NEGOCIATIONS WITH BOLIVAR--EXILE
OF MONTEAGUDO--COMPLAINTS OF THE LIMENOS--EXTRAVAGANCE
OF THE GOVERNMENT--EXCULPATION OF SAN MARTIN--EFFECTS OF
POPULAR DISSENSION--DISAGREEMENT OF BOLIVAR AND SAN
MARTIN--VOTE OF PERUVIAN CONGRESS--EXTRAORDINARY NEGLECT
OF THE CHILIAN SQUADRON--SAN MARTIN'S ARRIVAL AT
VALPARAISO--I DEMAND HIS TRIAL--COUNTENANCE OF THE
SUPREME DIRECTOR--SQUADRON AT LENGTH PAID WAGES--REVOLT
OF CONCEPTION--GENERAL FREIRE APPRISES ME OF IT--FREIRE
ASKS FOR MY SUPPORT--HIS LETTER NOT REPLIED TO--SAN
MARTIN'S INFLUENCE.
Mention has been made in a
previous chapter
of the all but total destruction
of a division of the
liberating army by General
Canterac, and of the
bombastic proclamations issued on
that occasion by
San Martin, to the effect that
they were "only
dispersed, not beaten," &c. The
Protector was
however ill at ease, and entered
into a correspondence
with Bolivar, with a view to
procure the assistance
of Columbian troops against the
Spaniards, who,
following up their success, were
making demonstrations
of attacking the patriot forces in
Lima. To
this request was added another
soliciting an interview
with Bolivar at Guayaquil. A
similar despatch was
sent to Santiago, asking, in the
most urgent terms,
for aid from the Chilian
Government.
The whole
affair--as narrated at the time, for
personally I had nothing to do
with it--was somewhat
curious. San Martin's designs on
Guayaquil
having got wind, Bolivar marched
the Columbian
troops across the Cordillera,
successfully invaded
Quito, and was hastening towards
Guayaquil, with a
view of being beforehand with San
Martin, of whose
intentions upon that province he
was aware. After
the above-mentioned defeat of the
Peruvian army by
Canterac, San Martin had been
compelled to withdraw
his forces from Truxillo, on which
Sucre, the
next in command to Bolivar,
advanced to Guayaquil
and took possession of it. At this
time, as was afterwards
well known, the Limenos were
privately
soliciting Bolivar to give them
his assistance in
liberating Peru, both from the
Protector and the
Spaniards!
Ignorant of
this, the Protector, having delegated
the supreme authority to the
Marquis of Torre Tagle,
and appointed General Alvarado
Commander-in-Chief
in his absence, departed for
Guayaquil, for the
purpose of the proposed interview.
No sooner had
San Martin turned his back, than a
public meeting of the Limenos took
place in the
Plaza, and insisted on the
reconstitution of the Cabildo,
which assembly had been put down
by the Protector
immediately after the declaration
of independence.
The members having complied, it
was decided that
"the Minister Monteagudo should be
deposed, tried,
and subjected to the severity of
the law," a note
being despatched to this effect to
the Supreme
Delegate, Torre Tagle. The Council
of State met,
and informed Monteagudo of what
had taken place,
when he was induced to resign; the
Supreme
Delegate politely informing the Cabildo that the
ex-Minister should be made to
answer to the Council
of State for the acts of his
administration.
This note not
satisfying the municipality, the
Cabildo requested that Monteagudo
should at once
be placed in arrest till called
upon for his defence,
which was immediately complied
with; but the step
was disapproved by the Limenos,
who feared that
some crafty subterfuge might again
place him in
authority. The Cabildo, therefore,
in order to satisfy
the people and get rid of the
ex-Minister,
requested of the Government that
he might be put
on board ship, and exiled for ever
from Peru. This
was also acceded to; and, on the
anniversary of his
arrival in Lima, Monteagudo was
sent under escort
to Callao, and forthwith taken to
sea.
