shall assert their independence thereof, and of any foreign power whatsoever; engaging that all who co-operate with us shall partake in life, fortune and opinion, declaring and recognizing not only these, but those of every nation, in war enemies, in peace friends, brethren and fellow citi zens. In consideration, therefore, of these solid public and incontestable motives, which force upon us the necessity of resuming our natural rights, thus restored to us by the revolution of human affairs, and in virtue of the imprescriptible rights of every people to dissolve every agreement, convention, or social compact, which does not establish the purposes for which alone all governments are instituted, we are convinced that we cannot and ought not any longer to endure the chains by which we were connected with the government of Spain; and we do declare, like every other independent people, that we are free, and determined to hold no dependance on any potentate, power, or government, than we ourselves establish; and that we now take among the sovereign nations of the earth the rank which the Supreme Being and nature have assigned to us, and to which we have been called by the succession of human events, and by a regard for our own happiness. Although we foresee the difficulties which may attend our new situation, and the obligation which we contract by the rank which we are about to occupy in the political order of the world; and above all, the powerful influence of ancient forms and habits by which (to our regret) we have been hitherto affected yet we also know, that a shameful submission to them, when it is in our power to shake them off, would prove more ignominious to ourselves, and more fatal to posterity, than our long and painful servitude. It therefore becomes our indispensable duty to provide for our security, liberty, and happiness, by an entire and essential subversion and reform of our ancient establishments. Wherefore, believing, for all these reasons, that we have complied with the respect which we owe to the opinions of mankind, and to the dignity of other nations with whom we are about to rank, and of whose friendly intercourse we assure ourselves, We, the representatives of the confederated provinces of Venezuela, invoking the Most High to witness the justice of our cause, and the rectitude of our inten. tions; imploring his divine assistance to ratify at the epoch of our political birth, the dignity to which his Providence has restored us, the ardent desire to live and die free, and in the belief and the defence of the Holy Catholic and apostolic religion of Jesus Christ, as the first of our duties, We, therefore, in the name, by the will, and under the authority which we hold for the virtuous people of Venezuela, do solemnly declare to the world, that these united provinces are, and ought to be, from this day forth, in fact and of right, free, sovereign, and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance and dependance on the crown of Spain, and of those who now call, or may, such capital as appears in the deed of purchase; and those who enjoy them as a reward for great and acknowledged services, shall be indemnified in another way. 9. The nation will acknowledge and pay these capital sums when they are ascertained in the proper courts, and will pay an interest of 3 per cent. upon them, till the capital is liquidated. 10. At whatever time the possessors shall present their claims, they shall be heard; and the nation will be bound by the result of them, as is specified in the preceding article. 11. Henceforward no one can call himself lord of vassals, exercise jurisdiction, appoint judges, or exercise any of the claims and privileges comprehended in the present decree; and he who does so, shall lose the right of indemnification in the cases that have been specified. The present decree shall be communicated to the Council of Regency, who shall take the necessary measures for its due execution, causing the same to be printed and circulated. Note transmitted by the Hon. Henry Wellesley, the English Minister, to Don Eusebio de Bardaxi y Azara, first Secretary of State. "Most Excellent Sir,-I have hitherto abstained from calling the attention of the Spanish government to the rumours and writings which have for some time been circulated in Cadiz, in the belief that my forbearance and moderation might disarm those who have VOL. LIII. endeavoured to weaken the bonds offriendship and confidence, which so happily, and with so many advantages to the cause, have hitherto subsisted between Great Britain and Spain. But the papers that have been published, as well as the reports that have been circulated, have at length become so injurious to the British good name and character, and so adapted to promote the interests ofthe enemy, and sow dissentions between the allied nations, that I should be wanting to the duties of my charge, and to all the sentiments of an Englishman, anxious for the happy issue of this glorious and interesting cause, if I could look with indifference on the unjust and unfounded calumnies which are daily accumulated against my country, "To give a specimen of the terms in which these assertions are conveyed, and which originate, as it appears to me, from a certain class of persons, I think it will be sufficient to request your Excellency to read the subjoined paper, in which are imputed to my Sovereign, to his government, and to the British nation, intentions destitute of honour and justice, and of good faith, and entirely subversive of all the principles upon which Great Britain has come forward to aid the cause of the Spanish nation. But the complaints and imputations contained in this paper, relative to the conduct of Great Britain, rumours noticed in the month of March last, are again revived,-that the Spanish provinces bordering on Portugal were placed under the military command of Lord Wellington; that the Spanish army was to be placed Ꮓ Manuel V. Maya, for Grita. Province of Truxillo. Juan P. Pachece, for Truxillo. Villa of Aragua and Province of Barcelona. Jose Maria Ramirez. A true copy (L. S.) FRANCISCO IZNARDI, Sec. Decree of the Supreme Executive. Federal Palace of Caraccas, July 8, 1811. By the executive power of the confederation of Venezuela, it is ordained, that the above declaration of independence be published, carried into effect, and be of full authority throughout the states and territories of this confederation. CHRISTOVAL de Mendoza, CARLOS MACHADO, Grand JOSE TOMAS SANTANA, Secre- Decree of the Spanish Cortes with regard to Seigniories, Aug. 5. The general and extraordinary Cortes of the kingdom, desirous of removing the obstacles which may have been opposed to the good government, increase of population, and prosperity of the Spanish Monarchy, decree : 1. That henceforward all juris. dictional Seigniories, of whatever class and condition, shall be incorporated with the nation. 2. The appointment of all magistrates, and other public functionaries, shall be proceeded in, by the same orders, and in the same manner, as in the townships of royal jurisdiction. 3. All public employments of the above description remain suppressed after the publication of the present decree. 