FREIRE MARCHES ON VALPARAISO--ELECTED SUPREME DIRECTOR--HE BEGS OF ME TO
RETURN--MY REPLY--SUBSEQUENT LETTER TO GENERAL FREIRE.
On the 18th of January, 1823, I hauled down my flag, hoisted in the
_Montezuma_ schooner--the only vessel which the suspicious jealousy of
the Chilian ministers had left me--and sailed for Rio de Janiero in the
chartered brig, Colonel Allen, though my brother's steamer, the _Rising
Star_--or rather the Chilian Government's steamer, upon which he had a
lien for money advanced for its completion and equipment--was lying idle
at Valparaiso. Could I have taken this vessel with me to Brazil, on the
refusal of Chili to repay the sums which my brother had advanced on the
guarantee of its London envoy Alvarez--the Brazilian Government would
have eagerly availed itself of an advantage to which the Chilian
ministry was insensible: though recently by the exertions of Admiral
Simpson, and the more enlightened views of the present Government, Chili
is now beginning to appreciate the advantage of a steam marine, which,
at the period of her liberation, she so perversely rejected by refusing
to honour the comparatively trifling pecuniary engagements of her
minister in London. The probable reason why the Chilian Government
refused to acknowledge these obligations was--that the war being now
ended by the annihilation of the Spanish naval power in the Pacific
through the instrumentality of sailing ships alone, there was no
necessity for a steam ship of war--the narrow-minded policy of the
ministers who have figured in these pages never conceiving that to
maintain maritime preponderance is scarcely less difficult than to
achieve it. Hence, to get rid of the paltry sum of £13,000 due--and
still due--to my brother for his advances on the ship, she was rejected;
the consequence was, that after my departure, the independence of Chili
was again placed in jeopardy, whilst Peru was only saved from a Spanish
reconquest by the intervention of the Colombian liberator, Bolivar.
Shortly after my departure, the partisans of General Freire, and the
enemies of General O'Higgins, having entered into a combination--the
former marched on Valparaiso, where the people ardently espoused his
cause; so that abandoned by his evil genius, San Martin, and equally so
by others who had caused his downfall, the Supreme Director found
himself a prisoner in the hands of the very man who had most conduced to
his overthrow, viz., Zenteno, in whose charge he was placed on pretence
of being made accountable for the expenditure of those who now held him
in durance!
The end of this was, a five months' examination of O'Higgins, which
resulted in his being permitted to leave the country; General Freire
having, meanwhile, been elected to the Supreme Directorate, in the midst
of internal dissensions in Chili, and disasters in Peru, where the
Spaniards, under Cantarac--emboldened by the pusillanimity of the
Protector in permitting them to relieve Callao unmolested, and elated
with their decisive victory over a division of his army, as narrated in
a previous chapter--had availed themselves of the treasure carried away
from Callao in reorganising their forces, which now threatened Lima, and
would no doubt have recovered Peru, had not Bolivar, foreseeing the
result, sent a division of his army, under General Sucre, to the
assistance of the beleaguered city.
In the midst of these embarrassments, the New Government of Chili
despatched the following letter to Rio de Janeiro, for the purpose of
inducing me to return, and reorganise the navy, the officers and men of
which had, as I learned, shortly subsequent to my departure been turned
adrift, without any reward whatever for their extraordinary privations
and exertions in the cause of independence.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Santiago de Chili, April 11, 1823.
Most Excellent Sir,
The Representatives of the people of Chili, legally
assembled, having elected Don Ramon Freire as Supreme Director
of the State, this event has happily terminated the internal movements
which agitated the country. The new Government, on
entering on its delicate functions, has been impressed with the want
of your Excellency to give preponderance to this maritime state, by
the imposing aptitude of your Excellency's measures and extraordinary
renown, so highly prized by the Chilenos, and dreaded by
their enemies.
The loss of the Allied army in Moquegua, where it has been
beaten by General Cantarac, has occasioned such an effect on the
result of the war, that possibly the capital of Peru may fall into the
hands of the enemy in consequence of the ascendancy thus acquired.
