THE COLONY OF PERU
With South America now definitely settled, we may glance at the various
provinces which constituted the Spanish American Continent. For a long
while after the first establishment of the Spanish dominion the
divisions between the various districts remained far fewer in number
than was later the case. South America may be said to have been
partitioned off in the early days into four main divisions. The
northernmost of these was commonly known as Terra Firma, and comprised
New Granada and the neighbouring districts. This area is now occupied by
the Republics of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.
To the south of Terra Firma the Viceroyalty of Peru extended itself,
bordered on the south by the Province of Chile; while to the east,
occupying the remainder of the Continent as far as the Brazilian
frontier, and stretching over the fertile plains to the south, was the
great Province of Paraguay, which included the territories now contained
in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and part of Bolivia.
Seeing that the head-quarters of the Colonial Government was vested in
Peru, it would be as well to deal with this portion of the Continent
first. Peru constituted in the first place the sole Viceroyalty, and
subsequently the senior Viceroyalty, of Spanish South America. Lima, its
capital and the seat of government, took care to distinguish itself
from any other colonial city of the Continent. Certainly no other town
possessed such buildings and architectural decorations as those of which
Lima could boast. The home of the Viceroy, it was a city of pomp,
processions, and stately movements. These, as a matter of fact, were by
no means out of place, when the great importance of the spot from a
governmental point of view is considered. Every matter of consequence,
in whatever province it may have had its origin, was referred for
settlement to Lima, and it was here that the Viceroy and his Court gave
judgments, the effects of which were echoed thousands of miles away.
Of all the Viceroyalties in the world, that of Peru was undoubtedly the
proudest during the earlier Spanish colonial period, for the holder of
the high office governed not merely a country, but the greater half of a
vast Continent. Seeing that the colonial policy of Spain invariably
tended to pit one of her subordinate Powers against another in order to
avoid the acquirement of too much authority on the part of any special
person, it was only natural that the authority of the Viceroy, although
great, was not supreme even in his own dominion. There were matters
which had to be referred to the Court of Spain, but even in these the
importance of Lima remained in one sense unimpaired, for Lima then
became the mouthpiece of the Continent, and it was through her officials
that the case was presented for the deliberations which pursued their
leisurely course in Europe.
The palace of the Viceroy represented, naturally, one of the chief
buildings in the capital. Impressive as was the authority of this high
official, he was wont to live even his private life in great state. As a
rule he would set apart a short while in the morning and afternoon for
the personal reception of petitions. There were, of course, numerous
public functions in which it was his duty to take part. Thus, on the
arrival of any new laws or decrees from Spain, the Viceroy was
accustomed to proceed to the Council Hall, where these were delivered to
him. He would then salute the documents by kissing the King's signature
and by laying the paper on his head.
Many of these Viceroys were notably honourable men, who refrained from
taking a greater share than was necessary in the financial arrangements
of the New World. At the same time, the opportunities for
self-enrichment during the five years' tenure of office were quite
unusually numerous. Not a few of the occupants of this post took
advantage of these, and the extravagant manner of their subsequent life
in Spain upheld to the full the popular tales which were current
concerning the fabulous wealth of the Americas.
To go back to the early days of Peru, the inception of this colony, as
has been said, was attended by even more violent disturbances than those
common to its neighbours. We have already seen how, each the victim of
strenuous jealousies, Almagro was executed at the instance of Pizarro,
and how Pizarro himself a few years later was assassinated by the
adherents of the dead Almagro's party, who now succeeded in raising to
power his son, the younger Almagro.
This, however, by no means ended the era of catastrophe and chaos into
which the great but youthful colony of Peru was now plunged. Very
shortly after the death of Pizarro, Cristobal Vaca de Castro arrived in
Peru on a mission from the Court of Spain to investigate the causes of
the disturbances and warlike rumours which had reached the Mother
Country. De Castro found himself in opposition to the younger Almagro,
and a battle was fought. Almagro's forces were defeated, and he himself,
although he escaped for a while to Cuzco, was captured and executed.
