2315 
 
 1823 
 
 A3
 
 .; 
 
 ,
 
 &*#'**:
 
 COLOMBIAN 
 STATE PAPERS, 
 
 TRANSLATED AND PUBLISHED 
 
 TROM 
 
 BEING THE ACT OF INSTALLATION OF THE HOUSES OF 
 SENATE AND REPRESENTATIVES j THE MESSAGE OF 
 THE VICE-PRESIDENT ON THE OPENING OF CON- 
 GRESS; A REPORT ON THE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS 
 OF COLOMBIA, &c. &c. 
 
 PRINTED FOR RIDGWAY, PICCADILLY ; BOOTH, DUKE STREET, 
 
 PORTLAND PLACE ; AND RICHARDSON, OPPOSITE THE 
 
 ROYAL EXCHANGE. 
 
 1823. 
 
 Price 2s. 6d.
 
 PRINTED BY A. APPLECATH, STAMFORD STREET.
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 AFTER the manner in which the present Collection of 
 Documents relating to Colombia has been designated, no 
 further introduction might be deemed necessary to the 
 British Public, if it had not almost become an established 
 rule for a publisher to state the reasons why he solicits 
 attention to the work he is about to produce. 
 
 The unconnected and partial manner in which the State 
 Papers received from Colombia have been published in the 
 daily prints of this metropolis, during the late session of 
 parliament, suggested the idea of presenting the following 
 ones in a collective shape, as the best means to establish 
 and explain the motives of the long delay in the meeting 
 of the Colombian Congress, an incident that has occasioned 
 some uneasiness and regret; and also to mark the progress 
 made in the consolidation of the government. This delay 
 is the more painful, as it has hitherto deprived the public 
 of this country, exquisitely alive to, and deeply interested 
 in, every thing passing in the New World, of the pleasure 
 so naturally felt in contemplating the regular, systematic, 
 and prudent course pursued by the new state of Colombia ; 
 nevertheless it will now be found, that this delay renderi 
 her still more estimable, as it has been occasioned by the 
 
 A2
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 previous incursions of the enemy, which, either called 
 some of the representatives of the people to the field of 
 battle, gave rise to the capture of others, or obstructed 
 their journey to the seat of government. In these simple 
 facts, as well as in the sentiments conveyed in the State 
 Papers hereto subjoined, we have a proof of that respect 
 which the Colombians shew to their new institutions, and 
 the eager readiness with which they step forward in their 
 defence. The principles contained in the following docu- 
 ments will besides be found perfectly in accord with the 
 Constitution and Code of Laws enacted and sanctioned by 
 the Constituent Congress of Cucuta, which, in the course 
 of a few days, will also be laid before the British Public, 
 and to which the present publication may be considered as 
 a kind of prelude.
 
 INSTALLATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OF 
 
 COLOMBIA. 
 
 Republic of ColombiaHouse of SenateBogota, 
 April\\, 1823. 13. 
 
 ToHlsExCELLBNCYTHEVlCE-PRESIDENTOFTHEREPUBIJC 
 CHARGED WITH THE EXECUTIVE POWER. 
 
 MOST EXCELLENT SIR, 
 
 IN conformity to a Resolution of the House of Senate, 
 I have the honour to enclose to Your Excellency an autho- 
 rized copy of the Act of the Installation of the same, for 
 such purposes as are therein stated. 
 
 God preserve Your Excellency many years, &c. 
 
 (Signed) RAFAEL URDANETA, 
 
 President of the Senate- 
 
 ACT. In the capital of the Republic of Colombia, this 
 8th day of April, 1823, the undersigned fifteen senators 
 having met, and presented as their credentials, the commu- 
 nications made by the secretary of state for the interior, 
 by order of the supreme executive power, respecting their 
 elections, they have agreed as follows : That the install- 
 ation of the Congress having hitherto been delayed in
 
 6 
 
 consequence of the competent number^ of senators not 
 having assembled in due time, as prescribed by the Con- 
 stitution for the opening of the sessions of the two houses ; 
 and that doubts having been excited respecting the quorum 
 of members corresponding to the senate, in consequence of 
 their number being increased through the elections made 
 for the three new departments of the isthmus of Panama, 
 Quito and Guayaquil, annexed to the seven former ones 
 of the Republic the question has been carefully and deli- 
 berately discussed in several conferences, by members of 
 the two houses, whether the basis of an absolute plurality, 
 as required by the fundamental laws, ought to be that of 
 twenty- eight senators named by the constituent Congress, 
 or the number should be carried to forty, including the 
 twelve newly elected ? And ulfrmately, and almost with 
 total unanimity, they have agreed, that a majority of fifteen 
 is sufficient, reckoned out of the twenty- eight first senators, 
 in order constitutionally to install the said senate ; 
 having moreover taken into consideration that the same 
 can only be composed of fit and accredited members, regu- 
 larly qualified, elected by a sufficient number of votes, and 
 their elections subsequently scrutinized and declared as 
 duly returned by a competent authority, and entitled to 
 serve ; that of these qualifications those members consider 
 themselves possessed who were named by the sovereign 
 and constituent assembly, the latter having deemed them- 
 selves entitled and called upon, for the first time, to 
 assume the powers of the electoral meetings and subse- 
 quent legislature to whom the Constitution declares these 
 attributes to belong. The same qualifications are not, 
 however, possessed by the new senators, on account 
 of their respective departments being constituted provi- 
 sionally, and only until the meeting of Congress, to whom 
 the ratification thereof belongs, and on this sanction also 
 implicitly depends the validity of their nomination ; in the 
 first, place, because the registers thereof have not been con- 
 stitutionally opened, nor has the scrutiny and proofs of their
 
 elections been established} neither have they yet been 
 declared senators, nor those replaced who have not obtained 
 the necessary number of votes; and secondly, because 
 a body exclusively authorized to perform all these essential 
 duties ought previously to exist, to which the new senators 
 are subject, since the same cannot possibly be dispensed 
 with without the open infraction of that Constitution, which 
 has thought proper, and was empowered, to prescribe them; 
 that, for this very reason, even when the latter departments 
 were differently situated with regard to the former, and the 
 twelve new senators were actually assembled in this capital, 
 the absolute plurality required could not be established by 
 then* attendance, nor the senate enabled to open their sit- 
 tings, without disregarding those requisites and previous 
 formalities prescribed by the fundamental laws ; and that, 
 if in conformity to this rule they cannot be considered as 
 entitled to form part of the aforesaid body at its opening, 
 much less can they be supposed necessary to complete the 
 number of members in the same case ; for if they were 
 entitled to the latter right, they certainly would be equally 
 so as regards the first. That they have, in like manner, 
 reflected that the Constitution does not, for the legal install- 
 ation of the house of senate, require, as a peremptory 
 condition, the actual and express presence of the number 
 of members corresponding to the whole of the departments 
 of the Republic, when it points out a period in which it 
 supposes the senate to be in existence, at the same time 
 that it declares half of the seats of the members to be 
 vacated, and consequently precludes the possibility of an 
 absolute majority of all of them. And finally, that, from 
 the time that has elapsed, as well as the communications 
 of the government, the absolute impossibility is proved of 
 assembling at present the plurality of twenty-one senators, 
 duly returned, in consequence of some of them being at the 
 moment employed on service of the greatest importance to 
 the prosperity and security of the state ; others prevented by 
 serious illness, or by various accidents or obstacles totally
 
 8 
 
 insuperable ; that if moreover the necessity were insisted 
 on, of the aforesaid number for the first opening of the 
 senate, and the consequent installation of the legislature, 
 for the mere purpose of supporting the interpretation of one 
 single article of the Constitution, rigorous in itself, and in- 
 compatible with the whole organic and analytical system of 
 the same, as this would deprive the Republic of its essential 
 basis of popular and representative government during the 
 present year, and with greater probability in the following 
 ones, since the difficulties would be increased contrary to 
 the intent and letter of our Fundamental Law, which has 
 declared that the supreme power shall always be divided 
 into legislative, executive, and judicial ; that this would be an 
 enormous detriment to the true interests of the Republic ; 
 and that in consequence of all these urgent and powerful rea- 
 sons, they declare that the absolute plurality corresponding 
 to the senate is complete, the session therefore opened and 
 the house installed. By virtue thereof, and in order to 
 proceed to the election of president, vice-president, and 
 secretaries of the same, the following motions were pre- 
 viously made : whether it would be lawful to vote in the 
 name of the absent senators for the two first appointments ? 
 whether the absolute plurality, or one vote above the half, 
 will be sufficient to complete the election ? and whether the 
 secretary ought to be elected, not being a member of the 
 house ? The whole three propositions being sanctioned by 
 an affirmative vote, the members first proceeded to the 
 election of the president of the senate, and a scrutiny 
 having been made of the votes, his excellency general 
 Rafael Urdaneta was returned, elected by nine votes 
 against six; and, in consequence thereof, having taken 
 the oaths prescribed by the Constitution, he took his 
 seat. . The house then proceeded to the election of 
 the vice-president, and on the votes being summed 
 up, Dr. Jeronimo Torres was returned, elected by 
 nine votes against six; who, together with the other 
 senators, took the constitutional oath in the hands of the
 
 9 
 
 president. Finally, S. Antonio Jose* Caro was elected 
 secretary of the house, by the unanimous vote of all the 
 members. It was then agreed to notify the installation and 
 opening of the session of the house of senate to that of the 
 representatives and the executive power, by respective 
 deputations, which were immediately named ; and further 
 resolved, that a due communication should be made to the 
 government of the present act, for their own knowledge, 
 and for the purpose of laying the same before the public, 
 by ordering it to be printed in the Gazette of Colombia ; 
 after which the sitting terminated, and the house rose. 
 
 (Signed) RAFAEL URDANETA, 
 JERONIMO TORRES, 
 
 RAFAEL, Bishop ofMerida and Maracaibo, 
 NICOLAS CUERVO, 
 ANTONIO M. BRICENO, 
 EUSEBIO AFANADOR, 
 Luiz A. BERALT, 
 VICENTE Lucio CABAL, 
 JOSE M. DEL REAL, 
 FRANCISCO XAVIER CUEVAS, 
 JOSE AUGUSTIN BARAONA, 
 ESTANISLAO VERGARAO, 
 JOSE MIGUEL URIBE, 
 FRANCISCO SOTO, 
 ANTONIO MALO. 
 
