In any study of extensive documentation of the past, one inevitably encounters personalities whose recorded actions stimulate speculation about the unknowable portions of their lives and their impact upon larger historical events. Such a one, to me, is the man called Miguel Caldera. For some years, and through many thousands of pages of Mexican frontier documentation, I have been increasingly intrigued by the story of this mestizo captain. He is omnipresent in the official papers of a critical phase of North American frontier history. His deeds—and their setting—have a dramatic, symbolistic quality which entitles him, I think, to recognition as one of the continent's most significant frontiersmen. Hence this present attempt—brief and incidental though it is—to “define” Miguel Caldera and his measure of significance.

Latin Americans are radically individualistic and sometimes it seems to a foreign observer that there are almost as many differing opinions as there are people. An admittedly extreme case will serve to confirm the aforesaid comment. In 1946 one of the warring factions of the Liberal Party of Colombia received, in response to its circular setting forth the rules for the campaign, the following telegram:

With individualism so rampant, it becomes immediately obvious that in a field as broad as the culture of twenty Latin-American republics, generalizations are difficult to make and some evaluations are only relevant when applied to specific areas or regions.

For more than half a century the great voice of Antonio Vieira (1608-1698) made the churches of Portugal and Brazil echo with its resonance. For more than half a century, on both sides of the ocean, the illustrious preacher never stopped expounding to the faithful the dogmas they should believe and the duties they had to practice. This tireless apostolate produced the just renown of Vieira. But if preaching is the best known of his claims to fame, one must not forget that he had another, of an order as high, perhaps even higher still: his long and difficult missions among the Indians of Brazil and his struggles on their behalf. Nor is this all. A man of many facets, with the richest talents and the most varied aspirations, he was much interested in public affairs and undertook diplomatic missions, with varying success, in France, the Low Countries, and in Italy.

During the imperial crisis of the 1770's the Pennsylvania conservative, Joseph Galloway, offered a plan to close the everwidening breach that was dividing England and her colonies. Galloway's Plan of Union, a revision of the Albany Plan proposed by Franklin twenty years before, called for the establishment of a subordinate colonial parliament “for regulating the administration of the general affairs of America.” Though rejected by the Continental Congress, the plan continued to draw support from some statesmen on both sides of the Atlantic. Among them, curiously enough, was the Marquis of Pombal, Portugal's prime minister, a man who by no stretch of the imagination could be regarded as a friend of popular government.

Exmo. Sr.

1. A carta de V. S.a que trouxe o n.° 44, e a data de 7 do corrente chegou aqui no dia de hoje depois de haverem partido os despachos que dirigi a V. S.a na data de 18 e 25 do mesmo mez que corre.

2. Em continuação e supplemento d'elles, não posso deixar de significar a V. S.a que o seu referido despacho fez subir ao maior ponto a justa perplexidade, que me tinham causado os inesperados termos com que mylord Rocheford se havia explicado com V. S.a nas conferencias que fizeram os objectos da minha instrução de 20 de outubro proximo precedente: vendo que o referido lord insistia ainda em mostrar que se não tinha feito algum cargo, de que a situação em que actualmente se acha este côrte, mettida entre as concussões das de Madrid e Paris, não émais critica a respeito de Portugal do que o é a respeito da Inglaterra, pelas obvias razões que no meu officio de 25 do corrente foram recopiladas.

It is a very real pleasure to participate in the Academy's fine program honoring the great masters in the field of Latin American history. This is particularly true this evening, when I am afforded the opportunity to represent the former students of Professor Arthur P. Whitaker in this well-deserved tribute. Anyone who knows anything about Latin American history or about United States diplomatic history recognizes the name Arthur P. Whitaker. Latin American specialists throughout the world do more than recognize it; they respect Professor Whitaker as one of the world's foremost authorities on Latin America. Anyone curious to check the chronology of Professor Whitaker's career can turn to Who's Who In America for data on his education, marriage, and professional career, including his achievements and honors. I would prefer to skip over that data and concentrate on Arthur P. Whitaker, the historian, the teacher, and the man.