In 1543 Blasco Nunez Vela, the first Viceroy appointed by Spain, arrived
in Peru, where he found de Castro in charge of the Government. Nunez
Vela's methods proved themselves arbitrary in the extreme. Scarcely had
he landed when he sent an abrupt command to de Castro to resign his
post, and to place himself forthwith in attendance on the new Viceroy.
This action roused the anger of the Pizarro faction. Its adherents
revolted and established themselves at Cuzco.
It was precisely at this moment that a totally new factor in the way of
officialdom presented itself in Peru. With the advent of the Royal
Audience, a court of judges, newly founded and sent out from Spain, the
situation grew still more wildly complicated. The Royal Audience, its
dignity and unanimity shattered by the turmoil in the midst of which it
found itself, divided its forces equally on either side. A battle was
fought between the Viceroy and the forces of Gonzales Pizarro, in the
course of which the latter obtained a decided victory, and Blasco Nunez
de Vela was slain.
Having witnessed an almost continuous process of downfall of the various
authorities, it is only natural that the sense of loyalty to Spain
should have become somewhat obscured in the minds of the Peruvians. As a
result, many of the colonists now urged independence of government, and
begged Gonzales Pizarro to accept the throne of Peru.
Spain, judging that the matter had gone too far to be dealt with by any
force but one of a magnitude which would have been inconvenient in the
extreme to dispatch to so great a distance, now had resource to
diplomacy. An ecclesiastic, Pedro de la Gasca, famed for his subtle
methods and diplomatic strategy, was despatched to the disturbed colony.
Gonzales Pizarro refused to acknowledge this new official, although a
command to this effect was impressed upon him by a letter sent by the
King of Spain.
The rupture was now complete. In the first instance the loyal troops
were decisively defeated by Gonzales Pizarro; but very shortly
afterwards the deep methods of La Gasca bore fruit. He was joined by
troops from Chile, and by numerous forces from various other districts,
while Pizarro's men began to desert him, continuing the process until
the bold leader was left practically alone. Seeing there was no help for
it, Gonzales Pizarro surrendered, and was in turn beheaded.
It is curious to remark that in these early and disturbed days of Peru
no single leader was left to die a natural death. A second Viceroy,
Antonio de Mendoza, was now appointed. He proved himself an able ruler,
but, unfortunately, he died before he had occupied his post for two
years. A further epoch of rebellion now followed, until Don Andres
Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis de Canete, was sent out from Spain to occupy
the Viceroyalty. It was undoubtedly due to the strong rule of this
important noble that affairs in Peru promised to settle themselves
definitely. After his death, however, in 1561, his successor, Don
Zuniga, Count de Nieva, was assassinated almost as soon as he took
possession of his post.
It was during the government of one of Zuniga's successors, Toledo, that
the young Inca, Tupac-Amaru, was executed in the great central square of
Cuzco. The horror which this act is said to have instilled in the minds
of the Indians is indescribable. The race had now sunk into a permanent
state of melancholy.
All this while Spain had been unceasing in her demands for gold and
silver, and it was necessary to work the mines strenuously in order to
satisfy the greed of the Mother Country. As time went on, indeed, the
difficulties which lay in the path of a conscientious Viceroy tended to
increase rather than to diminish. It is true that the country did not
now depend entirely for its prosperity upon its gold, for the valuable
drugs and other natural products were now obtaining some recognition,
and the cereals and general agricultural growths introduced from Europe
were now becoming of genuine importance. Other matters, however, were
beginning to cause deep anxiety to the ruling Powers. The buccaneers had
now made their appearance in the Pacific, and the alarm spread by their
presence frequently caused an entire cessation of trade. The jealousies,
moreover, between the Spaniards and the colonials tended to increase, as
the arrogance of the former grew and the resentment of the latter
deepened.
True to her policy to discourage any attempt at authority on the part of
the colonists, Spain had continued strenuously to refuse to appoint any
but Spaniards to the highest posts. No single Viceroy, for instance,
from first to last, was American born, although the holders of this high
office included in their numbers four grandees, two priests, one Bishop,
one Archbishop, three licentiates, and a number of military officers.
After a while, as was only natural, the tendency arose to split up the
main areas of colonial government. Thus, in 1718, the Viceroyalty of
Santa Fe de Bogota was established, and in 1777 that of Buenos Aires.
