GENERAL REPORT ON THE RISE & PROGRESS OF THE PRESENT FREE GOVERNMENT OF BUENOS AYRES [manuscript title]

Book Description

Buenos Aires. 1824.. 80pp. autograph manuscript with one manuscript note and eight printed items tipped to six pages. Quarto. Contemporary three quarter morocco and marbled boards. Covers faded, spine lightly abraded, paper label chipped. Internally very clean, report and appendix in a clear, legible hand in ink; additional contemporary notes throughout the text in pencil. Text preceded by twenty-six blank leaves, with tabs for the letters of the alphabet, one indented on each leaf (one blank leaf has pasted remnant of printed text). In fine condition. In a half morocco and cloth box. This manuscript report prepared by British consul-general Woodbine Parish for the British government regarding the political and economic situation in Argentina in the mid-1820s was a crucial step in the recognition of Argentina's statehood by any European power. Parish was an experienced British diplomat who, prior to going to South America, had served in diplomatic roles in Sicily, Naples, Paris, Aix-la-Chapelle, and the Ionian Islands. "In 1823 the government determined to send out political agents to the Spanish American States, and Parish was appointed commissioner and consul-general to Buenos Ayres...After he had sent home a report upon the state of the people and their newly constituted government, full powers were sent to him in 1824 to negotiate with them a treaty of amity and commerce. This was concluded on 2 Feb. 1825 at Buenos Ayres, and was the first treaty made with any of the new states of America, and the first recognition of their national existence by any European power" - DNB. The present manuscript is evidently that report, which persuaded the British Government to recognize Argentina and impressed the Foreign Office sufficiently that they promoted Parish to negotiate it. Parish's account begins with a brief critical history of the colonies under Spanish rule. He writes: "The origin of the events which have separated the colonies from Spain may be traced to a variety of well known causes: oppressed, misgoverned and misguided as they long had been, it was not to be expected that in this enlightened and liberal age they would much longer continue in the state of degraded and odious subjection in which they had been hitherto held." In regards to the vice royalty of Buenos Aires declaring independence from Spain, he adds that internal "public opinion was long undecided as to the course to be adopted…But, though the doctrines of liberty were declared, it was…found to be no easy task to establish a government for a people brought up in such a state of servility and debasement as hardly to have a distant notion of the blessings of free institutions." Parish mentions various military operations between 1815 and 1820, leading to a state of disorganization and disorder. It was under these conditions that a government was formed in 1821 which focused on affairs in Buenos Aires and good provincial administration. "A radical and systematic reform commenced which has produced in little more than three years results beyond the most sanguine expectations: From a state of anarchy and confusion the people of Buenos Ayres are now raised to a prosperity hitherto unknown to them, and are at present in the enjoyment of the blessings of a good, well organized, and stable government." The remainder of the report is devoted to institutions which have been "established or promoted, and which give them a claim to the eternal gratitude of their countrymen." These include a representative system of government, executive power, a law on the inviolability of private property (extended to foreigners residing in the country), a general amnesty, and the official gazette "in which all the acts of the government were laid before the public. This was a new measure and obtained for them a very general degree of confidence." For all of these institutions, additional documentation is provided in the appendix in the original Spanish and often in English translation. Parish is particularly impressed with cultural changes under independence. "But the most striking change which has been effected at Buenos Ayres is that with respect to religious opinions: the power of the priesthood under the dominion of Spain was almost absolute and the most intolerant doctrines of the Catholic Religion alone were promulgated and severely maintained. Freedom of conscience and of opinions has arisen out of the revolution." The author is equally impressed with the state of education, writing that "no measure however of this government is of greater consequence than the exertions for the promotion of education." He notes the establishment of public schools, colleges for the moral and natural sciences and a university for the clergy. Parish adds that a library of approximately 20,000 volumes "has been opened to the public which is well arranged and is daily increasing and several scientific societies have been formed…It is a new feeling in this country and acts with the greater forces after the state of ignorance and seclusion in which this people had been so long kept under the old Spanish system under which even the importation of books excepting upon religious subjects was utterly prohibited." The report includes descriptions of liberty of the press, administration of justice, confederation and population of the provinces, finances (additional information for which is provided in the appendix and the addenda), the Banda Oriental, the war department, and the country's foreign relations. Regarding international relations, the report indicates that "the foreign relations of Buenos Ayres have been confined to treaties of alliance and defence with some of the other free states of South America ['Chile and Colombia only' is added in pencil] and to an exchange of diplomatic missions with the United States." Parish notes that for other countries, only official representatives authorized by their governments can negotiate with the newly independent government of Buenos Aires. In concluding, Parish provides a positive review of the current conditions in Argentina and the potentials for British involvement in the future. "The errors of the past will be shunned for the future; and the benefits of a good government which has been at last established are now quite sufficiently known and understood to ensure the support of all classes of the people. Every day adds to its more and physical strength, as education advances so will the state, as foreign commerce increases, so will the prosperity and resources of the country. Nature has done her utmost in climate and situation, and it only remains for civilized man in these regions to make the most of those inestimable blessings which providence on the one hand has bestowed upon him and a paternal government on the other is anxious by all possible means to improve." After this report was received by the British government for internal consideration, Parish was charged with negotiating a treaty of amity and commerce, in which Great Britain recognized Argentina, the first formal recognition of any of the former Spanish colonies in the Americas by a European power, and the second country in the Western Hemisphere with which England had diplomatic relations (the other being the United States). "As a mark of his Majesty's gracious approbation" Parish was appointed chargé d'affaires to the new republic, a position he held from 1825 until 1832. His clear and well documented report, including appendix and addenda, along with his positive impressions for British advancement, ensured his continued diplomatic service in Buenos Aires. In 1838, his full account on Argentina's history, geography, and geology, BUENOS AYRES AND THE PROVINCES OF THE RIO DE LA PLATA: THEIR PRESENT STATE, TRADE, AND DEBT... was published. In 1837, Parish was knighted for his diplomatic services in Latin America. DNB XV, pp.213-14.

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