616 



PAKAGUAY. 



PARSONS, USHER. 



fairs, Jose Berges, "personally delivered to 

 your Excellency." Mr. "Washburn denied that 

 he ever received such a package. In a long 

 letter, on July 23d, Benitez distinctly charged 

 Bliss with conspiring to accomplish the 

 " treacherous assassination of the President of 

 the Republic," and denied emphatically that 

 they were recognized as members of the Amer- 

 ican Legation. 



Minister Benitez, in a long letter dated July 

 31st, gave the substance of an interview he had 

 with Mr. Washburn, in which he charged him 

 with conspiring with the ex-Minister of For- 

 eign Affairs, Sefior Berges. On August 3d, 

 Mr. Washburn categorically denied the accusa- 

 tions made against himself personally. 



Benitez replied, quoting at length, against 

 Mr. Washburn, statements of Oarreras and 

 others at that time in Lopez's power, which 

 seemed to implicate Mr. Washburn. Mr. Wash- 

 burn, in reply, explained at great length the cir- 

 cumstances under which he sent letters abroad, 

 and repeated again and again his denials of com- 

 plicity with the alleged conspirators. The cor- 

 respondence was continued in this style until 

 the arrival of the United States war vessel 

 Wasp. At the first interview of Captain Kirk- 

 land, of the Wasp, with President Lopez, the 

 latter threatened to keep the United States 

 Minister as a prisoner in the country, to which 

 Captain Kirkland replied, that in that case the 

 Government of the United States would not 

 only use its whole power promptly to punish 

 him, but would hunt him, if necessary, through 

 all South America and even through Europe. 

 Mr. Washburn was subsequently allowed to go 

 on board the Wasp, but Messrs. Masterman 

 and Bliss, while on the way to the vessel, were 

 arrested. On board the Wasp, Mr. Washburn, 

 on September 12th, sent a final letter to Lopez, 

 in which he says : 



The declarations of Berges, your two brothers, Ve- 

 nancio and Benigno, and Sr. tfrdepilletta, as given in 

 the notes of your two last Ministers of Foreign Kela- 

 tions, in so far as they implicate me of having any 

 knowledge of a conspiracy, are entirely false, and you 

 know it ; and you know that not one of them would 

 confirm or affirm the declaration imputed to him if he 

 were out of your power, but would deny it in toto, 

 and declare that he had never made it, or that he had 

 done so under torture. Declarations of that kind, 

 your Excellency ought to know, will have no weight 

 outside of Paraguay. Not one word of them will be 

 believed, and, that all may not be denied by them, 

 you must not only kill off all the persons who have 

 made them, but all by whom they were extorted. 



Before finally leaving Paraguay, it is my duty to 

 make my solemn protest against the arrest of those 

 two members of my Legation, Porter Cornelius Bliss 

 and George F. Masterman. Their arrest in the street, 

 as they were going with me from the Legation to 

 pass on board the steamer, was as gross a violation of 

 the laws of nations as would have been their seizure 

 by force in my house. It was an act, not only against 

 my government, but against all civilized powers, and 

 peaces Paraguay outside the pale of the family of na- 

 tions ; and for this act you will be regarded as a com- 

 mon enemy one denying allegiance to the laws of 

 nations. 



You will also "be regarded as a common enemy for 

 having seized and made prisoners, and loaded with 



fetters, nearly all the foreigners in Paraguay, and af- 

 terward entered their houses and taken away their 

 money on the miserable pretext that, finding less in 

 your treasury than you expected, those who nad any 

 money in the country, must, therefore, have robbed 

 it from the government. 



In November, Rear-Admiral Davis, com- 

 manding the United States squadron in the 

 Paraguayan waters, accompanied, with several 

 vessels, the new Minister of the United States 

 to Paraguay, General McMahon, to the place 

 of his destination. On December 3d, Admiral 

 Davis anchored at Angostura and communicat- 

 ed with Lopez. The Dictator came to the 

 river-bank, had an interview of three hours' 

 duration with the Admiral, was courteous and 

 frank in his demeanor, and declared that he in- 

 tended to accede to the demand of the United 

 States and deliver up the captives Bliss and 

 Masterman. Some correspondence ensued, 

 and, on December 10th, Bliss and Masterman 

 were sent on board the flagship. On the 12th, 

 the new American Minister, General McMahon, 

 landed, presented his credentials, and was re- 

 ceived by Lopez with great friendliness and 

 the customary honors. The American vessel 

 withdrew to Montevideo. 



PARSONS, USHEB, M. D., a physician, med- 

 ical professor, and author, born in Alfred, 

 York County, Me., in 1788; died in Provi- 

 dence, R. I., December IV, 1868. The early 

 education of Dr. Parsons was obtained in the 

 vicinity of his native town, the schools and 

 academies of that part of Maine having long 

 had a high reputation. Having acquired a 

 good academic education, he went to Boston, 

 and entered the office of Dr. John Warren as 

 a medical student, and had just become quali- 

 fied to practice when, in 1811, he entered the 

 naval service, and joined the frigate John 

 Adams, in 1812, as surgeon's mate. The of- 

 ficers and crew of the vessel volunteering for 

 service on the lakes, Dr. Parsons went with 

 them, reaching Erie in June, 1813. Great 

 sickness prevailed in the fleet at this time, to 

 such an extent, indeed, that finally the only 

 surgeon fit for duty was the deceased, on whom 

 devolved the task of attending to the sick 

 men. At the battle of September 10th, he was 

 the only medical officer on duty, and was on 

 board the flagship Lawrence, commanded by 

 Commodore Perry, during the engagement. 

 His efficiency and courage during the day won 

 the admiration of his commander, who, in his 

 report to the Secretary of the Navy, referred 

 in most flattering terms to the young surgeon, 

 . closing his remarks by stating that in the 

 event of his having another command he should 

 consider himself peculiarly fortunate in having 

 Dr. Parsons with him as surgeon. For his 

 conduct on this occasion, Dr. Parsons was ap- 

 pointed a full surgeon in the navy, with a com- 

 mission bearing date of September 10th, the day 

 of the battle. In May, 1814, he was ordered 

 on board the Lawrence, which, with the fleet 

 under Commodore Sinclair, sailed to Mackinac 

 for the purpose of transporting the troops 



