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Rh Javier Castaño, the victor at Baylen; Antonio de Escaño, a distinguished naval officer; and Fernandez de Leon, a member of the council of the Indies. On the 14th of February this change in the government was communicated to the viceroy of New Spain, and on the 7th of May following the oath of allegiance to the regency was taken by Lizana and all the royal officials, the occasion being celebrated for three days in the usual manner. In the same decree by which the junta central appointed the regency, it was ordered that the members, when they took the oath of office, should also swear to convoke the córtes at the earliest opportunity. As the American colonies were for the first time represented in the córtes when they finally assembled, it will be necessary to give some account of the admission of colonial deputies into the legislature.

The critical position of Spain at the close of 1808 induced the junta central—which had been compelled to withdraw from Aranjuez to Seville—to consider by what means it might hope to secure the fidelity of the colonies. To admit them to a share in the national government appeared the most pacifying offer; and on the 22d of January, 1809, a decree was passed recognizing the Spanish dominions in America as no longer colonies but an integral part of the nation, and declaring their right to representation in the Spanish córtes. It is then ordered that the viceroys of New Spain, Perú, New Granada, Buenos Aires, and the captain-generals of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Chile, Venezuela, and the Philippines proceed to the election of one deputy for each of those dominions. On the