 Presidency of the House of Representatives, Bogota, 
 April 10, 1823. 13. 
 
 To HlS ExCELLBNCYTHEVlCE-PRtSIDENTOFTHE REPUBLIC, 
 CHARGED WITH THE EXECUTIVE POWER. 
 
 I have the honour to enclose to Your Excellency the act 
 of the installation of the house of representatives of the 
 first Constitutional Congress of Colombia.
 
 10 
 
 By a special resolution of the house, I transmit to Your 
 Excellency the result of the first act, by which the install- 
 ation has been solemnized ; and, as soon as the second is 
 completed, which is intended to regulate the despatch 
 of public business, the house will then enter into such 
 relations as will place them in contact with the executive. 
 
 God preserve Your Excellency many years. 
 
 (Signed) DOMINGO CAICEDO. 
 
 ACT. In the city of Bogota", in the department of Cun- 
 dinamarca, this 9th day of April, in the year of our Lord 
 1823, and- 13th of the Republic, the undersigned repre- 
 sentatives appointed to compose the first Constitutional 
 Congress of Colombia, and who, till this day, have not 
 been able to form a house, in consequence of the want 
 of an absolute plurality, as prescribed by the 57th Article 
 of the Constitution, assembled in the hall destined for their 
 sittings, to the number of forty-six, being the absolute 
 plurality of those named by the provinces, actually consti- 
 tuting the Republic, the house was declared to be formed ; 
 and, after two tellers had been named by an unanimous 
 vote, the choice having fallen on Messrs. Antonio Viana 
 and Jos Sanguineto, they proceeded to take and scruti- 
 nize the votes for the president, when it appeared that 
 Sr. Domingo Caicedo was returned to that appointment 
 by an absolute plurality, as required by a previous decision 
 of the house ; and, under similar formalities, were after- 
 wards returned as elected, Sr. Juan Jose' Osio, as vice- 
 president; and, with a respective majority, Sr. Pedro 
 Herrera as secretary. 
 
 Immediately afterwards the president took the oath, in 
 presence of the whole house, to support and defend the 
 Constitution, and duly and faithfully to perform the duties 
 of his appointment, conformably to the 185th Article of 
 the said Constitution ; and in turns, and under the form- 
 alities therein prescribed, the vice-president, secretary, and
 
 11 
 
 the other honourable members of the house, took the 
 oaths in the hands of the president, after which the house 
 rose. 
 
 (Signed) DOMINGO CAICEDO, 
 
 JUAN Jos3 Osio, 
 
 FRANCISCO PEREIRA, 
 
 MANUEL QUUANO, 
 
 JOAQUIN ORTIZ, 
 
 JUAN ESCOVAR, 
 
 JUAN MANUEL ARRUBLAS, 
 
 FRANCISCO MONTOYA, 
 
 JUAN DE Dios ARANZAZU, 
 
 INACIO HERRERA, 
 
 LEANDRO EJEA, 
 
 JOSE MARIA HINESTROSA, 
 
 CAMILO MANRIQUE, 
 
 MANUEL VASQUEZ, 
 
 MANUEL ESCOVAR, 
 
 IGNACIO SARABIA, 
 
 MANUEL BANGS, 
 
 MANUEL CAMPOS, 
 
 JUAN NEPOMUCENO AZUERO, 
 
 JACINTO RAMIRES, 
 
 JOAQUIN SUARES, 
 
 JOAQUIN BORRERO, 
 
 IGNACIO VANEGAS, 
 
 MIGUEL VALENZUELA, 
 
 JUAN BAUTISTA VALENCIA, 
 
 LORENSO SANTANDER, 
 
 JUAN DE Dios PICON, 
 
 Jos ANTONIO MENDOSA, 
 
 MIGUEL PALACIOS, 
 
 CAYETANO ARBELO, 
 
 MARIANO ECHESURIA, 
 
 MIGUEL UNDA, 
 
 Jos6 MARIA SANGUINETO, 
 
 MANUEL PARDO,
 
 12 
 
 JUAN FERNANDES SOTO-MAYOR, 
 
 PEDRO MOSQUERA, 
 
 ANTONIO TORRES, 
 
 JUAN FRANCISCO MANFRBDO, 
 
 ISIDRO ARROYO, 
 
 ANTONIO VIANA, 
 
 INACIO SANMIGUEL, 
 
 JOSE MANUEL OLIVARES, 
 
 FELIPE DELEPIANI, 
 
 ANTONIO MARCOS, 
 
 JOSE JOAQUIN CHIRIBOGA, 
 
 PEDRO HERRERA. 
 
 MESSAGE OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER OF COLOMBIA, ON 
 THE OPENING OF THE FlRST CONSTITUTIONAL CONGRESS 
 OF THE REPUBLIC. 
 
 Fellow-citizens of the senate and of the chamber of re- 
 presentatives, The solemn installation of the second Con- 
 gress of Colombia, is one of the most happy events of my 
 political life. Its meeting in the manner prescribed by 
 our fundamental laws, is both an unanswerable testimony 
 of the acquiescence of the government in the declared will 
 of the nation, and a motive for consolation to the Republic, 
 and of shame to its enemies. This most august body 
 uniting the most enlightened understandings, the purest 
 patriotism, and the most extensive experience, its delibe- 
 rations cannot fail to be the fruits of the most ardent 
 desire for the public prosperity. I am convinced that wise 
 laws, salutary reforms, and measures which, by dissemi- 
 nating universal happiness and good-will, shall consolidate 
 the work of twelve years of sacrifices, will result from your 
 deliberations, and be the abundant fruit which the people 
 will receive with joy and gladness. However great were 
 the exertions and labours of the last General Congress, and 
 however laudable the desire by which it was animated,
 
 13 
 
 there is a void in the Republic which you are called upon 
 to make good. The constituent Congress could scarcely 
 do more than trace out the line by which succeeding legis- 
 latures could proceed with security. The executive 
 government will, by means of its respective organs, lay 
 before the Congress all the information and materials 
 which time and circumstances have permitted it to collect : 
 and you, gentlemen, selecting the best and most proper 
 for the happiness of the nation, will find a vast field open 
 to your deliberations, and to the fulfilment of your duties. 
 
 The government of Colombia has not omitted any steps 
 that could bring our contest with Spain to an end, in a 
 manner honourable to both parties, and with reciprocal 
 advantages. The government has not been guided by any 
 apprehension of the uncertain issue of the war, but by the 
 desire of saving humanity from the useless sacrifice of 
 fresh victims, and establishing peace between the two 
 nations. 
 
 The government availed itself of the first favourable 
 moment to send a commission to Madrid, which being 
 assisted by the progress of our cause, and the change of 
 principles in the political system of Spain, might obtain by 
 reason, that which we were otherwise determined to attain 
 by arms. Our agents were not heard ; imputations, absolutely 
 false, were made against them : they were despatched from 
 the court upon dishonourable pretences, and the manner 
 in which we were accredited was such, that conciliation on 
 the principle of independence was impossible. The go- 
 vernment of the Republic was not surprised at this result, 
 for it never had reason to entertain the idea, that the 
 government of his cjitholic majesty was disposed to re- 
 nounce the insensate desire of keeping us in subjection : but 
 it was necessary to accede to the wishes of the Spanish com- 
 missioners, and to give to the world a fresh proof that our 
 perseverance in the present contest did not proceed from 
 a spirit of revenge or hatred, but from the most sacred 
 duty of a people, aspiring to the improvement of their con-
 
 H 
 
 dition. The subsequent conduct of his catholic majesty'? 
 government in reinforcing the armament that assaults our 
 territories, and that of the general of the expeditionary 
 army, in declaring the treaty of Truxillo void, thus depre- 
 cating the rights of nations, has finally proved to us that 
 our enemies will henceforth tenaciously carry on their 
 system of exterminating warfare against the independence 
 of the Republic. The executive government is firm in its 
 determination not to listen to, nor admit of any negociation 
 on the part of Spain, which has not for its basis, the ex- 
 plicit recognition of our national sovereignty. 
 
 So well convinced was the government of Colombia of 
 the decision of the government of Madrid to prolong the 
 war against America, that we hastened to establish solid 
 relations with the independent states of the New World, 
 fixing a secure basis on which either the continuance of the 
 contest, or a negociation with the neutral powers and Spain, 
 should be conducted. The government of Colombia has 
 been the first to lay the foundation of an American confe- 
 deration, which, uniting the political interests of the vast 
 territory that has separated itself from the mother country, 
 guaranteeing and respecting each other respectively, shall 
 reciprocally communicate a physical and moral power, 
 capable of arresting and annihilating all the undertakings 
 of the government our enemy. The treaties which have 
 as yet been made to that effect will be laid before the Con- 
 gress, and I take the liberty of offering to it, in anticipation, 
 my congratulations on the satisfaction with which it will 
 perceive the solidity and stability which we have given to 
 the independence of the New World. Great changes have 
 taken place in the Mexican empire since the convention 
 made at Cordova, between the chief of the independents 
 and the Spanish general Odonoju. Don Augustin Iturbide 
 has been placed on the imperial throne, instead of the 
 family called to it by the plan of Iguala and the treaty of 
 Cordova, in consequence of the Cortes of Madrid having 
 declared the latter to be annulled. The government of
 
 15 
 
 Colombia is not accurately acquainted with the nature and 
 particulars of the events which have placed the imperial 
 crown on the head of Iturbide, and has taken mea- 
 sures to procure such information as it deems indispensable 
 to open and cement the relations between the Republic and 
 the empire, on the principle of not interfering with its ex- 
 ternal arrangements, and to recognise the decided will of 
 the Mexican nation, so long as it adheres to the determin- 
 ation of remaining independent of Spain. 
 