In consequence of this event, Chili must give a new impulse to
her maritime affairs, especially as an expedition is about to sail from
Cadiz, composed of two ships of the line, to restore the Spanish
authority in Peru.
Your Excellency, on leaving Chili, promised not to abandon the
cause of independence; and Chili--which has ever admired in your
Excellency one of its most illustrious protectors--must not therefore
be deprived of your services in a time of danger, and your great
work thus be left incomplete. These considerations his Excellency
desires me to lay before you in the name of the nation, and in his
own name, to request that you will return to this State, at least
during the period of danger. His Excellency trusts in your
generosity and zeal for the cause of humanity, that you will return
as speedily as circumstances require, without taking into account
fatigue or sacrifices in supporting the cause which you have
advocated since its commencement.
Be pleased to accept the expression of my high consideration.
(Signed) MARIANO DE EGANA.
It is almost unnecessary to state that my engagements with Brazil, and
the fact that when the invitation to resume the command of the Chilian
navy was received, I was blockading the Portuguese fleet in
Bahia--rendered it impossible to comply with the request. That a state
whose ministers had, by the greatest injustice, compelled me to quit
it--should, in so short a period, have thus earnestly entreated me to
return and free it from impending disaster, is not more a proof of the
peril in which the Government was placed, than of its thorough
satisfaction with my conduct as its admiral, and of its anxiety for my
renewed assistance.
In reply to the request, I addressed the following letter to the
minister:--
Most Excellent Sir,
I have just been honoured with your letter of
April 11th, announcing the elevation of Mareschal Don Ramon
Freire to the high dignity of Director of the State of Chili, by
acclamation of the people--a choice at which I cordially rejoice,
as it has placed in power a patriot and a friend. My sentiments
with respect to His Excellency have long been well known to the
late Supreme Director, as well as to his Ministers, and I would
to God that they had availed themselves of Gen. Freire's able and
disinterested services in the expedition to Peru--in which case the
affairs of South America would have now worn a different aspect;
but the Buenos Ayrean faction, being actuated by ambitious motives
and more sordid views, interfered, and rendered abortive those plans
which, under Gen. Freire's management, would have brought the
war to a speedy and successful termination.
On my quitting Chili, there was no looking to the past without
regret, nor to the future without despair, for I had learned by
experience what were the views and motives which guided the
councils of the State. Believe me, that nothing but a thorough
conviction that it was impracticable to render the good people
of Chili any further service under existing circumstances, or to
live in tranquillity under such a system, could have induced
me to remove myself from a country which I had vainly hoped
would have afforded me that tranquil asylum which, after the
anxieties I had suffered, I felt needful to my repose. My inclinations,
too, were decidedly in favor of a residence in Chili, from
a feeling of the congeniality which subsisted between my own
habits and the manners and customs of the people, those few only
excepted who were corrupted by contiguity with the Court, or
debased in their minds and practices by that species of Spanish
Colonial education which inculcates duplicity as the chief qualification
of statesmen in all their dealings, both with individuals
and the public.
I now speak more particularly of the persons late in power--
excepting, however, the late Supreme Director--who I believe
to have been the dupe of their deceit; and I do assure you
that nothing would afford me greater pleasure, for the sake of
the ingenuous Chilian people, than to find that with a change
of Ministers, a change of measures has also taken place, and that
the errors of your predecessors, and their consequent fate, shall
operate as an effectual caution against a course so destructive.
Point out to me one engagement that has been honourably
fulfilled--one military enterprise of which the professed object
has not been perverted--or one solemn pledge that has not been
forfeited; but my opinions on this want of faith, at various periods
of the contest, when everything was fresh in my recollection,
are recorded in my correspondence with the Minister of Marine,
and more particularly in my private letters to His Excellency, the
late Supreme Director, whom I unavailingly warned of all that
has happened. My letter also to San Martin, in answer to his
accusations--a copy of which was officially transmitted to your
predecessor in office--contains a brief abstract of the errors and
follies committed in Peru; as my public letters and those documents
are, of course, in your possession, I shall abstain from trespassing
on your attention with a repetition of facts with which you are
acquainted.
