86 MEXICO. to the Viceroy of the provinces of the Rio de la Plata, iu 1809, by the Apoderado (Agent) of the Landed Proprietors of Buenos Ayres. It contains an admirable expose of the system, by which the interests, both of the Colonies and of the Royal Treasury, were sacrificed to those of a few over- bearing European merchants ; as well as of the fruitlessness of any endeavours to obtain redress, even in cases where the advantage of the government (if rightly understood) was perfectly in harmony with that of the colonist. I subjoin a few extracts, which will be found in the Appendix.* The reforms gradually introduced into the Colonial Sys- tem in Mexico, the Havanna, and Peru, did not extend, in the same degree, to these ill-fated countries. The precious metals were so exclusively the object of the attention of Spain, that but little attention was paid to any of her possessions that did not produce them. She had no idea of creating a ba- lance of trade, by encouraging the natural resources of the Colonies ; nor of becoming herself the carrier between them and other nations, with whose manufactures she was, indeed, (obliged to keep them supplied, but to whom she furnished in return but few of those productions with which her Ameri- can possessions abounded. The fact was, that, perhaps, with a view of rendering it less difficult to keep the whole of the importations and exportations in her own hands, she never aimed at increasing the number of consumers, but rather contrived to enhance her profits, by limiting the supply. The luxuries of life were only to be obtained by the wealthy, the lower and middling classes could not aspire to a share of them ; and it would be curious to be able to point out, in aa authentic shape, the very limited number of those, amongst whom the importations of each Colony were distributed. To render the management of this extraordinary system less em- barrassing, the channels of communication with the Mother country were reduced as much as possible. Until the year
- Appendix^ Letter A.
