and a convention being made between Romana and the governor of that island, in which the latter agreed to supply the Spaniards with provisions, they, on their part, abstaining from hostilities. Above a thousand troops from Jutland effect ed their escape in the manner proposed, and joined their countrymen while at sea. Another thousand had got to Langland. One regiment in Jutland was too distant, and too unfavourably situated, to effect its escape; and two in Zealand, after having fired on the French general who commanded them, and having killed one of his aid-de-camps, were overpowered and disarmed. Nothing could exceed the joy of those who effected their escape,-the regiment of Zamora made a march of eighteen Danish miles in twenty-one hours. This regiment, which made this surprising exertion, for the sake

of returning to their own country, to maintain its independence, was one of those which the French papers described as discovering the greatest attachment to the intruder!

The court of Denmark issued a proclamation upon this occasion, expressing its astonishment at what it called the treachery of the Spaniards, and charging them with having violated the most sacred duties! That court was thus the first to give its sanction and support to the usurpation of Spain; and, by this new instance of abject subserviency to the tyrant's views, it afforded fresh proof, that, however the expedition to Copenhagen was to be lamented on other accounts, the Danish government could not receive a more severe chastisement than it deserved, for its base attachment to the common enemy of all free states and all principles of freedom.

Proceedings at Cuba, and Manifesto of the Prince of

THE naval power of England, which Spain has so often severely experienced during its unfortunate alliance with France, preserved the Spanish colonies and maritime provinces from the arms of the tyrant; his artifices were, however, still to be apprehended. A French agent, who was sent to Minorca to obtain a recognition of the intruder from the governor and the magistracy, was happy to effect his escape from the island; and a communication with the British fleet was opened by the captain-general of Majorca. The inhabitants of the Canaries resolved not to submit to the usurpation, even before they were informed of the general resistance which had broken out in the mother country: they proclaimed Ferdinand in all the islands, and such was the enthusiasm prevailing in his favour, that the patriotic cockade was worn, not only by all ranks and classes of the laity, but by the monks, and even the nuns in their cloisters. A junta, composed of representatives from each of the islands, assembled at Laguna, the capital of Teneriffe;

they resolved to resist the French, to acknowledge no other sovereign than Ferdinand and his lawful successor; and they opened their ports to the English.

Lord Collingwood had obtained intelligence, that La Rapide, a corvette, charged with dispatches* from Bayonne, had sailed for Cayenne; and, when he sent out advices of the Spanish revolution to Sir Alexander Cochrane, commander in chief on the Leeward Island station, he requested that he would endeavour to intercept this vessel, or counteract the effect of her papers. La Rapide was fortunately taken by the Balette sloop of war, and carried into Barbadoes; but her dispatches had been thrown overboard. Shortly afterwards, two cartels arrived, "the one from Martinique, the other from Cayenne. To prevent any communication between these vessels and the prisoners from Europe, the latter were immediately sent to England th ship of war then sailing with convoy. Some circumstances, ever, occasioned a suspicion the cartel from Cayenne had sp

with La Rapide at sea: this led to an investigation, and duplicates of the dispatches were discovered under a barrel of flour.

The Carolina, with dispatches for Buenos Ayres, and 4000 stand of arms, was intercepted soon after she sailed from St Sebastians, and the arms were landed at Gijon, for the patriots. La Mouche, bound, upon the same service, to the Havannah, met with the same fate. That vessel would not have been more fortunate if it had reached its place of destination; for when the tidings of the usurpation were known in Cuba, the indignant spirit of the people burst out with the same unanimity as it had done in Spain. Even the Franciscans presented an address to the governor of the island, declaring themselves ready to meet death with pleasure, in the cause of Ferdinand and their country. Though, from their profession, perhaps, they said, they might not be thought qualified for any other task than that of directing the spiritual concerns of their brethren, and supplicating God to look down with mercy on his people, nevertheless, while they diligently discharged that duty, they earnestly entreated that they might be called upon among the first for any service, however difficult and laborious, even that of carrying arms, in this righteous cause. We are Spaniards, said they, and there runs in our veins the blood of those who have fallen, and are at this moment falling, victims to the ferocity of Murat, and the ruffians who accompany him.

Sir A. Cochrane's first measure was to liberate his Spanish prisoners, as had been done in England, and send them to the Spanish Main in the Acasta frigate. A brig, with

VOL. I. PART I.

dispatches from the intruder, reached La Guiara before her. The English officer, Captain Beaver, a man of extraordinary talents, immediately landed, and presented himself before the governor, at the very time, it is said, when the agent of Buonaparte was endeavouring, with all the arts of allurement and intimidation, to accomplish the object of his mission. Such artifices were of little avail. The Seville manifesto had previously arrived, confirming the account brought by the English frigate; and the hall of audience rung with shouts in honour of Ferdinand and his ally the King of England: their acclamations were repeated by the eager multitude, who were waiting to have their own determination confirmed by the governor, and the shout soon echoed through the city. The Frenchman was sent to prison, the imperial brig was seized, and the colours of Spain and England were hoisted on all the forts, under a general salute.

