MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



547 



I'ernraent should be continually 

 increasing. 



A fact may be mentioned to 

 show the solid advancement they 

 have made, which is, that the 

 number of votes taken at their 

 elections increases every year. In 

 becoming habituated to this 

 peaceful and orderly mode of 

 exercising their right of choosing 

 those who are to be invested 

 with authority, the tumultuous 

 and irregular removal by a kind 

 of general oratory or acclamation, 

 of those who have been chosen, 

 will gradually cease. 



Rather than disturb the order 

 of society, they will endure with 

 patience, until the time arrives 

 for effecting a regular and consti- 

 tutional change. Since the elec- 

 tion of the present Director, none 

 of these tumults before so frequent 

 have occurred. These tumults 

 have seldom been attended with 

 bloodshed; yet the}' produce great 

 confusion and disorder, and give 

 rise to habits of insubordination, 

 at the same time that they are 

 ruinous to the character of a nation. 



The viceroyalty of Buenos 

 Ayres differed from the rest in 

 one important particular. It 

 contained no nobility, or, if any, 

 very few. This may be regarded 

 as a favourable circumstance in 

 their society. Another favour- 

 able feature, very necessary to 

 the successful administration of 

 their affairs, is the conduct of 

 many individuals who have filled 

 the highest office of state, in 

 descending from that dignified 

 situation to inferior posts, and 

 discharging their duties with 

 alacrity. Thus we behold Ge- 

 neral A. Balcarce, who was 

 formerly Director, acting as 



second in command to Colonel 

 San Martin. Colonel Alvarez, 

 also a Director at one period, 

 now serving in the staff under the 

 chief of that department, General 

 Azcuenaga, and General Ron- 

 deau, once elected to the chair 

 of state, is at present employed 

 in a minor office. There are 

 others who have occupied the 

 same elevated post, who have 

 retired to the station of private 

 citizens. 



The general capacities of the 

 United Provinces for national 

 defence are also important in 

 many respects. The nature and 

 extent of the country afford the^ 

 inhabitants numerous advantages 

 over an invading army. The 

 ease with which their herds of 

 cattle may be driven to distant 

 places, beyond the reach of an 

 enemy, and the rapid movements, 

 which the troops of the country 

 can make, from the ample supply 

 of horses and mules, are circum- 

 stances of great consequence in 

 a military view. Even the towns 

 not fortified, from the manner in 

 which they are built, and from 

 the construction of their houses, 

 furnish powerful means of de- 

 fence, as the British army, under 

 General Whitelock, experienced 

 in their attack on Buenos Ayres. 



I am sensible that, in the 

 course of these statements and 

 remarks, some inaccuracies and 

 errors must have occurred, but 

 they have been unintentional. 



1 have only to add, that the 

 reception of the commissioners 

 at Buenos Ayres, by the chief 

 magistrate, was friendly and 

 flattering. From every class 

 they met with a cordial welcome. 

 The people, in general, appeared 



2 N 2 'to 



