LORD COCHRANE'S RETURN TO VALPARAISO.—HIS FURTHER ILL-TREATMENT BY
THE CHILIAN GOVERNMENT.—HIS RESIGNATION OF CHILIAN EMPLOYMENT, AND
ACCEPTANCE OF EMPLOYMENT UNDER THE EMPEROR OF BRAZIL.—HIS SUBSEQUENT
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF CHILI.—THE RESULTS OF HIS
CHILIAN SERVICE.
[1822-1823.]
Lord Cochrane returned to Valparaiso on the 3rd of June, 1822, having
been absent more than twenty months. An enthusiastic welcome awaited
him. Medals were struck in his honour, and in various ephemeral ways
the public gratitude was expressed.
It was, however, only ephemeral. There was no substantial recognition
of his great services. His men were left unpaid, and he himself was
subjected to further indignities of the sort already described. It is
not necessary here to give any detailed account of them, or to enter
into a particular rehearsal of his efforts during the next six months
to continue his beneficial services to Chili. He had done the great
service for which he had been invited to South America. In the course
of about three years he had scoured the Pacific of the Spanish ships,
which had offered an obstacle too serious for the patriots to overcome
by any force or wisdom of their own. He had made it possible for
them to assert their independence of a foreign yoke, and, if their
patriotism had been genuine enough, to work out internal reforms, by
which the sometime colonies of Spain in South America might have been
able to vie in greatness with the sometime colonies of England in the
northern continent. The benefits which he conferred especially upon
Chili were shared by all the liberated communities along the whole
Pacific coastline up to Mexico. But all were alike ungrateful, except
in fitful words and in sentiments that prompted to no action.
Shortly after his return to Chili, Lord Cochrane went to live upon the
estates that had been conferred upon him. Soon, however, he was forced
to go back to Valparaiso, there to look after the interests of the
officers and crews who had served him and Chili during the previous
fighting time. His earnest arguments on their behalf were not heeded.
The poor fellows were left to starve and be perished by the cold of
a South American winter, against which the pitiful rags in which they
were clothed afforded no protection. And before long fresh incidents
arose which made it impossible for him to persevere in fighting their
battle.
General San Martin, having run his course of petty tyranny in Peru,
was soon forced to resign his protectorate and seek safety in Chili.
He reached Valparaiso on the 12th of October, and then Lord Cochrane,
who had long before seen good reasons for suspecting it, was convinced
that Zenteno and many other influential men in Chili were in league
with him. He claimed that San Martin should be tried by court-martial
for his treasons, known to all the world. Instead of that San Martin
was loaded with honours, and fresh indignities were heaped upon
his chief accuser. This monstrous action of the ministers led to a
revolution, which, if Lord Cochrane had stayed to the end, might have
proved much to his advantage. But the revolution, headed by General
Freire, an honest man, had for its object the overthrow of O'Higgins,
also an honest man, though too weak to withstand the influences
brought to bear upon him by the bad men by whom he was surrounded.
Lord Cochrane refused Freire's offers to join in opposition to
O'Higgins, always, as far as his small powers permitted, his good
friend. He preferred to abandon Chili, or rather to allow it to
abandon one who had done for it so much and had received so little in
return. "The difficulties," he said, in a dignified letter addressed
to General O'Higgins, still nominally the Supreme Director, in which
he virtually resigned his appointment as Vice-Admiral of the Republic,
"the difficulties which I have experienced in accomplishing the naval
enterprises successfully achieved during the period of my command as
Admiral of Chili have not been mastered without responsibility such as
I would scarcely again undertake, not because I would hesitate to make
any personal sacrifice in a cause of so much interest, but because
even these favourable results have led to the total alienation of
the sympathies of meritorious officers—whose co-operation was
indispensable—in consequence of the conduct of the Government.
