return to the province of Caracas, whose revolutionary progress was proceeding with great rapidity. As soon as every vestige of dependance upon Spain was destroyed, attempts were made to reduce the neighbouring provinces to the authority of their congress. A fresh attack upon the city and district of Coro was made by an army of 3000 men, but it failed in its objects, and returned in a state of great disorganization. General Miranda made his appearance on the stage of his native country, from which he had been absent more than thirty years. On his arrival, by the assistance of Espejo, he established a club under the title of Sociedad Patriotica, which first directed, and then overturned, the junta. It assumed extravagant authority, issued its decisions in the most peremptory tone, instituted nocturnal searches, secret trials, and summary executions. Under pretences of plots against liberty, the richest inhabitants were either put to death or banished, and their effects confiscated to the public. The city of Valencia had refused obedience to the decrees of the capital. Miranda was dispatched with a force to subdue it. The first effort failed, but being reinforced, he at length captured that city, and with four thousand men made an unsuccessful attempt upon Coro. The year 1811 was occupied by these operations, and by the attempt to form a constitution. They had possession of the whole country except Coro with its district, and the fortress of Porto Cavalo on the sea coast. No enemy had attacked, or were prepared to attack them; their own internal dissensions were, however, more disastrous than the most ferocious foreign foe. The revenue was destroyed, confiscations could be no longer practised, the paper money they had issued was no longer of any value, a maximum that had been laid on provisions had produced scarcity, and no authority was obeyed but that called the voice of the people. A negotiation had been opened with New Granada, with the project of uniting, under one federal government, those two provinces, which were each so disunited internally, that neither could depend on its inhabitants complying with any stipulations that might be mutually settled between them. The clergy had first joined the insurrection. As long as the object was to prevent the provinces from becoming subject to France, and by that subjection to risk the loss of their religion, and the emoluments by which it was supported, the body of the priests, both secular and regular, favoured the cause of the junta. In a short period the wealth of the church was deemed a fair auxiliary to the wants of the state, and toleration to other faiths than the Catholic was projected. The clergy became alarmed at the innovations, and with a bigotry, which was assisted by the practice of auricular confession, instilled into the population unfavourable views of the designs of the ruling party.

In this state of affairs, on the 26th March 1812, the anniversary of the day on which the revolution had commenced, the province was visited with a tremendous earthquake. In its progress many cities were destroyed, and the loss of human lives, especially of the public functionaries and the military, was augmented from its occurring on a religious festival, when the greater part of them were in the churches employed in the celebration of the rites appropriate to the day. The depots of arms and of ammunition, as well as the barracks, were thrown down, and the instruments of war buried in the ruins. The priests represented this calamity as a demonstration, that the Deity was opposed to the revolution; and they were favoured in their interpretation of the event, by the circumstance of the greatest suffering being experienced in those places which had been most fervent in the revolt; whilst Coro, Valencia, and other places which had opposed it, had either wholly escaped, or been slightly injured by the visitation. The Spanish General Monteverde had been sent from Cadiz with a commission, but without troops; he, however, collected a handful of men; terror disarmed the few troops under Miranda, who refused to fight, and the royalists, joined by the independents, who eagerly flocked to support the cause which was represented as favoured by Heaven, soon obtained possession of the whole country, which, by August 1812, was reduced to submission. The cruelties exercised by the royalists, under the plea of retaliation, were excessive; and the versatile populace of the large towns, after a year of quiet endurance, discovered dispositions to renew the revolt. The first ebullition of popular fury was displayed at Cumana, the second city in Venezuela. An insurrection burst forth, which drew towards it Monte Verde with his troops. He was unsuccessful, and retired to bring up reinforcements. He made a second attempt, but with a worse result. He was not only repulsed, but subsequently defeated, and thus, in the beginning of 1813, the royalists were expelled from the eastern division of the country.

Whilst this operation was proceeding in the province of Cumana, a most formidable enemy to Spain made his appearance on the theatre of war. Don Simon Bolivar, a native of Caracas, was deputed, at the commencement of the revolution, to apply to the British government for assistance; he returned from his mission whilst Miranda ruled in Venezuela, and, from disgust at that officer, had been a spectator rather than an actor in the commotions of his country. After the earthquake, he was appointed commandant of Puerto Cavallo, and upon the surrender of that fortress to the royalists, he apparently submitted to Monte Verde. He repaired to Curacao, where he formed a connection with Brion, a native of that island, which has since led to an important alliance, and procured him maritime cooperation. Bolivar passed to Cartagena, and was employed by the republicans of that city in their operations against Santa Marta and the other royalist provinces. Whilst the Congress of New Granada was sitting at Tunja, Bolivar applied to them for some troops to assist in reseuing Venezuela from the hands of the Spaniards. They committed six hundred men to his command, and with them he began his operations from the westward, at the time the revolt broke out at Cumana. The conduct of both parties had been sanguinary beyond the ordinary limits of modern warfare; but, from this period, it exhibited a ferocity unexampled in recent periods. No quarter was given on either side in battle, and the prisoners taken in small parties or in towns were uniformly put to death. Bolivar advanced with his battalion from Tunja, and having surprised a detachment of the royalists at Cucuta, was joined by large parties of migratory horsemen from the province of Barinas. He made a rapid progress; the Spaniards either flying before him, or being defeated when their inferior number presented any resistance. At length a considerable body of horse, who had been engaged by Monte Verde in the royalist cause, suddenly abandoned him and joined the invaders. Bolivar continued to press on, every place in his progress favouring his enterprise till he reached the capital. When near the city of Caracas, the Spanish officer who commanded there, offered to evacuate, if suffered quietly to repair to La Guyra, which port was held by the royalists.

Thus the whole of Venezuela was again in the hands of the patriots at the end of August 1813, except the two ports of La Guyra and Puerto Calvallo, the latter of which was besieged, but resisted, and formed a rallying point, from whence Monte Verde made furious and most successful sallies, till the besieging army was compelled to retreat. For some time after this siege was raised the warlike operations languished, and a political farce was acted by Bolivar. When the Congress of New Granada placed some troops under the command of that chief, it was with a positive injunction to place the power he might acquire in the hands of the Republican Assembly of Caracas. He called an assembly all nominated by himself; and when convoked, in January 1814, one of his partisans addressed the members, stating the necessity of placing the supreme power in the hands of Bolivar as long as hostilities with Spain should continue. None durst, or at least none did object to this proposal. He was declared sole Dictator of Venezuela, until the union could be effected with New Granada, when both were to be joined in one republican government, and his authority was then to cease, and, in the mean time, he was to bear the title of Libertador de Venezuela. He was scarcely installed in the dictatorship, when a more formidable attack than had before been made drove him from his government. Some royalist natives arranged the plan, and executed it with but feeble if any assistance from the European government. Boves, Rosette, and Yanez, three men of colour, gathered some recruits as they advanced from the side of the Orinoco, by proclaiming freedom to those slaves who would join the royal standard. Puy and Palomo, of the mixed castes, also adopted the same plan on the side of Barinas. These chiefs, as they advanced towards the centre of the country from opposite points, increased in numbers, and carried devastation wherever they came. The republicans were unable to resist them. As the royalist banditti gained the district called Los Llanos or the plains, which is covered with innumerable horses, they were enabled to mount their men, and prevent Bolivar from obtaining horses for his cavalry.

By an opportune movement of the republicans in Cumana, and a victory over Cagigal, the Spanish general who had succeeded Monte Verde, Bolivar became somewhat less embarrassed, and attempted some offensive operations. With little judgment, he divided his army into three bodies, destined for different attacks on the royalists. The division he commanded in person engaged with Boves, and, after a most sanguinary conflict near Curia, was completely routed. The second division, commanded by Narino, was opposed to the regular troops under Cagigal, and compelled to retire to Cumana. The third division, under Urdaneta, when apprised of the ill success of the other two, retired towards Santa Fé with the few men that had not deserted during his retreat. Bolivar, after his defeat and the dispersion of his troops, made his escape to Cartagena, and from thence proceeded to Tunja, where the Congress of New Granada held their sessions. After his departure all Venezuela became the prey of the conquerors, and those made prisoners were executed with the same unrelenting severity as Bolivar had practised on those that fell into his power. When Bolivar reached Tunja, the congress was engaged in hostilities with its own refractory capital, the city of Santa Fé de Bogota. The command of an army was offered to him; he marched at its head, and succeeded in reducing the citizens to submission. He was then commissioned to join with the republicans of Cartagena, and reduce to the authority of the congress the royalist province of Santa Marta. The president of Cartagena refused, as he declared, on account of the sanguinary conduct of Bolivar, and his ambitious views, to co-operate with him, and thus hostilities were again kindled between the two provinces. Bolivar entered the province of Cartagena, and advanced to besiege the capital, hoping to reduce it, and compel it to submit to the congress. At this period, intelligence arrived that the forces from Spain had reached the shores of America. Bolivar quickly accommodated his disputes with the republicans in Cartagena, entered with his forces into the city, and resolved to contribute with them to its defence.

We have now brought down the transactions of these different communities to the same period,—the time when the forces from Spain first reached these shores in the middle of the year 1815. Before the narrative proceeds, it may not be improper to remark, that the scenes of confusion, the exhibitions of cruelty, and waste of human life, which we have avoided drawing in their deepest colours, arose solely from internal causes. Not a battalion from Spain had arrived. No external hostilities were even threatened; the vengeful feelings of rude and uncultivated men were stimulated by representations of the happiness to be derived from the various systems of government which different parties patronized, and they were alone sufficient to produce all the atrocities that were exhibited. The reader would sicken at the recital of the bloody documents from which this narrative has been framed; but as some specimen ought to be shown of the temper of the contending parties, we relate two transactions, which are too well authenticated to admit of a doubt, and the actors in which were not Spaniards but Americans, prompted by direful hatred, or political fury. Puy, a royalist chief, was at Barinas, where had been brought five hundred and seventy-four persons of the opposite party, who were to be detained for examination. A report reached Barinas that the republicans, with superior numbers, were at hand, the execution of these prisoners began, and five hundred had been dispatched, when one of Puy's aid-de-camps reported that the enemy would be instantly upon them. "Have we not time," demanded the chief, "to execute the remaining seventy-four prisoners?" "No," replied the officer, the retreat began, and thus these were saved. The apologist for Bolivar, in a narrative drawn up to exculpate him, says, "The massacre of three of the inhabitants of Ócumare in the church, created indignation in the mind of Bolivar, who, thirsting with revenge, though overpowered with care, did not know on which side to turn his attention. In one of those agonizing moments, in which his soul was first swayed by fear, then worked up to anger, he gave orders for the execution of the prisoners, and, shocking to tolerate, eight hundred were killed on this occasion."

When the royalist commandant at Puerto Cavallo heard of these executions, he put to death all his prisoners, amounting to several hundreds.

When Ferdinand was restored to his throne, the knowledge of that event produced a calm throughout the American dominions. It was, however, but of short duration; those who held the power were unwilling to relinquish it at the call of the people, in whose name they pretended to rule. It was necessary to temporise, and they stated that deputies should be sent to Madrid to secure a general amnesty, and to reconcile them to their liberated monarch. At the same time, other deputies were sent to England, with offers of exclusive commerce for a term of years, upon condition of supporting their resistance; and others were sent to the United States of America and to France with similar proposals. Spain was in too exhausted a state to send numerous armies, even if she had not been induced to suspend her armaments, from the assurances of fidelity and submission which the deputies were instructed to make. At length, however, a force under Morillo sailed and arrived, whilst hostilities were raging, with the greatest fury, between the different parties of Americans. The first important operation was the siege of Cartagena, within which Bolivar and his forces were inclosed. That chief escaped with a portion of his troops, and abandoned the city to its fate. A protracted siege, with far more than its usual share of horrors, was at length followed by the surrender. The Spaniards entered it on the 6th December 1815.

Morillo, after the capture of Cartagena, made preparations to scatter the congress, occupy the capital, and tranquillize the country. Mompox, an important town on the river Magdalena, had been taken by the royalists from Santa Marta; this facilitated the operations of the Spanish general, who, with little loss, reached that place in March 1816. The congress of New Granada collected all their forces to oppose the regular troops, who, elated with success in their first operation, defeated a more numerous army, which fought with desperation at Cachiri. After this defeat, it rallied and fought another battle, with rather more success, at Remedios, but it was unable to withstand regular troops, and at length dispersed, when Morillo finished the war by the capture of Santa Fé de Bogota, which he entered in June 1816. The congress had dispersed, some of the members were taken, several of them executed, with but little formality of trial, and some escaped to the English islands and the United States of America. Though the Spaniards caused several executions of the leading political men in Santa Fé, there was none of that indiscriminate slaughter and general pillage which the city had experienced when captured before by Bolivar. Tranquillity had been restored so far, that neither juntas nor armies existed; but bands of robbers ravaged the country, too powerful to be kept in awe by the regular magistracy, though too weak to make opposition to the regular forces. Morillo, on his way to Cartagena, had captured the Island of Margarita, which is a strong post, and enjoys the benefit of an excellent harbour, easy to be defended. After he left that place, the inhabitants, under Arismendi, threw off the yoke of Spain, asserted their independence, and strengthened the fortifications. Bolivar had saved the wreck of his army, and after recruiting them at Aux Cayes, in the Island of St Domingo, repaired with his forces to the asylum which Arismendi had provided, and was there soon joined by Brion with some vessels that he had procured.

After making some demonstrations on the coast of Caraccas and New Granada, without producing any impression, these two officers, with a land and sea force, at length sailed for Guyana, and entered the river Orinoco; and another chief having taken Old Guyana, a fortress which commands a narrow part of the river below the capital Angostura, they were enabled to besiege and capture that place. From the superior force of small craft on the river, and from the possession of Old Guyana, their position there was perfectly secure from all attempts of the Spanish forces. In this place, Bolivar began to increase and organize his forces, whilst his colleague Brion made many successful cruizes, and captured some valuable Spanish vessels.

The population of the country is too thin to afford many recruits, though some joined the insurgent standard from the southern part of the province of Caraccas. Their principal support was there derived from those numerous military men who had been deprived of occupation by the peace in England, France, and Germany. Agents from the South Americans were fixed in many parts, who gave great promises of encouragement to such as would volunteer their services. Many were induced to repair to the standard of Bolivar, by which, in the beginning of 1817, he was enabled to commence his operations, by ascending the river Apure, designing to attack the capital of Caraccas from the plains or Llanos that bound it on the south. In three or four months he had advanced towards Calobozo, when the army of Morillo were on the opposite side of the country. He was so far successful as to secure that place, but before he could reach the defiles which lead to the Caraccas, they were occupied by Spanish regular troops, which prevented his progress.

The greater part of the year was occupied both by the Spaniards and the Americans in strengthening the two opposing armies. The campaign of 1818 was opened by Bolivar, who again attempted to force the passes that communicated with Caraccas, but the Spanish army was so much increased at that point, that they not only resisted, but, after a weak attempt on his part, which was repulsed, became the assailants. Several battles were fought, in which, if they were not decisive, the Spaniards seemed to have the advantage; at length a battle near Ortin determined the fate of the campaign, and compelled Bolivar to abandon Calobozo, and descend the river to his former asylum at Angostura. There he was joined by various parties of Europeans, who were at length organized and prepared for the grand expedition. Though the party that rallied round Bolivar were designated the Venezuelan Republic, yet for two years they had not been able to gain one foot of territory in that country, unless the Island of Margarita could be called a part of it. As the attack on that country seemed hopeless, he directed his attention to the province of New Granada. His river craft was much superior to any that the Spaniards could bring to oppose it. He had been strengthened by numerous recruits from Europe, who, however mutinous and predatory, were endowed with high spirit and much courage, and they constituted the most important part of his forces. The navigation from the Orinoco and up the river Meta is a tremendous operation, but it was attempted and succeeded. The forces that Bolivar had collected at Angostura were embarked in various small craft; after ascending the river to the junction of the Meta, and mounting that stream, they had scarcely any opposition to apprehend from armed force, for the Spaniards were waiting their approach on the Llanos that separate Guyana from Caraccas. The few troops near Santa Fé de Bogota were insufficient to impede the progress of the insurgents even at the passes through that ridge of mountains in which the Meta has its source. The capital of New Granada fell into the power of the invading force, but no accounts have reached Europe of the particulars of that event, which occurred in August 1819, nor of any subsequent transactions.

Whilst Bolivar was carrying on his operations in the interior, expeditions against several points on the coast were conducted by persons from Europe, who professed to act under the authority of the Venezuelan Republic, or the Republic of New Granada.

Macgregor, who had been a Lieutenant in the British army, and had served in 1815 under Bolivar, collected a force with which he surprised Portobello, but was in his turn surprised, and, though he himself escaped with part of his forces, a large part of them were sacrificed. He afterwards, when recruited by fresh arrivals from Europe, made an unsuccessful attempt upon Rio de la Hacha. The repulse produced commotions among his forces, and they are now nearly dispersed.

Another expedition, fitted out in Europe, under an Englishman of the name of English, under Venezuelan colours, was directed against Cumaná. It captured the open town of Barcelona on the coast, and proceeded to that city, but the attempt was repelled with considerable loss on the part of the assailants.

One thing seems certain, that the inhabitants of the country take no interest in the contest; nor have done so, since the commencement of the year 1816. Since that period, the insurgents have almost wholly relied on the efforts of the numerous Europeans that have joined their standard. Whether this quiescent state of the natives has arisen from disgust to the cause or indifference to it, from the fear of the vengeance of the Spanish troops, or from the total deficiency of all weapons but those furnished from Europe, it is as difficult to determine as it is to foresee what will be the final issue of the contest.

(w.w.) GREAT BRITAIN.*

Under the word Britain, in the Encyclopaedia, the history of our affairs, as well as of the more interesting events on the Continent, is brought down to the renewal of hostilities with France, in 1803. We now resume our narrative from that period, dividing it under the following heads:

War with France and her allies, until the general pacification of 1814. War with the United States, from 1812 to the beginning of 1815. Return and second overthrow of Bonaparte. Parliamentary and domestic history from 1803 to 1820; followed by a short notice of the affairs of Ireland.

I.—War with France and her Allies from 1803 to 1814.

On the Continent of Europe, the only great operation was the invasion, or rather occupancy, of Hanover. War was declared by us on the 18th May, and the French troops had advanced from Holland, and entered the electoral capital by the 5th June. To attempt resistance would have been folly; but in a season when soldiers were so much wanted in England, and so great an expence was incurred in training them, it was matter of regret that the Hanoverian troops, in number about 15,000, should not have been marched down to the coast, and embarked in a body, instead of being disbanded and obliged to pledge themselves not to serve against France until exchanged.

On the side of France the aspect of war was displayed in a great encampment at Boulogne, and in the dispatch, from all the ports along the coast, of flotillas of boats to join the armament preparing in that central rendezvous. These petty convoys seemed to have instructions to tempt our cruisers to attack them, and to draw them, at fit occasions, under the fire of land-batteries. The main object of Bonaparte was to excite alarm; a course, which, however politic toward some countries, was certainly ill-judged in regard to one where the executive power, in its inability to coerce, often seeks support in the apprehensions of the public. The general impression of dread facilitated the measures of defence, and led to an unparalleled extent of the Volunteer System. Never did a country exhibit so many of the middle and higher classes under arms as England and Scotland in 1803; and never did individuals, in these stations, make more personal sacrifices for the object of national defence. The result was effectual to as great a degree as the situation of the individuals permitted. The volunteers made as near an approach to regularity of discipline as was practicable in the case of men full of ardour, and submitting for a season to the restraint of military service, but necessarily devoid of experience in the field. The error lay in carrying volunteering too far; for the system ought never to have been allowed to extend to a length that absorbed no inconsiderable part of the time and money of men whose lives were too valuable to be indiscriminately exposed, and whose proper aid to the public cause was the tribute of their industry. The volunteer system was of real use only in as far as it promoted cordiality in the common cause, and by assuring the maintenance of tranquillity at home, enabled government to dispose of the regulars in the field.