4. The words vassal and vassalage are abolished; and all payments, whether real or personal, which owe their origin to a jurisdictional title, with the exception of those that proceed from free contract in the exercise of the sacred rights of property. 5. The territorial seigniories remain henceforward in the class of other rights attached to private property, if not of such a description, that by their nature, they ought to be incorporated with the nation. 6. All contracts, bargains, and agreements, which have been made in regard to rents, dues, &c. between those called lords and vassals, shall be considered as contracts between one individual and another. 7. The privileges called exclusive, privative, and prohibitive, and having the same origin as seigniories, such as those of the chase, of fishing, of ovens, mills, watercourses, forests, &c. are abolished; the free use of them remaining to the inhabitants, in conformity to the municipal laws established in every township. 8. Those who have purchased the above prerogatives for a valu able consideration, shall be repaid such capital as appears in the deed of purchase; and those who enjoy them as a reward for great and acknowledged services, shall be indemnified in another way. 9. The nation will acknowledge and pay these capital sums when they are ascertained in the proper courts, and will pay an interest of 3 per cent. upon them, till the capital is liquidated. 10. At whatever time the possessors shall present their claims, they shall be heard; and the nation will be bound by the result of them, as is specified in the preceding article. 11. Henceforward no one can call himself lord of vassals, exercise jurisdiction, appoint judges, or exercise any of the claims and privileges comprehended in the present decree; and he who does so, shall lose the right of indemnification in the cases that have been specified. The present decree shall be communicated to the Council of Regency, who shall take the necessary measures for its due execution, causing the same to be printed and circulated. Note transmitted by the Hon. Henry Wellesley, the English Minister, to Don Eusebio de Bardaxi y Azara, first Secretary of State. "Most Excellent Sir,-I have hitherto abstained from calling the attention of the Spanish government to the rumours and writings which have for some time been circulated in Cadiz, in the belief that my forbearance and moderation might disarm those who have VOL. LIII. endeavoured to weaken the bonds offriendship and confidence, which so happily, and with so many advantages to the cause, have hitherto subsisted between Great Britain and Spain. But the papers that have been published, as well as the reports that have been circulated, have at length become so injurious to the British good name and character, and so adapted to promote the interests ofthe enemy, and sow dissentions between the allied nations, that I should be wanting to the duties of my charge, and to all the sentiments of an Englishman, anxious for the happy issue of this glorious and interesting cause, if I could look with indifference on the unjust and unfounded calumnies which are daily accumulated against my country, "To give a specimen of the terms in which these assertions are conveyed, and which originate, as it appears to me, from a certain class of persons, I think it will be sufficient to request your Excellency to read the subjoined paper, in which are imputed to my Sovereign, to his government, and to the British nation, intentions destitute of honour and justice, and of good faith, and entirely subversive of all the principles upon which Great Britain has come forward to aid the cause of the Spanish nation. But the complaints and imputations contained in this paper, relative to the conduct of Great Britain, rumours noticed in the month of March last, are again revived,-that the Spanish provinces bordering on Portugal were placed under the military command of Lord Wellington; that the Spanish army was to be placed Z under English officers; and, in a word, withdrawn from subordination to the Spanish military authorities, in order to form an army truly British. To the British government is also attributed the design of sending to Cadiz a reinforcement of troops, sufficient to take possession of this city and island, and retain it in the name and possession of his Britannic Majesty. "Considering the sacrifices which Great Britain has made in support of the Spanish cause; considering her repeated declarations of the conduct which she has resolved to observe with respect to the Spanish colonies, some of which have been published in the Gazette of the Regency; considering the decisive proof which she has just given of her disinterested views, by offering her mediation between Spain and the colonies which have refused to acknowledge the authority of the mother country; I ought to be far from being under the necessity to refute charges such as those contained in this paper. In fact, it was necessary that we should find ourselves in a situation so critical as that in which we are reduced to the narrow bounds of this place, the salvation of which depends on harmony and good understanding, so indispensable at all times, but especially at this critical moment, to consent to suffer the humiliation of vindicating the honour of my country, attacked as it has been by publications, the malignant tendency of which is sufficiently apparent. Desirous, however, to preserve, without the least alteration, the sentiments of respect and esteem with which the two nations are mutually animat ed, I consider myself as under an obligation to deny, in the most positive and solemn manner, in the name of his Britannic Majesty, that of his government, and that of the whole British nation, all the imputation of views of aggrandizement, or territorial acquisition, either in Europe or America, at the expense of the Spanish nation. With the same positiveness, I deny that there is any foundation for the interpretation given to the notes which I presented in the month of March last, suggesting that the Spanish provinces on the borders of Portugal should be placed under the temporary authority of Lord Wellington; as by this no more was intended than to authorize him to derive from them the military supplies which they were capable of furnishing. I, in like manner, solemnly affirm, that neither my Sovereign nor his government had any intention to render themselves masters of Cadiz; and that if any rein forcements were sent to this city, it was solely and exclusively in order to contribute to the defence of this important position, and preserve it to the crown of Spain. "Lastly, I repeat, what on many occasions I have declared to your Excellency, that Great Britain, in taking part in this contest, had no other view, than to assist the glorious efforts of the Spanish nation to recover its liberty and independence; and that she persevered in it without any idea of her own aggrandizement, or any exclusive advantage which she might derive from the unfortunate circumstances to which the Spanish nation has been reduced; but solely to contribute to the expulsion of the |