FREIRE MARCHES ON VALPARAISO--ELECTED
SUPREME DIRECTOR--HE BEGS OF ME TO
RETURN--MY REPLY--SUBSEQUENT LETTER TO
GENERAL FREIRE.
On the 18th of January, 1823, I hauled
down my flag, hoisted in the
Montezuma schooner--the only vessel
which the suspicious jealousy of
the Chilian ministers had left me--and
sailed for Rio de Janiero in the
chartered brig, Colonel Allen, though
my brother's steamer, the Rising
Star--or rather the Chilian
Government's steamer, upon which he had a
lien for money advanced for its
completion and equipment--was lying idle
at Valparaiso. Could I have taken this
vessel with me to Brazil, on the
refusal of Chili to repay the sums
which my brother had advanced on the
guarantee of its London envoy
Alvarez--the Brazilian Government would
have eagerly availed itself of an
advantage to which the Chilian
ministry was insensible: though
recently by the exertions of Admiral
Simpson, and the more enlightened
views of the present Government, Chili
is now beginning to appreciate the
advantage of a steam marine, which,
at the period of her liberation, she
so perversely rejected by refusing
to honour the comparatively trifling
pecuniary engagements of her
minister in London. The probable
reason why the Chilian Government
refused to acknowledge these
obligations was--that the war being now
ended by the annihilation of the
Spanish naval power in the Pacific
through the instrumentality of sailing
ships alone, there was no
necessity for a steam ship of war--the
narrow-minded policy of the
ministers who have figured in these
pages never conceiving that to
maintain maritime preponderance is
scarcely less difficult than to
achieve it. Hence, to get rid of the
paltry sum of L13,000 due--and
still due--to my brother for his
advances on the ship, she was rejected;
the consequence was, that after my
departure, the independence of Chili
was again placed in jeopardy, whilst
Peru was only saved from a Spanish
reconquest by the intervention of the
Colombian liberator, Bolivar.
Shortly after my
departure, the partisans of General Freire, and the
enemies of General O'Higgins, having
entered into a combination--the
former marched on Valparaiso, where
the people ardently espoused his
cause; so that abandoned by his evil
genius, San Martin, and equally so
by others who had caused his downfall,
the Supreme Director found
himself a prisoner in the hands of the
very man who had most conduced to
his overthrow, viz., Zenteno, in whose
charge he was placed on pretence
of being made accountable for the
expenditure of those who now held him
in durance!
The end of this
was, a five months' examination of O'Higgins, which
resulted in his being permitted to
leave the country; General Freire
having, meanwhile, been elected to the
Supreme Directorate, in the midst
of internal dissensions in Chili, and
disasters in Peru, where the
Spaniards, under Cantarac--emboldened
by the pusillanimity of the
Protector in permitting them to
relieve Callao unmolested, and elated
with their decisive victory over a
division of his army, as narrated in
a previous chapter--had availed
themselves of the treasure carried away
from Callao in reorganising their
forces, which now threatened Lima, and
would no doubt have recovered Peru,
had not Bolivar, foreseeing the
result, sent a division of his army,
under General Sucre, to the
assistance of the beleaguered city.
In the midst of
these embarrassments, the New Government of Chili
despatched the following letter to Rio
de Janeiro, for the purpose of
inducing me to return, and reorganise
the navy, the officers and men of
which had, as I learned, shortly
subsequent to my departure been turned
adrift, without any reward whatever
for their extraordinary privations
and exertions in the cause of
independence.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Santiago de Chili, April 11, 1823.
Most Excellent Sir,
The Representatives of the people of
Chili, legally
assembled, having elected Don Ramon
Freire as Supreme Director
of the State, this event has happily
terminated the internal movements
which agitated the country. The new
Government, on
entering on its delicate functions,
has been impressed with the want
of your Excellency to give
preponderance to this maritime state, by
the imposing aptitude of your
Excellency's measures and extraordinary
renown, so highly prized by the
Chilenos, and dreaded by
their enemies.
The loss of the
Allied army in Moquegua, where it has been
beaten by General Cantarac, has
occasioned such an effect on the
result of the war, that possibly the
capital of Peru may fall into the
hands of the enemy in consequence of
the ascendancy thus acquired.
