Observations on the Present State of the Affairs of the River Plate

Believe me ever, my dear M. de Vidal, with the highest regard and consideration,

Most faithfully yours,J. H. MANDEVILLE.(CONFIDENTIAL.)Buenos Ayres, June 25th, 1842.

My dear M. de Vidal, – Would you have any objections to have the treaty copied immediately?

I have motives so strong not for coming back to Buenos Ayres, but for being able to return at the moment when it becomes necessary, that I should impart them to you, which I cannot well by this conveyance.

I will answer for your concurrence with me in this desire to be ready, at a moment's notice, to come back here.

Another motive, which is a very secondary one, and that is, having no steward at this moment, the one who was with me for six years having left me to set up a coffee-house. I cannot bring my establishment with me, even if I had a house to go to at Monte Video, and therefore I am obliged to live at the Consul's, which is a great inconvenience to him, and consequently very disagreeable to me; but, as I have said, this is a trifling consideration, which may be got over very easily. Again, Mr. Hood may come by the next packet – where shall I go then?

All these considerations, put together, make me very anxious, not so much to get through the treaty, for the sake of concluding it, as to be ready, when circumstances require my departure, to come back here.

Ever, my dear M. de Vidal, your faithful and sincere friend,J. H. MANDEVILLE.(PRIVATE.)Buenos Ayres, August 18th, 1842.

My dear M. de Vidal, – I had the greatest pleasure in receiving your friendly letter, without date, which was accompanied by an official note brought to me by M. le Comte de Lurde, to which you require an answer.

If you will weigh the contents of this note, you will find that it is impossible that I can answer it in any other way, than has done the French Plenipotentiary by that of acknowledging the receipt of it.

In the first place, no formal tender of mediation has as yet been made by the French Plenipotentiary and me, and therefore, until it has been positively refused, it would be as unusual as it would be impolitic to have recourse to threats to enforce the acceptance of it. But other and more powerful reasons forbid this line of conduct; you who are accustomed to give directions to your foreign Ministers and agents, know that they must act by their instructions, and by their instructions alone. I cannot take upon myself to say what means are at the disposal of the Comte de Lurde, but I know I have no more the power of constraining General Rosas to pay respect to the wishes of the mediatory powers, as far as physical force goes than you have.

If I were to ask the British naval officer on this station to land his men and garrison Monte Video, or prevent any power blockading the port, (which in my opinion, you may rely upon it, will never be done by General Rosas), he would laugh at me, unless I could show that I had positive orders from my Government to require it of him.

To make a declaration to this effect to General Rosas, without having the means of carrying it into execution, would be only exposing myself to ridicule, and my future communications to this Government as unworthy of belief.

And as it is unnecessary, unless you require it, that I should put these reasons, for not acceding to what you demand, in an official note, I have answered it word for word, as the Comte de Lurde has informed me he has done, by simply acknowledging the receipt of it, thus privately stating to you my reasons for so doing.

Believe me, my dear M. de Vidal, always and faithfully,

Your sincere Friend,J. H. MANDEVILLE.(PRIVATE.)Buenos Ayres, August 25th, 1842.

My M. de Vidal, – I have to thank you for your letter of the 15th instant, and for the information you gave me in it with regard to Ellauri's proceedings in London, and to the assurances made to him by Lord Aberdeen of his determination to put an end to the war. His, M. Ellauri's project of a treaty rather surprises me, considering that he was unauthorized by you to propose it, but I suppose Republican Ministers take upon themselves a little more in their negotiations than we Ministers of Monarchs, at all events I hope that they will send me an outline of it from the Foreign Office, as I am very anxious to see what M. Ellauri would have liked to have had.

You may rely upon it, my dear M. de Vidal, that in spite of all your opposers and enemies may say, your confidence in the mediation has not been vain and groundless: Count de Lurde and I are determined to uphold the respectability of the mediation, but we must wait until it be rejected before other measures can be taken.

Yesterday the mediation was formally proposed by M. de Lurde, and by me to Don Felipe de Arana on the part of our respective Sovereigns, and supported by arguments which seemed to make an impression on the Minister. He, of course, could give neither answer nor opinion upon the proposal, and I do not think it very likely that we shall obtain one before the departure of the packet which is fixed for the day after to-morrow.

