THE PALACE AT LIMA. 



21 



contending parties : his indifference is ascribed to 

 ill-will — the slightest expression which escapes 

 him in favour of the other party is resented as 

 hostility — and any agreement, on a single point, is 

 instantly seized upon as an indubitable proof of his 

 friendly disposition. 



To a mere traveller, this state of things might 

 have been amusing enough ; but to us, who had a 

 particular line of conduct to pursue, and a number 

 of objects to attend to, it was frequently the source 

 of considerable embarrassment. We were obliged 

 to communicate occasionally with both parties, on 

 business relative to commerce, and other matters 

 affecting the British interests ; and as the nature of 

 the subject often required personal intercourse, we 

 were inevitably led, at times, to a greater degree 

 of apparent familiarity with one party, than the 

 other could allow to be consistent with our pro- 

 fessed neutrality. Each, however, in turn, inva- 

 riably forgot this reflection, when the intercourse 

 happened to lie with themselves : so that, to main- 

 tain our neutral character on these occasions, and 

 not at the same time to give offence, required 

 some address. With the Chilians, whose fortunes 

 were advancing, it was not so difficult as with the 

 Spaniards, who stood in need of countenance. The 

 j Chilians also had good reason to believe that we 

 wished them success, on account of our trade ; as 

 well as from the sentiments known to be expressed 

 on the subject in England. But with the Spaniards, 

 who were sinking in the world, it was otherwise : 

 nothing would satisfy them but a declaration of 

 cordial adherence to their cause, and hatred to 

 that of the Insurgents, as they, in the bitterness 

 of their hearts, called the Patriots. At the same 

 time they always affected to despise their enemies, 

 and to be perfectly indifferent to our opinion ; yet, 

 with the perversest spirit of inconsistency, they 

 occupied themselves in watching us, and misinter- 

 preting all our actions and expressions to such a 

 degree, that nothing was too extravagant to be 

 told and believed in Lima respecting our breaches 

 of neutrality. It was in vain, by a frank and open 

 behaviour, to hope to escape suspicion ; for it had 

 become a sort of disease amongst the Spaniards 

 to suspect the English ; and its symptoms were 

 aggravated every moment by the increasing dis- 

 tresses to which they were exposed. It will be 

 , easily conceived that, under such circumstances, 

 we had not much enjoyment in visiting Lima, and 

 that, situated as we were, with many anxious 

 , duties to attend to, little leisure could be found 

 to remark or to record peculiarities of society and 

 i manners. 



Even when we did go into company, no great 

 j pleasure was to be derived from it ; as the people 

 1 had neither leisure nor spirits to discuss any other 

 topic than their own apprehensions and sufferings. 

 The undisturbed quiet which they had so long 

 enjoyed, made them only more sensible to the 

 present evil ; and all was doubt and despair. In 

 former times, said the Limenians, our city was 

 that in which pleasure held her court ; wealth 

 and ease were our attendants ; enjoyment was our 

 only business ; and we dreamt of no evil but an 

 earthquake. They had yet to learn that there are 

 moral and political, as well as physical earthquakes, 

 which, though they leave churches and dwellings 

 undestroyed, may lay the whole fabric of society 



The Royalist army, in common with the people, 

 as usual, referred every evil to the mismanage- 

 ment of the executive government ; and having 

 decided, in their summary way, that the Viceroy 

 was unfit to reign, they forthwith deposed him at 

 the point of the bayonet; and raised one of their 

 own Generals in his place. This strong measure 

 had been carried into effect a few days before we 

 arrived, and we found the city in considerable 

 bustle, preparatory to the festivities usual on the 

 installation of a new Viceroy. The soldiers, of 

 course, were confident the change would imme- 

 diately turn the fortunes of the day, and, even in 

 the city, a faint hope for a moment animated the 

 inhabitants : but most reflecting persons saw 

 clearly, that these violent proceedings only be- 

 trayed to the enemy their own want of union and 

 discipline. 



As we were not, and, indeed, could not be com- 

 petent judges of these proceedings, and were not 

 accredited to any particular government, or autho- 

 rity, we were always left free to take things as we 

 found them, and to communicate with the person 

 at the head of the government, for the time being, 

 whoever he might be, and without inquiring how 

 he got there. It thus became my duty to pay my 

 respects to the new Viceroy, General La Serna ; 

 as it would have been to have waited on his pre- 

 decessor, General Pezuela, had I arrived a few 

 days sooner. 



The palace had a good deal the air of a native 

 court in India ; exhibiting the same intermixture 

 of meanness and magnificence in style, which, 

 while it displays the wealth and labour it has 

 cost, betrays, at the same time, a want of taste 

 and judgment in the design. There was no keep- 

 ing amongst the parts ; so that the shabby and 

 the gorgeous were blended, and one was never 

 sure that anything pleasing would not be found 

 contiguous to something offensive. The entrance 

 was by a dirty court, like that of a stable-yard, 

 communicating with a staircase, on the steps of 

 which the soldiers of the guard, in ragged shabby 

 uniforms, were lounging about, smoking their 

 segars at their ease, and making way for no one. 

 A long and narrow set of winding passages brought 

 us to a suite of waiting-rooms, filled with many 

 weary supplicants, amongst whom the etiquette of 

 precedence was not forgotten, the poorest and 

 most hopeless being left in the outer apartments. 

 In the room adjoining the audience chamber, we 

 saw only the priesthood and military ; for, in these 

 turbulent seasons, the value of a sword is esti- 

 mated, at least at its due weight. Our interview, 

 being merely ceremonial, was short, and led to 

 nothing worth relating. 



In the evening I was introduced to several 

 families, all of which were more or less cast down 

 by the circumstances of the day ; and their good- 

 breeding was hardly sufficient to conceal their 

 suspicions of our neutrality. 



Next morning we called upon the deposed Vice- 

 roy, rather as a civility than a duty, for his autho- 

 rity was utterly destroyed, and he had retired to 

 his country-seat, called La Magdalene, not far from 

 Lima. He was more dejected than we thought a 

 haughty grandee ought to have been : but he ex- 

 plained this to us, by saying, that he felt deeply 

 for his lost country, which he foresaw would 

 never prosper under such rebellious guidance. 



