10

THE TWO DICTATORS

FRANCIA AND ROSAS.

THE SYSTEM OF THE FORMER AS A£>OPTED
AND OPENLY SUPPORTED

BY THE

DICTATOR OF BUENOS-AIRES.

Í?10I¥TE-VIDE0.

1846.An Article which appeared a few months ago in
the Ofíicial Gazette of the Government of Buenos-Ay-
res, in praise of the' policy of isolation pursued by the
late Dr. Francia, President of the Republic of Para-
guay, has called forth some observations on the part
of the intelligent Editor of the Comercio del Plata, a
Monte Videan Journal distinguished for the talent with
which it is conducted, and equally so for the modera-
tion of its language.

These observations so entirely coincide with the
opinions of all those who have impartially viewed the
policy of General Rosas, Governor of the Province of
Buenos-Ayres,-who, on the arrival of Mr. Hood, aware
of the favourable sentiments of the latter gentleman to-
wards himself, conceived that he could then with im-
punity eulogize and imítate the system of Government
of the late Dictator of Paraguay,—that we cannot but
think it a matter of the highest importance to cali atten-
tion to the subject.

To all, those who wish to form a just idea of the
designs of General Rosas against European commer-
cial intercourse with the River Píate, we recommend
the perusal of the following translation of the Article
in the Gaceta Mercantil, reprinted from the Archivo
Americano, apublication in the Spanish, French, and
English languages, conducted under the immediate su-
pervisión of the Buenos-Ayrean Government, togetber
with a translation by ourselves of the observations above
mentioned of the Comercio del Plata.

Monte Video, 16th of December 1846.( From the Comercio del Piala of thc S*f, 4* a 5* WAugUSt 1346. )

The Dictator of Buenos-Ayrcs has at last de'cided-
ly throvvn oíf the mask. His Gaceta of the 23vá of
July contains a completo exposilion of his political
creed, and the revelation of the final object'to'which
his persevering labours of sixteen years have been di-
rected. His designs have only been announced hither-
to by his decds;—deeds which he toolfeare to disavow
and deny even whilst he was carrying them into effecl:
his denials have now come to an end; his words, his
publicly declared doctrines, are in perfect harmony
with his deeds.

There is no one who has not drawn a comparison
bctwcen Rosas and Dr. Francia; there is no "one who
has not looked upon the stupid and brutal tyranny of
the latter as the model foliovved and cherished by the
former; there is no one who has not'foreseen that Ro-
sas would, if it were in his power, reduce Bucnos-
Ayres to thc same statc of isolation and primitive bar-
barism as that to which Francia reduced Paraguay.
Wcll, this, w%ich was furiously denied by thc hired
writers of Rosas, now appcars solemnly acknowledged
in the Articlc oí* his Official Gaceta which we pttbltsh
in the present number.— 4 -

It is known what abuse Rosas lias made oi' the
Press in order to mislead opinión, to pervert belief, to
accustom the people to the doctrine of irresponsible
dictatorship, to excite local prejudices and hatred
against Foreigners to their highest pitch. Of aII tliese
productions we know of few—perhaps none—more re-
markable than this Article for its audacity and its ten-
dencies. The monstrous system of the Dictator of
Paraguay, condemned by the irrevocable sentence of
history and of universal opinión, as the most «tupid and
sanguinary tyranny of modern times, is defended by
Rosas in his Article with all the energy of a seda-
rían, and with all the zeal of one fighting to found a
doctrine. .The bloody executions of the epoch so ap-
propiately called the reign of terror Rosas excuses or
denies: the gloomy personal policy of Dr. Francia he
admiras as the work of arare and profound genius;
the purely material life, concentrated within the family
circle, to which the Paraguayan de«spot reduced the
whole population, which he first decimated, is descri-
bed as a peaceful life, one of prosperüy and of happy
tranquillity: the isolation and non communication with
the whole world, which has thrown Paraguay a full
ce,ntury behind in the career of civilization, and rende-
red barren its most fertile sources of wealth, is praised
as the state most suitable for that nation, in order to
deliver it from anarchy and from the intrusions of Fo-
reigners. In a word, it is sufficient to read that article,
fo observe its method, and the disposal of its diíTerent
parís, in order to comprehend at one view the whole
design of Rosas in dictating it, viz; to excúlpate and
defend his own past crimes, "while he pretends to speak
of those of Francia; to prepare men's náñds for exces-
ses yet to come by, making an apology for them in anti-
cipation , under the pretext of eulogizing the policy of
his Paraguayan Instructor.    Strike out from the arti-

cle of the Gaceta the ñame of Francia, substitute that
of Rosas, and it will be seen that all the rest, the whole
without exception, exactly corresponda to the dictator-
ship which now crushes the Argentine people.

Rosas has put his own doctrines into the mouth of
Dr. Francia, thus falsely leading to the belief that they
were taught by the latter. Francia acted, but he never
spoke or wrote. He had of course his motives and his
objeets, but he never expressed or communicated them
to any person whatsoever. It is easy to presume the
former and coryecture the latter, judging by his deeds,
exactly as is now the case with respect to Rosas; but
it is not truc that this cunning and false despot has read
in any document, or gathered from any tradition, the
doctrines which he places in the mouth of Francia.
Following up his system, which he has never lost sight
of, of saying things while he appears not to say them,
he has made an extensive declaration of his doctrine, of
bis scheme of policy, through the mouth, now sealed in
death, of Dr. Francia: every one will understand that it
is Rosas who speaks; but the latter will be able to say,
if it suits him, that it is not he, but Francia of Para-
guay.

