ever part of the globe, the subjugation of the Spanish American republics, he who shall direct the enterprise, will have to calculate, not only the maritime and naval forces of that section which he shall invade, but those of the entire mass of the confederates, to whom will probably be united Great Britain and the United States; he will have to calculate, not only that throng of interests, European and American, which he will be about to violate, in Peru, in Colombia, and in Mexico, but in all the northern and southern states of America, as far as the league of liberty shall extend; he will have to calculate, in short, the enthusiasm of an invaded people, the force of their passions, and the resources of their despair; besides the obstacles which the distance of two hemispheres interposes, the climate of our coasts, the rugged elevations of the Andes, and the deserts which interrupt in every direction the habitable superficies of our soil." I do not know that I have done justice to the above extract in my translation, but it is written in a spirit which seems to be general in the country, and which is not slightly to be outraged by any combination of despots, whose thrones are poised upon the point of the bayonet. Among other recent measures of General Bolivar, he has ordered a new congress to be assembled; and the previous election of the "electoral colleges," upon whom the subsequent clection of the deputies devolves, has already taken place. The deputies are to be apportioned among the different provinces, according to population, and the number will amount to eighty. Every citizen, either native or naturalized, is compelled to vote, under the penalty of perpetual disqualification afterwards; and a rather singular article of the election law provides, that "no one shall vote for himself." The majority, as in former congresses, will probably be the clergy, as the most influential, most intelligent, and best educated, if not the most virtuous part of the community. Amid all the shocks of the revolution, the power and influence of the holy clergy have not been touched. They have emerged from out the fiery furnace of this horrid war, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, without the smell of fire in their garments. It is true, that the old Spanish prelates either fled, or were banished from the country, in the early part of the revolution; but this only gave room for the promotion of the native clergy of Peru, once called its staple product. The archbishop of Lima, however, was invited, by a formal decree of a former congress, to return from Rio de Janeiro, whither he had been banished, and $10,000 voted to defray his expenses-but he unfortunately died before receiving this liberal invitation. I will not VOL. II. 40 detain you by detailing individual instances of the moral pollution of the clergy, but leave you to infer it from the fact, that the only religion of the country has degenerated into a gross superstition, and is entirely unconnected with either morals or virtue. In the preamble to the present constitution, it is declared, "that there can be no state, where there is no established religion;" and, accordingly, the "Holy Roman Catholic religion" is declared to be not only "the established religion of the state," but "to the exclusion of every other.". The late Sovereign congress, about one third of whom afterwards joined the Spaniards, (24 members,) and are now the victims of their folly and treason, in Callao, debated three days, whether the act of their installation should commence with the words"In the name of Almighty God," or "of the Most Holy Trinity;" and at a time, too, when the permanent head quarters of the Spanish army were within 45 leagues of the capital. The Spanish generals boasted, that from some of the members of the congress they received official duplicates of even the muster rolls of the two Patriot expeditions of Generals Alvarado and Santa Cruz, which were sent to the Intermedios. It is to be hoped that the new congress will be composed of wiser and better men. In addition to these unfavourable circumstances for the enjoyment of either civil or religious liberty, to wit, that the present government is, in form, a sheer military despotism, headed by a successful military chieftain, under the appalling title of dictator, and that the Roman Catholic religion is declared to be the exclusive religion of the state; I have to add, that there is at present no "liberty of the press." The two papers published here, are both under the immediate control of the government, and the principal one is owned by it, and is called the "Government Gazette." It contains little else besides the bandos, or public edicts, and scraps of foreign news, generally relating to the affairs of Spain. Nothing is published relative to political measures, and nothing is known concerning them, until they appear in the aforesaid bandos, which are read in the streets, at the head of a party of soldiers, and are afterwards posted up about the city. In this way are the laws for the whole of Peru promulgated; they have never been collected into a volume, are never reprinted, and are only to be found scattered through the gazettes; and more resemble the general orders of a commander in chief to his army, than the laws of a peaceful community, or indeed of any political association. They are frequently forgotten both by lawgivers and the peo ple, and are sometimes contradictory and inconsistent with each other. If, then, the present government of Peru is, in form, a military despotism, without freedom of conscience or of the press, where, it may be asked, are we to look for Peruvian liberty? The answer is a short one: in the will of the dictator, or in the womb of time. The fact is, that these countries have made but one step in