by the acquittal of the General on his trial at Paris, and by a still less suspicious declaration, the Austrian official account of the engagement.

After the fall of Robespierre, Miranda was released from prison, and was consulted by the leaders of the Modérés on various questions of war and internal regulation. His opinion on one of the most important of these discussions, having been fortunately published in the shape of a pamphlet, has been preserved, and is the paper which, of all that are contained in the present volume, has afforded us the greatest satisfaction. It was intitled Opinion du Général Miranda sur la situation actuelle de la France, and embraces two great considerations,the establishment of a constitution for France, and the conclusion of a a peace with its neighbours. We extract some of its most interesting passages:

'Constitution-In truth, to aim at peace, is to aim at the establishment of a regular government, and vice versa. Foreign powers will place no dependence on the treaties which we conclude with them, as long as one faction, taking the place of another, may cancel the act of its predecessor. It is only by a judicious division of power that stability is given to a government. The constituted authorities

are then rendered the guardians of each other, each being interested in the support of the constitution in virtue of which they exist: but if all power be united in a single body, a part of this body will find itself enabled to arrogate the whole authority; and a faction has only to point its batteries against this, the then sovereign power, in order to accomplish a revolution. The 31st of May and the 9th of Thermidor both allowed the same Convention to continue in existence, although both changed the appearance of the government; the fact was, the power was only put into different hands; and to this fatal confusion of powers the hideous tyranny of Robespierre owed its existence.

Two conditions are indispensable to complete independence in the powers of the State: the first that there be only a single source from which they emanate; the second that they exercise a mutual vigilance over each other. The people would not be sovereign, if one of the constituted powers which represent it did not

emanate from it; and there would be no independence if the one created the other. If, for example, you were to vest in the Legislative body the power of naming the members of the Executive, it would exercise a fatal influence on them, and political liberty would be at an end. Or, were they to have the nomination of the judges, they would interfere with the impartiality of judicial decisions, and an end would be put to civil liberty. Accordingly, in England, where the executive power possesses great influence in the legislature, political liberty suffers considerable diminution: but the judicial power, though elected by the executive, is independent of its fatal influence, because juries are named from among the people, and because the judges are not liable to be removed. Civil liberty has thus been preserved entire in England.'

'Peace. The confidence which foreign powers will have in our new government will be the surest means of leading to conferences, which will at last give peace to Europe and tranquillity to the state; but it is incumbent on us to proclaim aloud the principles of justice and mode. ration which will henceforward regulate France, now that she has recovered her liberty. Justice is the consolidation of a state; leagues are formed by nations against an usurping people, as naturally as among the inhabitants of a country against an usurping individual. The thirst of conquest is unworthy of a republic founded on the respect due to the rights of man, and on the sublime maxims of philosophy. The Cæsars, the Alexanders, and their imitators, would be dangerous citizens of such a state; the peaceable philosopher, and the upright magistrate, nagistrate are men much more necessary for her, since they are of service to her on all occasions.

'The extent of France offers means more than sufficient for the defence of its liberty and independence; and additional acquisitions would only add to the embarrassments of a government already very complicated, in a country of vast extent, and desirous of remaining a democracy. Such acquisitions would afford her no profit, and would only excite against her the jealousy of all her neighbours. To make a formal disavowal of all ambitious claims, and to declare that France will confine herself to her ancient limits, with the addition of some fortresses netained for the purpose of giving security to our frontier, and preserving it from insult; such ought to be the first diplomatic proceedings of the new French

government; and, since its maxim is to permit no foreign interference in its internal affairs, it should lay down a rule also to avoid interference in the affairs of other countries.

• Luxemburg, Mons, Tournay, Nieuport, Kaisers-Lautern, Germesheim, and some other places in the same line, will give us a much stronger frontier than if we were to extend it all the way to the Rhine. The Alps, the Pyrenees, and the sea should form the other limits of France: the rule being, when mountains constitute the barrier, to take the course of the descent of streams as the line of demarcation. The inhabitants of the country between our country and the Rhine should be declared free and independent, friends and allies of the French people. They will thus form a double barrier to us, guarding us against all unforeseen attacks; and their independence being guaranteed by France, as well as by the other powers, their tranquillity may be safely pre

sumed. In that case, under French protection, we may expect to see the enjoyment of liberty produce among that simple and industrious population an acquisition of happiness and prosperity, similar to that which was exemplified in the case of Holland.

