Venezuela and New Granada, when united into one Republic, possess all the capabilities and means of attaining the highest degree of power and prosperity.

2d, That constituted in separate Republics, however strong the bonds by which they might be united, instead of being able to improve so many advantages, it would be difficult for them to become consolidated, and cause their sovereignty to be respected.

3d, That these truths, so strongly impressed on the minds of all men of superior talent and enlightened patriotism, have induced the Governments of the two Republics to agree to an an union which the vicissitudes of the war have hitherto prevented.

Wherefore, impelled by these considerations of necessity and reciprocal interest, and in conformity to a report of a special Committee of the Deputies of New Granada and Venezuela, in the name and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, has decreed and decrees the following fundamental law of the Republic of Columbia :— Article 1. The Republics of Venezuela and New Granada, from this day, are united in one single State, under the glorious title of Republic of Columbia.

2. The territory of said State shall be all that comprehended in the ancient Captain-Generalship of Venezuela and the Viceroyalty of the new kingdom of Granada, embracing an extent of 115,000 square leagues, the exact limits of which shall be hereafter determined.

3. The debts which the two Republics may have contracted separately, are ac knowleged in solidum, by this law, as a national debt of Columbia, to the payment of which all the effects and property of the State shall be held bound, and the most productive branches of the public revenue be destined.

4. The executive power of the Repub. lic shall be exercised by a President, and, in his defect, by a Vice-President, both named, ad interim, by the present Con

gress.

5. The Republic of Columbia shall be divided into three greater departments, viz. Venezuela, Quito, and Cundinamarca, which latter shall comprehend the provinces of New Granada, which name henceforwards shall be suppressed. The capitals of these departments shall be the cities of Caraccas, Quito, and Bogota, the addition of Santa Fe being taking away.

6. Each department shall have a superior Administration and Chief, for the present named by the existing Congress, with the title of Vice-President.

7. A new city, bearing the name of the liberator, Bolivar, shall be the capital of the Republic of Columbia. Its plan and situation shall be determined by the first

General Congress, on the principle of its being proportioned to the wants and conveniences of the three departments, and to the grandeur nature has destined this opulent country to attain.

8. The General Congress of Columbia shall assemble on the 1st of January 1821, in the town of Rosario de Cucuta, which, in every respect, is deemed the most convenient spot. Its convocation shall be made known by the President of the Republic on the 1st January 1820, with a communication of the regulations for the elections, which shall be formed by a Special Committee, and approved by the present Congress.

9. The Constitution of the Republic of Columbia shall be formed by the General Congress, to whom shall be presented, in the light of a project, the one decreed by the present Congress, and which, together with the laws promulgated by the same, shall immediately be put into execution, by way of an essay.

10. The arms and flag of Columbia shall be decreed by the General Congress, and, in the mean time, the arms and flag of Venezuela shall be used, as being the best known.

11. The present Congress shall enter on a recess on the 15th January 1820, and the new elections for the General Congress of Columbia commenced.

12. A Committee of six Members and a President shall remain in the stead of the Congress, with such special attributes as shall be determined by decree.

13. The Republic of Columbia shall be solemnly proclaimed in the towns and armies, with public feasts and rejoicings, the same taking place in this capital on the 25th instant (December) to celebrate the birth of the Saviour of the world, under whose patronage this wished-for union has taken place, by which the State is regenerated.

14. The anniversary of this political regeneration shall be hereafter celebrated as a national feast, at which, as in those of Olympia, virtue and learning shall be rewarded.

The present fundamental laws of the Republic of Columbia shall be solemnly promulgated in the towns and armies, inscribed on all the public registers, and deposited in all the archives of the municipa lities and corporations, as well ecclesiastic as secular.

Given in the Palace of the Sovereign Congress of Venezuela, in the city of St Thomas of Angostura, this 17th day of December 1819, 9th of our Independence.

