Brooks: Diplomacy and the Borderlads 78

 Pizarro's memoirs, written many years after his retirement, are
 characterized by his extreme pique at having been deprived of the
 honors due him for his important r6le in the negotiation of the
 Adams-Onis Treaty. He was removed from office just before its
 conclusion, and he naturally felt that others profited from his good
 work. The autobiography shows a notable self-esteem, a fact which
 must influence one's estimate of its reliability. Yet his story appears
 to be substantiated by the mass of contemporary documents. To
 authenticate his statements, he included in his Memorias a whole
 volume of correspondence and reports, of which more than 170
 pages concern the treaty of 1819.'
 It has been noted that Erving lacked sympathy for Spanish
 ways (although at times he displayed interest in phases of Spanish
 culture) and that he was disgusted with Cevallo. In view of this
 attitude, it is interesting to read his comments on the ministerial
 change, which also describe some of Pizarro's problems at home:
 Mr. Pizarro... has much more ability, industry, knowledge of affair, & habit
 of business than Mr Cevallos;-he has also a portion of good faith, which the
 other was entirely deficient in; & his mind is free from those strong preju-
 dices, & those absurd & obstinate errors, which were rooted in that of his prede-
 cessor. In the several interviews which I have had with him, I have observed a
 moderation, good sense, & conciliatory temper, from which I should augur
 most favorably, if the political affairs of this government were really, as they
 are ostensibly, under his contrl;-but this is not the eae:-by what degree
 of infatuation or apathy it is possessed, or under what secret inflinee it is
 directed, I will not undertake to say,-but it is obvious that nothing of impor-
 tance is done to advance the interests of the country in its foreign relations,
 nor effectually to relieve it from the weight of domestiek evils under which it
 groans... In that all important department of "Hacienda" (fnanee) every
 thing is in ruins, & no measure meriting the name of effort is attempted to
 repair it, & whatever is attempted, finds a fatal opposition in the interest of
 the individuals who are employed to effect it....
 In my first 6 second interviews with Mr Pisarro ... he professed the best
 dispositions to conciliation, took care not to join me in ensure of his prede-
 cessor, said that he proposed to inform himself fully as to the existing state
 of our relations, and,-since then,-he has not said a word on the subjectW.

 Erving went on to discuss the dangers which Pizarro faced from
 the treachery of the King, and from the undermining influence of
 numerous enemies, especially Cevallos. The latter had been ap-
 pointed minister to Naples at a high salary, but had remained in
Madrid, working against Pizarro. The one bright spot in the pie-