In consequence of
this event, Chili must give a new impulse to
her maritime affairs, especially as an
expedition is about to sail from
Cadiz, composed of two ships of the
line, to restore the Spanish
authority in Peru.
Your Excellency,
on leaving Chili, promised not to abandon the
cause of independence; and Chili--which
has ever admired in your
Excellency one of its most illustrious
protectors--must not therefore
be deprived of your services in a time
of danger, and your great
work thus be left incomplete. These
considerations his Excellency
desires me to lay before you in the
name of the nation, and in his
own name, to request that you will
return to this State, at least
during the period of danger. His
Excellency trusts in your
generosity and zeal for the cause of
humanity, that you will return
as speedily as circumstances require,
without taking into account
fatigue or sacrifices in supporting
the cause which you have
advocated since its commencement.
Be pleased to
accept the expression of my high consideration.
(Signed) MARIANO DE EGANA.
It is almost
unnecessary to state that my engagements with Brazil, and
the fact that when the invitation to
resume the command of the Chilian
navy was received, I was blockading
the Portuguese fleet in
Bahia--rendered it impossible to
comply with the request. That a state
whose ministers had, by the greatest
injustice, compelled me to quit
it--should, in so short a period, have
thus earnestly entreated me to
return and free it from impending
disaster, is not more a proof of the
peril in which the Government was
placed, than of its thorough
satisfaction with my conduct as its
admiral, and of its anxiety for my
renewed assistance.
In reply to the
request, I addressed the following letter to the
minister:--
Most Excellent
Sir,
I have just been honoured with your
letter of
April 11th, announcing the elevation of Mareschal Don Ramon
Freire to the high dignity of Director
of the State of Chili, by
acclamation of the people--a choice at
which I cordially rejoice,
as it has placed in power a patriot
and a friend. My sentiments
with respect to His Excellency have
long been well known to the
late Supreme Director, as well as to
his Ministers, and I would
to God that they had availed
themselves of Gen. Freire's able and
disinterested services in the
expedition to Peru--in which case the
affairs of South America would have
now worn a different aspect;
but the Buenos Ayrean faction, being
actuated by ambitious motives
and more sordid views, interfered, and
rendered abortive those plans
which, under Gen. Freire's management,
would have brought the
war to a speedy and successful
termination.
On my quitting Chili, there was no
looking to the past without
regret, nor to the future without
despair, for I had learned by
experience what were the views and
motives which guided the
councils of the State. Believe me,
that nothing but a thorough
conviction that it was impracticable
to render the good people
of Chili any further service under
existing circumstances, or to
live in tranquillity under such a
system, could have induced
me to remove myself from a country
which I had vainly hoped
would have afforded me that tranquil
asylum which, after the
anxieties I had suffered, I felt
needful to my repose. My inclinations,
too, were decidedly in favor of a
residence in Chili, from
a feeling of the congeniality which
subsisted between my own
habits and the manners and customs of
the people, those few only
excepted who were corrupted by
contiguity with the Court, or
debased in their minds and practices
by that species of Spanish
Colonial education which inculcates
duplicity as the chief qualification
of statesmen in all their dealings,
both with individuals
and the public.
I now speak more
particularly of the persons late in power--
excepting, however, the late Supreme
Director--who I believe
to have been the dupe of their deceit;
and I do assure you
that nothing would afford me greater
pleasure, for the sake of
the ingenuous Chilian people, than to
find that with a change
of Ministers, a change of measures has
also taken place, and that
the errors of your predecessors, and
their consequent fate, shall
operate as an effectual caution
against a course so destructive.
Point out to me
one engagement that has been honourably
fulfilled--one military enterprise of
which the professed object
has not been perverted--or one solemn
pledge that has not been
forfeited; but my opinions on this
want of faith, at various periods
of the contest, when everything was
fresh in my recollection,
are recorded in my correspondence with
the Minister of Marine,
and more particularly in my private
letters to His Excellency, the
late Supreme Director, whom I
unavailingly warned of all that
has happened. My letter also to San
Martin, in answer to his
accusations--a copy of which was
officially transmitted to your
predecessor in office--contains a
brief abstract of the errors and
follies committed in Peru; as my
public letters and those documents
are, of course, in your possession, I
shall abstain from trespassing
on your attention with a repetition of
facts with which you are
acquainted.