The picture you give me of the state of your armies in Entre Rios, leaves you little to apprehend. – A private letter from a friend of mine in the Foreign Office says, "By the accounts from Monte Video, we expect to receive by the next packet a demand from the Buenos Ayrean Government to defend it from the troops of General Rivera."

Be assured, my dear M. de Vidal, that I will leave no opportunity neglected to write to you whenever I have any thing to communicate worth your knowing, and that I am always,

Your sincere and faithful Friend,J. H. MANDEVILLE.

To his Excellency M. de Vidal, &c. &c. &c.

August 26th.– I received late last night your letter of the 24th. I really have not time to do more than thank you for it by this opportunity.

J. H. M.(PRIVATE.)Buenos Ayres, October 19th, 1842.

My dear M. de Vidal, – I received by the last packet a letter from Mr. Hood, a part of which I will communicate to you, as I think it right that you should be literally and truly informed of what is going at the Foreign Office, in London, between Lord Aberdeen and M. Ellauri, on the subject of negociation, with respect to a treaty of commerce.

Mr. Hood says "I am employed modifying the treaty and talking Ellauri into acquiescence to our views. Yesterday, (August 2nd), we had an interview with Lord Canning, and during it I heard that he said he would not hesitate to sign the treaty as now prepared. If it should come to a bargain, I think it may be very likely that the Foreign Office may wish me to take it out to get ratified."

Now, my dear friend, tell me, if you can, how is it possible for M. Ellauri to sign and conclude a treaty, or even to say that he will, unless he has full powers to do so? I am confident that he has neither one nor the other, because you told me he has not, but still it is so very extraordinary his whole conduct that I should like if possible to have it explained.

I had a discourse the other day with a gentleman on the right of the Government of the Republic of Uruguay and this country, to expel any foreigner from their territory, at their pleasure. I know that it is never done but under very grave circumstances; but what I contended for was, the power and the right they possess to do so.

I suppose you have not written to me lately because I did not answer your letter of the 20th ult., but if you have no other, it does not resemble you. Always, my dear M. de Vidal,

Sincerely yours,J. H. MANDEVILLE.(PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.)Buenos Ayres, October 20th, 1842.

My dear M. de Vidal, – I have not before acknowledged the receipt of your letter of the 20th of last month, for until now I have had nothing to communicate to you that was worth the trouble of taking your time to read.

I am greatly pained by the sad termination of Count de Lurde's and my most strenuous efforts, as far as argument and persuasion could go, to induce the Buenos Ayrean Government to listen to the dictates of sound policy as well as of humanity and accept the mediation of Great Britain and France to put an end to the war. It will grievously disappoint the great expectations of her Majesty's Government, but for which disappointment from my previous dispatches they will be, in a great measure, prepared.

I have set Messrs. Ball and Diehl to work to copy the answer, that no time may be lost in communicating it to you, and I shall send down the Cockatrice with it the moment it is done.

Believe me, my dear M. de Vidal,

Always your sincere faithful Friend,J. H. MANDEVILLE.

To his Excellency D. Antonino de Vidal, &c. &c.

P.S. – Although I transmit this document to you officially, as I feel it my duty to do, I would rather that it be not published until we have the resolution of the Sala. In Europe, these papers are never published until some time after they have been delivered, which we consider as by far the best mode of conduct.

J. H. M.Buenos Ayres, October 26th, 1842

My dear M. de Vidal, – Neither you nor I were, nor could be surprised at the wretchedness of our negociation, or rather of M. de Lurde's and my attempt to make this Government accept the mediation of Great Britain and France, to put an end to the war, and I am happy to think that when I was last at Monte Video, I prepared her Majesty's Government for this result.

I feel the greatest pleasure to find that my unceasing efforts to obtain the acceptance by the Buenos Ayrean Government of our joint mediation have satisfied you. I can conscientiously say that I have done every thing in my power to make it succeed.