Look to my representations on the necessities of the navy,
and see how they were relieved! Look to my memorial, proposing
to establish a nursery for seamen by encouraging the coasting
trade, and compare its principles with the code of Rodriguez, which
annihilated both. You will see in this, as in all other cases, that
whatever I recommended in regard to the promotion of the good
of the marine, was set at naught, or opposed by measures directly
the reverse. Look to the orders which I received, and see whether I
had more liberty of action than a schoolboy in the execution of his
task. Look back into the records of the Minister of Marine's
office, and you will find that, while the squadron was nearly reduced
to a state of starvation, provisions were actually shipped at
Valparaiso, _apparently for the navy, but were consigned to Don Luiz
de Cruz, and disposed of in such a way as to reflect eternal reproach
and disgrace_. You may probably find also, the copy of an order,
the original of which is in my possession, (not rubricated by the
Supreme Director) _to permit a vessel laden with corn to enter the
blockaded port of Callao at the period of its greatest distress_,
and which did enter in my absence, and was sold for an enormous amount;
whilst funds could not be found to send even 500 troops on an eight
days' voyage from Chili to secure Upper Peru, when the greater part of
the country was actually in our possession, and when the minds of
the people, afterwards alienated by the base conduct of San Martin,
were universally in our favour.
Sir, that which I suffered from anxiety of mind whilst in the
Chilian service, I will never again endure for any consideration.
To organise new crews--to navigate ships destitute of sails, cordage,
provisions, and stores--to secure them in port without anchors and
cables, except so far as I could supply these essentials by accidental
means, were difficulties sufficiently harassing; but to live amongst
officers and men--discontented and mutinous on account of arrears
of pay and other numerous privations--to be compelled to incur the
responsibility of seizing by force from Peru, funds for their payment,
in order to prevent worse consequences to Chili--and then to be
exposed to the reproach of one party for such seizure, and the
suspicions of another that the sums were not duly applied, though the
pay-books and vouchers for every material item were delivered to the
Accountant-General--are all circumstances so disagreeable and so
disgusting that until I have certain proof that the present Ministers
are disposed to act in another manner, I cannot possibly consent to
renew my services, where, under such circumstances, they would be
wholly unavailing to the true interests of the people. Intrigue and
faction might again place me in the predicament in which I found
myself previous to my departure from Valparaiso, viz., a cypher and
a public burthen; for the ships of war might again be placed in the
hands of a Governor Zenteno, for the purpose of exposing me to
popular odium, as a person receiving a large salary from the state,
for which--without a vessel under my command--no adequate
services could be rendered. That this was the intention of the
late ministers in withdrawing the ships from my command, on the
false pretence of repairing them, there can be no doubt; for whilst
every honorary reward was withheld from me, they refused to accept
the remission which I offered of 4,000 dollars from my annual pay--
treating me at the same time with every neglect and indignity.
Such proceedings, I am aware, are far distant from the contemplation
of the excellent person who now presides over the affairs of Chili,
as in my conscience I believe that they were no less distant from
the mind and heart of the late Supreme Director, who, being placed
in that elevated situation, was unfortunately exposed to the errors
that arise from listening to the reports of interested individuals who
ever surround the powerful, making a gain by concealing the truth
and propagating falsehood.
It is a fact--as is well known to all my friends--that I had determined
to quit Chili, previous to my receiving any proposition from
the Government of Brazil. By that Government I have been
hitherto treated with the utmost confidence and candour, and the
orders they have given me are in everything the reverse of those
narrow and restricted instructions with which I was hampered by
the Senate, the Ministers of Chili, and San Martin, under whose
orders they had placed me. The Government of Brazil, having in
view the termination of the war, gave orders to that effect, without
any of those miserable restrictions which are calculated to retard, if
not finally to defeat, their object. The consequence is, that the war
in Brazil is already successfully terminated--though we have had to
contend with a much superior force--by the evacuation of Bahia--
the flight of the Portuguese fleet--the capture of great part of their
transports and troops--and the surrender of Maranham--all in
fewer months than the Chilian Government have employed years
without having even yet accomplished their object, nay, with no
other result than that of removing the independence of Peru, and
their own peace and security to a greater distance.
