request you will elect, without delay, the Individual to whom you may be willing to transfer the trust you have reposed in me-permitting me to mingle again in the ranks of my Fellow-Citizens, from whence, should necessity require it, I shall ever be ready to advance in the service of my Country, begirt with that sword which I have drawn so often against its Enemies-never against its Liberties!

RAMON FREIRE.

REPORT of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to the Congress of Colombia, 2nd January, 1826.

(Translation.)

To the Honourable the Senate and Chamber of Representatives of the Republic assembled in Congress.

THE Secretary of State for the Department of Foreign Affairs, in compliance with the 8th Article of the Law, which regulates the duties of the several Secretaries, respectfully reports the state of that which is entrusted to his management.

He can add little to the details already given by the Executive, of the progress of the relations between Colombia and other Powers. He will, therefore, say nothing of the proofs of friendship which our Republic continues to receive from some of them, nor of the good understanding, to the preservation of which they all manifest a disposition, nor of the humane and unremitted exertions which, directly or indirectly, some of them are making to induce Spain to consent to the restoration of Peace.

He will, however, notice the means hitherto adopted to preserve and strengthen that good understanding; and in so doing, and in calling the attention of Congress to the circumstances or chances which may interrupt it, and in offering, as he is permitted to do, some suggestions conducive to the interests of the Republic, he will have afforded all the information which can be made public without injury to the pending Negotiations.

It was natural that, in considering the means of preserving Peace with Friendly Powers, the demarcation of the Boundaries of the Republic, should claim his preferable attention. Instructions were, in consequence, given without delay to the Minister of Colombia, in Peru, upon that subject; but the vicissitudes which the latter Country has experienced, and the sinister interpretations which were apprehended from the presence of our Troops, were motives for postponing the settlement of our Frontier on that side. The Auxiliary Army having, however, again returned to its own Country, and an opportunity offering to enter into the discussion of that Question at Panama without

any cause of suspicion of undue influence, there is reason to hope it will there be definitively settled. Such particular attention has been paid in preparing the Instructions with respect to the most convenient, clear, and natural Frontiers, as to assure us that our intention will not be misunderstood.

The same object has been kept in view in regard to the settling of our Boundaries with the Central Republic, and the same will be attended to in defining them on the East and South-East of Colombia. Being in possession of such an extent of Territory, that many generations must pass away before its population can become redundant, it appeared prudent to make it a principal consideration to provide against causes of future dispute.

At the same time that our efforts have been directed to diminish the occasion of Controversy with neighbouring Nations, nothing has been omitted to cement more and more the relations of Peace between all the American States. Congress has been already informed, that one of the objects for which the Assembly in the Isthmus has been convoked, is that of agreeing together on the means of consolidating the liberty and independence of the Allied States; and another, that the Assembly be made the Arbiter and Conciliator of whatever differences may unhappily arise between the Confederate Powers. The imposing attitude of the co-Belligerents, the comparative weakness of the Enemy, and the friendly sentiments continually evinced towards us by other Nations, would make it appear that the first object can be attained without any extraordinary effort. But a prudent foresight of the danger to which, from its own nature the second is exposed, has suggested the expediency of consulting the other States on the mode of rendering the arbitration efficacious, without any interruption of Peace. And not only has the desire been expressed to them that they should give sufficient Instructions to their Plenipotentiaries on this point, but it has also been proposed that the Confederation shall always act as Mediator in disputes between any of its Members and a Foreign Power. The interest which all Nations feel in settling their disputes by quiet means, has been considered as one pledge of the success of these proposals; and, as another, that they will find in the love of peace and of glory ample guarantees of the justice of the Mediator. Such salutary effects will then incline, in favour of the American Confederation, all those who duly appreciate the respect we manifest for the general preservation of tranquillity, and the number of the Confederates will necessarily increase. Already it is said that the great credit attached to the projected Association has induced the Government of the Republic of Chile to send its Plenipotentiaries to it; and that the Government of the Provinces of South America was about to decree the desired Ratification of the Treaty of Alliance, which it concluded in 1823 with Colombia, and which

naturally tends to attract them to that League which unites the other Sister States.

But transitory as are all the Compacts of mankind, whatever advantages they produce, nothing should be omitted to render more durable those which it is intended to establish through the medium of the Assembly of the Isthmus. It is proper to strengthen them by extending their benefits, even to the private transactions of the Citizens; it is proper to remind them of their common origin, and that each State is a Member of the same Family. It will, therefore, be an object of primary consideration to facilitate the Commerce of the New States with each other, by proposing to the American Assembly that all make use of the same weights and measures, and of money of equal value. The notorious imperfection of those we at present use, induce the belief that the necessity will soon be universally felt, of an amendment of them; and, if they are not to be continued, the opportunity appears to be arrived when, preferring at once others of more convenient division, and of which the model and standard shall be invariable and generally used amongst us, these additional advantages should be set forth as a motive for their universal adoption and preservation.

In speaking of the means of promoting the commercial relations between the States of this Hemisphere, we must not overlook what may be prejudicial to those which it is desirable to see in a flourishing state between Colombia and the Powers of Europe.

The Commerce of the Antilles is open to all, or at least only subject to trifling restrictions; and some of them, which are at the same time the most frequented and nearest to our Coasts, have recently been declared Free Ports.

