Recent Address of the President of
Chili to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, recognising
Lord Dundonald's services, and according to him full pay as
Admiral for the remainder of his life. Fellow Citizens
of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies,
Towards the end of
1818, when Chili celebrated the first maritime
triumph obtained by our squadron in
Talcahuano, the gallant seaman
Thomas Lord Cochrane, now Earl of
Dundonald, and an admiral in the
British service, appeared upon our
seas, decided to assist the noble
cause of our independence.
The important
services of this chief in the British Navy are well known
during the European war which ended in
1815.
He was a post captain, not in active
service, when the squadron of his
country was reduced to the peace
establishment, and he accepted the
invitation which was made to him in
London by the Chilian agent, to
enter the service of this country, and
came to take the command of our
naval forces, bringing in the prestige
of his name, his great skill and
intelligence, his active and daring
spirit,--a powerful contingent to
that struggle of such vital importance
for our independence, the
dominion of the Pacific.
In how far the
well-founded hopes in the cooperation of Lord Cochrane
were realised by the able direction
which he knew how to give to our
maritime forces, are facts which have
been judged by the world at large
and history. Still alive in our memory
is the taking of Valdivia, the
feats at Callao, the bloody and
splendid triumph of the Esmeralda, the
taking of the Spanish frigates Prueba
and Venganza on the coast of
the Ecuador, and the complete
annihilation of the power of Spain in
these seas executed by our squadron
under the command of Lord Cochrane;
and this Chief upon leaving the
service of Chili in January 1823, and
when he delivered over to Government,
when there were no longer any
enemies to contend with, the
triumphant insignia of his rank, he might
with justice and truth have said, "I
return this into your hands when
Chili has ensured the dominion of the
Pacific."
Chili at the same time that she
resists unjust and exaggerated
pretensions, has always been proud of
her desire to reward, in a
dignified and honourable manner, the
services of illustrious foreigners
who have assisted us in the glorious
struggle for our independence. This
noble and spontaneous sentiment of
national gratitude was what dictated
the law of 6th October, 1842,
incorporating, during his life with the
full pay of his rank, General D. Jose
San Martin, even when he might
reside in foreign parts; and it is the
same sentiment which induces me
to propose to you at present, and with
consent of the Council of State,
the following project of law:--
Sole
Article.--Vice-Admiral Thomas Lord Cochrane,
now Earl of Dundonald, is to be
considered during the term
of his life as in active service of
the squadron of the Republic,
with the full pay of his rank, even
although he may reside
without the territory of Chili.
Santiago, July 28,
1857.
Manuel
Montt.
Jose
Francisco Gana.
* * * * *
Lord Dundonald's
reply to the preceding.
To His Excellency
the President in Council and Congress of Chili.
Your Excellency
magnanimously presented to Congress
a brief but lucid enumeration of my
services to the State, which
being taken into consideration by the
enlightened representatives of
a judicious and gallant people, "full
pay during my life," and an
honorary medal, were voted to me,
accompanied by the truly
gratifying announcement that such
estimable gifts were "en
testimonio de gratitud nacional por
grandes servicios que presto a
la Republica durante la guerra de
Independencia."
These honours I
most thankfully accept, as highly gratifying
proofs that, after the lapse of more
than thirty years, my zealous,
official, extra-official, and
successful exertions, to ensure to Chili
complete independence, internal peace,
and the dominion of the
Pacific, are held in grateful
remembrance by the Government and
People of that highly respected
nation. Nevertheless I must be
permitted to observe that the grant of
full pay, only prospectively,
to one who is upwards of eighty years
of age, is little more than
nominal, as my life, in all human
probability, is approaching its
close. I had hoped that, as vast
benefits have uninterruptedly
accrued to the State, ever since the
completion of the services so
honourably recognised, the grant would
have dated from that period,
in the same manner that has recently
been accorded to me by the
Government of Brazil, which has
decreed the restitution of arrears
of pay from the period that my actual
command ceased, and also its
continuance during my life.