Observe with what art he repeats in almost every
paragraph of the Article his two favourite ideas; 1.*
that the necessity of repressing anarchy justifies the
horrible despotism which he and some ignorant pre-
sumptuous persons in Europe cali a strong government ;
and 2.a that it is necessary to withdraw these countries
from all foreign influence and communication. It is
well known that the pretended fear of anarchy is the
pretext which Rosas alleges as an excuse for not dives-
ting himself of the monstrous discretional power which
he holds, and for never fulfílling the promise, a hundred
times made by him to the Argentine people, of calling
together a general congress.   As respeets Foreigners,— G —

the principios which he proolaims are entirely in con
formity with his deeds.    Spcaking always through the
mouth of Dr. Francia, Rosas declares "his design of
** isolating liiinselí' in order to preserve these countries
" from the great inconveniences produced by loreign
" ambition;" he announces that "if his genius is rare,
\t. his policy is profound, heing based upon a knowledge
?* of the social state and customs of his fellow-coun-
" trymen, and on the design of preserving thcm from
" the frightful convulsions of anarchy, the ravages of
" war and from the dreaded preponderance, which in
" the midst of these scenes of violence some strong
" powcrs of Europe might seek to attain."  Lest this
should be insuíficient for his being perfectly understood,
Rosas, putting in Francia's mouth that which he never
said , observes to us "that, wisely calculating the ad-
" vantage which fpjreign ambition would derive from
" such a state of tnings, it is necessary to raise a bar-
" rier between America and European ambition; and
" to toatch the proper. opportunity for opening com-
" mercial intercourse founded on true reciprocity."—
líe wislies all to be well aware that in his opinión "the
" treaties of the weak with the strong are prcmature "
and that "the strong powers of Europe first cometo
" establish a mercantile conquest, in order afterwards
" to bring their cannon into play."

Here we have the real, the deep rooted idea of
Rosas, to cióse the country cntirely against Foreigners,
to cut oíf even commercial connection, reserving to
himself the calculation of the proper time for establis-
hing them; in a word to raise a barricr betiueen Ame-
rica and European ambition by reducing Buenos Ay-
res to the state to which Paraguay was reduced by the
tyrant whose policy he defends, and praises, and adopts
as a model.

We will not proceed further without mentioning a

- 7 -

circumstance which reveáis the full scope of the Dic-
tator's intentions in making this bold declaration of his
principies. An arrangement with England and France
was pending; Rosas was lavishing on Mr. Hood hollow
pretences of friendly and peaceful sentiments, in which
he always abounds, and surrounding the person of this
gentleman with the most ultra attentions. It was ne-
cessary however to give Mr. Hood to understand that
those accidental demostralions infer no chango in the
fixed policy of Rosas , lest that foreign Agent should
fall into the very mistaken belief that the Dictator was
disposed to entertain sentiments of good will and cor-
dial friendship towards Europe. It was for this reason
that, in presence of Mr. Hood, even while the confe-
rences of peace were being held with the European.
Powers, Rosas carne forth publicly and solemnly
upholding the doctrine of isolation and of complete se-
paration from Europe, aecusing her of ambition, and
of cloaking her views with the garb of commerce. A
pretext was wanting to cover the unseasonableness of
so strange a publication: some articles on Paraguay
had been published in the British Packet long before
the arrival of Mr. Hood, which were extolled but not
refuted by the Gaceta: they were now disinterred and
their refutation was undertaken, solely out of compli-
ment to Mr. Hood, and in order to give him an earnest
of the sincerity of the friendly sentiments professed
towards him by Rosas. Certainly the choice of oppor-
tunity could not have been more eloquent.

On the other hand, the barrier of respect for the
opinión of the world being once broken, so far as to un-
dertake the defence of the system and policy of the Dic-
tator of Paraguay, it is clear thatonly by the profes-
sion of a cynical contempt for truth could the disgrace-
ful task be fulfilled. Thus Rosas dares to invoke, as a
proof of the excellence of the system, the results whichwere obtained from it, and thc esteem and respect in
which he says that the Paraguayans hold the memory
of Francia.   Esteem and respect indeed!    Let Rosas
go and qucstion the Paraguayans one by one, and he
will hear only an unanimous cry of execration of the
memory of the odious tyrant.  The free communication
which has existed for some time past between Paraguay
and Corrientes, and above all the multitude of individuáis
who descended the River Paraná in the late Convoy,
have spread abroad an accurate knowledge of events
in that distant country.   This very circumstance of the
opinión of the people on the memory of the Dictator
has beenthe special objectof our investigation; wehave
been universally and unanimously assured that two im-
pressions only respecting Francia still exist among the
people of Paraguay,—the deepest hatred, and habitual
terror of his tyranny.   This we can affirm as an un-
doubted fact.  Rosas cannot produce a competent wit-
ness to the contrary.   Ñor can aught else be believed
without outraging human nature.   No: the people of
Paraguay detest and curse the memory of théir execu-
tioner, as the people of Buenos Ayres now detest and
curse Rosas, and will continué to curse and detest his
grave when the strongest of all hands shall have buried
him therein. He wishes perhaps to cheat his own con-
sciencc, and those feelings of remorse which cannot fail
at times to disturb his sleep, by supposing that a sav-
age and gloomy tyrant can bean object of the people's
love.   No: the same breath which extinguishes the life
of a tyrant closes the lips of his flatterers; and then is
raised the voice of the oppressed to demand justice on
the ashes of the criminal.

