early habits of slavish and monastic education. In the profession of the law there is much more boldness, arising from their daily intercourse with the world, and ordinary transactions of life. Funes is thought to be rather unfriendly to the present administration, but his having withdrawn from political scenes is rather to be attributed to alarm at finding himself on a rougher sea than he had been accustomed to navigate.

A visit was received from the bishop of Salta, a man of very advanced years, upwards of eighty, and who was thought not to be much attached to the cause of the revolution; indeed it has been hinted, that his residence here is very little else than a kind of respectful surveillance. He said little on the subject of politics, but dropped something about the want of stability in the government, the turbulent and restless spirit that prevailed, and then shook his head. It would certainly have been a phenomenon to have found a revolutionary patriot at his years, with his previous education and habits. Mr. Rodney and myself, paid a visit to a respectable old man, who fills the office which we should call postmaster general; he appeared to be about the same age with the bishop, but we found him a much more agreeable character, his conversation remarkably sprightly and entertaining. He told us that he had organized the establishment, and had occupied the same arm chair in which he then sat at his desk, upwards of fifty years. Although a native of Spain, he was attached to the patriot cause, having children and grand children who were all natives of the country. We inquired of him the news from Chili, and he informed us that from the

last accounts, general Osorio was advancing into the province of Conception, at the head of five or six thousand men. We learned, that besides the regular post establishment which brought the mail once a week from the different provinces, there were expresses continually employed between this place and Chili, as also the provinces of Peru, so as to bring intelligence from the armies of San Martin and Belgrano, with a speed almost incredible.* He told us, that his establishment was so arranged, as to enable him, in the course of ten days, to collect horses enough for the different posts to enable the government to send reinforcements of a thousand, or two thousand men, to these different points, with a rapidity unknown in any other country. He said, that since the commencement of the war, he had contributed his assistance in sending three armies to Peru; one of four, another of five, and a third of seven thousand men; and in speaking of the perseverance of these people in the midst of all their defeats and reverses, he exclaimed, "que pecho, que pecho, tiene esta gente!" "what fortitude do these people possess."

We were also visited by Iregoyen, the secretary at war, a young man of thirty-five years of age; he had been a cadet in the Spanish naval service, and had travelled a good deal in Europe. He is rather a shewy man, and from what I could learn, extremely ambitious, but his ambition containing a considerable portion of the alloy of self aggrandisement. He ap

*The journey from Mendoza to Buenos Ayres, upwards of nine hundred miles, was performed by the express, Escalera, in five days, and from Potosi to Buenos Ayres, 550 leagues, by Dobo, in twelve days.

peared to be one of those who are tormented by envy at the success of others, and disposed to attribute to a want of discernment in the public, or the administration, that he is not placed above every

one.

We were also visited by members of congress, Zavaletta, Pacheco, Villegas, and a number of others. Among the priests, who visited us, was Dr. Belgrano, brother of the general, and who appeared to be a man of solid and respectable talents. The term doctor is given indiscriminately to lawyers, and clergymen, but not to physicians; in fact the science of medicine is extremely low in all the Spanish colonies, and it is very unusual to meet with a Spanish physician of science and learning.

Among our acquaintances, there were two or three with whom I was particularly pleased; the first, a respectable old man, and a near neighbor, of the name of Escalada, the father-in-law of San Martin; this old man was what we should have called, in our revolutionary war, a true whig. He has a large and fine family of children, and grand children; his house the place of most agreeable resort for all strangers, of any in the city. I frequently spent my evenings here, being almost always sure to find an agreeable party of ladies and gentlemen; the evening was usually passed in sprightly conversation, or in dances, which the old gentleman seemed to take a peculiar pleasure in promoting, very frequently taking part himself, though upwards of seventy years of age: these dances were minuets, to the music of the piano, touched by one of the young ladies. He had adopted a beautiful and interesting girl, then about seventeen, the daughter of a Spanish governor and intendant, and

seemed to treat her with the same affection and kindness that he did his own children. The wife of general San Martin, was, at this time, living with her father, but appeared to be much dejected in spirits on account of her anxiety for her husband, to whom, from all accounts, she is devotedly attached. She had accompanied him to the foot of the Andes, wished to follow his fortunes across, and was with much difficulty dissuaded. Perceiving that she partook in none of the amusements, on inquiring the cause, I was told that she had made a vow of some kind for the success of her husband, which I could not well understand. These private and unobtrusive virtues in the family of San Martin, gave me a very favorable opinion of the man; the excellence and purity of private life, is, after all, the best foundation of public confidence. There can be no dignity of cha racter without them, and we are seldom mistaken in the purity of the actions of men when this fountain is pure. While in Buenos Ayres, I have frequently heard San Martin and his wife cited as an example of a happy marriage; which is by no means negative praise in a country where morals are, unfortunately, depraved, and where the marriage state is held in too little respect. They have but one child, a daughter, three or four years of age. Escalada is a plain citizen, and has never taken any other part than that of a private individual; but he has been enabled, from the possession of considerable wealth, to render service to the cause; he presented each of us with copies of different political works, which he had purchased for the purpose of distributing gratis; among them was a history of the United States, with our declaration of

independence, general Washington's farewell address, and other pieces. Besides his son-in-law, his wife's brother, Quintana,* is in the army of Chili; and his two sons, one eighteen, the other twenty years of age, both gallant youths, are serving under the eye of San Martin. We experienced on all occasions, from this old gentleman, the utmost kindness and attention, and were invited by him to a splendid entertainment, at a moment when his whole family appeared to be depressed by the most anxious feeling for the fate of their near relations, exposed to the hazards of a dreadful

war.

Mr. Frias, a young lawyer of respectability, and secretary to the cabildo, was one of our most agreeable acquaintances; his manners were highly polished and refined, and he possessed a generosity of heart, a warmth and earnestness of feeling, which shewed, that although born under a despotic government, his character was formed in a republic. He seemed to be peculiarly anxious to cultivate our acquaintance, and to acquire a knowledge of the details of our political institutions. I derived considerable information from him, as well as assistance in procuring papers and documents. He has been married some years; his wife an amiable woman. The ladies are much less addicted to literature than iu the United States, in general, but much more so than those of NewOrleans. The Spanish literature is, in fact, richer în

*This officer was one of those who distinguished themselves in the defence against the British. See 3 vol. Funes, p. 427. It is wor thy of notice, that many of those who are now most conspicuous, were distinguished at that period; Dias Velis, Viamonte, and Montes de Oca, then but a youth.