We shall not confuse in our minds the two Republics of Uruguay and Paraguay, as is often done. The one is progressive and wealthy, the other backward and poor. Their boundaries are far from each other, separated by portions of Brazil and Argentina, but they are united by the great waterways of the Plate, as we have already seen.
If Uruguay is a small country in point of area, being about the size of the British Isles, which is not large in comparison with the vast areas of territory of her neighbours on the Continent, the Republic contains much that is important, both as regards its own life and development and its relations with foreign lands. As an indication of the latter element, we may recollect the many millions sterling of English money invested here in public works and other matters.
The history of the land has been a chequered one. War and peace have alternately succeeded each other ever since independence was gained, and the soil has had its full baptism of the blood of its own sons. But much of this customary dreadful history of Spanish America has here been tinged by the patriotic spirit of the Uruguayans, their strong national mind and their individualism.
The strange mixture of idealism and cruelty which is found in the outstanding figures of Spanish American revolutionary history is, we may here reflect, remarkable. We find men who have lived the dreadful lives of guerilla chiefs, with their hands not merely stained with blood, but their honour besmirched with the most horrible deeds—deeds of torture, of treason, of massacre, of rape, of robbery—sometimes enunciating the most philosophical and beautiful sentiments or enduring aphorisms. The dividing line between bloodshed and cruelty and philosophy is, in Spanish America, a very narrow one, and the Spanish American may be called upon to cross it perhaps between breakfast and lunch. We find such figures and situations in every one of the twenty States of Iberian America, from Mexico to Uruguay.
A national hero of Uruguay was Artigas, an ex-smuggler who rose to be Dictator over a vast territory; who rose with dramatic rapidity in the turbulent times of the War of Independence and the civil struggles that followed. It is not here suggested that Artigas was of the character described in the former paragraph, although some historians have painted him in the darkest colours, but opportunity is taken to show the varied sides of such characters, in their enunciations of lofty sentiments. When, in 1815, Artigas was endowed by the Montevideo Government with the title of "Captain-General, Protector and Patron of the Liberty of the Nation," he replied: "Titles are the phantoms of States. Let us teach our countrymen to be virtuous. It is thus I have retained the title of a simple citizen." Now comes the flash of philosophy. "The day will come," said this guerilla chief, "when men will act from a sense of duty, and when they will devote their best interests to the honour of their fellow men."
Here is a further page from the early history of Independence on the River Plate:
"Artigas was now encamped for the first time with a translated nation and an independent army of his own. The condition of both was grimly tragic, pathetically humorous. For fourteen months almost the only shelter, that served for all alike, was afforded by the branches of the trees and the boards of the carts that had brought them. As for the army, it was composed of strangely heterogeneous elements. Honest countryfolk rubbed shoulders with professional criminals and cut-throats; Indians from the destroyed Jesuit missions went side by side with fierce-faced Gauchos; while townsmen, negroes and a few adventurous foreigners made up the mixed gathering.
"The men were in deadly earnest, since the example of Artigas seems to have inspired even the most depraved with a spark from his own fire. Had it been otherwise they would undoubtedly have succumbed to the disadvantages with which they had to contend. Arms were scarce. A certain favoured few were possessed of muskets and swords; but the weapon in chief use was the lance, the national arm of River Plate folk, the point of which, here at Ayui, was usually fashioned from the blade of shears or a knife, or from the iron of some other agricultural instrument. Many, however, had perforce to be content with a long knife, with the lasso and the sling—the boleadores—as subsidiary weapons. Yet even these proved by no means despicable in the hands of the men whose sole garment was the ragged remnant of a poncho tied about the waist, and who exercised with poles in preparation for the time when a musket should be in their hands.
