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"4th. The three powers have resolved to assure to the new State pecuniary succours, by means of the guarantee of a loan to be made by the Greek government, of which the object shall be, to provide for the pay and maintenance of the troops, which the sovereign-prince shall have occasion to raise for his service.

"5th. In order to obviate the temporary difficulties which the sovereign prince might experience before the raising of his troops should be effected, the French plenipotentiary, at the request of the plenipotentiaries of England and Russia, took upon himself to consent to the prolongation of the stay of the French troops at present in Greece for the space of one

year.

"In case a longer stay of those troops should be judged indispensable, the powers will come to an understanding with the sovereign prince, with the view of complying with his wishes."

All the material obstacles appeared now to have been removed; and though prince Leopold seemed disposed to create some new difficulties with respect to the arrangements relative to the loans which the three allied powers were to guarantee respectively, his acceptance of the crown was considered as definitively settled. On the 23rd of April, the assent of the Porte to the proposed arrangements was obtained.

On the 28th of February the prince had written to Capo d'Istria to announce his acceptance of the sovereignty, and to communicate to his future subjects the efforts he had made, and was making, to obtain from the allied

VOL. LXXII.

sovereigns as many advantages as possible for the new State. The count could not regard with a favourable eye measures which would remove from his hands the power with which he was now invested; and he transmitted to the prince letters and documents," expatiating on a variety of objections to the arrangements of the allies, and on the dissatisfaction which they had produced throughout Greece.

The apprehensions of the prince were excited: the horrors of an embarrassed administration, and of discontented unruly subjects, prevailed over the glittering radiance of a crown: at the same time, the illness of George IV, which was likely to terminate fatally, opened to him new prospects; for the uncle of the immediate heiress presumptive of William the IVthe brother of the duchess of Kent, on whom, in the event of her daughter's succession, while an infant, to the English throne, the regency devolved,-Leopold, could not fail to be a personage of considerable political importance in Europe: and on the 15th of May, immediately after the receipt of the letters from Capo d'Istria, he wrote to the plenipotentiaries of the three allied courts, to prepare them for his rejection of the dignity which they had tendered to him. They endeavoured to change his determination, and to convince him that Capo d'Istria's representations were distorted and exaggerated; their efforts were without success; and, on the 21st of May, he definitively declined the crown of Greece.

[X]

* See p. 389.

CHAP. XII.

UNITED STATES.-Discussions on the Tariff Commercial Intercourse with the British Colonies.--BRAZIL.-Differences between the Emperor and the General Assembly.-BUENOS AYRES.-The Federalists defeated in the province of Cordova.-COLOMBIA.— Discontents against Bolivar The Province of Venezuela separates from the Federal Union, and declares itself Independent―The Constituent Congress assembles at Bogota-Bolivar resigns, in opposition to its wishes-New Constitution of Colombia-Bolivar refuses to be a Candidate for the Presidency, and leaves Bogota-Decree in his favour-Act of the Congress regarding Venezuela-Southern Provinces declare for Bolivar against the Government of Bogota.MEXICO, Revolution.-CHILE.

T

HE session of the Congress of the United States was opened on the 6th of December, 1829. The principal topic of discussion was the tariff act, imposing alien duties on the importation of foreign goods, which had been, from the moment of its passing, a subject of violent contention, and popular irritation, between the northern and the southern States. The former, who had not ceased to condemn it, as a sacrifice of the manufacturing to the landed interests of the Union, had expected some modification of its provisions from the new President, general Jackson; but the general, in his message, carried the doctrines of protecting home productions till they can compete with foreign importations, to their utmost length, A motion, however, for re-considering the tariff, was allowed to go to a committee; but the committee, in their report, maintained the absolute inexpediency of intermeddling in any degree with the regulations of the tariff, justifying their opinion on these grounds

