38 



CHILI. 



carried to a most unjust and unreasonable length. 

 They often, for instance, blamed living indivi- 

 duals, and whole classes of individuals, for faults 

 and errors with which they were in no respect 

 chargeable, but which resulted from the slow ope- 

 ration of centuries of misrule. They even took 

 delight in fostering and encouraging these preju- 

 dices, knowing them to be such ; a species of wil- 

 ful self-delusion, which, although indefensible in 

 particular instances, may, nevertheless, in the 

 long-run, contribute essentially to the great cause 

 of their country. The spirit which originally 

 roused the South Americans to throw off the Span- 

 ish yoke is kept alive and active by ministering 

 to such antipathies, and the people are thus pre- 

 vented by their passions, as well as their inte- 

 rests, from slumbering at their posts, while their 

 liberty and honour are still in hazard. 



16th of Jan, — I had occasion to send a despatch 

 to the naval Commander-in-chief, Sir Thomas 

 M. Hardy, by an express which might be ex- 

 pected to reach Buenos Ayres from Santiago in 

 twelve days : it is said, however, that the journey 

 has, on some occasions, been made in eleven. 