 The government of the United States has given a sublime 
 example of justice, in solemnly recognising the independ- 
 ence and sovereignty of the States of South America; 
 that nation, the cradle of the liberty of the world, has per- 
 ceived with satisfaction that this public act was due to 
 policy and sound reason ; and the illustrious members of 
 its government have, by such conduct, added fresh lustre 
 to the glory of a free people, and to its own. There is now 
 residing in this capital a minister from that government, 
 by whose means we are informed of the friendly sentiments 
 by which it is animated towards us, and of its disposition 
 to commence and to establish relations with the Republic. 
 The executive power has hastened to manifest the same 
 feelings on its part by means of a minister plenipotentiary, 
 and to prepare the preliminaries which must precede the 
 negociations. 
 
 With the European powers we have succeeded in enter- 
 ing upon some diplomatic relations, which are at present 
 reduced to the obtainmeut of an explicit recognition of our 
 national sovereignty. Our cause appears to have attained 
 considerable popularity among some of the most powerful 
 nations j and although their governments have not decided 
 on making the required declaration, they have not given 
 us any cause for complaint. Their acts relative to com- 
 merce and neutrality have arisen out of the principle of 
 recognising us as governments de facto. That of Colom- 
 bia has convinced all nations that good faith and justice are 
 the immutable rules of our conduct, and that we make it
 
 16 
 
 our duty to respect the laws of all states, their rights, and 
 those of their respective subjects. Such will always be 
 the conduct of the government and citizens of Colombia, 
 as the means of preserving peace and good understanding 
 with the rest of the universe. It is satisfactory to me, that 
 during the course of my administration on the establishment 
 of a new and delicate system, no questions of difficulty have 
 presented themselves, tending to interrupt the harmony in 
 which we live with all nations. v 1 
 
 His faithful majesty the king of Portugal has opened 
 the way in Europe to the recognition of the American 
 governments. That of Colombia had addressed a diplo- 
 matic mission to the court of Lisbon, which, among other 
 things, was to regulate the limits of the Republic adjoining 
 the Brazils, but the unexpected death of Mr. Echeverria, 
 and the late events in the provinces of Brazil, tending to 
 shake off their dependence on Portugal, have frustrated 
 our intentions. 1 have taken steps to arrange with the 
 court at Rome, respecting the government of ecclesiasti- 
 cal affairs, in which so many difficulties have been and are 
 daily experienced, to the manifest detriment of the prero- 
 gatives of the supreme civil authority, and of the spiritual 
 wants of the people, The death of Mr. Echeverria inter- 
 rupted this negociation also, but the government is already 
 prepared to send a fresh mission to Rome. In the mean 
 time, the Congress will be informed of the manner in which 
 this matter is conducted, trusting that your wisdom will 
 lay down a certain, although provisional regulation, that 
 will remove all scruples and other difficulties. 
 
 The government has the satisfaction to announce to the 
 Congress, that the free territory which the Republic of 
 Colombia now embraces, is the same as that fixed by the 
 fundamental law of the state. Three new departments 
 have increased the number of those which recognised the 
 law of organization of the 2d of October : the one sepa- 
 rated itself from the mother country by its own exertions ; 
 the other two have been liberated by the valour of the
 
 17 
 
 army, and the extraordinary ability and prudence of the 
 president liberator. Thus, in them, as in the other seven 
 departments, the political system adopted by the consti- 
 tuent Congress of Cucuta has been established with general 
 applause. The people have indulged in the best hopes of 
 prosperity on seeing their political and civil liberty secured 
 by the fundamental law. Every Colombian has submitted 
 his own will to that of the law : the glory of the warrior, 
 the illumination of the philosopher, the prerogatives of the 
 minister of the altar, the influence of merit, of reputation, 
 and of virtue all have humbled themselves before the 
 constitution. With the exception of two or three small 
 bodies of men, who wished to live in the midst of disorder, 
 the government might aver that no sentiments but those of 
 union and fraternity exist in the bosom of the Colombians. 
 The state of order and internal repose which the Republic 
 has attained, has not been disturbed either by the arrogant 
 attempts of the enemy, by his evil suggestions, or by the 
 frequent difficulties arising from the painful state of the 
 treasury, which sometimes offer opportunities for disturb- 
 ance to those who, in the alteration of a system, experience 
 changes either of fortune or in their views of ambition. 
 The government acknowledges itself indebted for this 
 benefit, first to the mercy of the Supreme Being, who has 
 watched over the fate of Colombia, and next to the effica- 
 cious cooperation of all the citizens, of all the authorities, 
 and especially of the venerable clergy, both secular and re- 
 gular. On so prosperous a basis, public education has 
 begun to spread successfully; information has been diffused 
 by means of the press, the citizens have enjoyed the liberty 
 to denounce the abuse of power, and the people have been 
 inspired with a sincere love for their institutions. The 
 propagation and progress of literary and scientific establish- 
 ments, which I anticipate from the new statutes of the 
 Congress, and the influence of the local authorities, will 
 doubtless be the best support which our code, and the ad- 
 ministration of the government, the security of the Republic,
 
 18 
 
 and its future happiness will henceforward possess. It is a 
 most gratifying duty for me to recommend to you, most 
 ardently, the fate of the Colombian people, whose sacrifices 
 have rendered the entire protection of wise and beneficent 
 laws necessary to them. A most exterminating warfare 
 has destroyed its population, its agriculture, and its com- 
 merce, and it is the duty of Congress to do its utmost for 
 the revival of these sources of public and private wealth. 
 I call the attention of Congress to agriculture, commerce, 
 and the mines : our geographical position will afford you 
 the ready means of placing the heroic people of Colombia 
 in a situation to redouble and enrich itself. 
 
 Respecting the national revenue, I did not desire to 
 disturb the pleasure the Congress must have experienced 
 on hearing the communications I have just made to it. The 
 public treasury is impoverished; the revenue system re- 
 quires alteration ; and the necessities which it is urgent to 
 provide for are such as not to admit of delay or procrastina- 
 tion. The government has undergone afflicting struggles 
 in the course of its administration, and the Congress cannot 
 but approve the manner in which it has been able to over- 
 come the struggle between urgent public necessities, and 
 the calamities with which the fortunes of the citizens have 
 been visited. The Congress of Cucuta passed the most 
 beneficial laws, by which the old colonial revenues were 
 diminished, and the substitution that was adopted to cover 
 the deficit has not at all corresponded to the estimates. 
 The army, and the officers of the civil administration and 
 of the revenue, demand the return of that part of their pay 
 which the government had thought proper to retain ; the 
 fortifications, the marine, the artillery and magazines, the 
 officers, the national establishments, all require the con- 
 sideration of Congress, and so urgently, that, in my opinion, 
 it ought to occupy its first sittings; for without pecuniary 
 resources the government cannot fulfil its duties, nor the 
 nation profit by its independence and liberty. It is to the 
 chamber of representatives that I more especially direct my
 
 19 
 
 voice in this matter : two branches of revenue appear to me 
 capable of assisting us in providing abundantly tbe supplies 
 I require, those of tobacco and of customs. The first requires 
 funds to improve it, and to make advances ; and the second, 
 well regulated laws. If to these are added the improve- 
 ments which I expect will be made in the other existing 
 branches, it may be expected that the people, being less 
 burdened, will themselves facilitate the means of improving 
 the national treasury. The government is desirous that 
 the exactions from the clergy, known under the titles of 
 mesada-ecclesiastica, annualidades, and media- annata, 
 may be entirely abolished. 
 
 One of the objects to which I must direct the particular 
 attention of the Congress is our foreign debt. You, gentle- 
 men, are aware that the generosity of several foreigners^ 
 during calamitous periods, reanimated the spirit of the 
 Colombians, and supplied them with the means of main- 
 taining gloriously the war of independence ; whatever may 
 have been the views and speculations of our auxiliaries, 
 the Republic is their debtor, and we are bound to pay with 
 fidelity. The complicated situation in which this business 
 is placed at present by the proceedings of our agents in 
 Europe, and more so by the difficult circumstances with 
 which the Republic was surrounded until last year, has 
 presented to the government serious difficulties^ in. 
 adopting a conciliatory and decorous lin$ of conduct. The 
 Congress will be informed of all the details, and will be 
 convinced of the prudence with which I have conducted an 
 affair of so much delicacy. I must, however, declare, that 
 we should raise our national honour above all other conside- 
 rations, by sacrificing to it that regularity and economy 
 which, in other circumstances, we should zealously and 
 rigorously enforce. We are debtors, and we must pay at 
 any sacrifice. The executive power expects that the Con- 
 gress will pass a law by which it will be enabled to provide 
 for the payment of the interest, and the gradual liquidation 
 of the principal. 
 
 B2
 
 20 
 
 The arms of Colombia have been covered with glory 
 wherever they have proclaimed the laws and liberty}; and 
 even in their reverses they have preserved entire the 
 character which they had acquired. At the time when the 
 congress of Cucuta closed its sittings, the important for- 
 tresses of Carthagena and Cumana were in the hands of 
 the Spaniards ; the isthmus and the provinces of the 
 captain generalship of Quito groaned under the unjust 
 dominion of the government o f Madrid ; the province of 
 Coro had been in a state of insurrection, fomented by 
 Spanish agents ; the district of Ocana was under the 
 dominion of a faction ; the province of Guayaquil, dis- 
 turbed in the interior, was exposed to the fury of anarchy, 
 and a maritime force fearlessly domineered over our 
 Atlantic coast. Now, all has disappeared, and this 
 immense territory, once in the possession of Spain, is 
 under the protection of the laws and government of 
 Colombia. Licentiousness, which generally follows in the 
 train of war, has not stained the reputation of the 
 defenders of the Republic the laws have spoken their 
 voice has been more tremendous than the clash of arms, 
 and the conquerors in a thousand battles have never hesi- 
 tated to obey them with submission. A desperate attempt 
 of the enemy, which his superior maritime force enabled 
 him to make, has roused the public spirit, and recalled to 
 the liberating army its most sacred duty that of renew- 
 ing its sacrifices for the independence of the country. 
 Maracaibo, being occupied by the expeditionary general, 
 the executive power conceived itself to be in the situation 
 contemplated by Art. 128 of the Constitution, and has 
 used the extraordinary powers attributed to it in such 
 manner and terms as will be laid before the Congress 
 distinctly. If I have not as yet experienced the satisfac- 
 tion of learning the complete destruction of the enemy, I 
 have at least that of knowing that his intentions have been 
 frustrated in the invasion of Merida and TruxiUo, and that 
 the departments of Venezuela and Boyaca are in a state of
 
 21 
 
 security, the reinforcements of the army of the Magdalena 
 having been efficaciously disposed, and the fortresses of 
 Puerto-Cabello and Maracaibo being in a state of rigorous 
 blockade. Had it not been for the unfortunate occurrence 
 of the insurrection of a few places in Santa Martha, the 
 government would now have announced to the Congress 
 the freedom of the department of Zulia. 
 