With respect to* the results, Rosas only could have
the effrontery to invoke them in support of the system
of Francia. This is openly to challenge the opinión of
the whole world; to place oneself in opposition to evi-

t

— 9 —

dence; to cali darkness light. For nearly thirty years
did the despotism of Dr. Francia weigh upon Para-
guay: such a period is more than sufficient for a system
of Government to produce its effects: what did the Dic-
tator leave behind him on his death? A people with
natural dispositions to acquire knowledge; with a de-
sire of becoming educated; with an anxions ,wish to
better their social state; to raise themselves to the level
comparatively low, of the other American Nations ; wi-
thout any means however of satisfying their noble aspi-
rations; and obliged now to commence the career pur-
sued for these thirty years by their neighbours. The
people of Paraguay found themselves on the death of
Francia in nearly a primitive state, without education,
without elementary schools, without commerce, without
industrious occupations, not having made a single ma-
terial improvement in their settléments, without any one
thing whatsoever appertaining to the social condition
of a nation which pretends to be called civilized. This
was certainly nót their own fault, but that of a politi.
cal system which suffocated their better dispositions,
and reduced them to an unconsciousness of all excep-
ting sensual faculties. Such are the results which Ro-
sas has the effrontery to invoke.

Contrast with Paraguay any nation governed on a
system oppesed to that of Dr. Francia. Not to men-
tion the United States, which doubled their population,
and increased their power and wealth a hundredfold,
while Paraguay was retrograding to a primitive state;
let us take only Montevideo, and compare its situation
in 1843, when Rosas sent Oribe to ruin* it, with its
position thirteen years before, when it declared its in-
dependence. A thousand times have we made this
comparison, expressing in ciphers the results, repre-
senting the imports and exports of her trade; the move-
ment of her shipping; the increased valué of fixed pro-- 10 -

I

perty in the Country; the extensión of the City, its
buildings, and its wealth; that of the working popula-
tion, &,e. &c.   We will not now repeat these numeri-
cal statements, which are known to every one; but we
will remark that Montevideo in thirteen years, under a
system of entire constitutional freedom, which gave the
fullest possible scope to commerce, immigration, and
foreign intercourse , made that   wonderful progress
which the invasión of Rosas carne to check, while Pa-
raguay, after thirty years of an irresponsible dictator-
ship at home, and the most complete isolation from fo-
reign intercourse, found itself thrown back in poverty,
absolutely destitute of every thing.   Such are the re-
sults. /

It does not enter into our present plan to point out
the innumerable falsehoods with which the defence of
Dr. Francia's system published by Rosas in his Gace-
ta is filled.    Many of them relate to accidental cir-
cumstances, and a detailed refutation would carry us
too far.   Thus, for instance, Rosas affi'rms that Fran-
cia abolished slavery in Paraguay, whereas it exists to
this day; he declares that the late Dictator was in the
habit of entering into familiar conversation with the
people until the day of his death; a ridiculous falseood,
intended probably as an insult to the people, who ne-
ver approached, without trembling, the square in which
the tyrant'lived; who closed their doors and windows
when the drummers of the Dictator's escort announced
his approach; and to this day keep up the custom of
taking off their hat when they p^ss by the Government
house.   Thoré are a thousand similar misstatements
which we havc no time to refute, because our attention
is called to matters of greater importance.

Rosas with studied repetition states in his article
that Dr. Francia never separated Paraguay from the Ar-
gentine association, that he declared a thousand times

that he was dísposed to continué in unión with the
ot,her Provinccs, and even "that he himself would go
and represent Paraguay in the Argentine Congress.''
All this is directly opposed to the truth; and the latter
assertion is such a monstruous absurdity that it can
scarcely be treated of seriously. The deeds.and the
declarations of Francia prove beyond all doubt the fal-
sehood of the assertion of Rosas. If these thousand
declarations which he speaks of have any existence,
how is it that the Gaceta has not quoted a single one?
Where, in what document, on what occasion, did Dr.
Francia declare that he was disposed to join the Ar-
gentine association ? There does not exist anywhere
such a declaration; there does not even exist the slight-
est indication of it, while on the contrary there are
abundance of deeds and documents which undeniably
prove the reverse.

Since the year 1813 the Argentine government
were so convinced that Paraguay was not willing to
form part of the United Prouinces of the Rio de la Pia-
la— as they were then called — that they despatched a
commissioner to the Junta, which at that time held the
reins of government in Assumption, with the solé object
of prevailing on them to send their deputies to the ge-
neral Assembly of all the Provine es. The instructions
given to that commissioner, who was D. Nicolás Her-
rera, after recommending to him every kind of eftbrt
for the attainment of that object, directed him that, "In
" case, contrary to their desires, the Junta should re-
" fuse-to send deputies to the Assembly, the idea might
" be adopted of deeiding them at least to send a deputy
" to the government." All the eíforts of Dr. Herrera
failed, through the obstínate determination of Dr.
Francia not.to unite Paraguay with the other Provin-
ces. That far seeing man, who, from the>moment of
his being called to powcr, conceived the project of raa-king himselí'exclusive master of it, caused to be adop-
ted on the 12th oí" October 1814 a plan of bis own for
the creation of a government of two Consuls: Tbese
entered upon their functions on that very day; and six
days afterwards, on the 19tb of October, D. José Gas-
par de Francia Cónsul of the Republic, and his collea-
gue D. Fulgencio Yegros , addressed to the Buenos
Ayrean Commissioner the following note:

" With respect to the object of your Commission, which you
stated to this Government on your arrival, it is the will ofthe Supre-
me Congress of the Province not to send at the present time depu-
ties to the Assembly sitting at Buenos-Ayres."

