1821,] Notes leriiien during a late 



France, and in order to crusli tlmt li- 

 berty, by ff-f! forced restoration of tlie 

 Bourbonii. have occasioned the enor- 

 mous delit of tills counti-y; that this 

 debt, and the abuses arising out of it, 

 occasioned the unparalleled burthen of 

 our taxation ; and that our taxation is 

 the fruitful source of the distress^ beg- 

 gar;/, and m;«s* which now afflict us, 

 are now too apparent to be disputed by 

 almost any thing but those liaving an 

 interest in the taxes wliich weigh down 

 their neighbours, and who are disposed 

 on all occasions to listen to those who 

 needlessly cry out against blasphemy, 

 and irreligion, amongst the tax-payers. 

 My hope being that this may sti- 

 mulate several oif the more able pens 

 of your correspondents, 1 shall not at 

 present enlarge further than to ob- 

 serve, on the distressing facts disclosed 

 by Eudocia, viz. that while the autocrat 

 of a foreign country has been accessible 

 to, and has condescendingly replied to 

 the iuldress of the anti-war society, the 

 constitutional tiirone of our own coun- 

 try could not be approachecf nea.re.v tliAii 

 the office of that minister who so wan- 

 tonly plunged the country info the war 

 of 1803, and who also mainly contri- 

 buted to that of 1815, Avhich seated the 

 pretended Holi/ Alliance in that power 

 which they are now so trciueudously 

 abusing in the south-east of Europe. 

 London, Feb. 8. John Farey, Sen. 



For the Monfhh/ Magazine. 

 NOTES written dnring a late Residence 

 at BUENOS AYRES, hij an English 

 Gentleman, formerly of Bennet Col- 

 lege, Ca>nbridj;c. 

 (Continued from p. 493, A'o. 348J 



THE French writers of Voltaire's 

 stani]) peculiarly suit tlieir eager 

 active minds, and they are too fond of 

 cutting tlie knot tliey ought (o untie. 

 They have too little patience to become 

 Protestants, and in ceasing to be Ca- 

 tholics they commence Deists, Those 

 who have learnt English are ni;t xuiac- 

 f(uainted with the works of oui princi- 

 ])al autliors. The nnr.s of the ]>eop!e 

 have a great share of the vices of their 

 progenitors, tiie Spaniards ; pride, ig- 

 norance, superstition, and laziness. 

 It is an error to suppose that this jvride 

 is always allied (o honour; men who 

 are at once haughty and mean are here 

 no uncommon characters. Their ig- 

 norance is growing less every day, and 

 conseiniently tiieir superstition. Their 

 pride does not admit of an easy cure, 

 but (iieir laziness, it is to be iioped, will 



Residence at Buenos Ayree. 127 



leave them when the country becomes 

 independent and pfaceful, and when 

 good laws shall render the enjoyment 

 of property secure. 



The character of the common people 

 is sanguinai-y and unfeeling : this may 

 arise in some measure from the scenes 

 of cruelty displayed at their bull-fights, 

 and to tlieir being nearly all butchers. 

 To be able to kill and flay an ox is as 

 necessary to tliem as ploughing and 

 sowing to an English country labourer. 

 Tlie common way of ending a quariel, 

 is to fight it out Viitli knives, of which 

 every man carries one. They harbcnir 

 long and deep revenge, and when an 

 opportunity ofl^'er-i, will stab treacher- 

 ously. It is not safe (o walk out after 

 dark unarmed ; robberies an<l murders 

 are common, and all round the town 

 are seen small wooden crosses fixed 

 near the spot where some poor wretch 

 has fallen ; in passing them, even the 

 ferocious murderer fails not to lift Iiix 

 hat and cross himself. ]\Ien walk the 

 street who have committed eight or ten 

 murders. Of such a man they say that 

 lie owes so many deatJis. Debe fanlav 

 muertes. The life of a man isrecarded 

 as of little consequence. They do not, 

 like the old Sjrauiards, hate a man wlio 

 differs from them in religion. They 

 are hospitable, particularlj^'theco-ntry 

 people, who, nolwithstanding, will rob 

 and even mnrder the unarmed tra- 

 veller; but, on entering their houses 

 you are v.elcoine to siiare witli them 

 their beef, which is all tliey have be- 

 sides the tea of Paraguay. 



The old Spaniards are generally 

 called Gn'lcgos ; that is, proper natives 

 of Go'iicia ; who, thougli industrious 

 men, are the most rude and unculti- 

 vatefl of the Spaniard--. Wanv other 

 opprobrious names are likewise applied 

 to them as Saracenos, Godos, Mafuran- 

 gos, Marrunos, Matuchos, Citapetones, 

 &c. 



So many of them liarc been sent up 

 the country, and such heavy fines have 

 been exaitted from the rest by the go- 

 vernment, that tliey have no\^- very 

 little power. By the people tliey are 

 held in universal detestation, and as 

 bitterly do they hate them in return. 

 Horribly indeed would they revenge 

 tiiemselves were tley once to regain the 

 government of these provinces; but this 

 may (Jod avert. 



Though unenlightened, the (Creoles 

 ar(> a robust and bi-ave peojiie, and, if 

 unit(!d, may laugh to scorn all the at- 

 tempts of Spain. I hare heard the 

 Spaiiianls 