If my services to
Chili be acknowledged to have been great, might
I not expect an equal boon from a
country which owes the blessings
of peace and subsequent tranquillity,
and consequent prosperity, to
the speedy termination of war? I plead
not for myself, most
Excellent Sir, for at my advanced age,
I have few wants, but for the
sake of my children and for the honour
of my family. I need only
point to the additional examples of
Spain and Portugal, where all
general officers and admirals of first
rank, employed in the struggle
for the emancipation and independence
of those countries, were
rewarded by the subsequent continuance
of their pay during their
lives; an engagement ever punctually
discharged.
I have no doubt that had the
recollection of my advanced age been
present to the mind of your Excellency
when you proposed the project
of law in my behalf, and had you
remembered that a merely
prospective grant would be of little
personal benefit to me or to my
numerous family, your Excellency would
have been happy to have
recommended, and the Congress to have
conceded, that it should
likewise be retrospective, especially
as Chili had not (as is the case
in my native country) to rear and
maintain numerous officers for
one found suited to command.
In order to
convince your Excellency that I do not desire full pay
to be granted to me during the long
period elapsed since my services
were rendered (though from the
privations I have suffered and the
losses I have sustained, such delay in
truth might be deemed an
additional title), I therefore beg
most respectfully to suggest to the
consideration of your Excellency, to
that of the Council and National
Congress, as well as to the just
feeling of the honourable people of
Chili, that one half of the pay which
I received in actual service, be
accorded to me retrospectively, in the
same manner that a similar
boon was granted by the Brazilian
nation. This I should accept
with deep gratitude, in compensation
for the wounds I received this
day thirty-six years, in the capture
of the Esmeralda, for other
perilous extra-official services
rendered, and the heavy
responsibilities incurred, all of
which terminated in results most
important to the national cause.
Be assured, most
Excellent Sir, that it is only my advanced age
that prevents me from attempting to
re-visit your now peaceful and
prosperous country, personally to
acknowledge your Excellency's
courtesy, and the kind feeling evinced
towards me by the Council of
State, by the representatives, and
people of Chili. It would be with
delight that I should see steam
vessels now introduced into the
national marine, the great railroad
from Valparaiso to Quillotta and
Santiago, now in progress, and witness
the various important
improvements accomplished, and
advancement in national prosperity
effected in the course of the last
third of a century. Such happy
results testify highly to the merits
of the Government and to the
character of the Chilian people.
COCHRANE--DUNDONALD.
London, Nov. 5, 1857.
Letter from the
Supreme Director of Chili, approving all I had done in
Peru. This letter was written in
English, in which tongue His Excellency
was by no means unversed, having, in
early life, had the advantage of a
few years spent at Richmond; a
circumstance which, in after years, gave
to his mind an English tone, elevating
him far above the then
narrow-minded men by whom,
unfortunately for Chili, he was surrounded
and thwarted.
Most secret and
confidential.
Santiago, Nov. 12, 1821.
My Dear Friend Lord Cochrane,
Capt. Morgell, the bearer of this, has
delivered to
me the despatches sent by you in the
Ceransasee, together with your
interesting notes, Nos. 1 to 9, dated
10th to 30th of September
last; as also the documents to which
they are referred. I have read
them, with great attention, but have
always felt just indignation
against the ungrateful course pursued
towards Chili, which can only
be tempered by the pleasure which I
feel in reading the dignity,
good judgment, and knowledge with
which you knew how to sustain
your rights, and those of this
Republic.
It was my wish that this reply should
not be in writing, but
personally, and with embraces of
approbation for all that you have
said and practised under the difficult
circumstances detailed in your
private and official letters; but as
the great distance in which you
are from this deprives me of this
pleasure, and as you expect to add
new glories to Chili in the seizure of
the Prueba and Venganza, and
to bring them to port Bernardo under
your orders, I will hastily
answer the principal points of your
communications.