Look to my
representations on the necessities of the navy,
and see how they were relieved! Look
to my memorial, proposing
to establish a nursery for seamen by
encouraging the coasting
trade, and compare its principles with
the code of Rodriguez, which
annihilated both. You will see in
this, as in all other cases, that
whatever I recommended in regard to
the promotion of the good
of the marine, was set at naught, or
opposed by measures directly
the reverse. Look to the orders which
I received, and see whether I
had more liberty of action than a
schoolboy in the execution of his
task. Look back into the records of
the Minister of Marine's
office, and you will find that, while
the squadron was nearly reduced
to a state of starvation, provisions
were actually shipped at
Valparaiso, apparently for the navy,
but were consigned to Don Luiz
de Cruz, and disposed of in such a way
as to reflect eternal reproach
and disgrace. You may probably find
also, the copy of an order,
the original of which is in my
possession, (not rubricated by the
Supreme Director) to permit a vessel
laden with corn to enter the
blockaded port of Callao at the period
of its greatest distress,
and which did enter in my absence, and
was sold for an enormous amount;
whilst funds could not be found to
send even 500 troops on an eight
days' voyage from Chili to secure
Upper Peru, when the greater part of
the country was actually in our
possession, and when the minds of
the people, afterwards alienated by
the base conduct of San Martin,
were universally in our favour.
Sir, that which I
suffered from anxiety of mind whilst in the
Chilian service, I will never again
endure for any consideration.
To organise new crews--to navigate
ships destitute of sails, cordage,
provisions, and stores--to secure them
in port without anchors and
cables, except so far as I could
supply these essentials by accidental
means, were difficulties sufficiently
harassing; but to live amongst
officers and men--discontented and
mutinous on account of arrears
of pay and other numerous
privations--to be compelled to incur the
responsibility of seizing by force
from Peru, funds for their payment,
in order to prevent worse consequences
to Chili--and then to be
exposed to the reproach of one party
for such seizure, and the
suspicions of another that the sums
were not duly applied, though the
pay-books and vouchers for every
material item were delivered to the
Accountant-General--are all
circumstances so disagreeable and so
disgusting that until I have certain
proof that the present Ministers
are disposed to act in another manner,
I cannot possibly consent to
renew my services, where, under such
circumstances, they would be
wholly unavailing to the true
interests of the people. Intrigue and
faction might again place me in the
predicament in which I found
myself previous to my departure from
Valparaiso, viz., a cypher and
a public burthen; for the ships of war
might again be placed in the
hands of a Governor Zenteno, for the
purpose of exposing me to
popular odium, as a person receiving a
large salary from the state,
for which--without a vessel under my
command--no adequate
services could be rendered. That this
was the intention of the
late ministers in withdrawing the
ships from my command, on the
false pretence of repairing them,
there can be no doubt; for whilst
every honorary reward was withheld
from me, they refused to accept
the remission which I offered of 4,000
dollars from my annual pay--
treating me at the same time with
every neglect and indignity.
Such proceedings,
I am aware, are far distant from the contemplation
of the excellent person who now
presides over the affairs of Chili,
as in my conscience I believe that
they were no less distant from
the mind and heart of the late Supreme
Director, who, being placed
in that elevated situation, was
unfortunately exposed to the errors
that arise from listening to the
reports of interested individuals who
ever surround the powerful, making a
gain by concealing the truth
and propagating falsehood.
It is a fact--as
is well known to all my friends--that I had determined
to quit Chili, previous to my
receiving any proposition from
the Government of Brazil. By that
Government I have been
hitherto treated with the utmost
confidence and candour, and the
orders they have given me are in
everything the reverse of those
narrow and restricted instructions
with which I was hampered by
the Senate, the Ministers of Chili,
and San Martin, under whose
orders they had placed me. The
Government of Brazil, having in
view the termination of the war, gave
orders to that effect, without
any of those miserable restrictions
which are calculated to retard, if
not finally to defeat, their object.