Such an important measure merits the attention of Congress with respect to all the points on which our internal prosperity and external commerce may be influenced by it; but this allusion applies chiefly to the manifest tendency of the measure to retard the progress of our direct relations with the rest of the World, if in some other commercial advantages it holds forth cannot be counter-balanced.

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Information has also been received, although not officially, that another of the Powers of Europe, at the same time that it evinces a disposition to a direct Commerce between its Ports and our own, has required that none of the Vessels belonging to the American States, which are still Belligerent, shall hoist their Colours within its Ports, or present themselves with the Flag of their respective Nations.

Notwithstanding the free admission of the Flag is in perfect accordance with the obligation of Neutrals, this prohibition is not presumed to have been proposed with any intention of offence; but identified, as is the respect of the Flag, with the glory of the Nation, even this simple regulation has been thought worthy of the attention of the Congress ;

because the inestimable merit of the sacrifices, and the virtue of the Colombian People, will, doubtless, cause the immediate decree of such measures as may eventually become necessary, if, in opposition to what appears probable, it should be true that, in any quarter, unnecessary caution is preferred to the respect due to the symbol of our Independence.

Our scruples in the defence of that which is so justly our due, and the perseverance with which we endeavour to extend and cultivate, with every Nation, the most frank and amicable relations, should, however, increase our efforts to avoid even occasions of casual misunderstandings. The Undersigned is timid in entering upon this subject; for, although the Law directs him to propose to Congress such Amendments as he may deem advisable, he must not forget that, in recommending improvements in our Provisional Ordinance for Letters of Marque, he is about to submit them, with reference to a Statute which has hitherto possessed, and still possesses, the force of a Law. Compelled to it by his Office, and by the dangerous contact in which that Regulation places us with Friendly and Neutral Nations, now that he must do it with the frankness which the common welfare requires, he will shield himself under the evils that it has occasioned.

The consideration, that no one of the Regulations which require revision is indispensable, or will conduce to the more speedy or more glorious termination of the War in which Colombia is still, unfortunately, engaged, is no small encouragement to so bold an attempt: for surely such a tendency cannot be ascribed to the permission given to Foreigners to fit out Vessels, as Privateers, under our Flag; to the facilities which, for this purpose, are given to them, by only requiring from them a small, and always the same, security; nor to the injuries, risks, and inconveniences to which Neutrals, falling in with Colombian Cruizers, are exposed.

In allowing Foreigners to fit out Privateers, in our Cause, we are, without doubt, giving exercise to the right which, by nature, every man possesses to assist the oppressed; and the vicissitudes of which, to our misfortune, we have been an example during the War, gave some importance to the exercise of this right. But there is scarcely an instance of a Nation making it an Article of its Code of Laws; and our present political circumstances bear no resemblance to what they were. This permission exposes us, moreover to disagreeable collisions with those Powers who carry on the most extensive Commerce, and with whose Laws, it is in manifest contradiction; and in all cases it is liable to the imputation of encouraging Piracy. There exist, therefore, many motives for renouncing the weak and doubtful assistance which it might, at other times, have promised to afford.

The fear of abuse is not dispelled by the probable effect of the security required by that Ordinance. This security bears no proportion to the evil for which the Republic may eventually become responsible; neither is it required that those who give it should be uninterested in the success of the Privateer, nor that those should be so, on whom it may afterwards devolve, to take part in, or influence, the condemnation of the Prizes. Our confidence, in this respect, rests on the moral character of the Party who becomes security, and on his adherence to our Institutions; notwithstanding that, if this Individual happen to be the Owner of the Privateer, the security of another Colombian be required.

The evils which may result to Colombia, from her present Privateering Laws, extend much further, because all those which are unduly inflicted on Neutrals recoil on herself; and, without mentioning those which are incidental to the application of the 18th Article to Ships which do not belong to the Enemy, they are occasioned to them when, under pretence of risks which the Privateer may fear to encounter, and for the purpose of effecting an examination which only belongs to the Belligerent, they are obliged to lower a boat, and even to send on board the Privateer, the Captain or Supercargo, with the Ship's Papers. The Neutral is aggrieved, in being subject to condemnation for being destined to a blockaded Port; without confining this Regulation expressly to the cases in which due notice of the Blockade has been promulgated, and where it is evidently effective. He is aggrieved, by adding to the right which the Law of Nature gives to the Privateer, to take out from the captured Vessel, articles indispensable to the preservation of life, that of taking out articles required for equipment, or subsistence, without reference to the degree of such necessity. He is aggrieved, in being subject to condemnation, together with his whole cargo, where part of it consists of articles which are "Contraband of War," whether such articles belong or not to the Owners of the rest of the cargo, or whether they have, or not, been shipped with the knowledge of such Owners. He is aggrieved, when, in case of recapture, before having passed 24 hours in the power of the Enemy, one half of the property recaptured is taken from him; because he is thus deprived of a property which could not have been condemned, if the Capture were unjust, and which much exceeds the compensation to which the Privateer is entitled, anticipating the restitution of the property. He is aggrieved, ultimately, by the Agent of the Vessel, or condemned property, not being allowed a longer period to Appeal than 24 hours, from the time at which the Sentence was pronounced.

Almost all these Regulations have been revoked, with respect to Nations with which we have concluded Treaties, as well as that