The plan of collecting flotillas of boats, from East to West, in the central depot of Boulogne, was continued by Bonaparte, during two years, from the middle of 1803 to that of 1805. A great parade was made of the number of troops ready to embark, and of the determination to encounter all hazards; but there was no efficient support by ships of war, until, in the spring of 1805, the sailing of squadrons for the West Indies took place, first from Rochefort, and afterwards from Cadiz. These, it was calculated, might excite alarm for our colonies, and induce government to send thither a part of the men of war hitherto reserved for home defence; after which the hazardous attempt of a descent might have entered seriously into the calculations of the French ruler. That it did so at this time was positively affirmed by him in conversations held in 1814 with English gentlemen in the Island of Elba; but these conversations, to minutes of which we have had access, were marked by Bonaparte's usual misrepresentations, for he attributed the non-execution of the attempt entirely to the threatened coalition on the Continent, and would not acknowledge that it was impracticable,—a matter of nautical calculation, when our Government kept our Channel fleet at home, instead of sending it, as he had anticipated, to the West Indies.

Such was the aspect of the war during two years, Naval Operations. in which our naval superiority led to an easy conquest of several of the Dutch and French West India colonies. St Lucie surrendered on 22d June 1803; Tobago, on 1st July; Demerara and Berbice, on 23d September; Cape Town, the last spot in the French half of St Domingo, occupied by French troops, was made to capitulate to the Blacks, on 30th November. Next year was taken the small Island March 9, of Gorée on the coast of Africa, and soon after the important Dutch colony of Surinam. On the other May 4. hand, we were not successful in our attempts on the French flotillas on their own shores. One of these was directed against a convoy on the coast between—10, 1814.

* See the references from the word Britain, Vol. II. p. 523, and from the article England, p. 108 of this volume. Flushing and Ostend; another, on a larger scale, and very different plan, was pointed at the Boulogne armament, which it was proposed to blow up by catamarans, an attempt no less unsuited to open and generous warfare than the torpedoes of the Americans. Fortune was more favourable to us in encounters with the enemy in the open Ocean, where, in the early part of 1804, a striking proof of the effects of intrepidity was given in the case of a fleet of merchantmen from China, which beat off, or at least deterred from action, a French squadron under Admiral Linois, consisting of a ship of 80 guns and three frigates.

The war hitherto had been with France and Holland only; but a new power was now to be added to the list of our antagonists. Spain had been allowed by Bonaparte to avoid participating in the contest, on condition of paying a large annual contribution; a condition, so contrary, as was alleged, to real neutrality, that, for some time past, our Government had kept a vigilant eye on the expected arrival of her treasure ships from America. A small squadron of four frigates, sent out to intercept these valuable supplies, met, on 5th October 1804, a Spanish squadron of a similar number proceeding towards Cadiz. The Spanish commodore refusing to surrender, an engagement ensued, attended with the capture of three of the Spanish frigates, and the explosion of the fourth with the loss of many lives. This decisive act, approved at home by the advocates of vigorous measures, was productive of the worst impressions in regard to our national honour both in Spain and her colonies, and led, soon after, to a declaration of war. Bonaparte was now provided with additional means of threatening our distant possessions. A squadron of five sail of the line escaping from Rochefort, landed a body of nearly 4000 men on the Island of Dominica, and burned the chief town; the Island of St Kitt's escaped with paying a contribution and the loss of some merchantmen. But this was only a prelude to the arrival of a much more formidable fleet, which, to the number of eighteen sail of the line, French and Spanish, reached the West Indies in the end of May, and spread alarm throughout the Islands,—an alarm not dispelled till the arrival of a force inferior by one-third, but commanded by Lord Nelson. The hostile fleet soon after set out on its homeward voyage. Intelligence to that effect was opportunely received by Lord Barham, then at the head of the Admiralty, and a fleet, detached to cruise on their supposed track, had the good fortune to fall in with them on 22d July. An action took place; two sail of the line (Spanish) were captured; night closed the conflict, and though it might have been renewed on the succeeding days, an unfortunate indecision on the part of our admiral, Sir Robert Calder, allowed the enemy to escape. They repaired to Ferrol, whence they soon after sailed with augmented force, and reached Cadiz. To watch them there, or to engage them on their coming out, was an object of the highest moment, and it was to Lord Nelson that the important trust was committed. Joining our fleet off Cadiz, he avoided keeping in sight, and even dispensed with the aid of six sail of the line, which he sent to a distance along the coast; judging that the enemy, when apprised of their absence, would be induced to come out. Accordingly, the combined fleet left Cadiz on the 19th October to the number of 33 sail of the line (18 French and 15 Spanish), commanded by Admiral Villeneuve, and early on the 21st came in sight of the British fleet consisting of 27 sail of the line. The scene of conflict was off Cape Trafalgar, Battle of nearly half way between Cadiz and Gibraltar. The enemy, convinced that their former defeats at sea had been owing to the want of concentration and mutual support, now formed a double line, so that any of our ships, attempting to penetrate, should be exposed to the fire of two or of three antagonists. Nelson, while yet distant, perceived their arrangement, and understood its object. It was new, but he was satisfied that no concentration in the open sea could prevent our vessels from coming to close action with their opponents, in which case the result could not long be doubtful. He made, consequently, no alteration in his previous plan, but directed his fleet to advance to the attack in two divisions, one of which, under Admiral Collingwood, intercepted that part of the enemy's line, which gave it a nearly equal number of ships to encounter, while Nelson with the other division, acted on a similar plan. Such was the only general manoeuvre in this great action; by our superior seamanship, and our ships keeping near each other, we had, in some cases, a local superiority, but the general character of the fight was a conflict of ship to ship, and its decision, in our favour, was owing to that skill in working the guns, to that dexterity in an occasional change of position, and that confidence of success which characterizes a naval force in high discipline—advantages which we had displayed with such success against the Dutch at Camperdown, and the French at Aboukir, and in which we met with no equal opponents till we encountered the Americans. Our loss, amounting to 1600 men, was in part caused by the riflemen in the enemy's rigging,—an ungenerous mode of warfare, which may deprive an opposing force of officers, but can have little effect on the general issue of a conflict. The fighting began at noon, became general in less than half an hour, and lasted from two to three hours; in the case of a few ships it was longer, but all firing was over by half past four o'clock. Nineteen sail of the line struck; but unfortunately gales of wind, after the action, wrecked part of our prizes, and necessitated the destruction of others; four sail, however, were preserved, and four more, which had escaped, were met on their northward course, on 2d November, and captured off Cape Ortegal by a squadron under Sir Richard Strachan.

But on the Continent of Europe the course of Continental public events was very different. The year had been ushered in by a letter of Bonaparte to our Sovereign, containing pacific professions expressed in general terms. An answer was given, not by the King, but, according to diplomatic usage, by our Minister for Foreign Affairs to the French Minister in the same station; expressing a similar wish for peace; but adding, that it was incumbent on us to consult our allies, particularly the Emperor of Russia. The French ridiculed the assertion of our being on War with confidential terms with that court; but Russia and France had, in fact, begun to listen to the proposal of her Allies.

The basis of this compact was a treaty signed at St Petersburg in April. Russia, Austria, Sweden, Naples, all acceded to it, and hopes were entertained of the co-operation of Prussia. Bonaparte, apprized of this, affected to be absorbed in arrangements for immediately invading England, but secretly prepared to march his troops from Boulogne to the Rhine. After throwing on the Austrians the odium of aggression, by allowing them to attack Bavaria before he acted, he proceeded to execute a plan singularly adapted to the overweening confidence of his opponent, General Mack, who, by this time, had traversed Bavaria, and advanced to Ulm. By making forced marches, and by violating part of the neutral territory of Prussia, Bonaparte reached first the flank, and soon after the rear of the enemy, who clung, with blind pertinacity, to the position of Ulm. The result to the Austrians was a series of checks in the field, and, eventually, the surrender, by capitulation, of more than 30,000 men. The road to Vienna was thus opened to Bonaparte. He marched thither, crossed the Danube, proceeded northward, and at Austerlitz, on 2d December, displayed his military combinations in all their lustre, gaining, with forces not superior, a victory, which compelled Austria to immediate peace; and thus, by one blow, broke up the coalition.

Such was the alternation of fortune by sea and land, that the next year had hardly commenced, when fresh successes were obtained over the French navy. A division of the Brest squadron, after landing troops in the Spanish part of St Domingo, were overtaken by a superior force, and three sail of the line captured, and two burned. Admiral Linros, returning from India, was captured in the Marengo of 80 guns; and, at a subsequent date, of a squadron of frigates detached from Rochefort for the West Indies, four fell into our hands.

It was under these circumstances, that a negotiation for peace was for some months carried on at Paris. It began in consequence of an overture from Talleyrand, eagerly embraced by Mr Fox; and Lord Yarmouth, who happened to be under detention in France, was made the first medium of communication and conference. In its more advanced stage, the negotiation was entrusted to Lord Lauderdale; and, at one period (in September), the conciliatory tone of the French inspired a hope of peace;—a hope soon disappointed, when it was found that the offers of Bonaparte were followed by the demand of Sicily; and that, while professing an ardent wish for peace, he was extending his usurpations in Germany, and secretly preparing to subvert the power of Prussia.

The humiliation of Austria left Bonaparte at liberty to direct his manoeuvres, both diplomatic and military, against her northern rival. Affecting great indignation at the friendly disposition shown by Prussia the preceding autumn towards the coalition, he demanded the cession of a portion of her territory in the south-west, and, in return, transferred to her Hanover, in the hope of kindling the flame of discord between her and England. The Prussians accordingly entered Hanover; the local government making no resistance, and our Cabinet taking no retaliatory measure, except the detention of vessels bearing the Prussian flag; a measure adopted not in the spirit of hostility, but to satisfy popular clamour in England. The discussions between France and Prussia continued during the summer of 1806, and, from the blind confidence of one party, and the art of the other, assumed at last a serious aspect. The battle of Jena (see the article FRANCE, towards the close) deprived Prussia of her army, her capital, her fortresses; and her court was fugitive in the north of Poland, ere there had been time to send, or even to concert the sending of succours from England. The Grenville ministry, less eager than their predecessors to embark in Continental war, confined themselves to sending a general officer (Lord Hutchinson) to the Russian head-quarters, and to the grant of a limited subsidy. For some time, the difficulties of the country, and the firm resistance of the Russians, particularly at Eylau, encouraged the hope of arresting the progress of Bonaparte; but this hope was disappointed by the battle of Friedland, and still more by June 14, the approximation of the court of Russia to that of France.

The treaty of Tilsit excited alarm, less from its July 1. specific provisions, than from the probable consequences of the co-operation of the contracting powers. Among these, some persons reckoned, or pretended expedition to reckon, the equipping against us of the Danish navy, a force of sixteen sail of the line, not manned or ready for sea, but capable of being fitted out without a great sacrifice. The ministry of 1807 founded their claim to public favour on a system of vigour, on a course altogether opposite to the cautious calculations of their predecessors. No sooner were they apprized of the treaty of Tilsit, than, without waiting for its effect on the Danish government, they determined on the as yet unexampled measure, of taking forcible possession of a neutral fleet. A powerful armament of 20,000 troops, and twenty-seven sail of the line, prepared ostensibly against Flushing and Antwerp, was directed to proceed to the Sound, there to await the result of a negotiation at Copenhagen. This negotiation was entrusted to a special envoy, who represented the danger to Denmark from France and Russia, and demanded the delivery of the Danish fleet to England, under a solemn stipulation of its being restored on the termination of our war with France. The Danes, justly offended at this proposal, and aware that their agreeing to it would expose them to the loss of the continental part of their territory, refused; our envoy returned on board our fleet; our army was landed, and Copenhagen invested August 16 by sea and land, while a part of our fleet cut off all communication between the Continent and the island on which it stands. After a fortnight passed in preparations, a heavy fire was opened on the city, and Sept. 2. continued during two days with great effect. A capitulation now took place; the citadel, dock-yards, and batteries were put into our hands, and no time was lost in fitting the Danish men of war for sea. All stores, timber, and other articles of naval equipment, belonging to government, were taken out of the arsenals, embarked and conveyed to England.

The expedition to Copenhagen excited much discussion and difference of opinion in England, particularly when it was avowed that ministers had no evidence of an intention in Russia to coerce Denmark, and still less of a disposition in Denmark to give way to such coercion. The only tenable ground was, to acknowledge at once that the Danes had given no provocation; that their conduct had been strictly neutral; but that they would evidently have been unable to defend themselves, had Russia and France united against them. Still it was extremely questionable, whether we, to ward off a contingent annoyance, should commit a present aggression. The success of our attempt, considering our naval superiority, the insulated position of Copenhagen, and its unprepared state, admitted of little or no doubt. But this was not all. There remained farther and more important considerations—the odium that would be thus excited against us in the Danish nation, and that closer approximation of Russia to France, which could hardly fail to follow so open an affront to a power professing to take a lead in the political arrangements of the Baltic.

The Cape of Good Hope surrendered to an armament from England in January 1806. After this, Sir Home Popham, who commanded the naval part of the expedition, ventured to make, without the sanction, or even knowledge of government, an attempt on Buenos Ayres. Our troops, though under 2000 in number, effected a landing, and occupied the town. Intelligence to this effect having reached England, the popular notion, that Buenos Ayres would prove a great market for our manufactures, induced government to take measures for completing the new conquest. And, though the inhabitants soon rose, and drove out the feeble detachment under Sir Home Popham, an armament, which arrived in January 1807, under the command of Sir Samuel Auchmuty, attacked the fortified town of Monte Video, and carried it in an assault, conducted with great skill and gallantry. But a very different fate awaited our next enterprise,—an assault on Buenos Ayres, planned by General Whitelocke, an officer wholly unfit for such a service. Our troops, 8000 in number, were successful in some parts; but failing in others, the result was a negotiation, and a convention that we should withdraw altogether from the country, on condition of our prisoners being restored.

But, in another part of the world, and against an enemy in general far more formidable, our arms had been attended with success. Naples had been engaged in the coalition of 1805, with a view to assail the French on the side of Lombardy; but an Anglo-Russian army, landed for that purpose, had been prevented from marching northward by the disastrous intelligence from Germany. They were subsequently re-embarked, the British withdrawing to Sicily, and Palermo becoming once more the refuge of the Neapolitan court. That court, eager to excite insurrection against the French in Calabria, prevailed on General Sir John Stuart, in the beginning of July 1806, to lead thither a detachment of our troops. They landed, and soon after received intelligence, that at Maida, distant only ten miles from our encampment, was a French corps, already nearly equal to our own, and hourly expecting reinforcements. Our troops marched to attack them on the morning of 4th July, and at nine o'clock drew near to their position, which had a river in front. General Reynier, who commanded the French, having received his reinforcements the preceding evening, and seeing that our small army was unprovided with cavalry, made his men march out of their camp, and advance to charge us on the plain. Our force, including a regiment landed that morning, was nearly 6000; that of the enemy above 7000. The French, who knew our troops only by report, marched towards them with confidence, and hardly expected them to stand the charge. Our line formed, faced the enemy, and advanced. The firing commenced at the distance of about 100 yards; but it had not long continued, when the extreme of each line, as if by mutual consent, suspended it, and advanced towards the other with fixed bayonets. The advancing division on each side was composed of choice troops. On our side, of light companies; on that of the French, of grenadiers. They crossed bayonets, and were about to begin a conflict hand to hand, when the firm aspect of our men daunted their opponents. The French gave way, and were pursued with great slaughter. The rest of the enemy's left now drew back, but at first in good order; for they stopped occasionally, fired, and retreated only as our troops drew near; at last they fell into great confusion. Their right flank being in like manner repelled in an attack on our left, the field of battle remained entirely in our possession. The French loss in killed and wounded was nearly 2000; ours only between 300 and 400. This brilliant exploit produced the evacuation of part of Calabria by the French, but had no other result; our small force returning soon after to Sicily.

Our next operation in the Mediterranean was an unsuccessful menace of the Turkish capital. That court refusing to enter into our plans of hostility to France, our ambassador withdrew, and re-entered the Straits of the Dardanelles, with a squadron of seven sail of the line, exclusive of frigates and bombs. They suffered considerably in passing the narrow part of the straits, between the ancient Sestos and Abydos, now called the castles of Romania and Natolia. Anchoring at a distance of eight miles from Constantinople, our Admiral, Sir J. Duckworth, threatened to burn the Seraglio and the city, but in vain. The Turks continued adverse to our demands, and employed the interval assiduously in strengthening the formidable batteries of the Dardanelles. It soon became indispensable to withdraw, and to repass the straits; but this was not accomplished without a loss of 25 men in killed and wounded, the cannon at the castles being of

* See the Parliamentary Debates on this expedition. great size, and discharging granite balls. A descent made soon after in Egypt was equally unfortunate. A detachment of troops landing at Alexandria, occupied that town, but suffered a severe loss at Rosetta, and eventually withdrew, on the Turks consenting to give up the prisoners they had taken. Peace was soon after concluded with the Turks, and our operations in the Levant confined to the capture of the Ionian Islands from the French. Zante, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Cerigo, were taken by a small expedition in 1809, and Santa Maura the succeeding year.

On the side of Sicily, our commanders, though pressed by the court of Palermo, refused to make descents on Calabria, which could lead to nothing but partial insurrections, followed, on the return of a superior force, by the death of the most zealous of our partisans. We took, however, in June 1809, the small islands of Ischia and Procida, near the coast of Naples; and, in the autumn of 1810, repelled an attempt of Murat to invade Sicily. A body of nearly 4000 Italians, who had landed on this occasion, were driven back with loss—a failure which, joined to our decided naval superiority, put an end to all attempts of the kind.

The hostility of Russia consequent on her connection with France, produced a menaced invasion of Sweden, now our only ally in the north. To aid in repelling it, Sir John Moore was sent to Gottenburgh with a body of 10,000 men. This force did not land; but the general, repairing to Stockholm, entered into communications with the king, and had the mortification of finding that prince wholly incapable of rational conduct, and bent on projects which would necessarily involve the sacrifice of the British troops. On this he lost no time in returning to Gottenburgh, and soon after brought back the armament to England, to be employed on a more promising service.

The influence possessed by Bonaparte over Spain had long inspired him with the hope of overawing Portugal, and of obliging that country to dissolve her alliance with England. To this hope the humiliation of Germany, and his new alliance with Russia, gave double strength; and, in the latter part of 1807, the most peremptory demands were made on the court of Lisbon. To part of these, implying the exclusion of British merchantmen from the harbours of Portugal, compliance was promised; but the demand of confiscating English property, or detaining the English resident in Portugal, was met with a decided refusal. A French army now marched towards Lisbon, and threatened openly to overthrow the house of Braganza; but the latter, after some momentary indications of indecision, took the determination of abandoning their European dominions, and proceeding to Brazil. This spirited, and by many unexpected measure, was carried into effect in the end of November, and Lisbon was forthwith occupied by French troops. A few months after the transactions at Bayonne occurred, and the general declaration of hostility by the Spaniards to Bonaparte. Our cabinet now determined to postpone all other projects to that of a vigorous effort on Spain and Portugal. With that view, an armament of 10,000 men collected at Cork, and said to be intended for Spanish America, sailed in July to the Peninsula, and offered its co-operation to the Spaniards in Galicia. They, however, thought it best that we should confine our aid to Spain to arms and money, directing our military force against the French army in Portugal. Accordingly, our troops, after passing an interval at Oporto, were landed to the southward, in Mondego Bay, where, after receiving the co-operation of a farther division of British, and of a few Portuguese, they proceeded on their southward march to Lisbon. The first actions took place with French detachments at the small town of Obidos, and at Roleia. Neither were of importance: the French, inferior in number, retreated; but their commander at Lisbon was Junot, an officer trained in the school of revolutionary enterprise, and disposed, like most of his brethren at that time, to make light of British land forces. He determined forthwith on offensive operations, advanced from Lisbon, and, reaching the British army on 21st August, attacked it in its position at the small town of Vimiera. The force on either side* was about 14,000 men. The French marched to the onset in columns, with their wonted confidence, but they had to encounter an enemy equally firm as Germans or Russians, and far superior in arms, equipment, and activity. A part of the opposing lines advanced to the charge, and not only crossed bayonets, but, what very rarely happens, maintained that desperate conflict for several minutes, when the French gave way. Equal success attended our efforts in other parts of the line, and the loss of the enemy was 8000 men, and 13 pieces of cannon. The object now ought to have been to follow up our success, before the French should recover themselves, and fortify the almost impenetrable mountains on the road to Lisbon. In vain did Sir A. Wellesley† urge this, first on Sir H. Burrard, who had now taken the command, and next day on Sir H. Dalrymple, who arrived and replaced him. Reinforcements were daily expected; and, till their arrival, neither of these officers could be persuaded to incur hazards for the attainment of an advantage which, from their unacquaintance with localities, they were not competent to appreciate. A precious interval was thus lost. The French occupied the passes, opened their negotiation in a tone of confidence, and obtained, by the treaty called the Convention of Cintra, a free return to France on board of British shipping. The Convention ministry, though disappointed, determined to defend this Convention; judging it indispensable, partly from the communications of Sir H. Dalrymple, more from its bearing the unqualified signature of Sir A. Wellesley, who was, even then, their confidential military adviser. The public, however, called for inquiry;

* Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Convention of Cintra. † See the Evidence before the Board of Inquiry. ministers felt the necessity of acceding; the three generals were ordered home from Portugal; and, after a long investigation, and divided opinions, the chief error was found to lie in the loss of the twenty-four hours which followed the battle of Vimiera.

