18 



SUMMARY OF SAN MARTIN'S CHARACTER. 



The royal troops soon took advantage of the 

 imbecility of the Patriots, who were without a 

 leader : and in June 1823 General Canterac re- 

 entered Lima ; and, having driven the Patriots 

 into Callao, levied heavy contributions of money 

 and goods on the inhabitants, destroyed the mint, 

 and retired again to Upper Peru, after a stay of 

 only fourteen days. 



While these ruinous proceedings were going 

 on, Bolivar was bringing the war in Colombia to 

 a close ; and foreseeing, that if the affairs of Lima 

 were not put into better train the Spaniards 

 would in a short time re-establish their authority, 

 and probably shake the power of the Independents 

 in Colombia ; he resolved to accept the invitation 

 of the Peruvians, and to proceed to Peru with a 

 considerable force. The Spaniards, however, 

 retired some time before Bolivar's approach. He 

 has since met with various success in that country, 

 the detail of which it is not the purpose of this 

 narrative to enter into. Of the ultimate success 

 of the Independents there cannot be the slightest 

 doubt : the reverses to which the Peruvians have 

 been subjected, will only have the effect of giving 

 them and the whole of the other South American 

 States a fresh stimulus to accomplish more com- 

 pletely their great object. 



As the character and conduct of San Martin 

 have been made the subject of a controversy into 

 which for many reasons I am unwilling to enter 

 minutely, I shall merely state what are the leading 

 points of this topic ; the real merits of which 

 cannot for the present, as I conceive, be fully 

 understood at this distance from the spot. 



The first charge made against him is his want 

 of activity and energy in the conduct of the Peru- 

 vian war ; the next, his despotic expulsion of the 

 Old Spaniards in Lima ; and the last, his desertion 

 of the Independent cause at a season of great 

 danger and perplexity. 



With respect to the first of these charges, 

 enough, perhaps, has already been said, both in 

 describing the effects and in explaining the prin- 

 ciples of his cautious and protracted system of 

 revolutionising, rather than of conquering the 

 country. 



The banishment and ruin of the Spaniards are 

 justified by San Martin's friends on the ground of 

 the obstinate conduct of those individuals them- 

 selves, who, it is asserted, resisted every attempt 

 to engage them to co-operate cordially with the 

 Patriots, and who persisted at all times in intriguing 

 for the restoration of the old authority. It is 

 urged by his adherents, that in Colombia and 

 Mexico a similar degree of severity towards the 

 Spaniards has been found indispensable to the 

 safety of the new governments. In Chili, and also in 

 Buenos Ayres, the same policy has been considered 

 necessary ; but as their revolutions were more 

 gradually brought about, the extirpation of the 

 Spaniards, though equally complete, has been 

 accompanied by less abruptness. 



With respect to the propriety or impropriety of 

 San Martin's leaving the Peruvians to be governed 

 by the Congress, unaided by him, it is difficult to 

 Bpeak decidedly, without more exact and extensive 

 information on the subject than lias vet been 

 published, lb' never made any secret of his wish 



for retirement, and lost no opportunity of declaring, 



both publicly and privately, his intention of grati- 



fying his inclinations as soon as the independence 

 of Peru should be established. The question, there- 

 fore, seems to be, not whether he was justified in 

 leaving the Peruvians at all, but whether he seized 

 the proper moment for doing so. It is true that 

 he undertook to stand by and protect Peru when 

 the sole charge was placed in his hands ; but 

 when the inhabitants, after a whole year's reflec- 

 tion, thought fit to claim from him the privilege of 

 being governed by representatives chosen from 

 amongst themselves, he did not feel justified in 

 refusing their demand. Yet, at the same time, 

 he may not have considered himself at all called 

 upon, as the subject of another state, to serve a 

 country that no longer sought his protection ; but 

 which, on the contrary, felt competent to its own 

 defence, and entitled to an uninfluenced govern- 

 ment ; which, in his opinion, it could never possess 

 as long as he was present. It was altogether 

 contrary to his usual practice and feelings to use 

 force in advancing his opinions : — and finding that 

 he had lost his influence, and that the whole 

 country, and even Buenos Ayres and Chili, accused 

 him of a wish to make himself king — he was 

 resolved to abandon, for the present, a cause he 

 could no longer benefit. 



Viewing matters then as they now stand (1823), 

 or seem to stand, and reflecting on the character of 

 San Martin, it is quite evident that he is a man 

 not only of great abilities, both as a soldier and a 

 statesman, but that he possesses, in a remarkable 

 degree, the great and important quality of winning 

 the regard and commanding the devoted services 

 of other men. To these high attributes he is 

 indebted for the celebrity he acquired by the 

 conquest of Chili, and its solid establishment as a 

 free state : and, whatever may be said of his latter 

 conduct in quitting Peru, when he found it im- 

 possible to govern it in the manner he wished, he 

 may still safely lay claim to the full honour of 

 having also paved the way for the liberation of 

 that country. 



These are no trifling services for one man to 

 perform ; and if we believe San Martin in earnest 

 in his desire for retirement, as I most sincerely 

 do, we shall have still more reason to respect that 

 disinterested public spirit, and that generous love 

 of liberty, which could for so many years surmount 

 every consideration of a private nature. It is so 

 rare to see such high powers as he unquestionably 

 possesses, united with a taste for domestic and 

 retired life, that many are slow to believe him 

 sincere. If, however, that doubt be removed, 

 and the above character be supposed fairly drawn, 

 we shall arrive at an explanation of his conduct, 

 perhaps not far from the truth ; by supposing him 

 to have imagined, at the time he retired, that he 

 had done enough ; and that, consistently with his 

 real character and feelings, he could be of no 

 further service to the Peruvians ; or that, at all 

 events, his presence was not likely to advance 

 their cause ; and that, by retiring for a time, he 

 might more essentially advance the great object 

 of his life, than he could hope to do by struggling 

 against the wishes of the country so decidedly 

 expressed. 



This is stated neither as praise nor as blame : 

 but simply as affording some explanation of a 

 very curious historical event. Whether or not it 

 would have been better for the cause of Peruvian 