I must now call your attention, although I have already addressed
a letter on the subject to the Minister of Finance, to a breach of
faith on the part of the late Government of Chili in respect to the
contract between Senor Alvarez, their Envoy in England, and my
brother, the Honourable William Erskine Cochrane, for the completion,
outfit, and navigation to Chili of the steamer _Rising Star_,
by which my brother has been involved in expenses to a very great
amount. Whether the inconvenience he is sustaining from the
perfidy of the late Ministers is in the course of removal by the good
faith of their successors I have yet to learn, but if not, I must
respectfully state to you on behalf of my brother that I demand
payment of the amount due to him under the contract above-mentioned.
I also respectfully suggest, that it is your duty to examine the
accounts of Mr. Price, and cause him to pay over the bonus of
40,000 dollars which was granted by the Government on account of
the _Rising Star_, which bonus Mr. Price prematurely obtained in
advance nearly three years ago, although it did not become due till
the arrival of the ship. This sum, which is part of the remuneration
due to my brother on account of the said ship, Mr. Price, or the
house of which he is a member, refuses to deliver up, under the
pretence that its detention is necessary to their own security, in the
event of the Chilian Government requiring it to be restored. This
is a most extraordinary way of justifying the detention of another's
property, and I trust, Sir, that you will immediately take the
necessary steps to cause both that sum, and all other sums due to
my brother for the _Rising Star_--the particulars of which you may
receive from Mr. Barnard--to be paid without further delay. To
that end, and in order to prevent the risk and serious expense
attending the remittance of money to so great a distance, I beg to
suggest that the best mode of payment will be by an order on your
agents in London.
I am much less solicitous on the subject of the debt due to
myself, but after repeatedly requesting the Accountant-General,
Correa de Saa, during the last six months of my residence in Chili,
to investigate and determine on my accounts, without his proceeding
therein in any effectual way, I was astonished to receive from him
a communication calling upon me to appoint an agent to explain
certain particulars, which I had considered as explicitly set forth in
the documents delivered. This delay and these obstacles, I cannot
consider in any other light than _as mere pretexts to avoid the
payment of the balance due to me for my services_, and for the
expenditure of monies that were my own, inasmuch as I might,
with perfect justice--instead of employing them for the maintenance
of the Chilian navy--have applied them to the liquidation of the
debt due to myself, and have left the service, as the Government
did, to shift for itself. Besides, Sir, let me call to your recollection
that not a _real_ of these monies came out of the pocket of any
Chileno, but that the whole were captured or collected by me from
sources never before rendered available to supply the necessities of
a destitute squadron.
I call upon you, Sir, as the Minister of Marine, to see justice
done on the above subjects, and if in my accounts or demands you
find anything false or fraudulent, let it be printed in the _Gazette_,
and give me the privilege of reply.
I trust you will excuse my entering into the present detail, and
do me the justice to feel that no part of it is irrelevant to the
subject of your letter. Indeed, if I were not desirous of troubling
you as briefly as possible, I could assign numerous other reasons for
desiring to have demonstration of a change of ministerial conduct in
the management of affairs in Chili, before again exposing myself to
difficulties of so painful a nature, and re-occupying a situation
which I have found to be harassing, thankless, and unprofitable.
When the _puertos non habilitados_ (unlicensed ports) shall be
thrown open to the national commerce--when those obstacles shall
be removed which now render the transport by sea more expensive
than carriage by land--when the coasting trade, that nursery for
native seamen, shall be encouraged instead of prohibited, it will be
time enough to think of re-establishing the marine, for, with regard
to foreign seamen, such is the disgust they entertain for a service
in which they have been so neglected and deceived, that I am confident
that the ships of Chili will never again be effectively supplied
with men of that description. Indeed, there was not an individual
amongst the foreign seamen under my command during the latter
period of my services in Chili whose fidelity was not shaken to such
a degree as to be undeserving of confidence on any occasion of
danger or emergency. Could the late Ministers even expect the
natives to serve them faithfully without pay and without food?--
but His Excellency the present Director can solve this question in
a similar case with regard to the army.
