Part 5

The dispute between Captain Willes, of H.M.S. _Brazen_, and the government of Buenos Ayres, caused a considerable bustle. Captain W. was ordered, by his instructions, to board all vessels of his nation upon their arrival; in the execution of which, his boat was fired upon by the gun-brig stationed outside. Other disagreements took place; and Captain W. was ordered to quit the shore in two hours. He did so. When on board, fruitless efforts took place to accommodate matters. The boats of H.M. ship took possession of their brig, and sent her to the inner roads. The public mind was inflamed by a string of falsehoods and misrepresentations published in the _Centinella_ newspaper; the doors of one or two English houses had threatening placards stuck upon them; and a list was handed about for signatures, to avenge the insult offered to their flag. I am not aware, if they meant to attack the _Brazen_; volunteers for such an expedition, I should think, would have been scarce. The British addressed a note to Captain W. soliciting, that, if consistent with his duty, he would leave Buenos Ayres, as the present irritation might lead to extremes. The _Brazen_ sailed for Colonia; her captain stating, that nothing but consideration for his countrymen on shore should have tempted him so to do: and thus the affair ended.

The government had promised protection to British persons and property, the quarrel being a private one; but retaliation would, no doubt, have taken place, had Captain Willes remained, and seized any of their vessels. The Buenos Ayres government were somewhat precipitate in their proceedings, and wanting in their respect to the officer of a nation, which, if not in alliance, was on terms of strictest friendship with them. It was regretted by many, that Captain Willes refused to come on shore, when solicited by Mr. Rivadavia. Our captain was sadly hampered by what he conceived to be his duty, and the alarm on shore. Those gentlemen who had been long settled in the country, with their wives and families, wished, I have no doubt, that the Brazen had been a thousand miles off, particularly the female branches; though none, I trust, possessed spirits so mean, as to brook insult for the enjoyment of present comfort.

The outer roads had long been an object of dispute. I regret that, in this instance, it should have deprived us of the society of an officer, whose amiable manners and disposition delight all who have the happiness of knowing him. At Monte Video, Captain Willes was literally adored. I do not think the British would have been seriously molested, for they had numerous friends in the town, and Captain Willes was not without his advocates. A pamphlet, shortly after, appeared, said to be written by an Englishman, exposing the malevolence of the _Centinella_.

The appointment of consuls will prevent these disputes in future. Our naval officers are not the best diplomatists; they would, as a member in the House of Commons observed, "much rather fight than write."

Some Germans, in Buenos Ayres, were in a terrible fright, lest they should be taken for Englishmen, when the supposed work of retaliation should begin. In complexion and appearance, they much resemble us, and they nearly all speak English. Germans and Americans are all denominated Englishmen by the natives; they cannot find out the distinction. A Creole boy once told me, that he supposed every body to be my countryman, that could say, _How do you do?_ in English.

In the little disagreements that take place on the beach between the sailors and the natives, the term _English brute_ is always applied to the former. These disputes are rare, for our sailors do not mix much amongst them.

Mr. Woodbine Parish, the British consul-general for Buenos Ayres, seems well adapted for the station he fills: his manners are mild and gentlemanly. The two vice-consuls, Messrs. Griffiths and Pousset, share in the same praise; the latter, in countenance and figure, much resembles the royal family; if he were a trifle more portly, one might fancy him the Duke of York.

The different states of this part of South America, such as Entre Rios, Cordova, Santa Fe, Mendoza, &c. sent Members, to attend the congress in Buenos Ayres, empowering the government to act for them in the treaty with England; which, after considerable discussion, has been signed and ratified. Mr. Parish, attended by the vice-consuls and other gentlemen, went in state to pay his respects to the governor upon the occasion. The reception of the consul was, of course, flattering: the flag was hoisted at the fort, and a gun fired. The clause which caused most debate in the congress, was that of religious toleration. Some of the members seemed alarmed. It was, however, allowed, with free liberty for Protestants to build their own places of public worship. This is something gained from ancient prejudices. I have not, however, a high opinion of English devoutness in Buenos Ayres. We have now a sort of prayer, or methodist meeting, held in a private house. A captain of a Liverpool brig brought out some religious tracts, which he circulated, and hoisted the Bethel flag in his vessel: I fear he found Buenos Ayres an uncongenial spot for those subjects.

Another article in this treaty which has given general satisfaction, is, that no British subject shall be compelled to military service. In any disputes upon this topic, the British have been the only foreigners who have stood forward to resist it; the others have remained passive spectators.

On Sundays and holidays, the British and American consuls hoist the flags of their respective nations from the tops of their houses. The Buenos Ayres flag floats by the side of the American: Colonel Forbes, like a skilful manager, studies the taste of the town.

