either the rights or the duties of the Nations to which those Foreigners belonged. The Privateers, which, with the Commissions, and under the Flag, of Buenos Ayres, have committed so many and such atrocious acts of Piracy, were all either fitted out, manned, and officered by Foreigners at Buenos Ayres, or even in Foreign Countries, not excepting our own, to which blank Commissions both for the Ships and Officers have been sent. In the Instructions to the late Commodore Perry, which his lamented decease prevented from being executed by him, and a Copy of which is now furnished to you, certain Articles in the Buenos Ayrean Privateering Ordinance were pointed out, particularly liable to the production of these abuses, and which, being contrary to the established usages among civilized Nations, it was hoped would have been revoked, or made to disappear from their otherwise unexceptionable Code. These Instructions were renewed to Commodore Morris, but the time of his stay at Buenos Ayres was so short, and he was there at a moment of so great a change in the ruling Power of the State, that, although he communicated to the then existing Director, the substance of the representations which Commodore Perry had been instructed to make, we know not that it was attended with any favourable result. You will consider the parts of Commodore Perry's Instructions, which may be still applicable on your arrival in South America, as directed to yourself; and should you proceed to Chili, will execute them there, no communication upon the subject having yet been made there. Among the inconveniences consequent upon this system of carrying on maritime Warfare, by means of Foreigners, has been occasionally, and to a considerable extent, the enticement of Seamen belonging to Merchant Vessels, in the Ports of Buenos Ayres and Chili, from their engagements; to enlist them in Privateers or publick armed Vessels of those Countries. In attending to the numerous trials and convictions for Piracy, which have recently afflicted our Country, and cast an unusual gloom over our anuals, you will remark that a great proportion of the guilty Persons have been Seamen thus engaged, Foreigners at Buenos Ayres, or enlisted in our own Ports, in violation of our Laws. Whether at Buenos Ayres or in Chili, you will use every exertion in your power, consistent with the respect and conciliatory deportment to be constantly observed towards the existing publick Authorities, to protect the Seamen of The United States from all such enlistments; and the Owners and Masters of the Merchant Vessels from time to time arriving there, from the loss of their men by such means.

The Commercial Digest of the Laws of Foreign Countries with which The United States are in relation, a Copy of which has been furnished you, may suggest to you the nature of part of the information which is desirable from South America.

Political information will be equally acceptable; the more particular and correct the information of this nature which you can obtain,

the more acceptable it will prove. Besides the struggle in South America for Independence, against which Spain is the only opposite Party, internal feuds and civil wars have peculiarly marked every step of the Revolutions in progress upon that theatre. As an Agent and Citizen of The United States, the first advice I shall give you, is, to observe and report, with all the vigilance and discernment and penetration and fidelity to your own Country, that you possess, the movements of all Parties, but to make yourself a Partizan to none. From the Documents lately received here, it is apparent, that a Negotiation has been some time on foot between the late Government of Buenos

Ayres and France. It is well known that a Negotiation of much longer standing has existed between the same Government and Portugal; nor has Mr. Rivadavia been residing two or three years to no purpose in England. To ascertain the real movements of all these parties, a neutral position, a neutral heart, and an observing mind, are indispensable; in recommending it to your attention, I would add the caution, neither to take upon trust what any Man shall tell you, without asking yourself what it is his interest or wish that you should believe, nor to give more weight to conjectures, than the circumstances under which they are formed will warrant.

By the latest accounts that we have received, the Government, the Congress, and the Constitution, of the Provinces of La Plata were overthrown; the Province of Buenos Ayres stood alone, with Don Manuel de Sarratea, as Governor, at its head; they were in negotiation with General Artigas, of the Oriental Banda, and with General Ramirez, Commander of the Monteneros; in what those Negotiations will result, we are to learn hereafter, and what their effect will be upon the relations of all, with the Portuguese at Montevideo, is yet to be seen. Should you remain at Buenos Ayres, we shall expect full Communications from you, as frequently as opportunities for transmitting them may occur. I am, &c.