the career on which they started, and that is, to independence of Spanish domination. This is an immense acquisition-the star of hope, at least, now beams brightly upon them; and when the present military spirit, engendered during a conflict of fourteen years, and which pervades the whole mass of South American society, shall have given way to that of peaceful industry, to agriculture, commerce, the exploration of mines, and to manufactures; when the civil arts of life shall succeed to the din of arms, and the present rulers of the states, who have been elevated to their situations by the accidents of war, by a reputation gained on the field of battle by courage or by chance, shall be succeeded by men, bred in the peaceful walks of life, men of talents, of education, and of unspotted integrity; in short, when the present generation shall have passed away, and been succeeded by the next, and the hereditary vices of the Spaniards eradicated from the soil which they have polluted so long, then, and not till then, may we look for Peruvian liberty. (To be continued.) THE NEW MOON. WHEN, as the gairish day is done, Few are the hearts too cold to feel The sight of that young crescent brings Thoughts of all fair and youthful things- And childhood's purity and grace, The captive yields him to the dream Most welcome to the lover's sight, And there do graver men behold And thoughts and wishes not of earth, Like that new light in heaven. B. [A friend and contributor has furnished us with the original letter from the Danish minister, Count Van der Naath, to the king of Spain, in relation to the ministry of Mr. Zea Bermudez. It is a curious and interesting document, from the pen of an extra-ultra royalist. It has not yet appeared in any of the public prints; and presuming it will be interesting to our readers, we subjoin a close translation, prefixing an extract from the letter already published in the newspapers, from the gentleman by whom this address was transmitted to this country. The writer is speaking of the representatives of the foreign powers:] "One only of the number took a different course, and this was the minister from Denmark, Count Van der Naath. He, probably without the least authority or instruction from his court, which does not in fact pretend to intermeddle in the internal concerns of other nations-a privilege reserved exclusively to two or three great powers, that claim a divine right to rule all other countries as well as their own-undertook, entirely of his own head, and from the mere motion of his superabundant zeal in the cause of the Altar and the Throne, to sustain and assist the party opposed to Mr. Zea. This he did at the moment when the conspiracy of Bessieres was in agitation, with so much warmth and so little discretion, that the minister, as was understood, became dissatisfied, and procured his recall, which in fact took place about this time. Piqued to the quick by this proceeding, the Danish minister determined, if possible, to have his revenge; and accordingly drew up a memoir upon the adınınistration of Mr. Zea, which he presented to the king in person, when he took leave. Copies of this document have been handed about in private circles, and I have succeeded in obtaining one, which I send you herewith. Though not a very powerful production, it is somewhat curious, as illustrating the views of its author and the party to which he belongs, upon the general politics of Europe. You will observe that his orthodoxy is of the very highest proof. Moderation with him is contemptible (pitoyable.) Messrs. de Villele and Pozzo di Borgo, who pass for ultras with the world at large, are no better than jacobins, I should be curious to know what name he would give to the nation's guest and Mr. Benjamin Constant. The count seems, in fact, to have wrought himself up into a complete frenzy-as was done by some of our own political partisans during the late struggles at home, and this from the mere effect of closet speculations--since his position withdraws him entirely from any personal concern in the conduct or issue of these contentions. It is not likely that his memoir had any great influence in producing the change of ministry. Engines much more powerful and pressing were at work. As it happened, however, the event nearly coincided in time with the count's demarche, and he will doubtless of course take to himself the whole credit of it, and will go home with the satisfaction of having obtained a signal revenge upon his adversary." ADDRESS TO THE KING, IN RELATION TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF M. LE CHEVALIER DE ZEA BERMUDEZ. A COMPARISON of the situation in which M. de Zea found the affairs of Spain, with that in which they are placed a year after his assuming the duties of his office, forms the severest criticism on his administration. The return of Mr. Ofalia, and still more that of General Cruz, had appeared to the royalists (which is equivalent to saying to the nation) a pledge, that the king would no longer admit into his councils any others than men whose sentiments in favour of monarchical government should be beyond suspicion. The episode of Tarifa necessarily awakened the apprehension of a wide conspiracy, which was to lead to revolutions; and those who were highest in office in the provinces, and even in the immediate. cabinet of the king, suffered themselves to indulge for a moment, perhaps too far, in doubtful surmises. The revolutionists had their fears; those who had been drawn into their measures trembled, under the belief that they were about to pay dearly for their weakness or compliance; numerous arrests, and the language of those in power, made them fear that the hour of vengeance had sounded for them; but their terrors, excited by the voice of conscience, produced no disturb |