50 



SAN MARTIN'S RECEPTION IN LIMA. 



he was out of the reach of business ; when in came 

 two friars, who by some means or other had dis- 

 covered his retreat. Each of them made him a 

 speech, to which his habitual good-nature induced 

 him to listen. One compared him to Ctesar, the 

 other to Lucullus. "Good Heavens!" exclaimed 

 the general, when the fathers left the apartment, 

 " what are we to do? this will never answer." — 

 " Oh ! sir," answered the aide-de-camp, " there 

 are two more of the same stamp close at hand." — 

 " Indeed ! then saddle the horses again, and let us 

 be off." 



Instead of going straight to the palace, San Mar- 

 tin called at the Marquis of Montemira's on his 

 way, and the circumstance of his arrival becoming 

 known in a moment, the house, the court, and the 

 neighbouring streets, were soon filled. I happened 

 to be at a house in the vicinity, and reached the 

 audience-room before the crowd became impass- 

 able. I was desirous of seeing how the General 

 would carry through a scene of no ordinary dif- 

 ficulty ; and he certainly acquitted himself very 

 well. There was, it may be supposed, a large 

 allowance of enthusiasm, and high-wrought expres- 

 sion, upon the occasion ; and to a man innately 

 modest, and naturally averse to show or ostenta- 

 tion of any kind, it was not an easy matter to re- 

 ceive such praises without betraying impatience. 



At the time I entered the room, a middle-aged 

 fine-looking woman was presenting herself to the 

 general : as he leaned forward to embrace her, she 

 fell at his feet, clasped his knees, and looking up 

 exclaimed, that she had three sons at his service, 

 who, she hoped, would now become useful mem- 

 bers of society, instead of being slaves as hereto- 

 fore. San Martin, with much discretion, did not 

 attempt to raise the lady from the ground, but 

 allowed her to make her appeal in the situation 

 she had chosen, and which of course she considered 

 the best suited to give force to her eloquence : he 

 stooped low to hear all she said, and when her first 

 burst was over, gently raised her : upon which she 

 threw her arms round his neck, and concluded her 

 speech while hanging on his breast. His reply 

 was made with suitable earnestness; and the poor 



| woman's heart seemed ready to burst with grati- 



', tude for his attention and affability. 



He was next assailed by five ladies, all of whom 

 wished to clasp his knees at once ; but as this could 

 not be managed, two of them fastened themselves 

 round his neck, and all five clamoured so loudly to 

 gain his attention, and weighed so heavily upon 

 him, that he had some difficulty in supporting him- 

 self. He soon sa'isfied each of them with a kind 

 word or two, and then seeing a little girl of ten or 

 twelve years of age belonging to this party, but 

 who had been afraid to come forward before, he 

 lifted up the astonished child, and kissing her 

 cheek, set her down again in such esctacy, that the 

 poor thing scarcely knew where she was. 



His reception of the next person who came for- 

 ward was quite different ; a tall, raw-boned, pale- 

 faced friar ; a young man, with deep-set dark-blue 

 eyes, and a cloud of care and disappointment wan- 

 dering across his features. San Martin assumed a 

 look of serious oarnestin ss while he listened to the 

 speech of the monk ; who applauded him for the 

 peaceful and Christian-like manner of his entrance 

 into this g| eat city — conduct which, he trusted, was 

 only a forerunner of the gentle character of his 



future government. The General's answer was in 

 a similar strain, only pitched a few notes higher ; 

 and it was curious to observe how the formal cold 

 manner of the priest became animated, under the 

 influence of San Martin's eloquence ; at last losing 

 all recollection of his sedate character, the young 

 man clapped his hands and shouted, " Viva ! viva ! 

 nuestro General!" — "Nay, nay," said the other, 

 " do not say so ; but join with me in calling Viva 

 la independencia del Peru ! " 



The Cabildo, or town-council, hastily drawn to- 

 gether, next entered, and as many of them were 

 natives of the place, and liberal men, they had 

 enough to do to conceal their emotion, and to I 

 maintain the proper degree of stateliness belonging 

 to so grave a body, when they came for the first 

 time into the presence of their liberator. 



Old men, and old women, and young women, 

 crowded fast upon him : to every one he had some- 

 thing kind and appropriate to say; always going 

 beyond the expectation of each person he addressed. 

 During this scene I was near enough to watch 

 him closely ; but I could not detect, either in his 

 manner or in his expressions, the least affecta- 

 tion ; there was nothing assumed, or got up : no- 

 thing which seemed to refer to himself : I could 

 not even discover the least trace of a self-a'pprov- 

 ing smile. But his manner, at the same time, 

 was the reverse of cold ; for he Avas sufficiently 

 animated, although his satisfaction seemed to be 

 caused solely by the pleasure reflected from others. 

 While I was thus watching him, he happened to 

 recognise me, and drawing me to him, embraced 

 me in the Spanish fashion. I made way for a 

 beautiful young woman, who, by great efforts, had 

 got through the crowd. She threw herself into 

 the General's arms, and lay there full half a mi- 

 nute without being able to utter more than " Oh 

 mi General ! mi General ! " She then tried to 

 disengage herself, but San Martin, who had been 

 struck with her enthusiasm and beauty, drew her 

 gently and respectfully back, and holding his 

 head a little on one side, said with a smile, that he 

 must be permitted to show his grateful sense of 

 such good-will, by one affectionate salute. This 

 completely bewildered the blushing beauty, who, 

 turning round, sought support in the arms of an 

 officer standing near the General, who asked her 

 if she were now content : " Contenta ! " she cried, 

 "0 Seiior!" 



It is perhaps worthy of remark, that, during all 

 this time, there were no tears shed, and that, even 

 in the most theatrical parts, there was nothing 

 carried so far as to look ridiculous. 



It is clear that the General would gladly have 

 missed such a scene altogether ; and, had his own 

 plan succeeded, he would have avoided it ; for he 

 intended to have entered the city at four or five in 

 the morning. His dislike of pomp and show was 

 evinced in a similar manner when he returned to 

 Buenos Ayres, after having conquered Chili from 

 the Spaniards, in 1817. He there managed mat- 

 ters with more success than at Lima ; for, although 

 the inhabitants were prepared to give him a public 

 reception, he contrived to enter that capital with- 

 out being discovered. 