The proposal to send a Commissioner to the go-
vernment of Buenos-Ayres met with a similar repulse;
and Dr. Herrera had to leave Paraguay in fear for his
own Ufe; such was the excitement raised, by D. Fran-
cia alone, against the unión with Buenos-Ayres. If
the autograph correspondence of D. Nicolás Herrera,
which was in our hands, had not disappeared in the
loss of our papers in 184-2, we would have copied the
account, which we have read in it, of the last days of
his residence in Paraguay. Rosas must have an offi-
cial copy of it in itSs archives: he can contradict us by
producing a copy of it, should we not adhere to the
truth.

Francia's term of consulship expired a year after-
wards, and what Rosas calis the popular election took
place, which created him dictator for three years; an
election neither more ñor, less free than that which gave
to Rosas a similar discretional power for five years.
F rancia éxercised it for twenty five years, although it
was given to him for three only; Rosas, though he
was invested with this power for five years only, has
already held it for more than twelve.

The election of Francia, effected by a Congress
at whose door there was a numerous guard of honor,

who surrounded the church where the deliberations
were held, when Francia grew tired of waiting for the
election, took place in October 1814. From that time
onward, the Dictator, so lar fom even thinking of chan-
ging his measures with respect to the unión, occupied
himself constantly in widenimj the gulph of separation.
Even from the time of his election as Cónsul he called
Paraguay not a province, but a Republic: afterwards,
and during the whole of his dictatorship he never va-
ried the ñame. We read Republic of Paraguay in all
the documents of Francia's time; to the Republic he
gave a new flag, arms, and a new seal—the very same
which is preserved to this day, on the margin of which
wc read Republic of Parag uay.

These are historical facts of indisputable authen-
ticity: not the slightest trace is to be found in any of
them of the desire of unión which, according to Rosas,
was declared a thousand times by Francia. What
single document can the Gaceta oppose to these facts?

As a great recommendation of the Dictator of Pa-
raguay, that paper informs us that Francia had a high
esteem for the Government of Rosas, so great that to
it are owing the lively and profound impressions which
prevail in Paraguay in favor ofthe latter. That Fran-
cia should sympathize with Rosas is as natural as that
the latter should sympathize with him. Tyranny is a
brotherhood like any other; all tyrants like and imítate
each other, as long as they do not come in contacta and
cannot stand in the way of each other's ambition. It
was natural that the Paraguayan Despot should feel
affection for his Buenos Ayrean disciple: but, ifthe
people of Paraguay in general know of the existencc
of Rosas, it is only to detest him cordially, becausc
they are so taught to detest him by a Government which
they love, and which justly abominates Rosas.

The syslem of Dr. Francia, in Paraguay could notB      ~14 ~

cause either civil wars in its territory ordisastrous col-
lision- with forcigners.   The peoplc vvhom it reduced
to servitude píisscd immodiatoly from a statc oí" colonial
vassalage under the despotism of Dr.Francia, which
was a thousand times worse, never having had an oppor-
tunity of acquiring the knowledge of a better state, ñor
time to créate for themselves all the advantages resul-
ting from the free exercise of the faculties of man and
from his relations with his fellows, iñhabiting other coun-
tries.    Such a people it was easy to subject without
meeting with internal resistance.    As to the exterior,
the mere geographical position of Paraguay removed it
from contact with Forcigners: the number of the latter
in the country must have been very inconsiderable; fo-
reign interests very limited; the hand that could re-
press the injuries and violence committed against them
was so distant that it had not the means of punishing:
therefore collision with Forcigners was impossiblc.

From the situation of the country and the opera-
tion of completely opposite causes the system of Dr.
Francia established by Rosas in Buenos-Ayres inevL
tably produced opposite results. Eternal intestine wars
and unceasing disputes with foreign powers must na-
turally be its effeets; this must necessarily be the ca-
se as long as that existence shall continué.

And it is for this very reason that the exposition
which Rosas has just published in his Gaceta saddens
and opprcsscs us, because it points to a futurity of in_
terminable war in the River Píate.

In order to realize the idea which Rosas praises

in Dr. Francia, and which he proposes to carry out,_

the idea of " isolating these regions by raising a bar-
,, rier between America and European ambition," and
of giving to Buenos-Ayres that pcaceful Ufe of happy
tranquillay which, by his account, Francia gave to Pa-
raguay, he must indispensably annihilate, in the first

place, all the interests which now exist there, both na-
tional and foreign. Without this, so long as mutual
communication and commercial intercourse shall conti-.
nue free; while their interests have that necessary con-
nexion and dependence which are the results of that
commercial intercourse; and while Forcigners, at least,
since nativos now cannot, have a protection against the
abuses of arbitrary power, it is entirely impossíble to
reduce Buenos-Ayres to the state to which Francia
reduced Paraguay.

