68 



INTRODUCTION. 



of the constitution, their first magistrates receiving all the honours, 

 and all the consideration consistent with the dignity of the Spanish 

 crown ? 



But Pezuela must have been strangely deceived as to the temper 

 of the South Americans, if he could have imagined that on such 

 vague invitations, they would give up that independence that had 

 already cost them so much : or, that an army, like that now at Pisco, 

 would quietly withdraw from an enemy's country, on the mere requi- 

 sition of its government. However, that no opportunity might be 

 neglected of attaining that freedom peaceably, which, if not conceded 

 by Spain, every man had sworn to die for, the proposals of the 

 viceroy were listened to, and Colonel Don Tomas Guido and the 

 secretary, Garcia del Rio *, were appointed plenipotentiaries on the 

 occasion. But, as the viceroy insisted on the submission of all the 

 South American provinces to the crown and cortes of Spain, the ne- 

 gotiation fell to the ground. The most conciliatory paragraph to be 

 found in the viceroy's letters, after telling San Martin that his best 

 way would be to submit to the king, and swear to the constitution, 

 is the following : — " Although the Americans may have made some 

 " objections, and some complaints concerning points in which they 

 " feel themselves aggrieved, this appears to be of little moment; 

 " for I assure your excellency, that wherever their complaints are 

 " reasonable, they will be done justice to by the cortes and the king." f 

 And on other grounds than that of first taking the oaths to the con- 

 stitution of the cortes, the viceroy refused to treat, while the deputies 

 of San Martin insisted on his recognizing the full authority of Chile 

 as an independent representative government. The truce of Mila- 

 flores was, therefore, speedily ended, and hostilities were declared to 

 have recommenced on the 4th of October, on which day the news of 

 the revolution of Guayaquil arrived. 



The commander-in-chief having sufficiently recruited his army, 



* The same who was afterwards employed in conjunction with Paroissien, in libelling 

 Lord Cochrane, not only in Chile, but in Brazil as well as in England, 

 f See the Gazettes, and the manifesto printed at Pisco, Oct. 13.1 820. 



