— Treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso. — Final  Concessions  of  the  Mother  Country. — Expedi-
tion nnder  Sir  Home  Popham. — Capture  of  Buenos  Ayres. — Assault  of  Monte-
video.— Defeat  of  General  Whitelock. — Liniers. — Joseph  Bonaparte. — A  Portu-
guese Pretender. — Cisneros. — Assembly  of  July  9th,  1816. — Independence  of
Paraguay,  Bolivia,  and  Buenos  Ayres. — Disadvantages  the  South  American
•People  labored  under  for  forming  a  good  Government. — The  Banda  Oriental. —
Urquiza. — Oribe. — Battle  of  Monte  Caseros. — Convention  at  St.  Nicolas. —
Courtesy  extended  to  our  Minister. — Disaffection  of  Buenos  Ayres. — Siege  of
that  City.
THE  policy  of  the  mother  country  was  not  only  neglectful,  but
absolutely  hostile  to  the  interests  of  La  Plata.  Fifty  years  after
the  foundation  of  Buenos  Ayres  one  million  of  cattle  covered  the
pampas ;  but  Spain  had  not  the  forecast  to  see  in  this  extraordi-
nary multiplication,  in  the  fertility  of  a  soil  producing  with  the
smallest  possible  labor  the  fruits,  cereals,  and  vegetables  of  tem-
perate and  tropical  regions,  the  elements  of  a  greatness  that  would
make  it  the  prize-jewel  of  her  crown,  and  the  seat  of  a  future
trade  that  might  yield  larger  revenues  than  her  mines.
