Second Revolution at Quito....Massacre of the Prisoners....General Meeting held....Spanish Troops leave Quito....Revolution at Santa FÉ....Arrival of Don Carlos Montufar at Quito....Arredonda invades Quito....Arrives at Huaranda....Flies from....Montufar marches towards Cuenca....Desists from attacking the City....Returns to Quito....My Appointment to Esmeraldas....Capture and Escape....General Montes enters Quito....Death of Montufar....Quito taken by General Sucre.

After the departure of San Miguel for Santa FÉ many of the soldiers who had belonged to the insurgent army returned to the city, supposing that the prosecution had closed; but they were apprehended, and sent to the presidio. Several individuals also who came from different parts of the country were apprehended on suspicion, and, although they were liberated after examination, the alarm flew from one place to another, so that none would bring their produce to market, and a consequent dearth of provisions began to be experienced in the city. This, instead of producing conciliatory measures for procuring them, enraged the Spanish soldiers, who committed several depredations, and the injured individuals through fear abstained from complaining to the officers, or if they ventured to do it, they were insulted with the epithets of rebels, insurgents, and traitors. Thus the evil increased daily till the second of August, 1810, when some of the soldiers confined in the presidio surprized the guard, and depriving them of their arms, and putting on their uniforms, ran to the barracks at one o'clock in the afternoon; the disguise prevented all suspicion on their approach, and they succeeded in driving the sentry from his post at the door, and securing the officer of the guard: at this moment a bell was rung in the steeple of the cathedral, as an alarm: the officers who had just sat down to dinner in the palace rushed into the plasa mayor, and observing a considerable degree of commotion at the door of the barracks not fifty yards from that of the palace, the guard was ordered to fire on those at the barracks, which firing was returned by the opposite party. This lasted about ten minutes, when, all being silent, an officer ran to the barracks to inquire into the cause of the disturbance: on being informed of what had taken place, as well as that all was then safe, he returned with the report to his commandant, Arredonda. Another officer was immediately sent to inquire into the state of the prisoners, and he as briefly returned with the news, that they were all dead. Some had been shot during the uproar by the sentries placed over them, and many had been murdered by a zambo boy, one of the cooks to the soldiers, who had entered their cells, and despatched them with an axe. Terror and consternation for a moment were visible in the countenances of the president and officers, when, on a sudden, the Spanish soldiers rushed from the barracks into the streets, shouting revenge! revenge! our captain is murdered. Scarcely was the alarm given, when the infuriated soldiers abandoned their posts, and running up and down the streets, murdered every individual they met with, without distinction either of age or sex: the drums in different parts of the city beat an advance, and murder and pillage raged in this horrid manner till three o'clock, all the officers standing on the esplanade of the palace, without making any effort to check the massacre: at length, the soldiers having expended their stock of cartridges began to return to the barracks, some of them so laden with plunder, that they had left their arms they knew not where.

The number of prisoners confined in the cells, many of whom were secured with irons, and who fell a sacrifice to the insubordination of the soldiery, and the imbecility of the officers, was seventy-two; a clergyman of the name of Castelo, and an individual of the name of Romero, were the only prisoners that escaped, and they saved their lives by feigning to be dead. Morales, Quiroga, Riofrio, and Salinas perished; but to the memory of these, and their fellow sufferers, the government of Venezuela ordered a day of mourning to be kept annually; thus paying to them the greatest possible respect; they also afterwards determined to call them the martyrs of Quito. In the streets of Quito about three hundred individuals perished, including seven of the Spanish soldiers, who were killed by some indian butchers, whom they had repeatedly insulted. Such was the fury displayed by the pacifying troops, that a party of them having met a captain in his uniform, who belonged to the Guayaquil cavalry, a soldier seized the sword of his captain, and ran him through the body with it, laying him weltering in his gore not fifty yards from the door of the barracks.

No powers of language can describe the anxiety which this dreadful affair excited in the minds of the inhabitants, who, ignorant of the origin, considered it as an unprovoked slaughter of their countrymen, and consequently dreaded that it might be again repeated in the same manner. Only five of the soldiers who left the presidio entered the barracks—had twenty entered, they would doubtlessly have succeeded in liberating the prisoners; but these were murdered while those were engaged with the guard at the door.