It will be well if the foreign seamen have sufficient forbearance
to refrain from revenging--by acts of hostility to the state--the
deception and breach of promise which they experienced from San
Martin, and that destitute condition to which they were reduced,
especially during the last six months of my stay at Valparaiso,
by similar frauds on the part of Rodriguez, who, I believe, as
Minister of Finance, has been actuated by the hope of compelling
the men to abandon their country without remuneration for their
services, when they appeared to him and to other short-sighted
individuals to be no longer useful.
The Chilian expedition to the Intermedios, and the mean methods
by which it was proposed to obtain Chiloe without my intervention,
excited in my mind at the time no other feeling than pity and
contempt, mixed with regret that the sacrifices of so good a people
should be rendered unavailing by the imbecility of their rulers.
The failure of both these wretched attempts I predicted. From the
men now in power I hope better things, and it will gratify me
extremely to observe that you succeed in establishing just laws--a
free constitution--and a representative body to direct civil affairs.
In fine, that you succeed in all you undertake for the public good;
and when I see you entered on the right path, my most zealous
cooperation--if required--shall not be withheld.
I cannot conclude without expressing my high sense of the honour
which His Excellency the present Director conferred upon me, by
desiring my continuance in the command of the navy. To him I
return my heartfelt thanks, and to you also for the polite manner
in which you communicated his obliging wishes.
(Signed) COCHRANE.
To His Excellency Don Mariano Egana,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, &c.
I will quote one more letter, subsequently addressed by me to the
Supreme Director, General Freire, in whose administration I felt a
sincere interest, knowing him to be a truly honest man, having only at
heart the good of his country; but from his rough training in the camp,
without the administrative ability to contend with the intrigues by
which he was surrounded.
Rio de Janeiro, Dec. 14, 1823.
My respected and esteemed friend,
It would afford me great satisfaction to learn that
everything you contemplated for the advancement and happiness of
your country, has succeeded to the extent of your wishes and
endeavours, but here we live at so great a distance, and the
communication by letter is so scanty, that we have no certain
knowledge with respect to your proceedings. I dare not venture to
offer you my congratulations, being well aware that the re-union of
the Congress would present difficulties which might possibly be
insuperable, fearing also that you may have been subjected to much
uneasiness by the diversity of views entertained by the members,
and their deficiency in those habits, and that general information
in affairs of Government, so necessary in the deliberations of a
Legislative Assembly.
Here we have had our Cortes, but their meeting has produced
nothing beneficial to the State. There existed indeed amongst
them so great a discordance of opinion, and the temper of those
who found their crude notions opposed was so violent, that the
Emperor--finding it impracticable to act with them--determined
to dissolve them, which he did on the 12th of last month, and
issued his commands for the meeting of a new Cortes, but I much
doubt whether the people in the various provinces can find others
competent to the task. Everything here is quiet, and I have no
doubt will remain so in the neighbourhood of the capital, but I
have some fear as to the disposition of the northern provinces. I
shall regret much should anything occur which will disturb the
public tranquillity, now that all the provinces are entirely free and
independent of European authority.
With regard to myself, the friendship you have always expressed
and entertained towards me, justifies my belief that you will be
gratified to learn that everything has succeeded here to the full
extent of my expectations, the foreign war being entirely brought to
a close within the short space of six months; during which period
about seventy vessels have fallen into our hands, including several
ships of war, amongst which is a beautiful new frigate of the largest
dimensions.
We have gone on here in the happy manner that I fondly
anticipated we should have done in Peru, and which would have
been the case if the expedition which was intended to be sent to the
Puertos Intermedios three years ago under your command, had not
been prevented by the intrigues of San Martin, who was jealous of
anything being done in which he was not personally engaged,
though he had neither the courage nor talent to avail himself of
circumstances when appointed to the command of the Peruvian
expedition.