The public disappointment at the Convention of Cintra was soon counterbalanced by gratifying intelligence from the Baltic. Bonaparte, whose plan was to subjugate all Europe, by making one nation instrumental in overawing another, had sent the Spanish regiments in his service into Denmark; but he could not prevent their receiving intelligence of the rising spirit of their countrymen, and the vicinity of a British fleet happily facilitated their evasion. Ten thousand Spaniards were thus brought off, and carried, with their arms, stores, and artillery, to join the standard of their country.

Meantime the command of our troops in Portugal was vested in Sir John Moore, and arrangements were made for moving them forward into Spain. From the badness of the roads, it was necessary to advance in two divisions, one marching due east, and another north-east, while a farther force, arrived from England at Corunna, was instructed to hold a south-east course. Each of the lateral divisions received, in their progress, orders to adapt the direction of their march to existing circumstances; but the result was, that both converged towards the central division, led on by Sir John Moore in person.

In their march, our officers had an ample opportunity of witnessing the fallacious and exaggerated impressions entertained in England with regard to the ardour of the Spaniards. They saw a country wretchedly cultivated and thinly peopled; a nation hostilely disposed, indeed, to the French, but unaccustomed to exertion, and incapable of combination; instead of recruits, supplies of provisions, or offers of voluntary service, all was inactivity and stagnation; and, amidst the general poverty, our Commissariat had great difficulty in obtaining provisions. Another great source of perplexity was the want of information. The natives, whether in the civil or military service, were too ignorant and credulous to be capable of detecting exaggeration, or of distinguishing truth from falsehood; and our officers were obliged to judge for themselves under the most contradictory rumours.

Sir John Moore reached Salamanca on 13th of November, aware that the Spaniards had been defeated at Burgos, and soon after apprised that a French corps was advancing to Valladolid, within 60 miles of his front. In this situation, he received from Madrid the most urgent solicitations to send thither his army, in whole or in part. He knew the ardour of his country for the cause of Spain, and directed his movements in the plan of complying, as far as should be at all advisable, with the representations pressed on him; but, day after day, the intelligence became more discouraging. At last, the fall of Madrid, ascertained by an intercepted letter of General Berthier, removed every doubt, and left him no other plan but that of uniting his three divisions, and determining on a retreat; but, as his army was now augmented to 25,000 men, he determined to strike, if possible, a blow against the detached French army under Soult, stationed at some distance to the north-east. With this view, our troops advanced from the small town of Sahagun towards the enemy, and a partial action, which took place between the opposite vanguards, was to our advantage; but intelligence arriving that Bonaparte was directing a superior force on our rear, it became indispensable to make a prompt and uninterrupted retreat. Bonaparte, pressing forward with his vanguard, reached our rear at Benavente, saw, for the first time, British soldiers, and witnessed a cavalry action, in which several squadrons of his guard were very roughly handled, and their commanding officer, Lefevre Desnouettes, made prisoner. Meanwhile, Soult, marching by a different road, hoped to cross our line of retreat at Astorga; and the Spaniards having abandoned the position which covered the access to that town, it required both prompt and skilful exertion to enable our army to occupy it before the enemy. Here, pressed as we were, it became necessary to destroy a great part of our camp equipage. Our army was a-head of the enemy, but had before it a long and difficult march over the mountains of Galicia. The weather was severe, provisions scanty, the inhabitants cold and unfriendly: so many privations and disappointments relaxed the discipline of our soldiers, who called loudly to be led to action, as the close of their distress. Retreat, however, was unavoidable; and, in this state of suffering and insubordination, the army performed a march of more than 200 miles, our general keeping in the rear to check the French, who followed with their usual audacity. At Lugo, about 60 miles from Corunna, circumstances seemed to justify our awaiting the enemy, and fighting a general battle. Our soldiers repaired with alacrity to their ranks, but Soult did not accept the challenge, and our retreat was continued. It closed on the 12th January, having been attended with the capture of many men, from disorder, and the sacrifice of many horses, from want of forage, but without losing a standard, or sustaining a single check in action. On the 13th, 14th, and 15th, the sick and artillery were embarked on board our men of war; the troops remained on shore, to await the enemy, and to cover the reproach of retreat by some shining exploit. This led to the battle of Corunna: Jan. 16. on that day our position was good on the left, but very much otherwise on the right; thither, accordingly, the French pointed their strongest column, and thither Sir John Moore repaired in person. He directed the necessary movements first to obstruct, and afterwards to charge, the advancing enemy. These orders were gallantly executed, and the attack of the French repelled; but our lamented general received a wound from a cannon ball, which soon after proved mortal. Subsequent attacks, first on our centre, and next on our left, were equally foiled; and, in the evening, we occupied an advanced position along our whole line. Enough having now been done for the honour of our arms, the embarkation was continued on the 17th, and completed on the 18th, after which the whole set sail for England.

Our failure in this campaign was far from discouraging our government from new efforts. Austria was preparing to attack the allies of Bonaparte in Germany, and the Spaniards, though repeatedly beaten in close action, continued a destructive warfare in the shape of insulated insurrections. Sir Arthur Wellesley was accordingly sent with a fresh army to Lisbon, and General Beresford with a commission to discipline the Portuguese forces. They found the French threatening Lisbon in two directions; from the east, with a powerful force under Victor; from the north, with a less numerous body under Soult. Sir Arthur Wellesley advanced against the latter, drew near his rear guard on the banks of the Douro, drove it over that river, and crossing immediately after, forced Soult to a precipitate retreat from Oporto. Returning to the southward, our commander obliged the force under Victor to draw back; and having, some time after, effected a junction with a Spanish army, took the bold determination of moving forward in the direction of Madrid. The French now sent reinforcements to the army of Victor, and the opposing forces met at Talavera de la Reyna, a town to the north of the Tagus, near the small river Alberche. The British force was 19,000; that of the Spaniards above 30,000; the French army amounted to 47,000.* Lord Wellington was too distrustful of the discipline of his allies to venture an attack on the French, but he saw no imprudence in trying, as at Vimiera, the chance of a defensive action. Stationing the Spaniards on strong ground on the right, he occupied with the British a less strong, but yet favourable position, on the left. Against the army thus posted, the French advanced in the afternoon of 27th July, driving in our van, and attacking an eminence on our left. This eminence, the key of the position, would have been assailed from the beginning, by Bonaparte, with a formidable column, but the rifle corps and single battalion sent against it by Victor were soon driven back by our troops. A second attack, made in the evening by three regiments of infantry, was at first successful, but it was soon repelled by a fresh division of British. The main body of the French, surprised at this failure, waited impatiently for morning to renew the attack; they advanced, marched through a destructive fire to the top of the rising ground, approached our cannon, and were on the point of seizing them, when our line rushed forward with the bayonet, and drove them down with great loss. Their commanders now determined to suspend all attacks on the Spaniards, and to bring a mass of force against the front and flank of the British. A general attack took place at four in the afternoon, and the troops directed against the height, now consisted of three divisions of infantry, or about 18,000 men. Crossing the ravine in their front, the first division scaled the height amidst volleys of grape-shot; but its general fell, a number of officers shared his fate, and retreat became unavoidable. No attempt was now made to carry the eminence in front; attacks were made on its left and right, but all were ineffectual. Our greatest loss was sustained in an unsuccessful attack by our cavalry on two squares of French infantry in the plain; the 23d light dragoons were here almost annihilated. The loss of the Spaniards was only 1200; that of the British above 5000; that of the French (De Rocca's Memoirs) nearly 10,000.

Notwithstanding this signal success, it became necessary for the allied army to retire; the French divisions, in the north-west of Spain, having united and begun to march in a direction which would soon have brought them on our rear. Our army crossed the Tagus, and held a south-west course till reaching Badajos, where it remained during the rest of the year, in a position which covered that fortress, and showed the Spaniards that we had not abandoned their cause, however dissatisfied with their cooperation, and convinced of the impracticability of combining offensive operations with such allies.

While, by land, the fortune of war was thus chequered, at sea the French experienced nothing but the French disasters. Eight ships of the line in Brest, eluding our blockade, sailed southward to Basque Roads near Rochefort, where they were joined by four sail of the line from that port. Our fleet blockaded them in their new station, and preparations having been made to attempt their destruction by fire-ships, Lord Cochrane sailed in with these dreadful engines on the evening of the 11th April 1809. Our seamen broke the boom in front of the French line, disregarded the fire from the forts, and, after bringing the fire-ships as near to the enemy as possible, set fire to the fusées and withdrew in their boats. The French, surprised and alarmed, cut their cables and run on shore. Four sail of the line that had accompanied Lord Cochrane attacked them, and though the main body of our fleet was prevented by the wind and tide from coming up, the result of our attack, and of the effect of the fire-ships, was the loss of four sail of the line, and one frigate burned or destroyed. At a later period of the year, a French convoy of three sail of the line and eleven transports, proceeding from Toulon to Barcelona, was attacked and destroyed by a division from Lord Collingwood's fleet.

Doubtful as was the aspect of the great contest in Spain, it employed a large portion of Bonaparte's military establishment, and revived the hope of independence in Germany. Prussia was too recently humbled, and too closely connected with Russia, at that time the ally of France, to take up arms; but Austria was unrestrained, and thought the season favourable for a renewal of the contest. Her troops took the field in April, and invaded Bavaria, under the Archduke Charles, but were worsted at Eckmuhl, and Vienna was a second time entered by May 13. Bonaparte. His impatience to attack the Austrian army on the north side of the Danube, led to his failure in the sanguinary battle of Aspern; and never ceased the advance of almost all his regular troops into the heart of Germany, at a distance of several hundred miles from the coast.

Of the naval stations thus exposed, by far the most important was Antwerp, situated on a part

* See Mémoires sur la Guerre des Français en Espagne. Par M. De Rocca, Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Legion d'Honneur. 8vo. 1815. of the Scheldt, of as great depth, and as accessible to ships of the line as the Thames at Woolwich. From Antwerp to the mouth of the Scheldt is a distance of about 50 miles. The first fortified town, on coming in from the sea, is Flushing, the batteries of which, though formidable, are not capable of preventing the passage of ships of war through a strait of three miles in width. Our armament, consisting of nearly forty sail of the line and 38,000 military, was the most powerful that ever left our shores. It crossed the narrow sea with a fair wind, and, in the morning of 30th July, the inhabitants of the tranquil coast of Zealand were astonished by an unparalleled display of men of war and transports. Our troops landed and occupied forthwith Walcheren and the islands to the north. No resistance was offered except at Flushing; and our commander, the Earl of Chatham, showed himself wholly incapable of discriminating the causes of success or failure, when he stopped to besiege that place; it ought only to have been watched, while the main body of the troops should have landed in Dutch Flanders, on the south of the Scheldt, and marched straight to Antwerp, which, even with artillery, might have been reached in a few days. The French, never doubting the adoption of this plan, and conscious of their weakness, had moved their men of war up the river, beyond the town, previous to setting them on fire. But a delay of a fortnight took place before Flushing, and time was thus given to the enemy to strengthen the forts on the river, and to collect whatever force the country afforded. Still, as an attack by water was not indispensable to success, there yet remained a chance; ten days more, however, were lost; the relinquishment of the main object of the expedition became unavoidable, and the only farther measure was to leave a body of 15,000 men in the island of Walcheren. There, they remained during several months, suffering greatly from an unhealthy atmosphere, and doing nothing except destroying, on their departure, the dockyards of Flushing. Never was a gallant force more grossly misdirected; the choice of our general was as unaccountable as the choice of Mack in 1805; and the historian, were he to reason from the inferior numbers of the enemy, might pronounce this expedition as inglorious to our arms as the battles of Poitiers and Agincourt to our enemies of a former age.

We turn, with impatience, from the banks of the Scheldt to a scene more honourable to our arms. Our troops, under (Sir A. Wellesley) Lord Wellington, had passed the winter in the interior of Portugal, moving northward as spring advanced, but delaying active operations: offensive war was unsuited to our situation, and the French awaited reinforcements from the north. Bonaparte's determination now was to make Massena penetrate into Portugal, and to expel those auxiliaries who were the main spring of the obstinate resistance experienced by him in Spain. The first enterprise of the French army was the siege of the frontier fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, which surrendered on 10th July. The next object of attack was the Portuguese fortress of Almeida, which was invested in the end of July, and taken unfortunately too soon, in consequence of the explosion of the magazine. Soon after, the French army, now a formidable body, advanced into Portugal, Lord Wellington retiring before them, but determined to embrace the first opportunity of fighting on favourable ground. This occurred when occupying the highest ridge of the mountain of Busaco, directly in face of the enemy. The French, always impetuous, and not yet aware of the firmness of our men, marched up the mountain; one division reached the top of the ridge, where they were immediately attacked by a corps of British and Portuguese, and driven from the ground. In other parts the same result took place before the French reached the top. The loss on our side was 1000 men; that of the enemy between 2000 and 3000. Massena desisted from farther attacks, but, turning the flank of our position, Lord Wellington necessarily retreated in the direction of Lisbon, till he reached the ground where he had determined to defend that capital.

The tract of country to the north of Lisbon is not above twelve miles in breadth, having the sea on the west and the Tagus on the east; the ground is extremely mountainous, and accessible only by passes, which were occupied by our troops and batteries. Massena felt all the strength of this position, and the repulse at Busaco made him beware of a second encounter on disadvantageous ground. It was now for the first time that the impetuous bands of Bonaparte stopped short in their career; the armies remained opposite to each other above four months, during which the French were greatly straitened for provisions and forage, being obliged to get convoys of biscuit under escort from France, while the command of the sea procured abundance to the British. Still Massena persisted in keeping his position, hoping to combine his operations with the army of Soult, advancing from the south-east of Spain,—an army which was but too fortunate, having attacked and taken by surprise a Spanish camp on the banks of the Guadiana. A number of boats had been constructed by Massena to cross the Tagus and co-operate with Soult, but in the beginning of March, intelligence arrived that a convoy of biscuit long expected from France had been intercepted by the Guerillas. There was now an end to all offensive projects, and there remained only the alternative of retreat; it began on 5th March; the British followed, and the movements of either army, during a very long march, afforded an admirable exemplification of the rules of war. Our advance was so prompt, that the French were often obliged to move hastily from one position to another; but they kept their best troops in the rear, collected in solid bodies, and affording no opening to our vanguard. The retreat lasted a month, and closed near Almeida on the frontier of Spain. The French, however, were soon again in a condition to act, and advanced to relieve Almeida, of which we had now begun the siege: the chief fighting took place on 3d and 5th May, near a village called Fuentes d'Honore, but all their efforts were ineffectual, and Almeida was left to its fate: the chief part of the garrison, however, found means to escape by a nocturnal march. Meanwhile the south, or rather the south-west of Spain, was the scene of very active operations. A body of Spaniards and British, marching northward from Gibraltar, approached the south-west extremity of the line occupied by the French troops engaged in the blockade of Cadiz. General Graham commanded the British, and on 5th March, at noon, was drawing near to the close of a long march, when he received intelligence of the advance of a French force. Knowing the height of Barrosa, which he had just left, to be the key of the position, he immediately countermanded his corps, and had proceeded but a short way, when he found himself unexpectedly near to the enemy, whose left division was seen ascending the hill of Barrosa, while their right stood on the plain within cannon shot. To retreat was wholly unadvisable; an immediate attack was determined on, though unsupported by the Spaniards, and inferior to the enemy. A battery opened against the right division of the French, caused them considerable loss, but they continued to advance, until a charge with the bayonet drove them back with great slaughter. With the other division on the ascent of the hill, there took place a similar conflict with a similar issue; both sides fought with courage, and both sustained a heavy loss; that of the British was above 1200; that of the enemy nearly double. The action lasted an hour and a half; our success was owing partly to the effect of our guns, but more to the firmness of the troops, who showed themselves determined rather to fall than yield.

About the same time, but at a distance of 200 miles to the north of Cadiz, the important fortress of Badajos fell into the hands of the French. This painful intelligence reached Lord Wellington when following up the retreat of Massena; and no time was lost in detaching a body of troops to the south of Portugal to enable Marshal Beresford to advance and form the siege of Badajos. This called from the south the army of Soult, 20,000 strong; on their approach, Marshal Beresford raised the siege of Badajos, and marched to meet the French near the river Albuhera, or Albuera, with a force numerically superior, but among which there was only 8000 British. Our army awaited the attack in a position as good as a country, in general level, afforded; but our general, in an evil hour, entrusted to the Spaniards a rising ground which formed the key of that position. The French columns succeeded in driving them from it, and were about to rake with their field-pieces all the allied line. A British division marching to attack the enemy with the bayonet, were unfortunately turned by a body of lancers, who, amidst the smoke from the firing, had approached unperceived. Our loss was very great here, and there remained only one fresh division, which advancing gallantly to the charge, and, being supported by the other corps, drove the French with great slaughter from the field. The battle lasted five hours, and so great was the loss, that of the British force engaged, nearly one half were killed or wounded: the French had fought with equal bravery, and their loss also was very great. Lord Wellington reached the army some time after, and determined to renew the siege of Badajos; breaches were made in the walls, and two attempts at assault were hazarded (6th and 9th June), but in vain; the advance of the French army from the north, in concert with that of the south, necessitated the raising of the siege. Here ended the active operations of the year; our army remained some time encamped in the central part of Portugal, after which Lord Wellington marched northward and threatened Ciudad Rodrigo, but retreated before a superior force collected by the French.

The campaign of 1812 commenced very early, Lord Wellington investing Ciudad Rodrigo on 8th January. The siege was pressed with activity, and a breach being made, the town was carried by storm on 19th January, though with a great loss, particularly in officers, among whom was General Mackinnon. So prompt had been our operations, that the French army approaching to the relief of the place, would not at first believe its capture. Soon after, Lord Wellington turned his forces to the south and invested Badajos, already the scene of such obstinate contests. Here, also, the operations were pressed with great rapidity, that they might be brought to an issue before the arrival of the French army from Cadiz. On the night of 6th April, Badajos was attacked on several points by escalade; but we were repulsed in every direction except at the castle, which was fortunately carried, and, commanding all the works, the consequence was the surrender of the town next day, after a siege which, short as it had been, cost us very nearly 5000 men. Secure on the south, Lord Wellington now marched towards the north, and detached Sir Rowland Hill to make a sudden attack on the French station at Almaraz, where the bridge over the Tagus served as the chief military communication between the northern and southern army. The expedition was successful, the entrenchments being stormed and destroyed. Lord Wellington now marched against the French army in the north, commanded by Marmont, and reached Salamanca on 16th June. The forts in that town being taken after some sharp fighting, the French retreated to the Douro, but being soon reinforced, resumed the offensive, and obliged our army to retreat in turn. These movements continued several weeks, Lord Wellington being obliged to yield ground to his opponent, but ready to attack him on the commission of any material fault. Such an opportunity at last occurred on 22d July, near Salamanca, when the French, rendered confident by our continued retreat, extended their left, and presented an opening, which was instantly seized by their vigilant adversary. Columns were sent forward against the enemy's left and centre; the former succeeded completely, the latter met with much opposition. Great gallantry was shown, and heavy loss sustained, on both sides; at last the French centre and right were both driven from the field. The darkness prevented our making prisoners, but a body of cavalry joining in the night, the hostile rear-guard was attacked next morning, and obliged to surrender. Our loss was about 3000 British and 2000 Portuguese, that of the enemy in killed and wounded was at least equal, and we took between 6000 and 7000 prisoners. The British force in the field was 22,000.

