In This Correspondence, Agents, Ministers, Ambassadors, Governors, As Well As Soldiers of Fortune and Indian Chiefs
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in this correspondence, agents, ministers, ambassadors, governors, as well as soldiers of fortune and Indian chiefs. Valuable appendices print thirty-four pieces which the author es teems to be key documents. There are seventeen photographic repro ductions of maps, one drawing of medals presented to the Indians by the United States Government, and a facsimile of General George Washington’s famous holograph letter, a beautiful script, of December 19, 1785, to the Count of Floridablanca, thanking the King of Spain for the gift of two jackasses, a royal gift made for a political purpose. The general high excellence of this work and its exceeding help fulness should make the reader patient about little defects, including uneven printing and numerous misprints. It is suggested that a general book index for all volumes might cap the entire work when the great enterprise is completed. There might also be included, in the next volume, a word of explanation, that the signed instructions from the secretary of state to the Spanish diplomatic representatives in the United States are to be found not in the Archivo Historico Nacional but rather in the Foreign Office (Secretaria de Estado). Only occasional drafts (minutas) of these are extant in the former repository. The author and the institution which has made possible this publi cation—the Instituto Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo—will merit the gratitude of future generations of scholars. Meanwhile surviving scholars, who have profited so in the past by Senor Gomez del Campillo’s archival assistance, extend their hearty felicitations on the appearance of Volume I. May the other volumes speedily appear! Samuel Flagg Bemis. Yale University. Historia de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay (1830-1930). By Juan E. Pivel Devoto and Alcira Ranieri de Pivel Devoto. Edited by Raul Artagaveytia. (Montevideo: Imprenta El Siglo Ilus- trado, 1945. Pp. 571. Paper. S6.00 m/n.) This recent book by two well-known Uruguayan professors con stitutes a substantial contribution to the study of the history of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. The extraordinary work of Pablo Blanco Acevedo on the colonial period and his notable studies concerning the federalism of Artigas threw light on the problems prior to institu tional organization. But historical bibliography of the period following the first national constitution lacked a work of general character—if one excepts, of course, the great work of Eduardo Acevedo, which as is well known has become one of the historical classics of the Platine Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article-pdf/26/4/537/749472/0260537.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 nation—to synthesize this important period in accordance with modern conceptions. The book here under review begins with a study of international recognition of the sovereignty of the Oriental Republic. The difficulties which the authors have had to overcome in their investigations clearly indicate their professional expertness. The complex scene, in which different forces and nations exercised their powerful influences; the intentions of two such covetous neighbors as Buenos Aires and Brazil; and the natural economic and political problems of an incipient nation, are treated with prudence and an abundance of information. Uruguayan independence was a lengthy process, in which a people with a strange cohesion was pulled this way and that by the workings of a frequently hostile diplomacy and even had to cope with the natural skepticism of its own children, fearful of a future pregnant with dangers. This calm study of the first constitution, that of 1830, reflects the fervor and the political ideology, advanced for the time, of those who drew it up. Confidence in law assured that even soldiers should accept, with a noble civic gesture, their exclusion from the legislature. In their intelligent balance of great historic periods, the authors succeed in painting a suggestive picture of the Great War (1839-1851). Not only do they present the external panorama of other American countries concerned, but also the organization of the defense and a r&um6 of the splendid intellectual flowering of Montevideo at that time. The work embraces the long process of national consolidation, extending from the turbulent period of militarism to the attainment of the civil regime and political liberty. It is precisely at this latter stage that the complexity of analysis becomes greater. Uruguayan historians face grave responsibility when treating such recent events, in which the ardor of the political struggle is apparent at every step. However, the calmness of judgment, the considered study of the sources, and the observation free of nationalism, place this in the category of works indispensable for an understanding of the historical evolution of Uruguay. The above does not mean that this reviewer, as is natural, should not differ ideologically with the authors. Certain of their affirmations, and their appreciation of certain values, from the reviewer’s personal point of view, seem to lack sociological meaning. He cannot agree with the distinguished authors in their criticism of what they call “excesiva politica de estatizacion” in referring to Batlle y Orddnez, nor much less in the severe epithet of “Spencerian Leviathan” w'hich they bestow upon our state, fie believes, on the contrary, that zeal and fervor in the cause of social reform made the little republic of Uruguay, Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article-pdf/26/4/537/749472/0260537.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 at a determined moment, one of the most outstanding examples in all the Americas and that they constitute one of the most notable characteristics of its national spirit. Miguel Angel Pineiro. Universidad del Uruguay. Baltasar Brum, verbo y action. Cronica de la vida y pasion de un hombre, caballero del ideal de justitia y democratic, por el cual murid, al pre tender se arrasar la obra social mas perfecta de America, creada por el genio de Jose Batlle y Ordonez. By Juan Carlos Welker. (Monte video: Talleres de la Imprenta “Letras,” 1945. Pp. 438. Paper. $3.00 m/n.) Jose Serrato, un ejemplo. Interpretation de la vida de un hombre creador y esbozo de un proceso politico-econbmico-constitucional que aun no ha terminado. By Juan Carlos Welker. (Montevideo: Casa A. Barreiro y Ramos S. A. [Talleres de la Imprenta "Letras”], 1944. Pp. 390. Paper. $3.00 m/n.) The Republic of Uruguay is often portrayed as the most socially conscious of Latin-American nations. Its evolution from a state sad dled with political instability to one capable of orderly progress was actuated by the idealism and driving force of Jos6 Batlle y Orddnez. First by strengthening the Colorado Party, then by making it the in strumentality of reform, and finally by inspiring capable young disciples, Batlle set the course for Uruguay’s transformation into an enlightened republic. Without the leadership of Batlle, Uruguay might have re mained the playground of military tyrants; without the discipleship of enthusiastic collaborators, Batlle’s program might have remained largely unfulfilled. Of the exponents of batllismo, none were more ardent or successfel than Baltasar Brum and Josd Serrato. To each of these states men Juan Carlos Welker has devoted a human and animated biography. In many respects the public careers of Brum and Serrato ran parallel. Both entered national political life at thirty, and, under Batlle’s sponsor ship, quickly rose to prominence. Each held cabinet posts on five occasions, and each was president of the National Mortgage Bank They served as presidents of the republic, and after their presidencies found other fields in which to continue their leadership, Brum as editor of Batlle’s personal organ, El dia, and Serrato as director of various state- owned industries. Both worked for unification of the Colorado Party, and through it sought amelioration for Uruguayan workers. As foreign ministers, Brum in World War I and Serrato in World War II, they were articulate in their support of democracies at war. As politicians, they Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article-pdf/26/4/537/749472/0260537.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021.