John M. Forbes, Esq.

(Extract.)

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

(2.)-Mr. Forbes to the Secretary of State.

Buenos Ayres, 2d September, 1821.

I SHALL confine myself to a general summary of leading Events since my last. The first in order of date, is the total defeat of the Party of Ramirez, by a wing of the united Armies of Santa Fé and Cordova, under Don Francisco de Bedoya, Substitute Governor of Cordova. The Action was fought at Francisco, on the Rio Seco, on the 10th of July, and the news was most joyfully received here on the 21st of the same month.

I have great pleasure in announcing to you a new organization of this Government, which promises great solidity and character, and from whose exertions the most important reforms are daily taking place.

vernor.

The Departments of State and Treasury were, until the 18th of July last, united in one Person, Don Juan Manuel de Luca; the Junta then decreed that these Departments should be separated, and the Governor called to the first, Don Bernadino Rivadavia, with the title of Minister of the Government and of Foreign Relations. Mr. Luca remained charged with the Department of Treasury until the 1st August, when he offered his resignation, which was accepted, and a complimentary Decree of the 8th August published with acceptance of the GoDon Manuel Jose Garcia, many years diplomatic Agent of the Director, at Rio Janeiro, since has been appointed to that office. These two Gentlemen, Rivadavia and Garcia, both possess a great share of publick confidence; have both acquired experience in publick affairs by long residences near Foreign Courts, and they both seem animated by a zealous desire to establish order in the various branches of the Administration, and economy in the publick Expenditure. This spirit of reform, which was the great cause of the overthrow of Sarratea, by exciting the discontent and violent opposition of Military Men, now furnishes also a hope to the partizans of Purreydon, who are raising great clamour against the new Ministers, and working diligently to regain their influence. In short, the present moment seems to be the crisis of a struggle between publick virtue and corruption, between a new-born impulse of publick opinion, growing in the liberty of the press, with that of parliamentary debate, and the rotten legacy of the Viceroyalty, the deletereous influence of military patronage. It is a struggle on the event of which hangs the future liberty and welfare of this Province. May Heaven smile on the future efforts of virtue and patriotism!

Another very important event has occurred since my last Report. The annexation of the Banda Oriental to the Kingdom of Brazils, and the recognition of the Independence of these Provinces by His Most Faithful Majesty, King John. These measures were simultaneous and correlative. On the 28th July, Don Juan Manuel de Figuieredo presented himself to this Government, with the character of Consul of Portugal and Brazils, and with a Letter of Credence from the Brazilian Secretary of State, acknowledging the Independence of these Provinces, and expressing a hope that these Provinces would acknowledge any and all Governments, of fact, which should be admitted and obeyed by the People of any neighbouring Provinces. This Government received Mr. de Figuieredo with great courtesy, and passed over in silence the Recognition with its implied condition. The whole business, on both sides, appears to me to be quite theatrical. Mr. Figuieredo, a conspicuous actor in the first scene, has retired suddenly from all political Agencies, and from this life! On the morning of the 21st August, being apparently in perfect health, and whilst walking in his saloon, waiting for his breakfast, he fell down instantly dead! By order of

Government his body was opened by a Surgeon, in presence of some distinguished Law Officers, and his stomach and bowels found to be in a healthful state, whence it results that he died of apoplexy. Soon after Mr. Rivadavia's coming into the Ministry, to wit, on the 5th August, I was promised a long Conference with him on all the objects of my Agency, but as he came to me in company of Mr. Luca, I could only hold some desultory conversation, touching cursorily on some topics. Mr. R. then promised me for the next Thursday a particular audience, but I am sorry to say that the fulfilment of this promise has been delayed from week to week to this hour.

