fit for the public to read.

Supreme over all the colonial domains was the government of their
majesties, the monarchs of Spain and Portugal. A ministry and a council
managed the affairs of the inhabitants of America and guarded their
destinies in accordance with the theories of enlightened despotism
then prevailing in Europe. The Spanish dominions were divided into
viceroyalties and subdivided into captaincies general, presidencies,
and intendancies. Associated with the high officials who ruled them were
audiencias, or boards, which were at once judicial and administrative.
Below these individuals and bodies were a host of lesser functionaries
who, like their superiors, held their posts by appointment. In Brazil
the governor general bore the title of viceroy and carried on the
administration assisted by provincial captains, supreme courts, and
local officers.

This control was by no means so autocratic as it might seem. Portugal
had too many interests elsewhere, and was too feeble besides, to keep
tight rein over a territory so vast and a population so much inclined
as the Brazilian to form itself into provincial units, jealous of the
central authority. Spain, on its part, had always practised the good old
Roman rule of "divide and govern." Its policy was to hold the balance
among officials, civil and ecclesiastical, and inhabitants, white and
colored. It knew how strongly individualistic the Spaniard was and
realized the full force of the adage, "I obey, but I do not fulfill!"
Legislatures and other agencies of government directly representative of
the people did not exist in Spanish or Portuguese America. The Spanish
cabildo, or town council, however, afforded an opportunity for the
expression of the popular will and often proved intractable. Its
membership was appointive, elective, hereditary, and even purchasable,
but the form did not affect the substance. The Spanish Americans had
an instinct for politics. "Here all men govern," declared one of the
viceroys; "the people have more part in political discussions than in
any other provinces in the world; a council of war sits in every house."

CHAPTER II. "OUR OLD KING OR NONE"

The movement which led eventually to the emancipation of the colonies
differed from the local uprisings which occurred in various parts
of South America during the eighteenth century. Either the arbitrary
conduct of individual governors or excessive taxation had caused the
earlier rev