In the course of the afternoon General Gower presented himself at the fort under a flag of truce. He was the bearer of propositions from General Whitelocke almost identical with those that had been drawn up by Liniers under the advice of Alzaga. The English plenipotentiary was received by Liniers, by Generals Balbiana and Velasco, and by the Mayor Alzaga. The proposals of General Whitelocke were accepted; forty-eight hours were accorded to the English in which to evacuate Buenos Ayres, and the term of two months for embarking from Monte Video, and quitting every part of the Plata. The capitulation was ratified next day (the 7th of July) by the English general, and the city of Buenos Ayres not unnaturally gave itself over to triumph when, on the following day, it saw the English ships weigh anchor previous to their departure.
In reviewing the series of events which sprang from the same cause that produced the victory of Trafalgar, and which ended so ignominiously for England, the result is to be traced wholly to the personal character of three individuals—Liniers, Whitelocke, and Alzaga. But for the sparkling Frenchman, who was in effect the father of the South-American republics, it is probable that General Beresford would not have been disturbed in his possession of Buenos Ayres until he had been placed in a position of security by the arrival of reinforcements from the Cape of Good Hope, and that, therefore, the expedition of Whitelocke would never have had its part to play. Next, but for the pitiable character of that officer,[15] to which, rather than either to Liniers or to Alzaga, was due the repulse of the English, it seemed scarcely possible that so mighty a force should have failed to reduce a city defended only by a single fort, and by troops that had been already vanquished. Lastly, but for the pertinacity of Alzaga, Monte Video and its charming territories would in all probability have, like the Cape of Good Hope, belonged to England at the present day. The latter result is especially to be deplored; since Uruguay, which under English administration might have proved an earthly paradise, and a pattern to other States on the same continent, has been foremost amongst the South-American republics as a standing piece of irony on the famous phrase of Canning.
As the further fate of General Whitelocke and his luckless command, although interesting to Englishmen, does not properly belong to South-American history, I reserve it for an appendix.
Note.—Chapter XVIII. is founded on “La Plata,” par Santiago Arcos; Paris: Michel Lévy Frères, 1865;
“Letters on Paraguay,” by J. P. and W. P. Robertson. John Murray, London, 1839;
“Trial of General Whitelocke;” London, 1808;
“Whitelocke’s Expedition.” By an Officer. London, 1808.