The streets of the city were entirely deserted; groups of people were scattered about on the neighbouring hills, looking wistfully at their apparently desolated town; dead bodies were strewed about the streets and squares, and all was horror and dismay. During the night the bodies of the prisoners were conveyed to the church of San Augstin, and those that were murdered in the streets, to the nearest churches. The two succeeding days, the third and the fourth of August, the inhabitants kept within their houses, and, except the soldiers, not an individual ventured into the streets. The government now began to fear that the whole of the provinces would rise en masse; and as the news of the revolution at Caracas, which took place on the nineteenth of April, 1810, had reached their ears, this, with their ignorance of what was passing in the mother country, except that Bonaparte had taken possession of Madrid, suggested to them an effort at reconciliation, but without in the least reflecting on their own baseness and treachery, in having violated the conditions which had replaced the president in his authority, and thus branded themselves with the name which they most justly deserved, that of infames traidores, INFAMOUS TRAITORS.

On the fifth an order was published for the heads of all the corporate bodies, officers, and principal inhabitants to meet at the palace, and resolve on such means as were most likely to restore peace, tranquillity, and confidence to the country. Accordingly the persons who were summoned met; the president took the chair, having the Bishop on his right, and Colonel Arredonda on his left, the Regent, oidores, fiscals, attorney-general, and other officers and persons of distinction took their seats. The president rose, and in very few words expressed his sorrow for what had happened, and his sincere wish to restore peace and unanimity among the people. The Bishop in a short speech answered, that he was afraid such wishes would never be fulfilled, until those persons who had advised his Excellency to forget his promises made to the people were removed from that part of the country. Arrechaga rose and observed, that his lordship recriminated on his conduct; to which the prelate replied, that years and dignity precluded any recrimination on Don Arrechaga from him. This debate induced the president to request, that Arrechaga would leave the hall, which request was reluctantly complied with; although such a rebuff from the Bishop would only four days before that of the meeting have shewn him the way to a dungeon.

Dr. Rodrigues, a secular priest, greatly revered for his wisdom and his virtue by all who knew him, rose from his seat, and, advancing to the centre of the hall, delivered a most eloquent and animated speech, which lasted for more than an hour. He portrayed the character of the QuiteÑos in general, explained the causes of the late revolution with evangelical charity, and dwelt on the fatal results with the truest symptoms of grief, in such a manner, that, not through sympathy but sensibility, conviction, shame, and remorse, the big tear flowed down the cheeks of his hearers. He concluded by repeating what his prelate had said, and added further, that the people of Quito could no longer consider their lives and property secure, unless those individuals who had so lately forfeited their title of pacificators were removed from the country. "I allude," said he, "to the officers and troops; they have already made upwards of three hundred unoffending fellow-creatures, as faithful Christians and as loyal subjects as themselves, the peaceful tenants of the grave, and, if not stopped in their career of slaughter, they will soon convert one of the most fruitful regions of the Spanish monarchy into a desert; and future travellers, while execrating their memory, will exclaim, 'here once stood Quito!'"

Don Manuel Arredonda, trembling for his personal safety, now rose. He observed, that he was fully convinced the government of Quito ought to rely on the loyalty of the QuiteÑos, and allow him to retire with the troops under his command. This was immediately agreed to, and the act of the meeting having been drawn up, was signed by the President, the Bishop, the Commander of the troops, and several other members. Preparations for the evacuation of the city immediately commenced, and the troops under the command of Arredonda began their march on the following morning, leaving the two hundred soldiers from Santa FÉ and the government to the mercy of a populace driven almost to despair by their cruel and murderous conduct.

A few days after the departure of Arredonda and the soldiers, Dr. San Miguel returned from Santa FÉ, bringing tidings of an insurrection having taken place in that city. It commenced on the twenty-third of July, 1810, the day before the arrival of San Miguel with his cargo of papers. When he presented himself before the new authorities at Santa FÉ, he was commanded to repair to the plasa mayor with his papers, and here he was ordered to deliver them into the hands of the hangman, who immediately committed them to the flames. Thus a trial was concluded, which, perhaps, in point of infamous intrigue was unparalleled in any age or nation; and had the conductors of it suffered a similar fate at the same time, numbers of Americans would have had just cause to have been satisfied. The return of San Miguel only served to throw the government of Quito into greater consternation, and the citizens who had lost their relatives or their friends on the second of August into deeper sorrow.

