PARAGUAY. 



615 



quarters in Paraguay might be. These (in 

 January, 1869) were said to be about 60 miles 

 from Asuncion, and he was said to be intrenched 

 with 5,000 men. 



Early in the year, the Government of Para- 

 guay believed to have discovered a wide-spread 

 conspiracy against the rule and even the life 

 of President Lopez, and a number of the most 

 prominent men of the country were arrested. 

 No trustworthy information about the origin of 

 the pretended conspiracy was ascertained dur- 

 ing the year, but in January, 1869, it appeared 

 from documents said to have been found in the 

 camp of Lopez, after the capture of Angostura, 

 and from the statement of several Paraguayans, 

 that the suspicion of Lopez was awakened in 

 February, 1869, when the iron-clads appeared 

 before Asuncion, carrying with them the news 

 that they had passed the hitherto invincible 

 Humaita. There was a general desire for a 

 gathering, according to these statements, to talk 

 of common danger, and to devise means of 

 defence. Lopez regarded all the men who had 

 met that day, and all the foreigners of the 

 city, as conspirators against him. The military 

 officers he shot at sight, the civilians were im- 

 prisoned and in the course of time tortured 

 until they perished, or else he had them execu- 

 ted in some barbarous manner. From the 

 papers found in the camp of Lopez, it was 

 ascertained that, at San Fernando, 90 prisoners 

 were shot, among whom was the Minister of 

 Foreign Aifairs, Berges. On December 21st, a 

 large number of prisoners were shot at Loma 

 Negra, among whom were Barrios and his wife, 

 a sister of Lopez, Benigno Lopez, a brother of 

 the President, and the Bishop of Asuncion. 

 The mother of Lopez had been exiled for hav- 

 ing asked him to pardon her children. 



Closely connected with this pretended con- 

 spiracy was the difficulty between President 

 Lopez and the Minister of the United States in 

 Asuncion, Charles A. Washburn. Previous 

 to February, 1868, Mr. "Washburn was on good 

 terms with the Paraguayan Government. On 

 the 22d February, a decree came ordering every 

 one to leave Asuncion. Mr. Washburn refused 

 to remove, alleging that his Legation was 

 American territory. All the foreign consuls 

 fled the city, and, with the exception of the 

 American minister, none dared to disobey. 

 Some twenty-two English, some two or three 

 Americans, and a few others, sought refuge at 

 the Legation. Mr. Washburn advised those 

 people first to apply to the Vice-President, and 

 that, if the Government had no objection, he 

 would take them in. The Government con- 

 sented, and accordingly Messrs. Carreras, Rod- 

 riguez, and servant, Bliss, Manlove, and Duf- 

 feld, besides twenty-two English, took up 

 their quarters at the American Legation. 

 Masterman, it appeal's, had "been a resident at 

 Mr. Washburn's house for fully eight months 

 previously. Most of the foreigners after a 

 while left the Legation, and as soon as they 

 left it were arrested. 



On the 16th of June, the acting Portuguese 

 Consul, Pereira, fled from his chacra at Trin- 

 idad, and sought refuge at the American Lega- 

 tion. He was induced to this step in conse- 

 quence of a notice he got from the French Con- 

 sul of the feelings of Lppez toward him. Mr. 

 Washburn at once admitted Pereira, although 

 at the time there were four pickets of sol- 

 diers around the Legation. On the 20th of 

 June, the Paraguayan Government demanded 

 of Mr. Washburn a list of all parties at the Le- 

 gation, which Mr. Washburn supplied on the 

 22d of June. 



On June 27th, Gumecindo Benitez, Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs, demanded almost peremp- 

 torily that Pereira be delivered over to the 

 police officers. Mr. Washburn, in reply, re- 

 minded the foreign minister of the strange 

 character of this request addressed to him. 

 He pointed out, also, that the character of a 

 consul is considered almost as sacred as that 

 of a minister, and declined to give Pereira up. 



Minister Benitez, on July 4th, pointed out 

 that, from Mr. Washburn's letter, stating that 

 it was in consequence of a communication from 

 the French Consul that Pereira had gone to 

 the Legation, it would seem that he received 

 Pereira as a refugee, and not merely as a guest, 

 and therefore " requested " that Pereira and 

 all others " who, not belonging to the Legation, 

 are at present in it, some as guests and others in 

 other capacities," be dismissed from the hotel 

 before sunset the next day. 



Mr. Washburn replied that all the gentlemen 

 referred to in the correspondence, in order to 

 save him from embarrassment, had declared 

 their readiness to leave, and would leave the 

 same day. There would only remain Dr. Car- 

 reras, formerly Vice-President of Uruguay, 

 Sefior Rodriguez, formerly Secretary of the 

 Uruguayan Legation, Mrs. Pereira, and two 

 American ladies. 



Minister Benitez, in his reply of July 12th, 

 insists that the Orientals, Dr. Carreras and Dr. 

 Rodriguez, should be dismissed from the Lega- 

 tion. He permits, however, the ladies, friends 

 and attendants of Mrs. Washburn, to remain. 

 The demand was again complied with, al- 

 though Mr. Washburn, in his reply, stated that 

 he was fully convinced of the entire innocence 

 of the two Uruguayans, both of whom had 

 been steadfast friends of the cause of Paraguay. 



On July 13th, Minister Benitez demanded 

 the dismissal of the American citizen Corne- 

 lius Bliss, and of the Englishman, George 

 Masterman, "accused of crimes not less grave 

 than the others " already dismissed. On July 

 14th, Mr. Washburn declined to accede to this 

 request, stating that Mr. Masterman was the 

 medical attendant of his family, had been men- 

 tioned as such in his communications to the 

 Foreign Ministry, and that he considered him 

 recognized as a member of the Legation. On 

 July 23d, Minister Benitez demanded the im- 

 mediate delivery of a sealed packet of commu- 

 nications which the ex-Minister of Foreign Af- 



