DECLARATION of Independence, of The United THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED PROVINCES OF Whereas the National Constituent Assembly of the said Provinces has decreed as follows: The Representatives of the United Provinces of Central America, assembled by virtue of the Convocation issued from this City on the 15th September, 1821, and renewed on the 29th March of the present Year, for the important object of deciding on the Independence and Liberty of the People we represent-upon their reciprocal Union-upon their Government-and upon the other Points contained in the memorable Act of the said 15th September, which was then adopted by the majority of the inhabitants of this extensive Territory, and to which all the rest have since adhered, who are now represented in this General Assembly: After examining, with all the care and consideration which are required by the delicacy and importance of the Objects on which we are called together, the said Acts of September, 1821, and of the 5th January, 1822; and also the Decree of the Provisional Government of this Province, dated the 29th of March last; with all other Documents relating to the specific Objects of our assembling: Having before us all the information necessary to ascertain the state of the population, riches, resources, local situation, extent, and other circumstances of the People who occupy the Territory formerly called the Kingdom of Guatemala: And having discussed the subject, and received the Reports of the different Commissions which have laboured to collect and present to this Assembly all possible information on the above Points; considering all that may be necessary to the establishment of a New State: and also considering:— First-That Independence of the Spanish Government has been and is necessary in the situation of that Nation, and that of all the Nations of America; that it was and is just in itself, and essentially consonant to the sacred rights of nature; that it was imperiously demanded by the lights of the Age, the necessities of the New World, and all the dearest interests of the People who inhabit it: That Nature itself resists the dependence of this part of the Globe, sepa rated by an immense Ocean from that which was its Metropolis, and with which it is impossible to maintain the immediate and frequent communication indispensable between the People of the same State. That the experience of more than three hundred Years has convinced America that Her felicity was altogether incompatible with the nullity to which She was reduced by the sad condition of a Colony to a small part of Europe: That the arbitrary manner in which She was governed by the Spanish Nation, and the conduct always pursued by It since the Conquest, excited in the People the most ardent desire to re-conquer their usurped rights. That, impelled by these just sentiments, all the Provinces of America threw off the yoke which had oppressed them for the space of three Centuries: That those of the ancient Kingdom of Guatemala gloriously proclaimed their Independence towards the close of 1821; and that the determination to preserve and maintain it is the general and uniform resolve of all its Inhabitants. Secondly-Considering also, that the incorporation of these Provinces with the extinguished Mexican Empire, was effected, only de facto, at the end of 1821 and the beginning of 1822, and was a hasty decision extorted by vicious and illegal means. That it was neither granted nor pronounced, by legitimate organs or means: That in consequence the National Representatives of the Mexican State never expressly accepted it, nor could of right accept it; and that the orders dictated and expedited by Don Augustin Iturbide, respecting this Union, are null. That the said Union was, and is, contrary to the interests and sacred rights of the People we represent, and opposed to their will, and that the concurrence of circumstances so powerful and irresistible, requires that the Provinces of the ancient Kingdom of Guatemala should be constituted of themselves, and separately from the Mexican State. We, therefore, the Representatives of the said Provinces, in their names, with their authority, and conformably to their wishes, solemnly declare: "1. That the said Provinces, represented in this Assembly, are free and Independent of Old Spain, of Mexico, and of every other Power, whether in the Old or the New World, and that they are not, and ought not to be, the patrimony of any Person or Family. "2. That in consequence they are, and form, a Sovereign Nation, with the Right freely to exercise and enjoy such Acts, Contracts, and Functions as are exercised and enjoyed by the other Free People of the Earth. "3. That the above-named Provinces represented in this Assembly, and the others of those forming the Ancient Kingdom of Guatemala, which shall spontaneously unite themselves, shall, henceforth, without prejudice to the Constitution about to be formed, be called, The United Provinces of Central America. "And we command that this Declaration, and the Act of our Installation, shall be published with due solemnity in this Town of Guatemala, and in all and each of the Towns represented in this Assembly; and that they be printed and circulated; that they be communicated to the Provinces of Leon, Granada, Costarica, and Chiapas; and that they be communicated to the Governments of Spain and Mexico, and to the other Independent States of both Americas, in the form and manner which may be determined upon." Given in Guatemala, 1st July, 1823. [Here follow the Signatures of forty-three Deputies.] Let this be communicated to the Supreme Executive Power, to be printed, published, and circulated.—Guatemala, July 10, 1823. JOSE MATIAS DELGADO, President. JUAN FRANCISCO SOSA, Deputy Secretary. By the Supreme Executive Authority. We therefore Order it to be obeyed, fulfilled, and executed, in all its Parts. The Secretary of Dispatch is required to cause it to be printed, pub lished, and circulated. National Palace of Guatemala, July 11, 1823. PEDRO MOLINA, President. JUAN VICENTE VILLA-CORTA. ncome of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ;-for the Year ended 5th Jan. 1824. 4,105,182 7 13 1,637,410 14 64 5,742,593 1 8 51,508,376 9 0 4,105,182 7 1 1,637,410 14 64 5,742,593 1 8 57,672,999 8 44 2.821,184 2 6 66,236,776 12 62 2,400,000 00 2,400,000 00 4,105,182 7 1 1,637,410 14 64 5,742,593 1 8 60,072,999 8 4 2,821,184 2 6 68,636,776 12 6 This Account is formed by adding the Totals of the Account for Great Britain, No. 2, to the Totals of the Account for Ireland, No. 3. [1823-24.] J. C. HERRIES. 3 L No. 2.-An Account of the Ordinary Revenues and Extraordinary Resources, constituting Pu TOTAL INCOME including BALANCES CE Amount of Saving on the Third Money received from the East Totals exclusive of Loans £2,714,500 0 1162,884,180 1 11 3,948,171 12 51 TOTALS of the Public Income of Great Britain, including Loans 2,714,500 0 165,134,180 1 11 3,948,171 12-53 61,186,008 9 51 63,900,508 92 Whitehall, Treasury Chambers, 11th March, 1824, |