The President of the Congress, Francis co A. Zea-Juan Herman Roscio-Manuel Cedeno-Juan Martinez-Jose Espana-Luis Tomas Peraza-A. M. Briceno-Eusebio Afanados-Francisco Conde

tenants) at Culrain, on the 8th current, and, after pointing out the madness and inutility of such violence, and the destructive consequences that must inevitably ensue, he prevailed upon every man of them to go down to Ardgay Inn, to receive their summonses for removing, which they did on the 14th, when the Sheriff's officer met them from Tain. Many were prevented by sickness from coming. The Sheriff's officer went to their houses and executed their summonses, and returned at night to Ardgay, after experiencing the greatest hospitality. The Reverend Gentleman says he shall go bound for the peace of the parish, and that no obstruction shall be given to the execution of the laws; at the same time he makes the following feeling appeal on behalf of his parishioners:

"Of all the human race," he says, "there is not a more grateful or affectionate being than the Highlander, to the man who feels for his case and sympathizes with him; but, alas! few of the present day know his value; if they did, the system of extermination would not continue. I trust Mr Munro will still avert, from the first days of his possession of the estate, so dreadful a judgment as the expulsion of nearly 600 persons, able and willing to pay their rents, who are not one penny in arrear, and who have hitherto paid a higher rent than the tacksman who is to succeed them." Of these six hundred souls there are more than 100 bed-ridden and aged persons, whose locks have grown hoary on the soil, under the fostering kindness of their late excellent landlord, Sir Hector Munro, and whom no earthly power can remove till death come to their relief.

We regret to learn that one young woman, the daughter of the catechist of the parish, who was wounded on the day of the disturbance, is since dead; but there has been no other fatal casualty.

15. Election Riot.-The Aberdeen districts of burghs, consisting of that city, and the towns of Montrose, Arbroath, Brechin, and Bervie, has been keenly contested by the former member, Mr Hume, and Mr Mitchell, a merchant in London. The first mentioned candidate had secured the votes of Montrose and Arbroath, and the latter those of Aberdeen and Bervie. The contest was therefore for Brechin; and it being understood, that on Friday the 11th inst. the town-council of that burgh had resolv. ed to give their vote for Mr Mitchell, a great popular commotion took place, the inhabitants of the town being decidedly in favour of Mr Hume. The windows of the provost's house, those of two of the clergy, and several gentlemen, who were known to be inimical to Mr Hume's interest, were broken in pieces; and such was the rage of the populace, that no gentleman favourable to Mr Mitchell durst venture on the

streets. In consequence of this popular ebullition, the military were sent for from Aberdeen and Perth, to keep the peace, but on the 14th they again left Brechin; and the same scenes were repeated, and the clamours of the people were not quieted, until it was announced to them that the majority of the council, upon a second consideration of the subject, had decided to vote for Mr Hume. It is likely that, in consequence of these proceedings, his election will be questioned in the House of Commons.

28. Trial of Mr Hunt.-On the 16th instant, the trial of Mr Hunt, and nine others, upon charges connected with the reform meeting at Manchester on the 16th August last, came on at York, before Mr Justice Bailey, and a special jury, and did not terminate till yesterday. The indictment charged the defendants with a conspiracy to alter the legal frame of the government and constitution of these realms, and with meeting tumultuously at Manchester, on the 16th August last, with 60,000 persons, many armed with sticks, which they carried on their shoulders like fire-arms, and with bearing flags and banners, on which were inscriptions and devices calculated to inflame the minds of his Majesty's subjects against the constituted authorities of the State. There were several counts, varying the form of the indictment. The prosecution was conducted by Mr Scarlett. His evidence closed on the 4th day, when Mr Barrow addressed the jury for Moorhouse, and Mr Holt on behalf of Saxton. Mr Hunt on the 5th day entered upon his defence, which occupied him from ten in the morning till three in the afternoon. On the four following days, he examined witnesses to disprove the allegations in the indictment, and at the end of the 9th day Mr Scarlett replied in an animated speech of three hours and a half. The evidence proved that the people had no sticks, but walking sticks; that no arms were carried to the meeting; that no orders were given to resist the military; that till the yeomanry advanced all were peaceable; that Nadin never attempted to serve his warrant without the assistance of an armed force; that no resistance was made when the crowd was attacked; that there was no riot, no riot act read, no time given for dispersion. The principal evidence s gainst Mr Hunt was his having attended a meeting at Smithfield, at which, amongst the resolutions moved, was one, that from the 1st of January 1820, they could not trust any who were not representatives of the whole male population of the kingdom. At this meeting Mr Hunt was chairman. Against Johnson it was proved, that he was repeatedly seen as Hunt's companion. The same was proved against Knight. The evi dence against Healey seemed to centre in

