Commercial Code at Lima....Provincial Statutes announced....Liberty
of the Press....Foreigners declared amenable to the
Laws....Institution of the Order of the Sun....New Commercial
Rules....Titles changed....Order to convene the Constituent
Congress....San Martin delegates his Authority to the Marquis de
Torre Tagle....San Martin leaves Lima and returns....Army defeated
under Tristan at Ica....State of Lima on our Arrival....Visit of
Monteagudo to Lord Cochrane....San Martin annuls the Treaty at
Guayaquil....Exile of Spaniards from Lima....Lord Cochrane leaves
Callao for Valparaiso....Spanish Vessels that surrendered to the
Chilean Squadron....Convention of Chile meets....Monteagudo exiled
from Lima....Disturbances in Chile....San Martin arrives at
Valparaiso....O'Higgins abdicates....Lord Cochrane leaves the
Pacific.
On the eighth of October, 1821, the provisional commercial code or
reglamento was published; but, agreeably to the short sighted colonial
system, only Callao and Huanchaco were declared free ports to all
friends and allies. This reglamento established, that all vessels should
within ten hours after their arrival deliver up their bills of lading;
within forty-eight begin to unload, or leave the port within six days.
Within the said forty-eight hours a consignee, being a citizen of Peru,
was to be named by the captain or supercargo. All goods in foreign
bottoms were to pay twenty per cent. on the value of the whole,
according to the prices current in Peru. All goods introduced in vessels
under the flags of Chile, Buenos Ayres, or Colombia, to pay in the same
manner eighteen per cent., and those under the flag of Peru sixteen. All
manufactured goods which might injure the industry of the country to pay
double duty. Coined silver to pay the exportation duty of five per cent.
and gold two and a half: the exportation of gold and silver in bar or
wrought absolutely prohibited. The produce of Peru exported in foreign
vessels to pay five per cent.; in vessels belonging to Chile, Buenos
Ayres, or Colombia, three and a half, and in Peruvian three per cent.
The payment of importation duties to be in three equal parts, one at
forty days after debarkation, one at a hundred and twenty, and one at a
hundred and eighty. All consignees absolutely prohibited the retailing
of their consignments.
The coasting trade to be confined to vessels belonging to the state, but
limited to the ports of Paita, Huacho, and Pisco. Any vessel introducing
foreign manufactures, except at Callao or Huanchaco, to be seized and
condemned, both hull and cargo.
The most extraordinary article inserted in this reglamento was, that
goods landed at Huanchaco, the port to Truxillo, were not to pass the
river Santa, under the penalty of being seized as contraband.
On the ninth of October the provisional statutes and administration of
justice were sworn to by the government; and the creation of the Order
of the Sun was announced with the greatest possible pomp.
On the thirteenth the liberty of the press was declared, permitting any
individual to publish freely his thoughts, without any previous revision
or approbation; but all abuse of religion or of the principles of
morality, every thing likely to disturb public tranquillity, or to wound
the honour of any citizen, to be subject to the penalty inflicted by the
junta conservadora of the liberty of the press.
On the seventeenth an order of the government was published,
establishing all foreigners residing in Peru in the rights of
citizenship, subjecting them at the same time to the laws of the
country, and the orders of the government, and depriving them of the
intervention of the commanders of the vessels of war belonging to their
respective nations. All foreigners were also declared liable to take
arms in the support of social order, but not against the common enemy,
and to be subject to contributions levied by the government, in the same
manner as the citizens of the state.
On the twentieth of October the institute of the Sun was established; it
was declared to consist of three classes, founders, well-deservers
(benemeritos) and associates or fellows. The badge of the first class
was a white ribbon from the right shoulder to the left side, having two
gold tassels and a golden medallion of the order; with the title of
honourable lordship;--the second class to have a gold medal hanging to a
white ribbon placed round the neck; with the address of lordship;--and
the third a silver medal hanging to the breast on the left side. The
medals to bear the arms of the state, to be of an elliptical figure, and
to have on the superior part, on a white field, "Peru;" on the inferior,
on a red field, "To her Liberators." The pensions of the order to be
paid out of the fund of forty thousand dollars imposed by the king of
Spain on the mitres of America for the provisions of the knights of
Charles III. and Isabel la Catolica. The oath to be--"I swear by my
honour, and promise to my country to defend the independence, liberty
and integrity of the state of Peru; to maintain public order, and to
procure the general felicity of America, devoting to those ends my life
and my property."
Twenty-six founders were named by the Protector, who constituted himself
PRESIDENT of the order; among these were included two captains who had
abandoned the Chilean squadron at Callao; one hundred and thirty-eight
of well-deservers, including Captain Spry; and one hundred and two
associates or fellows, among whom were the dean of the cathedral, five
counts, two marquises, five generals, seven friars, canons of the
church, shopkeepers, surgeons, farmers, and deserters from the Chilean
squadron.
Not content with this creation of male nobility, one hundred and twelve
knightesses of the sun were nominated, including two countesses, four
marchionesses, and of every class, even to Doña Rosa Campusano, the
favourite of his excellency, the creator of the order; and to complete
the corps, thirty-two nuns were added, who might have been honoured with
the ancient Peruvian title of Virgins of the Sun. The Honourable and
Illustrious Don Bernardo Monteagudo was appointed secretary, and General
the Honourable Don Diego Paroissien master of the ceremonies, _pro tem._
As the badge of the order was of the most vital importance, it was
decreed on the thirty-first of October, that, instead of a medallion, a
golden sun should be suspended to the ribbon of the fundadores,
benemeritos, and asociados; but the size of it was to be limited
according to the rank of the bearer.
