i62 MANNERS OF THE COUNTRY, [chap. vm. 



government franks. The governor and prime minister openly 

 combined to plunder the state. Justice, when gold came 

 into play, was hardly expected by any one. I knew an 

 Englishman, who went to the Chief Justice (he told me 

 that, not then understanding the ways of the ' place, he 

 trembled as he entered the room), and said, **Sir, I have 

 come to offer you two hundred (paper) dollars (value about 

 five pounds sterling) if you will arrest before a certain time 

 a man who has cheated me. I know it is against the law, 

 but my lawyer (naming him) recommended me to take this 

 step." The Chief Justice smiled acquiescence, thanked him, 

 and the man before night was safe in prison. With this 

 entire want of principle in many of the leading men, with 

 the country full of ill-paid turbulent officers, the people 

 yet hope that a democratic form of government can 

 succeed ! 



On first entering society in these countries, two or three 

 features strike one as particularly remarkable. The polite 

 and dignified manners pervading every rank of life, the 

 excellent taste displayed by the women in their dresses, and 

 the equality amongst all ranks. At the Rio Colorado some 

 men who kept the humblest shops used to dine with General 

 Rosas. A son of a major at Bahia Blanca gained his 

 livelihood by making paper cigars, and he wished to accom- 

 pany me, as guide or servant, to Buenos Ayres, but his 

 father objected on the score of the danger alone. Many 

 officers in the army can neither read nor write, yet all meet 

 in society as equals. In Entre Rios, the Sala consisted of 

 only six representatives. One of them kept a common shop, 

 and evidently was not degraded by the office. All this is 

 what would be expected in a new country ; nevertheless 

 the absence of gentlemen by profession appears to an 

 Englishman something strange. 



When speaking of these countries, the manner in which 

 they have been brought up by their unnatural parent, 

 Spain, should always be borne in mind. On the whole, 

 perhaps, more credit is due for what has been done, than 

 blame for that which may be deficient. It is Impossible 

 to doubt but that the extreme liberalism of these countries 

 must ultimately lead to good results. The very general 

 toleration of foreign religions, the regard paid to the means 

 of education, the freedom of the press, the facilities offered 

 to all foreigners, and especially, as I am bound to add, to 

 cveiy one professing the humblest pretensions to science 



