Historical Sketch 9 
ancient things of interest to history”. The basis of this archive, according 
to the suggestion of Uribe, was to be the remains of the archive of the Sec- 
retariat of the Viceroyalty. But to this were to be added the old archives of 
Gobierno (Government) and Guerra (War), all the completed expedientes 
from the active ministries, and such lost collections as might be recovered by 
legal process or by purchase.” The same order constituted the Archivo Gen- 
eral a department of the Secretariat of Relations. This act of the new 
republic, deserving of the gratitude of all students of history, is now com- 
memorated by a large placard hanging in the main hall of the Archivo General 
y Publico and containing the inscription: 
“In the year 1823 the Supreme Executive Power of the Republic pro- 
vided that this General Archive should be established for the Benefit of 
the Public.” 
Through the early resignation of Sr. Uribe, Sr. Cubas was left to effect the 
organization of the new institution. But fresh disasters awaited the materials 
which it was hoped he might gather. Scarcely had the order of August 22 
been issued, we are told by a later report, when the principal functionaries in 
charge of the older collections, instead of co-operating, “ scandalously ” sold 
large quantities of documents for old paper and permitted individuals to carry 
off many more.” Nor was this all. The rooms of the old Secretariat of the 
Viceroyalty assigned to Sr. Cubas being too small to accommodate all of the 
papers put in his charge, part of them were sent to the monastery of Santo 
Domingo (opposite the Inquisition), then in use as barracks. Here many of 
them were destroyed or sold by the soldiers, who broke into the room where 
they were stored. Thus by these various calamities many of the treasures 
of the archive of the Secretariat of the Viceroyalty were lost to history. 
From 1823 to 1846 may be regarded as the next period in the history of the 
Archivo General y Publico. Although information of the kind desired is 
scant and indefinite, from the reports of various encargados (persons in 
charge) of the archive or of the ministers of the department of Relaciones 
we can learn some of the additions to the collection during this period. A 
comparison of the lists accompanying Sr. Uribe’s report of January Io, 1823, 
with the present contents of the Archivo General y Publico shows that many 
of the documents that he delivered to the Secretariat of Relations in 1823 
are now in the Archivo General y Publico. Among these are numerous diaries 
and other documents relative to the eighteenth-century explorations up the 
California coast and to the Nootka Sound controversy. From Sr. Aguirre’s 
report of his labors made January 12, 1824, we learn that among the papers 
of the Contaduria de Azogues which he arranged but did not send to the 
ministries—the inference being that they were kept in the Archivo General 
of the Secretariat—were the papers from the administrative departments of 
Yndiferente de Guerra, Cuerpos Veteranos, Provinciales, and Realistas (108 
legajos) ; Artilleria (11) ; Ingenieros, Fortificaciones, and Cuarteles (41) ; 
Pensiones Militares (12); Monte Pio Militar and Licencias para Casarse 
(18) ; Hospitales (7); Armamento (3); and Negocios de Provincias de 
Oriente y de Occidente (9). Several of these series of papers can now be 
identified in the Archivo General y Publico. 
# An expediente entitled “ Formacién y Arreglo del archivo general de la nacion”. 
MS. in the Archivo General de Relaciones, Seccién de Archivo General, caja 1823-1827. 
4 Memorial of La Fragua to Congress, 1846, in Memorias del Ministro de Relaciones, 
III. 120-123. 