The same spirit manifested itself at Mexico: a junta was assembled, and the oath of allegiance to Ferdinand taken by the viceroy and all persons in authority: they swore also to acknowledge no other sovereign than him or his lawful successor of the Bourbon line; and not to obey any orders proceeding from the French, through whatever channel they might be issued, nor any authorities whatsoever, unless they were instituted by him, or his representatives, legally and authentically appointed. Fourteen millions of dollars were immediately voted, by the city of Mexico, to the service of the mother country, and the people, boasting that they were the successors of the immortal Cortes, enrolled themselves for the defence of that empire which he had

Y

won for Spain. The viceroy, however, had only yielded to the public feeling, because he was not able to oppose it. The governor of Vera Cruz also was disposed to transfer his loyalty to the intruder; and when a ship with French colours arrived at that port, and having been boarded from barges sent out by the commander of the marine, was brought in, he forbade all persons, on pain of death, from going on board her. The needless severity of this edict served only to exasperate the people, and heighten their suspicions. They assembled tumultuously; yet, like their fellow patriots in Spain, observing constitutional forms, even in insurrection, they called upon the regidores of the town, and required them to bring the dispatches from the French vessel, and communicate their contents. This was done; and as the papers consisted of proclamations and orders from the intruder, they were publicly burnt. The house and effects of a merchant, who was suspected to be in the French interest, shared the same fate: his life was also threatened; but when the nuns came out of their convent, and the host, under its pall, was brought forth, the fury of the populace yielded to their devotional feeling, and the tumult was appeased. The people, however, insisted that the place should be put in a state of defence; and they formed a junta, in whose vigilant patriotism they might confide against the treasonable inclinations of their governor.

Even at Buenos Ayres, where that animosity against the English, occasioned, throughout the Spanish colonies, by the ravages of Drake and Cavendish, and the buccaneers, had been so unhappily revived, just when the lapse of time had obliterated it, there prevailed among the people a

feeling of stronger and juster resentment against the French. Nevertheless, there existed a party there, in consequence of Sir Home Popham's wretched expedition, numerous enough to support the governor Liniers in a temporising policy, which, while it waited to acknowledge the right of the strongest, evidently inclined towards the Buonapartes. A French agent was received by this governor; and Liniers informed the people, that the Emperor of the French had been compelled to recognise the abso- Aug. 15. lute independence of the Spanish monarchy, and of all its transmarine possessions, without retaining or dismembering the minu test portion of its dominions; that a cortes was assembled at Bayonne, where the fate of the monarchy was to be decided; that the Emperor of the French, applauding the triumph and constancy of the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres, exhorted them to maintain the high reputation which they had acquired, and offered them succours of every description. He had not hesitated, in reply, to assure his imperial majesty, that the city over which he presided was chiefly distinguished for its loyalty to its lawful sovereign; and that he should thankfully receive arms, ammunition, and Spanish troops. Let us, he added, imitate the example of our ancestors in this happy land, who escaped the disasters that afflicted Spain in the war of the succession, by wisely awaiting the fate of the mother country, to obey that power which occupied the sovereignty. Nevertheless, he said, as he had received instructions from the council of the Indies to proclaim Ferdinand, and take the oath to him, and had no orders sufficiently authoritative to counter

mand them, that ceremony was to be performed with solemnities and public rejoicings. Notwithstanding this readiness, on the part of the governor, to acknowledge the intruder, the patriotic cause daily acquired strength; it soon became as unpopular to speak French as it had ever been to speak English; and an arrangement was made with the Brazilian court for opening the place to British and Portugueze ships.

While the last act of the Corsican's perfidiousness, and of the tragedy of the Bourbons, was representing at Bayonne, the Prince of Brazil, having safely reached that city, which ought long since to have been made the capital of May 1. the Braganzas, published a justificatory exposition of his conduct towards France, from the commencement of the French revolution, in order that his subjects, impartial Europe, and distant posterity, might judge of the purity of his conduct, and the principles upon which he had acted. It is not in invectives, said this manifesto, that the court of Portugal will raise its voice from the midst of the new empire which it is about to found: by a plain and faithful statement, it would make known to the world all that it had suffered, and then appeal to Providence. A religious prince felt the importance of such an appeal; for guilt could not always remain unpunished, and, usurpation and violence enfeeble themselves by the continual efforts they are obliged to employ. In explaining the motives and conduct of Portugal during the anti-jacobine war, it was averred, that, though she sent troops for the defence of the Pyrenees, in conformity to the treaty of alliance with Spain, she, nevertheless, endeavoured to preserve the

strictest neutrality. This was the only weak part of the manifesto; and the assertion, strange as it is, was so needless in this place, that it would not have been advanced, if the Portugueze ministry had not, by some unaccountable mode of reasoning, persuaded themselves of its validity. With better reason, it complained of Spain; how that power, after having involved its ally in hostilities with France, joined France against her, and, by the help of that confederacy, extorted from Portugal the little territory belonging to her beyond the Guadiana. Then it was that France gave the first proof of its bad faith; for after the treaty of Badajoz had been signed by Lucien Buonaparte, the Prince de la Paz, and the Portugueze plenipotentiary, the French government refused to ratify it, and forced Portugal to sign a new treaty at Madrid, with much harder conditions: nor was there any motive assigned for this act of violence, except that such was the pleasure of France. Almost at the same time, the peace of Amiens was concluded, which moderated some conditions too oppressive to Portugal; and this consideration of England for its ancient ally, was regarded by France as a new proof of the servitude and bondage in which the English government held the court of Lisbon.

Portugal hastened to fulfil the burthensome conditions of the treaty. The war was soon renewed between England and France; and having made the greatest sacrifices for the sake of preserving itself in peace, the court thought itself fortunate, at a heavy expence of money, to conclude the treaty of 1804, in which the first consul expressly consented to" acknowledge the neutrality of Portugal during the present war,