[XXIV-64] The motion had been made by the inhabitants of Natá, and was adopted by the citizens assembled at Santiago under the presidency of Casimiro del Bal, the political chief ad interim. The oath of independence included also the condition to uphold the Roman catholic religion, and to defend the purity of the virgin Mary. The full text is given in Veraguas, Acta de Independencia, in Pan. Col. Doc., no. 54, a certified manuscript copy of the original record in the archives of Santiago.
[XXIV-65] 'Otros pensaron que viniera otra espedicion española sin que tuviéramos previo conocimiento de ella.' Bol. Ofic., 1869, 32.
[XXIV-66] 'Con esta clase de pasaporte zarparon del puerto, diciendo, sin embargo, que no podian llevar á efecto el convenio.... Pero mas tarde se entregaron, al fin, al Gobierno republicano del Perú.' Bol. Ofic., 1869, 32. From that time, it is believed no Spanish war vessel visited the Isthmus till August 1863, when, though Spain had not as yet recognized Colombia's independence, a squadron of that nation entered Panamá Bay. The visit was altogether friendly. Bidwell's Isth. Pan., 71.
[XXIV-67] Copies of the various constitutions framed from 1811 to 1821 will be found in Restrepo, Hist. Col., i. 135-42; viii. 5-19, 221-44; ix. 5-31; x. 37-54. A French translation of the last of Aug. 30, 1821, appears in Colombia Const., in Ancillon, Mélanges Pol., 9-120, and commented on in Revue Amér., i. 186-215.
[XXIV-68] Veraguas, Decretos del Libertador Bolívar, Presidente de Colombia, 1827-8, in Pan. Col. Docs., MS., no. 64.
[XXIV-69] Pan. Comand. gen. del istmo, in Pan. Col. Doc., MS., no. 30, p. 3-8, 11. The Spanish córtes, not knowing what had occurred on the Isthmus, authorized the government, Apr. 30, 1822, to create an intendencia in Panamá. Córtes, Diario, , 1822, v. Apr. 30, 2.
[XXIV-70] Alaman, Hist. Méj., v. 581-2; Méx., Col. Órd. y Dec., ii. 38-9.
[XXIV-71] Seemann's Voy., i. 301. In Veragua orders were issued, July 23, 1822, to register in future as free all colored children born of slave mothers. In 1847 there were only about 380 slaves in the province of Panamá. The national government in April of that year prohibited the importation and exportation of slaves. In the latter part of 1849 there were left in the province of Chiriquí only 32 slaves, and measures were proposed for their manumission. Gov. Herrera's mess., Sept. 15, 1847, in Bogotá, Gaceta Ofic., Feb. 6, 1848; Pan. Col. Doc., MS., nos. 81, 82; Chiriquí, Mem. de su prim. gobr, in Id., no. 85, p. 10-11.
[XXIV-72] Soon after there were no slaves in the country. Bidwell's Isth. Pan., 32-3; Pan., Crón. Ofic., Jan. 22, March 29, Aug. 29, 1852; S. F. Daily Herald, Feb. 9, 1852. It was currently reported, and indeed with good foundation, that a plot was carried out by certain parties from Cartagena, in or about 1862, who ran off a number of colored men and women of Panamá to Cuba, where they were sold into slavery. Pan., Boletin Ofic., Nov. 27, 1862.
[XXV-1] It was supposed that France, now under an absolute king, by the prompting of the alliance, had conceived a vast plan for the conquest of the Spanish American countries, which till within a few years had been under the catholic king's domination. Many eminent men in Europe and the U. S. approved the idea of the American congress, and bestowed high encomiums on its author. Abbé de Pradt championed it in his work, Congrés de Panamá, saying: 'The congress of Panamá will be one of the greatest events of our times, and its effects will be felt to the remotest posterity.' Pradt, Cong. de Pan. (Sp. Transl.), 171.