That which has made most impression on their minds has been, not the
privations they have suffered, nor the withholding of their pay
and other dues, but the absence of any public acknowledgment by the
Government of the honours and distinctions promised for their fidelity
and constancy to Chili; especially at a time when no temptation was
withheld that could induce them to abandon the cause of Chili for the
service of the Protector of Peru. Ever since that time, though there
was no want of means or knowledge of facts on the part of the Chilian
Government, it has submitted itself to the influence of the agents
of an individual whose power, having ceased in Peru, has been again
resumed in Chili. The effect of this on me is so keen that I cannot
trust myself in words to express my personal feelings. Whatever I
have recommended or asked for the good of the naval service has been
scouted or denied, though acquiescence would have placed Chili in
the first rank of maritime states in this quarter of the globe. My
requisitions and suggestions were founded on the practice of the first
naval service in the world—that of England. They have, however, met
with no consideration, as though their object had been directed to
my own personal benefit. Until now I have never eaten the bread of
idleness. I cannot reconcile to my mind a state of inactivity which
might even now impose upon the Chilian Republic an annual pension for
past services; especially as an Admiral of Peru is actually in command
of a portion of the Chilian squadron, whilst other vessels are sent to
sea without the orders under which they act being communicated to
me, and are despatched through the instrumentality of the governor of
Valparaiso [Zenteno]. I mention these circumstances incidentally as
having confirmed me in the resolution to withdraw myself from Chili
for a time, asking nothing for myself during my absence; whilst, as
regards the sums owing to me, I forbear to press for their payment
till the Government shall be more freed from its difficulties. I have
complied with all that my public duty demanded, and, if I have
not been able to accomplish more, the deficiency has arisen from
circumstances beyond my control. At any rate, having the world still
before me, I hope to prove that it is not owing to me. I have received
proposals from Mexico, from Brazil, and from a European state, but
have not as yet accepted any of these offers. Nevertheless, the habits
of my life do not permit me to refuse my services to those labouring
under oppression, as Chili was before the annihilation of the Spanish
naval force in the Pacific. In this I am prepared to justify whatever
course I may pursue. In thus taking leave of Chili, I do so with
sentiments of deep regret that I have not been suffered to be more
useful to the cause of liberty, and that I am compelled to separate
myself from individuals with whom I hoped to live for a long period,
without violating such sentiments of honour as, were they broken,
would render me odious to myself and despicable in their eyes."
That letter sufficiently explains the reasons which induced Lord
Cochrane to resign his Chilian command. He had, as he said, received
invitations to enter the service of Brazil, of Mexico, and of Greece.
The Mexican offer he declined at once, as acceptance of it would
involve little of the active work in fighting which, if for a good
cause, was always attractive to him. Assistance of the Greeks who, a
year and a half before, had begun to throw off their long servitude to
Turkey, and who were now fighting desperately for their freedom,
was an enterprise on which he would gladly have embarked, but
the invitation from Brazil was more pressing, and he therefore
conditionally accepted it. "The war in the Pacific," he said, on the
29th of November, in answer to two letters written on behalf of the
newly-elected Emperor of Brazil, "having been happily terminated by
the total destruction of the Spanish naval force, I am, of course,
free for the crusade of liberty in any other quarter of the globe. I
confess, however, that I have not hitherto directed my attention
to the Brazils; considering that the struggle for the liberties of
Greece, the most oppressed of modern states, afforded the fairest
opportunity for enterprise and exertion. I have to-day tendered my
ultimate resignation to the Government of Chili, and am not at this
moment aware that any material delay will be necessary previous to my
setting off, by way of Cape Horn, for Rio de Janeiro; it being, in the
meantime, understood that I hold myself free to decline, as well as
entitled to accept, the offer which has, through you, been made to me
by his Imperial Majesty. I only mention this from a desire to preserve
a consistency of character, should the Government (which I by no means
anticipate) differ so widely in its nature from those which I have
been in the habit of supporting as to render the proposed situation
repugnant to my principles, and so justly expose me to suspicion, and
render me unworthy the confidence of his Majesty and the nation."
In accordance with the terms of that letter, Lord Cochrane wrote as we
have seen to the Supreme Director of Chili, not completely resigning
his employment, but proposing to absent himself for an indefinite
period. His proposal was at once accepted by the Chilian Government,
to whom his honesty and his popularity with the people made him
particularly obnoxious. He thereupon made prompt arrangements for his
departure. He quitted Valparaiso on the 18th of January, 1823, in a
vessel chartered for his own use and that of several European officers
and seamen, who, like him, were tired of Chilian ingratitude, and who
begged to be employed under him wherever he might serve.
Of the subsequent occurrences in the Western States, for which he had
done so much, and tried to do so much more than was permitted, it is
enough to say that Peru, sadly abused by San Martin, and almost won
back to Spain, was rescued by the valour and wisdom of Bolivar, and
that Chili, destined to much future trouble through the bad action
of its false patriots, was temporarily benefited by the successful
revolution which placed General Freire in the Supreme Directorship.