The consequences of the victory of Salamanca were the pursuit of the French army; the occupation of Madrid on 12th August by the allies; the abandonment by the French of the works constructed with vast expense against Cadiz; the evacuation of Andalusia, Granada, and all the south of Spain. But as this loss of territory was not attended by a loss of troops, it became incumbent on Lord Wellington to prepare against a vigorous attack from forces that were rapidly concentrating. He made repeated attempts to take the castle of Burgos and the military stores collected there, but this fort, defended by a strong garrison and a vigilant commander (General Dubreton), baffled all our efforts, and proved the cause of a considerable sacrifice of lives. Meantime, the approach of Soult from the south, and of the army that had fought at Salamanca from the east, obliged Lord Wellington to adopt the alternative of retreat. He began on 20th October, and proceeded westward, in a line nearly parallel to the Douro, taking above three weeks to recross the country to the scene of his victory at Salamanca. There, united with General Hill, and at the head of 50,000 men, he remained on ground lately so propitious; hoping that an opportunity might offer to attack the enemy, though now increased, by the junction of their two armies, to the number of 70,000. But Soult's positions were found too strong for attack, and the interval afforded him by Lord Wellington was diligently employed in pushing forward detachments to cut off our communications with Portugal. Retreat now became indispensable; and here, amidst hasty marches, and a scarcity of five days, there occurred scenes of insubordination which recalled all the disorders of our march to Corunna, and drew from Lord Wellington a most severe censure in general orders. Fortunately, similar privations on the side of the French prevented them from making many prisoners, and, on 29th November, on the frontier of Portugal, was closed this eventful campaign.

The campaign of 1813 opened in the east of Spain, by an attack on the allied army under Sir John Murray, stationed not far from Alicant; the ground it occupied was strong, but the length of the position, two miles and a half, made Suchet, who commanded the French, conceive the hope of penetrating it at one or other point. In this, however, he was foiled with a loss of from 2000 to 3000 men; the only check of importance received by that commander in all his campaigns in Spain. Soon after this success, our army was engaged in the bold plan of proceeding by sea to Catalonia and besieging Tarragona. The wind proved favourable; the main body was landed near Tarragona, and a detachment succeeded, by great exertion, in taking fort St Philip on the mountain called the Colde Balaguer, which blocked the nearest road for the arrival of the French from the south. Suchet, however, lost no time in marching northwards; and our general, Sir John Murray, considered his force (which was chiefly Spanish) unable to withstand the French; he therefore embarked and returned to Alicant, a measure which incurred censure, but appears fully justified by circumstances, and still more by the conduct of his successors in the command.

Suchet, though successful on this occasion, soon found himself unable to retain his extensive line of occupation. The battle of Vittoria brought a new enemy on his rear, and obliged him to withdraw first from Valencia, and subsequently as far as Barcelona. Our army now advanced by land, and resumed the siege of Tarragona, with the power of retreating, not as before by sea, but on the country behind; an alternative to which a second advance by Suchet soon compelled our new commander, Lord William Bentinck. The French, however, unable to occupy an extended position, blew up the works of Tarragona and retired. Our army advanced anew, but was again checked and obliged to draw back, exhibiting a striking proof of the impracticability of opposing an active enemy with a mixed force, of which the Spaniards formed a large proportion.

We now turn to the western part of the peninsula, the field of the commander-in-chief, and of the far larger portion of our force. Lord Wellington, averse to open the campaign till every part of his troops was ready to co-operate with efficiency, did not move from quarters till after the middle of May. He knew that he would have much ground to traverse, retreat being evidently the policy of the French, weakened as they were by the recall of 25,000 veterans, who had been feebly replaced by a body of conscripts. Lord Wellington was now, for the first time, at the head of a superior force, which he wielded with consummate skill. The strength of the enemy lay in the line of the Douro, which they expected to defend with advantage, so far at least as to make us purchase dearly its acquisition; but all this was prevented by Lord Wellington making his left division cross the river on the Portuguese territory, and advance along its northern bank; while he and Sir Rowland Hill, at the head of separate corps, marched, after several feints, in a diagonal direction, so as to support this movement, and effect a junction in an advanced position. The French, threatened with being taken in the rear, evacuated one town after another, and, even at Burgos, declined to fight on ground where late recollections would have been so animating; they continued to retreat, increasing from time to time their numbers by the garrisons of the evacuated towns, until, at last, they took a position at Vittoria, a town in Biscay, near the northeast frontier of Spain.

The position of the French extended from north to south, and was of great length. Their left rested on heights; part of their centre was also on heights, and their right was near the town of Vittoria. The Zadora, a stream of considerable size, but crossed by several bridges, ran nearly parallel to their front. Both armies were numerous, particularly that of the allies. It was the first time that nearly 40,000 British had fought together in Spain. Lord Wellington acted on the offensive throughout, and began the operations by taking possession of the heights near the extreme left of the enemy. This was easily War with France and her Allies.

effected; but their importance being soon perceived by the French, an attack was made to recover them. An obstinate contest took place, but the British on the heights repelled every assault. Under cover of these heights our right wing advanced, and took a village (Sabijana) in front of the enemy's centre. It was in vain the French attempted to retake this village. The centre of the allies crossed the river near it, and the centre of the French withdrew from their position, retreating to the town of Vittoria. At first this retreat took place in good order, but an alarming account was soon received from the French right. That part of their position had been defended by the river and two têtes de pont, but the troops of our left wing had taken, first the heights commanding these forts, and soon after the forts themselves, baffling every effort of the enemy to retake them. The great road leading to the north was thus in possession of the allies; hence a general alarm and confusion throughout the French army. Their reserve was hastily withdrawn from its position, and pressed, with the whole army, along the only remaining road to the eastward; abandoning all their artillery, their ammunition, and their baggage. The loss of the battle was imputed by the French to Jourdan, whom Bonaparte, in a luckless hour, had allowed his brother to substitute to Soult; and who here, as at Talavera, was too late in discovering the importance of commanding positions. The loss in men was not particularly severe; that of the allies in killed and wounded was under 4000, and that of the French probably not much greater. The temptation afforded by the plunder of the baggage prevented our troops from making many prisoners; but the spirit of the enemy was shaken, and the loss of their artillery and stores obliged them to retreat across the Pyrenees.

The next operation of consequence was the siege of San Sebastian, a frontier fortress of great importance, which the French made the most vigorous efforts to relieve. Their army, provided anew with ammunition and cannon, advanced under command of Soult, and drove back, after some sharp actions, the British corps posted in the passes of the Pyrenees. Our troops retreated to the vicinity of Pamplona, where, on the 27th, and still more on the 28th, they sustained a succession of impetuous attacks from the enemy. On the 29th Lord Wellington resumed the offensive, drove the French from their position, strong as it was, and obliged them to retrace their steps through the Pyrenees. Our loss in these actions was about 6000 men in killed and wounded; that of the enemy was still greater, exclusive of 4000 prisoners.

At San Sebastian we had been repulsed in an assault on 25th July; the siege was continued, and a final assault on 31st August led to the capture of the place, though with the loss of 2500 men. The farther operations were the entrance of our army on the French territory on 7th October; the capitulation of Pamplona on the 26th, and a general attack on the position of the French near St Jean de Luz on 10th November, after which they retreated across the Nivelle. But this mountainous country afforded a number of positions, and our next task was to drive the enemy from behind the Nive, a large river flowing northward from the Pyrenees. This was partly accomplished on 9th December; but on several succeeding days the French, commanded by Soult, made impetuous attacks on the allied army, all anticipated by Lord Wellington, and all repulsed with heavy loss. Still the rains of the season, and the size of the mountain streams, retarded our operations. In January (1814) our army made some farther progress, and, on 25th February, attacked the French in a position near Othes, behind the Gave de Pau, another large river flowing from the Pyrenees. This attack was successful; and the retreat of the French was followed by the desertion of a number of their new levies. Soult's army now drew back, not in a northerly but easterly direction, to join detachments from the army of Suchet in Catalonia. At Tarbes, on 20th March, the fighting was of short duration, but a sanguinary battle took place at Toulouse, on 10th April,—a battle attended with a loss to the allies of nearly 5000 men, which, as well as a great sacrifice of lives on the part of the French, might have been prevented, had earlier intelligence arrived of the overthrow of Bonaparte, and the change of government at Paris.

The causes of this great change have been already explained in the concluding Section of our article FRANCE. They are but partly to be found in the operations described above; for though the Spanish war had proved extremely injurious both to the finances and military establishment of Bonaparte, his power was so great, that nothing could have shaken it but a vast and sudden catastrophe. From the moment that he lost his armies in Russia, there existed substantial grounds for hope; and after the accession of Austria to the coalition, there was little reason to doubt his overthrow. The resources of France continued indeed unrestrainedly at his disposal; and the dread of a counter-revolution gave him the support of the majority of a nation long disgusted with his domineering spirit and never-ending wars; but the preponderance of military means was irresistible; in vain did he struggle against it in Saxony in 1813, and in Champagne in 1814. His partial successes served only to excite a temporary illusion; and the occupation of Paris by the allies proved, like its possession by successive parties in the Revolution, decisive of the fate of France.

We are now arrived at the period when, after a contest which, as far as regards England and France, may be termed a war of twenty years, Europe was restored to a condition which promises long continued peace. The principal provisions of the treaty of Paris in 1814, and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, were as follows:

France was circumscribed within her former territory, with the addition of part of Savoy, which, however, was relinquished in 1815 to the King of Sardinia.

Austria recovered Lombardy, and added to it Venice with its adjacent territory; possessing thus a population (29 millions) equal, or very nearly equal, to that of France, and considerably greater than she had had in 1792.

Germany was declared a great federal body as be- ore the French Revolution; with the distinction that a number of petty districts and principalities were incorporated into the larger, such as Bavaria, Württemberg, Hesse Cassel, Hesse Darmstadt; and with the farther distinction, that there is now no imperial head, but an understood division of influence between the two great powers; Austria being the protectrix of the south, Prussia of the north. These are progressive advances towards consolidation, and to them are to be added the formation of a Diet, still devoid of unity and slow in deliberation, but not altogether so tardy or disunited as its predecessors at Ratisbon.

Russia has, during the present age, suffered no reduction of her territory, but has proceeded in a regular course of acquisition. Her power, though less colossal than is vulgarly supposed, has received a substantial addition by the acquisition of Finland and of the chief part of Poland. Two-thirds of what once was Prussian Poland, and a part of Galicia, were formed in 1815 into a kingdom, the crown of which is worn by the Czar.

Prussia, on the other hand, has exhibited a striking example of the mutability of political greatness. Raised by the talents of Frederick II. to a rank above her real strength, but making, after his death, successive additions to her territory by the dread of her arms, and by diplomatic combinations, she saw the whole overturned by Bonaparte in one fatal campaign. From 1807 to 1813 her dominions continued circumscribed, and her population hardly exceeded six millions. But the arrangements of 1814 restored to her a third of Russian Poland, and a valuable tract of country on the Lower Rhine; and her population is now, as in 1806, above ten millions.

Of her colonial conquests from France, England retained Tobago, St Lucie, and the Isle of France. The peace confirmed also our possession of Malta and the Cape. Of the other Dutch settlements, Surinam and Java were restored; but Demerara, Berbice, and Essequibo, containing a number of British settlers, were retained; the merchants of Holland, however, enjoying certain privileges of trade with these colonies. On the Continent of Europe, we effected an important and long desired measure, the union of the seven Dutch and ten Belgic provinces into one kingdom. The latter, in their detached state, presented too tempting an object for France, and would have proved the cause of repeated wars, in which England, from her interest in the independence of Holland, and her dread of invasion, could hardly fail to participate.

The losses of Denmark rank among the most painful consequences of the wars of the French Revolution. To strip that pacific and inoffensive kingdom, first of its navy and next of a kindred country, governed by the same sovereign during 400 years, were acts that called for the regret and condemnation of every unprejudiced observer. The transfer of Norway was opposed by the inhabitants, and, we add with regret, that our navy was ordered to take part against them by blockading their ports. At last all was terminated by a convention pronouncing the union of Sweden and Norway under the same sovereign, the latter retaining her separate constitution. Pommerania was transferred from Sweden to Prussia, and Denmark received a small territory to the south of Holstein.

Sweden had enjoyed during many years the advantage of neutrality, and, like Denmark, increased gradually her shipping and trade. Deviating from this in 1805, and becoming a party to the coalition against France, she was saved from hostilities by the rapid overthrow of Austria; and Pomerania was not attacked until 1807, when Gustavus IV. chose to refuse peace at the time when he had not the support of a single continental ally. This and other acts of madness led to his deposition in 1809; and the year after Europe saw with surprise the nomination of Bernadotte as the efficient head of the Swedish government. This choice, attributed at first to the interference of Bonaparte, was due (Memoirs of Madame de Staël, Vol. III. Chap. iv.) to the personal exertions of Bernadotte himself. The acquisition of Norway, and the introduction into Sweden of various improvements by an active minded foreigner, are advantages of magnitude, and calculated to form some counterpoise to the loss of Finland, and the increased danger from Russia.

Spain and Portugal preserved their territory unaltered; both had received rude shocks from the invader, but in both the reign of superstition and indolence seemed so firmly fixed as to bid defiance to political change, whether introduced by mild or harsh means. The events of 1820, however, have shown, that in Spain there exists that sense of the abusive nature of their institutions, and that desire of reform which in France produced the Revolution; while in Portugal, results, eventually favourable, may be expected from the continued absence of a bigoted court.

Switzerland, without being made a province of France, had been obliged to furnish a military contingent in the wars of Bonaparte. The arrangements of 1814 maintained her as a federal state, but with 19 cantons instead of 13; an increase derived, not from extended territory, but from the independent form acquired by certain districts (such as the Pays de Vaud) incorporated formerly with the original cantons.

The King of Sardinia was restored to Piedmont, and his other continental possessions, with the addition of the territory of Genoa.

Italy was the country of all Europe the most likely to profit by the occupancy of the French. The substitution of an efficient government for the feeble administration of Naples and Rome; the diminution of superstition, the increase of industry, the extirpation of robbery on the high ways, the new modelling of the military establishment, were all objects of the highest importance. To these was added a hope of blending all the states of the Peninsula into a common union,—a union most ardently desired by the Italian nation, and calculated, above all things, to preserve their country from war and the intrusion of foreigners. The selfish policy of Bonaparte, whose object was merely to extract from every country the utmost possible supply of revenue and recruits, prevented the adoption of this grand measure, until the reassumed sway of foreigners, in particular of the Austrians, removed it to an indefinite distance, and reinstated the territorial divisions of Italy on the footing of 1792, with the exception of the republics of Venice and Genoa.

The royal family of Naples remained in Sicily during 1814, but Murat was not recognised by the Bourbons, and dreaded, with reason, that the allies would deem their task incomplete, if they did not restore the crown of Naples to the ancient family. He armed in self-defence, and no sooner did he hear of Bonaparte's entrance into Lyons, than he advanced against Lombardy, and called on all Italians to unite in the assertion of their national independence. But his troops were unable to cope with the Austrians; after some partial successes they were obliged to retreat; and finding, in some sharp actions on their own territory, the continued superiority of their opponents, the eventual result was the dispersion of the Neapolitan army, and the surrender of their capital on 22d May. The royal family now returned from Palermo to Naples, and resumed their sovereignty. Murat escaped to Toulon; but, after the second return of the Bourbons, he proceeded to Corsica, and conceived the wild project of landing in the Neapolitan territory, at the head of a feeble detachment, in the hope of being joined, like Bonaparte, on returning from Elba, by thousands of his ancient followers. He disembarked in Calabria, but was forthwith attacked by the inhabitants, taken and shot by order of the royal family, who were thus left in undisturbed possession of the crown.

Turkey was no party to the treaty of 1814, but remained on the footing on which the treaty of 1812 with Russia had placed her. Stationary in an age of change, and inflexible in her adherence to traditional usages, she saw the French Revolution pass without hurt; or rather was indebted to it for a relaxation in the shocks to which the European part of her empire is exposed from Austria and Russia. The peace of 1790 had been preserved uninterrupted by Austria; that of 1791 was infringed by Russia by only one war, viz. from 1807 to 1812. The temporary occupancy of Egypt by the French, and the more permanent establishment of England in the Ionian Islands, have had no effect on the interior of the Turkish empire.

II.—War with the United States of America.

We are now obliged to record military operations conducted in a very different quarter, and involving considerations very distinct from those which animated the contest on the continent of Europe. The United States of America continued on friendly terms with us during several years after the beginning of the war of 1803. There existed discussions, and of rather a serious nature, between the two countries, particularly in regard to the practice of our naval officers of impressing American seamen on suspicion, or pretended suspicion, of their being British subjects; but these contests were happily confined to diplomatists. Meantime, the navigation of the Americans was in a course of rapid extension; for their neutral flag enabled them to act as carriers to the continental belligerents, and, in particular, to convey to Europe the produce of the French and Spanish West Indies. The depression of our West India trade in 1805, though the unavoidable result of too great a growth of produce for a system of monopoly, was attributed to the successful rivalry of the Americans in the continental markets. Mr Pitt was assailed by our ship-owners, and prevailed on to take measures which obliged the Americans to forbear the direct passage across the Atlantic, and to give such cargoes a neutral character by carrying them in the first instance, to their own ports. The Grenville ministry maintained what Mr Pitt had done, and went no farther; but they were succeeded by men actuated by different views. A parliamentary committee, appointed in June 1807 to inquire into the distress of our West India colonies, received evidence calculated to strengthen an impression already very general, that a total stop ought to be put to the conveyance of French or Spanish colonial produce in neutral bottoms. No sooner did the successful termination of the Copenhagen expedition give popularity to the "system of vigour," than we issued the Orders in Council of November 1807; the object of which, however disguised, was to put a stop to neutral traffic, except when carried on by licence from our government, thus assuming the power of restricting or extending that traffic as we should find beneficial to our interests; or rather, as we should imagine, to be beneficial, since, in questions of commerce, the real is frequently far different from the anticipated result.

In this explanation of these ill-understood Orders, we exclude from the motives of ministers all participation in that jealousy of America that actuated so many of our countrymen. We consider them as acting from conviction, as seeking in this measure only a source of benefit to our commerce, and of annoyance to our enemies in Europe; yet, even with these qualifications, the Orders in Council have contributed more than any other measure in the present age to the distress that now afflicts our country. Their first practical result was a suspension of the navigation of the Americans, by a general embargo imposed by their own government: this preliminary measure was, in a few months, Dec. 28, succeeded by a non-intercourse act, which continued in operation above a year, during which our exports to America were greatly reduced, and our manufacturers distressed to a degree that ought to have served as a warning of the consequences of a farther contest with our best customers. In 1809, in consequence of a temporary arrangement, the intercourse was resumed, and exports from England to America took place to a great amount. But the offensive part of our system was soon after revived; the Americans were prevented from trading with France, Italy, or Holland, and the only conciliatory answer given by our government, was a promise to recall our orders whenever the Americans should obtain from Bonaparte the repeal of his Berlin and Milan decrees. This repeal was in some measure obtained in 1810, but nothing could wean our ministry from their predilection for what they account- ed a grand political measure; and those who inspect the official communications of the two governments,* will see with surprise the expedients devised, and the promises held out to gain time, and to delude the Americans, while, in fact, there never was an intention of recalling the obnoxious decrees. The Americans offered explicitly (Letter from Mr Monroe to Mr Foster, 26th July 1811) to recall all hostile edicts "if we revoked our orders;" but this not being complied with, their ports were definitively shut against us, and our manufacturers reduced to great distress,—a distress pourtrayed in colours unfortunately too impressive in the parliamentary papers on the Orders in Council, printed in the early part of 1812. But no change could be effected in our measures till the accession of Lord Liverpool to the first ministerial station, when a repeal took place, but unhappily too late, the Americans having declared war before this intelligence could reach them. From this time forward the impartial narrator finds it his duty to transfer the charge of aggression from England to America. We had now a minister aware of the evil tendency of our Orders in Council, and prepared to make reasonable concessions to the Americans, while they, heated by the contest, and attributing the change to the dread of losing Canada, refused our offers of accommodation.