Torre Tagle was unable to cope
with the returning
spirit of the Limenos, nor did he
attempt it, as the
army was as much disgusted as were
the inhabitants,
and would not have raised a hand
against them. The
liberty of the press returned, and
the first use of it
was the following picture of the
exiled Minister, taken
from the Lima newspapers; this
would not have been
inserted here, except to shew the
class of men with
whom I had so long to contend.
"Every
honourable citizen found in Don Bernardo Monteagudo,
(this is the name of the man of
whom we speak,) an enemy who
at any price would have sacrificed
him. How many victims has he
not immolated in his one year's
ministry! More than eight hundred
honourable families have been
reduced by him to extreme indigence,
and the whole city to misery!
Amongst the patriots of 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 here but a scene 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
weakness of females. Fathers of
families * * * *. Every
man was intimidated. Every feeling
man wept, because all were
the victims of the caprice of this
insolent upstart, who made an
ostentation of atheism and
ferocity."
"It is
impossible to recapitulate his actions. Volumes would be
necessary to shew the world the
arbitrary crimes of this atrocious
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 effect
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 longer tolerated in
this capital. Was the reduction of
Peru to the most degrading
slavery, the means to make us or
even himself happy?" &c. &c. &c
The reader
can--from what has been narrated in these pages,--form
pretty
correct opinions upon the majority of the enormities
which drove
Monteagudo into exile. Of his
private character I have always foreborn
to speak, as considering it a
thing apart from official acts--but as the
Limenos themselves have forcibly
alluded to it, I can say that in no
respect can their allegations be
called in question.
The opinion of
the roused Limenos, that for Monteagudo's plunders,
insults, and cruelties, there
"must have been an impelling cause," is
correct, though it is rather
surprising that they should not have more
justly estimated that cause. The
vast amount of silver and gold which I
spared in the Sacramento at Ancon,
as being the property of the
Protector, shews the gulf which
swallowed up his plunder of the
inhabitants. The costly
extravagance of the Government--amidst which the
degraded Minister's ostentation
was even more conspicuous than that of
the Protector himself--could have
had no other source but plunder, for
of legitimate revenue there was
scarcely enough to carry on the expenses
of the Government--certainly none
for luxurious ostentation; which,
nevertheless, emulated that of the
Roman Empire in its worst period--but
without the "panem et circenses."
The "impelling
cause" was the Protector himself. Ambitious beyond all
bounds, but with a capacity
singularly incommensurate with his ambition,
he believed that money could
accomplish everything. Monteagudo supplied
this literally by plunder and
cruelty, whilst San Martin recklessly
flung it away in ostentation and
bribes. In return for the means of
prodigality, the Minister was
permitted to carry on the Government just
as he chose, the Protector
meanwhile indulging in the "otium cum
dignitate" at his country palace
near La Legua--his physical powers
prostrated by opium and brandy, to
which he was a slave, whilst his
mental faculties day by day became
more torpid from the same
debilitating influence. This was
well known to me, and alluded to in my
letter to him of August 7th, 1821,
in which I adjured him to banish his
advisers and act as became his
position. I now mention these things, not
to cast a slur on San Martin, but
for the opposite purpose of averting
undue reproach, though my bitter
enemy. The enormities committed in his
name were for the most part not
his, but Monteagudo's; for, to
paraphrase the saying of a French
wit, "San Martin reigned, but his
Minister governed." Duplicity and
cunning were San Martin's great
instruments when he was not too
indolent to wield them; and while he was
wrapped in ease, his Minister
superadded to these qualities all the
cruelty and ferocity which
sometimes converts a ruler into a monster, as
the Limenos very appropriately
designate him. San Martin was not
innately cruel, though, as in the
execution of the Carreras, he did not
hesitate to sacrifice men of far
greater patriotism and ability than
himself, regarding them as rivals;
but he would not, as Monteagudo did,
have endeavoured to tempt me
ashore to the house of Torre Tagle, for the
purpose of assassinating me; nor,
failing in this, would he as
Monteagudo also did, have
liberated a convict for the express purpose of
murdering me on board my own ship.
