About the same time a French brig arrived at Buenos Ayres with an envoy from Napoleon carrying despatches to Liniers, the viceroy, who issued a proclamation announcing the events which had occurred in Spain, and advising the people to submit to the authority of Joseph Bonaparte. The proclamation was coldly received by the people; the governor of Monte Video accused Liniers of disloyalty, disregarded his proclamation, established a junta[1] or governing body for his province, and withdrew it altogether from the authority of Liniers.
In spite of the efforts of the viceroys and other officials to convince the colonies that every thing was quiet in Spain, it became known among the people that the peninsula was in a state of insurrection against the authority of Joseph Bonaparte, that in some provinces he was openly defied, and provincial juntas had assumed the management of affairs. The one at Seville proclaimed itself the supreme junta of Spain and the Indies, and sent deputies to the colonies requiring an acknowledgment of its authority. In order to secure this acknowledgment it announced that it was recognized and obeyed throughout Spain, which was far from being the case. At the same time the junta of the Asturias opposed that of Seville; the regency of Ferdinand claimed to have supreme authority; and to complicate matters still further Joseph Bonaparte had been proclaimed king. There were
- ↑ Junta in Spanish means an association, and is usually applied to a body of persons combined for any civil or political object. It formerly referred more particularly to assemblies of representatives of the people meeting without authority of the sovereign, but has latterly been extended to those of the most strictly legal character.