The insurrection of Santa FÉ was conducted, like that of Quito, without any bloodshed; the news of the commission conferred on Villaviencio by the central junta of Spain, to visit his native place, and to make any such alterations in the form of the government as might appear necessary for the preservation of the country, had arrived at Santa FÉ. The friends of this American wished to prepare a house for his reception; one of them begged the loan of a chandelier of a European Spaniard, who, chagrined at the idea of a royal commission having been conferred on a colonist, insulted the borrower; this conduct produced an altercation between the parties, a mob collected at the door, the Spaniard attempted to drive the people away with threats and insults, which at last produced a cry of Cabildo Abierto! an open meeting at the City Hall. Scarcely had the shout been re-echoed by the mob, when it was extended to every part of the city, and Cabildo Abierto became the watchword. Crowds of people flocked to the plasa mayor, the doors of the town hall were thrown open, and several individuals, all natives, ranged themselves round the table. At this juncture some one advanced to the door, and asked the populace why they had collected in that manner, at this particular time? Some one answered, queremos gobierno nuevo, fuera EspaÑoles! We want a new government—out with the Spaniards! NariÑo was then sent to request the presence of the Viceroy Amar, as president of the meeting. His excellency refused; a second message was sent, and met with the same refusal: this conduct exasperated the people, and the cry of fuera EspaÑoles! fuera chapetones! again resounded from every quarter. A third messenger was shortly after sent to inform Don Antonio Amar, that his functions, with those of all European Spaniards in the government, had ceased. Amar now volunteered to go and preside at the meeting; but he was told, that only his baston of command was requested; this, after a little altercation, he delivered up. The new government took possession of the barracks, the park of artillery, and the government stores. The ex-viceroy and some of the ex-oidores were sent to Carthagena to be embarked for Spain. In one day the change in the government was completed, and on the following the people retired to their several homes and occupations in the most perfect order, after witnessing the public burning of the papers brought by San Miguel.

In the month of September of the same year, Don Carlos Montufar, son to the outlawed Marquis of Selva Alegre, who with several others had again presented himself publicly in Quito, arrived, bringing with him powers from the central junta of Spain, to establish such a government, or make such changes in the one existing, as might ensure the allegiance of the country to Ferdinand on his restoration. The joy which this arrival would have occasioned a short time before it took place was considerably damped by the recollection of the second of August. However, to support, and as it were to exculpate the conduct of the government with respect to the treatment of the unfortunate victims who had perished on that day, Montufar and his friends determined on re-establishing the junta. A meeting was convened at the hall of the university, at which the Count Ruis presided; the commission conferred on Montufar was read, and the formation of a junta proposed, which was immediately agreed to. The Count Ruis was nominated president, and the Marquis of Selva Alegre vice-president; the members for the city were elected by the five parishes, and those for the country by the parishes of the heads of the provinces.

Don Carlos Montufar, desirous of preserving tranquillity, and maintaining a good understanding with the Viceroy of Peru in particular, immediately forwarded to his Excellency Don Jose de Abascal his original commission; but the innovation was so great, and the decrease of Spanish authority so alarming to the Viceroy, that he returned the papers with an assurance, that he "should exert himself in the support of his own authority, and that of all the faithful subjects of the crown of Spain." This imprudent and ill-timed answer, accompanied by a knowledge of the present state of affairs in Santa FÉ and Venezuela; of the revolt of San Miguel and el Valle de los Dolores in Mexico, which took place on the nineteenth of August; of that of Buenos Ayres on the twenty-sixth of May, 1819; together with the condition of the mother country—distracted the attention of the Spaniards, and first disseminated the whisper of Independence: a whisper which was confined to private conversations, and was heard only among the higher classes.

Colonel Arredonda and his troops were at first ordered to remain at Guayaquil; but on the arrival of the news communicated by the newly-established government of Quito, he was commanded to invade the territory belonging to that jurisdiction, and to declare war against the newly-established authorities, as being traitors to the Crown of Spain. At the same time that Arredonda began his march, Montufar collected the armed force of Quito, began to discipline new troops, and proceeded with them to Riobamba. Popayan and Pasto, under the influence of Samano the governor of the former place, declared their adherence to the old government, and avowed their intention of invading Quito to the northward, while Arredonda should attempt the same to the southward. A few troops placed by Montufar at Guaitara precluded all fear with regard to Samano, and Montufar waited at Riobamba the advance of Arredonda.

A sentinel placed at an advanced post at the Ensillada was alarmed early one morning by a sudden report, caused by the ice on Chimboraso, which, when the rising sun first illumes it, sometimes cracks with a tremendous report. Alarmed at what he heard, he abandoned his post, and communicated intelligence of the approach of Montufar with a train of artillery. Arredonda was now filled with the greatest possible consternation, and without waiting to inquire into the cause of the alarm, or to investigate the report, he mounted his horse, and fled: the officers and soldiers followed the example of their chief, and, leaving every thing behind them, placed their safety in their heels. Montufar, being immediately apprised of what had passed at Huaranda, Arredonda's late head quarters, went and took possession of the abandoned stores, consisting of eight hundred muskets, six field-pieces, a quantity of ammunition, the military chest, and all the public as well as private property belonging to the tropas pacificadoras.