his having headed a party of reformers, and having had a black flag, bearing the inscription Equal Representation or Death." Bamford was found connected with drilling, but it was drilling merely to keep the step, that they might march in an orderly manner to the meetings. In the afternoon of the 9th day Mr Justice Bailey commenced his charge to the jury, which he did not finish till the 10th day. The learned judge, at some length, descanted on the nature of conspiracy, and the elements of which it was composed, together with the objects and meaning of unlawful assemblies. He said, the great question for the jury to decide was, first, if the meeting of the 16th August were orderly and peaceable; and in the second place, if it were legally assembled ? In conclusion he made some strong and pointed observations to the jury upon the illegal nature of Mr Hunt's resolutions at Smithfield, which went to refuse the payment of taxes, in case the demand of universal suffrage was not complied with. The defendants had given no evidence as to what was the nature of the resolutions intended to have been passed at Manchester, and it was for the jury to infer, whether they might not. be presumed to have been of a similar nature; and whether the inscription on some of the banners did not warrant that inference. His Lordship concluded his charge at a quarter before twelve, and the jury retired; and at twenty minutes to five they returned into court. The Foreman being asked whether they found the defendants guilty or not guilty, replied, "We find James Moorhouse, John Thacker Saxton, Joseph Robert Jones, George Swift, and Robert Wild,-Not Guilty. Henry Hunt, Joseph Johnson, John Knight, Joseph Healey, and Samuel Bramford,-Guilty of assembling with unlawful banners, at an unlawful meeting, for the purpose of moving and inciting the subjects of our Lord the King to contempt and hatred of the Government and Constitution of the realm, as by law established."

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY.-On the 13th instant, John Robertson, convicted of housebreaking, was sentenced to 14 years transportation. And on the 16th, William Grant, a young man, belonging to Edinburgh, pleaded guilty of theft, and received sentence of transportation for seven years. The same day, David Craw, carter at Newhaven, was put to the bar, accused of stealing a large quantity of old metal from Houston colliery, and after a trial, was convicted, and sentenced to 18 months hard labour in Bridewell.

On the 16th, Alexander M'Donald, a well known character in Edinburgh, was put to the bar, along with Margaret Smith, a woman with whom he cohabited, accused of assault and robbery committed on the

streets of Glasgow; of which, after a long trial, they were clearly convicted, and sentenced to 14 years transportation.

Fraud and Imposition.-On the 22d, Patrick Branan, Isaac Eccles, William Brown, and Mary Fisher, alias M'Quire, were placed at the bar, charged with falsehood, fraud, and wilful imposition. The indictment contained four distinct charges, of a similar nature. viz. that the said Patrick Branan, Isaac Eccles. William Brown, and Mary Fisher, alias M'Quire, did, upon the 17th day of January 1820, at Corstorphine, fraudulently use or utter 24, or thereby, false and forged passes or certificates, by presenting the same to the said Alexander Simpson, as genuine, they knowing them to be false and forged, and fraudulently claiming allowances as due thereon for 24 women and children, who they falsely pretended were then travelling on the road to Glasgow; whereby they did cozen and impose upon the said Alexander Simpson, and did prevail on him to pay to them, or to one or other of them, and did defraud him of four pounds four shillings or thereby. The witnesses being examined, the Jury, after retiring for about half an hour, returned with the following verdict:-Mary Fisher, alias M'Quire, Guilty of the 1st charge as restricted; Branan and Eccles Guilty of the 2d and 3d charges as restricted; Brown and Fisher Guilty of the 4th charges as restricted; and not proven against Branan and Eccles on this charge. On account of the good character Brown had received, the Jury unanimously recommended him to the mercy of the Court. The Lord Justice Clerk then pronounced the sentence of the Court, which was, that Mary Fisher or M'Quire be transported for 7 years, and William Brown for 5 years; Patrick Branan and Isaac Eccles to be imprisoned in the Bridewell of this city for one year, and to be kept to hard labour.

APRIL.

Ireland. It is with much pleasure we learn, that the disturbances in the west of Ireland, which lately assumed so menacing a character, are gradually diminishing, and there is every reason to hope tranquillity will soon be restored. This beneficial change has been produced, partly by the increased firmness and activity of the local magistracy and gentry, and partly by the convictions which were obtained at the late Roscommon assizes, against a number of the Ribbonmen. Resolutions have been passed by the grand jury of Mayo, declaring that good order and loyalty prevail in every part of that county. Mr Grant, the chief secretary for Ireland, is thanked for the energy and zeal with which he assist. ed the efforts of the magistracy and gentry

and a letter to this effect, signed by Mr Jackson, the high sheriff of the county, has been addressed to him. The letter states,