At this distance of time these things
may be mentioned, as there can be
no delicacy in thus alluding to
Monteagudo, who, having lived the
life of a tyrant, died the death of a
dog; for having sometime
afterwards imprudently returned to the Peruvian
capital, he was set upon and
killed in the streets by the enraged
Limenos.
This bad
commencement of the Peruvian Government subsequently
entailed
on the country years of misery and
civil war, from intestine feuds and
party strife--the natural results
of the early abuse which unhappily
inaugurated its liberation. No
such features have been exhibited in
Chili, where the maritime force
under my command at once and for ever
annihilated the power of Spain,
leaving to the mother country neither
adherents nor defenders, so that
all men agreed to consolidate the
liberty which had been achieved.
The same good results followed my
expulsion of the Portuguese fleets
and army from Brazil, where, whatever
may have been the contentions of
the parties into which the country was
divided, the empire has ever since
been preserved from those revolutions
which invariably characterise
states based at the outset upon virulent
contentions. In Peru, the liberty
which had been promised was trodden
under foot by the myrmidons of San
Martin, so that a portion of the
people, and that the most
influential, would gladly have exchanged the
degradation of their country for a
return to Spanish rule, and this was
afterwards very nearly achieved.
Another portion, dreading the
Spaniards, invited Bolivar to free
them from the despotism to which, in
the name of liberty, they had been
subjected. A third party sighed for
independence, as they originally
hoped it would have been established.
The community became thus divided
in object, and, as a consequence, in
strength; being in constant danger
of the oppressor, and in even more
danger from its own intestine
dissensions; which have continued to this
day, not in Peru only, but in the
majority of the South American States,
which, having commenced their
career in the midst of private feud and
public dissension, have never been
able to shake off either the one or
the other monuments of their own
incipient weakness.
The
intelligence of Monteagudo's forced exile was received
at Valparaiso
on the 21st of September; and if
this excited the surprise of the
Chilians, still greater must have
been their astonishment when, on the
12th of October, General San
Martin himself arrived at Valparaiso, a
fugitive from his short-lived
splendour, amidst the desolation of
despotism.
The story of
this event is brief, but instructive. Having met
Bolivar,
as previously agreed upon, the
Liberator, in place of entering upon any
mutual arrangement, bitterly
taunted San Martin with the folly and
cruelty of his conduct towards the
Limenos; to such an extent, indeed,
that the latter, fearing designs
upon his person, precipitately left
Guayaquil, and returned to Callao
shortly after the expulsion of
Monteagudo. Finding what had taken
place, he remained on board his
vessel, issuing vain threats
against all who had been concerned in
exiling his minister, and
insisting on his immediate recal and
reinstatement. A congress had
however, by this time been appointed, with
Xavier de Luna Pizarro as its
head, so the remonstrances of the
Protector were unheeded. After
some time spent in useless recrimination,
he made a virtue of necessity, and
sent in his abdication of the
Protectorate, returning, as has
been said, to Chili.
One of the
first acts of the Peruvian Congress, after his
abdication,
was to address to me the following
vote of thanks, not only marking my
services in the liberation of
their country, but denouncing San Martin
as a military despot:--
Resolution of
thanks to Lord Cochrane by the Sovereign Congress
of Peru.
The Sovereign
Constituent Congress of Peru, in consideration
of the services rendered to
Peruvian liberty by Lord Cochrane, by
whose talent, worth, and bravery,
the Pacific Ocean has been
liberated from the insults of
enemies, and the standard of liberty
has been planted on the shores of
the South,
Has
Resolved,--
That the
Supreme Junta, on behalf of the Nation, shall offer to
Lord Cochrane, Admiral of the
Chilian squadron, its most expressive
sentiments of gratitude for his
hazardous exploits on behalf of
Peru, hitherto under the tyranny
of military despotism, but now the
arbiter of its own fate.
This
resolution being communicated to the Supreme Junta, they
will do that which is necessary
for its fulfilment, by ordering it to
be printed, published, and
circulated.
