neglected to commence, and in all probability never would have undertaken. The principal road, and the one most frequented, is that from Omoa to the capital. The chamber of commerce of Guatemala, in one of its reports, declared that the merchandize which arrived at Omoa from Europe, could not, in many instances, be transported to the seat of government in less than eight months, although the distance is no more than ninety leagues, partly by water and partly by land. In consequence of this representation, the attention of the government was directed to the facilitating a communication between these places; for which object it has already commenced the founding of the post of Isabel, and other small establishments, along that line of road.

It is also the intention of the government to permit a company to undertake the formation of a canal, which, by means of the lake of Nicaragua, will unite the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Several North American and London commercial houses have applied for permission to carry on the enterprize, some of them having actually amassed considerable funds, and sent engineers to examine the spot: and from the calculations made by late travellers and experimental workmen, under the guidance of the scientific knowledge of this improved age, there is little doubt that the undertaking, by adopting the proper mode, will be found perfectly practicable.

The Army.

The republic of Guatemala, by not organizing a well-appointed and disciplined army to guard against the attacks of Spanish despotism, has been guilty of the error committed by all the people who in this country have struggled to regain the blessing of liberty. By the avowal of the minister Zebadua himself, the army of the republic is in a very dilapidated state; badly clothed, armed, paid, and disciplined. Muskets are much wanted, and the fortresses require a thorough repair to put them in a state of defence. The harbours are unprotected by batteries; and bar

racks are so much wanted for the soldiery, that, with the exception of one newly erected in Guatemala for the cavalry, there may be said to be none in the republic. This report of the minister of war, it is thought, will induce the government to expend a part of the loan contracted for last year, in providing for the defence of the state. In the mean time, a school for officers and a military college have been endowed. The Spanish government was very careful not to communicate to the Americans any military knowledge. Passive obedience was their duty, and to command was the prerogative of the Spaniards. The chiefs of corps, the subaltern officers, and even the serjeants, were sent from Spain; and in consequence of this system of mistrust, under the Spanish sway, the foundation of a military college in Guatemala was not permitted.

Finances.

Under the Spaniards, the revenue of the kingdom of Guatemala amounted to a million of dollars; but peculation was carried to such an extent, that the court of Madrid received little or no benefit from that sum, Amidst convulsious and changes of government, financial concerns always undergo an unfavourable mutation; nor could Guatemala, in its unsettled position, be expected to stand forward as an exception to this rule. Order and economy are now beginning to be re-established, and the revenue of the government will ere long keep pace with the progress and increase of the national wealth. In order to make the present institutions more palatable to the people, recourse was had to the hasty and imprudent plan of abolishing some of the taxes which filled the public treasury. The contributions which the natives paid, under the name of tribute, have been taken off, and likewise the tax on playing cards, and snow, not to mention the duties derived from bulls, the fifth of gold and silver, the half of the secular annats, the two per cent. on tobacco, and various other imposts which have been diminished or expunged,

By reason of these reductions, the public treasury became so empty, that the government was constrained to contract in London for a loan of seven millions and a half of dollars, by the assistance of which sum it will gain time to re-establish by gradual process some branches of the public revenue, and be enabled to undertake at the same time many works advantageous to the state.

The revenue destined for the general expenses of the republic has for some time past been derived solely from imposts on powder, postage, tobacco, and clearances from the maritime custom-house. We cannot say whether the produce of these four objects of taxation are sufficient to maintain the general expenses of the republic, which, according to Senor del Valle, rarely exceed 500,000 dollars. But should there be a slight deficiency in the revenue to meet the expenditure, this will be but a momentary evil, inasmuch as the government, besides daily adopting economical experiments, is proceeding slowly with the augmentation of the taxes, in quotas which will fall but lightly on the people, and be a mere nothing when compared with the sums which were exacted from them in times past. The fact is, that the inhabitants of Guatemala pay less taxes than any other people of the present day in Europe or America. Senor del Valle having compared the contributions of Mexico with those of Guatemala, proves that in Mexico each person pays eleven reals, and in his country but two and a half.

Colonization.

The 12th article of the constitution declares that "the republic is a sacred asylum for every foreigner, and the country of any one who desires to inhabit its territory." The government, aware of the necessity of inviting foreign industry to establish itself in the republic, by a decree of the 12th January, 1824, (which on account of its length we cannot now extract,) offered the most liberal advantages to foreigners who colonized there. Land is easily obtained, and its possession is accompanied with exemption

from taxes for twenty years, and the right of citizenship after three; besides which, the most careful protection is given to every foreign agriculturalist.

This, then, is the position which the Guatemalian nation presents to the eyes of the world: agitated no more by revolutions and destructive changes, it advances in a steady manner towards wealth and civilization. "The government of Guatemala,” to use the words of Senor del Valle," has never for an instant lost sight of the welfare of the nation; an object which it has forwarded with foresight, and without dangerous precipitancy. A laborious peasant may now recal his toils, and look on the profits derived from them with pleasure. The benevolen exertions of a zealous government in behalf of its citizens, are satisfactory to the governors and the governed. I have laboured strenuously for the public ·last year, and shall labour still more in the present. A tear less, an ear of corn more, or a shoot from a plant not cultivated before my administration, will place me at the summit of felicity."

At this moment the grand congress of all the new American republics is assembling at Panama; whence will undoubtedly be diffused an electric fire, which will impart new impulses to the infant states, and tend to quicken their prosperity. What a powerful influence may not that free and confederate continent, in a century to come, exercise over Europe!

TRADE AND COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENLE.

It is now twelve months since the recognition by Great Britain of the Southern American States; and whether we look at that act of policy by the king's ministers in a political or commercial point of view, we can find abundant reasons for designating it as one of the soundest courses of conduct that any European cabinet ever pursued; a policy, that whilst it held out the right hand of fellowship to patriots who had rendered their names immortal in the page of history, in the determined and vigorous struggles they had made for the independence of their native land; at the same time consolidated the strength, increased the resources, and added to the power of the great nation, over which Mr. Canning and his colleagues ruled. The present foreign minister is a philosopher as well as a statesman, and if his views in the latter capacity had not opened to him the advantages of the present intercourse with South America, his attainments and knowledge as an intellectual being of the first class, must have convinced him of the necessity of the course that, as a British minister, he had felt it his duty to recommend to his sovereign. The march of information and the progress of the human mind cannot be restrained beyond a certain point by tyrants, however powerful, or by leagues, however ancient; and the most casual observer who has paid any attention to the passing events of the last year particularly, must be VOL. II. No. 6.

3 L