EXPOSITION

OF THE

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUPREME GOVERNMENT,

OF THE

United Provinces of South America, during the present Admini

stration.

The evils which had in succession since the year 1810, occasioned our calamities and retarded the progress of our sacred cause, appear to have all conspired to assail us at the same moment, threatening to reduce our political existence to its last agonies, towards the close of 1815. The few remaining forces which we had saved from the unhappy field of Sipesipe, seemed to be on the point of dissolution. The army which had been organized in the province of Cuyo, for the purpose of marching upon Chili, beheld itself insecure, even in its entrenchments. The enemy, proud of his victories, had already laid his plans to entrammel the inhabitants of those districts, who were distracted by opposite councils, and who dared not indulge a hope that, through our means, they might be shielded from the impending dangers. The national treasury was not only inadequate to the satisfaction of the demands upon it, but even to provide for the most urgent wants. The public spirit of the different provinces, had lost sight of the common danger, and occupied itself exclusively, in the visionary project of seeking liberty, in the dissolution of every tie. Discord had taken possession of all hearts, expelling every generous and honorable sentiment. The citizens of the same land displayed their valor only in mutual destruction or distrust; assailing their best friends and benefactors. Subordination amongst the military was disregarded by the lowest subalterns. The public authorities were only respected as they gave countenance to crime, to error, to licentiousness. It grieves me fellow-citizens, to speak of it, but I must be faithful to truth, when I undertake to trace the revolting picture, which our country then exhibited to the contemplation of the world. The acknowledgement of our errors can bring upon us no disgrace, when made with the virta. VOL. II.

48

ous resolution of correcting them; nor am I the first friend of his country who has deplored our past melancholy situation. don me, therefore, if I proceed. Calumny with her baleful train had seated herself in the midst of us, scattering her poisons through the minds of our most respectable fellow-citizens. The capital of the state, which, in the midst of the most trying difficulties, had preserved a certain dignity of character, now appeared to be the focus of all the passions, which distracted every part of the country. Fractions of every party, were here encountered in a state of the utmost exasperation; while the imminence of the public dangers, served but as the pretext for the indulgence of mutual revenge; accusing one another with the origin of the general distresses, and breathing, mutually, the most injurious suspicions.

The magnanimous people of Buenos Ayres, to whom the praise cannot be denied, of having impoverished themselves in affording aid to brethren engaged in the same glorious cause, were on the point of experiencing a re-action, whose consequences would have proved radically destructive to the character and existence of La Plata; ANARCHY, IN A WORD, HAD LIGHTED UP A UNIVERSAL CONFLAGRATION. Nor was this all; when now it might have been supposed that the measure of our afflictions had been full, the troops of Portugal made their appearance on the northern borders of this river, availing themselves of our discords; for these unhappily, unknown to ourselves, had but too well seconded the interests of the neighboring court. New dangers here presented themselves; new occasions to sow discords; and a new impulse was given to the torrent of personal enmities: rendering even loyalty suspicious. It is no easy task, fellow-citizens, to draw a just picture of our misadventures, or to enumerate the perils over which your firmness has happily triumphed. You all remember that the evils which thus assailed us, began to diminish at the very moment when we had yielded to despair. The SUPREME CONGRESS, into whose hands the people had confided their safety, had just been installed at Tucuman. Those who were called upon to be the legislators of their country, and to fix its destiny, by the wisdom of their councils, were compelled more than once to exert their courage, and to encounter, with intrepidity, the dangers which threatened to profane this last asylum, that remained to our country in its misfortunes. The prudence, the integrity, the for

titude of this august body, presented to the Provinces the delightful spectacle of an authority which captivated their submission, not less by the just title of its elevated origin, than by the animated zeal, and vigorous energy which it displayed, in the first steps of its illustrious march. The boldest passions were compelled to renounce their extravagant designs; and if in some districts they had the temerity to attempt new excesses, the celerity with which they were suppressed, scarcely allowed time to their authors to sue for mercy. The seditious, notwithstanding, still harbored the design of putting vigilance to sleep, in order that they might snatch the opportunity of insulting whatever was most respectable. It was at this crisis that the SUPREME RepresentaTION, deigned to invest me with the honorable, but awful, distinction of SUPREME DIRECTOR of the state. This was not the first time I had been clothed with authority; and that I had already experienced the bitter mortification attendant upon it, was too well known, not to regard my acceptance as a sacrifice. At that time a member of the supreme body, I knew well the mass of difficulties that would weigh upon me; but even these, in the midst of anxiety and fears, urged my submission to the supreme will.

