Earl of Thomas Cochrane Dundonald

“ Some internal commotions agitate Chili. It is not my business to investigate their causes, to accelerate or retard their effects; I can only wish that the result may be favourable to the national interest.
Chilenos. You have expelled from your country the enemies of your independence, do not sully the glorious act by encouraging discord and promoting anarchy—that greatest of all evils. Consult the dignity to which your heroism has raised you, and if you must take any step to secure your national liberty—judge for yourselves—act with prudence—and be guided by reason and justice. ”

“ In how far the well-founded hopes in the cooperation of Lord Cochrane were realised by the able direction which he knew how to give to our maritime forces, are facts which have been judged by the world at large and history. Still alive in our memory is the taking of Valdivia, the feats at Callao, the bloody and splendid triumph of the Esmeralda, the taking of the Spanish frigates Prueba and Venganza on the coast of the Ecuador, and the complete annihilation of the power of Spain in these seas executed by our squadron under the command of Lord Cochrane ”

“ MOST EXCELLENT SIR, I have to acquaint your Excellency that a belief that the squadron was about to withdraw and leave the abandoned and disorderly military of this place under the feeble control of his Excellency the President, excited a degree of dread in the public mind amounting almost to a state of frenzy—and convinced me that I had no alternative, but either to abandon the principal inhabitants, and, indeed, the whole white population, to the fury of mercenary troops and blacks—or to remain with the squadron until another President should be nominated by His Imperial Majesty. ”

“ Is it not ungenerous to exclude me from my share of the prize-money taken in the first expedition, though a prize tribunal is at this moment sitting in Rio de Janeiro to consider the claims of officers and men, nine-tenths of whom are dead? Is it not ungenerous to have engaged me in the extra-professional service of putting down revolution and anarchy in the Northern provinces, and when the mission was successfully accomplished, to have dismissed me from the Imperial service without one expression of acknowledgment or the slightest reward? ”

“ Believe me, that the state of Chili will ever be grateful for your assistance, and more especially the Supreme Director, by whose exertions the squadron was created, and to whom, in fact, South America owes whatever benefit she may have derived from its services.
May you be as free as you are independent, and as independent as you deserve to be free! With the liberty of the press, now protected by your excellent Government, which discriminates enlightenment from that fount, Guayaquil can never again be enslaved. ”

“ The whole world is acquainted with your gallant efforts to abolish tyranny and give liberty to South America. The people of this Republic are full of the most lively gratitude, and are grieved that it is not in their power to give you an effectual proof of their deep attachment. This Province, holding valour and merit in estimation, idolizes you, whilst it holds in abhorrence and detestation the tyrant "Liberator of Peru!" who has stained our soil with tears of blood shed for his pretended services. ”

“ Let every man do as he pleases as regards his own property, views, and interests; because every individual will watch over his own with more zeal than senates, ministers, or kings. By your enlarged views set an example to the New World; and thus, as Guayaquil is from its situation the Central Republic, it will become the centre of the agriculture, commerce, and riches of the Pacific.
Guayaquilenos! The liberality of your sentiments, and the justice of your acts and opinions, are a bulwark to your independence more secure than that of armies and squadrons. ”

“ LIMEÑOS, The division of the south, without having been beaten, has been surprised and dispersed. In a long campaign all cannot be prosperity. You know my character, and you know that I have always spoken the truth! I do not mean to search for consolation in conflicts, notwithstanding, I dare to assure you, that the iniquitous and tyrannical empire of the Spaniards in Peru will cease in the year 1823. I will make an ingenuous confession to you. It was my intention to go in search of repose after so many years of agitation, but I believed your independence was not secured. ”

“ One hour of courage and resolution is all that is required of you to triumph. Remember, that you have conquered in Valdivia, and be not afraid of those who have hitherto fled from you."
"The value of all the vessels captured in Callao will be yours, and the same reward in money will be distributed amongst you as has been offered by the Spaniards in Lima to those who should capture any of the Chilian squadron. The moment of glory is approaching, and I hope that the Chilenos will fight as they have been accustomed to do, and that the English will act as they have ever done at home and abroad." ”

“ All we look to, at this moment, is to destroy the Rio squadron. The usurper who rules in that Capital thinks that, reaching the bar with the squadron of his imaginary Empire, we should be attacked on all sides, and compelled to make a shameful capitulation. How much you are mistaken—new-born monster! We have abundant force at our disposal; but in the meantime we must overthrow the plans of the enterprising Cochrane, and wait the result of maritime prowess. ”

“ What political necessity existed for any temporary concealment of the sentiments of Government in regard to the fate of the Spaniards in Peru? Were not the army and the people ready to support your measures, and did not the latter call aloud for their expulsion? Believe me, my dear General, that after your declaration, even the seizing on Spanish property belonging to those who remain, is an act which ought not to be resorted to without crime on their part subsequently committed.
In the feelings of my breast no man can deceive me. ”

“ What good can be arrived at by a crooked path that cannot be attained by a straight and open way? Who has advised a tortuous policy and the concealment of the real sentiments and intentions of Government? Has an intriguing spirit dictated the refusal of pay to the Chilian navy, whilst the army is doubly paid? Is it proposed thus to alienate the minds of the men from their present service, and by such policy to obtain them for the service of Peru? ”

“ Had I connived at the views of the Anti-Imperial faction—even by avoiding the performance of extra-official services—I might, without dereliction of my duty as an officer, have amply shared in their favours; but for my adherence to the Emperor against their machinations, that influence was successfully used to deprive me even of the ordinary reward of my labours in the cause of independence. ”