The naval conflicts in the first year of the war were of a nature greatly to surprise the public, accustomed as it was to our almost uninterrupted triumphs at sea. The Guerriere frigate was captured on 19th August (1812) by the Constitution, American frigate, and the Macedonian on 25th October by another American frigate, called the United States. If these losses could, in any degree, be attributed to the fault of our officers, no such charge could be brought in the case of Captain Lambert of the Java, a most intelligent seaman, who, after a dreadful conflict, was obliged, on 29th December, to strike to the Constitution. In this, as in the preceding actions, the real cause of failure lay in the disproportion of strength, the Guerriere having only 263 men, her antagonist 476; the Macedonian only 300, the United States 478. Even the Java, though a large frigate, had only 367 men, her opponent 480. The inequality in weight of metal was still greater, each of these American frigates having been originally intended for a ship of the line. No sooner did the two nations meet on an equal footing in the case of the Chesapeake and Shannon (June 1st 1813), than the superiority was found to rest with us.

The operations by land were offensive on the part of the Americans, and directed to the conquest of Canada, of which the frontier adjoins their northern states, extending in a long line from south-west to north-east. The boundary consists in a great measure of water, being formed partly by the great lakes Erie and Ontario, partly by the course of the St Lawrence. On the south-west part of this frontier, a body of 2300 Americans, regulars and militia, advanced in July 1812 from the small fort of Detroit. Their operations, at first successful, were soon checked by a British detachment; retreat became unavoidable, and our troops assuming the offensive in their turn, the result was the surrender (16th August) of the whole body of Americans and of the fort of Detroit. Not discouraged by this failure, another detachment of Americans assembled near Niagara, but, after a sharp action (13th October), were obliged, like their countrymen, to surrender. A farther attempt, on the part of the Americans, to force the Niagara frontier, on 28th November, was likewise unsuccessful; while, in a different quarter, at a distance of nearly 300 miles to the north-east, the advance of their main body to Champlain proved ineffectual, the preparations on our side necessitating their retreat. Lastly, a detachment advancing, in January 1813, in the hope of retaking Fort Detroit, were themselves attacked by a British division and obliged to surrender.

These repeated failures were the result, not of a deficient activity or courage, but of impatience and insubordination; the restraint of discipline being ill-suited to a nation that acknowledges no master. But, in the next campaign, the Americans took the field with augmented forces, and an improved plan of action. A strong division crossing Lake Ontario, landed on 27th April, at York, the chief town of Upper Canada, and took it, with its stores, and part of the garrison. A check was, indeed, given to them April 23. in a very different quarter, on the Miami, a river May 27. falling into Lake Erie; but, next month, a strong body of Americans penetrated the Niagara frontier, May 28. and an attempt made by the British on Sackett's harbour, a port in Lake Ontario, was not successful. Still the progress of the American main body into June 6 and Canada from the Niagara was obstructed, and checks experienced by them in a way that clearly demonstrated the inexperience of their troops. They forbore, therefore, to advance by land, and directed their efforts to a naval superiority. On Lake Erie, the more remote of the two from our Canada settlements, this superiority was acquired in September, after the capture of our petty squadron, under Captain Barclay, and the consequence was our abandoning the more distant posts in Upper Canada. On Lake Ontario, the naval contest was long maintained; and an attempt made, in November, by a strong division of Americans, to descend the St Lawrence in small craft, and to threaten Montreal, was rendered abortive by the activity of our troops. The campaign was then closed by our opponents without making any serious impression on Canada, though their force exceeded 20,000 men. On our part, the Dec. 19. campaign terminated by taking Fort Niagara by surprise, and by repulsing, near the small town of Buffalo, a corps of 2000 men, brought forward to check our advance. The town was burned, in reta-

* See the American State Papers, printed in 1811 at Philadelphia, and reprinted in London. liation for a similar excess committed by the Americans.

The inclemency of an American winter suspended hostile operations for some months. The first exploit of consequence, in next campaign, took place on Lake Ontario, and was an attack by a British division and squadron on Fort Oswego, which, with its stores, fell into our hands. In the beginning of July, an American division, 5000 strong, crossed the Niagara, already so often traversed, and obliged the opposing force to retreat. But the opportune arrival, from Bourdeaux, of some regiments which had served in France, soon enabled our troops to make a stand; and, on 25th July, there took place an action more obstinate, and better sustained on the part of the Americans, than any in the present war. They were finally repulsed, but the loss was heavy on both sides. Some time after, a sally made by the garrison of Fort Erie against a detachment of British entrenched in the vicinity, though at first successful, was eventually repulsed. But a very different result attended an offensive enterprise, on a large scale, attempted by us on the side of Lake Champlain. For this purpose, our Commander, Sir G. Prevost, assembled all his disposable force, amounting, with the reinforcements from Europe, to nearly 15,000 men, crossed the American frontier, and marched southward to attack Plattsburgh, a fortified town on Lake Champlain. The attack on the land side was combined with that of a flotilla, consisting of a frigate and several small vessels, which, coming within sight on 11th September, engaged an American flotilla of nearly equal force. Unfortunately, our commanding officer was killed, and our flotilla captured,—a check which, though in itself of no great moment, induced our general to make a sudden retreat. This retreat, in the face of so inferior an enemy, was altogether inexplicable, and excited general surprise and disappointment. With it closed the operations on the side of Canada, each party having entirely relinquished the idea of offensive war.

So long as there remained a hope of treating with the Americans, our government had avoided offensive operations, and kept the command of our fleet in that station in the hands of Sir John Borlase Warren, an officer who joined diplomatic to nautical habits. At last, however, it became necessary to replace him by one whose spirit of enterprise was more conformable to the impatient ardour of our navy. Admiral Cochrane arrived, and lost no time in concerting an attempt on the American capital, by sailing up the Patuxent, destroying a flotilla in that river, and landing a military force under Major-General Ross, which attacked the American division posted to defend Washington, drove them from their ground, and entered the capital in the evening. Here private property was respected, but of the public buildings there were destroyed not only the arsenal, the dock-yard, the war-office, but the houses of the senate and representative body, the residence of the president, and the bridge across the Potomac. Our troops, being few in number, retreated soon after, and, embarking anew, proceeded against Baltimore, where they landed, drove the defending force of the Americans from their position, and approached the town. But the entrance to the harbour being closed by a barrier of sunk vessels, co-operation on the part of the navy was impracticable, and our troops were re-embarked without any loss of consequence, except that of their commander General Ross. A better result had been obtained in an expedition against Alexandria, a trading town on the Potomac, whence a quantity of stores and shipping was brought away. Success also attended an expedition in a very different quarter;—in the river Penobscot, at the northern extremity of the United States, adjoining the British province of New Brunswick. Far different was the result of an expedition on a larger scale, directed against New Orleans. Our troops disembarked from the Mississippi, repelled an assault from the Americans, moved forward, and came within six miles of the town, where they found the enemy posted behind a canal, with a breastwork in front, and their right flanked by the Mississippi. After a fortnight passed in mutual preparations, a night attack was at last determined on; but, unexpected difficulties retarding it till day-light, the fire of the Americans from behind their breast-work was pointed with unerring aim, and proved extremely destructive. In the short space of twenty minutes, our three principal officers, and nearly 2000 privates, were killed or wounded; and though, on the opposite side of the river, our attack had been successful, it was determined to relinquish the expedition, and re-embark the troops. This distressing failure was poorly compensated by the capture of Fort M'Fenible, the last land operation of the war. At sea, our final exploit was the capture of the American frigate President, of 54 guns, and 490 men.

The peace was signed at Ghent, on 24th December 1814, and its terms afforded a curious exemplification of the futility of warlike struggles. The territorial possessions of both countries were, with a very trifling exception, left on the same footing as before the war; and not the slightest notice was taken of the questions which had most strongly excited the spirit of hostility on both sides;—neither of the impressment of seamen, a point so important to the Americans, nor of the limitation of the rights of neutral traffic, a topic so often urged among us.

The United States, in no respect a manufacturing country, purchased from us merchandise to the extent annually increasing, and which, in 1807, had reached the amount (see our article ENGLAND, p. 134) of L. 12,000,000 Sterling. Every addition to their capital, every year that they passed in peace and prosperity, increased their value to us in a commercial sense, while every blow given to their productive funds necessarily operated in diminution of their purchases and payments. But, far from acting on these impressions, the ministry of 1807 eagerly seized the opening given them by the violence of Bonaparte, to assail the trade of America; and issued (in November) those Orders which "prohibited all direct intercourse from a neutral port to France, or her tributary states, unless the neutral vessels, intended for such voyages, touched first at a port in the British dominions, and paid a duty." This singular measure was vindicated, not as legal in itself, but as a trespass on neutral rights justified by the previous trespasses of the French government. It would, it was argued, distress the part of the Continent subject to Bonaparte, and excite discontent against his government; but the real motive was to cramp and control the trade of neutrals. That the Americans would not submit to such humiliating conditions, our Government was well aware; but it knew also that they had neither army nor navy, and would not, at least for several years, resort to the alternative of war. So far our calculation was correct, but the question of national advantage we entirely misconceived. For what was the practical operation of these restrictive edicts? The trade of the Americans with the Continent was suspended, and the remittances formerly made to us from the sale of their goods,—remittances not overrated (Baring on the Orders in Council) at four or five millions a year, were made no more. Our bank paper fell, more from that than from any other cause, into a discredit which occasioned a loss of 20, 30, and eventually nearly 40 per cent. on all subsidies and other government expenditure on the Continent. The mercantile insolvencies in America, which followed the Orders in Council, recoiled, in a great degree, on England, whose exporting merchants were the chief creditors of the bankrupts. Next came the burdens and the havoc of war; and of every million of American capital thus diverted from productive industry, the half at least was lost to the British manufacturer. But this was not all; the suspended intercourse, and the appeal to arms, induced the Americans to attempt to manufacture for themselves. This, for several years, excluded our goods, and when, on the return of peace, British merchandise was poured into the United States at prices so low as to defy competition, the consequence, particularly in the year 1819, was a scene of general insolvency in the States, which once more recoiled with the most distressing effects on the British creditor. All this was the result of a policy, bad in every point of view, and which neither had nor could have any decisive influence on the grand contest in Europe.

III.—Return of Bonaparte, and Events of 1815.

The ratification of the peace with America had not been received from the other shore of the Atlantic, when the return of Bonaparte from Elba raised in Europe a fresh alarm of war. He ventured to land with a force barely sufficient to secure his personal safety in a march, and to supply emissaries for mixing with the opposite ranks. The French soldiers are fond of glory; and their attachment revived at the sight of their leader. They first refused to oppose, and soon after pressed forward to join him; and he proceeded in a rapid and unresisted march to the capital. Ought England to participate in the coalition formed to expel this intruder, and to reinstate the Bourbons? On this question there existed, either in parliament or the public, very little difference of opinion, so great was the enmity inspired by Bonaparte, and such the dread of incessant war under his sway. Our ministry soon took their determination; our Continental allies were unanimous in the cause, and not a day was lost in preparing for the invasion of France. The Netherlands, it was evident, would be the first scene of operations; thither the Prussians pressed with all the ardour inspired by recent wrongs; thither were conveyed from England, troops, ammunition, and stores, with all the dispatch afforded by the undisputed command of the sea. By the end of May or beginning of June, the Prussian and British force in the Netherlands was superior to any that could be mustered by Bonaparte. It was not till the second week of June that his disposable force, to the number of 115,000 men, was collected in front of the allied line. This was effected with great secrecy and dispatch. He joined the camp on the 14th, and made his troops march early on the 15th, driving successively the Prussian outposts at Charleroi and Fleurus. From the beginning of his march to Ligny, the Prussian head-quarters, the distance was thirty miles; to Brussels, the head-quarters of Lord Wellington, was nearly twice as far; and all Bonaparte's hope rested on fighting his opponents separate and unsupported. Intelligence of the first movements of the French reached Lord Wellington in the afternoon of the 15th, and made him forthwith prepare for the march, which, however, he delayed until the arrival of a second courier from the Prussians, and of advices from his own outposts, which should show whether there was any serious attack on other points. In the evening arrived accounts, which left no doubt that the mass of the French army was directed against the Prussians; and orders to march were issued that night in all directions, so as to reach even remote stations between three and four in the morning. Our troops began their march from almost every point at day-light, all pointing to Quatre Bras, a spot where four roads meet, and distant seven miles from Ligny. After marching between six and seven hours, several of the divisions stopped to take rest and refreshment; but they were hurried from their unfinished meal by dragoons dispatched to quicken their advance, for Lord Wellington had received by the way intelligence of the rapid approach of the French. Proceeding promptly with his escort, he had time to reach the head-quarters of the Prussians, and to learn from their impatient commander, that, without knowing the numbers of the French, or their plan of attack, he was determined to accept battle on that day, and on the ground he then occupied. Lord Wellington had no controlling power. All he could do was to lessen the pressure on his allies, by pushing, as much as possible, such part of the French as might be opposed to the British. This interview took place between one and two o'clock; and his lordship, returning forthwith to Quatre Bras, found the French tirailleurs already in possession of the wood, which skirted and commanded the road. Immediate orders were given to drive them out, a task which devolved on the Highlanders arriving from Brussels, and the Guards from Engheim, each after a march of twenty-five miles. They succeeded in Battle of expelling the French; but the want of artillery and Quatre Bras, cavalry (neither of which came up till late at night) prevented them from pushing forward with effect. Fresh bodies of the French were now seen advancing; and, on the other hand, regiments of British succes- sively reached the ground. The conflict spread, and was maintained with great gallantry on both sides, but with hardly any other plan than that of fighting straight forward. At first the French possessed considerable advantages, and their cavalry, charging rapidly through fields of rye, which grows in Flanders to a great height, came unexpectedly on some of our battalions; the latter suffered greatly, but fairly repelled their antagonists. As our reinforcements came up, the superiority was progressively acquired by us. The French were driven back, and Ney, who commanded, sent to order up a body of 20,000 men, which had arrived within three miles of Quatre Bras; but the answer was, that they had marched to Ligny by order of Bonaparte. They were soon after ordered back, but were unable to join Ney, until nine at night, when the fighting was over, and the field of action in possession of the British. The force engaged on either side did not exceed 25,000 men. Our loss amounted to 5000; that of the French (see Soult's Report) appears to have been considerably greater. Both sides fully expected a new battle the next morning. The British, by the arrival of all their divisions, formed a large army. The French, still strangers to the firmness of our troops, attributed their failure to accidental causes, and declared that their cavalry had been repulsed, parce qu'ils n'avaient pas franchement abordé l'ennemi.

Meanwhile, there had been fought at Ligny a battle on a larger scale, and with greater preparation. On the slope of a rising ground, which, however, was much exposed, a Prussian army, of no less than 80,000 men, awaited the attack of Bonaparte. The fighting began between two and three o'clock, by the French gaining possession of the village of St Amand on the Prussian right. To re-occupy this village, Blucher made repeated efforts; and it was during one of the most furious of these, that Bonaparte was understood to have ordered round the corps, the absence of which was so bitterly regretted by Ney. The battle now raged along the whole line. The masses of Prussian infantry, drawn up on the slope, were much thinned by the French artillery; but in the village of Ligny, which was repeatedly taken and retaken, the slaughter was mutually great. Such was the course of the engagement till the evening at half past eight o'clock, when the French reserve, marching forward in columns, obliged the Prussians to leave the long-contested field. Their loss on this dreadful day was not short of 20,000; that of the French 10,000.

Next day Bonaparte adopted the plan of detaching, under Grouchy, a body of 34,000 men to follow the retiring Prussians, while, with the mass of his force (71,000), he turned against the British, in the hope of fighting a battle at the head of superior numbers. Lord Wellington knew not till morning the retreat of his allies; a similar measure, on his part, then became indispensable; but as his army was in the best state, and as the Prussians had just received a reinforcement, retreat was necessary only until reaching a position favourable for fighting, and for awaiting the co-operation of his allies. Waterloo, he well knew, presented these advantages; his march thither met with no annoyance from the French, and the only fighting that took place on the 17th was at Genappe, in a cavalry action begun by our rear-guard. Bonaparte, following with his van, reached the ground opposite to our position, and, in the evening, ordered a partial cannonade, to ascertain if we occupied the latter with an intention to remain. He concluded in the affirmative, and began arrangements for a battle; next morning, he continued under a similar impression, although in his army there was (see Drouet's Account of the Battle) a general belief that we would not venture to assail their onset. At ten o'clock, he perceived, by his glass, a corps in march at a great distance, which he immediately concluded to be Prussians; this necessitated his posting a body of above 8000 men on his right to receive them,—a disposition which deprived him of his numerical superiority, and made the battle of Waterloo be fought between equal, or nearly equal forces. It began, towards noon, by an attack on the post of Hougoumont, a chateau, or country seat, in front of our right, surrounded by an orchard: the possession of this point would have favoured the approach of the French to our right wing, but though they drove us from the orchard, all their efforts proved ineffectual against our troops (a detachment of guards) stationed in the building and within the court wall. This attack, though very obstinate and sanguinary, was, in the eye of either commander, only a prelude to the great onset in the centre. That began towards two o'clock, planned by Bonaparte, and conducted by Ney, whose station, during the action, was in the high road leading straight to our centre. Our army made little show, the battalions being formed in squares, and partly hid from view by the sinuosities of the ground: between each square were openings sufficient to enable the battalions to deploy into line, as well as to afford our cavalry space to advance and charge. The squares were farther placed en echiquier (like a chess-board), so that the enemy's cavalry, in venturing through an opening, exposed itself to a fire in front from the opposite square, and to a flank fire from that which it had passed. Yet this firm array did not appal the French Cuirassiers, who, confiding in past success and in the protection of their armour, repeatedly tried the deadly experiment of attack. Never was the impetuosity of the French more conspicuous, and never was it more effectually opposed, whether we consider the firmness of our troops, the judgment of our general, or the efficiency of our artillery. The only ground gained by the French, was the central point of La Haye Sainte, and the space immediately in front of our line,—the whole attended, said Ney, "by a carnage the most dreadful I had ever seen." Meanwhile Bonaparte watched anxiously the moment when a partial breach, or disorder, in our line should afford him a favourable opportunity of attacking with his reserve. Ney repeatedly intimated an expectation of great success, but could report no positive advantage, even after the double charge made by the Imperial Horse Guards at five in the afternoon. It became, however, indispensable to act, and Bonaparte could hardly doubt that the long continued conflict must, by this time, have greatly weakened our line. Accord- ingly, between six and seven o'clock, the Imperial Foot Guards, to the number of nearly 13,000, were drawn from behind the ridge which had hitherto covered them from our fire; directed to advance along the high road leading to our centre; and harangued by Bonaparte, whom they answered with reiterated cries of Vive l'Empereur. We are now come to the decisive part of the battle, that part in which till now, whether at Marengo, at Austerlitz, or at Ligny, success had uniformly attended the charge of a fresh and numerous corps. By what means did it fail at Waterloo? The answer is, that our line, though thinned, was nowhere disordered; our battalions, though reduced, were firm in their position. Besides, the Duke, apprised of the approach of his allies, moved round an additional force from his left to his centre, and directed our battalions to deploy from their squares into line,—a line not of two ranks, but of four. Its formidable aspect, and the knowledge of the approach of the Prussians, prevented Ney from attempting the last alternative, a bayonet charge by the Guards. Their ranks, however, were rapidly thinned, for the fire from our line was much more extensive and destructive than that of the columns of the enemy. It was now that the Duke saw the approach of the Prussian main body, and ordered a general movement forward; the French retired, at first slowly and in good order; but seeing that behind them all was falling into confusion, the artillerymen and wagon train, cutting the traces of their horses, and pressing to gain the high road to which the Prussians were fast advancing, the retreat became a rout. Our troops advanced over the field of battle, crossed the hollow beyond it, and, towards nine at night, reached the ridge occupied by the French Staff during the day. Their task was now fulfilled, and the Prussians were left to follow the flying enemy. The loss on our side was 13,000 men; that of the French opposed to us, exclusive of the loss caused by the Prussians, was about 20,000.

