title: a stranger to prejudice, vanity, and adulation, he can feel and acknowledge the supremacy of the Law, and be penetrated with the undoubted truth, that in the love of the People is the felicity of the Prince, and in the kindness of the Prince the happiness of the People.

Let this, therefore, be the glorious foundation of your choice! And as you, my Fellow-Citizens, appreciate the motives which have prompted my acceptance of your favour, at so great a sacrifice of inclination, let me invite you to co-operate with me, so that the Imperial Authority may be constantly directed to the Publick Weal; to the repulse of all dangers which may threaten it, and to the aggrandisement of the Empire. Above all, be persuaded of the very tender affection and cordiality with which the wishes of the Nation are gratified by

AUGUSTIN.

DECREE of the Emperor Augustin de Iturbide, dissolving the Congress of Mexico, and establishing a Representative Junta of Government.-31st October, 1822. (Translation.) His Majesty the Emperor has been pleased to issue the following Decree :

Augustin, by Divine Providence, and by the Congress of the Nation, first Constitutional Emperor of Mexico, and Grand Master of the Imperial Order of Guadaloupe, to all those who shall hear and see the present, know :-That, from the moment that I proclaimed at Iguala the Independence and Liberty of the Mexican Nation, I be came the centre of the general opinion of all the Towns and Provinces; and that I contracted the obligation of bringing to a conclusion that glorious enterprize. I succeeded in this by the Divine aid, and the efforts of the gallant Army, which, under my orders, left nothing undone for the fulfilment on its part of the general wish, it having, together with me, constituted itself a guarantee for consolidating the Representative Government which I promised in the Plan, published at Iguala, and which was ratified by the subsequent Treaty of Cordova. I have religiously performed my promise. The Nation trusted that the Constituent Congress would dictate wise Laws for the organization of the Government, and the felicity of the Empire: such was the expectation of all the People; but melancholy experience has shewn that, far from fulfilling its duties with exactness, the Congress entered into questions quite foreign to its institution, exceeding, from the very moment of its installation, the powers confided to the Deputies by the Provinces ; arrogating to itself titles and attributes which do not belong to it; and looking with a cold indifference upon the wants of the State, the administration of Justice, the condition of the Employés, and the misery, which it has employed by every means to aggravate, of the Army; notwithstanding that many of the Deputies endeavoured to dissuade it from such proceedings.

I have exhausted all the means of prudence, of moderation, and of lenity, in order to induce the Congress to see the path which it ought to follow; but, blind in its ideas, and unwilling to enter upon the consideration of the publick evils, it wishes that the Nation may remain still longer without a Constitution, for it has not yet framed one; it has neglected to organize the Financial System; the Army is naked and ill paid; the Judges and Employés are full of misery, their salaries being unpaid; and, in short, the Nation is suffering the greatest evils, which are precipitating it to its ruin, and crimes are daily increasing, so as to excite the greatest apprehension.

Being responsible for the completion of the work which I commenced, and which the Nation unanimously confided to ine, I cannot permit that it shall be ruined by the evils which are obvious to every one; I have therefore resolved upon the following Decree, which has been already executed, but which, for the information of the Nation, I command to be published by proclamation in this Capital, and in the Cities, Towns, and Villages of the Empire.

Augustin, by Divine Providence, and the Congress of the Nation, &c. &c. to all those who shall see and hear the present, know: That I took upon myself to establish the Independence of our Country; that the performance of this undertaking is to see it accomplished; that until this happen, I am responsible for the result; that it is unattainable, because the Constituent Congress has not performed its duties with the activity which the critical circumstances of the Nation require.

In order, therefore, to liberate it from the great evils with which it is threatened, it is necessary to adopt energetic measures for the attainment of this important object. Of this description are the following, which, after consulting respecting them with Persons of intelligence, virtue, and patriotic zeal, I have determined upon and decree:

1. The Congress shall be dissolved from the moment that this Decree shall be notified to it.

2. The National Representation, until a new Congress shall assemble, shall be continued in a Junta, consisting of 2 Deputies for each of the Provinces which has returned a greater number, and 1 for each of the other Provinces, together with 8 Substitutes, who shall be named by Me.

3. The labours to which this Junta is to dedicate itself, shall be described in a particular Regulation.

4. The Deputies who are not to belong to the Junta, previously to their leaving the Capital, shall give information of their wish to the Government, through the Political Chief; and during their stay, unless they be permanent Residents in the same, they shall apply to the General Treasury for their daily Allowance.

5. The Commissioner entrusted with the execution of this Decree,

shall take charge of the Secretary's Office, in order that no Paper whatever may be withdrawn from the same; and the Secretaries shall deliver up the Papers now under their charge, and shall collect those which are in the different Committees, for the purpose of delivering them up, on the 2d of the next Month, to the Junta, with the corresponding explanations.

6. The Junta shall assemble, in order to enter upon its functions, on the 2d of November, the Deputy who has attained the greatest age presiding over it, ad interim, until I shall present myself, when the formal Election, conformably to the Regulations, shall be proceeded upon.

[THE IMPERIAL SIGNATURE.] You will take charge of the fulfilment of this Decree, and you will direct that it be printed, published, and circulated. Mexico, 31st October, 1822.

DON JOSE HERRERA.

DECREE of the Supreme Protector of Peru, declaring certain Ports of the Republick in a state of Blockade.— Lima, 15th October, 1821. (Translation.)

THE PROTECTOR OF PERU.