“ The clamour of the officers in the patio of the house roused San Martin, who called for his horse and mounted. In a moment all was bustle, and the anticipated glow of victory shone in every countenance. The order to arms was given, and instantly obeyed by the whole army, amounting to about 12,000 men, including guerillas, all anxious to begin the fight. The Protector beckoned to the Admiral and General Las Heras, who immediately rode up to him, hoping that he was either about to consult them respecting the attack, or to inform them how it was to be conducted. ”

“ As the attached and sincere friend of your Excellency, I hope you will take into your serious consideration the propriety of at once fixing the Chilian Government upon a base not to be shaken by the fall of the present tyranny in Peru, of which there are not only indications, but their result is inevitable; unless, indeed, the mischievous counsels of vain and mercenary men can suffice to prop up a fabric of the most barbarous political architecture, serving as a screen from whence to dart their weapons against the heart of liberty. ”

“ I have had sufficient proof since leaving Rio de Janeiro, that there is no more trust to be placed in Portuguese, when employed to fight against their countrymen, than there was in the Spaniards, who, on the opposite side of this continent, betrayed the patriot Governments, by whom they were employed. I shall press this point no further than to say, that so long as His Imperial Majesty's ships are so manned, I shall consider them as not only wholly inefficient, but requiring to be vigilantly watched in order to prevent the most dangerous consequences. ”

“ SAN MARTIN. To the inhabitants of the interior, proclamations of a still more bombastic nature were despatched, in which they were assured that a reverse of this kind "weighed nothing in the balance of destiny of Peru. Providence protects us, and by this action will accelerate the ruin of the enemies of Peru. Proud of their first victory, they will spare us part of our march in search of them. Fear not! the army that drove them from the capital is ready to punish them a third time, and to punish them for ever!" ”

“ Intelligence of the reduction of Maranham, and the annexation of that province, together with the province of Parà, to the empire, was received at Rio de Janeiro with surprise and delight;—surprise, that, in less than six months, without military force, and, in truth, with one ship of war only, so much had been effected—and delight that the Empire was cleared of its enemies without the expense and uncertainty of expeditions which had been calculated on. All Brazilians were eager to vie with each other in the expression of entire satisfaction with my exertions. ”

“ My object in now producing them is, that I will not voluntarily go to my grave with obloquy, cast on me by men, who, at the outset of Brazilian independence, were a misfortune to the Empire no less than to myself; men who not only pursued this shameful line of conduct towards me who was unable to resist it,—but towards His Imperial Majesty,—who, by similar practices, was eventually disgusted into AN ABDICATION OF HIS THRONE AND AN ABANDONMENT OF THE COUNTRY—to which he had given one of the freest Constitutions in existence—achieved under the Imperial watchword, "Independencia ou morte." ”

“ I am watching an opportunity to attack them in the night, in the hope not only of being able to damage them materially by the fire of this ship, but also in the expectation that, if they are not better disciplined than the crews of this squadron, they will occasion as much damage amongst themselves, as they would sustain if they had an equal force to contend with. In the meantime we are as effectually blockading Bahia, as if the enemy did not dare to remove from his anchorage—for both this ship and the Maria de Gloria outsail them all. ”

“ If they advance on this capital, it will be with the design of immolating you to their vengeance (San Martin had 12,000 troops to oppose them) , and to force you to purchase at a high price your decision, and enthusiasm for independence. Vain hope! The valiant who have liberated the illustrious Lima, those who protect her in the most difficult moments, know how to preserve her against the fury of the Spanish army. Yes, inhabitants of this capital, my troops will not abandon you; they and myself are going to triumph over that army which—thirsty of our blood and property, is advancing ”

“ GUAYAQUILENOS, The reception which the Chilian squadron has met with from you not only shews the generosity of your sentiments, but proves that a people capable of asserting their independence in spite of arbitrary power must always possess noble and exalted feelings. ”

“ The Chilian flag has waved in triumph, and with universal respect, from the southern extremity of the Republic to the shores of California; population and the value of property have by our exertions increased threefold; whilst commerce and its consequent revenue have been augmented in a far greater proportion; which commerce, so productive to the State, might, without the protecting aid of its navy, be annihilated by a few of those miserable privateers which the terror of its name alone deters from approaching. ”

“ See what difference a year of independence has produced in public opinion. In those whom you then looked upon as enemies, you have discovered your truest friends, whilst those formerly esteemed as friends have proved enemies. Remember your former ideas on commerce and manufactures, and compare them with those which you at present entertain. Accustomed to the blind habits of Spanish monopoly, you then believed that Guayaquil would be robbed, were not her commerce limited to her own merchants. ”

“ See to what a state the Senate had brought the beautiful and fertile province of Chili. Nay, had not their notorious want of faith deprived them, notwithstanding their mines, their confiscated and public lands, of the means possessed even by the Spanish Government, and of the credit necessary to procure a dollar in any foreign country, or even in their own? I say, therefore, my dear General, that whoever has advised you to commence your Protectorship with devices unworthy of San Martin, is either a thoughtless or a wicked man, whom you should for ever banish from your counsels. ”

“ Neither can I relinquish the object which I have equally at heart, of depriving the Portuguese faction of the means of undermining the nationality and independence of the empire, to which—notwithstanding their admission to places of honour and trust—they are notoriously and naturally opposed.
It is impossible to view the prize tribunal—consisting of natives of the hostile nation—in any other light than as a party of the enemy, who, in the disguise of judges, have surprised and recaptured our prizes, after we had lodged them—as we thought—safely in port. ”

“ In short, great as is my desire to render you every service in my power, I am not willing to interfere in matters over which I have no express authority—because I do not like to risk the displeasure of His Imperial Majesty, attended, as it might be, not only with sudden dismissal from my official situation, but even with heavy fines and imprisonment; not to mention the sacrifice of all those pecuniary interests which I possess at Rio de Janeiro, where I have enemies eagerly watching for a pretence to deprive me of all to which I have a claim. ”