On the twenty-third of October a committee was appointed to frame a
constitutional code or reglamento de administration de justicia for
Peru, San Martin having determined on being a legislator as well as a
liberator; and, as he himself said, on "being crowned with laurels till
he could not nod." About this time some verses made their appearance,
addressed to the Protector, under the epithet of Emperor of Peru. The
idea of an imperial crown was obnoxious to the Peruvians, and some
street clamour induced the government to announce its supreme
displeasure at such productions.
Desertion in the liberating army now became prevalent, and the
government was obliged to issue a decree, stating that any person who
should harbour or protect a deserter in his house, or on his property,
should subject himself to a general confiscation for the first offence,
and to perpetual exile for a repetition. All slaves were invited to
inform against their masters, under the assurance of manumission,
should the crime of occultation be proved. On the thirty-first of
October a new tariff for the coasting trade was published, superseding
the one of the twenty-eighth of September, with the addition of the
ports of Nasca, Cañete, and Pacasmayo, and also allowing foreigners to
sell their own cargoes, without the intervention of a native consignee,
on their paying twenty-five, instead of twenty per cent.; and on the
twenty-first of November all foreigners, as well as citizens, being
merchants, were ordered to enrol their names at the consulado, (board of
trade,) that they might all be equally taxed with such contributions as
the government might judge necessary to exact.
Several Spaniards having been apprehended and sent to the public gaol,
accused of sedition and conspiracies, were sentenced, on the twentieth
of November, eight to a confiscation of their property, and exile to
Europe, and thirteen to partial confiscation, and exile to Chancay for
two months.
On Sunday the sixteenth of December the knights of the order of the sun
were decorated with the insignia, by the president of the high chamber
of justice, _alta camara de justicia_, in the presence of his Excellency
the Protector of Peru, institutor of the order, and a most splendid
concourse of the nobility of Peru, with the assistance of Sir Thomas
Hardy, whom the gazette styles the representative of the British nation,
on this occasion. Every care was taken to make this civic feast as
solemn as possible; the troops were formed in the streets; the different
military bands continued playing national airs and marches in the
balcony of the palace; repeated salutes were fired by the artillery
placed in the plasa; all the bells in the city were heard in merry
peals; the illuminations on the nights of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and
seventeenth, were of the most brilliant description; and every nerve was
strained to produce and support harmony and conviviality on this festive
occasion. After the ceremony of condecoration, the procession left the
palace and proceeded to the church of Santo Domingo, where a solemn Te
Deum was chanted, and high mass celebrated, in thanks to the Almighty
for having inspired the supreme government of Lima with such celestial
ideas.
That the ancient nobility of Peru might not be reduced to a level with
the plebeians, it was decreed on the twenty-seventh of December, that
they should preserve their armorial bearings on the fronts of their
houses, as usual, and all the solar nobility were permitted by the same
decree to place on theirs a sun, with the initials of the class to which
they belonged in the centre. It was also ordered on the same day, that
those persons who had enjoyed titles during the Spanish domination,
under the name of titles of Castile, should enjoy the same honours under
the appellation of titles of Peru, or change them for such as might
appear more congenial to the then existing state of things. Thus we have
a republic with counts, marquises, viscounts, &c. which is certainly an
anomaly, and worthy of the wisdom that planned it.
On the twenty-seventh, the Protector, with the advice of the council of
state, ordered, that on the first of May, 1822, the general constituent
congress of Peru should meet in the capital; and that proxies should be
named for such provinces as were oppressed by the enemy. The object of
this congress was to be, only, the definitive form of the established
government, and the formation of a constitution most proper for Peru,
according to the circumstances of its territory and population: any
other powers given to the deputies to be considered null and of no
effect.
It was further ordered, that a previous committee be appointed in Lima,
to draw up the plan for the election of deputies, and to prepare the
basis of the constitution, to be finished before the reunion of the
congress. Thus the laws of the nation were to be formed by a private
committee, under the guidance of San Martin and his ministers, and the
congress were to be called in to sanction the proceeding. This duplicity
was ultimately the cause of the Protector's _voluntary_ abdication.
On the nineteenth of January, 1822, the Protector announced, that he was
about to leave Lima on a visit to Guayaquil, where he expected to meet
the Liberator of Colombia, the immortal BOLIVAR, for the purpose of
consulting with him on matters of the highest importance to the state.
All his executive powers were delegated to the gran mariscal Marquis de
Torre Tagle, to the due obedience of whose orders, the tribunals,
ministers, corporation, chiefs of the army and navy were called upon to
swear. This ceremony took place on the twentieth. The first decree of
the supreme delegate was, that all unmarried Spaniards, who should leave
the state, were to deliver to the national treasury one half of their
property, and in case of any attempt at fraud, the whole to be
confiscated, and the persons to be exiled. It also contained other
articles respecting Spaniards residing in Peru.
On the third of March the Protector announced in Lima, that having
touched at Huanchaco in his passage to Guayaquil, he received official
communication that the Liberator of Colombia had changed his plans, and
would not be at Guayaquil as was expected; he had, in consequence,
returned to Callao; but that it was his will that the Marquis de Torre
Tagle should continue in the full exercise of the authority delegated to
him. San Martin then retired to the country residence of the ex-viceroy
Pesuela, at La Magdalena, which village immediately changed its name to
that of the town of the free, "pueblo de los libres."
On the thirty-first of March the Spanish frigate Prueba arrived at
Callao, and was immediately delivered up to the Peruvian government by
her commander, Larrigada, according to the treaty concluded in Guayaquil
on the sixteenth of February. The supreme delegate immediately went on
board, and the Peruvian flag being hoisted, the name of the frigate was
changed to that of Protector. Again, this acquisition was "the fruit of
the enthusiasm, and sacrifices of the officers and soldiers who were
present at the important moment, as witnesses of this memorable
success."