I have noticed, that many of my countrymen, in their desire to visit their native land, still talk of returning to Buenos Ayres. They certainly must feel some attachment to a country in which they have lived happily for a series of years. Eight or ten years of absence from home makes a great alteration amongst our dearest friends; some are dead, and others are absent, or indifferent. In England, too, every one must be content to mix with the crowd.

A great many of the English are perfect masters of the Spanish language, having obtained their knowledge of it by a long residence in the country, and by coming to it at a very early age. I have been surprised at the quickness with which English children learn it: in a few months they are able to carry on a conversation, whilst those of riper age take years to attain it. When a man gets near thirty years of age, he feels little inclination to study languages.

In mentioning any thing of the English females in Buenos Ayres, I feel a delicacy bordering on timidity, and ought to recollect the homely proverb, "The least said is the soonest mended." Certain, however, it is, that, with some exceptions, they are not a fair specimen of our country. Those placed in the higher circles are few in number, and appear to be amiable women, as are many whom I will take the liberty of calling the second class; but with respect to the lower orders, I can only say, that I have been more than once reminded of the neighbourhood of St. Giles's. In reply to some remarks of a Spanish lady, I mustered courage to tell her, that, in spite of all the charming women of Buenos Ayres, we had those at home who equalled, if not far surpassed them; of which I would speedily convince her, could I, with Harlequin's wand, waft her to my country, where they may be seen in all their charms of beauty and splendour; and that the few who traversed the ocean, formed no criterion, a voyage to South America being rather a serious undertaking for a lady.

In commenting upon the dowdy appearance which some of the British females make in this country, I am not singular;--all my countrymen converse upon it, and join me in my opinion.

Families should never think of bringing pretty unmarried servant girls with them from Europe; they are almost sure of losing them. Be the girls ever so determined, they will find a difficulty in resisting the offers of marriage from the numerous English bachelor mechanics, who are at a sad loss for wives:--a Spanish wife is not to their taste. Therefore, those who wish to keep their servants, must choose the ugliest they can procure--something that may be an antidote to the warm passions of our English Damons. An importation of British females with tolerable personal charms would answer here, as well as in many other places abroad. I wish some adventurer would beat up for recruits amongst the nursery maids at the west end of the town in London; it would be an excellent speculation, and serve the poor girls into the bargain.

Several Englishmen have married Buenos Ayrean ladies; and, from all accounts, they do not repent having done so. The worst of it is, in marrying into Spanish families, one may be said to marry all the family, for they expect to reside under the same roof. The English resist this, and with success: the good sense of their wives will make them conform to our ideas; yet the parting of a beloved daughter from the paternal roof must be a painful task for parents, whose only consolation is in yielding her to the arms of the man she loves.

Englishmen married to Spanish females have been, in a degree, obliged to conform to the Catholic ceremonies of marriage. The over-scrupulous will start at this; but, if they have ever been in love, they will readily conceive that these oaths of form may be swallowed with as much ease as many of the absurd ones of our Custom-House. The difference of religion, in liberal minds, cannot in any way disturb domestic harmony: we differ only in forms.

So great were religious prejudices not many years ago, that a lady would have hesitated, and her family interfered to prevent a marriage with one of "heretic creed." The alteration is a credit to their understandings; it evinces that they are neither bigots nor fanatics. A generation of children are now springing up, half English, half Creolian, speaking both languages; their fathers teaching them English, their mothers Spanish. Could we look a few years forward, and see these youngsters grown to maturity, loving the land of their birth, and having a yearning towards that of their fathers, what important consequences may not result, in cementing friendships between nations that once regarded each other with a rooted dislike.

Englishmen who have married in this country, I should presume, intend making it their adopted land. It is an alternative that would cause me to pause: I could not consent to lose the hope of again seeing my paternal home. Now, if I could fancy such an event, as taking my Buenos Ayrean wife with me to London, lodging her in some fashionable mansion near Grosvenor Square, or in the Square itself--visiting the Opera and all the Theatres--pointing out to her Rossini, Catalani, our Braham, Stephens, Kean, and Macready, and explaining their different talents, poor Rosquellas, and the Señoras Tani, would be quite forgotten; and, instead of a ride on the Barracca Road, or to San José de Flores, San Isidro, &c. conducting her along the Queen's Road to Putney, Richmond, or Windsor--taking a stroll with her in Kensington Gardens--Heavens! whither will my imagination lead me? and why cannot I persuade some kind-hearted Creolian to give me his daughter, and two hundred thousand dollars, in return for the fond love I should lavish on her?

The marriages of English people have been performed by captains of vessels of war, or in the presence of two or three merchants, whose signatures are said to be sufficient acts of parliament. The residence of a consul will obviate some of these difficulties.

