Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/95



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 65

respect of his fellow- men. He was the son of a Belgian army surgeon long domiciliated in the Banda Oriental ; he had established himself since 1852 as " subditus tempo- raneus^^ in Paraguay ; he is described by his enemies as an " Uruguayan, son of a stranger of dubious English origin/' and he was charged with being an active member of a revolutionary committee established at Buenos Aires. Mr. Henderson claimed the power of protecting this " British subject/' and in return received his passports ; the French Consul, M. Izarie — subsequently transferred to Bahia — being admitted to act in his stead. By way of reprisal, the British Admiral in the Plate ordered H.M. ships Buzzard and Grappler to detain the Paraguayan war-steamer Tacuari — a strong measure in a neutral port. On board the ship was Brigadier-General Lopez, who, as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, had been acting mediator between the contending parties of the Argentine confede- ration, and who had been presented with hundredweights of sweetmeats by the Bonaerensan ladies. The Brigadier left the Tacuari, and travelling overland to Santa Fe, there found a ship for Asuncion. President Lopez, once more outraged by this proceeding, released M. Canstatt, shot the two brothers Decoud (Teodoro and Gregorio), and sent a diplomatic agent to London for explanations. The opinions of the most eminent lawyers were taken in the disputed matters of consular jurisdiction and the protective pre- rogative of neutral waters : the general voice was in favour of Paraguay, but it was long before redress came. The difficulty was finally settled by General William Doria in January, 1863, and a Paraguayan Legation was proposed to England.

In early 1859 the United States sent Mr. C. Johnson as Especial Envoy to Paraguay, with the view of arranging the Hopkins and Waterwitch afi*airs. That officer left at Buenos

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