The government of Lima, aware of the importance of the possession of
the valleys of Pisco and Ica, not only in a mercantile point of view,
but as a military position, where a communication might be kept open
with the provinces of Upper Peru, and the enemy, then in Huamanga, and
other adjacent points, prevented from making incursions on the valuable
estates situated along the coast--San Martin, as prime mover, (although
the civil authority was exercised by his delegate, Torre Tagle, and
General Alvarado had been appointed by him general in chief of the army)
ordered a force of two thousand men, with their respective officers, to
Ica, under the command of General Don Domingo Tristan, who a few months
before was a Colonel of Militias, in the province of Arequipa, and whose
career had been the ploughshare and the pruning hook, not the sword and
the lance: a man entirely unknown as a soldier, and if known at all in
Lima, it was as a complete gambler, and a public lounger. But perhaps
the intercession of the Protectress, formerly the public favourite of
Tristan, might on this occasion have been acceptable, (in despite of the
superior qualifications of many officers in the army, although the brave
General las Heras and several other chiefs had retired) and acquired for
her _galan de aquel tiempo_ so honourable an appointment. However, on
the thirteenth of April, the following proclamations appeared in Lima:
"Limenians! The division of the south, without having been beaten, has
been surprised, and dispersed; in a long campaign all cannot be
prosperity; you know _my_ character, and you know that _I_ have always
spoken the truth to all--I do not mean to search for consolation in
conflicts, notwithstanding I dare to assure you, that the iniquitous and
tyrannical empire of the Spaniards in Peru will cease in the year
twenty-two.--I will make an ingenuous confession to you: it was my
intention to go in search of repose after so many years of agitation,
but I believed your independence was secured; some trifling danger now
presents itself, and so long as there remains the least appearance of
it, until you are free you shall not be left by your faithful
friend,--San Martin."
"Companions of the United Army!--Your brothers in the division of the
south have not been beaten, but they have been dispersed; to you it
belongs to revenge this insult: you are valiant, and have known long ago
the path to glory! Sharpen well your bayonets and your swords! The
campaign of Peru shall finish in this year! Your old general ensures it;
prepare then to conquer!--San Martin."
On the same day the following was issued by the Marquis de Torre Tagle:
"Compatriots! The division of the south has suffered a reverse; this is
the first we have experienced amid so many glories. It is of no
importance; the grand army yet lives, and will, before the end of
twenty-two, leave not one enemy existing among us. Compatriots! To be
free and happy, only requires you to decide as I have, like those heroes
who have come to restore to Peru her rights, to lose every thing, to die
before they will return to slavery! Imitate this example as you have
done at other times, and the result will be the same, because valour and
enthusiasm, well directed, always ensure victory and peace; you deserve
both, prepare for every sacrifice but that of your liberty.
"Torre Tagle."
The two supreme chiefs united on the thirteenth in a proclamation to the
inhabitants of the interior, assuring them, that the loss of the
division, a few days before called the liberating army of the south,
"weighed nothing in the balance of the destiny of Peru; Providence, say
they, protects us, and by this action she will accelerate the ruin of
the enemies of Peru--proud of their first victory, they will spare us
part of our march in search of them, which was to have been done. Fear
not, the army that drove them twice from the capital, is ready to punish
them a third time, and to punish them for ever!" Had the action taken
place at any great distance from the capital, the truth of the
transaction might have remained for some time enveloped in mystery; or
had the inhabitants of Lima not already been taught by the Spaniards to
become sceptics, this furious bombast might have been believed; but the
account was soon rightly explained by the few who escaped, and who
arrived at Lima; these were but few: the number that fortunately found
an opportunity to take to their heels, and availed themselves of their
swiftness, were very quickly secured, and sent to Callao, to prevent as
much as possible a circulation of the truth.
On the night of the seventh of April the Spaniards under Cantarac and
Caratalá advanced on the Americans under Tristan, who, for want of the
most ordinary precautions, were completely surrounded, and at day break,
with the exception of the general, part of his staff, and a few
officers, the whole division was in the power of the enemy. The loss of
the liberating army was about two thousand men killed or taken
prisoners, five thousand muskets, the military chest, containing
upwards of a hundred thousand dollars, ammunition, luggage, equipage,
printing press, and every utensil belonging to it. Notwithstanding all
this, we are told, that "the Spaniards are ignorant that the balance of
power is in our hands, because Providence is on our side, opinion and
strength favour the interests of Peru, SHE SHALL BE FREE BECAUSE SHE
WILLS IT SO, AND BECAUSE IT IS TIME THAT SHE WAS!!!"
On the twenty-fourth of April a decree was published against the
Spaniards residing in Lima, imposing the penalty of exile and
confiscation of property on those who should appear in the streets
wearing a cloak. That of confiscation of property and exile when more
than two should be found together in any private conversation. That of
death on those who should be found out of their houses after sunset. And
that of confiscation and death on all those who should be found to
possess any kind of weapons excepting the knives necessary for the
service of their tables.
This was the state of affairs in Peru when Lord Cochrane arrived on the
twenty-fifth of April. The supreme authority was employed in issuing
decrees contradictory to one another, in opposition to the most solemn
promises made and repeated by the Protector, both before and after he
assumed this title, in violation of justice and reason, and all
contributing to produce discontent, disunion, and anarchy.
The enemy were victorious, the patriots dreaded some dire reverse, the
remains of the army were discontented, finding that not one promise made
to them had been fulfilled; the gold and silver had disappeared, and
paper money had been issued by the government; the contributions were
increasing, and were exacted at the point of the bayonet; while the
Protector of the liberty of the country, after having been employed for
six months in creating orders of knighthood, establishing tribunals,
sketching embroideries, and inventing uniforms, had retired to his
country house, to rest from his labours!
