The Sun.
London, England, 1817-12-20 00:00:00

'SPAIN AND HER COLONIES.

(Cputihued froirt Pie ()wirierly

. lii .'reviewing the events of the revolution in
South America, we cannot omit to notice the re-
cent death of General Miranda, the author and
the leader of tile first attempt to obtain its poli-
tical freedom; and it js impossible to mention
circumstances attending- his death, without
expressing the feelings of disgust and indignation,
'which in every civilized country they cannot fail
to excite. Betrayed by a treacherous atilierent to
the Spanish General with whOin he raid conducted
a -formal -capitulation, and in defiance.bf this
treaty '((vhieh contained on the. one :tide an etc-,
knowledgment of the anthority of the CoilLs,
and on the ()di:A. a complete,amnesty 'w all per-
sons in his army, nit bout exccpllol), he Was
COll V e yell to Spain, and after a rigorous confine-
ment of tour years, he expired ic. the pistol Of
La Caraca, near Cadiz. We have been informed,
but we trust that our information is incorrect,
that his domestics were prohibited by the monks
and clergy of the place •in which -he died from
giving the common tokens of respect to his re-
mains, and that. his effects were burnt, with every
mark of ignoMinY and contempt. Miranda un-
doubtedly possessed nue characteristic, perhaps
the most distinctive of a superior mind,--that of
having selected an elevated, and, in his opinion,
lin useful object of ambitious pursuit, and of
having devoted, with steady perseverance to the
successful attainment of it, his faculties, his for-
tune, and, his life. His sincerity in the cause
which be: had undertaken cannot be questitined,
for the last exertion be made for its success, and
which terminated in his own captivity and ti,eath,
was made against the advice of his wore prudent
friends ; when the affairs of VeneZuela, his nit-
tire country, were in the most desperate condi.;
tion, and. when the cause itself, for which be

made this sacrifice,. vas .not less endaoikred
,by
the treachery of its professed advocates, than by
the sttperior forces of the Spaniards. An imp Ar-,
tial observer of his career in America willdiseover
the taint of Jacybinical.principles which he hid
contracted in the service of•RevOlutionary Fronce.
He displayed them in his own cOnotry by an
awk ward imitation of the worst forms of the very
worst times of the French assemblies. ln tide
saute school, and amidst the contentions of rival
commanders for the supreme power of the Re-
public, he acquired the habits of irregular ambi-
tion, which exposed. hint to the jealousy and sus-
picion of his countrymen ; which sullied the 111.0-
tives of his conduct and checked the career of his
success in a cause of which his talents, his know-
ledge, and his experience, would hate entitled
him to be a leader.

It is with pain that we have remarked the pe-
culiarly lawless and sanguinary nature of the warin all the Z.,pAnisli colonies. No civil war of an-
cient or modern 'times can altoiil a parallel to

these atrocities; .and the.cruelties of the Indian
allies in the war of North America, exaggerated
as they were by writers on both sides of the
question, would sink in the comparison. Not
Only the common and conventional laws. Of Da-
-1 ions, but the common feelings of human nature,
are outraged and despised,—the murder of pri-
SolletS, the perfidious violation of tieaties„ the
unprovoked massacre of defenceless inhabitants,
seem to hiue hcen the ordinary resources of war
to both the contending parties. We have seen a
proclamation published by General Bolivar, at
Oeu»ire, in July, 1816, in ‘vhien he cOrumands;
' that no European tipaniariJsball be pt-,t to death,
excepting in battle ; that to those who shall sur-
render pardon shall be given, though Spaniurds
and that the war of death shall crave.' For the
honour. of mankind, to be hoped that he will.
persevere in hunranizing the mode of warfare, in
which the belligerents had indulged their irritated
passions. But it must be observed, that the ex-
ample of humanity would have come with a better
glace from those, whose obvious policy it is to
conciliate, and who lay claim to a higher degree
of civilization. It would have becOme the mo-
ther country to .practise, in America the laws of
civilized war, which she has learnt in Europe.

To attempt an historical narrative of the events
of the war, 'would be to hazard our own cha-
racter for veracity :—for stick are the acrimony
and violence which pervade the official docnmen:s
on both sides, so completely have their contra-
dictory relations succeeded in Perverting or ob-
scuring the truth, that we cannot pretend ,to
more than to sketch an outline of such recent
transactions as are too notorious to be concealed,
and too authentic to be misrepresented.
From the articles in ,Mr. Thompson's transla-
tion of Aleed&s Dictionary (in which
,the impar-
tiality of the narrative is not less to be admired
than the variety and accuracy of the general in-
forinafion), and from the Outline of the Revo-
lution in Spanish America,' a correct .notion of
these events en a late period may be collected.
The latter work is evidently written by a person
who haS enjoyed access to the best sources of in-
formation, and has ..probably been himself en-
gaged in sonic of the transactions which he has
-(kscribed;—the,general bias of the author is in
tarour of the colonists, but lie does not endeavour.
to conceal the miscondnct of their leaders, to
magnify their victories, or to diminish those of
the Spaniards.
The provinces Of Venezuela and of New Gra-.
nada have constantly preserved some connexion
in their operations, though governed by separate
and independent congresses ; they • were entirely
tree, until the earthquake, which in Match, 1612,
destroyed the towns of La Guayra, ;Merida, and
carachS ; and tinder their. ruins crushed many

thousands of the inhabitants, and buried the stores
of arms and ammunition destined for the service.
of their arillits. This tremendous calamity oc-
curved on Holy Thursday ; and the impression,
which one of the most solemn rites of the Ca-
tholic religion mak cs7at, all times on rite supersti-
tions population of the Spanish colonies, Was-ag-
gravated by the recollection that it was the anni-
versary of their revolution. Of this circumstance
the priests in the interest of the. Royalists took
advantage, and contusion and despondency wrn e
introduced into the affairs. of the republic. 'Ali,
randa, having been appointed dictator, was, after
a brave and skilful resistance, obliged to propOse
a capitulation to the Spanish General Munteverde,