PERU. 



675 



made known to Gutierrez, than he filled the 

 square in front of the Government Palace with 

 troops and artillery, forcibly took the Presi- 

 dent prisoner, sent him to close confinement 

 in a military barracks, declared himself su- 

 preme chief, and placed the city under mar- 

 tial law. To say that this most arbitrary step 

 took the people utterly by surprise would .be 

 under the truth. Paralyzed, without a leader, 

 and uncertain as to the strength of the usurp- 

 er, the populace resolved to await further de- 

 velopment, and to bide their time. That time 

 was not long in arriving ; Gutierrez first failed 

 in forming a cabinet, no respectable man wish- 

 ing to be associated with him ; the diplomatic 

 corps refused to recognize him as the President 

 of the country ; the army every moment was 

 diminished by continual and heavy desertions ; 

 the navy stood out to sea and protested against 

 the monstrous usurpation. Banks and com- 

 mercial establishments were all closed ; Gu- 

 tierrez strove by every means in his power to 

 obtain funds, but none were forthcoming. The 

 newspapers, fearful of prosecution, closed their 

 offices ; the people, peaceful citizens, and even 

 those intent on resistance, were fearful of trav- 

 ersing the streets, and, indeed, a perfect reign 

 of terror existed in Lima. Revolts took place 

 in several barracks, and in Oallao with varying 

 success ; the great want appeared to be some 

 guiding mind to lead to victory. Pardo and 

 other distinguished men had fled to the lega- 

 tions or to the ships-of-war. Thus did matters 

 proceed until the morning of the 26th. The 

 roar of cannon in Oallao, distinctly heard in 

 Lima, announced that at last some steps were 

 being taken to assert the people's cause, the 

 excitement grew apace in the capital ; Colonel 

 Silvestre Gutierrez, the brother of the dictator 

 and his Minister of War, was assailed with 

 shouts and imprecations in the railway-depot ; 

 replying to the threats with his revolver, he 

 was instantly attacked with the same weapon, 

 and in a moment lay dead on the pavement. 

 The people mutilated the corpse in a shocking 

 manner, and only through the efforts of the 

 employes of the railway was it rescued from 

 their hands. The news was immediately car- 

 ried to the dictator in the palace. Furious 

 with rage at the loss of his chief support, he 

 dispatched orders to the barracks, where Balta 

 was confined, to kill him there and then. The 

 command was carried into effect without loss 

 of time ; the unfortunate President was dis- 

 covered ill in bed, when the assassins entered. 

 The principal of these murderers drew his pis- 

 tol and shot the President three times, each 

 ball inflicting a fatal wound, and, by order of 

 the assassin, the soldiers accompanying him 

 pierced the inanimate body with their bayo- 

 nets. The citizens gathering hastily together, 

 with such indifferent arms as could be pro- 

 cured, an attack was resolved upon the bloody 

 monster who had slain their chief. At this 

 moment providentially appeared many of the 

 prominent men of the popular party, unable to 



further contain their indignation, and quick to 

 improve the favorable moment for action. But 

 Gutierrez, awed and terrified at the great roar 

 of the people's cry heard in every part of 

 the city, " Death to the murderer ! " called 

 his few remaining troops together, and on foot, 

 in their midst, marched with pistol in hand to 

 the fort of Santa Catalina, in the suburbs of 

 the city, and there turned at bay. Colonel 

 Herencia Zevallos, the first Vice-President of 

 the republic, now put himself at the head of 

 the masses, arid was hailed with vivas and ac- 

 clamations. u Constitution and the law ! " was 

 the rallying-cry of the populace. Proceeding 

 to the Government House, Colonel Zevallos 

 assumed the formal direction of public affairs, 

 appointed a Cabinet composed of some of the 

 most distinguished men of the country Ri- 

 beyro, Riva-Agiiero, Morales, Canseco, and 

 Tejeda and speedily took the necessary steps 

 to reestablish public order. There was hardly 

 any necessity for this. The people, although 

 intensely excited, only had one object, the 

 summary punishment of Gutierrez. But the 

 dictator still defied his pursuers. Later in 

 the evening it became evident to him that the 

 remnants of his followers were deserting his 

 cause. There was but one mode left escape. 

 Wrapped in a cloak, and with a slouched hat, 

 he emerged alone from the fortress, and had 

 proceeded through the city to the main street, 

 when he was recognized. He rushed into a 

 druggist's shop, where he was speedily sur- 

 rounded by the crowd. A few moments later, 

 all that was left on earth of Tomas Gutierrez 

 was a bloody and disfigured mass of human 

 flesh. The people, exulting in their victory, 

 dragged the body to the principal square, and 

 hung it to a lamp-post. On the morning of 

 the 27th, the corpses of the dictator, and of 

 his brothers, naked, covered with gore and 

 mud, were swinging from the high towers of 

 the great cathedral, gazed at and reviled 

 by twenty thousand people. Thence, they 

 were lowered and burnt to ashes in the prin- 

 cipal square. The loss of life probably did not 

 exceed two hundred, and the city remained 

 perfectly tranquil. 



Throughout the movement the greatest order 

 was observed; the very masses placing guard 

 over the public Treasury, and the principal es- 

 tablishments in the city. The only incident of 

 note in this respect was the forcible opening 

 of a shop in search of arms. With a popular 

 administration conducted by the able men who 

 surround Pardo, the country is destined to 

 progress as few have dreamed of. 



The life of Balta may be said to have been 

 brought to a premature end by the false po- 

 litical measures he adopted, as well as the 

 principles he abandoned. The counsels of 

 false friends led him astray, and the assaults 

 he permitted them to make on the constitution 

 and rights of the people undermined the wall 

 which fell upon and crushed them. The public 

 life of Don Jos6 Balta before he was elected to 