 The standing army and the national militia require 
 careful regulations and organization ; without these, the 
 government will continue to experience such difficulties 
 and opposition as the enormous difference between the 
 political system of a free state and the military system of 
 an absolute monarchy necessarily produce. The fortresses, 
 which come into our possession in a ruinous state, require 
 urgent repairs ; the magazines and parks of artillery require 
 stores and other warlike supplies, which render the Republic 
 respectable. I recommend to the Congress, with that 
 ardour which it is incumbent on me to feel, the fate of 
 the widows, and of the soldiers and officers disabled in 
 the service of the country. 
 
 The exertions of the government have procured for the 
 Republic a sufficient maritime force to protect our coasts 
 and the foreign trade. Without it we should be still sub- 
 ject to the Spanish squadron ; to whose superiority, as I 
 have already said, the enemy is exclusively indebted for 
 the advantages he has attained. But this valuable acqui- 
 sition will be of no use, if the Congress does not supply the 
 government with the means to maintain, increase, and 
 repair whatever the course of military events, or the acci- 
 dents of the elements, may render necessary. The secre- 
 tary of the navy will lay before the Congress more detailed 
 information on this head, and will present to it the result 
 of the glorious trials which our forces have begun to make, 
 together with the regulations, ordinances, and other pro- 
 visions which the executive has made in virtue of the law, 
 to procure and preserve such a maritime force as our 
 geographical position requires.
 
 22 
 
 Gentlemen 1 have lived only to contribute to the fulfil- 
 ment of the will of the nation : to the rigorous observance 
 of the laws, I have sacrificed projects of utility and con- 
 venience, persuaded that submission to them is never 
 more necessary than in the commencement of the esta- 
 blishment of a political system, and that no one ought to 
 bow to them with greater respect than he who is placed at 
 the head of the government. If circumstances have 
 obliged me to exercise the extraordinary powers which the 
 Constitution permits, it never has been my intention to 
 avail myself of them, either against the political freedom of 
 the nation, or of the individual liberty of the citizens. 
 Foreign enemies and internal tranquillity have been the 
 only objects I have had in view in the exercise of such 
 powers ; and in testimony of this truth I can appeal to the 
 whole population of the Republic. I have endeavoured to 
 employ the authority which the representatives of the nation 
 deposited in my hands to its proper purpose; and if I have not 
 advanced, so far as my desires and my conscience led me 
 to wish, the Congress must attribute it to the want of means, 
 of time, and of tranquillity, and not to my sentiments. 
 From the moment when I took the reins of government, I 
 was persuaded that I was placing myself under a load su- 
 perior to my strength that I renounced my liberty, and 
 constituted myself a slave of Colombia ; and I must frankly 
 confess, that if I did not place my hopes in the labours and 
 assistance of the Congress, I should not hesitate a moment 
 in recovering my liberty. In conclusion, Gentlemen, I con- 
 gratulate the Republic on the installation of the first consti- 
 tutional legislature ; and entreat of you, with the most ardent 
 feelings of my heart, that we may unite our exertions, our 
 vigilance, and our sentiments, to labour for the happiness 
 of Colombia, and preserve entire the precious treasure of 
 her independence and liberty. 
 
 FRANCISCO DE PAULA SANTANDER. 
 
 Bogota, 17M April, 182313^.
 
 REPORT 
 
 OF 
 
 DON PEDRO GUAL, 
 
 at >tat* for jfcmgn flffatra 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA, 
 
 FOR THE YEAR 1823. 
 
 Translated by Colonel James Hamilton. 
 
 EVER since the Republic of Colombia attained the degree 
 of power and glory of which she is now in possession, her 
 government has never ceased manifesting, to other inde- 
 pendent nations, that, amidst the roar of battles and the 
 shouts of victory, she has known how to respect the 
 rights of foreigners, in the same manner as she wishes 
 them to respect her own. 
 
 For upwards of twelve successive years, the persons 
 and properties of neutrals, whether transient, or domi- 
 ciled amongst us, have been under the exclusive protec- 
 tion of our laws ; and it must, therefore, be highly satis- 
 factory to learn, that during the whole of that period, but 
 very few complaints have been made against the con- 
 duct of the subordinate authorities, and none whatever 
 against the government. This is the more reputable and 
 honourable to our national character, when we take into 
 consideration, that the acts of some governments, which 
 declared their neutrality from the [commencement of the 
 struggle, have not been altogether clear of blame, and
 
 24 
 
 appeared, in some instances, not to have been strictly 
 conformable with those incontrovertible principles, gene- 
 rally acknowledged and received .as reciprocal national 
 rights. 
 
 In this state of things, the first endeavours of the 
 executive, after the promulgation of our constitutional code, 
 were directed to the reducing to a regular system, those 
 connections which had been commenced or established by 
 private means. Until then, foreign governments seemed 
 determined not to pass the line of policy they had adopted j 
 notwithstanding the palpable necessity of agreeing on 
 some certain and positive rules, by which our relations 
 might be cemented on the basis of reciprocity and general 
 good faith, and not remain exposed to those alterations and 
 interpretations, which the common laws of nations have 
 undergone in these latter times of commotion and revolu- 
 tion, or at least within these last twenty-five years. The 
 principles acknowledged in the several epochs which have 
 elapsed betwixt the treaties of Westphalia and Utrecht, 
 and the various conventions and controversies produced 
 by the French Revolution, until the general peace of Paris 
 in 1814, have varied so essentially in many material points, 
 that it has frequently been almost necessary to disregard 
 the respectable authorities of the first writers on public 
 laws, and consult the spirit of those existing treaties gene- 
 rally considered as impartial. 
 
 In all discussions which the executive has had to 
 maintain for our national honour, or to satisfy the claims 
 of other powers, it has assumed, as an invariable rule, not 
 to grant to one what it could not grant to all. 
 
 The department of foreign affairs, which has at all 
 times formed the most important branch of public admi- 
 nistration, has thus received the consistency and unanimity, 
 indispensable for preserving us from being liable to those 
 evils, which premature and inconsiderate negociations have 
 occasioned to other nations. The Republic of Colombia 
 has. an indisputable right to adhere invariably to the
 
 25 
 
 maxim she has adopted ; for to herself, and to herself 
 alone, does she owe what she is. If the result as yet has 
 not been fully what could have been wished, the executive 
 has at least the consolation of not having compromised 
 the country, of having made its principles known, and 
 the hope that, ere long, its endeavours will be crowned 
 with complete success. This flattering expectation is 
 founded on the close and intimate connections contracted 
 and contracting with the other states of ci-devant Spanish 
 America, and the regular progress making, in our political 
 and commercial relations, with the United States and 
 Europe. 
 
 To give a clearer idea of the relative situation of our 
 affairs, we shall treat first of the states recently formed 
 on the ruins of the Spanish monarchy in our own hemi- 
 sphere, and then of the United States and Europe ; the 
 last will naturally lead us to speak of Spain separately, 
 whose vacillating and contradictory policy merits a par- 
 ticular attention. It is not, however, to be expected, that 
 in this summary Report, all that detail will be found, which, 
 on a future occasion, may be laid before the public with- 
 out risk. Secrecy ought to be the leading axiom in diplo- 
 macy, and we shall observe it inviolably in all those 
 matters, where the executive considers it absolutely 
 necessary ; but on every thing else we shall speak frankly, 
 avoiding at the same time a redundancy of ideas, which 
 can in no wise contribute to the object we have in 
 view. 
 
 AMERICAN STATBS. 
 
 The abdication of the Catholic Kings in favour of the 
 imperial family of France, in 1808, paved the way for the 
 dismemberment of the Hispano- American provinces in 
 this continent, and the successive usurpations of the revo- 
 lutionary governments which opposed those abdications, 
 consolidated, and irrevocably fixed it. Our America has 
 raised a cry against her oppressors ever since, and
 
 26 
 
 has fought, alternately, with various success. Soldiers, 
 politicians, magistrates, ministers, all have been formed 
 in the school of adversity, whilst war raged every 
 where,-^ and every where were exhibited prodigies of 
 valour and devotion tp the public cause. Venezuela and 
 New Granada were the first to give the noble example of 
 uniting for ever ; and, by that union, overcame obstacles 
 of the most difficult nature. Our geographical situation 
 rendered our country the head-quarters of the troops 
 destined to reestablish in America the hateful colonial 
 system of Spain. Circumstances of danger and difficulty 
 pointed out the wisdom and necessity of founding the 
 Republic of Colombia; and the majestic attitude she 
 assumed, under the auspices of her tutelary genius, 
 terrified and humbled the hordes of Castile, and the 
 power and pride of Spain fled, at length, never to vex us 
 more. 
 
 The triumph of Colombia resounded from one extremity 
 to the other of our hemisphere, and the rest of the Ame- 
 rican family, still bending under the Peninsular yoke, soon 
 recovered their rights. Mexico proclaimed the empire ; 
 Lima, freed by the arms of Chili and Buenos Ayres, adhered 
 provisionally to a Protectoral system; Guatimala de- 
 clared for a republican form; and Colombia, rounding 
 the vast territory marked out in her fundamental law, 
 carried the olive and her victorious arms to our oppressed 
 brethren of Quito and Guayaquil. 
 
 A conjuncture of such fortunate events pointed out to 
 the executive that the crisis was come for carrying into 
 execution the grand plan of American confederation, and 
 the following articles were adopted as the basis of the 
 ne\v federal system. 
 