The consequence is, that the war
in Brazil is already successfully
terminated--though we have had to
contend with a much superior force--by
the evacuation of Bahia--
the flight of the Portuguese
fleet--the capture of great part of their
transports and troops--and the
surrender of Maranham--all in
fewer months than the Chilian
Government have employed years
without having even yet accomplished
their object, nay, with no
other result than that of removing the
independence of Peru, and
their own peace and security to a
greater distance.
I must now call
your attention, although I have already addressed
a letter on the subject to the
Minister of Finance, to a breach of
faith on the part of the late
Government of Chili in respect to the
contract between Senor Alvarez, their
Envoy in England, and my
brother, the Honourable William
Erskine Cochrane, for the completion,
outfit, and navigation to Chili of the
steamer Rising Star,
by which my brother has been involved
in expenses to a very great
amount. Whether the inconvenience he
is sustaining from the
perfidy of the late Ministers is in
the course of removal by the good
faith of their successors I have yet
to learn, but if not, I must
respectfully state to you on behalf of
my brother that I demand
payment of the amount due to him under
the contract above-mentioned.
I also
respectfully suggest, that it is your duty to examine the
accounts of Mr. Price, and cause him
to pay over the bonus of
40,000 dollars which was granted by
the Government on account of
the Rising Star, which bonus Mr. Price
prematurely obtained in
advance nearly three years ago,
although it did not become due till
the arrival of the ship. This sum,
which is part of the remuneration
due to my brother on account of the
said ship, Mr. Price, or the
house of which he is a member, refuses
to deliver up, under the
pretence that its detention is
necessary to their own security, in the
event of the Chilian Government
requiring it to be restored. This
is a most extraordinary way of
justifying the detention of another's
property, and I trust, Sir, that you
will immediately take the
necessary steps to cause both that
sum, and all other sums due to
my brother for the Rising Star--the
particulars of which you may
receive from Mr. Barnard--to be paid
without further delay. To
that end, and in order to prevent the
risk and serious expense
attending the remittance of money to
so great a distance, I beg to
suggest that the best mode of payment
will be by an order on your
agents in London.
I am much less
solicitous on the subject of the debt due to
myself, but after repeatedly
requesting the Accountant-General,
Correa de Saa, during the last six
months of my residence in Chili,
to investigate and determine on my
accounts, without his proceeding
therein in any effectual way, I was
astonished to receive from him
a communication calling upon me to
appoint an agent to explain
certain particulars, which I had
considered as explicitly set forth in
the documents delivered. This delay
and these obstacles, I cannot
consider in any other light than as
mere pretexts to avoid the
payment of the balance due to me for
my services, and for the
expenditure of monies that were my
own, inasmuch as I might,
with perfect justice--instead of
employing them for the maintenance
of the Chilian navy--have applied them
to the liquidation of the
debt due to myself, and have left the
service, as the Government
did, to shift for itself. Besides,
Sir, let me call to your recollection
that not a real of these monies came
out of the pocket of any
Chileno, but that the whole were
captured or collected by me from
sources never before rendered
available to supply the necessities of
a destitute squadron.
I call upon you,
Sir, as the Minister of Marine, to see justice
done on the above subjects, and if in
my accounts or demands you
find anything false or fraudulent, let
it be printed in the Gazette,
and give me the privilege of reply.
I trust you will
excuse my entering into the present detail, and
do me the justice to feel that no part
of it is irrelevant to the
subject of your letter. Indeed, if I
were not desirous of troubling
you as briefly as possible, I could
assign numerous other reasons for
desiring to have demonstration of a
change of ministerial conduct in
the management of affairs in Chili,
before again exposing myself to
difficulties of so painful a nature,
and re-occupying a situation
which I have found to be harassing,
thankless, and unprofitable.
When the puertos
non habilitados (unlicensed ports) shall be
thrown open to the national
commerce--when those obstacles shall
be removed which now render the
transport by sea more expensive
than carriage by land--when the
coasting trade, that nursery for
native seamen, shall be encouraged
instead of prohibited, it will be
time enough to think of
re-establishing the marine, for, with regard
to foreign seamen, such is the disgust
they entertain for a service
in which they have been so neglected
and deceived, that I am confident
that the ships of Chili will never
again be effectively supplied
with men of that description. Indeed,
there was not an individual
amongst the foreign seamen under my
command during the latter
period of my services in Chili whose
fidelity was not shaken to such
a degree as to be undeserving of
confidence on any occasion of
danger or emergency. Could the late
Ministers even expect the
natives to serve them faithfully
without pay and without food?--
but His Excellency the present
Director can solve this question in
a similar case with regard to the
army.