Neither of these innovations had occurred a day too soon. With the
growing population and the increasing political and commercial
importance of the Continent, the strained machinery with which it had
been attempted to govern all matters from a single centre had broken
down and become useless so far as the remoter provinces were concerned.
In the course of the settlements and of the industrial progress, such as
it was, the claims and rights of the aborigines had become a negligible
factor. Indeed, from any but an industrial point of view, the existence
of the descendants of the Incas had practically been ignored.
In 1632 a minor revolution of Indians occurred, which resulted in a
quaint species of naval engagement on Lake Titicaca, with the native
_balsas_, or rafts, posing as diminutive battleships. In 1661 there was
another outbreak. This was organized by Antonio Gallado, who succeeded
in gaining possession of the town of La Paz, in which neighbourhood the
Spanish authority became almost extinct for three years.
It was not until 1780, however, that the Spaniards met with the first
really serious shock of Indian insurrection since the first extinction
of the power of the Incas. This belated attempt was destined to be the
last. The revolution had its origin in the system of forced labour
which, despite the warnings and commands that from time to time were
received on the subject from Spain, was continued to be imposed on the
Indians.
In addition to this the unfortunate people were made to suffer further
wrongs sufficient to rouse the most meek to rebellion. Thus by the laws
of the Indies officials were appointed to provide the Indians with goods
at certain prices. This system became abused to the point that the
Spanish officials would distribute as much of these goods as they
thought fit among the Indians at a price arbitrarily named by
themselves. In consequence of this the impoverished folk were obliged to
pay enormous and unfair prices for goods of which they were probably in
no need of whatever, and did not desire.
An intelligent Indian, Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, determined on a
desperate effort to alleviate the condition of his people. Condorcanqui
had received a far more generous education than the majority of his
fellows, and had studied at the College of San Bernardo, in Cuzco. He
spoke the Castilian tongue perfectly, and was thus enabled to hold a
minor official post in the Spanish service. Claiming descent from the
Royal Incas, he subsequently added the name of Tupac-Amaru to his own.
[Illustration: DUTCH AND SPANISH VESSELS ENGAGED OFF CALLAO, THE PORT OF
LIMA.
_From a seventeenth-century engraving._]
It was on November 4, 1780, that Tupac-Amaru, by which name he was now
universally known, made his first move. Gathering some trusty men about
him, he captured a Spanish _corregidor_, Arriaga, and, charging that
official with offences against the Indians, caused him to be executed.
On this the Indians flocked to their new defender's standard, and he was
soon at the head of 6,000 men. Tupac-Amaru now determined on an
extensive campaign. After an attack on Cuzco, he marched with 60,000
Indians to besiege La Paz itself, while the isolated Spanish forces were
overwhelmed in all directions.
La Paz succeeded in resisting the desperate onslaught of the Indian
army, and the tide of fortune now turned against the Inca leader. After
a battle waged in the open, he was captured and put to a horrible death.
His tongue was torn out by the executioner; each of his limbs was
attached to a horse, then, the four horses being furiously driven in
different directions, his body was torn into four portions. It was in
this way that the unfortunate Tupac-Amaru died, the last of the Inca
race who attempted to assert the rights of his people.
With the exception of rare revolts such as these, and of the periodical
onslaughts which the buccaneers of all nations made upon the Pacific
ports, it is a little remarkable to consider how few dramatic episodes
took place during the colonial era in Peru. It is true that one or two
events occurred deserving of note. Thus, in 1551, the University of San
Marcos was established at Lima, and was the first institution of the
kind to be founded in the New World. In 1573 occurred the first
_auto-da-fe_, followed by numerous other such grim ceremonies, for Lima
was naturally the head-quarters of the Inquisition. In 1746 the capital
suffered from a terrible catastrophe, being visited by an earthquake
which shattered the senior city of the Continent, while at the same time
a great tidal wave swept away the port of the capital, Callao.
