there was not a more perfect specimen of the "gaucho malo."
Paz, on the contrary, was a true son of the city, and representative of the power of civilization. Lavalle, Madrid, and others like them, were native Argentines; cavalry officers, as brilliant as Murat, perhaps, but the cuirass and epaulets could not hide the gaucho nature. But Paz was a European soldier, and only believed in bravery as subordinate to tactics, strategy, and discipline. He hardly knew how to ride, and having only one hand, could not use a lance. A very large army was unwieldy and troublesome to him; what he liked, was a small number of soldiers thoroughly disciplined. A regiment of his training was sure to be perfect of its kind, and could he have selected his own battle-fields, the fate of the Republic would have been secure. He was in spirit a European soldier, even to the arms he used; he was an artillery officer, and therefore mathematical and scientific. A battle was a problem which he could solve by equations, and foretell the unknown quantity that is, the victory. General Paz was not a genius, but an able officer, who employed science where others made use of brute force; in a word, he was the representative of European civilization, which was in a fair way to die out in our country.
Unfortunate General Paz! Honor be to thee in thy repeated disasters! With thee are the household gods of the Republic! Destiny has not yet decided between thee and Rosas, between the cities and the pampas, between the blue stripe and the red ribbon! Thou hast the only quality of mind that in the end conquers brute force,—the quality in which lay the power of the old