"It was with the aid of an army such as this that Artigas would cross the river to make his incursions among the hills of his native country, and would engage Portuguese and Spaniards alike in battles from which the desperate and motley companies of men would frequently emerge victorious. Artigas was now assisted by numerous minor chiefs, many of whom were of a character quite unfitted to stand the light of day. Otorgues and Andresito were the most noted of these. The methods of the former were utterly brutal. Although the fact is discredited, he is credited by many with the order to a subaltern officer to 'cut the throats of two Spaniards a week in order to preserve the morale. Failing Spaniards, take two Buenos Ayrens for the purpose'!
"Andresito was an Indian from the deserted Jesuit missions who commanded a considerable force of his own race. He appears to have interspersed his dark deeds with some evidence of better qualities and even of a grim humour. A coarse instance of this latter is supplied when he entered the town of Corrientes in the heyday of Artigas's power. On this occasion the Indian troops behaved with no little restraint towards the terrified inhabitants, and contented themselves with levying contributions towards the clothing of the almost naked army. This accomplished, Andresito determined to exhibit the social side of his temperament. He organized several religious dramas, and followed these by a ball in honour of the principal residents of the town. These, however, failed to attend, their reluctance to dancing with Indians overcoming their prudence. On learning the reason from some crassly honest person, the enraged Andresito caused these too particular folk to be mustered in the main plaza of the town. There he obliged the men to scour the roadway, while the ladies were made to dance with the Indian troops.
"Although no merit or subtlety can be claimed for such methods, they at all events stand apart from the rest in their lack of bloodthirstiness. Compared with the sentiments revealed in a proclamation of Otorgues in taking possession of Montevideo, the procedure at Corrientes seems innocuous and tame. One of the clauses of this document decrees the execution within two hours of any citizen who should speak or write in favour of any other government, while the same fate was promised to one 'who should directly or indirectly attack the liberty of the province'! The humour in the employment of the word 'liberty' is, of course, totally unconscious.
"Such proclamations, naturally, served purely and simply as a licence for convenient murder. Employing lieutenants of the kind, it is little wonder that much of the guilt of their accumulated deeds should be undeservedly heaped upon Artigas's head. Not that the Commander-in-Chief himself was inclined to put a sentimental value upon human life; indeed, a delicacy on this point would be impossible in one who had passed through the scenes of his particular calling. In any case his hatred of robbery was deep-rooted and sincere. After the execution of three criminals of this type, he proclaims to his people at Ayui: 'My natural aversion to all crime, especially to the horrible one of robbery, and my desire that the army should be composed of honourable citizens ... has moved me to satisfy justice by means of a punishment as sad as it is effectual.' A little later he makes a similar appeal, adding, 'if there be remaining amongst you one who does not harbour sentiments of honour, patriotism and humanity, let him flee far from the army he dishonours'! Here we get the flowers of the south, earnestly thrown, but alighting in too earthy a bed! The poor army, with its impoverished, ragged loin-cloths, and with its lassos and slings, undoubtedly valued the occasional luxury of a full stomach at least as highly as the abstract virtues. Yet they probably heard the words with sincere admiration, feeling an added pride in their beloved leader who could employ such phrases. In any case—whether as a result of punishments or proclamations—the crime of robbery soon became rare almost to extinction within the sphere of Artigas's influence.
"The war itself was each month growing more savage in character. Such virtues as the Uruguayan army possessed were recognized least of all by the Spaniards. Elio, the Viceroy, had erected a special gallows in Montevideo for the benefit of any prisoners that might be captured, while Vigodet, his successor, endeavoured to strike terror by measures of pure barbarity. By his order a body of cavalry scoured the countryside, slaying all those suspected of Artiguenian leanings, and exposing the quartered portions of their bodies at prominent places by the roadside. Each patriot, moreover, carried a price upon his head. It is not to be wondered at that the Uruguayan forces made reprisals, and that corpses replaced prisoners of war."[33]
These matters took place a century or more ago, as did the picturesque incidents of the Treinta y Tres, the thirty-three resolutes who swore to liberate their country, when the news of the Battle of Ayacucho, in Peru, on the distant Andes, had reached the land of the Plate and the Pampas.
