CHAPTER XXIV

THE REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY

We have seen how Paraguay, having in the early days of the war of liberation compelled the retirement of the Argentine army commanded by General Belgrano, was left to its own resources.  It is said by some that Belgrano, during the intercourse he maintained with the Paraguayans subsequent to the defeat of his force and previous to his definite retreat, contrived to inculcate some ideas of independence into the heads of the officials of the inland province.  These seeds of liberty may or may not have borne fruit, but in any case it is certain that public opinion in Paraguay rapidly veered round in favour of independence, and as early as 1811 the Spanish Government was replaced by a Junta, which consisted of a President, two Assessors, and a Secretary.  The person appointed to the latter office was Don Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, whose name was destined to become dreaded throughout the length of the Republic which was now to establish itself.

It was not long before the strong personality of Francia dominated the Junta.  The history of Paraguay at this period differs widely from those of the more progressive nations surrounding it.  In Paraguay a certain opera bouffe element, together with a series of grimly farcical incidents, continually mingled themselves with some of the darkest tragedies that have been known in any age.  From the very start something of the kind had become evident.  The members of the Junta, for instance, finding their own means insufficient to support the pomp and state which was suddenly thrust upon them, and which they had grown to love, began to adopt some extraordinary measures in order to maintain their position.  Any portable national assets were sold without the least compunction for this purpose, and they even went to the length of compelling State prisoners to purchase their liberty—­an idea which undoubtedly ranks as one of the most extraordinary schemes for raising money ever employed.  Measures such as this constituted a sufficiently ominous beginning; they provided, indeed, an only too true augury of what was to come and from what species of wrongs the unfortunate country was doomed to suffer for generations.

In justice to Francia himself it must be said that he took no part in these first minor acts of oppression.  His grim and proud nature cared but little for mere matters of pomp and ceremony.  Money and possessions, curiously enough, affected him little.  Messrs. Rengger and Longchamps vouch for it that, having once discovered that he was the possessor of 800 piastres, he thought this sum a great deal too much for a single person, and he spent it.  A remedy such as this seems simple enough for an unusual complaint!