Given in the
Hall of Congress, at Lima, September 27th, 1822.
Xavier de Luna
Pizarro, President.
Jose Sanchez
Carrion, Deputy and Secretary.
Francisco
Xavier Mariatique, Deputy and Secretary.
In fulfilment
of the preceding Resolution, we direct the same to
be executed.
Jose de la
Mar,
Felipe Anto. Alvarado,
El Conde de
Vista Florida.
By order of
His Excellency,
Francisco Valdivieso.
San Martin
had, however, played his cards so cunningly, that, in
orderto
be well rid of him, the Peruvian congress had been
induced to give
him a pension of 20,000 dollars
per annum, whilst nothing but thanks
were awarded to me, both for
liberating their country and for freeing
them from military despotism!
notwithstanding that the new Peruvian
Government was in possession of
our prizes, the Prueba and Venganza,
the latter only to be given up by
paying 40,000 dollars to the Chilian
squadron, which at its own cost
had run it down in Guayaquil--these
sums, no less than the value of
the other frigate, being, in common
honesty, due from Peru to the
Chilian squadron to this day. To have
thanked me so warmly as the
exclusive instrument of their independence
and deliverance from military
tyranny--yet to have rewarded the tyrant
and not myself in any form beyond
the acknowledgment of my services, is
a circumstance to which the
Peruvian Government of the present day
cannot look back with
satisfaction; the less so as Chili has, after the
lapse of thirty years, partially
atoned for the ingratitude of a former
Government in availing itself of
my aid, without a shilling in the way
of recompense, though I had
supported its squadron by my own exertions,
with comparatively no expense to
the Government, during the whole period
that I held the command.
To add to this
palpable injustice, the Peruvian Congress distributed
500,000 dollars amongst twenty
general and field officers of the army;
but the officers of the squadron,
whose prowess had freed the Pacific of
the enemy, and by the admission of
the Congress itself Peru also--were
not only excluded from the
Peruvian bounty, but were denied the
prize-money which they had won and
generously given up to the temporary
exigencies of Chili. Such a
monstrous perversion of justice and even
common honesty, never before
reflected discredit on a state. But more
of this hereafter.
It having been
circulated in Lima that San Martin had secreted a
quantity of gold in the Puyrredon,
steps were taken to verify the
rumour, on which, at midnight on
the 20th of September, he ordered the
Captain to get under weigh, though
the vessel was not half manned, and
had scarcely any water on board.
He then went to Ancon, and despatched a
messenger to Lima, on whose
return, he ordered the Captain instantly to
weigh anchor and proceed to
Valparaiso, where on his arrival, it was
given out that an attack of
rheumatism compelled him to have resource to
the baths of Cauquenes.
On the arrival
of the Ex-protector, two aides-de-camp were sent by
Zenteno to compliment him, and his
flag was regularly saluted, the
Governor of Valparaiso's carriage
being sent to convey him to the
Government house. Yet shortly
before, this very Governor of Valparaiso
had rightly branded those who
abandoned the Chilian flag for that of
Peru, as "deserters;" but now he
received the man who had not only first
set the example, but had also
induced others to desert--with the honours
of a Sovereign Prince! The
patriots were eager that I should arrest
General San Martin, and there were
those in power who would not have
complained had I done so, but I
preferred to leave the Government to its
own course.
On the
following day, General San Martin was forwarded in one
of the
Director's carriages to Santiago with an escort, the
pretence for this
mark of honour being fears for his
personal safety, in which, there
might be something of truth, for
the Chilian people rightly estimated
his past conduct. Without
troubling myself about such matters, I
immediately forwarded to the
Supreme Director the annexed demand, that
he should be tried for his
desertion and subsequent conduct:--
MOST EXCELLENT
SIR,
Don Jose de San Martin, late
Commander-in-Chief
of the Expeditionary forces from
Chili for the liberation of Peru,
having this day arrived at
Valparaiso, and being now within the
jurisdiction of the laws of Chili,
I lose no time in acquainting you
that, if it be the pleasure of
Government to institute an inquiry into
the conduct of the said Don Jose
de San Martin, I am ready to
prove his forcible usurpation of
the Supreme Authority of Peru, in
violation of the solemn pledge
given by his Excellency the Supreme
Director of Chili; his attempts to
seduce the navy of Chili; his
receiving and rewarding deserters
from the Chilian service; his
unjustifiably placing the
frigates, Prueba and Venqanza, under the
flag of Peru; with other
demonstrations and acts of hostility towards
the Republic of Chili.
