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:

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.