This great battle displayed no manoeuvring; the plan once formed, the whole was a succession of impetuous attacks and obstinate repulses; but the talents of either commander were not the less displayed, the one in making no fruitless application of his force; the other in never permitting the ardour of his troops to lead them from their ground or to deviate from a defensive plan. Bonaparte committed only one error,—that of ordering the advance of his guards, who, though they might penetrate our line at a particular point, had no chance of gaining a victory, and were besides likely to be soon wanted as a rear-guard to their own army. In the battle, Lord Wellington appears to have committed no error; on the preceding days, his fault lay in supposing Blücher likely to act with discretion, and in remaining personally at Brussels, instead of keeping near to his impatient cadorjout. Had the latter avoided fighting on the 16th, and retreated only twelve or fifteen miles, the allied forces would have been completely in co-operation, and their numbers (160,000) would have deprived Bonaparte of every chance.

From Waterloo to Paris, the advance of the allies was an almost uninterrupted march; marked on our part by the capture, by escalade, of two towns, Cambray and Peronne; on that of the Prussians by an unremitting pursuit of the enemy. On one occasion (2d July, near Versailles), a corps of French cavalry reasserted their claim to fame, and taught the Prussians the hazard of a precipitate advance; but the success was partial, the evacuation of Paris unavoidable, and resistance hopeless; now that almost all Europe was pouring her armies into the French territory. Hence the second treaty of Paris, (see the Article FRANCE), concluded after many vain appeals to the generosity of the allies, and which burdened France with contributions to the amount of nearly L.30,000,000 Sterling, exclusive of the support of an allied army on her frontier. This army, amounting at first to 150,000 men, was reduced in 1817 to 120,000, and withdrawn in the end of 1818; since which all has borne the aspect of tranquillity on the Continent.

The time is not yet arrived for viewing, with the calm impartiality of history, our war against Bonaparte; but the more reflecting part of our countrymen can hardly fail to regret our participating in the war of 1792. Those who know the inoffensive state of the French nation at that time, their general wish for peace, and the reduced condition of their army, can have no doubt that the efforts which subsequently poured forth such a host of combatants, owed their existence to the threats of the allied powers; without these the Jacobins would not have triumphed, nor would a military adventurer, like Bonaparte, have had the means of acquiring an ascendancy. Louis XVI. might have been brought to the scaffold, and republican visions have prevailed for a season, but the eyes of the people would have been opened to the blessings of a constitutional monarchy much earlier than when threatened with invasion, and obliged, in self-defence, to throw undue power into the hands of their new rulers. The first great error,—the coalition of 1792,—was the act of Austria and Prussia; but of the continuance of the Continental war, after 1795, we were almost the sole cause. Belgium and Holland had, it is true, fallen into the hands of France, and to recover them was an object of the highest interest; but in attempting this, our ministers made no adequate allowance for the jealousies, the prejudices, we may add, the incapacity of the governments whose aid was indispensable to success. In 1803, circumstances had become extremely embarrassing; France was confirmed in the possession of the Netherlands and Italy, and at the disposal of an ambitious despot, who studied in peace only the means of farther encroachment. What course was our Government to follow? Were they to continue in peace, and to trust for our eventual safety to the progressive extension of our resources and the improvement of our army; or were they to resort to immediate war, and present, by our declared hostility, a rallying point to other powers? An experienced government would have preferred the former; the ministry of 1803 adopted the latter; not from views of ambition, but from yielding to that popular impulse, which it would not, however, have been impracticable to guide and control. As to the course of the war, Parliamentary Proceedings it was, during the two first years, a contest without decided success on either side. In its third year, an ill conducted coalition gave to France that superiority which was to be expected in the case of a great military power directed by a single head. Such, in a farther degree, was the result of the continental operations of 1806 and 1807. In 1808, Spain gave an unexpected change to the calculations of politicians, and showed, in an encouraging light, the power of popular resistance; still its effects, aided even by our military means, produced little decisive of the grand objects of the war. We were proceeding with great zeal and gallantry, but without any definite hope or object, when, a catastrophe, as little expected by ourselves as by the French, entirely changed the aspect of affairs, and made it incumbent on us to omit no exertion, financial or military, to redeem the independence of Europe. The success was complete; but it was not till the close of the struggle that we became aware of the amount of the sacrifices incurred in its prosecution.

IV.—Parliamentary Proceedings since 1803.

The parliamentary proceedings in the summer session of 1803 were remarkable as indicating the existence of three or four distinct parties, amidst an almost general concurrence in support of the war. These parties were, first, that of the Ministry and their usual followers; next, that of the Grenvilles and Mr Windham, who had all along blamed the peace of Amiens, and predicted that it would prove a mere truce; thirdly, that of Mr Pitt and Lord Melville, who, after approving that peace, had, on the continued aggressions of Bonaparte, become ardent supporters of war; and, fourthly, that of Mr Fox, with a part of the old Opposition, who were of opinion that the war might have been avoided. So far were the last from being numerous, that a motion, made on 23d May, to express the concurrence of Parliament in the war, found a minority of only ten in the Peers and sixty-seven in the Commons. A subsequent measure, in the same spirit, an act for arming a large part of the population, was carried in July by a great majority; and similar ardour was evinced in submitting anew to war taxes, particularly to a 5 per cent. Income-tax. After the adoption of several other measures of the kind, and a most interesting session of nine months, Parliament was prorogued on 12th August.

The next session opened on 22d November, and discovered the same alacrity for the prosecution of the war, mixed, however, with a growing opposition to ministers. Mr Pitt had, from the beginning of the war, forebore to commend them, and, since the failure of a negotiation to bring him into office, had assumed a language occasionally hostile. He continued to support their propositions for the public defence, and frequently improved them in their progress through Parliament; but he disclaimed all personal connection with ministers, and at last treated them as incapable of originating any measure of vigour or utility. This disposition could hardly fail to be turned to account by those busy intermediaries, who find means to combine the efforts of opposite parties for the purpose of getting into power. On 15th March Mr Pitt, aware of the side on which the public was most alive to alarm, brought forward a motion for an "Inquiry into the management of the Navy." On this occasion, severe as was his language in regard to Lord St Vincent, then at the head of the Admiralty, he received the support of the Opposition, and had on his side 130 votes against 201. From this time forward the strength of Ministers was visibly shaken. On 23d April Mr Fox brought forward an eagerly expected motion on the defence of the country, in which Mr Pitt joined, with great animosity against the Ministers. The division was 204 against, and 256 in favour of Government; a majority of 52, which, in a second debate, on 25th April, was reduced to 37. Soon after this ministers resigned, and Mr Pitt, called to the royal presence, was desired to form an administration, with the exclusion, however, of Mr Fox. This peremptory order, and Mr Pitt's too ready acquiescence in it, proved the source of the greatest difficulties. The Grenvilles had recently so connected themselves with Mr Fox and his friends, that a separation would have been altogether dishonourable; and their united strength, joined to the occasional support of Mr Addington's adherents, was the cause, during the remainder of the session, of very strong divisions against the new ministers, particularly in the Commons. Their chief measure, entitled the Additional Force Bill, was carried by only 265 to 223. The session soon after closed, but not without passing a corn bill, evidently intended to dispose the landed interest to submit to the new taxes, and which prohibited the importation of foreign wheat whenever our own should be at or below 63s. the quarter.

Before the opening of next session, an overture, suggested, it is said, by the Sovereign personally, was made to Mr Addington. After some discussion it was accepted, Mr Addington receiving the Presidency of the Council for himself, and corresponding situations for his friends. With this support ministers met Parliament; and, in one of the first great questions, the approval of the war with Spain, obtained the concurrence of 313 votes against 106. In subsequent divisions, the majorities, though less decisive, were considerable, until 6th April, when Mr Whitbread brought forward a most interesting discussion on the Tenth Report of the Commissioners of Naval Inquiry, which implicated Lord Melville. This question, debated in a full house, produced a division of 216 against 216, when, after an anxious pause, the resolutions moved by Mr Whitbread were carried by the casting vote of the Speaker. This led immediately to the resignation, by Lord Melville, of his office of first Lord of the Admiralty, and was followed by his erasure from the list of privy councillors. Some time after, his Lordship was, at his own desire, heard before the House of Commons, and, while he acknowledged that temporary irregularities in the appropriation of the public money had taken place when he was Treasurer of the Navy, he disclaimed, on his honour, the alleged participation in the profits of Mr Trotter, who had acted as his paymaster. But the expectations of the public were raised, and a prosecution, in some shape or other, was indispensable. A motion for an impeachment before the Lords, made by Mr Whitbread, was lost by 272 to 195; but the Addington party joining Opposition in a motion for a criminal prosecution, the latter was carried by 288 against 229. Lord Melville and his friends, dreading this more than an impeachment, found means, by a sudden division of the House, to rescind the vote to that effect, and to decide on an impeachment before the Lords.

Among the remaining acts of the session was one of very doubtful equity—the grant of an annuity of L.3000 to the Duke of Athol, for his long relinquished claims on the Isle of Man. Parliament was prorogued after giving ministers a vote of credit to the extent of three millions, to be applied, if necessary, in subsidies to Continental powers.

The proceedings against Lord Melville made a deep impression on Mr Pitt, and deprived him of his only efficient coadjutor, at a time when, from the magnitude of his public cares, he was more than ever in want of support. The consequent fatigue and anxiety made severe inroads on a constitution naturally not strong. His indisposition became apparent in the early part of winter; and, on the meeting of Parliament, was understood to have reached a dangerous height. His death took place on 23d January 1806. A motion, brought forward a few days after, to grant a public funeral, and to erect a monument to "the late excellent minister," excited much discussion. Mr Fox paid a high tribute to the financial merits of his great rival, but could not join in ascribing the epithet of "excellent" to measures which he had so often opposed. Mr Windham also opposed the vote; and the Grenvilles chose to be absent. Still the motion was carried, by 258 against 169. To a subsequent proposition, for a grant of L.40,000 for the payment of Mr Pitt's debts, no opposition was made.

The public attention was now fixed on the approaching change of ministry. The king (in concurrence, it is said, with the death-bed recommendation of Mr Pitt) sent for Lord Grenville, desired him to form a ministry, and made no opposition to the admission of Mr Fox into the cabinet; but is said to have expressed a desire that the Duke of York should retain the office of Commander-in-chief. The new administration was formed on a broad basis, comprising the friends of Lord Grenville, those of Mr Fox, and those of Lord Sidmouth. But, hardly had they entered on office, when circumstances occurred which placed, in a striking light, the different conduct of men when in and out of power. Lord Grenville thought fit to hold the incompatible offices of First Lord and Auditor of the Treasury; and the Chief-Justice was admitted to a seat in the Cabinet; while Mr Fox consented to come forward as the vindicator of both.

The defence of the country against the great military power of France being still the most anxious consideration, the first measure of a comprehensive nature was brought forward by Mr Windham, whose station, in the new ministry, was the war department. It proposed the repeal of Mr Pitt's Additional Force Bill, and a plan for improving the regular army, by substituting a limited for an unlimited term of service, and by granting a small increase of pay after the expiration of the prescribed term. These propositions, brought forward in the end of April, and beginning of May, were warmly opposed; they passed, however, by a great majority in both Houses; and would, doubtless, have conducted materially to the improvement of our army, had they received a fair trial; but the succeeding ministries sought, during the whole war, to procure enlistments for life. In France, since 1817, the rule is, to be scrupulous about the character of recruits; to give little or no bounty, but to limit the time of service, and to increase the pay after the expiration of the specified term. The same principle, differently modified, prevails in Prussia and Austria.

Of the budget, the most remarkable feature was an increase of the property-tax, from 6\frac{1}{2} to 10 per cent., the odium of which ministers sought to lessen by the appointment of a Board of Auditors, to examine the long-standing arrears in public accounts. In regard to trade, the principles of this ministry, though little understood, and even disliked by the great majority of merchants, were entitled to much attention. They attempted to introduce into our practical policy some of the doctrines of Dr Smith; doctrines which Mr Pitt had studied in his early years, but to which circumstances had not allowed him to give an extensive application. The letter of our navigation laws forbids all intercourse between our colonies and other countries; but our West India colonies are, in time of war, so dependent on the United States for provisions, that it had been customary with the island governors to take on themselves the responsibility of infringing these acts, and to obtain regularly a bill of indemnity from Parliament. Mr Fox now brought in a bill termed "the American Intercourse Act," the purport of which was, to authorize the governors of our colonies to do, during the remainder of the war, that which they had hitherto done from year to year, and to dispense with any application for indemnity. This bill, moderate and politic as it in fact was, met with keen opposition in Parliament, and with still keener out of doors, from the shipping and commercial interests. It passed into a law; but it was denounced as a glaring infraction of our navigation code, and contributed, more than any other measure, to shake the popularity of ministers.

The trial of Lord Melville before the House of Peers began on 29th April 1806. The charges against him, little understood by the public at large, related to an infraction of his official duty, not as a member of the cabinet, but in his early and inferior station of Treasurer of the Navy. These charges may be comprised under the following heads: That he had allowed Mr Trotter, his paymaster, to take the temporary use and profit of sums of money lodged in the Bank for the naval expenditure; that he had himself participated in such profits; and, finally, that he had applied certain sums of public money to his private use. All participation in the speculations or profit of his paymaster his lordship positively denied, but he acknowledged a temporary appropriation of the sum Parliament of L. 10,000 in a way which "private honour and public duty forbade him to reveal." The trial closed on 12th June; the articles of impeachment had been extended to the number of ten, and on all of them there was a majority of Peers for his acquittal; but while in regard to the charge of conniving at stock speculations by Trotter, or converting the public money to his private use, the majorities were triumphant, the case was otherwise in regard to his Lordship's permitting an unauthorized appropriation of the public money by Trotter, and receiving from him temporary loans, the records of which were afterwards destroyed.

Though the present Parliament had completed only four sessions, ministers determined on a dissolution, doubtless from a wish to have the benefit of the government influence in the new elections. They knew their weakness at Court, and flattered themselves that a decided ascendancy in Parliament would enable them to press, with greater confidence, measures for which they could not boast the cordial concurrence of their royal master. For the time of the new election, they chose the moment of national excitement, caused by the recall of our ambassador from the French capital. The first debate in the new House of Commons related to the abortive negotiation for peace, and although the publication of the official papers excited some surprise, and showed that Bonaparte had at one time carried his offers of concession considerably farther than the public had supposed, there prevailed so general a distrust towards him, that Mr Whitbread stood almost alone in the opinion that the negotiation ought to have been continued. After some renewed discussions on Mr Windham's military measures, Lord Henry Petty, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, brought forward a plan of finance, which, assuming the expence of the current year as equal to that of subsequent years of war, professed to provide, without new taxes, for a contest of fourteen years or more. This plan contained an anticipated calculation of the loans necessary for several years to come, and supposed that a sum equal to 10 per cent. on each loan should be appropriated from the war taxes, of which 5 per cent. should serve to pay the interest of the loan, and the other 5 per cent. form a sinking fund, which, by the operation of compound interest, would redeem the capital in fourteen years; leaving the whole 10 per cent. again applicable to the same purpose, should the war continue. That this plan possessed, no more than those of Pitt or Vansittart, the merit of increasing the productive power of our revenue, has been already shown by Dr Hamilton in his well known Treatise on the National Debt. Its merit, had it been tried, would have been found to consist, as that of such plans generally does, in a support, perhaps a temporary increase, of public credit. It may even be questioned, whether the same ministry, had they continued in office, would have restricted themselves to a limited expenditure in 1808, when the Spanish struggle called forth such a burst of our national enthusiasm. There can, however, be no doubt, that they would have avoided the Orders in Council, which, by depriving us of the unseen but powerful aid of neutral traffic, gave the first great blow to our Bank paper, Parliament and consequently to our public funds.

The bill for the abolition of the slave trade was now brought forward with all the weight of government support, and carried by triumphant majorities; the Slave in the Lords by 100 to 36, in the Commons by 283 Trade. to 16. This prompt termination of a struggle of twenty years showed how easily the measure might have been carried had not Mr Pitt declined to give it ministerial support; a course, suggested to him, probably by a dread of offending the West India planters, but founded, in a great measure, on misapprehension, since the most respectable part of that body (the proprietors of long settled estates) were far from adverse to the abolition, calculated as it was to prevent that superabundance of produce which to them is the most serious of evils. This proved the last important bill of the Grenville ministry, whose removal from office took place very unexpectedly in consequence of a difference with the sovereign about the Irish Catholics.

The bill which produced this sudden change was Irish Catholic introduced by Lord Howick on 5th March, and entitled, "A bill to enable His Majesty to avail himself of the services of all his liege subjects in his naval and military forces, in the manner therein mentioned;" that is, by their taking an oath contained in the bill, after which they should be left to the free exercise of their religion. Here, as in the case of the American intercourse with the West Indies, the intention was less to introduce a new practice, than to permit by law what was already permitted by nivance. The draught of the bill had been previously submitted to the King, and returned by him without objection; but the royal attention was more closely drawn to it on its introduction into parliament, and on a vehement opposition from Mr Perceval, who described it as part of a system of dangerous innovation, and as a precursor of the abolition of all religious tests. The king now intimated his disapprobation of the bill to ministers, who endeavoured to modify it, but still without succeeding in rendering it acceptable to their sovereign. They then felt the necessity of withdrawing the bill, but inserted in the cabinet minutes a declaration, reserving to themselves two points—the liberty of delivering their opinion in Parliament in favour of the proposed measure, and of bringing it forward at a future period. This minute was unfortunately couched in terms too positive, if not disrespectful to the King, who, always tenacious on the Catholic question, and never personally cordial with Lords Grenville and Howick, insisted that they should pledge themselves in writing never to press him again on the subject. Ministers declining to comply, the King consulted with Lord Eldon about forming a new ministry, and, receiving a ready assurance of the practicability of such a measure, refused to listen to a modified acquiescence with his late order, offered rather tardily by Lord Grenville. Ministers gave up the seals of office on 25th March; and, next day, the change and the causes that led to it were fully discussed in Parliament. A short adjournment now took place, after which there occurred some remarkable trials of strength between the two parties. An independent member (Mr Brand), with reference to the conditions on which the ministry had come into office, made a motion that it was contrary to the duty of members of the cabinet to restrain themselves by a pledge from advising the King on any subject. This motion produced a very long debate, but was lost by 258 against 226; while a corresponding motion in the Lords was lost by 171 to 90. A subsequent proposition, to express the regret of the House at the removal from office of so firm and stable an administration, was lost by 244 against 198; and it became apparent that in Parliament, as at Court, the fall of the Grenville ministry was decided.