The British community, in Buenos Ayres, lost one of its chief ornaments, by a melancholy suicide, which took place in December, 1824--that of Mr. Dallas, who cut his throat with a razor: disappointment in business is stated to be the cause. He has not left his equal in Buenos Ayres; his character fully warranted that expressive term in the English language--a perfect gentleman.

The death of Mr. Rowcroft, in Peru, caused infinite regret amongst the British in Buenos Ayres, by whom he was much respected. He was, probably, the first alderman of the city of London that ever crossed the Andes. It was hard to meet his death by the bullets of foreign soldiery. It is some consolation, that accident alone caused the fatal affair. It is said, that he was taken for a Spanish officer, Mr. R. being clothed in his uniform as Colonel of the City Light Horse, a dress he appeared particularly proud of.

A son of Sir Robert Wilson arrived here, and went to Peru; but he soon returned, and went to the Brazils, in order to join his father's friend, Lord Cochrane.

Amongst my countrymen in this city, may be found some very eccentric characters, who would be accounted originals even at home.

Who has visited Buenos Ayres without having heard of the noisy drunken Englishman, Jack Hall, the Caleb Quotem of the town, and who, in appearance and dress, looked as if he had just escaped from Newgate. Poor Jack died in July, 1824, and was carried to the grave in his own cart, which had, for a series of years, borne so many of his countrymen to their last abode, and on that account was called "the English hearse." Hall was a Jack of all trades, painter, glazier, whitewasher, &c. &c. The Spaniards, when he first arrived amongst them, viewed him as a prodigy.

Irishmen naturalized into American citizens, or what are called "Irish Yankies," from time to time pass through Buenos Ayres, on their route to different parts: I have known several. It is heart-rending to think, that political events should thus have estranged men from their native country, and made them its bitterest enemies. It is true, they "rail against a rock they cannot pull down." If an excuse can be found for them, it is that the hopes of their youth have been blighted, and that oppression has made them aliens to their native land. North Americans remark, that those who abuse Great Britain most in the United States are our own countrymen. I believe it; and in the falsification of their long-told predictions of England's downfall, there is a wider field opened for their hate, and to brood upon what is to happen to ill-fated England.

As regards some Irishmen whom I have known (or, if it must be so, "Irish Yankies"), I sincerely regret that I cannot embrace them, take them by the hand, and call them countrymen. I have noticed them to be men of warm imaginations; and when listening to any detail of Irish intrepidity in the French war--and where is it that Irish blood has not flowed in torrents for the cause of Great Britain?--their hearts appeared elated, and they knew every Irish officer who had distinguished himself; they spoke of his deeds with rapture, and, for the moment, assumed their natural character of British subjects;--for, say what they will, a man feels little enthusiasm in the glories of any nation but his own. I congratulated one upon the change in his ideas:--he started; "No," said he, "I regret not the past; I am, and ever will remain, an American citizen."

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There are three NORTH-AMERICAN mercantile houses--Mr. Ford; Zimmerman and Co.; and Stewart and M'Call. The residents are few, excepting the casual visitors. I find a difficulty in distinguishing them from Englishmen, though a Creole friend of mine pretended to do it, describing the Americans as generally wearing white hats, spectacles, and carrying a stick. This observation I afterwards found tolerably correct. We laugh at their phrases--"I guess,"--"I calculate,"--"I expect," &c.; and they retort upon our continual use of "You know," in conversation. It will be well for the two nations, if their future differences consist only in laughing at each other's peculiarities of speech.

The North Americans carry on a considerable trade in this river, and have brought some valuable cargoes from China and India. Flour, lumber, a few dry goods, soap, &c. are their general import; salt vessels also arrive from the Cape de Verd, which article is at times very profitable. Now and then the domestic manufactures of North America are brought to this market; but the profit of them, if any, must be very small. The immense capital, machinery, and talent of England, must for a long time give her the advantage over every other nation; and as regards North America, I should not suppose it would answer her purpose to divert her population from the health-inspiring pursuits of agriculture to a pernicious manufacture. Their chief commerce is in flour; and owing to one or two bad harvests in this province, the advantages have been great. It has been sold at thirty dollars per barrel; the cost in North America being only seven or eight. During the year 1823, upwards of 70,000 barrels of flour was thus imported into Buenos Ayres. For a country so luxuriant in soil to be dependent upon foreigners for bread, appears strange; but agriculture is yet young in South America.