 1st. That the American States be for ever in alliance 
 and confederated in peace and war, for the consolidation 
 of their liberty and independence, guaranteeing to each 
 other the integrity of their respective territories. 
 
 2dly. That, in order to render this guaranty efficient, the
 
 27 
 
 uti possidetis of 1810, according to the demarcation of 
 territory of each captain-generalship or viceroyalty, 
 erected into a sovereign state, be taken as the rule. 
 
 3dly. That, with respect to the personal rights, trade, and 
 navigation of each state, their citizens and subjects shall 
 enjoy, indiscriminately, in their persons, properties^ foreign 
 and domestic traffic, the same privileges and preroga- 
 tives as the natives of the country in which they may 
 reside, either domiciled or transient. 
 
 4thly. That, in order to consummate this compact of per- 
 petual alliance and confederation, a meeting be holden in 
 Panama, of two plenipotentiaries, from each of the con- 
 tracting parties, which will form the point of contact in 
 times of common danger, be the faithful interpreter of 
 their public treaties, when difficulties occur, and judges, 
 arbiters, and conciliators, in their disputes and differences. 
 
 Sthly. That this treaty of perpetual alliance and confe- 
 deration shall not interfere, in any way, with the exercise 
 of sovereignty of each and all of the contracting parties, 
 with respect to their relations with other independent 
 powers. 
 
 Such are the leading points embraced in the negocia- 
 tions concluded or set on foot by the executive with 
 Mexico, Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres : and when they 
 were commenced, we had well-grounded reasons for 
 hoping, that by the meeting of Congress in 1823, they 
 would have been brought to a successful termination ; 
 taking into consideration the activity and superior know- 
 ledge of the envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipo- 
 tentiary charged with the same. In fact, the treaties 
 with Peru and Chili are concluded, and will, in due time, 
 be submitted for the ratification of the legislative body ; 
 and, it is very probable, that we shall receive shortly, by 
 way of the Pacific, that of the united provinces of Uio de 
 la Plata. In Mexico, the negociation has been interrupted 
 by extraordinary circumstances, which the executive
 
 28 
 
 could not overcome: the principal obstacle does not 
 originate in the form of government adopted there, for that 
 of Colombia has laid it down as a fundamental principle of 
 its policy, never to interfere in the interior or domestic 
 arrangements of other nations. It is easy to acknow- 
 ledge any government whatever, knowing the source from 
 whence its authority emanates, and, consequently, that it is 
 susceptible of progressive improvement. The Republic of 
 Colombia has solemnly acknowledged the independence 
 of the empire ; but for extending that acknowledgment to 
 the dynasty which has been established there, in the person 
 of Don Augustin de Yturbide and his family, data are to 
 this day wanting, notwithstanding the most efficacious 
 means used to procure them. In the interim, the neces- 
 sary instructions have been given to the Hon. Miguel 
 Santamaria, whose circumspect conduct has been highly 
 satisfactory j but, unfortunately, when expecting informa- 
 tion from that meritorious envoy, we learn, by the last 
 communications from that court, that Mr. Santamaria's 
 conduct had not been over agreeable to the new head of 
 the empire. It has been pretended there, contrary to all 
 received rules, that our envoy should forthwith acknow- 
 ledge the new dynasty, although he has no powers to that 
 effect, which acknowledgment he consequently refused, 
 respectfully and decorously, as was his duty so to do. At 
 the same time, symptoms of discontent have broken out in 
 various parts of the empire, principally in San Salvador de 
 Guatimala, in Nicaragua, and in Veracruz, which pro- 
 vince has declared for a republican form of government. 
 
 This more than justifies the circumspection with which 
 the executive has acted in a matter of such transcendent 
 importance. 
 
 Whatever may be'the result of these extraordinary events, 
 the government of Colombia will ever take the strongest 
 interest in cooperating for the welfare and prosperity of 
 our independent brethren in Mexico, and will not omit
 
 29 
 
 seizing the first favourable opportunity which may offer, of 
 drawing closer the bonds of fraternal feeling contracted in 
 unison with the other co-belligerents. 
 
 UNITED STATES AND EUROPE. 
 
 In turning our eyes from nations at war with Spain to 
 the United States and Europe, it will not appear strange, 
 that, notwithstanding the difference of their geographical 
 situation, we place them under one head, in consequence 
 of the identity of principles on which the executive has 
 acted indiscriminately towards each and all. The inhabi- 
 tants of ci-devant Spanish America being left to themselves, 
 it was quite natural that they should concert those measures 
 of interior and exterior policy dictated by imperious 
 necessity. Incorporated successively in the great family 
 of civilized nations by our own efforts, it was undoubtedly 
 our primary duty to treat all with equal consideration and 
 respect, without shewing predilection for any in particular. 
 The executive, guided therefore by that salutary maxim, 
 has uniformly adhered to the most liberal principles, and 
 those most generally received in default of public treaties, 
 and by so doing, has promoted a mutual harmony and good 
 understanding; on the same grounds nothing has ever been 
 proffered to one, which could not be granted to all. Special 
 favours and exclusive privileges would inevitably subject 
 us to evils of the greatest moment. Our ports have been, 
 and are, open and free to the trade of neutrals ; that they 
 may learn by experience the importance of a country, 
 which the miserable policy of Spain had kept sealed to the 
 rest of the world. The effect of this reciprocal interchange 
 of interests between Colombia and other powers, has gone 
 on augmenting insensibly the persuasion, that some of them 
 would come to a direct understanding with our govern- 
 ment ; and that persuasion has been strengthened by the 
 edicts issued by the Spanish chiefs in the several epochs of 
 the war, anxious to reestablish their ancient pretensions
 
 30 
 
 to the monopoly of our commerce. The conduct of the 
 enemy, whenever he thought there was the least probability 
 of his being able to effect our subjugation, forms so striking 
 a contrast with our ingenuousness and liberality, that it may 
 well serve to shew what is to be expected from the one and 
 the other. The government of Colombia on that account 
 regrets exceedingly, that one of our agents in Europe should 
 have passed, on his own responsibility, a circular note, in 
 date of April 8th, 1822, to several cabinets, intimating, that 
 those who did not acknowledge us, would be immediately 
 excluded from our markets. If that circular has given 
 offence to some, as we understand it has, it ought to be 
 borne in mind, that the principles it holds forth do not 
 form any part of our policy, and so it was communicated to 
 Mr. Zea himself, in date of July 23d last. To time, there- 
 fore, has been left the developement of that most important 
 fact, that political and commercial connections cannot long 
 exist in a vague and uncertain state, and that it is requisite 
 to come to a direct understanding to promote by mutual 
 accord future well-being and prosperity. It is extremely 
 agreeable to observe the effects already produced, as wih 1 be 
 set forth in the simple narrative of facts on which we 
 are about to enter. 
 
 The people of the United States, although of a different 
 origin from the other inhabitants of this continent, felt, from 
 the commencement of the present war, that sympathy, 
 which was natural, and which would necessarily be excited 
 by vicinity and analogy of circumstances. The new 
 American States, anxious to profit by that friendly 
 feeling, addressed the government ; but all efforts were 
 of no avail until 1822, when the United States formally 
 acknowledged our independence. For it we were greatly 
 indebted to the ability and address with which Mr. Manuel 
 Tooves, our charge* d'affaires at Washington, set forth 
 our rights to it. The death of that illustrious patriot and 
 btatesman, which took place on July 14th last year, inter- 
 rupted the relations ,which, in consequence of so frank and
 
 31 
 
 just a proceeding, would otherwise have been established. 
 The Hon. Jose Maria Salazar was appointed immediately to 
 succeed Mr. Tooves, with the character of envoy extra- 
 ordinary and minister plenipotentiary; when, in the mean- 
 while, colonel Charles S. Todd arrived in this city in 
 December last, with the special charge of communicating to 
 the government the several acts in which the United States 
 had solemnly acknowledged the Republic of Colombia, 
 and the wishes of their illustrious and venerable president 
 to be informed on what footing our subsequent negociations 
 would be conducted. The executive of Colombia, bearing 
 in mind the state of our finances, was of opinion, that 
 during a negociation, plenipotentiaries might be appointed, 
 and continued until the ratification of definitive treaties, 
 and afterwards, as charge's d'affaires, to remain in Washing- 
 ton and Bogota, for the purpose of forwarding our mutual 
 interests, and maintaining unalterable the harmony and 
 good-will produced by those conventions. It has been 
 wished also to negociate a treaty of commerce and naviga- 
 tion in this city in preference to any other place, for reasons 
 so obvious that they require no explanation. On every 
 point we have acted with our accustomed candour ; and it is 
 to be hoped from the deference shewn on this occasion by 
 the government of the United States to that of Colombia, 
 that the political views of both will readily meet each other 
 as to the place where the negociation will be carried on, 
 and which will fix our future relations on a solid and stable 
 basis. 
 
 In Europe, the court of Lisbon was the first to acknow- 
 ledge, or manifest its intention of acknowledging, the inde- 
 pendent governments of the new American States, in a note 
 wlu'ch Don Juan Manuel Figireiredo, agent of his must 
 faithful Majesty in Buenos Ayres, addressed to the envoy 
 of Chili, Don Miguel Zanartu, August llth, 1821. This 
 measure was founded on the just principle of the obedience 
 of the people to their constituted authorities, and was ex- 
 tended to all independent America with the object of entering
 
 32 
 
 into relations of friendship, commerce, and navigation, 
 with the respective governments. The executive of 
 Colombia, however, had no direct communication of this 
 disposition of the court of Lisbon until last year, when his 
 excellency Don Silvestre Pinheiro y Ferreira, minister and 
 secretary of state of his most faithful majesty, participated 
 the same to our agent in London, with a copy of the in- 
 structions given Mr. Figireiredo for the said object, in date 
 of April 16th, 1821, and in them the political views and 
 favourable disposition of that government towards the 
 Republic of Colombia are seen. The executive, anxious 
 to take advantage of such a friendly feeling, appointed the 
 Hon. Jose" Tiburcio Echeverria to Lisbon, with the charac- 
 ter of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary ; 
 but the death of that deserving member of our diplomatic 
 corps deprived us of the benefits which might well have been 
 expected from his tried experience in the management 
 of public affairs. 
 