It remains to make a few observations on their conduct when in office; and here an impartial inquirer will not be long in discovering that both their merits and demerits have been greatly exaggerated. Their war measures proved unimportant, particularly in the point which, in the then ardent state of the public mind, superseded all others—the annoyance of France; and the result was, an unconsciousness in the greater part of the people of what was really valuable in their views and conduct. Yet Mr Fox brought to the department of foreign affairs an intimate knowledge of continental politics, and an exemption from national prejudices, far, however, from being accompanied, as the vulgar supposed, by an indifference to our national interests. Lord Grenville, if naturally less conciliating, and less fitted for grand views, possessed a practical knowledge of business, and had become aware in retirement of the various errors arising from a too early introduction into office. They had a liberal feeling towards Ireland and the United States; and though by no means lukewarm in their resistance to Bonaparte, they all held the impracticability of making any impression on his power by force of arms, until the occurrence of some combination of circumstances which should justify a grand and united effort. In what manner they would have acted had they been in power when the general insurrection in Spain burst forth, the public have no means of judging; so different is the language and even the feeling of politicians when in and out of office. Several of their measures, such as the introduction of the Lord Chief Justice to a seat in the cabinet, and the assent to the appointment of such a commander as Whitelocke, were singularly ill-judged. To place Lord Grey, and after him Mr T. Grenville, at the head of the Admiralty, was to declare to the public that-professional knowledge was unnecessary in that high station, as if its effects had not been most beneficially displayed in the administration, short as it was, of Lord Barham. Finally, their intemperate declaration in the Cabinet minute of 12th March, evinced a strange miscalculation of their strength when put in opposition to the personal will of the sovereign and the existing prejudices of the public. The result was, that their fall caused no regret to the majority of the nation, and that the errors of their successors excited no wish for their recall.

Of the new ministry the efficient members were Mr Perceval, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Mr Canning, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Lord Castlereagh for the War, and Lord Liverpool for the Home Department. One of their first measures was a prorogation of Parliament, followed by a dissolution, which gave them, in the elections, the advantage so lately enjoyed by their predecessors, with the farther advantage of an alarm strangely excited in the public mind on the ground of Popery. The new Parliament met on 22d June, and, after passing the bills requisite for the army, navy, and other current business, was prorogued on 14th August.

The Session of 1808 was opened on 31st January 1808, by a speech of uncommon length, which enlarged on the Copenhagen expedition; our relations with Russia, Austria, and Sweden; the departure of the royal family of Portugal to Brazil, and our Orders' in Council respecting Neutrals. The chief debates of the session related to these subjects. The Copenhagen expedition was much canvassed, as unprovoked by Denmark, and incompatible with the honour of England. Still that measure received the support of a great majority, Mr Ponsonby's motion for the production of papers relating to it being negatived by 252 to 108, and a similar motion in the House of Lords by 105 to 48. Even a motion for Feb. 3, preserving the Danish fleet, to be restored, after the war, to Denmark, was negatived in both Houses.

The volunteer system had, since 1804, been greatly relaxed, and the country evidently stood in need of a more constant and efficient force. The Grenville ministry, adverse to the Volunteer System, had determined to let it fall into disuse, and to replace it by a levy of 200,000 men, to be trained to act not in battalions but separately, and as irregulars, on the principle that local knowledge was the chief recommendation, and a continuance of previous habits the proper exercise of such a force. The new ministry, April however, pursued a different course, and passed an act for a local militia; a body which, with the exception of the officers, was composed of the lower orders, pledged to regular training during one month in the year, and subjected to all the strictness of military discipline. Such of the volunteers as chose were to remain embodied; the total of the local militia was about 200,000, and the mode of levy was by a ballot of all persons, not specially exempted, between the age of 18 and 31.

The Orders in Council were frequently discussed during this session, but they were as yet imperfectly understood either in their immediate operation or in their consequences. Unfortunately for the advocates of moderation, Bonaparte now lost all regard to justice, and committed the most lawless of all his acts—the seizure of the Spanish crown. Indignation at this atrocity, and a firm determination to support the Spanish cause, were manifested by men of all parties, among whom were remarkable, as habitual members of Opposition, the Duke of Norfolk and Mr Sheridan; the latter making, on this occasion, June 15, one of the most brilliant speeches of his latter years.

The Session of 1809 was opened on 13th January 1809, by a speech declaring a decided determination to ad. and regret for his fall. There still prevailed, both in Parliament and the public, a strong attachment to the Spanish cause; and, in the various motions made by the Opposition to censure ministers for mismanaging our armaments, or ill-planning our operations, the minority seldom exceeded a third of the members present.

But the attention of Parliament and the public was withdrawn even from this interesting question, and absorbed by the charges against the Duke of York, brought forward by Colonel Wardle, on evidence given or procured by Mrs Mary Anne Clarke, a forsaken mistress of the Duke. Ministers, unaware of the extent of the proofs, brought the inquiry before the House, instead of referring it to a committee, and a succession of singular disclosures were thus made to Parliament and the public. Of these the most remarkable were produced by the friends of the Duke persisting in examinations begun under an impression of his entire innocence. It is hardly possible to describe how much this subject engaged the public attention during the months of February and March. Of the influence of Mrs Clarke in obtaining commissions from the Duke, and of her disposing of them for money, there could be no doubt. The question was, whether the Duke was apprised of this traffic; and though he might not be aware of its extent, there seems hardly room to doubt that, in certain cases, he suspected its existence. The debate on the collective evidence was uncommonly long, being adjourned from night to night, and exhibiting a great difference of opinion on the part of the speakers. Several resolutions, varying in their degree of reprehension, were proposed; and though those finally adopted condemned only the immorality of the connection formed by the Duke, without asserting his knowledge of the pecuniary abuses, the result was his resignation of the office of Commander-in-Chief.

The success of this investigation prompted an inquiry into other abuses, particularly the sale of East India appointments, and disclosed a negotiation of Lord Castlereagh to barter a nomination to a Bengal writership, for the return of a member to Parliament. The house declined to proceed to any resolution against his Lordship, or to entertain a motion relative to the interference of the executive government in elections. A Bill for Parliamentary reform, brought in by Mr Curwen, was not directly opposed, but so materially altered in its progress as to be nugatory when it passed into a law. The farther business of the session consisted in the annual-votes for the public service, and in motions by Sir S. Romilly, on a subject which has been but lately followed up with effect—the amendment of our criminal law, by lessening the severity, but insuring the application of punishments.

The failure, in autumn, of the expedition to the Scheldt, and the resignation of the Duke of Portland, when on the verge of the grave, led to the disclosure of a remarkable secret in Cabinet history—the attempts made, during several months, by Mr Canning, to obtain, from the Duke of Portland, the removal of Lord Castlereagh from the war department, on the ground of incompetency to the station. On making this mortifying discovery, the complaint of Lord Parliament-Castlereagh was, not that his brother minister should think with slight of his abilities, but that, during all the time that he laboured against him, he should have maintained towards him the outward manner of a friend. This led to a duel, followed, not by serious personal injury, but by the resignation of both—causing, in the ministry, a blank which, to all appearance, could be filled only by bringing in the leaders of Opposition. An overture to this effect, whether sincere or ostensible, was made by Mr Perceval. Lord Grenville, on receiving it, came to London; Lord Grey, more indifferent about office, answered it from his seat in Northumberland; but both declared a determination to decline taking part in the administration so long as the existing system should be persisted in. Marquis Wellesley, who had gone as ambassador to the Spanish Junta, now returned, and was invested with the Secretaryship for Foreign Affairs. Mr Perceval was appointed premier; and the new ministry, feeble as they were in talent, received the support of a decided majority in Parliament, so general was the hatred of Bonaparte, and the conviction that our safety lay in a vigorous prosecution of the war.

The Session of 1810 opened on 28th January, and the leading subject of debate was our unfortunate expedition to Walcheren and the Scheldt. A motion leading to inquiry was carried after a close division Jan. 26.—195 to 186. And the investigation was conducted chiefly at the bar of the House of Commons, a secret committee being appointed for the inspection of confidential papers. The Earl of Chatham, and other officers concerned in planning or conducting the expedition, were examined. The inquiry lasted several weeks, and disclosed, clearly enough, the imbecility of our commander; but the speeches of the Opposition were pointed, not against the management of the expedition, but against its expediency as an enterprise; not against the general, but the cabinet. In this they were not seconded by the majority of the house. On the policy or impolicy of the expedition being put to the vote, the former was supported by 272, in opposition to 232; and even the less tenable ground of keeping our soldiers in an unhealthy island for three months after relinquishing all idea of an attempt on Antwerp, was vindicated by 253 votes against 232—a decision too remarkable to be forgotten; and which has since stamped this with the name of the Walcheren Parliament. The only ministerial change consequent on the inquiry was the removal of Lord Chatham from his seat in the cabinet, and from the Master-generalship of the Ordnance; but this was in consequence of privately delivering a statement to the King—a statement professing to vindicate himself at the expense of Sir Richard Strachan and the navy. The resolution adopted on this occasion was, "That the House saw with regret that any such communication as the narrative of Lord Chatham should have been made to his Majesty, without any knowledge of the other ministers; that such conduct is highly reprehensible, and deserves the censure of the House."

The exclusion of strangers from the gallery of the House during the Walcheren inquiry gave rise to a discussion, which, though at first unimportant, soon engaged much of the public attention. John Gale Jones, well known among the demagogues of the age, and at that time president of a debating club, animadverted on the House of Commons in a handbill, in a style which induced the House to order his commitment to Newgate. A few weeks after, Sir Francis Burdett brought in a motion for his liberation, on the broad ground that the House had no right to inflict the punishment of imprisonment in such a case. Baffled in this by a great majority, Sir Francis wrote and printed a letter to his constituents, denying this power, and applying contemptuous epithets to the Houses. This imprudent step provoked a debate, which ended in a resolution to commit Sir Francis to the Tower. The Speaker issued his warrant; the Serjeant at Arms carried it to the house of Sir Francis, but withdrew on a refusal of Sir Francis to obey. Next day the Serjeant repeated his demand, accompanied by messengers; but the populace had by this time assembled in crowds near the baronet's house, and prevented his removal, until an early hour on the 9th, when the civil officers burst into his house, put Sir Francis into a carriage, and conveyed him to the Tower in the midst of several regiments of horse. Sir Francis brought actions against the Speaker and other officers; but they fell to the ground by non-suits, and he continued in confinement during the remainder of the session.

Among the farther acts of this session were two which regarded Scotland; one for the increase of the smaller church livings, of which none in this part of the kingdom are now under L.150; the other relative to judicial proceedings, and reducing the heavy expenses caused by the compulsory extract of office papers. The Court of Session had been previously divided into chambers by an act passed in 1808; and the trial, by jury, in civil causes, was introduced into Scotland by an act of 1815.

The Session opened in November, more early than was intended, in consequence of the mental indisposition of the King. Repeated adjournments, however, took place in the vain hope of a recovery, and it was not till 20th December that resolutions for a regency were moved in both Houses. They formed the chief subject of discussion during the ensuing month. Their principal characteristics consisted in the restrictions imposed on the Prince for the succeeding year, during which he was not permitted to confer the rank of Peer, to grant an office in reversion, or even a place or pension, except during the King's pleasure; while the management of the royal household was vested in the Queen. Resolutions so obnoxious to the Prince called forth a strong opposition, and a motion that the royal power should be conferred on him without restriction, was supported by 200 against 224. But the divisions in favour of ministers became stronger after the question of the regency was settled, and great part of the Session passed without any contest between Government and the Opposition; the latter considering the present arrangement as temporary; an opinion in which they were confirmed by the language of the Regent, who entered on his functions, by declaring, that he continued ministers in office solely from a feeling of filial respect. Among the successive topics of discussion were the county meetings of the Catholics in Ireland, and the steps taken by Government to repress them;—an act to authorize Government to send English militia into Ireland, and Irish militia into England; and, finally, the reappointment of the Duke of York to his office of Commander-in-chief—a step which excited some surprise, but received the decided support of Parliament; a motion made to censure it being negatived June 6, by 249 to 47. But the most anxious topics of parliamentary and public attention were the distress of trade and the state of our paper currency. Towards the relief of the former, an issue of exchequer bills April, was authorized under certain limitations; and to support the credit of the latter, a law was passed, July, which, when joined to former enactments, had nearly the effect of making bank notes a legal tender.

The Session opened on 7th January, and the early discussions related to arrangements for the royal household, and to a motion by Mr Brougham to exclude the droits of Admiralty from the Civil List. In this he was unsuccessful, and a similar fate attended a motion by Lord Morpeth, for an inquiry into the state of Ireland, with a view to admitting the Catholics to political rights. The next measures of general interest were two acts against frame-breaking,—a practice which the Nottingham workmen, pressed by the loss of the American market, and the consequent fall of wages, had carried to an alarming length. The public attention was soon after engaged by ministerial changes. Marquis Wellesley finding himself unable to lead the Cabinet, or to prevail on his colleagues to extend the scale of our operations in Spain, resigned in February the secretaryship of foreign affairs, and was succeeded by Lord Castlereagh. The restrictions on the power of the Regent now drawing to a close, consistency required an overture for the admission into office of the leaders of the Opposition, intimate as they had been in former years with his Royal Highness. This prompted the well known letter of 13th February from the Prince to the Duke of York, professing a wish to unite with the present ministers "some of those persons with whom the early habits of his public life had been formed." The answer of Lords Grey and Grenville explained their reasons for declining a union with an administration differing so much from them in the most important points of national policy,—the claims of the Irish Catholics; the Orders in Council; and the over issue of bank paper. With this explanation the correspondence closed, and the ministry proceeded unchanged until the assassination of Mr Perceval; when Lord Liverpool succeeded to the first station, and was directed by the Prince to make an overture to Marquis Wellesley and Mr Canning. This led to nothing; and a motion made in the House of Commons to address the Regent, "praying him to appoint an efficient administration," was carried by 174 against 170. This unexpected vote necessitated a Parliament; second overture to the Opposition, the management of which was committed first to the Marquis of Wellesley, afterwards to Lord Moira. It now seemed highly probable that the Opposition would come in; yet the negotiation entirely failed, in consequence partly of existing animosities, partly of the stiffness of Lord Grey, partly, perhaps, of a secret reluctance in the court to admit the Opposition. Lords Liverpool and Castlereagh remained in office with all the benefit of a declared readiness, and of an apparent unreasonableness in the demands of Opposition.

The most urgent question now before Parliament was the continuation or repeal of the Orders in Council. The distress of the manufacturers had become general, and had led, among the lower orders, to commotion and riot, among the higher, to petitions to Parliament complaining of our pertinacious adherence to these Orders as the cause of the loss of the great market of the United States. An inquiry was instituted on the motion of Mr Brougham. It was conducted by him, with astonishing knowledge and talent, during several weeks, and every step in its progress gave the evidence a more serious aspect. Still there was a prevailing disposition to cling to those measures, when the accession of Lord Liverpool to the leading station in the Cabinet produced their repeal, though unfortunately too late to prevent the American war.

Though Parliament had sat during five years only, the victory of Salamanca and our other successes in Spain afforded ministry a favourable opportunity for appealing to the people. A dissolution was proclaimed on 29th September, and on 30th November the new Parliament was opened by the Regent in person, who spoke for the first time from the throne. Our partial reverses in the close of the campaign in Spain, and the murmurs of Marquis Wellesley and Mr Canning at the inadequacy of our financial contributions to the Peninsular contest, were silenced by the cheering intelligence from Russia, whence Bonaparte was now retreating with great loss. In the progress of the session, the attention of the House and the public was strongly excited by an appeal from the Princess of Wales to Parliament, demanding an investigation of her conduct. This led to a motion for a copy of the Report delivered by the noblemen charged with the inquiry of 1806; and this motion being negatived, the result was the publication, in the newspapers, of a succession of papers relating the whole transaction. These papers, however indicative of want of discretion on the part of her Royal Highness, produced, on the whole, an impression in her favour, as unjustly attacked in her honour. The most interesting debates of the session related to the Catholic question, and the renewal, with important changes, of the Charter of the East India Company. The new Charter, granted for twenty years from 1814, reserved to the Company the exclusive trade to China, but laid open to the public, with slight qualifications, the trade to all other parts of the east. Among the minor proceedings of the session were an act for lessening the endless delays of Chancery by appointing a Vice Chancellor; and an act, which, if it did not enforce Clerical residence, held out a strong inducement to it, by obliging incumbents to increase Parliament the stipends of their curates. After granting ministers a liberal vote of credit, Parliament was prorogued on 22d July, amidst a general hope of favourable intelligence from the Continent; Spain being nearly delivered from the invaders, and the Germans having risen with ardour to assert their independence.

These cheering expectations were happily realized in the course of the autumn, and Parliament reassembled on 4th November with the knowledge that the victories at Leipsic had secured the independence of Germany, and enabled our allies to shake the throne of the usurper. There was but one opinion, that at such a juncture every exertion, whether financial or military, should be made to complete the deliverance of the Continent. All the propositions of ministers were adopted, and on 17th November Parliament adjourned to 1st March; evidently in the hope that, before that period, the advance of the allied arms into France would lead to a general pacification. This result, justified by sound calculation, was delayed by the precipitancy of the Prussians, and the consequent checks received by them and their allies; so that Parliament, on meeting on 1st March, adjourned to the 21st, and, on their assembling at that date, Lord Castlereagh being still absent on the Continent, the business transacted during several weeks was of inferior interest. Next came the discussions on the corn trade; the budget of the year, and an additional measure for the preservation of tranquillity in Ireland. A general pacification had by this time taken place, and the arrangements of ministers afforded little opening for animadversion, except as to the compulsory transfer of Norway from Denmark to Sweden. That question was warmly debated in both Houses, and a motion relative to it, made in the House of Lords by Earl Grey, in a speech of uncommon eloquence, received the support of 81 votes against 115. The farther proceedings of the session were an address, praying the Regent to interest himself with foreign powers for a prompt and general abolition of the slave-trade; a vote of L. 400,000 in addition to the L. 100,000 of the preceding year to the Duke of Wellington; and grants, but on a far smaller scale, to Generals Graham, Hill, and Beresford, now raised to the peerage. On the Princess of Wales a settlement of L. 35,000 was definitively made.

Parliament assembled on 18th November, and, after the transaction of some business relative chiefly to keeping the English militia embodied, and preserving the peace of Ireland, adjourned on 2d December. They met again on 9th February, and were soon after called on to discuss a most important department of home policy,—the Corn Laws. The prospect of the return of peace and of large imports of corn from the Continent, had early excited the attention of the landed interest; and a committee, appointed in the spring of 1813, had made a report to Parliament recommending the prohibition of foreign corn, except when wheat at home should be at or above the very high price of 10s. the quarter. No proceedings on the subject took place that session, and next year the sense of the public was so unequivocally declared against this extravagant proposition, that a great reduction was indispensable; and, on bringing forward the resolutions connected with the subject, it was proposed to allow the import of foreign wheat whenever our own should be at or above 87s. Still this limit appeared too high; the debates were warm, the petitions against the bill numerous; and, ministers suspending their support, the main part of the question was adjourned to next year. In the summer and autumn corn underwent a great fall, and the farmers experienced much distress; the consequence of which, and of the evidence given before the Parliamentary committees, was, that Government determined to support a corn bill on a reduced scale, foreign wheat being admissible when our own should be at or below 80s. Resolutions to that effect were moved (see our article on the Corn Laws) on 17th February, and a bill founded on them was soon after brought in. It still experienced opposition, particularly from Mr Baring and others, who argued that the limitation price ought not to be permanent, but subject to a graduated abatement during a series of years, till at last the corn trade should arrive at that unrestrained state so essential to commerce at large. But notwithstanding these arguments, and a tumultuous opposition without doors, the bill was carried by large majorities in both Houses.

But from discussions of internal policy, the attention of Parliament was suddenly directed to a more urgent topic,—the return of Bonaparte from Elba, and a notice of an immediate augmentation of our forces. An address to the Regent, in support of this augmentation, was carried by great majorities; and a subsequent motion, by Mr Whitbread, to prevent our interference for the reinstatement of the Bourbons, was lost by 273 against 72. Finally, the addresses in approbation of the treaties with the Continental powers were supported by Lord Grenville, Mr Grattan, and other oppositionists; the numbers in the Lords being 156 against 44; in the Commons, 331 against 92. Next month brought intelligence of the battle of Waterloo, which was followed, in a moment of exultation, by a grant of L.200,000 to the Duke of Wellington, making the sum total voted to his grace L.700,000. The farther proceedings were an approval of the treaty of peace with America, and of the very questionable transfer of Genoa to the King of Sardinia: the session was concluded by a repeal of the law for fixing the price of bread in London by Assize.