Of course I never meant but that the note should be immediately communicated to the Government, all I requested, and in which I was sure your own discernment and good feelings would make you concur in, was, that it should not be published until it has come out here.

I observe, in all your letters, you write mediation for mediators, as applicable to my expressions.

"My words in one of my preceding letters were, that your reliance on the mediators should not be vain or unfounded." This you have seen and can rely upon. I never hoped or gave you reason to hope that the mediation would be successful, but the results, according to my opinion and belief, (I am no prophet to predict), will not be vain nor illusory. The feelings of the British Government (and as you tell me Lord Aberdeen has himself said) towards the Banda Oriental will be very different since the conclusion of a treaty between it and great Britain to what they were before.

Believe me, my dear M. de Vidal,

Always your sincere and faithful Friend,J. H. MANDEVILLE.

To his Excellency M. de Vidal, &c. &c. &c.

Buenos Ayres, November 28th, 1842.

Sir, – I have the honour to transmit to your Excellency a copy of the note from the Buenos Ayrean Minister for Foreign Affairs, transmitting to me the resolution of the Chamber upon the correspondence between me and the French Minister on one part, and M. Arana on the other, upon the subject of the mediation which was transmitted to the Chamber for its consideration, and a decree which it has issued.

Thus, notwithstanding all my efforts, the Buenos Ayrean Government still continues to refuse her Majesty's mediation, and persist in a war not justified by any national object.

I have the honour to be with the highest consideration, Sir,

Your Excellency's most obedient humble Servant,J. H. MANDEVILLE.

To his Excellency Don Jose Antonino Vidal, &c. &c. &c.

(PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.)Buenos Ayres, September 2nd, 1842.

My dear M. de Vidal, – I had not time, before the departure of the packet, to answer your private letter of the 24th ult., and now keep my promise made to you in my letter of the 25th ult., of replying to it.

I must first begin by telling you that, some days before the packet sailed, Count de Lurde and I made the formal tender of the mediation in the manner presented to me by my instructions with which I made you acquainted when I was last at Monte Video.

I told M. de Arana that he was doubtless acquainted with the object of our visit, to which he assented, of which he had been informed by previous conversations which he had with me, and which was no longer a secret, for it had formed articles in the Monte Video newspapers, and the topic of conversation in the streets of that Town for weeks. But public or private the object is the same, one of the greatest importance to this country and of serious consideration to Great Britain and to France, – that of urging General Rosas to accept the mediation of France and Great Britain, of which the Count de Lurde and I then made the formal offer to the Buenos Ayrean Government in order to put an end to the deplorable conflict in which Buenos Ayres and Monte Video have for such a length of time been engaged. That Monte Video to my knowledge is anxious and willing to make peace with Buenos Ayres upon fair and reasonable terms, and I could produce authority for what I advanced, if required, that the proposal which General Rosas had formerly made, of accepting the mediation of Great Britain upon the condition that General Oribe should be returned to power, was inadmissible, and that it was obviously impossible that either the British or French Governments could sanction, by their mediation, the desire of General Rosas to place in the Presidency of Monte Video a particular individual, who, however meritorious in other respects, may not be acceptable to the majority of the inhabitants of the Oriental State, and that those Governments can only agree to offer to either of the belligerent powers such conditions as one independent State can, consistently with its honour, accept from another.

I then acquainted his excellency that it was the confident expectation of her Majesty's Government that the Argentine Government will accept the offer of Great Britain and France to mediate between Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, upon just and reasonable conditions, and that the Buenos Ayrean Government will authorize us, the Count de Lurde and me, to propose moderate and honourable terms of peace to the Government of the Republic of the Uruguay. I stated to M. de Arana that this offer is dictated by the feelings of humanity and of warm interest in the prosperity of the two neighbouring Republics, and her Majesty's Government earnestly hope, as M. de Lurde said does that of France, that the Government of Buenos Ayres will maturely reflect before they reject the friendly intervention which is now offered to them by two such powerful states, and I concluded by conjuring his Excellency to use his whole influence with General Rosas, as his friend and adviser, to accept the offer of mediation in the manner just proposed to him.