Many individuals who, when we left Callao in October, 1821, condemned
the conduct of Lord Cochrane in taking possession of the money at Ancon,
were now convinced that it was not only a warrantable but an
indispensable step to be taken for the preservation of the squadron of
Chile, and of good faith with the crews. The non-fulfilment of the
promises made to the regiment of Numancia had forced them to declare
that they would not march out of Lima against the enemy, and Captain
Doronsoro was sent, by his brother officers, to inquire, if Lord
Cochrane would receive them on board the Chilean vessels, and convey the
regiment to the nearest point in the territory of Colombia, to which
country they belonged, and to which San Martin had promised to transport
them on the fall of Lima.
On the twenty-sixth the minister Monteagudo came on board, and lamented
that his lordship should have addressed to the Peruvian government
official communications containing expressions calculated to irritate
their delicate feelings at the moment when the Protector was inclined to
adopt the most conciliatory measures; adding, that at the first news of
his lordship's appearance off the port his excellency had written a
private letter, praying an interview; but that on the receipt of the
official notes, he became so indignant, that he was afraid his delicate
health was in danger. To this his lordship merely answered, that had San
Martin sent a private letter it certainly would have been returned
unopened; adding, "you may tell him, Mr. Monteagudo, that it is not my
wish to injure him; I neither fear him nor hate him; but tell him, I
despise him!" Monteagudo begged of his lordship to go and reside on
shore a few days, saying that the house of the supreme delegate was
prepared for his reception. But his lordship most courteously begged to
be excused; and Monteagudo retired not well pleased with what he had
observed in the countenances of all on board, a species of the most
supreme contempt; notwithstanding that, he wore his blazing sun of the
first order, his ribbons, his embroideries, and was accompanied by his
military escort.
The greatest discontent reigned on shore among the Chileans: it had
circulated, that no Chilean would be promoted nor employed by the
present government of Peru. Whether such was or was not really the
determination of the government might be difficult to prove; but the
fact was, that only one of the nine generals made by San Martin belonged
to Chile, and the ratio among the subalterns was even smaller.
The Protector of Peru, having been informed of the treaty at Guayaquil,
respecting the Vengansa and the Emperor Alexander, sent down Captains
Carter and Young to take the command of them. This was acceded to by the
government of Guayaquil, and the two vessels again hoisted the Peruvian
flag, although the Alexander, bona fide, belonged to Mr. Henderson, and
was under the English flag, when a revolution took place among the crews
of the gunboats in August, 1821, who took possession of her. They
proceeded to Panama, and there delivered her to the Spanish authorities,
who afterwards included her in their treaty with the Peruvian agent at
Guayaquil.
The most horrid scene during the time of the residence of San Martin in
Peru was reserved for May, 1822. On the night of the fourth a grand ball
was given at the palace, being the first meeting of the knights and
knightesses of the sun; and while they were thus enjoying themselves
parties of soldiers were sent to the houses of the Spaniards, who
dragged them from their beds, and drove them down to Callao, where they
were placed on board the Milagro.
The distress occasioned by this monstrous breach of promises, of
justice, and humanity, cannot be equalled. Several of these were men of
rank and fortune who had confided in the promises made to them; many of
them had numerous families; octogenarian clergymen, civil and military
officers, all without the least distinction or commiseration, were
seized at midnight, some of them half undressed, others almost naked,
and every individual was forced to travel six miles on foot: they were
then placed on board a vessel, where for two days no provisions were
distributed to them, and they were forbidden to hold any communication
with their disconsolate wives and families, who surrounded the vessel in
boats, and rent the air with their shrieks and lamentations. On the
first night two old gentlemen died on board the Milagro for want of
clothing and food; and many would certainly have perished had not the
mercy of San Martin been extended so far as to sell them passports. He
allowed the purchasers to pass from the Milagro to neutral vessels, for
the purpose of leaving Peru for ever; but many of them dared not go to
Spain, because they had remained in Lima when La Serna left it with the
Spanish army, and had afterwards subscribed to the independence of the
country. Some passports were sold at one thousand dollars, others at
ten, according to the quality of the purchaser; and those whose finances
deprived them of the possibility of purchasing their liberation, were
sent to Chile in the Milagro; which vessel, for this most honourable
expedition, had been newly named, and was now called the Monteagudo: a
compliment in every respect merited by that great minister.
Had General San Martin followed a different line of conduct with regard
to the Spaniards residing in Peru; had he never compromised himself with
such solemn assurances as he made to them, both before and after his
arrival in Lima, his conduct towards them might have admitted some
palliation. Had he from the beginning been silent, and at the earliest
opportunity exiled them, the same expression which he used on the
subject of calling a congress or national representation, that "a
knowledge of what had passed in Colombia, Chile and Buenos Ayres, during
twelve years of revolution, would have been a reasonable pretence for
what he did," might have justified the proceeding. He repeatedly
promised to them security, and frequently told them, that their persons
and property should be inviolable; and their confidence lost them all
claim to the protection of the laws of their native country; they had
moreover sworn allegiance to its enemy, and had explicitly become
traitors; and when his plans were thus far in a state of ripeness, he
exiled them from their adopted homes, from their families, from all
their comforts, and cast them out a despairing, wandering, forlorn
tribe, surrounded with misery; but their last breath will be employed in
execrating his duplicity.
