“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

Da Silva subsequently retained Francisco J. Fernandez to represent him in the
matter. The record does not indicate why Fernandez took the case, but the proceedings
involving Fermin Ferreira a decade earlier permit us to speculate that elite rivalries once
again created spaces for Uruguayans of color to utilize the courts to seek greater legal rights.
Whatever his personal reasons, however, Fernandez articulated what must have appeared to
local officials as a radical definition of citizenship and equality before the law in his attack on
Marcelino. He wrote that “after four years of service and abuse” Marcelino had “flagrantly
violated the Constitution of this Republic, cruelly punishing and then throwing [da Silva]
from his land without paying him for the sweat from his brow.” Fernandez then drew
explicit distinctions between Uruguay and neighboring Brazil. He contended that
Marcelino’s conduct might be “excused in breast of barbarous pueblos or where a man is
considered to be property.” He continued: “But, in this Republic, whose wise laws apply to
all its inhabitants and with the same degree of equality, such conduct is intolerable, an insult
to democratic institutions and a crime.” 49
In response to Fernandez’s assertions of legal equality, Marcelino, speaking for
himself, turned to the familiar language of personal status and reputation. Marcelino offered
to the court evidence that he “was a man that enjoyed a good reputation” and was “beloved
by vecinos and his family.” He then provided statements from several witnesses attesting to
his character and personal standing in the community. Tomas Benitez’s testimony was
typical. Benitez commented that “over the years that he had known Mr. Marcelino he was a
good vecino, hard-working and honorable, esteemed by everyone and his family.” Marcelino
declared to the court that Fernandez and da Silva had “offended my honor” and that “when
49 Ibid.
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