Given under my
hand this 12th day of October, 1822, on board
the Chilian ship O'Higgins, in the
harbour of Valparaiso.
(Signed)
COCHRANE.
In place of my demand being
complied with, San Martin was honoured by
having the palace appointed as his
residence, whilst every mark of
public attention was paid him by
the Ministry, the object being no other
than to insult me, both as
regarded the countenance given to him in the
face of my demand for his trial,
and the infamous accusations which he
had made against me, but which he
did not dare to sustain.
The passive
acquiescence of the Supreme Director in the treachery of
his
advisers caused an amount of popular discontent which
ended in his exile
also; both Chilenos and Spaniards
revolting at the idea of San Martin
being thus publicly honoured. To
see the Supreme Director parade himself
as the friend and ally of such a
man, was more than the patriot spirit
could bear, and the voice of
dissatisfaction was loud in every
direction. By the partisans of San
Martin this was attributed to the
squadron; and at his instigation,
as was generally believed, troops were
sent to Valparaiso for the purpose
of overawing it. I was cautioned to
be on my guard against personal
seizure or assault, as had been
attempted in Peru, but did not
place sufficient reliance on the courage
of my opponents to adopt any steps
evincing doubt of the Chilian people,
who were well disposed to me.
On the 21st of
November there occurred an earthquake, which completely
destroyed the town of Valparaiso,
so that scarcely a house remained
habitable; the people rushing to
the hills or to the ships in the
harbour. On the first shocks,
knowing that terrible disasters would
ensue, I went on shore to restore
what order could be maintained amongst
the terrified people, and met with
the Supreme Director, who had
narrowly escaped with his life
when hurrying out of his house. It being
impossible to render the unhappy
townspeople any service, I paid His
Excellency every possible
attention, even though I had reason to
believe that his visit was
unfriendly to me, he being falsely persuaded
that my incessant demands for the
payment of the squadron was an act of
hostility to himself, instead of a
measure of justice to the officers
and men.
Finding me
determined, after what had occurred, to procure the
payment
of the squadron, the now tottering Government gave in,
and thus far
decided on doing justice; but even
in this--as I had reason to
believe--the counsels of San
Martin induced them to adopt a plan of
making the payments ashore, and
paying the men and petty officers
first--after which, they were to
be allowed a furlough of four months.
As this plan was palpably meant to
unman the squadron, and thus place
the officers and myself at the
mercy of the intriguers, I would not
suffer it to be carried into
effect, the men were therefore paid on
board their respective ships.
A new system
of annoyance was hereupon practised towards me by
Zenteno,
who had again assumed the office
of Minister of Marine. From the neglect
to repair the ships--which were
left in the same wretched condition as
when they returned from Peru and
Mexico--the Independencia was alone
seaworthy; and was sent to sea by
Zenteno without even the formality of
transmitting the requisite orders
through me.
But a crisis
was now at hand. The insult offered to General Freire,
by
sending Santa Cruz to supersede him, will be fresh in
the reader's
recollection. Soon after this the
Provincial Convention of Conception
met, and passed a vote of censure
upon the Council of Government at
Santiago, for re-electing General
O'Higgins as Supreme Director after
his resignation--an act which it
considered illegal, as no such power
was vested in the Ministry--and it
became known that General Freire was
about to march with the troops
under his command to enforce these views.
On the 17th, General Freire had
advanced his troops as far as Talca, and
a division of the army at Santiago
was ordered to be in readiness to
meet him. The marines belonging to
the squadron, under the command of
Major Hind, were also ordered to
reinforce the Director's troops.