I am well aware that the Spaniards were dangerous persons in America
and that many of them would have employed themselves in thwarting the
operations of the newly-constituted authorities; but this mental
conviction could not sanction such a proceeding as the one just stated,
and at which humanity shudders. But it is now time to wind up the
eventful history of the proceedings of the Protector of Peru; however,
before I lose sight of her shores, perhaps for ever, I must add one more
trait of his barbarity. A female in Lima had dared to speak ill of San
Martin, at the time that a contribution was extorted from her at the
point of the bayonet; she was apprehended, taken to the great square, an
accusatory libel was fastened to her breast, a human bone was put into
her mouth, and tied behind her head; a halter was hung round her neck,
and in this manner she was forced to parade the streets, led by the
common hangman; she was then exiled to Callao, where the poor creature
died on the second day after her arrival.
Before Lord Cochrane left the bay of Callao he addressed a letter to
Colonel Sanches, an officer belonging to the Chilean troops, expressing
his ardent desire for the complete success of his adopted countryman; to
this note he received the following answer:--"Our best friend,--Nothing
has been so mortifying to us, as that the imperiousness of circumstances
deprives us of the communication which we have most esteemed, and which
would have been of high importance to the views of your excellency.
"The chiefs, officers and troops who have the honour to serve under the
flag of Chile, have received with the greatest satisfaction the
compliments of your excellency, and promise their eternal gratitude to
their worthy chief, whose soul is devoted to increase the glory of their
country. We have the honour to offer to your excellency the most sincere
tribute of our affection and esteem. (Signed) Jose Santiago
Aldunate.--J. Santiago Sanches."
On the ninth of May the schooner Montezuma, belonging to Chile, and
which had been lent by the government to General San Martin, as a
tender, entered the port of Callao, under Peruvian colours; his lordship
fired on her, and obliged her to come to an anchor, when he took
possession of her, sending her officers on shore, and on the tenth we
proceeded to Valparaiso, where we arrived on the thirteenth of June.
On our arrival at Valparaiso his lordship reported his return, adding,
"The anxious desires of his excellency the Supreme Director are now
fulfilled, and the sacrifices of the people of Chile are rewarded; the
naval power of Spain in the Pacific has succumbed, it is now
extinguished, the following vessels having surrendered to the unceasing
efforts of the squadron of this free state:
Frigate Prueba of 50 guns
Frigate Esmeralda of 44
Frigate Vengansa of 44
Ship Resolution of 34
Ship Sebastiana of 34
Brig Pesuela of 18
Brig Potrillo of 16
Schooner Prosperina of 14
Schooner Aransasu, seventeen gunboats, and the armed merchant ships
Aguila and Begona at Guayaquil, and others employed as block ships at
Callao. It is highly gratifying to me, after labouring under such
difficulties as were never before witnessed on board of vessels of war,
to announce the arrival of the Chilean squadron in Valparaiso, its
cradle; where, owing to its constant services in the cause of the
liberty and independence of Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, it is the
object of admiration and gratitude to the inhabitants of the new
world.--I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) Cochrane."
A few days after our arrival at Valparaiso, his lordship visited the
capital of Chile, and solicited permission to retire for six months to
his estate of Quintero, unless his services might be necessary; when,
at any moment, he would be ready to employ them again in the welfare of
the state; at the same time he requested, in the most earnest manner,
that the officers and crews might be punctually paid all their arrears.
The government acceded to his solicitude, and promised that every
possible attention should be given to the request of the admiral, and
after some delay it was finally complied with.
On the twenty-third of July, 1822, the National Congress of Chile met at
Santiago; it was opened by the Supreme Director, Don Bernardo O'Higgins,
who made a tender of his directoral authority to the representatives of
the republic, and concluded his harangue with--"Compatriots! my command
is at an end--defects are inseparable from humanity--the most difficult
circumstances have surrounded me on every side--perhaps my want of
knowledge and experience may have led me to commit errors against my
children, (allow this tender expression to my feelings)--I can never
forget the honours I have received, and I hope that my days will be
prolonged by my gratitude, until I see Chile as happy and as prosperous
as the most flourishing countries of the earth."
Immediately after the director had retired, the convention waited upon
him, and reinstated him in the supreme executive authority, with the
following compliment: "The representatives of Chile most sincerely thank
your excellency for the wisdom with which you have managed the affairs
of the nation; when a constitution is formed that shall specify the time
of the fatigues of the magistrates, the representatives may admit of
your resignation, and then your excellency will enjoy your retirement in
glory, and future generations will sing hymns of love and gratitude to
your name."
The first meeting of the preparatory convention was on the twenty-ninth,
at ten o'clock in the morning.
On the twenty-first of September, 1822, the news arrived in Chile, that
Don Bernardo Monteagudo had been deposed from the ministry, and exiled
from Peru.
The following are extracts from the papers published in Lima:
"Lima had scarcely obtained a glimpse of a flattering futurity, when a
cunning, froward, and saucy individual, a traitor to the confidence of
the government that had elevated him to the ministry, began to stifle
our patriotism and its defenders. This insolent minister rewarded all
praise-worthy services with the most gross invectives, and the most
scandalous persecutions. His intriguing ambition filled our gazettes
with a multitude of decrees in opposition to the plans which he himself
had prescribed. His decrees were written that they might be read, not
that they might be obeyed.
"Unfortunately for us, the genius of the revolution, San Martin, had to
absent himself twice from our capital, to meet the Washington of
Colombia. This perfidious oppressor availed himself of his absence to
manifest the whole perversity of his soul. Until that period his
persecutions were underhand, but they now became barefaced. All
Spaniards were considered rich, they, their families and property,
consequently became the prey of his insatiable avarice; and at the same
time, those patriots who had contributed most to the success of the
liberating army were persecuted to the utmost extremity. He formed a
long list of proscriptions of men who were to be exiled for ever from
their native country, and whose only crimes were their patriotic
virtues, for the extinction of which he had formed a nest of the vilest
spies, who unceasingly watched the steps of every man of honour. Great
God! what an epoch of misery!