'A peace founded on such a basis would repair in some measure the injuries which the French have committed on mankind. It would remedy all the bad effects of the treaty of Westphalia, and would give the protestant part of Germany that influence to which it is entitled by its extensive information, and its attachment to the true principles of liberty. It would render the result of this war as beneficial to humanity, as that of former wars have been fatal to it.

Tunc gens humanum positis sibi consulat armis Inque vicem gens omnis amet. VIRG. On the revolution of the 4th September 1797, which confirmed the usurpation of the Directory, and banished Carnot, Barthélémi, and the other enlightened characters who were connected with the French government, Miranda was included in the proscription: but not being put under arrest, he found means, a few months afterward, to make his way to England, where he was favourably received by Mr. Pitt. This country being then at war with Spain, and the Spanish Americans having given

fresh proofs of their anxiety for independence, a plan was projected for combining the forces of Britain with those of the United States, in the prosecution of this important enterprize. In spring 1798, the preparations were so far advanced, and General Miranda was so full of expectation, that he thus wrote to his American friend, General Hamilton, who afterward fell in a duel with Burr: " It appears that the moment of our emancipation approaches, and that the establishment of liberty throughout the continent of the new world is intrusted to us by Providence. The only danger, in my apprehension, will be from the introduction of French principles, which would poison our liberty at its birth, and end by overturning yours." For the particulars of the arrange

ment at that time in forwardness, Miranda referred his correspondent to a person who was about to proceed from England to America. Hamil

ton's answer was as follows:

'Sir,

New-York, Aug. 22, 1798.

'I have lately received, by duplicates, your letter of the 6th of April, with a postscript of the 9th of June. The gentleman you mention in it has not made his appearance to me, nor do I know of his arrival in this country; so that I can only divine the object from the hints in your letter.

The sentiments I entertain with regard to that object have been long since in your knowledge; but I could personally have no participation in it, unless patronized by the government of this country. It was my wish that matters had been ripened for a co-operation in the course of this fall, on the part of this country; but this can now scarce be the case. The winter, however, may mature the project, and an effectual co-operation by the United States may take place. In this case I shall be happy, in my official station, to be an in

strument of so good a work.

The plan, in my opinion, ought to be a fleet of Great Britain, an army of the United States-a government for the liberated territories, agreeable to both the co-operators, about which there will be probably no difficulty. To arrange the plan, a competent authority from Great Britain to some person here, is the best

expedient. Your presence here will, in this case, be extremely essential.

We are raising an army of about 12,000 men. General Washington has resumed his station at the head of our armies; I am appointed second in command.

With esteem and regard I remain,
Dear Sir,

Your very obedient servant,
(Signed)
A. Hamilton."

The project, however, of combining England and America in this enterprize, was destined to the same abortive fate as the preceding attempts. It was suspended, and ultimately given up; and a subsequent plan, intended for execution in 1801, by the forces of England alone, was relinquished in consequence of the signature of the preliminaries of peace with France. On the resumption of hostilities with Spain in 1804, the plan was again under consideration: but the coalition of 1805 absorbing both the attention of our ministers and the disposable force of the country, Miranda was induced to proceed to the United States, in the hope of deriving advantage from the disputes which were then depending between them and Spain on the subject of Louisiana. On his arrival, however, in America, he found that the difference was accommodated; that he could expect no aid from the government of the United States, and must either desist from any attempt, or embark in it with the limited means supplied by a few private individuals. Stimulated by the ardent representations of the refugees from Caraccas, who were settled in North America, he adopted the latter alternative, and made the attempt: but his force, unassisted as it was by the British, proved altogether inadequate. For a particular account of this enterprize, we refer our readers to our number for March, 1809, Vol. Iviii. After his failure, Miranda repaired to Trinidad, where he remained till he was recalled to England in the end of 1807. To judge from the preparations which succeeded his return to