Rosas, in the mean time, who advances inflexibly
towards his object, will continué as hitherto attacking
those interests, which will necessarily resist, and henee
the constant struggle which has existed since Rosas
carne into power, and which will continué while he
continúes in his system. It is not to be expected,—nay
more, it would be wrong to expect—that men who are
despoiled of their property, who seo it pass by violence
into other hands, and who find themselves deprived of
all the rights of social man, should cease to resist the
power which thus oppresses them. Neither is it possi-
ble that the foreigner who thus established himself in a
lawful manner in these countries, and created for
himself valuable interests in them, should, willingly
submit to lose these, to give up the connexions he has
already formed, and to abandon these countries for ever.
He will remain in them; Rosas on his part will con-
tinué to attack him, as an obstacle to the execution of
the idea which absorbs him, and which he has now
declared. Such is the inextricable position in which
Rosas has placed himself, both with respect to his
countrymen and to Forcigners. Can aught else be
expected from it but civil war and foreign collision 1

And of coursc it is not for Buenos Ayres alone
that Rosas prepares this dark futurity. The Oriental
Statc cannot help being in volved in it.   The invasión- 16 -

iintler which it is now suffering is but a part oí* the
execution of the general design.    Rosas has now seen
by his experience in 1840, as well as by that of the
present epoch, that, while one bank of the River Píate
is governed on principies opposed to his, the execution
of his plan of isolation cannot be realized,.  The peace-
ful but irresistible intluence of commerce and of wealth
which would be developed in Montevideo; and the point
of refuge, the favourable situation for repairs and
victualling which Foreigners would always find in this
Country, would be insuperable obstacles to the plan of
Rosas.   He knows it, he has seen this, and therefore
he has laboured, and will labour with untiring energy,
to remove these obstacles, by bringing the Oriental
State into conformity with his own system.   For this
purpose he assisted the military revolution headed by
general Lavalleja in 1832, furnishing that chief from
Buenos Ayres with sixteen cases of arms and a consi-
derable quantity of ammunition, drawn from the arsenal
of that city, and sent in the Argentine Smack—Invinci-
ble which was taken by the forces of the Oriental
Government on the coast of Maldonado, in September
of that year.    For this purpose the Government which
commanded in Buenos Ayres on account of Rosas —
while the latter was carrying on his campaign in the
desert, which he undertook with no other object but
that of having a large army at his disposal—again fitted
out and assisted general Lavalleja, who, when defeated,
had taken refuge there, and launched him again into
this territory in March 1834.   For this purpose the
same Rosas assisted Oribe in 1836, by garrisoning
Paysandú with a battalion of Argentine infantry. F^or
this purpose he sent Echagüe in 1839 with one of his
own armies,  which was routed at Cagancha, and for
this purpose he has again sent Oribe, at the head of
another army also his, with which he reckoned upon

— 17 —

defmitively subduing the Republic. What Rosas has
done hitherto he will continué to do, and we shall have
a permanent state of warfare until he obtains the obe-
dience of Montevideo, as he has obtained that of Cór-
doba and Santa Fé.

Such is the inevitable prospect held out to the
River Plata in the declaration of principies made by
the Dictator in his Gaceta of the 22nd of July. we
would earnestly desire that this paper, the production
of Rosas himself, should be carefully studied, that the
importance which it in reality possesses should be atta-
ched to it by every one and every where, since it w«uld
be the height of simplicity to suppose that it has been
published so extemppraneously without any special
object.( Froui tlie "Gaceta Mercantil" of thc 22nd of July,)

The intelligent editor of the British Packet, in the articles he has
published on Paraguay, undertakes to place in their true light the
affairs of that province. He certainly shews with powerful árgu-
ments the just titles and unequivocal rights asserted by the Argen-
tine Government; but, at the same time, adopting the opinions of
Mr. Robertson, he regarda Dr. Francia's policy of isolation in an
odious point of view. lu this respect, and without taking upon our-
selves to defend the administrative acts of Doctor Francia in referen-
ce to Paraguay, we cannot bring ourselves to believe that his policy
of isolation was productivo of more evil than good to Paraguay, inas-
much as Dr. Francia, in preserving it from the conflagration which
was raging around it, never severed the political and natural ties
which untte that province to the Confederation, ñor acted in a manner
at variance with the disposition and peculiar situation of the Para-
guay an people. Our convictions in this respect are difFeYent from
those of our esteemed contemporary , and we will give the reasons
on which we found them.

First of all, it is necessary to remark, that the history of the
memorable events which have taken place since the 25th of May,
1810, goes unequivocally to prove that the Banda Oriental, now
the independent Republic of the Uruguay, immediately joined its
voice and energies to those of Buenos Ayres, the capital then of the
Viceroyalty of the River Píate. Ifindeed the power of Spain and
the influence of her deep-rooted domination opposed strong obstacles
in some sections of tbe continent to the American cause, the Orien-
tal people always upheld it, combating in a manner at once decided
and courageous against the injustice of Spain and the invasión of
Portugal. The Banda Oriental rendered itself conspicuous in se-
conding the efforts of Buenos Ayres. In Montevideo the public fee-
ling was evinced, although the Spanish power succeeded in suffbea-
ting it for a short period. The inhabitants of the country distriets
rose up, and vanquishing the forcé which oppressed them, formed a
connection with the general government established in Buenos Ay
res. Generáis José de Rondeau and José de Artigas directed that
Btruggle of American liberty. Assisted by the forces of Buenos Ay-
res, they crossed the Uruguay and assembled together the nume-
rous divisions of Oriental patriots, who were ñghting for the Ameri-
can cause. The victory of Las Piedras made them masters of all
the country up to the very walls of Montevideo, and the general go-— 20 —

vernment then estal>lÍ9hed in Buenos Ayres, was solcmnly acknow-
ledged throughout the country. The whole Oriental campaign
maintained itself from that period on the same footing of national
unión as Entrerios, Corrientes, Santa Fé and other provinces of the
Argentine Republic.

