294 THE CONSTITUTION. Chap. XVIII. 



under the rule of General Don Ramon Oastilla, an old Indian 

 of Tarapaca, for tlie first six years, and afterwards of General 

 Echenique. During this period the countiy advanced 

 rapidly in material prosperity, but in 1854 it was again con- 

 vulsed by a revolution, caused by the general discontent of 

 the people at the gross malversations and unblushing robbery 

 of Echenique's Government. Castilla placed himself at the 

 head of this movement, and, with the aid of a large army, 

 has retained his power up to the present day. The insurrec- 

 tion at Arequipa, and mutiny in the fleet, in 1857-58, were 

 purely local, and did not affect the general tranquillity of the 

 country. 



Towards the close of Peru's ten years of convulsion, a con- 

 stitution was adopted, establishing a strictly centralising form 

 of government, in 1839, in which immense power was placed 

 in the hands of the executive. But during the ten years of 

 peace which followed the election of Castilla in 1844, men's 

 minds were strongly influenced by European travel and by 

 more extended reading, extreme Hberal views were very 

 generally adopted, and the old constitution was felt to be out 

 of date. In 1856, therefore, a new constitution was j)romul- 

 gated by a national assembly summoned for the purpose by 

 General CastiUa, in which abstract ideas of what is just and 

 right were unhesitatingly and heedlessly adopted ; and a 

 strong tendency to federalism and local self-government was 

 displayed. 



By a stroke of the pen the capitation-tax paid by the Indians, 

 the principal source of revenue in ordinary times, the slavery 

 of negros on the coast, and all capital punishments were en- 

 tirely abolished. There would have been some nobleness in 

 the abolition of slavery, and the grant of 1,780,000 dollars 

 as compensation, as well as a display of liberal sentiment, if 

 it had in any way increased the burdens of the people, but 

 this was not the case. For the same reason the discon- 

 tinuance of the tribute paid by the Indians was a mere act 



