70 



CHILI. 



As there will be occasion to make frequent use 

 of the terms Spaniard and Patriot, it may prevent 

 misapprehension to state, that, by the world Span- 

 iard is exclusively meant a person bom in Old 

 Spain ; and by Patriot one born in South Ame- 

 rica, and attached to the Independent cause. 

 Persons born in the colonies of Spanish parents 

 are, in Europe, usually termed Creoles, but the 

 use of this word I have avoided, as a little offen- 

 sive to South American ears ; probably from its 

 having been the appellation given them during 

 their dependent state. In speaking of themselves, 

 they use the word American, or Patriot; but as 

 the former might lead to confusion with the in- 

 habitants of the United States, it seems least ob- 

 jectionable to use Patriot, when speaking of per- 

 sons born in the country, though descended from 

 Spaniards. The term Patriot, indeed, in its 

 strict sense, does not describe what, in speaking 

 of the South American states, it is applied to ; 

 but it has, of late years, been so universally adopt- 

 ed to designate all descriptions of adherents to 

 the cause opposed to the Spanish authority in 

 South America, that I shall constantly use it in 



