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teded, and he was allowed to go and reside at Cordova. There this man of en- 

 terprize might have leisure to lament his surprise, for it is impossible to ascribe to 

 other reasons his readiness to give up the command to his successor. It will, in 

 the sequel, appear, that he left this quiet asylum, for which he was indebted to 

 the love of the Creoles, for the purpose of fighting against them. 



The posture of affairs, when Don Baltasar Hedalgo de Cisneros took the com- 

 mand, was by no means flattering ; on the contrary, it presented the greatest dif- 

 ficulties that ever occurred since the conquest. The people began to abandon 

 their habitual adoration of a government which was ever varying its form : their 

 former sacrifices, and their bold defence, had been passed over without reward ; 

 they were laden with fresh grievances in various ways , and they were in a condi- 

 tion to avenge themselves. The coming of the chief calmed, for a short time, the 

 heat of the parties, which had been excited by the former government : this, 

 however, was but an apparent tranquillity, by which the ineptitude of Cisneros 

 could not profit ; it was Hke the extraordinary calm preceding a tempest, which a 

 skilful pilot can reason from, but from which the ignorant can anticipate nothing. 

 The public discontent was augmented by the exhausted state of the treasury, 

 which called for some economical reforms in the military establishment ; a measure 

 which could not fail of producing uneasiness. Embarrassed in so many various 

 ways, the Viceroy asked the advice of men capable of informing him ; one of 

 them * who, by his talents, his activity, and his patriotism, will occupy a distin- 

 guished place in the history of America, made the most eloquent and energetic 

 representations in favour of a free trade with England, as the surest means of re- 

 storing happiness to the country, and of improving its finances. 



The earnest complaints of the European Spaniards, exaggerated to such a de- 

 gree as to represent the colony on the eve of a general revolt, had caused an un- 

 reasonable alarm to the central government, and had excited so much prejudice 

 against the natives, that the most rigorous and extravagant instructions were given 

 to the chief who came to restore order. It is not possible to conceive more harsh- 

 ness, more arbitrary conduct, or more injustice, than what was displayed under 

 that system of the nation which was denominated popular. The Viceroy, in con- 

 formity to his instructions, began to apprehend all the individuals who were ac- 



* Dr. Mariano Mareno, whose decease, in the prime of life, while on a voyage to England as 

 envoy from the Junta of Buenos Ayres, deprived his country of one of its brightest ornaments. 

 His abilities, as an orator and a statesman, justly gained him the appellation of the Burke of South 

 America. 



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