Parliament met on 1st February, and, after some business of minor importance, proceeded, in March, to discuss the interesting question of our military peace establishment. The navy had been reduced with sufficient promptitude, but there seemed, on the part of Government, a disposition to keep the army on a scale neither required by the general tranquillity of Europe, nor justified by our financial means, which exhibited several symptoms of decline. Yet a motion for so moderate a reduction as 10,000 from the proposed number of land forces, was negatived by 202 to 130; and, in long debates that ensued relative to the army estimates, ministers carried every point, and were likely to keep up the whole on an expensive scale; when, on 18th March, after a long Parliament- and animated discussion, the question of continuing ary Proceed- the property-tax, modified to 5 per cent., was decided against them by a majority of 37; there being 238 Loss of the against 201. This signal and unexpected defeat ne- Property- cessitated a relinquishment of the war malt duty, Tax Bill. and a general reduction of expenditure, which we should have in vain expected from the reason or reflection of our rulers.

Another measure of importance was the regulation, after a long investigation, of the civil list, on a footing which was adopted as a standard on the beginning of the present reign. This was followed by acts for the consolidation of the English and Irish Exchequers; for the exemption of the bank from cash payments during two years; and, finally, by an act for striking off a new silver coinage. Among the minor proceedings of the session was a grant of L.60,000 a year to the Princess Charlotte and her husband, with a provision, unfortunately too soon required, of L.50,000 to the latter in the event of her demise.

A general want of work and reduction of wages continued during the year, subjecting the lower orders to great distress, and exposing them to the arts of designing demagogues. Large assemblages, particularly in Spafields, took place previous to the meeting of Parliament; and, on the day of its opening (28th January) the Regent was insulted on his way to the House. A secret committee of each House was soon after appointed to examine papers in the possession of Government, bearing evidence of serious projects of insurrection, and each made a speedy report, declaring the existence of very dangerous societies. There was, in these reports, a strain of confident allegation, unaccompanied by specific proof or temperate reasoning, which brought to recollection the declamatory state papers of the French Revolution, and gave the reports the appearance of documents framed to disseminate alarms, and justify extreme measures. They engaged, however, the serious attention of the House, and the result was a bill for Suspension the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act during the of the Ha- current session of Parliament,—a measure carried beas Corpus in the Lords by 150 to 35; in the Commons by 265 to 103. Towards the close of the session, a second report from the secret committees produced an act for continuing the suspension of the Habeas Corpus to 1st March 1818.

The continued want of work, and distress of the May 1817. lower orders, led to an act for authorizing the issue of Exchequer Bills to persons finding employment for the poor. The same causes inducing the public to call loudly for retrenchment; the Opposition took, on 25th February, the sense of the House of Com- mons on a motion to reduce the number of the Lords of the Admiralty, and mustered 152 votes against 208. As an offering on the part of Govern- ment to the prevailing call, an act was passed for abolishing the two sinecure offices of Justice in Eyre.

Mr Abbot, who had filled the office of Speaker of the House since 1802, finding himself incapable, from continued indisposition, of performing its ar- duous duties, sent in his resignation, and was succeeded by the Right Honourable Charles Manners Sutton. Mr Abbott was forthwith raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Colchester, and, on 6th June, a vote passed the Commons for settling on him a life annuity of L.4000.

Parliament was opened on 27th January, under circumstances which indicated that the want of work and distress of trade, though still considerable, were less serious than in the preceding year. A secret committee, appointed anew by each House, reported to that effect; and, on their recommendation, was brought in a bill to indemnify persons (chiefly magistrates) who had acted in apprehending and detaining individuals suspected of treasonable practices: this bill was not carried without considerable opposition.

The death of the Princess Charlotte having caused a blank in the succession to the Crown, the marriage of the Royal Dukes became a subject of consideration; but the provision for any increase of expenditure was exposed to difficulty, as well from the distress of the public, as from the near approach of the time when the members were to meet their constituents. A motion, made by ministers, to grant L.10,000 additional to the Duke of Clarence, was not successful; an amendment for reducing it to L.6000 having been carried by 193 to 184. Votes, equally restricted, were passed in the case of the Dukes of Kent and Cambridge; and an attempt to obtain a similar grant to the Duke of Cumberland (who had been several years married) was negative by 143 to 146; but a provision of L.6000 a year was made for the Duchess in case she should survive him.

Among the other transactions of this year was a grant of L.400,000 to Spain, as a compensation for losses attendant on an early abolition of the slave-trade by that power. Certain acts were also passed for the humane treatment of negroes in our sugar colonies. The bank exemption act being about to expire, Mr Vansittart brought in a bill for continuing it another year, on the ground that the loans now contracting in England for France and Prussia carried capital out of the country, and prevented the bank, for a time at least, from diminishing its paper circulation.

Mr Brougham having, early in the session, brought in a bill for investigating the abuses of Public Charities, it was referred to a committee, and, after some discussion in the Commons, passed to the Lords. There it encountered opposition from Lords Eldon and Redesdale, and was returned to the Commons with material alterations; the commissioners charged with the inquiry being limited in their powers, and restricted to charities connected with education. The act, however, passed in this state, and the labours of the commissioners, like those of the committee on the education of the poor, have been productive of much public advantage. The session was closed on 10th June by a speech from the Regent, containing a notice, not only of the prorogation, but of the dissolution of Parliament,—a measure which for many years had been announced by proclamation.

The new Parliament met on 14th January 1819, Parliament and on 21st proceeded to business. The demise of the queen having taken place during the recess (17th November), one of the first measures was to vest the custody of the King's person in the Duke of York, who, very imprudently, under the circumstances of the country, demanded and received from Parliament an annual allowance of L.10,000 for discharging an act of filial duty. This formed a striking contrast to the conduct of the Marquis of Camden, who, possessed of the lucrative sinecure of Teller of the Exchequer, relinquished L.9000 a year of it to the public,—a sacrifice noticed in honourable terms in a vote passed in Parliament on the occasion.

Such was the addition given to Opposition, by an election under circumstances of general distress, that the Opposition several measures were carried in this session against ministers; in particular, a motion on 2d March, by Sir James Mackintosh, for a revision of the criminal code, where the numbers were 147 against 128; and a motion for a committee on the state of the Scottish May 6. Burghs, carried by 149 to 144. In the division on the grant of L.10,000 to the Duke of York, the Opposition mustered 186 votes against 281. But the impression excited by these successes was greatly enfeebled by a motion, which arrayed on one side all the strength of Government, and that of the neutral party. We allude to Mr Tierney's motion for an "inquiry into the state of the nation," which was negatived by 357 to 178—a division, evincing that, though disposed to co-operate with Opposition occasionally and for specific objects, the neutral party had no wish for a change of Ministry. Encouraged by this success, Mr Vansittart came forward with the bold proposition of new taxes, to the extent of The New L.3,000,000, on the ground of a sum of that amount being absolutely necessary to give efficiency to the Sinking Fund. Of this sum the chief part was expected from an increase of the duties on malt, spirits, and tobacco; but part also was to be derived from a tax on foreign wool (6d. per lb.); a most singular impost in a country where the export of manufactured wool forms a main branch of the national industry. Ministers were conscious of its injurious tendency, but were obliged to bring it forward as an equivalent to the landed interest, for the fresh burden exacted from them in the malt-duty.

The farther debates of the session related to the Catholic question, and the resumption of cash payments. In the contest pending at this time between Spain and her American colonies, Ministers took part with the mother country, so far at least as to discourage, by act of Parliament, the enlistment of our officers and soldiers on the side of the insurgents. In the preceding session, L.1,000,000 New had been voted for building additional churches Churches and chapels for the established worship in England; and this year, L.100,000 was appropriated Junc 30. for a similar purpose to the established church of Scotland. The last act of the session was a grant made in July of the limited sum of L.50,000, to be shared by government among persons settling, on particular conditions, at the Cape of Good Hope. This was the first pecuniary aid given by government towards emigration, which is accounted by some the only remedy for our present overstock of labourers and manufacturers.

The revival of commercial activity, in 1818, proved unfortunately of short duration. Distress returned towards the end of that year, and assumed an aggravated aspect in the course of 1819. This produced popular assemblages, and led, on 16th August, to an unfortunate scene at Manchester, in which the interference of the Yeomanry Cavalry, to disperse a very numerous meeting of the people, was productive of loss of life to several persons, and of bodily injury to many. The irritation excited among the lower orders by this proceeding, and by the continued pressure of poverty, led to the dissemination of a spirit of discontent and insurrection, which necessitated the assembling of Parliament on 23d November. The speech of the Regent, as well as the discussions of both Houses, were directed to this painful subject; and the alarm excited among the aristocracy, joined to other considerations, having finally detached the Grenville party from the Opposition, the latter now mustered in less formidable array. On the division for an amendment upon the address to the Regent, the numbers were 150 against 380.

Several bills were afterwards introduced by Ministers for the prevention of disturbances. These consisted in imposing a tax on the petty publications circulated among the lower orders; impeding the circulation of libels; authorizing the seizure of arms; and forbidding military training, or seditious meetings. These bills produced long and animated debates; but the most considerable division on the side of Opposition (for limiting the act against seditious measures to three years, instead of five) consisted of only 150 votes against 328. A motion of a more comprehensive nature, for a committee on the state of the country, was negative in the Lords, by 178 to 47; in the Commons, by 395 to 150.

After transacting this and other business of an urgent nature, Parliament adjourned; but was soon after brought together by an event, which, however conformable to the course of nature, was not at that time expected—the death of George III. The day after the demise, agreeably to established usage, both Houses met, and took the oath of allegiance to the new Sovereign. On the 2d February, they adjourned till the 17th, the day after the interment of his Majesty. On that day, both Houses voted an address of condolence to the present King, after which they proceeded to transact such business as was pressing, and might, according to law, have continued to sit during six months; but Ministers judged fit to resort to a dissolution. Another election now took place under circumstances of general distress. The new Parliament met on the 21st April, and was opened on the 27th by George IV., in a speech, declaring his anxiety for strict economy; but regretting, that the state of the country was such as to admit of no reduction of the military force.

The peace of Amiens at first gave hopes of the improvement of Ireland by the introduction of British industry and capital; but these hopes were soon clouded by the renewed contest of 1803. In that contest, the public in England and Scotland joined with almost unexampled zeal; Ireland was less cordial; but it would be altogether erroneous to connect with any political party, whether Catholic or Protestant, the miserable insurrection of 23d July 1803. A plot to seize Dublin, almost as extravagant as that of the late Cato Street conspiracy in London, was framed by a few infatuated individuals; and in the tumult, which burst forth with great violence, but feeble means, Lord Kilwarden, the Chief Justice, unhappily lost his life. A party of military soon dispersed the rabble, and of their leaders, most of whom were afterwards apprehended and executed, the only one entitled to notice was Emmett, a young man, whose education and talents ought to have placed him above such desperate attempts. The alarm thus excited, engaged, some time after, the attention of Parliament, and led to the enactment of two bills, one for a renewed suspension of the Habeas Corpus act in Ireland, the other for trying rebels by martial law.

The encouragement so generally given to the volunteer system in England and Scotland was not extended to Ireland, from a dread of embodying, indiscriminately, a people of whom so great a proportion were disaffected. The yeomanry, however, or select volunteers of Ireland, were very numerous (about 80,000); and had been highly instrumental in putting down the unfortunate insurrection of 1798. In addition to these, Ireland required a large body (50,000) of our regulars and militia, as a defence against invasion, a guarantee of public tranquillity, and a check on illicit distillation and smuggling. The return yielded by Ireland in the shape of revenue was small, but her supply of recruits to our army and navy was very considerable.

The suspension of the Habeas Corpus continued Catholic in 1805, a year remarkable as the first in which the Question-Catholic question was submitted to Parliament. It was brought forward in the Commons by Mr Fox, in the Peers by Lord Grenville, and curiosity was strongly excited in regard to Mr Pitt, who had lately accepted office without carrying his professed object,—the grant of political privileges to the Catholics. He, however, extricated himself with address; declaring, that if his vote could give the Catholics what they desired, they should not long want it, but that at present the prevailing sentiment was against their claims; as was, in fact, sufficiently shown by the division that ensued, and which exhibited 336 votes against them, and only 124 in their favour. Next year, the appointment to office of Lord Grenville and Mr Fox raised high the hopes of the Catholics; but the known repugnance of the Sovereign to their claims induced these ministers to dissuade a direct discussion of the question in Parliament; under an assurance, that they would do whatever should be otherwise practicable for obtaining the removal of disabilities. Hence the bill of February 1807, which caused the dismissal of the Grenville ministry, and excited such a ferment in England against the Catholics, as to render it wholly unadvisable to bring forward the question for several years.

In 1809, the Catholic Committee in Dublin held public meetings, but confined themselves to preparing a new petition to Parliament. Next year they went much farther, and sought to assume an imposing attitude; proposing that ten persons should be deputed by each county to Dublin, and there form an assembly, charged not only with the petition to Parliament, but with measures for the redress of the general grievances of the Catholic body. The secretary for Ireland (Mr Wellesley Pole), alarmed at this design, addressed circular letters to the sheriffs of counties, requiring them to prevent the election of the proposed delegates, and even to arrest all persons taking part in such elections. This order appeared too peremptory to the Opposition, and a debate took place, in which Mr Wellesley Pole explained, that, so long as the Catholics confined their proceedings to petitioning, they had received no interruption, but that the delegates proposed to go much farther, and that a body, under the name of a Committee of Grievances, had assembled weekly in Dublin with all the forms of Parliament. The House supported the measure adopted by Mr Wellesley Pole, and disapproved the proceedings of the Catholics. Still the latter deemed this session not unfavourable to the discussion of their political claims, on account of the laurels lately won by our armies in Spain and Portugal,—armies which counted many Catholics in their ranks. The question was brought forward by Mr Grattan, but lost by a large majority in both Houses.

The same fate attended its discussion next spring. Another year elapsed; and in the session of 1813, it was brought forward with more combination and better prospects. Mr Grattan, supported by a part of the Cabinet, obtained the assent of the House to several preliminary resolutions; first, "That the Catholic disabilities ought to be removed;" next, That the "Catholic clergy should bind themselves on oath to hold no correspondence with Rome except on ecclesiastical business;" and, thirdly, "That two commissioners should be appointed for examining into the loyalty of persons recommended as deans or bishops among the Catholics." The time occupied in these discussions was considerable, and gave occasion to the Catholic clergy in Ireland to testify their dissent from several of the provisions; particularly from that which restricted their correspondence with Rome. The knowledge of this dissatisfaction made a deep impression on Parliament, and gave a turn to the question, which induced the supporters of the bill to withdraw it for that session.

The ensuing year unfortunately gave farther evidence of the want of temper and union among the Catholics. The court of Rome recommended their acquiescence with the propositions of Mr Grattan; but meetings of the Catholic Board at Dublin disclaimed indignantly all foreign interference; and the clergy passed resolutions against the appointment of any Catholic bishop by the British government. The intemperate proceedings of the Catholic Board now led government to dissolve that body, and declare its meetings contrary to law.

These dissensions prevented the question from being submitted to Parliament in 1814. Next year it was brought forward by Sir H. Parnell, not by Mr Grattan, who declared that an unconditional grant of the demands of the Catholics was not to be expected, and that, without cultivating a spirit of conciliation, they never would succeed. The motion was lost by a great majority. In 1816, it was again brought before Parliament, but in two distinct petitions, of which the more temperate, introduced by Mr Grattan, received the support of 141 votes against 172.

Next year (1817) the question was proposed by Mr Grattan, with the same views as in 1813, and supported by 221 votes against 245. The disappointment of failure was soothed not only by the large minority, but by a very substantial concession obtained soon after, on the proposition of ministers, viz. an act to enable Catholic officers in the army and navy to attain rank nearly on the plan proposed by the Grenville ministry in 1807. In 1818 the Catholic question was not agitated; but in 1819 the tone of that body being more conciliating, Mr Grattan's motion for taking it into consideration was supported by 241 votes against 243.

<table> <tr> <th rowspan="2">Year</th> <th colspan="3">House of Lords.</th> <th colspan="3">House of Commons.</th> </tr> <tr> <th>For.</th> <th>Against.</th> <th>Majority.</th> <th>For.</th> <th>Against.</th> <th>Majority.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>1805.</td> <td>Motion for taking into consideration the Petition of the Irish Roman Catholics,</td> <td>49</td> <td>178</td> <td>129</td> <td>124</td> <td>336</td> <td>212</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1806.</td> <td>Not brought forward in consequence of Mr Fox's advice.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>1807-8-9.</td> <td>Not brought forward.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>1810.</td> <td>Motion for a Committee of the whole House,</td> <td>68</td> <td>154</td> <td>86</td> <td>109</td> <td>213</td> <td>104</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1811.</td> <td>The same,</td> <td>62</td> <td>121</td> <td>59</td> <td>'83</td> <td>146</td> <td>63</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1812. April 21.</td> <td>The same,</td> <td>102</td> <td>174</td> <td>72</td> <td>215</td> <td>300</td> <td>85</td> </tr> <tr> <td>July 1.</td> <td>For taking it into consideration next year,</td> <td>125</td> <td>126</td> <td>1</td> <td>235</td> <td>106</td> <td>129</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1813. Feb. 25.</td> <td>For a Committee of the whole House,</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>264</td> <td>224</td> <td>40</td> </tr> <tr> <td>March 9.</td> <td>For leave to bring in a Bill for removing disqualifications, &c.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>186</td> <td>119</td> <td>67</td> </tr> <tr> <td>May 11.</td> <td>For a Select Committee,</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>189</td> <td>235</td> <td>46</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>— 13. A Motion against the Bill negatived,</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>245</td> <td>203</td> <td>42</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>— 24. A Motion (by the Speaker) for omitting the words in the bill, "To sit and vote in either House of Parliament,"</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>251</td> <td>247</td> <td>4</td> </tr> <tr> <td>(Not debated in the Lords this year.)</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>1814.</td> <td>Not brought forward.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>60</td> <td>86</td> <td>26</td> <td>147</td> <td>228</td> <td>81</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1815.</td> <td>For a Committee of the whole House,</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>69</td> <td>73</td> <td>4</td> <td>141</td> <td>172</td> <td>31</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1816.</td> <td>For consideration next year,</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>90</td> <td>142</td> <td>52</td> <td>221</td> <td>245</td> <td>24</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1817.</td> <td>For a Committee of the whole House,</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>106</td> <td>147</td> <td>41</td> <td>241</td> <td>243</td> <td>2</td> </tr> </table>

Table showing the Times and Results of the Parliamentary Discussion of the Catholic Question, since 1805. Our victory at Trafalgar was of particular importance in regard to Ireland, as it relieved her almost entirely from the dread of invasion; but the seeds of discontent, disorder, and insurrection, still continued. In 1807 it became necessary to renew the power given to the Lord Lieutenant, to proclaim counties in a state of disturbance, and to authorize magistrates to arrest persons found at a distance from their homes at night; also to prevent suspected persons from keeping arms. This act, which has since been repeatedly renewed, proved a security against any general commotion; but it could not prevent the disorderly from entering into associations which, at one time under the name of "Threshers," at another of "Carders," at another of "Ribbon Men," have so long excited, and still continue to excite, disquietude and dread in that unhappy country.

Ireland bears a strong resemblance to some countries of the Continent, in the petty size of farms, the poverty and wretchedness of the lower orders, the want of mercantile capital, and of manufacturing towns. These are the features which strike the traveller in Brittany, in the south of France, and in great part of Italy—countries long governed with the same inattention to the welfare of the people as Ireland. In them, however, the religion of the inhabitants is that of the government; their pastors inculcate loyalty, and derive their support from the state; while, in Ireland, to all other causes of backwardness, has been added that of incessant jealousy between the government and the spiritual guides of the majority of the people. Hence a general and hereditary discontent, and a no less general ignorance, the result of the want of all kindly intervention from government in regard to education. But the discussion of this painfully interesting topic, will find a more fitting place in the article IRELAND.

(D.D.)