360 JOURNAL. 
“Jaw, might defend it from arbitrary rule. But by a misfortune 
“which often attends the fate of nations, the government, which 
* might have done the most good, wanted talent to accomplish it. 
“ Public discontent has broken through the barrier of oppression ; 
“ and the passions agitated in this impetuous shock against the for- 
“ mer government, threaten ills which, if they be not stopped be- 
“‘ fore they become irremediable, will hurry the country to its ruin, 
“‘ and blot out the records of twelve years of glory and of sacrifices. 
“ To you, then, fathers of the people! it belongs to avert the con- 
‘ fusion, the disorganisation, the dishonour of the country. This is 
“the necessary and grand object for which you are called. The 
“ junta is not afraid to say it— Chile never was in a more dangerous 
“ state. Our revolution presents vicissitudes in which almost all the 
“ errors and inadvertencies of which the human mind is capable have 
“ been committed ; but in a government always concentrated, and in 
“ the strict union of the citizens, the country found a defence against 
“ the misfortunes that threatened to overwhelm it. For the first time, 
“ we have this day heard the cry of disunion ! a word even harsher to 
“ the hearts than the ears of true patriots. Prudence, and a generous 
“ contempt of petty interests, which are nothing compared with the 
“ general good of the state, and principles of exact equality and 
“ justice, alone will avert the disorders, the divisions, which might 
“ lead the people to curse the day when they shook off their peaceful 
“ slavery. 
“It is nearly two months since the votes of our fellow-citizens 
* called us to take upon ourselves the administration of affairs, and 
“no one day of that short period has passed that has not been 
“marked by some circumstance to aggravate the bitterness of our 
“hearts. In presenting to you the political situation of the state, we 
“ direct your eyes to a picture of present misfortunes and of fears 
“ for the future, which fill us with shame, and which we would con- 
*“ ceal, in order that the internal miseries of Chile might not be known 
“ abroad, if the evil called less urgently for redress, and if it were 