That, as the tariff was now the law of the land, the faith of the government was pledged to its execution; that any interference would be premature, as some interests had gained more by it and others less, and some of its provisions had proved inefficient, while the causes of the failure were still unascertained; that the apprehension of its being tampered with had already prevented the investment of capital, an evil which could be cured only by a resolution to give it a character of stability; that, so long as any hope was held out of its being altered, foreign goods would continue to be thrown in upon the American market, whatever sacrifice might be made; and lastly, that as a great majority of the people were determined it should be maintained, it was in vain to attempt to alter it. Another attempt was made by a bill, reported from the committee of ways and means, for reducing and modifying some of the articles in the tariff'; but the House of Representatives refused to allow it to

be even

tion. The liberal party, far from being discouraged, renewed the attack, by bringing in a bill, which proposed to admit the manufactures or produce of other nations into the union, on paying a duty of thirty per cent; the fact being previously asceertaind by the President, that the countries, to which this privilege should extend, levied no higher import duties than thirty per cent on the manufactures and produce of the United States. The effect of such an enactment would have been a virtual repeal of the tariff law, and the trade of Great Britain would have been the chief gainer by the change, as the tariff subjected most articles of British manufacture to higher duties than thirty per cent, while Britain had not yet retaliated, by taxing American produce the raw materials of her manufacture-to the same

amount.

taken into considera- manded that, in her commercial intercourse with the colonies, she should be placed on the same footing with the mother country herself. The course of these negotiations has been traced in our former volumes. During the present Session of Congress an act was passed, opening the American ports, for the admission of British vessels, from the colonies with the same cargoes which might be brought, and at the same duties that were payable, by American vessels-suspending the alien duties on British vessels and cargoes - abolishing the restrictions that had been imposed by acts of Congress on the direct intercourse between the United States and the British Colonies-accepting, in short, all the terms on which a British act of 1825 had offered to foreign nations a participation in her colonial trade, but which America had hitherto obstinately rejected. In consequence of this act, the order in council which had excluded the United States from the benefit of the act of 1825, was recalled.

The bill did not pass; but these discussions, and the temper of the government, secured an advantage of a similar kind, by enabling the executive to carry a bill by which it brought to a successful termination the questions that had been stirred for many years, regarding the commercial intercourse between the United States and the British colonies. By various laws, form ing the American non-intercourse acts, the United States had laid alien duties on colonial produce brought to the American ports in British vessels. All the relaxations which of late years had been introduced into the mercantile code of Britain, could obtain no concession from America. Negotiation had been fruitless: for she would not be satisfied with being placed on the same footing with other foreign countries, but de

In SOUTH AMERICA decided symptoms of want of harmony between the emperor of Brazil, and the legislative body began to appear. When the former opened the session of the General Assembly, on the 5th of May, he pointed out certain matters as deserving and requiring the immediate attention of the assembly. These regarded principally the state of the finances, the formation of a bank, and the necessity of providing some legal means for restraining and punishing the utter licentiousness of the press. The assembly was very slow in

* Vol. LXVIII. p. 379. Vol. LXIX. p. 324.

approaching all matters about which the emperor was very urgent; it listened patiently to tedious and vapid orations on the nature of society, and the formation of governments, but it neither supplied money, nor provided terrors for libellers. The four months, during which they sat, passed over, and nothing was done; and the emperor, when he closed the session on the 3rd of September, dismissed them with expressions of marked dissatisfaction. "I much regret having to intimate to our General Assembly how disagreeable it is to me that the time fixed for the close of this session should have arrived, with out any of those measures having been effected which the constitution of the empire requires, which I had recommended, and which the whole nation hoped from the patriotism of its representatives. It being, however, my duty, as the first and most interested in the prosperity of Brazil, to meet, with a prompt and legal remedy, the evils that afflict the country, and seeing the urgent and indispensable necessity of some legislative measures which remain pending, and of others, which the critical circumstances in which Brazil is placed call for, I have resolved to convoke an extraordinary session of the General Assembly, in order that it may discuss those subjects which I had thought fit to point out to it in the speech from the throne."