It will be well if the foreign seamen
have sufficient forbearance
to refrain from revenging--by acts of
hostility to the state--the
deception and breach of promise which
they experienced from San
Martin, and that destitute condition
to which they were reduced,
especially during the last six months
of my stay at Valparaiso,
by similar frauds on the part of
Rodriguez, who, I believe, as
Minister of Finance, has been actuated
by the hope of compelling
the men to abandon their country
without remuneration for their
services, when they appeared to him
and to other short-sighted
individuals to be no longer useful.
The Chilian
expedition to the Intermedios, and the mean methods
by which it was proposed to obtain
Chiloe without my intervention,
excited in my mind at the time no
other feeling than pity and
contempt, mixed with regret that the
sacrifices of so good a people
should be rendered unavailing by the
imbecility of their rulers.
The failure of both these wretched
attempts I predicted. From the
men now in power I hope better things,
and it will gratify me
extremely to observe that you succeed
in establishing just laws--a
free constitution--and a
representative body to direct civil affairs.
In fine, that you succeed in all you
undertake for the public good;
and when I see you entered on the
right path, my most zealous
cooperation--if required--shall not be
withheld.
I cannot conclude without expressing
my high sense of the honour
which His Excellency the present
Director conferred upon me, by
desiring my continuance in the command
of the navy. To him I
return my heartfelt thanks, and to you
also for the polite manner
in which you communicated his obliging
wishes.
(Signed) COCHRANE.
To His Excellency
Don Mariano Egana,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, &c.
I will quote one
more letter, subsequently addressed by me to the
Supreme Director, General Freire, in
whose administration I felt a
sincere interest, knowing him to be a
truly honest man, having only at
heart the good of his country; but
from his rough training in the camp,
without the administrative ability to
contend with the intrigues by
which he was surrounded.
Rio de Janeiro,
Dec. 14, 1823.
My respected and
esteemed friend,
It would afford me
great satisfaction to learn that
everything you contemplated for the
advancement and happiness of
your country, has succeeded to the
extent of your wishes and
endeavours, but here we live at so
great a distance, and the
communication by letter is so scanty,
that we have no certain
knowledge with respect to your
proceedings. I dare not venture to
offer you my congratulations, being
well aware that the re-union of
the Congress would present
difficulties which might possibly be
insuperable, fearing also that you may
have been subjected to much
uneasiness by the diversity of views
entertained by the members,
and their deficiency in those habits,
and that general information
in affairs of Government, so necessary
in the deliberations of a
Legislative Assembly.
Here we have had
our Cortes, but their meeting has produced
nothing beneficial to the State. There
existed indeed amongst
them so great a discordance of
opinion, and the temper of those
who found their crude notions opposed
was so violent, that the
Emperor--finding it impracticable to
act with them--determined
to dissolve them, which he did on the
12th of last month, and
issued his commands for the meeting of
a new Cortes, but I much
doubt whether the people in the
various provinces can find others
competent to the task. Everything here
is quiet, and I have no
doubt will remain so in the
neighbourhood of the capital, but I
have some fear as to the disposition
of the northern provinces. I
shall regret much should anything
occur which will disturb the
public tranquillity, now that all the
provinces are entirely free and
independent of European authority.
With regard to
myself, the friendship you have always expressed
and entertained towards me, justifies
my belief that you will be
gratified to learn that everything has
succeeded here to the full
extent of my expectations, the foreign
war being entirely brought to
a close within the short space of six
months; during which period
about seventy vessels have fallen into
our hands, including several
ships of war, amongst which is a
beautiful new frigate of the largest
dimensions.
We have gone on
here in the happy manner that I fondly
anticipated we should have done in
Peru, and which would have
been the case if the expedition which
was intended to be sent to the
Puertos Intermedios three years ago
under your command, had not
been prevented by the intrigues of San
Martin, who was jealous of
anything being done in which he was
not personally engaged,
though he had neither the courage nor
talent to avail himself of
circumstances when appointed to the
command of the Peruvian
expedition.