I have heard that my reply to San Martin's accusations has been
published in Peru, but as it is chiefly a personal defence, it cannot
be very interesting to the public, to whom I feel a great inclination
to address a letter on the causes of the miscarriage of their _military
enterprises_, and the origin and progress of those intrigues which led
to the mismanagement of public affairs, and disappointed the hopes
and expectations of the worthy people of Chili, who conducted
themselves so long with patient submission to rulers who governed
without law, and often without justice.
In my letter to you of the 21st of June last, I mentioned at some
length my reasons for leaving Chili, but as that letter may possibly
have miscarried, I think it well to repeat here--which I do with
great truth--that it would have given me great pleasure to have
been at liberty to co-operate with you; but having, long previous to
your communications, determined from the ill-treatment I received
to quit the country, I considered that it was better in every point
of view to conform to that resolution, without mixing myself in its
internal affairs, it being my province, as a foreigner, to leave all
parties uncontrolled, and in the free exercise of their civil rights.
In adhering to this resolution, I sacrificed both my inclination to
have acted with you in overthrowing the ministers, and my own
personal interests--abandoning nearly all that I had individually
hoped to attain; but I had predetermined to do this, rather than
endure any longer the base intrigues of those men, and their packed
Convention; whose injustice became the more conspicuous after
their receiving the stars and distinctions bestowed by San Martin,
with the promise of estates and further bounties. Indeed, the
reception which even the late Supreme Director influenced by these
persons gave to San Martin after his apostacy to Chili, his cowardice,
ambition, and tyranny in Peru, formed a sufficient contrast with
the conduct pursued towards me, to convince me that my presence
in Chili was no longer desired by the Government, and could not,
under existing circumstances, be useful to the people.
I hear that O'Higgins has proceeded to Peru. Personally I wish
him well, and hope that the lesson he has received will enlighten
him, and enable him in future to distinguish between sincere
friends and insidious enemies. I fear, however, that his asylum in
Peru will not meet his expectations, because his passive acquiescence
in the barbarities inflicted by San Martin on the Spaniards
to whom he had tendered protection cannot be forgotten; and the
Peruvian people are not ignorant that the miseries which they
have suffered might have been averted by a little firmness on the
part of O'Higgins.
I have no reason to believe that the old intrigue on the part of
Puyrredon and San Martin, is again revived by the latter, and that
a French frigate which lately sailed hence for Buenos Ayres, has a
commission on that subject. Whether these intrigues extend from
Mendoza over the Cordilleras, or not, I have no means to ascertain,
but I know that the French _Charge d'Affaires_ here has been
endeavouring underhand to induce this Government to give up the
fortifications of Monte Video to the State of Buenos Ayres, which
can only be with the view of extending the influence of France in
that quarter.
I fear that I have already trespassed too long on the time of
your Excellency, otherwise I might take the liberty to throw out
some suggestions which it appears to me ought to be useful, though
you may probably have anticipated them. The principal one is the
benefit which might be derived from having some accredited agent
here; and from the reciprocal and formal acknowledgment of the
independence of the respective States. Treatises of commerce and,
if possible, alliance and mutual protection against any hostile
attempts on the independence of South America should be entered
into. This country possesses a squadron of considerable force, in
addition to which six new frigates and eight large steam gallies
have been ordered to be built in North America, England, and the
northern ports of the Empire.
I shall be gratified if you will do me the favour to honour me
with the continuance of your friendly correspondence, and believe
me to be,
Your respectful and attached friend,
(Signed) COCHRANE and Marenhaõ.
His Excellency Don Ramon Freire,
Supreme Director of Chili.
P.S. I did not intend to have trespassed on you with anything of
a private nature, having written at length to the Accountant-General
on the subject of my brother's claim for the steamer
"_Rising Star_," and my own claims for monies disbursed _for the
maintenance of the Chilian squadron, whilst in pursuit of the Prueba
and Venganza_; but, on consideration, I think it well to request
you to do me the favour to cause justice to be done.