The necessity of assisting the liberating army of Perú compelled
the Argentine Government to withdraw the troops from the siege of
Montevideo. General Artigas maintained himseíf, notwithstanding,
at the head of the Oriental milítía, always with assistance from Bue-
nos Ayres, until shortly afterwards an army marched henee under
the command of Don Manuel Sarratea. Then, the Spanish squa-
dron off Montevideo having been captured by the Argentine, the pla-
ce surrendered to the valor of the united Orientáis and Argentines,
under the command of General Alvear. A lamentable contest then
commenced between the. p.itiiuts; but it turned upon the form of go-
vernment, and the national bond always remained subsisting until
1828, when the independence oí' the Oriental Republic was esta-
blishod.

These faets shew that the Banda Oriental promptly responded
to the cali of Americ-a, and continued to do so, from 1810.

With respect to Paraguay the Briliah Packet clearly shows that
it always remained indissolubjy united to the Argentine nationality,
and likewise entered into the solema and conclusive treaty of the
I2th October, 1811; but it strongly censures Dr. Francia's policy of
isolation, adopting what the English writer, Mr. Robertson, has pu-
blished against that ruler of Paraguay. The reasons given by Mr.
Robertson solcly consist of a bitter and sarcastic censure ofthe Pa-
raguayana, notwithstanding that he himself gives us to understand
that they could not be very far advanced in the theories and institu-
tion ofthe representati ve system, under the Jesuitic regime, Be the
fact what it m;iy in regard to the greater or Jess severity of Dr.
Francia's administraron, it is nevertheless true that his policy of
isolation preserved Paraguay, and that that country was not in the
least degree prepared for the deveiopment of a system of complete
representaron and unrostricted liberty; whilst it appears from Mr.
Robortson's exaggerated descriptions themselves, that Dr Francia
enjoyed the greatest popularity among his fellow countrymen.

The Jesuits originally established in Paraguay a particular or-

fanization ofthe Indian tribos under the denomination ofreduction»,
'he infiuence of this regime had loft deep impressions. Besides,
the topographical position ofthe country, with interior departments,
traversed by vast rivers, covered with impenetrable forests, and sur-
rounded by wild tribes in the midst of extensivo deserts — could it,
perchance, render attainable, in that state of society, a system tho-
roughly liberal? On the other hand, the policy of isolation pursued
by Dr. Francia , who never declared the separation of Paraguay
from the national unión with the Argentine Confederation, preserved
that province from the ravages of anarchy and from the calamities
of war.

Dr. Francia's design was to keep Paraguay unsenthed until the
time of tho complete pacification ofthe neighbouring provinces, when
he might. open an intercourse with them, without danger and without
the difficulties entailed upon tho latter by foreign ambition.   No one

— 21 —

could blaine him, and much less the Paraguayans, for acting in this
manner.

Dr. Francia at the period designated by Mr. Robertson, was
the most distinguished man in Paraguay for his civic virtues, his ta-
lents and his vast acquirements. If some have censured him with
acrimony, others have stopped to study the circumstances and the
relativo nature of the measures he adopted in order to save Para-
guay, and have not felt themselves called upon to concur in the
enormity ofthe aecusation brought against him for his policy of iso-
lation.

Dr. Francia, when he commenced exercising his unlimited autho-
rity,—public opinión having declared in his favour,—preserved all in
the enjoyment of peace and comfort. Seeing that anarchy and war
afflicted the provinces of Buenos Ayres, Entre-Rios, Corrientes and
Misiones, as well as the Banda Oriental, he cut off all intercourse
with them, and freed Paraguay from numerous evils, and from fo-
reitr ¡nterferences. If his disposition was rare, his policy was pro-
found, based upon the knowledge ofthe social state and habits of
his fellow countrymen, and upon the idea of preserving them from *
the frightful convulsions of anarchy, the ravages of war, and the
dreaded predominaney which, in the midst pf these turmoils, might
be sought by some strong powers of Europe. Pursuing this plan he
isolated himself, seeing that the different gover»ments of the Argen-
tine Republic rose and fell with the waves of anarchy. He was
afraid of being involved in it; but he never declared the separation
of Paraguay from the national unión, ñor dissembled his onposition
to Spain.

His enemies have denounced him as a sanguinary tyrant, es-
corted by sbirri, surrounded by instruments of death and torture,
and taking delight in tormenting the Paraguayans, but these imputa-
tions are contradicted by the resuits of his administration and by the
notorious fact that the Paraguayans, far from execrating his memory,
honor and venérate it. The convictions of a people ulioso good
qualities cannot be disputed by any one, nre of some more impór-
tance than the prívate opinions of a writer who found Dr. Francia's
system revolting, because he judged it in an absolute manner, and
did not consider it in its relative goodness, and in the resuits of
tranquillity and peace which it produced for the province. of Para-
guay during a long period.