 During this period material changes have taken place in 
 the Portuguese monarchy, to which we cannot but advert. 
 His most faithful majesty, on his departure from Bra- 
 zils left the government of that vast kingdom in the hands 
 of the prince royal, Don Pedro de Braganza. It appears, 
 that the people of Brazil saw with discontent the removal 
 of the court from Rio Janeiro to Lisbon, and almost im- 
 mediately declared their independence of the parent coun- 
 try. The prince royal shewed himself at this crisis the 
 protector of public opinion ; and his conduct gained him 
 such popularity, that he was at last proclaimed emperor 
 of Brazil, and solemnly crowned at Rio Janeiro the 14th of 
 October last. By the last advices, all Brazil had acknow- 
 ledged with enthusiasm the new emperor, with the excep- 
 tion of Bahia de Todos los Santos, where four thousand 
 European troops still supported the cause of Portugal. In 
 Monte Video the same appears to have taken place. Amidst 
 these changes a Portuguese authority of the first order has 
 made proposals, which indicate the wisdom and foresight
 
 of the cabinet of Lisbon, but the executive has found itself 
 in considerable perplexity how to renew the negociation, 
 with which the deceased Mr. Echeverria was charged. 
 Nothing requires greater circumspection and deliberation 
 in an incipient state, than its first act of interference in 
 family disputes, which have occurred in a nation to which 
 we owe a debt of gratitude for its noble, frank, and disin- 
 terested policy towards us. On the one hand we cannot 
 be insensible to the cause of our brethren of Brazil, and on 
 the other we must feel an interest in the welfare and pros- 
 perity of a government, which has distinguished the first 
 steps of its political regeneration with a declaration so very 
 worthy of the age we live in. We have at present no al- 
 ternative, but to address our vows to that Supreme Being, 
 in whose hands rest the fate of empires and the destinies 
 of the human race, until future events point out the path 
 we ought to tread. 
 
 On the continent of Europe other powers have also 
 evinced an inclination to encourage the trade with inde- 
 pendent Artieriea. 
 
 As far back as 1811, the great chancellor Count Roman- 
 zoff communicated to Mr. Mendez, agent of Venezuela, in 
 London, a resolution of his majesty the Emperor of all the 
 Russias, to admit our flag into the ports of that vast em- 
 pire on the same footing as other neutrals. 
 
 France, the Netherlands, and Sweden, have recently 
 made the same declaration. 
 
 The governor and rear-admiral of the island of Cu- 
 ra9oa addressed a note with this view to the secretary of 
 state for foreign affairs, in date of Oct. 16, 1822, express- 
 ing the wishes of his majesty the king of the Netherlands 
 to encourage the relations, which are in fact forming. 
 
 His majesty the king of Sweden and Norway has sent 
 to this city his consul general to the United States, for the 
 purpose of effecting a provisional commercial arrangement. 
 The proposals made in consequence by the chevalier 
 Lorich will in due time be submitted to the legislative
 
 34 
 
 body, in such parts as may be deemed to require its con- 
 currence and approbation. Of whatever nature they may 
 be, we think it right to anticipate, that it is only intended 
 to make a short trial, in order to draw the interest of both 
 countries closer, and acquire thereby the necessary inform- 
 ation for concluding a definitive treaty of commerce and 
 navigation. 
 
 In almost all the other ports of continental Europe the 
 Colombian flag is admitted and respected ; or there is at 
 least a disposition to admit and respect it, as appears by 
 various communications received here. 
 
 The laws of our first Congress, held in Cucuta, on pri- 
 vileges and the encouragment of our mercantile marine, 
 must have powerfully conduced towards producing such an 
 effect. They facilitate the naturalization of foreign vessels, 
 and protect the direct trade of Europe with our ports. In 
 them is also established the difference of the duties of 
 imports and exports, by foreign and national vessels, 
 although the cargoes of these latter may be the property of 
 subjects or citizens of other powers. If, to the various 
 principles dispersed in our trade and navigation laws, those 
 wanting were added, and the whole concentrated into one 
 single well-digested navigation act, suited to our present 
 situation, our maritime system would be complete ; and by 
 such a measure we should make known the great import- 
 ance of a trade, already beginning to emerge from that state 
 of languor in which the present constitutional regimen 
 found it. This would be a fertile source of public wealth, 
 and the most certain way of forwarding our connections 
 with other nations. 
 
 Relations of friendship and good understanding with 
 the whole are not to be formed by abstract theories or vain 
 speculations, but by the advantanges and benefits which 
 may accrue from frequent communication and intercourse. 
 
 This would seem to prove, that as the commerce of Great 
 Britain is that which has the most extensive connections 
 with us, it would have been easy for both sides to have
 
 35 
 
 come to some understanding, so as not to leave our interest 
 exposed to all the vicissitudes of a civil war. But up to 
 this day nothing we have yet done has been sufficient to 
 induce the government of his Britannic majesty to ente* 
 into direct relations with this country. Previous to the 
 union, both New Granada and Venezuela made considerable 
 attempts to bring it about, and the Republic of Colombia 
 has renewed them since with the most lively interest. 
 
 Our anxiety to accomplish so desirable a measure has 
 been, and is, proportionate to the high degree of influence 
 acquired by that cabinet, not only in Europe, but in the 
 whole universe, and more especially since the events of 
 1814 placed the British empire in the first political rank of 
 nations. The British navy, the most formidable in the 
 world, has established every where, and in every clime, a 
 commerce so vast, that there can remain but little to wish 
 for. To us the friendship of Great Britain is of the highest 
 importance j and the good- will which the people of that 
 opulent empire have ever professed towards us, is a presage 
 not a little consolatory of what we may hope from its 
 government. In no country have we met with friends so 
 constant or so generous in the most calamitous and trying 
 times of our struggle. Not satisfied many of them with 
 assisting us from afar, they have crossed the ocean, and 
 come to participate in our privations, and brave our dan- 
 gers in the battle-fray. Colombia, in short, is bounden to 
 various British subjects in an immense debt of gratitude, 
 and has an anxious desire to give them proofs of her feel- 
 ings, if not with a reprehensible profusion, at least with a 
 consummate liberality. 
 
 The merchants and manufacturers of that country have 
 shewed themselves equally sensible to the advantages 
 offered by our market. From all parts petitions have been 
 presented to ministers, setting forth the principal reasons, 
 which call for, or recommend, the necessity of a direct 
 communication with us. In parliament itself most eloquent 
 speeches have been made in favour of the measure. The 
 
 c2
 
 36 
 
 government of his Britannic majesty at length declared, in 
 the month of April 2Jth, 1822, the trade of Great Britain with 
 the ports of Colombia to be legal, and it now only remains 
 to fix the mode in which an efficient protection can be given 
 to it. It rests with the wisdom of his majesty's counsel- 
 lors to solve the question ; but in our humble opinion, 
 nothing could so readily or so certainly remove the difficul- 
 ties which present themselves, as a direct arrangement 
 with our government, our existence in the rank of sove- 
 reign nations being previously acknowledged. Then would 
 the commerce and agriculture of Colombia soon reach a 
 pitch of prosperity far beyond what the most sanguine cal- 
 culations have anticipated. Then would the commerce of 
 the British empire, by its immense capital and active and 
 enterprising spirit, acquire, in all probability, in our market 
 an importance, which, it would appear, has not hitherto 
 been estimated as might have been expected. 
 
 If we give credit to what has been repeatedly written 
 us from London, we must admit, that the inconsiderate 
 operations of Mr. Zea, both in political and financial mat- 
 ters, have essentially conduced to embarrass and perplex. 
 We have already noticed his circular note, which, from its 
 style, and the manner in which it was addressed, was cer- 
 tainly seen and received in many quarters with extreme 
 displeasure. His financial transactions were, however, 
 still more arbitrary, and destitute of every reason which 
 could induce the executive to approve of them, even taking 
 them on the ground of expediency alone $ but, as we have 
 to treat of this affair separately, we shall refrain from fur- 
 ther observations here, having touched on them merely in 
 consequence of the connection they bear to subjects of di- 
 plomacy. The good faith and credit of a nation are objects 
 of such vital importance, that without them every preten- 
 sion to be held, considered, or respected in the rank, which 
 might otherwise be claimed with justice, is vain and illu- 
 sory. The wisdom of the legislative body can alone con- 
 ciliate this apparent contradiction, by virtue of the powers
 
 37 
 
 it is invested with by our Constitution in all affairs of cre- 
 dit. It is of the most imperious necessity, and in prefer- 
 ence to every other matter, that our credit should be con- 
 solidated, in order to silence at once the clamours of many, 
 and place our diplomatic negociations on a par with those 
 of other nations. Up to this time the executive has been 
 able only to restrain the progress of evil, and steer clear 
 of ruinous consequences to the Republic in future. 
 
 SPAIN. 
 
 Of all civilized nations on the face of the globe, Spain is 
 the only one which disavows, or appears to disavow, those 
 grand truths ; that a nation in want of every thing, a na- 
 tion which has lost its manufacturing industry, whose fields 
 are abandoned and left waste, and which is devoid of the 
 necessary knowledge and experience for bettering its con- 
 dition, ought to reconcentrate itself, as the only means of 
 issuing from the fallen and wretched state to which it 
 has been reduced by an arbitrary government of many 
 ages. That the constitutional system of Cadiz extended 
 to the vast possession of the ancient Spanish monarchy in 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, is a complete delu- 
 sion, and a chimera which has never existed, and never can 
 rationally exist. Without a competent navy, distant 
 colonies cannot be preserved ; and the relations of one 
 people with another, founded on good-will and reci- 
 procal convenience, are much more advantageous, and 
 infinitely more lasting, than those established by force. 
 
