Page:Decisive Battles Since Waterloo.djvu/25

Rh captain left Caraccas, privately, about eight o'clock that night, escorted by a detachment of soldiers, and so saved his life, for, about ten o'clock, his person was demanded of the governor by the populace, and when they learned that he was gone, three hundred men followed him to put him to death.

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 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