16 



THE SPANIARDS OPPRESSED BY THE PATRIOTS. 



of the country, all kept fresh and cool, by four 

 fountains playing in the angles. Over the tops of 

 the trees, between the steeples of the great convent 

 of San Francisco, could be seen the tops of the 

 Andes capped in clouds. Such was the ancient 

 audience-hall of the viceroys of Peru. 



The Insurgent General, San Martin, as the 

 Spaniards in the bitterness of their disappointment 

 affected to call him, sat at the top of the room, 

 before an immense mirror, with his ministers on 

 the right and left. The president of the council, 

 at the other end of the hall, invested the several 

 knights with their ribbons and stars ; but the 

 Protector himself administered the obligation on 

 honour, by which they were bound to maintain 

 the dignity of the order, and the independence of 

 the country. 



After a very busy and amusing visit of a week, 

 during which our attention was constantly occu- 

 pied by the multiplicity and variety of the objects 

 in this renovated capital, we sailed, with orders 

 to visit the coast of South America, as far as the 

 Isthmus of Panama ; thence to proceed along the 

 shores of Mexico which are washed by the Pa- 

 cific, to call at the various ports by the way, and 

 then to return to Peru and Chili. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



Sketch of the State of Peruvian Politics at the Close of 

 1821, and during the Year 1822.— Expulsion of the Spa- 

 niards from Lima. — Meeting of the Peruvian Congress. — 

 Disasters of the Patriots. — General San Martin leaves 

 Peru. — Explanation of his Views, and Remarks on his 

 Character and Conduct. 



Circumstances occurred to prevent the comple- 

 tion of this plan, and to render it necessary for 

 me to repass Cape Horn, without again visiting the 

 western coast. I cannot, therefore, from personal 

 observation, or from inquiry on the spot, give any 

 detail of the interesting and important events which 

 took place subsequent to our departure. The fol- 

 lowing brief sketch, however, will serve to wind 

 up the various accounts already given. The facts, 

 I am confident, are correctly stated : to reason 

 upon them to any useful purpose is a difficult task, 

 and one which I am not prepared to undertake. 

 Few persons in England have succeeded in ac- 

 quiring any distinct conception of South American 

 politics, from the accounts given in the newspapers, 

 or other publications ; and it may be some conso- 

 lation to others to know, that, at this distance, even 

 those who have been long on the spot, and know 

 all the parties concerned, find very considerable 

 difficulty in getting at the truth of any events sub- 

 sequent to their visit. Even with the assistance 

 of trust-worthy correspondents, and facilities of 

 reference to authentic documents, they still en- 

 counter no small difficulty in arranging their infor- 

 mation, so as to estimate correctly the merits of the 

 great measures which are to settle the fate of the 

 country. An unprejudiced and connected narrative, 

 written by an impartial eye-witness, is the only 

 remedy for this evil. The field of view, indeed, is 

 so immensely extensive, so remote, and so crowded 

 with new objects, and the information we receive 

 lias to pass through such an atmosphere of preju- 

 dice and selfishness, and comes to us at such 



irregular intervals, that it is almost out of the 

 question for any one, not on the spot, to acquire 

 adequate means of forming a correct judgment of 

 what is passing in South America. 



In August 1821, as has been stated, San Martin 

 became self-elected Protector of Peru. After this 

 he proceeded steadily in recruiting and disciplining 

 his army ; in reforming the local abuses in the 

 administration of affairs ; in preparing and pro- 

 mulgating a provisional statute by which the 

 government was to be administered, until the per- 

 manent constitution of the state should be establish- 

 ed. Having business to transact at Truxillo, a 

 sea-port town to the northward of Lima, he ap- 

 pointed the Marquis of Torre Tagle as supreme 

 delegate in his absence. The person, however, 

 essentially charged with the executive administra- 

 tion, was Don Bernardo Monteagudo, a very able 

 man and a most zealous Patriot ; but who, besides 

 being unpopular in his manners, was a bitter enemy 

 to the whole race of Old Spaniards. After a short 

 absence San Martin returned, yet he did not osten- 

 sibly resume the reins of government, nor live in 

 the palace ; but retired to La Magdalena, his 

 country-house, at a short distance from Lima. 



Towards the end of the year 1821, a decree was 

 published, ordering every unmarried Spaniard to 

 leave the country, and to forfeit half his property ; 

 and within a few months afterwards, this decree 

 was extended to married men also. Upon one 

 occasion, no less than four hundred Spaniards of 

 the first families, and the most wealthy persons in 

 Lima, were forcibly taken from their houses and 

 marched on foot to Callao ; surrounded by guards, 

 and followed by their wives and children, of whom 

 they were not even allowed to take leave, before 

 they were thrust on board a vessel, which sailed 

 immediately with them to Chili. Though, by the 

 original decree, only one-half of the property of 

 Spaniards was confiscated, it was soon altered to 

 the whole ; and in July, 1822, the ruin of the Old 

 Spaniards was complete. The manner, also, in 

 which this persecution was carried on, is said to 

 have been unfeeling and ill-judged : the most in- 

 sulting decrees were published, such as, " That no 

 Spaniard should wear a cloak, lest he should con- 

 ceal weapons" — " That they should never be seen 

 out of doors after the vespers" — " That no more 

 than two should be seen together ;" and, it is even 

 said, a Spanish woman was once actually put in 

 the pillory for speaking disrespectfully of the Patriot 

 cause. 



The whole of these arbitrary measures were 

 carried into effect during the nominal administra- 

 tion of Torre Tagle ; and it was generally believed 

 that their offensive and cruel execution originated 

 with the prime minister Monteagudo. But if they 

 be in themselves unjustifiable, and deserve the 

 imputation of tyranny, it will not avail San Mar- 

 tin's friends to say they were the acts of another ; 

 for he was notoriously the main-spring of the whole 

 government, nor would he himself seek to escape 

 censure, if the measures were proved to be wrong, 

 by any such subterfuge. 



In May the Patriot army under General Tristan, 

 sent by San Martin against the Spaniards, was 

 defeated : still he remained inactive. In July he 

 left Lima for Guayaquil, where he had an inter- 

 view with Bolivar. During his absence the people 

 of Lima, irritated by the arbitrary proceedings of 



