my hand, sealed with the Provisional Seal of the Republick, and countersigned by the Ministers Secretaries of State. (L.S.) SIMON BOLIVAR. PEDRO BRICENO MENDEZ, Minister of Marine and War. PEDRO GUAL, Minister of Finance and of Foreign Relations. DIEGO B. URBANEJA, Minister of the Interior and of Justice. DECREE respecting the publication, &c. of the Constitution of Colombia.-20th September, 1821. (Translation.) The General Congress of the Republick of Colombia, DESIROUS that the Constitution by them decreed and sanctioned on the 30th of last August, should be published and received by all Subjects of the Republick, with that solemnity which the importance of the object requires; Have thought proper to decree and hereby do decree; 1. An Original Copy of the Constitution, signed by all the Members present, shall be presented to the Executive Power, by a Deputation, composed of the Vice-President of the Congress and 5 of its Members. 2. The Executive Power shall affix at the bottom of it their Decree for the observance of the same, and order it to be printed, published, and circulated throughout the whole Territory of the Republick. 3. As soon as the Constitution shall have been received in each Town, the Judge or principal Authority of the Place shall appoint the 2 days on which the Publication and solemn reception of the Constitution are to take place, and announce the same to the Publick, at the same time ordering the whole of the Inhabitants to attend on the days appointed. 4. On the first day, the solemn publication of the Constitution shall be performed in the presence of all the Authorities, and the Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Military Functionaries in the Place, and with all the decorum, formality, and pomp, which the circumstances of each Town will permit. The whole of it shall be read in a loud voice in the most publick place, and the promulgation thereof being finished, the bells shall ring, salutes from the Artillery be fired, where this can be be done, and the ceremony attended with other demonstrations of publick rejoicing. 5. On the following day, all the Inhabitants shall attend at the parochial or principal Church, where a solemn Mass shall be celebrated; as an act of thanksgiving; and the Curate, or some other Ecclesiastic, shall pronounce a short exhortation, suitable to the object. After the Mass is ended, at the invitation of the principal political Magistrate, the Persons present shall, with one voice, take an Oath to maintain the Constitution, under the following form: "You swear by God and the Holy Evangelists, to obey, maintain, and support the Constitution of the Republick of Colombia, sanctioned by the first General Congress on the 30th day of August, 1821." To which the Persons present shall answer, this we swear; after which a Te Deum shall be performed. 6. The Heads of Departments, and Tribunals, of whatever class they may be, Governors, Justices, Municipalities, Very Reverend Archbishops and Bishops, Prelates, Ecclesiastical Chapters, Universities, Religious Communities, and all other Bodies, Publick Functionaries, and Officers, throughout the whole of the Republick, shall, at a proper time, take the Oath aforesaid, under the form above expressed, if they do not exercise jurisdiction or authority; and those who do exercise the same, under the following form: "You swear by God and the Holy Evangelists, to obey, keep, and maintain, and cause to be obeyed, kept, and maintained, the Constitution," &c. as in the preceding Article. In all the Cathedrals, Universities, Colleges, and Religious Communities, a Mass of thanksgiving shall be celebrated, together with a Te Deum, after the respective Bodies and Communities shall have taken the Oath before the Chiefs. 7. Wherever Military Divisions exist, the respective Chiefs shall appoint the days they may think proper, after the Constitution shall have been received, in order that, the Troops being drawn out in line, the same may be published in their presence: the whole shall then be read in a loud voice; and immediately afterwards the Commander, Officers, and Troops, shall take the Oath in front of the Banners of the Republick, in the form expressed in Article 5. 8. Of all the Publick Acts ordained by the present Law, a certified report shall be immediately transmitted to the Executive Power, which shall be authorized to demand those which may not have been forwarded to them in due time, and corresponding notice thereof shall also be given in the Gazettes. 9. The 2 days above specified shall be solemnized in all the Towns and Divisions of the Army, by festivals and publick rejoicings, in honour of the Fundamental Law and the Constitution, as is especially enjoined in the XIIth Article of the former. The above shall be communicated to the Executive Power for publication, and in order to a due compliance therewith. Done in the Palace of the General Congress of Colombia, in the Town of Rosario de Cúcuta, this 20th day of September, 1821.-11th Year of Independence. VICENTE AZUERO, President of the Congress. FRANCISCO SOTO, Deputy Secretary. ANTONIO JOSE CARO, Deputy Secretary. Palace of the Government of Colombia, in Rosario de Cúcuta, this 6th day of October, 1821. Let the same be executed, published, and circulated, together with the Constitution of the State, in order that the Authorities may carry into effect the publication thereof, conformably to the provisions of the present Decree. By the Liberator-President. SIMON BOLIVAR. DIEGO B. URBANEJA, Minister of the Interior. DECREE of the Prince Regent, for the Installation of the THE Salvation of the State urgently requiring the immediate Installation of the Council of Representatives General of the Provinces of Brazil, which I ordered to be created by my Royal Decree of the 16th February of the present Year, I am pleased to order those already elected, and here resident, to be convoked for Tomorrow, notwithstanding that those of one of the Provinces are wanting for the literal execution of the said Decree. Jozé Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva, of my Council of State, and Councillor of His Most Faithful Majesty, Don John the VIth, and my Minister and Secretary of State for the Affairs of the Kingdom of Brazil and for Foreign Affairs, will so understand it and cause it to be executed. Palace, 1st of June, 1822. [With the Initials of the Prince Regent.] JOZE BONIFACIO DE ANDRADA E SILVA. SPEECH of the Prince Regent to the Representatives General of Brazil, assembled in Council.