In the midst of this isolation Dr. Francia received and assisted
several travellers who went to Paraguay for scientifíc purposes; and
if he detained M. Bonpland, it was because he believed him to be a
secret agent of France, under the guise of a naturalist, for exciting
the minds ofthe people in favour of an European monarchy.

The attachment ef Dr. Francia to the American cause was
always unequivocal and honest: and the European intrigues he dis-
covered, contribute to confirm him in the idea of his policy of iso-
lation.

As regards the administrative acts ofDr. Francia, it is necessa-
ry to examine them in all their details and circumstances, in their
necessity and resuits; and one will be inclined to admire that singu-
lar and profound genius, since Paraguay, who knew perfectly well
his acts. has justified him even after he ceased to exist, and still no-nours his memory. Certainly she is the most competent judge of
his domestic administration; and if Dr. Francia's system was revol-
ting to the generally received political ideas, it is iikewise indispu-
table, thát, if he be jndged by the results and by the testimony of
the Paraguayans, it will be seen that this ruler found himself placed
in such special and grave circumslances that they did not allow him
to establish a system of imitation, but compelled him to appeal to
the originálity of his genius in order to confront them. Thus it is,
that he himself, in the political catechism which he placed in the
hands of the Paraguayans, developed that fundamental idea of his
system, by explaining that " it would last as long as it was useful
and agreable to the wants of society." At the same time he abo-
lished slavery in Paraguay without attacking prívate property; he
suppressed tributes; he declared public offices to be rotatorj ; and
expressly taught the Paraguayans that the geatest enemies they
had to fear were European ambition and anarchy.

The system of fínance established by 'Dr. Francia was simple
- and puré; his disinterestedness was notorious, and the frugality of
his life singular.

He always considered the bond of national unión between Pa-
raguay and the Argentine Confederation to subsist, at the same time
that he avoided to leave the isolated position in which he deemed it
necessary to muintain himself during the anarchy and war by which
he was surrounded. This is the more evident inasmuch as Dr. Fran-
ciu spurned the suggestions of the court of Portugal that he should
come to an undeistanding with it respecting a plan for the separa-
tion of Paraguay from the Argentine unión, and the establishment of
an intercourse with Portugal. He Iikewise baffled in an able manner
the astute officiousness of the British Cabinet, and shewed a deter-
mined disposition to counteract the attempts he apprehended t>n the
part of the French government.

In this manner he preserved Paraguay in happy tranquillity and
in a situation to abandon its isolation at the period of the general
pacifícation of the Argentine Confederation to whose national unión
it belongs, and to which it is of necessity called as well by its politi-
cal oblrgations as by its own convenience and geographical position.

Dr. Francia has been strongly accused on account of the exe-
cutions decree,d by him in the early days of his administration, on
occasion of the conspiracies hatched against public tranquillity and
against the very life of the supreme ruler. But no one has denied
the reality of those crimes which produced the painful necessity of
repressing them; and, on the other hand. it is a notorious fact in Pa-
raguay, that Dr. Francia was always sparing in those executions,—
commuting capital punishment for imprisonments of more or less du-
ration.

In spite of the intrigues of the Governor Velazco to divide Pa-
raguay and deliver it up to the Portuguese domination, the Paragua-
yans declared , in 1811, for the unión with Buenos-Ayres and the
other provinces of the ancient Spanish Viceroyalty. The Paragua-
yan citizens, who appeared at the head of this popular movement on
the 15th May, 1811, were Don Pedro Juan Caballero and Don Ful-
gencio Yedros; but the chief director in reality was Doctor Gaspar
José de Francia. Don Francisco Agüero addressed strong reproofs on

— 23 -

the part of the province to the Governor Velazco for having attempt-
ed to sepárate it from the common cause; and the people compelled
him to send a despatch to the Portuguese General Don Diego de
Souza, who was in the Banda Oriental, refusing to allow the entran-
ce of the Portuguese troops which were ready to support Velazco.
Dr. Francia was then called to assume openly the direction which
up to that time he had held secretly.   He was a member and direc-
tor of the Gubernativo Junta which «ucceeded Velazco; and under
the influence and policy of Dr. Francia the treaty of the 12th Octo-
ber 1811 was concluded. which iic himself negotiated and signed.
By this treaty the province of Paraguay preserved the national unión
in a free and spontaneous manner: it indissolubly united itself in
confederation with the other provinces of the Argentine Republic;
and though subsequently isolated, it continued to maintain the com-
mon bond.

This Junta was succeeded by the dictatorship of Dr. Francia,
created by the Congress of Paraguay. This Congress assembled
and deliberated with a very full representation, and without any
coercive means having been employed.

From this time the policy of Dr. Francia displayed itself in a
manner worthy of being meditated upen in order to judge impartially
and coolly.

Seeing the frightful disorder which had sprung up in the ancient
Viceroyalty ofthe River Píate, and wisely calculating the advantage
that foreign ambition would derive from such a state of things, he
taught in his public documenta, in his conversations which he fami-
liarTy held with every class ofthe community, and which he conti-
nued to the last moment of his existence, that it was necessary to
raise a barrier between America and  Kuropean ambition, and to
watch the proper opportunity for opening a commercial iptercourse
founded upon real reciprocity.   With this feeling the mass of the Pa-
raguayan population are imbued   He inspired and deeply impressed
it in them.   He was aware that treaties between the weak and the
strong were premature, especially in the midst of convulsions and
war.   Having learned the project that was on foot for establishing
Kuropean monarchies in America, he strongly declared against it.
When intelligence was received in Paraguay of that absurd plan, he
emphatically stated on different occasions, that he would prove to
America and to the world that he was an American ruler, who would
npt compromise with Furopean domination, ñor ever betray Ameri-
can principies and interests.

