- "'These proclamations are printed here.'
- "'You are mistaken, sir, they were printed in Salta.'
- "'There! do not deceive me.'
- "'I never deceive, sir. I repeat that they were printed in Salta. The press of San Juan has not this small capital; this other type, that'—
"Benavides insisted, sent for Galaburri the printer, and was convinced of his error.
- "'Give me this paper.'
- "'I will read it to you, sir; it is in manuscript.'
- "'Read it, then.'
"I was silent.
- "Read it.'
- "'Will your Excellency send away the Chief of Police, in whom I do not wish to place confidence.'
"And when he had gone out, while Benavides threw glances upon me that threatened death, as if I ought to pay for his bad education, which made him a third party, I read my factum in a clear expressive voice, pausing upon each conception that I wished to make salient, giving force to those ideas which I wished to make penetrate my auditor. When I had finished reading, which had put me into a state of exaltation, I raised my eyes, and read in the countenance of the chief—indifference! Not one single idea had penetrated his soul, nor had a suspicion arisen in it. His will and his ambition were a cuirass which defended his heart and his intellect.
"Benavides is a cold man; and to this San Juan owes having been less abused than the other provinces. He has an excellent heart, and is tolerant; envy has little part in his mind; he is patient and tenacious. Afterwards I reflected that reason is impotent in a certain state of culture; its edges are blunted and slip over those smooth and hardened surfaces. Like the generality of men in our countries, he