I had no right to expect that my elevation would meet the ap→ probation of every one; and the calamity of the times caused me to fear that my election might give rise to new disturbances. The result did not disappoint my forebodings. I saw myself compelled to subdue the hearts of my personal enemies: but I now considered my person as exclusively devoted to the public cause. Invested with the chief magistracy, I set off from the bosom of the supreme congress, for the province of Salta, and had the good fortune to compose the loud dissentions which had set at variance the citizens and the soldiers; and having prepared the elements which afterwards procured for the Saltenos their well earned fame, I proceeded to the army, examined its situation, inspected the fortifications; and, giving such orders as the occasion might require, I returned to Tucuman, where I had the proud satisfaction of hastening, by my influence, the memorable act and solemn DECLARATION OF OUR INDEPENDENCE. I pursued my journey to the capital of Cordova, where, according to previous arrangement, I was expected by general San Martin, in order to settle the places for securing Chili from the power of the Span

iards. From Cordova, with what painful inquietude did I stretch my view towards the agitated population of Buenos Ayres! I appeal to you, fellow-citizens, if my fears were not too well grounded; and permit me (passing by the perils of my transit) to fix your attention on the first days of my arrival in this capital. What violence of passions! What discordant interests! My resolution was taken. I hastened to fulfil the obligations of my oath. I announced to the people that the past should be forgotten-that those who deserved well of their country should be rewarded.

Fellow-citizens, I have not failed in my promises, nor shall I ever have reason to repent me of my conduct. To this course, and to your virtues, it is due, that the constituted authorities have been supported in despite of the boldest innovators; to this, am I to attribute the reconciliation of those, who before regarded themselves, as having reason to be my enemies: to this, to say all in a word, it is due, that obedience to the lawful authorities, and the love of order, constitute, at present, the prevailing temper of the Provinces, over whose destinies I have the honor to preside as chief magistrate. It were a presumptuous folly to assert, that this has been established on foundations that are proof against every attempt; the present age offers but too many examples of how fallible, in these particulars, are all political institutions. But how disgraceful ought we to consider the conduct of those, who meditate a repetition of those mournful scenes, in our country! It is proper to hope, that, in future, restless spirits will be more easily repressed, than in the earlier part of the present administration. Then it was, that the spirit of anarchy claimed our first attention; yet we were by no means free from other assailants, whom it was necessary to oppose with our utmost efforts. The interior provinces were threatened by the near approach of the enemy, with a more numerous and effective force than had ever been brought into the field; to concentrate our own was impossible, from the want of means to transport them hundreds of leagues, and from their already occupying posts from which they could not be spared.-Moreover, I experienced the most painful embarrasment of mind when compelled to choose between two extremes equally perilous: to abandon the districts of the interior, and the army which covered them, to the utmost hazard, or to desist from the attempt to reconquer Chili, exposing the province of

Cuyo to subjugation. I at length adopted the course inspired by courage, baffling the plans of the enemy's generals, Serna and Marco. The patriot army, against which that of Lima was intended to operate, was rapidly re-inforced, the discipline and subordination, which had been lost during the periods of our reverses, were in a short time restored. Its present strength, re spectability, and efficiency is known to you in common with the rest of our fellow-citizens; and more would you have seen, if the enemy who now flies before us, beaten and humbled, had not encountered a rampart of loyalty and valor in the province of Salta. The army of Cuyo, not surpassed in firmness by that of Peru, maintained its ground until regiments were marched from Buenos Ayres to its re-inforcement. New regiments were created with a rapidity almost incredible, through the noble devotedness and generous liberality of that Province, in order to accelerate the final preparations, for setting on foot the stupendous design, which had been formed of scaling the Andes; whose successful issue will afford to other nations some means of estimating the respectability of our power, as it has struck terror into the minds of our enemies; has kindled gratitude in the hearts of our brethren in Chili, and erected the most splendid monument to the power and glory of our country.

The army of this capital was organized at the same time with those of the Andes and of the interior; the regular force has been nearly doubled; the militia has made great progress in military discipline; our slave population has been formed into battalions, and taught the military art as far as it is consistent with their condition. The capital is under no apprehension, that an army of ten thousand men can shake its liberties, and should the Spaniards send against us thrice that number, ample provision has been made to receive them.

Our navy has been fostered in all its branches; the scarcity of means under which we labored until now, has not prevented us from undertaking very considerable operations with respect to national vessels; all of them have been repaired, and others have been purchased and armed, for the defence of our coasts and rivers. Provision has been made, should necessity require it, for arming many more, so that the enemy will not find himself secure from our reprisal, even upon the ocean.