"Every honourable citizen found in Don Bernardo Monteagudo (this is the
name of the monster of whom we speak) an enemy who at any price would
have sacrificed him. How many victims has he not sacrificed in his one
year's ministry! More than eight hundred honourable families have been
by him reduced to extreme indigence, and the whole city to a state of
misery.
"Among the patriots at Lima, nothing was thought of but where they might
find an asylum in a foreign land. Without agriculture, commerce,
industry, personal security, property, and laws, what is society but a
mansion of the most afflicting torments!
"The religion of our forefathers suffered an equal persecution in its
ministers and its temples; these were deprived of their riches, not for
the service of our country, but for the reward of espionage, and to
deceive us with useless trickeries. The satellites of this bandit were
equally despotic with himself, and committed, under his protection, the
most horrid crimes. This is not a proper place in which to insert the
baseness with which he abused the delicacy and debility of females.
Fathers of families **** every man was intimidated; every feeling man
wept because all were the victims of the caprice of this insolent
despot, who made an ostentation of atheism and ferocity.
"It is impossible to recapitulate his actions; volumes would be
necessary to shew to the world the arbitrary crimes of this factious
individual. It would appear, that for the commission of so many offences
he must have had some cause that impelled him, for they could not
possibly be the effects of ignorance. It was impossible to believe that
by insulting and ruining every one; plundering our property; despising
the ingenuity and talents of the Peruvians; and endeavouring to
introduce anarchy, he could be long tolerated in this capital.
"His ambition was unlimited, having constituted himself the arbiter of
the government. He had the assurance to dictate orders and decrees in
opposition to those of the provincial statute, subscribing to them the
name of the supreme authority; thus bringing it into contempt. Such
conduct, when the enemy's army was within twenty leagues of Lima, and
our government scarcely established, proves that his views were directed
to undermine the state. Was the reducing of Peru to the most degrading
slavery, that of obeying his capricious will, the means to make _us_
happy or even _himself_?
"Foreigners also began to suffer all kinds of vexations and pilferings,
with his _carta de morada_ (letter of residence), without considering
that the felicity of the country depended on its increase of industrious
inhabitants. Owing to this, none have established themselves in Lima, it
being worthy of observation, that not even one person has purchased a
house or any immoveable property. And is not this a proof of general
disgust and a want of confidence?
"In fine, such repeated acts of despotism irritated the people of Lima
to that degree, that an explosion became inevitable. In eight days after
the Protector left the capital, his insults to the patriots were
incalculable. He caballed in the most barefaced manner to place in the
coming congress his own creatures. He hurried off those whom he had
sentenced to exile, because they were the favourites of the people; and
in the exercise of his fury Lima took the alarm."
On the twenty-fifth of July the people of Lima assembled in the plasa,
and insisted on a cavildo abierto, a public meeting of the corporation;
this was immediately complied with, and the general voice of the people
was, "let the minister Monteagudo be deposed, let him be tried, let him
experience the severity of the law." At seven o'clock in the evening of
the same day, a note was addressed by the corporation to the Supreme
Delegate, requesting that the minister might be deposed; the council of
state met, and convinced of the necessity of separating Monteagudo from
the ministry, immediately informed him of the state of affairs, when to
save appearances he made a tender of his appointment, which was
accepted, and the supreme delegate in answer to the note of the
corporation, assured them, that the ex-minister should be called upon to
answer before a committee of the council of state for his past
administration, according to the provisional statutes.
This note was answered on the twenty-sixth by the municipality
requesting that the ex-minister should be placed under an arrest, until
called upon for his defence, which request was immediately put into
execution. The people of Lima being aware of the ascendancy which
Monteagudo held over the delegate, Torre Tagle, and fearing that some
crafty subterfuge might be practised to replace him in authority, met
again on the twenty-ninth, when the corporation, to pacify the popular
commotion, requested of the government, that the ex-minister should be
embarked privately, and exiled for ever from the state; this was acceded
to, and on the thirtieth, the anniversary of his arrival in Lima,
Monteagudo was sent down to Callao, under an escort, and at six o'clock
in the evening he left the port. This ambitious individual was
assassinated at Lima on the night of the twenty-eighth of January, 1825,
having returned under the protection of Bolivar, and the expectation of
being replaced in the ministry.
While these affairs were transacting in Lima, the Protector, San Martin,
was at Guayaquil, where he had proceeded for the purpose of soliciting
troops from Bolivar, for the prosecution of his campaigns in Peru. It is
impossible to ascertain what took place in the private conference
between those two chiefs, but the result was not at all favourable to
San Martin, for he returned in dudgeon to Callao, when to his surprise
and mortification, he was informed, that his arch-minister had been
exiled for ever during his absence. Before his excellency ventured on
shore, he had an interview with the principal officers of the army; who
assured him that the troops were faithful to him, and under this
certainty he presented himself at the palace in Lima, where in the most
unbecoming language, he reprobated the whole of the proceeding,
threatened his councillors of state, the corporation and the city
itself, and declared, that he should immediately recall Monteagudo and
reinstate him in the ministry. Notwithstanding the deference and respect
which he had been accustomed to receive from every one who acknowledged
his authority, he was wounded at observing, that the Limenians were not
intimidated at his promised vengeance, and leaving the palace he betook
himself to his country house near to Callao.
