270 



PERU. 



fectly accomplished, were I not to establish per- 

 manently both the security and the prosperity of 

 the inhabitants of this region. 



" From the moment of my landing at Pisco, I 

 announced that the imperious necessity of circum- 

 stances obliged me to vest myself with the supreme 

 authority, and that I held myself responsible to 

 the country for its due exercise. Those circum- 

 stances have not varied; since there is still in Peru 

 a foreign enemy to combat, and, consequently, it 

 is a measure of necessity, that the political and 

 military authority should continue united in my 

 person. 



I hope that, in taking this step, I shall have 

 the justice done me to have it believed, that I am 

 not influenced by any ambitious views, but solely 

 by such as conduce to the public good. It is abun- 

 dantly notorious that I aspire to tranquillity alone, 

 and to retirement from so agitated a life : but I 

 bear upon me a moral responsibility which requires 

 the sacrifice of my most earnest desires. Ten 

 years of experience in Venezuela, Cundinamarca, 

 Chili, and the united provinces of the river Plate, 

 have taught me to know the evils which flow from 



