Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/533

APPENDIX. 493 they saw that it was impossible that the Peninsula should employ force against them. The loss of power, on the part of the Mother-country, is, tBierefore, the first circumstance to be noted ; but something more than this was required to occasion the explosion, since otherwise it would have taiken place as soon as the obstacle was removed, and this has not been the case ; the revolt of the colonies being effected in some places before otthers, and in none immediately on the arrival from Spain of the first fatal news of the occupation of Madrid. In Caracas, the intelligence of the invasion of Andalusia by the French, and the dissolution of the Central Junta, caused the revolution, by which, on the 19th of April, 1810, the Authorities were deposed with- out bloodshed, and a Junta created, with the title of Supreme, for the giovernment of the Province. " to preserve its existence, and provide for its safety," as it is expressed in the proclamation which was published upon the occasion. The same news was communicated to Buenos Ayres by the Viceroy, Don Baltasar Cisneros, who permitted the people to assemble a Congress, in order to take the necessary precautions, and not to be involved in si- milar calamities. This produced, in May, 1810, a Provisional Junta, which took the command, until a Congress could be formed of Deputies from all the Provinces. The imprudent conduct of the Corregidor of El Socorro, in the new kingdom of Granada, in attacking with troops the unarmed people, who, by means of official representations, endeavoured to calm him, and to avoid a rupture, irritated the natives, and caused a revolution, on the Sd of July, 1810, the first effect of which was the imprisonment of the Corregidor himself, and his satellites. In Santa Fe de Bogota, a still slighter cause led to the explosion. An individual was passing a small shop, when the European proprietor of- fended him by some words reflecting on the Americans in general. The Creoles, piqued with this, assembled in a body and attacked him, and those who hastened to his assistance. This trifle lighted the torch of dissension, and the irritation increased to such a degree, that a Junta was installed, July 20, 1810, which took the management of affairs in the Viceroyalty, excluding many of those who governed before. In Carthagena another Junta was formed, the 18th of August of the same year, in consequence of the proceedings of the Governor, and the odious differences which he excited between the European Spaniards and the Americans. In Chile, the violent attempts of the Captain-General, Don Francisco Carrasco, who was brought to trial by the Council for his conduct, caused such a sensation, and irritated the people so much, that he was obliged to resign. The Conde de la Conquista succeeded him. After this, a Provisional Junta was created, the 18th of September, 1810, fol- lowing the example of the Junta of Cadiz, which approved the measure.