I yesterday saw Mr. Rivadavia for a few minutes, and again received an apology for his delay of the long promised Conference. I took occasion to say, that I was aware of his unceasing occupation in the arduous Place he held, and must conform to his convenience; but that there was one subject on which I had been instructed to communicate the views of my Government, and which, by the information daily received, became most imperiously pressing, as interesting to the character of this Government, which I knew he had so much at heart. I then stated that, by late advices from the West Indies, the horrors of Piracy, which had so justly excited universal indignation, were daily increasing, as well by the numbers of the Vessels, as by their strength of armament, and the boldness of their nefarious enterprizes; that, recently, a Vessel fitted out here under the name of the Confederation, had changed her name and her Commander, and was captured under the Commission of Artigas by a French Frigate, and carried into Martinique, from whence the Captain and a number of the Crew, being Seamen of The United States, had been sent to Philadelphia in a French armed Brig for Trial; that all these Vessels were notoriously furnished with several different Commissions, and according to the privateering regulations of this Province they were to be deemed Pirates; that one of them had recently fired on a Government Brig of France, and killed the Commander; that I was instructed by my Govenment to make the strongest remonstrances on this subject. To all these observations, Mr. Rivadavia replied, that this evil would no longer exist; that there would soon be given an Order recalling all Privateers; that he was fully convinced that the most important object with this Government is to acquire the good will and friendship of all other Governments, and that he was determined to make every sacrifice to attain this great end. He said that Governments seated in perfect peace and security reasoned calmly on these subjects, but that this Country had experienced so many difficulties in its struggle for Independence, that the Government had been compelled to adopt the strongest measures against the Spanish Commerce, but, said he, "this is now all finished."

At the moment I am writing, a salvo of Artillery and the most extravagant demonstrations of joy through the streets, announce the

capture of Lima by San Martin's besieging Army. If this news be true, it puts the Seal to the Independence of South America. The Spanish Royalty, driven from its last hope in these Provinces, and enlightened by a Representative Government, will, I think, within six months, acknowledge their Independence.

The Hon. J. Q. Adams.

(Extract.)

JOHN M. FORBES.

(3.)-Mr. Forbes to the Secretary of State.

Buenos Ayres, 11th September, 1821. INCLOSED I transmit an important State Paper published here, a Manifest of the Governor and his Secretary, on the project presented to the honourable Junta in relation to the Congress now assembled at Cordova, together with the project submitted, which, as will be seen, is intended to lay the foundation for future Federation. Messrs. Rivadavia and Garcia are pressing with great vigour their system of reform, and, by a strong blow at the root, have violently shaken the branches of the tree of corruption. Consternation has been spread through the ranks of smugglers, by the arrest and close imprisonment, the day before yesterday, of Don Fernando Calderon, first Inspector of the Custom House. This man, although enjoying a very liberal salary, has notoriously patronized the unblushing atrocities of the giant smugglers, who have totally dilapidated the Revenues of the Country for years past. The leading man, accustomed to ask and obtain every thing of the Government, yesterday solicited of the Governor a mitigation of the imprisonment of Mr. Calderon, and perhaps his discharge on bail. The Governor consulted Mr. Rivadavia on the expediency of listening to the call of mercy. The latter replied, very respectfully, to the Governor, that he certainly had the power and the responsibility of any measures he might adopt, but if his Excellency yielded to the solicitations in question, he (Mr. R.) must decline any further service as Secretary. This firmness prevailed. The truth is, Mr. Rivadavia, being the father of the incipient system of order and virtue, from his growing influence, has become indispensable to the accomplishment of the views now cherished by the publick opinion. If this system should prevail, the immediate effect of it will be, the prevalence of civil over military influence.

The Hon. J. Q. Adams.

(Extract.)

JOHN M. FORBES.

(4.)-Mr. Forbes to the Secretary of State.

Buenos Ayres, 28th September, 1821. I HAVE a Dispatch from Judge Prevost, containing the Gazettes from Lima, published since the Revolution there, which I shall forward by the first direct opportunity. The night before the last, (26th instant) the Governor (Rodrigues) received an official Despatch from General San Martin, confirming the previous news of the surrender of