M EXICO. 103 a Royal Commissary, (Don Antonio Ignacio Cortavarria,) armed with extravagant powers,* whom the Junta of Ca- racas, of course, refused to receive : and the Secondf passed days and weeks in discussing the mode in which the Ame- ricans were to be represented in the National assembly, and fixed it, at last, upon a basis to which the Colonists refused their assent. The whole coast of Venezuela was subsequently declared to be in a state of blockade, + without a single ship of war being upon the spot to enforce the decree ; and by this impolitic mixture of arrogance and weakness, the Colonies were irritated, not intimidated, and the hope of a reconcilia- tion rendered every day more distant. Of the possibility of such a reconciliation, in the first stages of the Revolution, no reasonable doubt can be enter- tained ; although nothing less than a recognition of the legi- timacy of the American Juntas, and the admission of their deputies to the Cortes, on the same terms, and in the same ratio, as the deputies of the Peninsula, || could have effected it. But these were conditions that suited not the temporizing policy of Spain. The equality, which she proffered to her American subjects, was an equality merely of words; — an
- His commission empowered him " to assume the Regal power in its
fullest extent : — to remove, suspend, or dismiss the Authorities of every rank and class ; to pardon or punish the guilty, at pleasure ; to make use of the monies belonging to the Royal Treasury ; and to give orders, which were to be obeyed as emanating directly from the King's own per- son." — Vide Commission, dated 1st August, 1810. t Vide Sessions of Cortes, of 9th, 10th, 1 1th, 14th, and 16th January, 1811. X Decrees of Regency, of 21st August, 1810. II The Castes, or mixed breeds, and more especially those in any way contaminated by a mixture of African blood, were not allowed to vote in the elections ; and consequently, the number of deputies to be returned by each Colony, depended upon its White population alone. This regu- lation ensured to the European deputies a permanent majority in the Cortes.