THE Supreme Government being established, and the Independence of Peru having been proclaimed by the greater part of the People, from the moment they could unite their suffrages with those of the Liberating Army; it is one of my duties, conformably to the Oath which I have taken to defend the integrity of the Territory, to take every measure which may conduce to fulfil the universal desire of all who have groaned under oppression.

Wherefore, the Intendancy of Arequipa, which forms an integral part of the Peruvian State, being still occupied by the Enemy's Force, contrary to the wish and opinion of the Inhabitants, I have been induced to declare, in the exercise of the Authority with which I am invested, and of the right of War which renders it necessary, that:

ART. I. The Ports and Creeks comprehended between the parallels of 15° and 22° 30′ South, from the Port of Caballas or Nasca to that of Cobija, both included, shall be considered in a state of rigorous Blockade, so soon as the Peruvian Ships of War, destined to render it effective, and which are nearly ready to sail, shall arrive on that Coast.

II. This Declaration will be considered as sufficiently notified to all friendly or neutral Powers, at the periods specified in the following Article, after which, no traffick can be carried on with the beforementioned Ports, except under the responsibility which the Rights of Nations impose in the event of any infraction thereof.

III. The term of 8 Months is fixed for European Nations, the United States of America, and the Ports of Africa; that of 4 Months for the Brazils and the Rio de la Plata; and 2 Months for Chili and Colombia. The term is extended to 12 Months for the European Establishments of Asia and the Eastern Coast of Africa.

IV. From the day on which the destined Force shall render the Blockade effective, no Ship belonging to friendly or neutral Nations can enter the beforementioned Ports; and the Commanding Officer of the Blockade will notify its existence to those who may arrive before them, according to the verification thereof on the back of the Licence of the Ship, in order that, should it afterwards attempt to enter a blockaded Port, it may be sent to Callao, and be judged accordingly.

V. Every Ship which shall arrive at the said blockaded Ports, after the expiration of the term respectively pointed out in the IIId Article, and which shall have on board Articles, contraband of War, such as Arms, Ammunition, Warlike Stores, Provisions, Naval Stores, and other Supplies which might contribute to the defence of the Enemy, and the continuance of the War, shall be sent to the Port of Callao, to be judged according to the Law of Nations.

VI. Vessels arriving at the said Ports without the necessary Documents, or with simulated ones, are subject to the foregoing Article.

VII. The Minister of State of the Marine Department is charged with communicating this Decree to the Commanders of the Neutral Forces which may be in these Seas, and to whomsoever else it may

concern.

Protectorial Palace in Lima, 15th October, 1821.

By Command of His Excellency,
B. MONTEAGUDO.

JOSE DE SAN MARTIN.

CIRCULAR of the Minister for Foreign Affairs at Lisbon, to the Portuguese Ministers at Foreign Courts, relative to the Departure of the Sardinian Chargé d'Affaires.-4th May, 1822. (Translation.)

M. AVOGADRO, late Chargé d'Affaires of Sardinia at this Court, having, by His Majesty's Command, received his Passports to retire from this Kingdom, it is necessary that you be informed of the circumstances of this fact, so as to be enabled to rectify any false rumour that may be spread abroad upon the subject.

As soon as it was known at this Court, through our Ministers residing at the Courts of Vienna, Naples, and Turin, that those Govern

ments had declared to them, that, although they did not hesitate still to recognize them as Ministers of His Most Faithful Majesty, they having been nominated previously to the 24th of August, 1820, yet that they were determined not to admit any others, who, by virtue of a nomination subsequent to that period, might be sent to replace them; because they had resolved by common consent not to recognize the new order of things, nor the actual Government existing in Portugal,His Majesty then ordered, not only that the said Ministers should imme diately retire from those Courts, but also that the Consuls of Portugal, residing in the Ports of the respective Countries, should suspend the exercise of their functions, so long as those Governments should persist in the strange pretension of constituting themselves Arbiters of the internal government of this Kingdom; since the powers of the said Consuls must necessarily cease to exist in the opinion of those Governments, so soon as they considered illegitimate the Government from which they held their patents. But, that Commerce might not suffer from these political differences, the Government caused it to be declared to all the Custom-houses of the United Kingdom, that the want of legalization by our Consuls, of the Papers of such Ships as should enter our Ports, coming from those Countries, should occasion no obstacle to their dispatch, but that they should be treated in all respects as Ships coming from Ports where no Portuguese Consuls reside, in which case it is sufficient that the Papers be presented, duly legalised by the Local Authorities.

At the same time, His Majesty determined that the Chargé d'Af faires of Sardinia, residing at this Court, should no longer be considered as a Diplomatick Agent, although he might reside therein as long as should be agreeable to him, as a private Individual.

A few months after this communication made to M. Avogadro, he, having received from Hamburgh various articles forwarded to him, applied for an Order for their delivery at the Custom-house free of duty, according to the usual practice with respect to Foreign Ministers. This demand was acceded to without hesitation, because, although no longer invested with a diplomatick character, it was evident that he had ordered the goods at a period when he still exercised at this Court the functions of Chargé d'Affaires, and that therefore it was not right that an act practised in good faith should redound to his prejudice. The following Order was accordingly transmitted to him:

"The King, through the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, commands the Administrator-General of the Principal Custom-house of Lisbon, to cause to be delivered, free of duty, to Augustus Avogadro, a Case, set forth in the accompanying Bill of Lading, countersigned by J. P. M. de Carvalho e Brito, Secretary in this Foreign Office, which has been forwarded to him from Hamburgh, on board the Ship Cuxhaven, J. Meyer, Master; the said Case having been ordered by him