52 



CHILI AND VALPARAISO. 



ing established in all the towns for the instruction of the 

 lower classes; and the svstem of education introduced into 

 the schools and colleges is said to be superior. 



The administration of public affairs is better conducted 

 than in any other country in South America. Generally 

 speaking, the magistrates are men of ability and integrity, 

 and nowhere else are life and property better protected. 

 Universal suffrage is granted by the laws of the constitu- 

 tion to every one above twenty-five years of age, and no 

 public measure can be carried which is adverse to the 

 welfare of the masses. 



On the 28th of April, General Joaquim Prieto, Presi- 

 dent of Chili, arrived from St. Jago. He was received by 

 the inhabitants with .all due respect. The civil autho- 

 rities and the military went several miles out of the city to 

 receive him ; the batteries saluted, and the streets through 

 which he passed were decorated with flags and evergreens. 



On the evening of the 30th, we attended a ball given 

 by the citizens of Valparaiso, in honor of the recent vic- 

 tory of Yungai over the Peruvians. It was a brilliant 

 affair, equaling anything of the kind we ever witnessed in 

 the United States, or any other part of the world. The 

 place selected for it was a space between two large build- 

 ings ; temporary arches were erected over head, and the 

 whole was covered with an awning, lined with blue and 

 studded with stars. The room was brilliantly lighted by 

 handsome chandeliers suspended from the arches over 

 head ; the floor was carpeted, and the pillars which sup- 

 ported the roof were decorated with emblems of the vic- 

 tory and nation. At the upper end there was a transpa- 

 rency of General Bulnes, the hero of Yungai, surrounded 

 with scrolls of his deeds. On the sides were hung paint- 

 ings and rich mirrors, in which hundreds of lights were 