Lord Cochrane had not been absent three months before a new Minister
of Marine wrote to inform him of Freire's accession and to solicit his
return. From this, however, he excused himself, on the grounds that
he had now entered into engagements with Brazil which he was bound
to fulfil, and that his past treatment by the Chilian Government
discouraged him from renewal of relations which had been so full of
annoyance to him. "On my quitting Chili," he said in his reply, "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 counsels 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 favour 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 lately in power,
excepting, however, the Supreme Director, whom I believe to have been
the dupe of their deceit. 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. Look at my representations on the necessities of the navy,
and see how they were relieved. Look at 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 nought, 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. Sir, that which
I suffered from anxiety of mind whilst in the Chilian service, I will
never again endure for any consideration. To organize 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, 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."
Writing thus to the Minister of Marine, Lord Cochrane wrote also at
the same time to General Freire, who, as has been said, asked him to
join his revolutionary movement. "It would give me great pleasure, my
respected friend, to learn that the change which has been effected in
the government of Chili proves alike conducive to your happiness and
to the interests of the State. For my own part, like yourself, I have
suffered so long and so much that I could not bear the neglect and
double-dealing of those in power any longer, but adopted other means
of freeing myself from an unpleasant situation. Not being under
those imperious obligations which, as a native Chilian, rendered it
incumbent on you to rescue your country from the mischiefs with which
it was assailed, I could not accept your offer. My heart was with you
in the measures you adopted for their removal; and my hand was only
restrained by a conviction that my interference, as a foreigner, in
the internal affairs of the State would not only have been improper
in itself, but would have tended to shake that confidence in my
undeviating rectitude which it was my ambition that the people of
Chili should ever justly entertain. Permit me to add my opinion that,
whoever may possess the supreme authority in Chili, until after the
present generation, educated as it has been under the Spanish colonial
yoke, shall have passed away, will have to contend with so much error
and so many prejudices as to be disappointed in his utmost endeavours
to pursue steadily the course best calculated to promote the freedom
and happiness of the people. I admire the middle and lower classes
of Chili, but I have ever found the senate, the ministers, and the
convention actuated by the narrowest policy, which led them to adopt
the worst measures. It is my earnest wish that you may find better men
to co-operate with you. If so, you may be fortunate and may succeed in
what you have most at heart, the promotion of your country's good."
For the real welfare of Chili Lord Cochrane was always eager; but in
the treatment which he himself experienced he had strong proof, both
during his four years' active service under the republic and in all
after times, of the difficulties in the way of its advancement.
Not only was he subjected to the contumely and neglect of which he
complained in the letters just quoted from: he was also directly
mulcted to a very large extent in the scanty recompense for his
services to which he was legally entitled, and indirectly injured to
a yet larger extent. "I was compelled to quit Chili," he wrote at
a later date, "without any of the emoluments due to my position as
Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, or any share of the sums belonging
to myself and the officers and seamen; which sums, on the faith of
repayment, had, at my solicitation, been appropriated to the repairs
and maintenance of the squadron generally, but more especially at
Guayaquil and Acapulco, when in pursuit of the _Prueba_ and the
_Venganza_. Neither was any compensation made for the value of stores
captured and collected by the squadron, whereby its efficiency was
chiefly maintained during the whole period of the Peruvian blockade.
The Supreme Director of Chili, recognizing the justice of payment
being made by the Peruvians for at least the value of the _Esmeralda_,
the capture of which inflicted the death-blow on Spanish power, sent
me a bill on the Peruvian Government for 120,000 dollars, which
was dishonoured, and has never since been paid by any succeeding
Government. Even the 40,000 dollars stipulated by the authorities
at Guayaquil as the penalty for giving up the _Venganza_ was never
liquidated. No compensation for the severe wounds received during the
capture of the _Esmeralda_ was either offered or received.
Shortly after my departure for Brazil, the Government forcibly and
indefensibly resumed the estate at Rio Clara, which had been awarded
to me and my family in perpetuity, as a remuneration for the capture
of Valdivia, and my bailiff, who had been left upon it for its
management and direction, was summarily ejected. Unhappily, this
ingratitude for services rendered was the least misfortune which my
devotedness to Chili brought upon me. On my return to England in
1825, after the termination of my services in Brazil, I found myself
involved in litigation on account of the seizure of neutral vessels
by authority of the then unacknowledged Government of Chili. These
litigations cost me, directly, upwards of 14,000£, and, indirectly,
more than double that amount. Thus, in place of receiving anything for
my efforts in the cause of Chilian and Peruvian independence, I was a
loser of upwards of 25,000£, this being more than double the
whole amount I had received as pay whilst in command of the Chilian
squadron."