The city of Cuenca declared its attachment to the royal cause, as it now began to be called, in opposition to the insurgents, and Montufar, flushed with his good fortune at Huaranda, marched towards that city; the Bishop, Quintian Aponte, who with a crucifix in one hand and a sword in the other had marshalled the natives, and exhorted them with more than pastoral eloquence, fled on receiving advices that the insurgents were within ten leagues of the city, and left his flock at the mercy of the very man whom he had described the day before as a ravenous wolf.

In this state of affairs, when every thing seemed to promise success to the insurgents, a post arrived from Spain, bringing the news of the dissolution of the junta central, and the formation of a Regency and Cortes, and commanding all his Majesty's faithful subjects to abjure the traitorous junta, and to take the oath of allegiance to the newly-constituted authorities. An order of the Regency commanded that every thing in the colonies should remain in the same state in which it might then be, until the Regency and the Cortes should decide. Carlos Montufar, on the receipt of this intelligence, communicated to him by the Viceroy of Peru, answered his excellency, that as a loyal subject, and trusting that the conduct of his excellency would evince equal loyalty and deference to the supreme order received, he should immediately retire to Quito with the troops under his command.

A small detachment of soldiers continued on the heights of Guaitara, and every thing in Quito remained tranquil until the middle of November, when General Molina arrived at Cuenca, and, by the order of the Viceroy Abascal, peremptorily insisted on the dissolution of the junta, which was objected to. Captain Villavicencio arrived from Guayaquil to treat with the government on the proposals made by General Molina, and such was the spirit of party, and the dread of again being oppressed by pacifying troops, that on the arrival of Villavicencio, a woman, named Salinas, a servant to Captain Salinas, who was murdered on the second of August, collected a body of females, who armed themselves with lances, and escorted Villavicencio to the house prepared for him, where they remained on guard till he quitted the city. Nothing could be more ridiculous than the appearance of this naval hero when he had to attend the meeting of the junta, marching along the street with an Amazonian guard, composed of twenty-five females with lances, who conducted him to and from the hall.

During the time that Montufar was absent from the city with the troops, several popular commotions took place, particularly of the indians; these were principally excited by a native of the name of PeÑa, who had had a son slain in the massacre of the second of August. During this time, the Oidor Fuertes and the postmaster-general attempted to escape, with an intention of proceeding down the MaraÑon, but they were seized by the indians, brought back to Quito, and before the respectable part of the inhabitants could relieve them from the danger in which they were placed, the indians erected a temporary gibbet in the plasa mayor, and hanged them: being in the street myself, the indians seized me also, and were hurrying me along towards the place of execution, but I was providentially rescued by the interference of an old clergyman, to whom I was known, and to whom I undoubtedly owe the preservation of my existence.

The adherence of Popayan and Pasto to the Spanish governors precluded all communication between Quito and Santa FÉ, Venezuela, and other places. The junta determined to open a communication by the coast with Cali and Buga, and also with those parts of the country which had established the same form of government as themselves. Owing to the knowledge which I had acquired of the coast, the title of governor of Esmeraldas, and military commander of the coast, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of artillery was conferred on me; and on the fifth of December I left Quito with fifty soldiers, took possession of my command, opened the communication, and secured the depÔt of arms belonging to the Spaniards at Tumaco.

During my residence on the coast of Esmeraldas, nothing particular occurred in the capital, except preparations for defence: General Molina died at Cuenca, and the Bishop of Cuenca at Guayaquil. Aymerich, the governor of Popayan, solicited a brig of war, which was sent by the governor of Guayaquil; with this assistance Esmeraldas was invaded, and I was taken prisoner in May, 1811; but with the permission of Captain Ramires I made my escape from the brig. Don Toribio Montes was appointed by the Regency president of Quito, and immediately took the command of the troops stationed at Guayaquil and Cuenca, and began his march on Quito. The president, Count Ruis, retired to a small convent in the suburbs of Quito; but a popular commotion of the indians in the city occurred, a party of them went to the convent and dragged the venerable good old man into the street, where they murdered him. Montes had a few skirmishes with the QuiteÑos; but he entered the city, and caused several of the principal individuals who had been concerned in the late transactions to be put to death. Among these was Don Carlos Montufar, who, being sentenced as a traitor, was shot through the back, his heart taken out and burnt. Some of the indians who had been the ringleaders in the death of the Count Ruis were hanged, and their heads placed in iron cages in different parts of the city, where they remained until taken down by order of General Sucre.

From the year 1811 Quito continued to be governed by the Spanish authorities, till May, 1822, when General Sucre entered by force of arms, and at that time it became a part of the republic of Colombia.