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APPENDIX. 



adopted a provisional form of government, which is understood 

 to have the effect of allaying dissentions, and of introducing a 

 more regular administration of public affairs. 



It will be seen from the documents in your possession, that 

 this provisional constitution recognises many of the principles of 

 free government; but with such drawbacks as are little calcula- 

 ted to enforce them in practice. Great allowances are doubtless 

 to be made for the circumstances of the times, and the danger 

 and difficulty of tearing up ancient institutions, or of adapting 

 new principles to them; but after due allowance for all these 

 considerations, it did not appear to me that so much had been 

 done for the cause of civil liberty, as might have been expected, 

 or that those in power were its strongest advocates. 



It is generally admitted, however, that some changes for the 

 better have been made. Much care seems to be taken to educate 

 the rising generation, and as those who are now coming on the 

 theatre of action have grown up since the commencement of the 

 revolution, and have had the advantage of the light thrown in by 

 it, it is fair to suppose, that they will be better prepared to sup- 

 port and administer a free government than those whose habits 

 were formed under the colonial government of Spain. 



The commerce and manufactures of the country have grown 

 beyond its agriculture. Various causes, however, have contributed 

 to lessen some branches of manufacture since the revolution, but 

 commerce is understood to have increased by it. A much greater 

 variety and quantity of foreign goods are imported, and a greater 

 demand is opened for the productions' of the country. The city 

 of Buenos Ayres is the seat of this commerce. From it, foreign, 

 and some domestic goods, are spread through the interior as far as 

 Chili and Upper Peru, and in return, the various productions are 

 drawn to it. This trade is carried on principally by land, as 

 is that between the different provinces, though some small portion 

 of it finds its way up and down the large rivers forming the 

 La Plata; which is, itself, not so much a river as a great bay. 

 The abundance of cattle, horses, and mules, and some other ani- 

 mals peculiar to the country, which are used in the mountainous 

 regions of Peru, furnish facilities for transportation, not to be 

 found in any other country so little improved; hence, the price of 

 transportation is very low, and the internal trade greater than 

 it otherwise would be, though it had been materially lessened in 