Beyond this one Viceroy succeeded another; the mines continued to be
worked, and, in response to the incessant clamourings of Spain, the
miners were flogged and driven willy-nilly to their unwelcome task. As
time went on the relative importance of Peru compared to the
neighbouring States tended to diminish rather than to increase. The most
profitable and most easily worked of the then known gold and silver
mines had been practically denuded of their treasure. There were others
in plenty, but these were more remote, and the difficulty of
communication which then prevailed was sufficiently great to render
impossible any attempt at a remunerative working of these. With the
decrease in the working of minerals greater attention was now paid to
the pastoral and agricultural industries, and with the growth of these
the value and importance of the neighbouring countries increased vastly.
This state of affairs was at length acknowledged by the Court of Spain,
and was emphasized in 1776 when Buenos Aires was made the seat of a
Viceroyalty, and was thus released from the last shred of supervision on
the part of the Peruvian officials.
We are now approaching the stage of the War of Independence. This, in
Peru, as elsewhere, was heralded by the newly-acquired liberal spirit of
the colonials, which, in spite of repressions and precautions on the
part of Spain, could no longer be kept in check. It is true that in
Peru, the chief centre of Spanish officialdom in the Continent, these
manifestations were rather slower in asserting themselves than in the
neighbouring countries, but this was inevitable when the extent of the
moral influence employed by the numerous officials, and the active
discouragement exerted by the important garrison of the Spanish
headquarters of the Continent, are taken into consideration.
Curiously enough, the history of one of Peru's last Viceroys is
permeated with an atmosphere of romance in which the careers of his
predecessors were almost entirely lacking. Ambrose O'Higgins, the most
striking figure of all the lengthy line of Viceroys, had started life as
a bare-footed Irish boy. He is said to have been employed by Lady
Bective to run errands at Dangan Castle, Co. Meath. Through the
influence of an uncle in Spain, a priest, the lad was sent to Cadiz.
From there, having in the meanwhile become familiar with the Spanish
tongue, he proceeded to South America, landed in Buenos Aires, and then
travelled westwards across the Andes, arriving in safety on the Pacific
coast. Here he appears to have adopted the profession of an itinerant
trader, journeying to and fro through the territories of the Viceroyalty
of Peru and the Government of Chile. His career during this period of
his existence was unbrokenly humble, and certainly the adventurous
Irishman himself, even in his wildest moments, could scarcely have
possessed any inkling of the marvellous future which awaited him.
The first step in this direction was made in one of his excursions to
the south, when by a fortunate chance he obtained an opportunity to
demonstrate his inherent warlike qualities in the battles against the
Araucanian Indians. Having once got his foot upon the official ladder,
O'Higgins never stepped back. The Home Government of Spain appeared to
regard his career with a benevolent interest. He obtained the rank of
Colonel; from this he was promoted to that of Brigadier-General, and
was made Count of Balenar. A little later he was made Major-General, and
in 1792 he attained to the rank of Captain-General of Chile, and the
title of Marquis of Osorno was conferred upon him. Two years later he
was promoted once again, this time to the rank of Lieutenant-General.
The progressive policy of O'Higgins occasionally brought him into
collision with some of the more retrogressive officials; but the
strength of his character appears to have prevailed throughout, and it
is certainly to the credit of Spain that it singled out and upheld so
courageous and broad-minded an official.
O'Higgins's greatest office, however, was still before him. In 1796 he
was created Viceroy of Peru, and thus became the highest official
throughout the New World. No fairy story has ever produced a more
startling study of career and contrast than that which had fallen to the
lot of the erstwhile bare-footed Irish boy.
The remarkable history of the family of O'Higgins, however, does not end
even here. Ambrose O'Higgins was undoubtedly the most brilliant Viceroy
who had ever served Spain in the New World. The candle of this high
office, as it were, flamed up in a great, but transient, flicker ere it
was for ever extinguished, and it was O'Higgins who fed this flame. With
the passing of Ambrose O'Higgins we are confronted with the next
generation of his family. As the father had done in the interests of
regal Spain, so did the son in the service of the southern patriots.
Bernardo O'Higgins, indeed, was destined to accomplish yet greater
things in the cause of the Independence of South America. Ambrose
O'Higgins was one of Spain's last Viceroys; his son Bernardo became one
of the first Presidents of the New Republican World.