this country, the ministry appeared to be more zealous in the design than any of their predecessors; yet, by a fatality peculiar to this project, the revolution in Spain broke out at the moment when an English expedition for America was ready, and gave a new direction to our forces. After Spain rose up in arms against Buonaparte, in course all hostile ideas on the part of Great Britain towards her colonies were abandoned; and the only documents, subsequent to that event, with which the present volume presents us, are Miranda's correspondence from London with the leading men of Spanish America. Of that correspondence, the most remarkable feature is its accuracy of prediction in regard to the issue of the contest in Old Spain; Miranda never appearing to have indulged those sanguine hopes of successful resistance to the military power of Buonaparte, which at one time were so general among our countrymen.

The policy now observed by our ministry, in regard to the efforts of the Spanish Americans to shake off the connection with the mother-country, appears to be that of complete impartiality. The dread of weakening the antipathy of the Spaniards to Buonaparte, and a solicitude to act up with the strictest fidelity to our treaties with the junta, have operated as paramount considerations, and have induced our government to forego for a season the splendid advantages which the emancipation of these colonies holds forth to our commerce: but of the real wishes of the enlightened part of our countrymen, whether in or out of office, we can have only one opinion; all must desire an early termination of that discouraging and degrading servitude, which has so long prevented the finest portion of the globe from attaining the enjoyment of internal prosperity, and from distributing a rich surplus of produce to the eastern hemisphere. We believe that it is very far from the language of exaggeration to say that Spanish America would make a greater progress in art and science, in population, agriculture, and trade, in the course of thirty years of independence, than she has effected in the three hundred during which she has been subject to the monopoly of Old Spain. No system could have been more calculated to arrest the progress of improvement. In Spain, the corruption of government was in some measure mitigated by existing vestiges of ancient liberty, and by the restraints of European civilization: but in America the reign of despotism was absolute, and the Catholic religion was made an engine for consolidating the duration of ignorance and blind submission. Under this system, as is the case under monopolies in general, it was seriously believed that the mother-country was a great gainer; and whenever the day of emancipation may arrive, we may expect to hear it asserted that the grandeur of Spain is at an end. It happened, however, that a similar prediction was made with regard to England after the independence of North America; yet the fact has been that not a year has since passed, in which our gains from the United States have not been greater than when those States were under our control. The cause is simply this: the possession of independence doubles and triples the productive powers of a country, and creates an equally rapid augmentation in the profits of those who trade with her:-but to give full scope to this course of prosperity, no political or commercial preferences must be shown to one nation above another. Even were England the sole agent in achieving the independence of Spanish America, it would be great impolicy on our part to lay claim to exclusive favours. To force the Americans to take from us any particular article of trade, which they can obtain cheaper elsewhere, would be to make them sacrifice a part of their capital, and lessen the amount which

VOL. VI.

they would afterward be enabled to buy from us in the proper line of our supply. Let us say, then, in the words of Talleyrand's valuable Essay on Colonies, "The dictates of mutual interest should be the only bond of connection; every other, between distant countries is delusive: let there be no compulsion, no monopoly; always a force to protect, but never a force to control." Were the trade of the southern colonies of America open, like that of the north, to all the world, the nations of Europe might run a race of competition, and England would take the lead in the one as speedily as she did in the other. If we examine the official returns of North American importations*, we shall find that, of the whole manufactures supplied by Europe, England alone furnishes three-fourths. Limited as would be the share of other countries in the South American trade when compared to that of England; such, however, would be the rapid increase of that trade in all directions, that the portion of each, separately considered, would soon become large; and the share of even Old Spain would, in all probability, be speedily greater under the invigorating system of free trade than it ever was in her days of monopoly. Every nation in the civilized world would thus be a gainer by the happy. passage of Spanish America from a state of thraldom to a state of independence.

With regard to the execution of this work, we must observe that the editor has aimed at little more than compilation; having contented himself with exhibiting documents, and seldom indulged in comments at length. We cannot approve the method adopted for the arrangement, but must acknowledge that we have been highly gratified by the interest of the papers themselves; many of which are of equal importance with those of which we have presented

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