The North-American trade is mostly carried on in ships with supercargoes: the captains are a superior set of men. But few English ships arrive; they are nearly all brigs, commanded by our roughest seamen: but these brigs often contain valuable cargoes. The Americans manage to run about the world with small cargoes. A number of their vessels come here for the purpose of being sold and broken up; which seems to be a good speculation, if we may judge from the number hauled upon the beach for that purpose: those ships that cut such a dashing figure at first sight, have only "a goodly outside, but are rotten within."

The circumstance of North America having been the first to acknowledge the independence of this province has not insured to her any particular commercial privileges. In a coffee-house, one evening, I witnessed a serious debate amongst some Creolians; one of them, in the heat of argument, asserted that the acknowledgment by North America was of no more consequence to the state, than if the province of Santa Fé had done so. The acknowledgment by Spain and England is what materially interests them: North America, however, has decidedly paved the way for this.

Although there are a great many North-American mechanics, yet we find very few of them have shops of their own in Buenos Ayres. In the manufacture of boots, shoes, hats, &c. as well as dry goods, they must yield the palm to us. In the stores, a preference is given to English hams, cheeses, &c.; but I have tasted American articles of this description, of good quality. The Americans, aware of the partiality, pass off many of their goods as English; and I have purchased American soap with the British crown impressed upon it.

Perhaps in no part of the world has such a marked distance been kept between Americans and Englishmen as in Buenos Ayres; but this, I rejoice to observe, is subsiding. Both parties are to blame. The English are said to be the most conceited nation on earth; it may be true, but our North-American friends have a touch of that quality likewise. When told of this; their reply, that "their vices they inherit from us; their virtues are peculiarly their own."

Mr. Rodney, the minister from North America, departed this life on the 10th of June, 1824. His death was sudden, from an attack of apoplexy. The evening previous to his decease, he had a large assemblage of visitors at his house. He was a plain republican of the old school, and much esteemed by all parties: he has left a large family. The government of Buenos Ayres evinced the most marked respect to his memory.[12] Colonel Forbes is the Secretary of Legation: he has been in Buenos Ayres since October, 1820, and acted as agent to the United States till the arrival of Mr. Rodney.

[12] The following are extracts from the decrees issued by the government on the occasion:--

"A sepulchral monument, at the expense of the government, shall be raised over the remains of the Honourable Cæsar Augustus Rodney, as a memorial of gratitude.

"In the funeral rites to be observed towards so distinguished a citizen, the following orders shall be executed. A Battalion of Infantry, with four pieces of Light Artillery, shall be stationed at the place where the body is to be buried. As the corpse leaves the house of his decease, the fort shall fire a national salute. Another similar salute shall be executed by the Light Artillery, on the entry of the corpse into the cemetery. On putting it into the grave, the battalion being formed, shall fire a general discharge.

"The general staff of the army, and the chiefs of all the departments, shall be invited to meet at the house of the government, to accompany the ministers during the said funeral rites."

The funeral was the grandest thing of the sort ever seen in this country. A great concourse of people of all nations attended, on horse and foot; not the least remarkable of whom were the Catholic clergymen. In the detail published of the ceremonies, we read the following observations:--

"In addition to the civil authorities who attended, it was peculiarly pleasing to all the Protestants, to observe the public respect shewn by the attendance of the head of the church, and many of the most distinguished Catholic clergymen, the Rector of the University, &c.; proclaiming, in the most unequivocal manner, the increasing liberality of this Catholic people. They had, before, kindly granted the Protestants the privilege of a burial-ground; and on this occasion they attended, with the greatest respect, to all the exercises of the funeral, and mingled their sympathies with our's. Their high-minded example in this instance is at once indicative of the elevation and nobleness of their character, and worthy the imitation of Christians of every name and country."

Mr. Rivadavia made an oration over the grave; the concluding words ran thus:--

"Illustrious soul of Cæsar Augustus Rodney! return to the bosom of thy Creator, with the elevation and confidence to which you are entitled. Being his image here on earth, separate not thy compassionate regard from this country, which is so highly honoured in preserving your remains. Yes, we will preserve them, as the most precious treasure that this soil can receive." [_Taking some earth in his hand._] "And thou earth! that art going to cover these venerable remains, receive also the honour of being mingled with the most fruitful seeds of virtue, and cause it to produce similar heroes, that may immortalize the American name."

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The FRENCH are numerous in Buenos Ayres; report says, they are equal in number to the British, but I do not believe it. Their trade here, what there is of it, must be advantageous: they bring every requisite for the ladies' toilet; fans, silk stockings, perfumery, scented waters, gloves, jewellery, and those nic-nacs in which the French so much excel. Some shops make a great figure in French goods, as silks, shawls, and every essential to gratify female taste. Roquin, Meyer, & Co. is the chief mercantile French house; but there are numbers of Buenos Ayrean and other firms, that import largely from France, as do also some English houses.