I was at this
time at my country residence at Quintero, but learning
what was going on, I immediately
went to Valparaiso and resumed the
command of the squadron, to which
I found that orders had been issued at
variance with the arrangements
which had been entered into in regard to
the prize-money due to the
officers and men--the Galvarino, which was
pledged to be sold for that
purpose, being under orders for sea, to
convey San Martin to some place of
safety, for, not anticipating the
disorganisation which he found in
Chili, he was afraid of falling into
the hands of General Freire, from
whom he would doubtless have
experienced the full amount of
justice which his conduct deserved. The
squadron in my absence had,
however, taken the matter into its own
hands, by placing the Lautaro,
with her guns loaded, in a position to
sink the Galvarino if she
attempted to move. The forts on shore had
also loaded their guns for
retaliation, though of these the squadron
would have made short work.
No sooner had
I restored order, by resuming the command, than I
received
from General Freire the subjoined
letter, which no longer left me in
doubt of his intentions:--
Conception,
Dec. 18th, 1822.
MY LORD,
The province
under my command being tired of
suffering the effects of a
corrupted administration, which has reduced
the Republic to a state of greater
degradation than that under
which it was labouring when it
made the first struggle to obtain its
liberty; and when, by means of an
illegitimately-created convention,
without the will of the people,
they have traced the plans of
enslaving them, by constituting
them as the patrimony of an
ambitious despot, whilst, in order
to ensure him the command, they
have trodden under foot the
imprescriptible right of the citizens,
exiling them in the most arbitrary
manner from their native
country.
Nothing now
remains for us but heroically to resolve that we will
place the fruit of eleven years of
painful sacrifices in the way of
saving it; to which effect I have
deposited in the hands of its legal
representatives who are united in
this city the authority that I
have hitherto exercised; but
notwithstanding my want of merit, and
sincere renouncement, the
constituent power has deigned to place
upon my weak shoulders this
enormous weight, by again depositing
the civil and military command in
my person, which the adjoining
resolution I have the honour of
remitting will explain to your
Lordship.
God preserve
your Lordship many years.
(Signed) RAMON
FREIRE.
In short, a revolution to depose
the Supreme Director had commenced, and
General Freire, supported by the
inhabitants of Conception and Coquimbo,
was in arms to effect it. With
this revolution I was determined to have
nothing to do, because, as a
foreigner, it was not desirable for me to
become a party to any faction,
though it was evident that the authority
of General O'Higgins would shortly
be at an end.
Regarding
General Freire's letter as an indirect request to me to
aid him
in deposing General O'Higgins, I did not even reply to
it. On the
20th of September he made the
following direct overture to me to join in
the revolution:--
Conception,
Nov. 20th, 1853.
My Best and Most Distinguished
Friend,
The time has arrived when
circumstances and
the country require the protection
of those who generously and
judiciously know how to maintain
its sacred rights. Let us withdraw
the curtain from the scene which
trifles with the interests of the
Republic, leading it to inevitable
ruin. Its deplorable state is
public and notorious. There is not
a man who is unacquainted
with it, and who does not bewail
the prospective loss of its
independence, with a thraldom also in view more
grievous than the
Spanish yoke.
The
self-assumed powers of the Government, the restrictions
on
commerce, and, above all, the constitution recently
promulgated,
place the ambitious views of the
Chief Magistrate and the corruption
of his Ministers in a clear light.
Every act proves that the
intentions of the Supreme Director
have undergone a change.
Fortune, which has hitherto
favoured him, has given a new turn to
his ambition, as if the proposal
of a crown could no longer be
resisted--all the measures pursued
throughout the state leading to
that end. It is grievous to see
laurels thus stained in the grasp of
one who so gloriously obtained
them. It is, however, needless to
trespass on you with further
reflections on these occurrences, as
your judgment cannot fail to be
formed both on the facts and their
consequences. Let us therefore
touch on other subjects.