M. de Arana replied, that of course we could not expect from him any other answer than that he would hasten to lay the object of the communication we had just made to him before General Rosas, which he would do on that evening, and addressing himself to M. de Lurde, he said, you know the answer which was addressed to the British Minister last year, a copy of it having been given to M. de Becourt. Neither the French Minister nor myself were anxious to recur to that answer nor to discuss it, but he joined with me in soliciting the good offices of M. de Arana to obtain a happy issue to our joint offer. M. de Lurde said, and with reason, that it would be of the greatest importance to obtain the acquiescence of General Rosas to the mediation as soon as possible, in which I joined him in pressing terms. M. de Arana immediately replied that he would render an account to the Governor of the earnest desire of the two Ministers with all the interest that demands an affair as delicate as it is important.

With this last observation of M. de Arana the conference ended, and we took leave full in hope that General Rosas, with the soundness of his judgment and the generosity of his disposition, aided by his Excellency's influence and good offices will not hesitate to accept the offer of Great Britain and France to terminate a war which, for the sake of humanity and the prosperity of the two Republics, is so earnestly desired by all Europe, as well as by the people and Government of Monte Video, who ask only for peace, and the power the most legitimate in the world, that of choosing its own rulers, and its form of government themselves.

Two days after the packet sailed we, the Count de Lurde and I, called upon M. de Arana; he told us that in a question of such great importance, as is the joint offer of mediation of Great Britain and France, it should, he thought be communicated in writing, and he asked us if we had any objection to make it in that manner, I said by no means, and the French Minister and I sent in a note on the following day, 30th August, beginning with "In consequence of your Excellency's desire to have the communication we verbally made to you on the 24th instant, committed to writing, we have the honour, &c., &c., and I repeated in writing word for word what I had said to him verbally, and the French Minister did the same. You have now, dear M. de Vidal, a faithful and exact account of every thing that has taken place in this important business.

Now as to what you ask of me with respect to answering the official note you sent to me by the French Minister, I agree with you perfectly, that Her Majesty's Government would not make a second offer of its mediation, without being resolved to support it, more especially since you say that Lord Aberdeen has declared to M. Ellauri, that he will put a stop to the war.

But this assurance on the part of Lord Aberdeen does not give me the power either to take measures for carrying this declaration into effect, or to make such a declaration to General Rosas. I must wait for instructions from my Government before I inform the Buenos Ayrean Government what they will direct shall be done, as it is not for me to say in what manner the war shall be put a stop to.

M. de Lurde, when I spoke to him about the purport of the official note to me from you, of which he was the bearer, told me that he had simply acknowledged the receipt of it, because he could give no other answer, and I feel that I am in exactly a similar position.

You are now, as you have always been, in possession of my public and private sentiments upon this most important question, the mediation, and you may be most confident that my conduct upon it, whilst it is pending, will be as satisfactory to your Government as to yourself.

Believe me, my dear M. de Vidal, always your faithful and sincere friend,

J. H. MANDEVILLE.

To his Excellency Don Jose Antonino Vidal, &c. &c. &c.

(PRIVATE.)Buenos Ayres, December 23rd, 1842.

My dear M. de Vidal, – I received this morning your private letter of the 20th, – after thanking you for it, I have little to add, except that Count de Lurde and I have received an answer to our note, demanding an armistice, stating that a demand of this nature, menacing as it does the Argentine Confederation, requires time for consideration before a reply can be given.

In the meantime, I trust that the step which I and the French Minister have taken will in no manner weaken, but, on the contrary, hasten and encourage the zealous efforts of your Government to resist invasion, because, where winds and waves are concerned, no man can say, when he leaves Europe, in what week or in what month he will arrive at Monte Video.

I know nothing of the operations of the armies on either side of the Uruguay; I thank you for the information which you send me about them – I know nothing from any other source.

Believe me ever, my dear M. de Vidal,

Your faithful and sincere friend,J. H. MANDEVILLE.

To his Excellency M. de Vidal, &c., &c., &c.

(CONFIDENTIAL.)Buenos Ayres, 24th December, 1842.