"The rejoicings that the victory of Ayacucho aroused in the capital of Argentina stirred to the depth both Lavalleja and a company of fellow-exiles from the Banda Oriental. A meeting of these patriots was held on the spot, the result of which was an enthusiastic determination to place their own country upon the same footing as the rest. Doubtless many hundreds of similar gatherings had already been effected—and concluded by vapourings of thin air. But the spirit of these men who had thus come together was of another kind. Having sworn solemnly to free their country, action followed hot-foot on the heels of words. A couple of their number were sent at once to Uruguay to prepare the minds of a trusted few, while the rest made preparations for the expedition that was to follow.
"The mission of the two deputies proved successful. They returned to Buenos Ayres, the bearers of many promises of support and co-operation. Nothing now remained but to take the first irrevocable step in the campaign that was to bloom out from this very humble seed.
"'Treinta y Tres' has now developed into a proper name in the Banda Oriental; for the number of men who started out from Buenos Ayres for the sake of Uruguay was thirty-three. The name has now been locally immortalized. Among the infinite variety of objects that it endows may be counted a province, a town, innumerable plazas and streets and a brand of cigarettes.
"There is certainly nothing that is intrinsically humorous in the adventures of these noble men who set out for their patriotic purpose in the face of such terrible risks. Yet as a specimen of the constitution of the armies of the South American factions at this period a survey of the grades held by the small gathering is illuminating. In the first place the diminutive expedition had for its Commander-in-Chief Colonel Juan Antonio Lavalleja, who had beneath him three majors and four captains. These in turn were supported by three lieutenants, an ensign, a sergeant, a corporal and a guide. The remaining eighteen constituted the rank and file of the force—in fact, the Army proper.
"The little expedition so overwhelmingly officered set out from Buenos Ayres, proceeding northward along the Argentine shore. Reaching a point where the river had become comparatively narrow, they embarked in small boats, and launched out on the Uruguay at dead of night. A gale obliged them to seek refuge on a friendly island, and caused a day's delay. But the next evening they embarked once more, and reached in safety the beach of La Agraciada on their native shore. There they unfurled their chosen tricoloured banner, and swore once again to attain liberty or death.
"The expedition was now actually on the scene of its mission, and shortly after daybreak it began its march to the north. During the course of a few hours they collected en route reinforcements of forty able-bodied and armed Orientales.
"Proceeding steadily onwards, the gallant little army, officers and all, found itself in the neighbourhood of the small town of Dolores, better known formerly as San Salvador. This was held by a garrison of eighty men in the service of Brazil. Determined to inflict a first decisive blow, Lavalleja led his men onwards to the attack. The moment chanced to be especially propitious, since the officers and principal men in the town had attended a dance on the previous night. So great had been the delights of the baile that the principal men had found it necessary to continue their repose long into the morning—a circumstance that is not unknown even to this day.
"Had it not been for an error on the part of the patriot guide the town would undoubtedly have been captured by surprise and taken almost without a blow. As it was, the official chanced to mistake the situation of a ford in an intervening small river. This necessitated a lengthy march along the banks ere a place suitable for the passage was found, and the presence of the small company with the tricoloured flag was discovered with amazement by the inhabitants.
"Thus ere Lavalleja's expedition had succeeded in crossing the stream there had been moments of wild bustle in Dolores. Officers sprang out of bed to gird on their swords in haste; soldiers ran to assemble with uniforms even more than usually awry, while the municipal officers doubtless ran to and fro in aimless confusion. Nevertheless by the time that the turmoil was at an end the garrison had had an opportunity to muster, and to sally out against the advancing band that had not yet gained the town."[34]
To-day considerable prosperity is seen among those who hold power and place, and control lands and commerce in this enterprising Republic; and the people of Uruguay have evolved their own personality.