The party and the
words you mention, do not leave any doubt of
the small hopes which Chili is to have
for its sacrifices; yet there
is nothing to fear from such
intentions when discovered. Whilst
the squadron under your orders
commands the Pacific, this Republic
is very well covered, and it is in our
hands to be the masters of the
moral, political, commercial, and even
of the physical force of this
part of America.
* * * * *
Although the
battery placed at Ancon after the enemy went away
in tranquillity, and the threat (from
San Martin,) about not paying
one real, unless Chili should sell the
squadron to Peru, made it
excusable not to send any mission
there; yet I have named my
Minister of Finance, in whom I have
the greatest confidence,
to go to Lima to fix the basis of
relations, and to ask compensation
for the active debt of Chili against
Peru. My Minister has orders
to return as soon as possible, let the
end of his mission be what it
will, and by that time you may have
returned to Chili, and then
we will accord the ulterior.
It is very painful
that the garrison of Callao would not capitulate
under your flag! Then you and Chili
would have been implored
for grants,--then all should have been
paid without excuse,--and
then you would not have found yourself
under the necessity
of taking the property retained, to
pay and save the squadron. I
would have done the same if I had been
there, therefore I say again
all has my approbation, and I give to
you, as to the meritorious
officers under your orders, my cordial
thanks for their fidelity and
heroism, in favour of Chili, where, in
a more glorious and decorous
way, the fortune of all will be made
in the course of progress which
events are preparing for this happy
country; whilst it is not known
what is to be had in Peru, because, as
you observe, the war is only
beginning, which will be followed by
poverty, discontent, and above
all, anarchy. They will soon feel the
want of you and of the
squadron, and those ungrateful
officers who separated themselves
from you to enter the Peruvian navy
will also feel their deceit and
punishment. They have been scratched
out of the list of the
Chilian navy, and I only wait your
arrival or an official detail
relating to the expedition, to assign
lands and premiums to those
who have not abandoned you, and in
particular to the honourable
Captains Crosbie, Wilkinson, Delano,
Cobbet, and Simpson, whom you
recommend.
Although we live
in poverty, and the Exchequer continues in
affliction, yet we have sufficient
resignation and courage to make
convenient sacrifices. All my efforts
shall be employed in making
the Rising Star one of the vessels of
our squadron, and then we
shall be invincible, and by keeping
good relations with Sir Thomas
Hardy, and by his means with England,
we shall establish fundamental
principles to our glories. I am
satisfied of the conferences
and deliberations you had with this
gentleman, and I approve the
whole, although the Valparaiso
merchants might scream.
I like the
precautions you have taken in sending correspondence
directly to me, and not to the
ministry. But you must
understand that even before I had read
your private and official
letters, much of their contents was
known to the public, no doubt
by the private communications of some
officers, or by what was
verbally communicated in Valparaiso by
the officers of the Aransasu.
On my part, I also recommend you all
necessary secrecy on the
contents of this letter, so that our
reserve may not be frustrated,
and our best measures disappointed.
I shall claim from
the Lima Government satisfaction for putting
in prison the First Lieutenant of the
O'Higgins, and also for
imprisoning him of the same class
belonging to the Valdivia, as
also for the threat of the Ungrateful
Guida, as narrated in your
favour of the 29th of September last.
I assure you that I will
never permit the least insult against
the flag of this Republic. I
felt the greatest pleasure in the
answer you gave to Monteagudo
and Guida in your note of the 28th and
29th.
As you have left Callao there is
nothing officially to communicate
upon your conduct there. You have not
submitted to Lima neither
directly nor indirectly, and from the
moment the independence of
that country was declared under the
protectoral Government of San
Martin ceased the provisional control
that he had upon the
squadron.
The province of
Conception is almost free of enemies, and I hope
Chiloe will be so very soon, to
accomplish our greatness. There is
a nursery for a good navy, and when
you can visit that archipelago
you will discover advantages and
richness, relieved from the care of
indolent and despotic Spain.
Believe me, my
dear Lord,
Your eternal friend,
O'HIGGINS. |