2G 



A MILITARY COMMISSION. 



such by the receivers. For my own part, I was 

 well satisfied with seeing people so easily made 

 happy, and thought no more of the matter. Just 

 now, however, when I had become an object of 

 suspicion, and when the lives of two of my officers 

 were at stake, it was of some consequence to main- 

 tain any good-will that accident might have gained 

 for me amongst the mob — a mob, it may be added, 

 of a notoriously sanguinary character, since, on a 

 recent occasion, they had actually put a whole 

 boat's crew to death, during a popular tumult. 

 This occurred a few days after the capture of the 

 Esmeralda, in consequence of an idea, equally 

 preposterous with that which possessed them now, 

 that the American frigate Macedonian had co- 

 operated with Lord Cochrane upon that occa- 

 sion. 



As I was mounting to return to Lima, on coming 

 out of the Castle after seeing the officers, a crowd 

 rapidly collected around me, seemingly in no 

 cordial mood. I walked my horse deliberately 

 to the nearest of the houses to which any letter 

 or message from Valparaiso had been delivered, 

 and, under pretence of asking for a glass of water", 

 stopped at the door. The people of the house 

 came running out to receive me, and one of them 

 said, in a tone partaking both of kindness and 

 reproach, " Oh, Senor, I did not think you would 

 have allowed spies to land in your boat." " And 

 I, my good lady," said I, " never could have sup- 

 posed you would allow such an absurd suspicion 

 to enter your head." The crowd had, by this 

 time, collected in great numbers round us, listen- 

 ing to all that passed, and many of my old ac- 

 quaintances came forward to renew the subject of 

 their Valparaiso friends. In this way the con- 

 versation went on for about ten minutes, after 

 which I turned my horse towards Lima. The 

 crowd opened a passage for me ; and I was never 

 afterwards molested or threatened in the slightest 

 degree, though I passed through Callao several 

 times every day during the next week, at a time 

 when the hatred and suspicion of the English were 

 at their greatest height. 



The delay of a Spanish pleyto, or cause, is, above 

 all others, proverbial ; and, therefore, it was not 

 matter of surprise, however it might be of vexa- 

 tion, that the release of my officers was not obtained 

 at once. An official letter was written to Govern- 

 ment to require their restitution, as they had been 

 identified by me, and I pledged myself, of course, 

 to the truth of this statement. The difficulty was 

 to determine the value of my word, as opposed to 

 the oath of no less than five men at Callao, who 

 had sworn, it seems, most positively, that they had 

 recently seen these very officers doing duty on 

 board Lord Cochrane's ships ; whereas, in point 

 of fact, neither of them had ever set their foot on 

 board any one of the Chilian squadron. The 

 Viceroy admitted that the character of the wit- 

 nesses was utterly worthless ; but he did not, or, 

 perhaps, could not, do me the justice to act upon 

 that admission. It was clear enough that he 

 doubted his own power ; for he said very can- 

 didly, that the tide of popular feeling could not be 

 safely resisted, without a little delay. This want 

 of confidence on the part of the executive govern- 

 ment was a real source of alarm ; and I was made 

 still more uneasy, by learning that the officers 

 were to be tried by a military commission — an 



ominous court at best, and one, in such times, of 

 a nature not to be trusted. 



The Viceroy told me, at this interview, that he 

 had just received advices often or twelve deserters 

 from the Chilian squadron having arrived : he had 

 ordered them to Callao that their evidence might 

 also be taken in the case of the officers. The tes- 

 timony of these men, he thought, would probably 

 not agree with that of the first five witnesses, who 

 might well be suspected of having concerted their 

 story. This seemed sensible enough ; but the 

 manner in which the scheme was carried into 

 execution was highly characteristic. The Govern- 

 ment considered that they had done everything 

 towards the advancement of justice, in originating 

 the idea of this cross-evidence ; and, therefore, 

 merely gave an order for the deserters to be sent 

 to Callao, without stating that they should be 

 kept apart from the first witnesses : so that they 

 absolutely were placed, for a whole night, in the 

 same room with the very men whom they were 

 sent to confront. 



I attended next morning, along with the officers, 

 whilst the declarations of all the witnesses were 

 taken, by the commission appointed for that pur- 

 pose ; when fifteen men swore on the cross to the 

 fact of these two gentlemen, whom they pointed 

 out, having served upwards of two years with 

 Lord Cochrane. They were all men of the most 

 abandoned character, and well known at Callao as 

 such ; but that circumstance mattered little, as 

 their evidence ministered to the heated imagina- 

 tion and violent prejudices of the people. As far, 

 therefore, as this sage inquiry went, it would cer- 

 tainly have left matters worse than it found them, 

 had not three Spanish gentlemen voluntarily come 

 forward, greatly to their honour, in the very face 

 of the popular clamour, and in a manner well 

 deserving our acknowledgments. Two of them 

 were naval officers, the other a respectable mer- 

 chant ; all three had been prisoners of war on 

 board Lord Cochrane's ship at the time specified 

 by the witnesses ; and they swore positively, that 

 neither of the prisoners had then been on board 

 the flag- ship, nor any other of the Patriot squadron. 



Had not the latter witnesses fortunately come 

 forward, there is no saying what might have been 

 the result of the inquiry. The military com- 

 mission, however, appointed to consider the evi- 

 dence, after a violent discussion, in the course of 

 which it was seriously proposed to hang the officers 

 as spies, agreed, by a small majority, to liberate 

 them. 



The military commission took this occasion to 

 recommend to Government, not to allow any 

 stranger to land from the foreign ships in the 

 Roads, during these turbulent times. As this 

 part of the despatch is curious, from showing the 

 state of feeling at the moment, I subjoin a transla- 

 tion of it : " And in order to maintain the friend- 

 ship and harmony so valuable to both nations ; to 

 place out of reach all motive of dissension ; and 

 to avoid misunderstandings between the English 

 and Spaniards, which, in consequence of the opi- 

 nions held at Lima, and still more at Callao, neither 

 the prudence, the foresight, nor the zeal of the 

 commanders can prevent ; it seems necessary to 

 the Government, under existing circumstances, 

 (the port being blockaded by the Chilian squadron, 

 under Lord Cochrane,) that all strange ships 