In the beginning of October, the arbitrary conduct of Rodrigues, the
minister of war and finance in Chile, began to excite the public
indignation, and petitions from every part of the state were forwarded
to the supreme director, O'Higgins, praying his removal from the
ministry. Crimes the most injurious to the prosperity of the state; his
sordid venality, monopoly of commercial transactions, and even illegal
appropriations of the public funds, were brought against him, in the
most tangible shape; and yet all this was not sufficient, even with the
knowledge of what had transpired in Peru, to force him to resign, or to
induce O'Higgins to dismiss him. At the time that all Chile was in this
state of suspense, and many alarming threats were issued from different
quarters, an event not in the least expected took place, which for a
while lulled the rising storm--this was no less than the sudden arrival
at Valparaiso of his excellency General San Martin, the Protector of the
liberties of Peru.
This great man had continued to reside at his country mansion, until
the twentieth of September, when the sovereign congress met, from which
he received on the same day the following official communication:
"Most Excellent Sir,--The sovereign congress considering that the first
duty of a free people is to acknowledge their gratitude to the authors
of their political existence and their felicity, convinced that the
country of the Sun owes this incomparable benefit to the efforts of your
excellency, have decreed to you a vote of thanks to be presented to you
by a deputation of the house.
"The Peruvian nation flatters itself that its gratitude is equal to the
efficacious efforts which your excellency has made, destroying, like the
thunder-bolt on the celebrated mountain that witnessed the last days of
Lautaro, the iron power of Spain in the country of the Incas.
"The congress manifests, in this communication, the sincerity of their
votes, which shall be expressed in the first act of their sessions, and
which cannot be obliterated by the hand of time; holding General San
Martin as the first soldier of their liberty.
"By the order of the congress we communicate this to your excellency,
for your intelligence and satisfaction. God preserve your excellency
for many years.--Lima, September 20, 1822. Xavier de Luna Pizarro,
president--José Sanchez Carrion, deputy secretary--Francisco Xavier
Mariategui, deputy secretary.--To his Excellency Senor D. José de San
Martin."
The answer: "Sire,--Terminating my public life, after I have consigned
to the august congress of Peru the supreme command of the state, nothing
could be more flattering to my heart than the solemnity of the
confidence of your sovereignty in appointing me generalissimo of the
troops of the nation; an appointment which I have just received from a
deputation of your sovereign body. I have had the honour of expressing
my most profound gratitude at the time of its announcement to me, when I
had the satisfaction of accepting only the _title_, because it was the
mark of your approbation of the services which I have rendered to this
country. I am resolved not to betray my own feelings and the great
interests of the nation; permit me therefore, to say, that long and
painful experience has induced me to say, that the distinguished rank to
which your sovereignty has deigned to elevate me, so far from being
useful to the nation, should I fill it, would only oppose your just
designs by alarming the jealousy of those who desire a positive liberty;
it would divide the opinions of the people, and decrease the confidence
which you alone ought to inspire in the absolute independence of your
decisions. My presence, Sire, in Peru, considering that power which I
have left, and the force which I should possess, is inconsistent with
the morale of the sovereign body, and with my own opinion; because no
forbearance on my part would defend me from the shafts of malediction
and calumny. Sire, I have fulfilled the sacred promise that I made to
Peru; I have seen her representatives assembled; the force of the enemy
does not menace the independence of a people determined to be free, and
who possess the means of being so. A numerous army under the direction
of chiefs inured to war is ready to march in a few days, to terminate
the contest for ever. Nothing remains but to offer to your sovereignty
the expression of my most sincere gratitude, and the firm assurance,
that if at any time the liberty of the Peruvians should be threatened, I
will dispute the honour of accompanying them as a citizen to defend
their freedom on the field of battle.
"May God preserve your sovereignty for many years.--Free Town, September
20th, 1822. (Signed) José de San Martin."
"To the Sovereign Congress of Peru."
The following, being the last proclamation by San Martin, was issued on
the same day, and may be considered as his farewell address to Peru:
"I have witnessed the declaration of the independence of the states of
Chile and Peru. I hold in my possession the standard which Pizarro
brought to enslave the empire of the Incas, and I have ceased to be a
public man--thus I am more than rewarded for ten years spent in
revolution and warfare. My promises to the countries in which I warred
are fulfilled; to make them independent, and leave to their will the
election of their governments.
"The presence of a fortunate soldier, however disinterested he may be,
is dangerous to newly-constituted states. I am also disgusted with
hearing that I wish to make myself a sovereign. Nevertheless, I shall
always be ready to make the last sacrifice for the liberty of the
country, but in the class of a private individual, and _no other_.
"With respect to my public conduct, my compatriots (as is generally the
case) will be divided in their opinions--their children will pronounce
the true verdict.
"Peruvians! I leave your national representation established; if you
repose implicit confidence in it you will triumph, if not, anarchy will
swallow you up.
"May success preside over your destinies, and may they be crowned with
felicity and peace. Free Town, September, 20th, 1822. (Signed) San
Martin."
Had San Martin been sincere, even in his last assurances, or had he been
conscious that his services would have been of public utility; if, as a
citizen, his modesty would not allow him to take upon himself the chief
command of the force of the country, he certainly ought not to have
abandoned Peru, when he was well aware that the army of the enemy was
almost under the very walls of the capital; for he himself confesses,
that a numerous army would march in a few days to terminate the war for
ever: this march, however, would never have been necessary, had he
followed the Spanish army when it evacuated Lima, if he had brought the
army under Canterac to an action, or if he had headed his troops at Ica.
The children of his compatriots will "pronounce the true verdict," not,
I regret to say, an honourable one to San Martin; indeed thousands of
them have already shed their blood on those plains which they might have
cultivated in peace and security under the protection of their own
constituted authorities and laws. It is impossible that a consciousness
of not having fulfilled those promises which were calculated to do
good, and would have established the absolute independence of rational
liberty, and the prosperity of the Peruvians, it is impossible but that
the memory of those breaches of good faith must ever cling to the heart
of this deceiving mortal.
