STATE OF PERU* 



281 



motion every engine of strength or policy in his 

 power to accomplish this vital object : and at the 

 time I left Peru, well-grounded hopes were enter- 

 tained of its speedy surrender. 



Meanwhile Lima was in a strange state of con- 

 fusion. The effects of the shock which society 

 had received by the abrupt nature of the revolu- 

 tion, could not be expected to subside for some 

 time ; while the incongruity of the materials of 

 which it was composed offered an effectual bar to 

 real cordiality. The old Spaniards, feeling them- 

 selves to be objects of suspicion and distrust, would 

 willingly have retired from a place where they were 

 considered as intruders. But this was not so 

 easily accomplished, without incurring such losses 

 as overbalanced the danger and discomfort of re- 

 maining. Most of them had large capitals em- 

 barked in commerce ; many had considerable pro- 

 perty in the country ; many also had wives and 

 families in Lima, or were otherwise bound to the 

 soil ; and it became a severe sacrifice to leave their 

 present enjoyments, for the uncertain security held 

 out by Spain, at that moment not in a much quieter 

 state than the colonies. Their best and surest 