The ascendancy which the Federalist party at Buenos Ayres had obtained over those who were styled Unitarians, remained undisturbed in the capital itself. The forces of Lavalle, who had been the head of the latter, were disarmed and dispersed, and that

leader himself retired from the city. Whatever heartburnings and revilings there might be, there was, in the city, no actual outrage or conflict. Rosas, the chief of the successful faction, and one of whose gravest charges against his antagonist Lavalle, had been the putting of general Dorrego to death, without even a court martial, applied, when he thought it necessary or useful, the same principles of government, as the head of the republican province of Buenos Ayres. An officer of the name of Monteros had fallen under suspicion of plotting against the ruling powers. Rosas sent for him, ordered one of his aides-de-camp to escort him under arrest to the barrack, and at the same time gave to Monteros a paper for the commanding officer there, which, in fact, contained an order for his execution. Arrived at the barrack, Monteros delivered the despatch to the officer in command (a brother of the governor). He was seized, and it was notified to him that he must prepare for immediate execution, and he was accordingly shot. This act was defended upon the plea of the critical state of the country-that delay was full of peril-that if the criminal had been brought to trial, accomplices must have been named, and other disclosures made, fatal to the interests of the country

that the governor had been invested by the legislature with extraordinary powers, which he had, in this case, used against a rebel, who was intriguing with the friendly Indians to make war upon Buenos Ayres, and plotting with all the discontented to overthrow the government, and plunge the country again into anarchy-that the proofs against him were positive, and that the most prudent method the go

vernor could take was, to order his instant execution. Lavalle could have made at least as good a defence for shooting Dorrego, who, moreover, had been seized in arms.

In some of the other provinces, the fortunes of the Federalists were less prosperous. We have mentioned in our annals of last year, that Cordova, the capital of the province of the same name, had declared for the Unitarians; that general Paz, after expelling its Federal governor Bastos, had taken the field, and defeated the army of the latter party, commanded by Quiroga. Quiroga retired to Mendoza and St. Juan, where he collected his scattered troops, and drew together about 2,000 men, with whom he again marched to invade Cordova. The peasantry of the province rose, at the same time, against the Unitarians, and had several rencontres with the troops of Paz, not very bloody, and generally ending favourably for the latter.

The government of Buenos Ayres sent commissioners to the scene of conflict, to offer its mediation between the contending parties. The commissioners, being Federalists, could scarcely be impartial. Paz soon detected their strong leaning towards their partisan, Quiroga, and determined not to trust them, while he amused them with the hope of a successful issue. Quiroga had advanced into the province. Paz refused the commissioners a passport to join him, unless he evacuated the province; but ultimately allowed them to proceed towards Quiroga's camp, with a message, giving the latter two hours to decide on evacuating the province of Cordova, or putting an end to the negotiation. With the two hours' respite in their pockets, the commissioners pro

ceeded to Quiroga. Paz, with all his force, followed quietly; and while Quiroga and the commissioners were, next morning, beginning to copy, in due form, the rough draft of a despatch, refusing Paz's terms, he attacked them, chased Quiroga off the field, dispersed his cavalry, and took all his infantry, artillery, waggon-train, horses, oxen, mules, and moneychest. The engagement, or rather the surprise, took place on the 25th of February. According to Paz's official account, Quiroga's loss amounted to 1,200 prisoners; among them one general and four superior officers; fifty officers killed; eight pieces of artillery, 700 stand of arms, a large quantity of swords, lances, and ammunition, ninety-six carts, 2,000 head of black cattle, 3,000 mules, a great number of horses, flour, wine, baggage, and some gold and silver. The loss of the Unitarians was estimated at thirty men, including one lieutenant-colonel, and two captains, killed.

This occurrence had, at least, the good effect of putting a stop to bloodshed. Quiroga returned disconsolate to Buenos Ayres. The remains of his army, which were again collected under colonel Villafane, entered into a capitulation with the victor, obliging themselves to retire to their different provinces, and lay down their arms; and the governments of the provinces which were in arms against Cordova and her allies, sent deputies to meet those of Cordova, in order to regulate the peace of the interior.

The finances continued to get deeper and deeper into confusion. On the 1st of December, 1829, the deficiency of the revenue to meet the expenditure, had been greater,

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