My Dear M. de Vidal, – I took the liberty, when I sent you a copy of our note to this Government, demanding a cessation of hostilities, to beg the favour of you not to make it public. Communications of this nature are not intended at the time to be made public.

If I had intended that Mr. Dale should have a copy of it, I would have sent one to him; but copies have been given – for the commander of the Fantome has written a letter to me of complaint, that I had not communicated the circumstance to him, when some one had shown him a copy which he had read.

People sometimes think that by giving publicity to a document they bind down more the persons who have signed it to their engagement; this is a mistake. The only result which comes out of it is, that it makes them much more cautious and reserved in future in communicating them.

Believe me ever, my dear M. de Vidal,

Your sincere friend,J. H. MANDEVILLE.(PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.)Buenos Ayres, January 12th, 1843.

My dear M. de Vidal, – My thanks for your letter of the 28th ult. in answer to mine of the complaints of the captain of the Fantome. It was perfectly satisfactory.

I have received a despatch from Lord Aberdeen, acquainting me that the Vidal and Ellauri treaties are under the consideration of her Majesty's Government, and that he will not fail by next packet to communicate to me the result of their deliberations.

The under Secretary of State writes me that the latter is in some measure preferred, and, therefore, it is right for me to mention this circumstance to you, in order that you may not be unprepared, should it be adopted.

Believe me, my dear M. de Vidal, ever your sincere Friend,

J. H. MANDEVILLE.(PRIVATE.)Buenos Ayres, January 12th, 1843.

My dear M. de Vidal, – When I received M. Gelly's official letter, upon the entry of Oribe's troops into the Banda Oriental, I was myself too unwell to thank you for your letter of the 28th ult. on the subject of your resignation, and too sad and discouraged by it at the idea of your retirement from office at the present moment. But now I see by the Nacional of the 3rd that you have nobly decided upon still retaining the Foreign and Home Departments, I am as anxious to congratulate you and your country upon this resolution, as I was averse on the day I wrote to M. Gelly to take up my pen for any body or any thing, but for this letter of yours above mentioned. The two official communications which I send you by this opportunity, would have gone with my letter to M. Gelly, luckily, its of little consequence whether you receive them now or this day month.

What has prevented the British and French naval forces from coming long before this to the River Plate, I can have no conception. The interview between the British Ambassador and Guizot took place on the 9th September, when he agreed to all that Lord Cowley proposed of uniting their forces to put an end to the war. Before the end of December, I would have sworn that they would have been here. I cannot conclude my letter without expressing to you my truest thanks for the expression of your friendship towards me, – and my confidence that, happen what may, you will always duly appreciate my public and private conduct to you.

Believe me, my dear M. de Vidal, that my sentiments and my utmost efforts will always be in unison to draw closer the ties of friendship which have been so happily established, through you in great part, between the two countries where we first drew our breath, and my labour will be unceasing to preserve them unchanged.

J. H. MANDEVILLE.

To his Excellency Don Jose Antonino Vidal.

MR. GORDON'S LETTER TO GENERAL RIVERAYtapua, September 26th, 1842.

Having arrived safely at this town on the 20th instant, I forwarded, on the same evening, a despatch to the Government of this Republic with my passports soliciting the necessary license for myself and my companions to continue our journey to Assumption. By the same opportunity I forwarded to the Consuls of the Republic the despatch with which I was charged by your Excellency.

The answer from the Consuls reached me yesterday afternoon, and with it I have received, for my own person, my two companions and servant, permission to proceed to the capital, with the assurance that every assistance and protection will be afforded me. I regret having to add that this license is not extended to the Oriental escort, under whose protection and with whose assistance I have been able so fortunately to complete my journey to the Paraguay territory – for the reason (in the words of the Consuls note) of the said escort being no longer necessary.

On this account the Government of this Republic has granted a passport, which Don Blas Acevedo takes with him, ordering the Paraguay authorities to render to this officer and to the men under his command every necessary assistance on his return to the camp of your Excellency, and has also forwarded the despatch which I have now the honour to transmit in answer to that of your Excellency, with which I accompanied my above-mentioned letters to the Consuls of Paraguay.