 The treaties concluded in Truxillo, on the 26th Nov. 
 1820, after such dreadful scenes of barbarity and desolation, 
 seemed to announce, that Spain was beginning to abandon 
 that ruinous policy, which had rendered miserable all those 
 living under it. On that memorable day, Don Pablo 
 Morillo appeared at Santa Ana, invested with the full and 
 unlimited powers conferred on him by his sovereign, sa- 
 luted the Republic of Colombia and her illustrious President;
 
 38 
 
 when both, by common accord, adjusted and ratified the 
 said treaties of armistice for BIX months, and the regulariza- 
 tion of the war. An act so sublime, and which did so much 
 honour to the contracting parties, was principally with the 
 intention, that an understanding might be established during 
 the truce, so as to bring about a peace. The formalities 
 with which the negociation was conducted, the decorous 
 and impartial language used in both instruments, and the 
 repeated protestations of the Spanish chiefs, which ap- 
 peared to proceed from their very hearts, were sufficient 
 to induce a belief that such a happy result was probable. 
 The government of Colombia immediately appointed 
 Messrs. Jose" Raphael Ravenga, and Jose Tiburcio Eche- 
 verria, to the court of Madrid, with credentials, full pow- 
 ers, and instructions, signed in the city of Bogota, January 
 24th, 1821 ; and as two months of the armistice had already 
 elapsed, they had special powers for soliciting in Caracas a 
 prolongation of the time necessary for treating in Madrid 
 with the government of his catholic majesty. The parties 
 not being able to agree on the conditions of prolongation, 
 our plenipotentiaries embarked in La Guayra, March 24, 
 on board the Spanish corvette, Arethusa, and arrived at 
 Cadiz, May 14th, 1821. What would be the astonishment 
 of our messengers of peace, when hardly having trodden 
 the shores of Spain, they began to hear from those ini- 
 tiated in the mysteries of that cabinet, a very different lan- 
 guage from what had been used by its agent on the Main ! 
 The government of his catholic majesty had just granted 
 pardons to those, who had merited applauses from one 
 extremity of the world to the other for their extraordinary 
 exertions in defence of their liberties. A line of conduct, 
 as absurd as unexpected, was seen by the thinking, calcula- 
 ting, and the really liberal men in Spain, with a disgust 
 which can neither be explained nor described, but by those 
 who have attentively followed the steps of a government, 
 which, from the first, has never ceased blindly undermining 
 the edifice raised in the island of Leon.
 
 39 
 
 Notwithstanding the discouragement excited by such 
 contradictory conduct, our plenipotentiaries pursued their 
 journey, and reached Madrid the 30th of the said month 
 of May; and here they had positive proofs, that not 
 only the ministers of his catholic majesty, but the pre- 
 tended pacificators of the Main, were not animated with 
 that good faith and sincerity, with which we had en- 
 tered into negociations for peace. The former thought 
 they could reduce us to sue for peace on degrading terms, 
 derogatory to our dignity and national character, and the 
 latter sought numerous pretexts for renewing hostilities 
 previous to the expiration of the armistice, as is proved by 
 the correspondence of General Don Miguel de la Torre, of 
 February and March, to the minister of ultramarine affairs. 
 The government of Colombia, which, in the very first days 
 of the truce, had discovered the artifice and duplicity of 
 the enemy, made preparations to let him feel the weight of 
 her power ; but as that correspondence was then attributed 
 to men led away by their passions, to men habituated to 
 the enormities committed during this war of extermination, 
 the resolution was suspended, and it was determined not 
 to act, until it was also seen that nothing good was to 
 be expected from Madrid. The consequence was, the re- 
 newal of hostilities on our part, on April 28th, 1821, at 
 which time our plenipotentiaries remained in Madrid, 
 without having been able to advance one single step in the 
 negociation. Their first and last interviews with Mr. Bar- 
 claxi de Azara did not take place until June 5th, in presence 
 of the other secretaries, and was confined to a conversation 
 of trifling interest. This, together with other circum- 
 stances, shewed, that no negociation would be entered into 
 with Colombia separately, whilst many were occupied with 
 forming plans of general pacification, with opposite views 
 and interests. The most strenuous enemies of America 
 had at last learned, that their wretched ridiculous system 
 of pardons, far from producing any favourable effect, was 
 every day increasing an irritation in the minds of the
 
 40 
 
 inhabitants of this continent, confirming some in their 
 noble intention of being independent, and inspiring others 
 with the wish of being so. It was therefore necessary to 
 set that hacknied policy aside, and seek some more effica- 
 cious means. It was now requisite to examine the question 
 intuitively, and remove those perplexities which were op- 
 posed to the pacification. The report presented by the minis 
 ter of ultramarine affairs, Don Ramon Gil de la Cuadra, to 
 the ordinary cortes, on March 1st, 1821, on ultramarine 
 affairs, offered some materials to be made use of in such 
 a discussion. In it Mr. Cuadra speaks diffusely of lazza- 
 rettoes, hospitals, schools, the arrangement of his office, and 
 other futile and impertinent trifles, as if the whole of 
 America was in profound peace. The committee of the 
 cortes, which examined this memorial, shewed in their re- 
 port of June 4th following, on the population of the ultra- 
 marine provinces, what people are capable of doing, who 
 shut their eyes and ears to the causes of the evils with 
 which they are surrounded. The committee thought of 
 rendering us a great service by their project of repar- 
 tition of waste lands, because Mr. Cuadra asserted in his 
 memorial, that the measure was of the highest importance 
 to America, both economically and politically, and in both 
 ways the king expected wonderful results from it. A long 
 period did not elapse before the king and the cortes dis- 
 covered, that they were losing their, time to no purpose, 
 in extraneous questions, while the real matter was left un- 
 touched. The cortes, at the request of Mr. Paul, appointed 
 on their part a committee of their own body, to suggest 
 the best means of closing the dissensions with which 
 various countries of America were unfortunately afflicted. 
 The committee, after frequent and long sessions, at which 
 the minister and a great number of deputies were present, 
 presented their report June 24th, concluding with, that the 
 government should be excited to propose to the cortes the 
 fundamental measures which the situation of America re- 
 quired. In this it was easily seen, that several, or all, of the
 
 41 
 
 committee wished to enter into the merits of the case, but 
 abstained from doing so out of respect to the private opinion 
 of his catholic majesty's ministers. Great hopes were formed 
 from the plan of regencies, which the major part of the 
 ultramarine deputation, and particularly that of Mexico, 
 presented to the cortes the same day. Ministers sup- 
 ported the plan underhand, but, as we learn, refused doing 
 so openly, that they might sound public feeling without 
 compromising themselves. Messrs. Ravenga and Eche- 
 verria, immediately sent a copy of our fundamental laws 
 to the secretary of state, to shew the incompatibility 
 of the measure proposed with our social organization. 
 The plan of regencies was finally given up, ministers 
 themselves thinking it unconstitutional, and the king 
 finished the speech, with which he closed the ordinary 
 cortes on the 30th June, saying, that urged to propose the 
 most proper means for the well-being of the ultramarine 
 provinces, he would do so with all possible expedition, 
 and that the Spaniards of both worlds ought to be per- 
 suaded, that he desired nothing so much as their happi- 
 ness, founded on the integrity of the monarchy, and the 
 observance of the constitution. 
 
 This determined and solemn declaration, together with 
 the bad turn given, at the same time, to public opinion, 
 by means of virulent invectives and calumnious public- 
 ations against America, caused every shadow of hope of 
 peace to vanish. Our plenipotentiaries, however, in spite of 
 all this, determined to remain at the court until September 
 1st, when they received a note from the secretary of 
 state, in date of August 30th, in which, after having, 
 amongst other charges, accused the government of Co- 
 lombia of infractions of the most solemn compacts and 
 rights of nations, he enclosed their passports, observing, 
 that they should lose no time in commencing their 
 journey, as their remaining in Spain might be prejudicial, 
 and was moreover quite useless, from their not being 
 in a state to-be listened to by his majesty, and for
 
 42 
 
 other reasons which he did not think necessary to explain. 
 This unexpected determination, which had been for some 
 days previous announced in the public papers, together 
 with the irritation excited against Americans in general, 
 in the most scandalous manner tending to implicate them 
 in the tumult of the 20th August preceding, against the 
 person of General Morillo, convinced our plenipotentiaries 
 that they had not a moment to hesitate as to the part 
 they had to take. 
 
 Vain, indeed, would have been all explanations given 
 then, however clear and convincing, against the imputations 
 and general and indefinite charges of the Spanish govern- 
 ment. The resolution was taken not to lend an impartial 
 ear to any thing that might be advanced ; and accustomed 
 to decide on the destinies of America from the interested 
 information of its own agents, this first attempt of respect 
 and consideration towards those, hitherto held in degrada- 
 tion, must have been particularly mortifying. Such is the 
 force of habit, that it confounds times and circumstances, 
 and keeps those under its influence in a state of continual 
 delusion most flattering to their self-love. The plenipo- 
 tentiaries of Colombia were obliged, in consequence, to 
 content themselves, at the time, with a simple reply to the 
 note of dismission, and left Madrid in twenty-six hours after 
 receiving their passports, reserving, to a more favourable 
 opportunity, the vindication of the honour and dignity of the 
 countiy, and which they accordingly did from Bayonne, in 
 date of September 1 4th. In their prolix statement, the facts 
 are set forth which appear to have given rise to those 
 general and indefinite charges. In it, the enemy will have 
 seen the principles on which our right was founded of pro- 
 tecting Maracaibo, then independent, by the spontaneous 
 declaration of the Spanish authorities and the people, and 
 in which affair our chief magistrate could not have given a 
 stronger proof of his love of justice, than by offering to 
 leave it to the decision of arbitrators, and nominating as 
 his the Spanish brigadier, Don Ramon Correa, In it will
 
 43 
 
 have been seen, that we did not renew hostilities twenty- 
 six days before the expiration of the term of the armistice, 
 but for our own preservation, the first law of nature, when 
 it was already inevitable, and after going through the 
 formalities prescribed by Article 14 of that treaty, in 
 the event of such an unfortunate occurrence taking place. 
 And, in short, in it mil the government of his catholic 
 majesty have seen, that if on their side they had vague and 
 indeterminate accusations against us, we could on ours 
 complain of positive infractions by irrefragable acts, which 
 from the very first placed beyond a doubt the want of 
 sincerity and uprightness, with which we were invited to 
 enter into the negociation for peace. 
 