-2nd June, 1822. (Translation.) ILLUSTRIOUS AND WORTHY REPRESENTATIVES, THE representations from San Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes, in which I was requested to remain in Brazil, also solicited the creation of a Council of State. I resolved to establish one, in the Form directed in my Royal Decree of the 16th February last, which Form was required by the 3 Provinces legally represented. I cannot describe the pleasure my soul felt, when those representations reached my Royal Presence, for then I knew that the wish of the People was not only useful, but necessary, to uphold the integrity of the Monarchy in general, but more especially of the Great Brazil, whose Son I am. My pleasure increased still more when I saw that the ideas of the People coincided with my pure, sincere, and cordial intentions; and, being desirous not to delay the benefits which such a measure promised, I ordered in the before mentioned Decree that, immediately that the Representatives of the 3 Provinces should be assembled, the Council should enter upon the exercise of its functions: this cannot however be carried into execution literally, the People having manifested, most unequivocally, their wish for a General Constituent and Legislative Assembly, as has been communicated to me by their Magistracies. Being, therefore, unwilling to delay, even for a single moment, and still less to fail in any thing that the People desire, the more especially as their wishes are so reasonable, and of such deep interest, not only to Brazil, but to the whole Monarchy; I am convinced that it is my duty to instal my Council of State from this moment, notwithstanding that the Representatives of the 3 Provinces are not assembled; in order that I might learn from such illustrious, worthy, and liberal Representatives, their opinion relative to our political situation, it being a matter that belongs to them as entirely popular, and of such great importance to the salvation of our Country, whilst threatened by Factions. It would be indecorous towards myself, as well as injurious to the Illustrious Representatives, to point out to them their duties: but if, without offence, however slight, to any one, I may be permitted to offer one single recommendation, I entreat them to advocate the cause of Brazil, in the manner they have lately sworn to, even should it be to my prejudice, (which I trust will never happen,) since for my Nation I am ready to sacrifice my Life, which is as nothing compared with the salvation of our Country. For the reasons laid before you, you will perceive the necessity which exists for this immediate Installation, upon which depends the honour, the glory, the salvation, of our Country, which is in the greatest danger. Illustrious Representatives, these are the sentiments which rule my soul, and also those that will govern yours: count upon me, not only as an intrepid Warrior, who for his Country will encounter all and every danger, but also as vour Friend, the Friend of the liberties of the People, and of the great, the fertile, and the most rich Brazil, by which I have been so much honoured, and am beloved. Do not believe, Illustrious Representatives, that what I have said is the result of deep thought, concealed in studied and deceitful words: No; it proceeds from my love for the Country, expressed in the language of the heart. Believe me. On the 2d of June, 1822. THE PRINCE REGENT. DECREE of the Prince Regent, convoking a General Constituent and Legislative Assembly for Brazil.—3d June, (Translation.) 1822. THE General Representatives of some of the Provinces of Brazil, already assembled in this City, and different Magistracies and People of other Cities, having represented to me how necessary and urgent it has become, for the maintenance of the integrity of the Portuguese Monarchy, and the proper dignity of Brazil, to convoke a Luso-Brazilian Assembly, which, being invested with that portion of the Sovereignty essentially inherent in the People of this great and rich Continent, shall settle the bases whereon is to be established the Independence which Nature has designed for it, and which it has already possessed, and its union with all the other integral Parts of the great Portuguese Family, which is so cordially desired; and, acknowledging on my part, the truth and the force of the reasons that have been expounded to me, and seeing no other mode of assuring the felicity of this Kingdom, of maintaining a just equality of rights between it and Portugal, without disturbing the peace which is so necessary to both, and so fitting to two Nations that are Brothers; I am pleased, with the advice of my Council of State, to order the convocation of a General Constituent and Legislative Assembly, to be composed of Deputies of the Provinces of Brazil, elected according to the Instructions to be settled in the Council, and which shall be published without delay. Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva, of my Council of State, and Councillor of His Most Faithful Majesty, Lord Don John the VIth, and my Minister and Secretary of State for the Kingdom of Brazil and Foreign Affairs, will so understand it, and cause it to be carried into effect with the necessary Orders. Palace, 3d June, 1822. [With the initials of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent.] JOSE BONIFACIO DE ANDRADA E SILVA. MANIFESTO of the Constitutional Prince Regent, and Perpetual Defender of Brazil, to the People, relative to the Independence of Brazil.-1st August, 1822. BRAZILIANS! (Translation.) THE time for deceiving Mankind is at an end. The Governments that still wish to found their power upon the pretended ignorance of the People, or upon ancient errors and abuses, will see the colossus of their greatness fall from the fragile base on which it was built in other times. From not thinking in this manner, it has happened, that the Cortes of Lisbon have driven the Provinces of the South of Brazil to shake off the yoke that was preparing for them. From not thinking in |