San Martin remained a few days in Valparaiso, until an escort arrived
from Santiago to conduct him to that city; he resided there until
December, or the beginning of January, when, observing the threatening
aspect of affairs in Chile, owing to the fixed determination of
O'Higgins not to discard his favourite minister Rodrigues, he crossed
the Cordillera to his old favourite residence at Mendosa.
General Freire, who had the command of the Chilean troops, stationed on
the frontiers of Araucania, consisting of about three thousand men, came
to the determination to march on the capital. In this he was supported
by the inhabitants of the province of Coquimbo, the only object of the
whole being to displace Rodrigues, and to bring him to justice. This
they eventually did, obliging O'Higgins at the same time to abdicate his
supreme authority on the twenty-second of January, 1823.
During this epoch of convulsions, Lord Cochrane was residing on his
estate at Quintero, where he received the following communication from
Peru:
"The sovereign constituent congress of Peru, contemplating how much the
liberty of Peru owes to the Right Honourable Lord Cochrane, by whose
talents, valour and constancy the Pacific has been freed from our most
inveterate enemies, and the standard of liberty has been displayed on
the coasts of Peru, resolves that the junta of government, in the name
of the Peruvian nation, do present to Lord Cochrane, Admiral of the
squadron of Chile, expressions of our most sincere gratitude for his
achievements in favour of this country, once tyrannized over by powerful
enemies, now the arbiter of its own fate."
"The junta of government obeying this, will command its fulfilment and
order it be printed, published and circulated.--Given in the Hall of
Congress, Lima, the 27th of September, 1822. (Signed) Xavier de Luna
Pizarro, president--Jose Sanches Carrion, deputy secretary--Francisco
Xavier Marreategui, deputy secretary."
"In obedience we order the execution of the foregoing decree. (Signed)
Jose de la Mar, Felipe Antonio Alvarado, El Conde de Vista Florida, by
order of his Excellency Francisco Valdivieso."
Here his lordship received from the government of Chile a copy of the
libel presented to them by the plenipotentiaries of the Protector of
Peru, which he answered with "victorious reasonings," although the
supremacy assured his lordship, that the charges had never been
believed; perhaps for the best of all possible reasons, that they could
scarcely be understood.
In December an express arrived from the Brazilian charge des affaires in
Buenos Ayres, bringing to his lordship a communication from the imperial
government at Rio de Janeiro, containing a request, that as the common
enemy to South American independence in the Pacific had, owing to his
important services and indefatigable exertions ceased to exist, he would
deign to accept the command of the imperial navy of the Brazils, for the
purpose of securing to that country the felicity which he had been the
means of establishing on the opposite side of the Continent.
Lord Cochrane would probably have preferred a life of quiet in his
adopted country, Chile, to that of entering into an engagement which
might produce a repetition of those difficulties and vexations which he
had already experienced; but, owing to the existing circumstances in
Chile, this was impossible. Lord Cochrane was bound by his allegiance to
the existing government, not to become a party in any faction and his
own honour would not allow him to join General Freire, by whom he was
solicited, although he was convinced that the authority of O'Higgins
must succumb; he therefore determined to proceed to Rio de Janeiro, and
to act there as affairs might present themselves.
On the nineteenth of January, 1823, his lordship embarked for the
Brazils; but before quitting Chile he drew up the two following
addresses:
"Chileans, my Compatriots,--The common enemy of America has fallen in
Chile. Your tri-coloured flag waves on the Pacific, secured by your
sacrifices. Some internal commotions agitate Chile: it is not my
business to investigate their causes, to accelerate or to retard their
effects: I can only wish that the result may be most favourable for all
parties.
"Chileans,--You have expelled from your country the enemies of your
independence, do not sully the glorious act by encouraging discord,
promoting anarchy, that greatest of all evils. Consult the dignity to
which your heroism has raised you, and if you must take any steps to
secure your national liberty, judge for yourselves, act with prudence,
and be guided by reason and justice.
"It is now four years since the sacred cause of your independence called
me to Chile; I assisted you to gain it; I have seen it accomplished; it
only now remains for you to preserve it.
"I leave you for a time, in order not to involve myself in matters
foreign to my duty, and for reasons concerning which I now remain
silent, that I may not encourage party spirit.
"Chileans,--You know that independence is purchased at the point of the
bayonet. Know also that liberty is founded on good faith, and is
supported by the laws of honour, and that those who infringe them are
your only enemies, among whom you will never find Cochrane."
"To the British merchants residing in Chile. Quintero, January 4th,
1823:
"Gentlemen,--I cannot quit this country without expressing to you the
heartfelt satisfaction which I experience on account of the extension
which has been given to your commerce, by laying open to all the trade
of those vast provinces to which Spain formerly asserted an exclusive
right. The squadron which maintained the monopoly has disappeared from
the face of the ocean, and the flags of independent South America wave
every where triumphant, protecting that intercourse between nations
which is the source of their riches, happiness, and power.
"If, for the furtherance of this great object, some restraints were
imposed, they were no other than those which are practised by all
civilized states; and though they may have affected the interests of a
few who were desirous to avail themselves of accidental circumstances
presented during the contest, it is a gratification to know that such
interests were only postponed for the general good. Should there be any,
however, who conceive themselves aggrieved by my conduct, I have to
request that they will make known their complaints, with their names
affixed, through the medium of the public press, in order that I may
have an opportunity of a particular reply.
"I trust you will do me the justice to believe, that I have not
determined to withdraw myself from these seas while any thing remains
within my means to accomplish for your benefit and security.
"I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, your faithful obedient servant,
Cochrane."
THE END.
PRINTED BY HARRIS AND CO.
LIVERPOOL.