 Since the departure of Messrs. Ravenga and Echeverria 
 from Spain, the government of that country has by degrees 
 been moderating its pretensions of addressing America with 
 that decided and imperious tone it had previously assumed. 
 In the speech with which the king opened the following 
 cortes, he slightly noticed the pacification of America as a 
 point not closely connected with the constitution. The 
 cortes, after hearing the reports of the respective com- 
 mittees, resolved, on the 13th of February 1822, to repre- 
 sent to his majesty, that he should without loss of time 
 appoint fit persons to present themselves to the govern- 
 ments established in America, and listen to and receive 
 all proposals they might make. The king did not order 
 this decree to be complied with and carried into effect 
 until the 5th of March ; the minister of ultramarine affairs 
 did not transmit it to the minister of war until the 31st of 
 the same month, and he again to the commander-in-chief of 
 the expeditionary army until the 15th of April, and not 
 before the 18th of May was the said gcneral-in-chicf 
 advised, that his majesty had appointed brigadier Don 
 Jose* Santorio, and captain Don Juan Barry, to treat with 
 our government. 
 
 In commencing this extraordinary negociation his ca- 
 tholic majesty, in consequence of Article 4th, of the decree
 
 44 
 
 of the 13th of February, addressed a manifesto to the 
 courts of Europe, protesting that Spain would consider a 
 partial or entire acknowledgment by any of them of the 
 independence of the ultramarine provinces as an infraction 
 of the treaties existing, whilst discussions with the mother 
 country were still pending. This interesting document, 
 of which extracts had appeared in foreign newspapers, did 
 not reach the government of Colombia in an authentic 
 shape until very lately, when it was authorized by the sig- 
 nature of Mr. Clemencin. In it the Spanish monarch en- 
 deavours to employ against the right of insurrection in 
 America, the very same principles which, either volun- 
 tarily, or otherwise, he had acknowledged and authorized 
 in favour of his subjects in Europe. The emancipation of 
 America is so clearly demonstrated to be the interest of 
 the whole world, that, for contradicting it, recourse must 
 be had to the sophisms and vague protestations with 
 which that manifesto most profusely abounds, and the 
 cabinets of Europe will have given the paper the value 
 and consideration it merits, the clauses of which appear 
 directed rather against the principles of disorganization in- 
 troduced into Spain for some time past. By comparing 
 the political institutions and the conduct of both countries, 
 the opinion of an impartial world cannot but be in our 
 favour. The government of Colombia prepared for so new 
 and singular a negociation, and, on the 19th of May last, 
 communicated to the intendants of the maritime provinces 
 the orders it conceived necessary, and which were founded 
 on the information which could be procured of the cha- 
 racter of the commissioners; the executive being fully 
 convinced, that Colombia and Spain cannot come to a 
 decorous understanding without mutually observing those 
 usages and customs consecrated by practice amongst civil- 
 ized nations, and which absolutely disavow such a mode of 
 negociating in time of war ; at least from what can be col- 
 lected from the discussions in the extraordinary cortes, from 
 what the ministers of ultramarine affairs said in them, and
 
 45 
 
 from the very letter of the decree of the 13th of February. 
 The door, however, has been left open for contestation, 
 which, although probably useless, may conduce indirectly 
 to the termination of the war ; and, if there has been any 
 condescendence in this, it is a sacrifice to the consideration 
 in which we hold other nations, to whom we were desirous 
 of giving positive proofs, that passions excited by civil war, 
 and the irregular conduct of the enemy, have not shut our 
 
 o -* 
 
 ears to the cries of nature, and that, although we do not 
 fear war, we most anxiously wish for peace. Convinced of 
 this truth, many of the most illustrious deputies of the 
 cortes declaimed violently in the preceding sessions 
 against the inefficacy and irregularity of a measure, which, 
 far from being conciliatory, gave strong reasons to suspect, 
 that what was pretended to be done was merely for the 
 purpose of introducing spies into these countries ', and the 
 ordinary cortes, which subsequently followed, saw it so 
 clearly, that, on June 28, they gave the king ample autho- 
 rity to take such steps with respect to the ultramarine affairs 
 as might be expedient, and required by the various circum- 
 stances of the places, where his influence or authority might 
 be necessary, or for the adoption of more energetic and 
 active means for supporting his undertakings. The king was 
 moreover charged, among other things, to empower the 
 commissioners to form and conclude provisional conven- 
 tions with the American governments, in order, that during 
 the negociations, a reciprocal commerce might not be 
 interrupted. 
 
 The executive of Colombia saw from these decrees, that 
 the Spanish government was beginning to know its own 
 interests, and to adopt a more frank and liberal policy ; 
 but remarking on the other hand the silence, which up to 
 this day has been observed with regard to the projected 
 negociation, and the assurance given to the cortes by the 
 minister of ultramarine affairs that, he had put all the 
 elements of discord into motion, it cannot be persuaded,
 
 46 
 
 that the enemy is acting with the good faith he so loudly 
 proclaims. 
 
 Nearly about the same time, the commander-in-chief of 
 the expeditionary army published two decrees in Maru- 
 caibo, in date of September and October, of consummate 
 importance from their nature and consequences. In one, 
 he abolishes the regularization of the war, thereby opening 
 a field for a repetition of his past excesses ; and in the 
 other, condemns to confiscation, to the public works, and 
 to death, the subjects and properties of neutral powers, 
 which might be found in the provinces his arms might 
 occupy. The government of Colombia ought now to 
 resist, with her accustomed energy, the aggressions of that 
 desolating barbarian, and make him know that none 
 under the canopy of heaven can offend with impunity the 
 people, and foreigners living under the protection of our 
 laws. To other nations, however, it belongs to screen the 
 persons and properties of their subjects, which, by the 
 fortune of war, may fall into the hands of so callous and 
 cruel an enemy, from his proscriptions and sanguinary 
 edicts. In like manner they may judge of the sincerity of 
 the protestations of his catholic majesty, contained in the 
 manifesto above-mentioned. 
 
 When the history of this thirteen years' war comes to be 
 published, into which we at first entered with the view of 
 bettering our domestic condition, and afterwards continued, 
 in defence of our existence, menaced with total destruc- 
 tion by the anathemas of the court of Madrid, the world 
 will see, with astonishment, that the enemy has had no 
 other means for restraining the progress of our majestic 
 career, than those of seduction, pardons, and perfidy. 
 Until February and June, 1822, the Spanish government 
 would not admit that our revolution originated otherwise 
 than in a silly love of change, and not in the desire 
 natural to man for promoting his own felicity, excited and 
 put in motion by the stupendous events subsequent to the
 
 47 
 
 abdications of Bayonne. During this period, America 
 has suffered innumerable miseries and calamities, but 
 Spain has also been forced to drink of the cup of bitterness, 
 even to the very dregs, and it would not have been pos- 
 sible to have calculated to what extremity her woes would 
 have reached, had the glorious insurrection of the troops, 
 destined to continue the war, not shewn her the dreadful 
 abyss into which she was gradually plunging. Spain at 
 length execrated the tyranny with which she had been 
 tormented, and proclaimed the rights of the people; and 
 the friends of humanity in all countries accompanied her 
 with their good wishes in her career, undertaken with such 
 great order, amidst so many difficulties and impediments. 
 The government and people of Colombia participate in 
 the feeling, and even more strongly from the interest 
 naturally excited for companions in misfortune. In the 
 meanwhile, Spain will have to suffer all the vicissitudes 
 and caprices of chance ; but the time will come when the 
 conduct of those at the helm of affairs will be in complete 
 unison with public opinion, and the knowledge and inform- 
 ation of the age. Then Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, 
 Chili, and Buenos Ayres, will present to the world the new 
 and splendid spectacle of six free and friendly nations, 
 speaking the same language, and betwixt which will exist 
 an interchange of mutual affections and ideas for guaran- 
 teeing their future prosperity. To accelerate that period 
 of happiness and consolation for both people, the executive 
 has incessantly laboured to render uniform the political 
 views of the new American States ; and it was time to give 
 a strong impulse to our common cause, by combining our 
 means of offence and defence, and make the enemy feel 
 the impotency of those who might oppose us. The federal 
 system we have adopted will undoubtedly produce that 
 desirable result, make us terrible in such wars as may 
 arise, and give us in peace an extraordinary importance in 
 the eyes of the civilized world. 
 
 In the United States, and in the whole of Europe, with
 
 48 
 
 the exception of Spain, the executive meets only motives 
 for being satisfied with the impartiality with which the 
 neutrality declared by the cabinets of those countries at 
 the commencement of the war has been observed; nor 
 have the importunities of the government of his catholic 
 majesty at various epochs, and particularly at the Congress 
 of Aix-la-Chapelle, to take part in its unjust pretensions, 
 been able to induce them to deviate from that line of 
 policy. On the contrary, Portugal and the United States 
 have acknowledged our independence ; Great Britain 
 respects our rights as belligerents, and declares the trade 
 betwixt her subjects and the Republic to be legal. Sweden, 
 the Netherlands, and other free countries of Europe, 
 admit and respect our flag in their ports. 
 
 In this manner the executive has constructed its system of 
 foreign policy on the three grand principles of perpetual 
 alliance and confederation amongst the co-belligerents 
 uniformity of conduct towards neutrals and the applica- 
 tion of all our disposable resources of offence and defence 
 against the enemy, until he be brought to sue for peace. 
 
 When that event, so much wished for, takes place, the 
 government of his catholic majesty will receive positive 
 proofs of the good dispositions with which that of the 
 Republic is animated, for promoting by common accord the 
 mutual interests of both nations, without failing in the 
 obligations we have contracted, or may contract, with 
 other powers of Europe and America. 
 
 Heaven grant that that day, fraught with conse- 
 quences of the highest importance to present and future 
 generations, may not be far distant ! 
 
 PEDRO GOAL. 
 
 Bogota, April 17, 1823. 
 
 London : Printed by A. Applegatb, Stamford-street,