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'rExAs STATE LrnRARY
unfounded and preposterous. Nevertheless, there were some who were not unwilling, for the sake of avoiding intestine commotion, to acknowl- edge the authority of the Sevil Junta, so long · as it governed in the name of Ferdinand. Under these embarrassing circumstances-in the impossibility of executing all the orders received; and not knowing which authority to obey-the Viceroy, Don Jose Iturrigaray resolved to overcome the diffi- culties, by convoking a national assembly, to be composed of delegates from all the Provinces, for the purpose of deliberating on the affairs of the nation, and forming a Junta, or provisional government in imi- tation of the mother country. This was certainly a wise and natural {!Ourse; and was indeed the only rightfu1 remedy for existing evils.- That the Vice-roy was a good and just man, actuated in this matter by the purest motives, and without any intention of being disloyal to the mother com1try, is now generall? conceeded. His sole purpose was to arrest the progress of french influence-to snatch the country from the grasp of Napoleon, and to hold it for Ferdinand until his restora- tion might be effected. Inspite, however, of the obvious necessity of the measure, as well as of the loyalty that dictated it, it awakened the uniyersal jealousy of the Spaniards in l\Iexico, who strenuously opposed it, because it was popular with the people and necessarily contemplated the meeting of the Creoles and the Europeans in a general Council. This was peculiarly offensive to the former, not only because it blended the two classes-the natiYes ancl the Gachupins-and placed them upon a level; but still more, because it recognised the right of the people to have a voice in the administration of public affairs, and to think and to act for themselves in great emergencies.- That the Creoles possessed any such right, was utterly denied by the Europeans; and for the purpose of suffocating so dangerous a principle, and punishing him who was willing to introduce it into public affairs, the Spaniards in the Capital, seized the Viceroy on the night of the 16th of Septemh"- 18O8, and sent him and his family prisoners to the Peninsula. This violent procedure against a public functionary who had committed no other offense than that of respecting the natural rights of those over whom he ruled, and of trying to sa,·e the country from the state of anarchy into which it was likely to be precipitated by contending fac- tio11s, could not fail to open the eyes of the Creoles with regard to the deep malignity and hatred of the Gachupins towards them; and the subsequent approval of the act, by the mother country, was well cal- culated to rhill every generous sentiment and to extinguish forever the enthusiasm and affection of the people towards tf1e ungrateful recip- ients of their loyalty and devotion. The pretensions of the Seville Junta to rule the Colonies as King, was the height of absurdity and audacity.- All those Juntas were self-constituted authorities, democratic in their origin and could no more assume the Royal prerogative over the provinces of Ultramar, than a11v other sett of popular demagogues or. patriotic bodies, of the day: What posible right couI<l such ephemeral organizations have to govern the Colonies, when they were 11ot able to manage the affairs of their own country. The Creoles could owe no allegiance to any such authority. Their allegiance was due alone to the King; ~or it is a fundamental principle of the Spanish Monarchy, that the domm-
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