I have heard that
my reply to San Martin's accusations has been
published in Peru, but as it is
chiefly a personal defence, it cannot
be very interesting to the public, to
whom I feel a great inclination
to address a letter on the causes of
the miscarriage of their military
enterprises, and the origin and
progress of those intrigues which led
to the mismanagement of public
affairs, and disappointed the hopes
and expectations of the worthy people
of Chili, who conducted
themselves so long with patient
submission to rulers who governed
without law, and often without
justice.
In my letter to you of the 21st of
June last, I mentioned at some
length my reasons for leaving Chili,
but as that letter may possibly
have miscarried, I think it well to
repeat here--which I do with
great truth--that it would have given
me great pleasure to have
been at liberty to co-operate with
you; but having, long previous to
your communications, determined from
the ill-treatment I received
to quit the country, I considered that
it was better in every point
of view to conform to that resolution,
without mixing myself in its
internal affairs, it being my
province, as a foreigner, to leave all
parties uncontrolled, and in the free
exercise of their civil rights.
In adhering to this resolution, I
sacrificed both my inclination to
have acted with you in overthrowing
the ministers, and my own
personal interests--abandoning nearly
all that I had individually
hoped to attain; but I had
predetermined to do this, rather than
endure any longer the base intrigues
of those men, and their packed
Convention; whose injustice became the
more conspicuous after
their receiving the stars and
distinctions bestowed by San Martin,
with the promise of estates and
further bounties. Indeed, the
reception which even the late Supreme
Director influenced by these
persons gave to San Martin after his
apostacy to Chili, his cowardice,
ambition, and tyranny in Peru, formed
a sufficient contrast with
the conduct pursued towards me, to
convince me that my presence
in Chili was no longer desired by the
Government, and could not,
under existing circumstances, be
useful to the people.
I hear that
O'Higgins has proceeded to Peru. Personally I wish
him well, and hope that the lesson he
has received will enlighten
him, and enable him in future to
distinguish between sincere
friends and insidious enemies. I fear,
however, that his asylum in
Peru will not meet his expectations,
because his passive acquiescence
in the barbarities inflicted by San
Martin on the Spaniards
to whom he had tendered protection
cannot be forgotten; and the
Peruvian people are not ignorant that
the miseries which they
have suffered might have been averted
by a little firmness on the
part of O'Higgins.
I have no reason
to believe that the old intrigue on the part of
Puyrredon and San Martin, is again
revived by the latter, and that
a French frigate which lately sailed
hence for Buenos Ayres, has a
commission on that subject. Whether
these intrigues extend from
Mendoza over the Cordilleras, or not,
I have no means to ascertain,
but I know that the French Charge
d'Affaires here has been
endeavouring underhand to induce this
Government to give up the
fortifications of Monte Video to the
State of Buenos Ayres, which
can only be with the view of extending
the influence of France in
that quarter.
I fear that I have
already trespassed too long on the time of
your Excellency, otherwise I might
take the liberty to throw out
some suggestions which it appears to
me ought to be useful, though
you may probably have anticipated
them. The principal one is the
benefit which might be derived from
having some accredited agent
here; and from the reciprocal and
formal acknowledgment of the
independence of the respective States.
Treatises of commerce and,
if possible, alliance and mutual
protection against any hostile
attempts on the independence of South
America should be entered
into. This country possesses a
squadron of considerable force, in
addition to which six new frigates and
eight large steam gallies
have been ordered to be built in North
America, England, and the
northern ports of the Empire.
I shall be
gratified if you will do me the favour to honour me
with the continuance of your friendly
correspondence, and believe
me to be,
Your respectful and attached friend,
(Signed) COCHRANE
and Marenhao.
His Excellency Don Ramon Freire,
Supreme Director
of Chili.
P.S. I did not
intend to have trespassed on you with anything of
a private nature, having written at
length to the Accountant-General
on the subject of my brother's claim
for the steamer
"Rising Star," and my own claims for
monies disbursed for the
maintenance of the Chilian squadron,
whilst in pursuit of the Prueba
and Venganza; but, on consideration, I
think it well to request
you to do me the favour to cause
justice to be done. |