He would be ignorant of the state of public opinión in Paraguay
and of the dominating idea inspired by Dr. Francia, who should deny
that the latter considered his policy of isolation the more necessary
inasmuch as he explained to his fellow countrymen, that the strong
Furopean power first carne to establish mercantile conquest in order
to bring next their canons. Dr.^Francia's vaticination that Euro-
pean ambition would one day tinge with blood the waters ofthe Pa-
raná, is also proverbial in Paraguay.

He always kept subsisting the bond of national unión established
by the treaty ofthe 12th October, 1811. Far from declaring the in-
dependence of Paraguay, he always considered it as a province of
the Confederation, and said that it was destined at a future period tobe one oi the most influential provinces, and to ward off at the van of
all, the encroaching and grasping policy of the Cabinet of Rio Ja-
neiro, which even in the time of Dr. Francia laid claim to some im-
portañt parts of the legitímate territory of Paraguay.

In the first deeade of the emancipation of the Argentine Repu-
blic, during the directorship of AJvarez y Tomas, Dr. Francia did
not refuse to furnish a contingent of 4,000 men, provided he was
supplied with arms and clothing, and the troops we e regimented in
Paraguay. But the different general governments, from an erro-
neous policy arid serious blunders, far from appreciating Dr. Fran-
cia's disposition, uniformly firm against the common enemy, and his
anti-anarchical views, acted in a manner rather calculated to occa-
sion appreherisions, well or ill-grounded, to Dr. Francia's govern-
ment in regard to the tranquillity of Paraguay Neverthelese, he was
persevering in uprooting the Spanish influence, in sustaining his de-
claration against the domination of Spain: and of his very coopera-
tion a charge is formed against him by hrs accusers. He entirely
destroyed the Spanish influence in Paraguay; and if he is taxed with
having had recourse to extraordinary measures, like that ofendea-
vouring to blend the Spanish race by a decree respecting marriages,
have not the strongest measures been adopted throughout America
in order to extírpate the Spanish influence, manifested by incessant
and terrible conspiracies, and repressed with the utmost severtty?
In Paraguay the executions were few; and there were not the cons-
piracies, and reactions which in other Hispano-American States have
cost so muclvbJood of Spaniards and Americans.

In conformity with the treaty of the 12th Octoher, 1811, Dr.
Francia was always disposed to send, on the consolidation of peace
and order, the corresponding Deputies for Paraguay to the Argenti-
ne Congréss; and he was heard to say on severa! occasions, not only
that he was anxious that that period should arrive, but that he would,
ifnecessary, himself represent Paraguay in the Argentine Con-
gréss. v

Dr. Francia inspired the Paraguayans with an ardent love of
country, the most complete self-denial in its service, profound respect
for the property and intecests of the State; and he himself set the
example of these virtues. During his long administration not a sin-
gle vice or failing sullied his character. Indefatigable and assiduous
in labour, he performed immenso tasks, from the highest affairs to
the lowest matters of detail.

Those who censure Dr. Francia's administration as outrageously
tyrannical and óppressive over the people, forget that he kept in Pa-
raguay only small guards of troops without ammunition. One packa-
ge of cartridges was allotted to each guard: and it used to remain
untouched for whole years. Thev forget that in the whole adminis-
tration of Dr. Francia, the deserters from Paraguay do not amount
to twenty; and that when he olosed his career, if he had not been
honest and beneficent in his administration, there would not have
been heard " instead of songs of exultation, the loud wail of mour-
ning, just as if a national calamity had oceurred." The people only
,weep over the graves of great men, and bless but the hand that con-
fers benefits.   This feeling is general in Paraguay.

— 25 —

Doctor Francia left in the public coffers nearly $300,000, the
l'ruit of the order and economy he established in the management of
the scanty revenue of Paraguay.

The present President Don Carlos Antonio López was much re-
commended by Dr. Francia during his lifetime; and this added great-
ly to his popularity.

The favourable disposition which Dr. Francia always evinced
towards the illustrious Generáis San-Martin and Belgrar.o, was con-
siderably increased towards the administration of General Rosas;
and so positive was the regard and esteem he entértained for the
latter, that he has left deep and lively impressions among the people
of Paraguay in favor of General Rosas.

Notwitsthanding the exaggerations of parties interested in ascri-
bing a fanciful condition to Paraguay, this province, according to
the last census taken previously to the death of Dr. Francia, had
•two hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, including the reduc-
tions of Indians, which the late Dictator organized in an admirable
manner. Paraguay, though exempt from the evils of war and anar-
chy, has not been free from melancholy pcstilences and endemic
diseases which have thinned its population. Dysentory, which makes
its appearance there periodically, has caused nearly 20,000 deaths
in the years between 1830 and 1840. In 1844—5 the small pox des-
troyed upwards of 14,000 people ; and the scarlet fever carried off
nearly 11,000 in the years between 1836 and 1838.

In Paraguay the very ñame of "emigrant" is detested; for emi-
grante are very justly upbraided with having left their own country,
either flying from the punishment of the crimes with which they have
offended it, or refusing to serve and defend it.

I