Permit me,
without offence to your delicacy, to make some
reflections on subjects equally
public and notorious.
You enjoyed
honours, rank, and fortune, amidst a people the most
distinguished in Europe. You
generously abandoned ease and
comfort in order to aid in the
attainment of our liberty, and you
have been the chief instrument
which has enabled us to achieve it.
The whole world is acquainted with
your gallant efforts to abolish
tyranny and give liberty to South
America. The people of this
Republic are full of the most
lively gratitude, and are grieved that
it is not in their power to give
you an effectual proof of their deep
attachment. This Province, holding
valour and merit in estimation,
idolizes you, whilst it holds in
abhorrence and detestation the tyrant
"Liberator of Peru!" who has
stained our soil with tears of blood
shed for his pretended services.
Chacabuco would have terminated
the war throughout the Republic,
had it not been deemed necessary
to foster its continuance for the
interests of this individual.
This Province
(Conception) having been completely sacrificed,
has arrived at the point of
exasperation. Its inhabitants are
unanimously determined on a change
and a reform of Government,
and declare that in Arauco they
will breathe the air of liberty, and
that they will perish in the field
of battle to obtain it. This is the
decision universally adopted
without exception. This is the
determination of the gallant
troops which I have the honour to command,
and of their valiant officers, and
is moreover sanctioned by the holy
orders of the clergy.
Compromised by
these declarations, what am I to reply to them?
Must I profess my sympathy and
accordance of opinion with them,
and admit to you, that, though
yesterday a private citizen, with a
heart burning to be freed from
fetters, I must to-day gird on the
sword. May Heaven favour my lot in
the absence of personal
merit! To my country I owe my life
and the position I hold--from
having contributed to its
welfare--can I then neglect the duty
that I owe to it? No, my dear
friend, far be that course from me.
Freire has sworn to live or perish
for the liberty of his native
country, and he now repeats that
solemn oath, grieved at the cause
which compels him to renew it, but
trusting in the hope that God
will avert the effusion of blood
in the accomplishment of the object.
I know that
you are deeply interested in securing the liberty of
Chili, for which you have so
gloriously contended. I know you will
deeply feel the privation of
hope--for neither in your generous
heart, nor in mine, can such
events be received with indifference. Let
us then pursue a course in
uniformity with the glory of Chili, and
the opinion of the world. Let us
listen to the voice of the country,
which calls us to avert evils when
repose might have been anticipated.
I count, together with the whole
Province, on your
co-operation to avert mischief and
advance the good of the country.
Act as you
judge best, but for the promotion of that object, the
moment has arrived for action.
Answer me with promptitude and
frankness. Let us have the
satisfaction of applying effective
remedies to the evils which
afflict the country, zealously and
disinterestedly for the good of
the Republic, and without personal
views.
I hold the
residence of San Martin in any part of Chili as
suspicious
and dangerous. Let him be off to
make some other quarter happy,
where he can sell his protection
to the ill-fated inhabitants.
I hope my
intentions meet your approbation, and will be seconded
by the officers of the squadron.
I trust you
will receive this as the sincerest proof that I can give
of the high consideration
with-which I am
Your most
faithful and unchangeable Friend,
RAMON FREIRE.
To Vice-Adm.
Lord Cochrane,
Commanding the squadron of Chili.
I did not
reply with promptitude, for I felt that it was no part
of my
mission to mingle in civil warfare. This letter,
however, corroborated
my opinion as to the fact of San
Martin's influence over the Supreme
Director, and the recent coolness
in his conduct towards me. If General
Freire's information was correct,
there was evidently a desire to
restore San Martin to the Empire
of Peru! when possession could be got
of the squadron, and he in return
had deluded General O'Higgins into
the plot by promise of support.
Whether this was so in reality is
problematical, but there is
General Freire's letter, for the first time
published, and the Chilian people
can thence draw their own conclusions.
Fortunately an
occurrence took place, which relieved me from the
dilemma
in which I was placed, as will be narrated in the
succeeding chapter.