Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil, from Spanish and Portuguese Domination by Earl of Dundonald Thomas Cochrane (speed reading book txt) 📖

the Protectoral Government, had received two-thirds of its pay, whilst the squadron had even been suffered to starve. On the 28th I replied to the Minister as follows:—

Sir,

I should have felt uneasy, had the letter you addressed to me contained the commands of the Protector to quit the ports of Peru without reason assigned, and I should have been distressed had his motives been founded in reason, or on facts; but finding the order based on the groundless imputation that I had declined to do what I had no power to effect, I console myself that the Protector will ultimately be satisfied that no blame rests on me. At all events, I have the gratification of a mind unconscious of wrong, and gladdened by the cheering conviction that, however facts may be distorted by sycophancy, men who view things in their proper colours will do me the justice I deserve.

You address me as though I required to be convinced of your good intentions. No, Sir, it is the seamen who want convincing, for it is they who put no faith in professions so often broken. They are men of few words and decisive acts, and say that "for their labour they have a right to pay and food, and will work no longer than they are paid and fed"—though this may be uncourtly language, unfit for the ear of high authority. They urge, moreover, that they have had no pay whatever, whilst their fellow-labourers, the soldiers, have had two-thirds of their wages; they were starved, or living on stinking charqui, whilst the troops were wholly fed on beef and mutton; they had no grog, whilst the troops had money to obtain that favourite beverage, and anything else they desired. Such, Sir, are the rough grounds on which an English seaman founds his opinions. He expects an equivalent for the fulfilment of his contract, which, on his part, is performed with fidelity; but, if his rights are withheld, he is as boisterous as the element on which he lives. It is of no use, therefore, to convince me, but them.

In what communication, Sir, have I insisted on the payment of 200,000 dollars. I sent you an account of money due, but told you in my letter that it was the mutinous seamen who demanded the disbursements, and that I was doing all in my power, though without effect, to restrain their violence and allay their fears. You tell me in your letter that it was impossible to pay the clamorous crews. How, then, is it that they are now paid out of the very money then lying at your disposal, I having left untouched ten times as much? My warning to you, that they were no longer to be trifled with, was founded on a long acquaintance with their character and disposition; and facts have proved, and may more fully prove, the truth of what I told you.

Why, Sir, is the word "immediate" put into your order to go forth from this port? Would it not have been more decorous to have been less peremptory, knowing, as you do, that the delay of payment had unmanned the ships—that the total disregard of all my applications had left the squadron destitute—and that the men were enticed away by persons acting under the Peruvian Government? This being so, why are matters pushed to this extremity?

I thank you for the approval of my services since the 20th of August, 1820, and assure you that no abatement of my zeal for the Protector's interest took place till the 5th of August, when I became acquainted with his Excellency's installation, and when, in your presence, he uttered sentiments that struck a thrill through my frame, which no subsequent act, nor protestation of intentions, has been able to mitigate. Did he not say—aye, did you not hear him declare, that he would never pay the debt to Chili, nor that due to the navy, unless Chili would sell the squadron to Peru? What would you have thought of me as an officer, sworn to be faithful to the state of Chili, had I listened to such language in cold, calculating silence, weighing my decision in the scale of personal interest? No, Sir, the promise of San Martin, that "my fortune should be equal to his own," will not warp from the path of honour

   Your obedient, humble Servant,
   COCHRANE.

After a lapse of nearly forty years' anxious consideration, I cannot reproach myself with having done any wrong in the seizure of the money of the Protectoral Government. General San Martin and myself had been, in our respective departments, deputed to liberate Peru from Spain, and to give to the Peruvians the same free institutions which Chili herself enjoyed. The first part of our object had been fully effected by the achievements and vigilance of the squadron; the second part was frustrated by General San Martin arrogating to himself despotic power, which set at naught the wishes and voice of the people. As "my fortune in common with his own" was only to be secured by acquiescence in the wrong he had done to Chili by casting off his allegiance to her, and by upholding him in the still greater wrong he was inflicting on Peru, I did not choose to sacrifice my self-esteem and professional character by lending myself as an instrument to purposes so unworthy. I did all in my power to warn General San Martin of the consequences of ambition so ill-directed, but the warning was neglected, if not despised. Chili trusted to him to defray the expenses of the squadron when its objects—as laid down by the Supreme Director—should be accomplished; but in place of fulfilling the obligation, he permitted the squadron to starve, its crews to go in rags, and the ships to be in perpetual danger for want of the proper equipment which Chili could not afford to give them when they sailed from Valparaiso. The pretence for this neglect was want of means, though at the same time money to a vast amount was sent away from the capital to Ancon. Seeing that no intention existed on the part of the Protector's Government to do justice to the Chilian squadron, whilst every effort was made to excite discontent among the officers and men with the purpose of procuring their transfer to Peru, I seized the public money, satisfied the men, and saved the navy to the Chilian Republic, which afterwards warmly thanked me for what I had done. Despite the obloquy cast upon me by the Protector's Government, there was nothing wrong in the course I pursued, if only for the reason that if the Chilian squadron was to be preserved, it was impossible for me to have done otherwise. Years of reflection have only produced the conviction, that, were I again placed in similar circumstances, I should adopt precisely the same course.

CHAPTER IX. ARRIVAL AT GUAYAQUIL—ADDRESS TO GUAYAQUILENOS—INJURIOUS MONOPOLIES —MINISTERIAL FOLLY—DEPARTURE FROM GUAYAQUIL—ARRIVAL IN MEXICO—ANCHOR AT ACAPULCO—MOCK AMBASSADORS—PLOT AGAINST ME—RETURN TO GUAYAQUIL—VENGANZA TAKEN POSSESSION OF—AGREEMENT WITH JUNTA—GENERAL LA MAR—ORDERS TO WITHHOLD SUPPLIES—ABOMINABLE CRUELTY—COURTLY SPLENDOUR—DESTRUCTION OF A DIVISION OF THE ARMY—DISSATISFACTION OF OFFICERS—RENEWED OVERTURES FROM SAN MARTIN—THEIR REFUSAL BY ME—WARNING TO THE CHILIAN GOVERNMENT.

The orders of the Protector to proceed to Chili were not complied with, 1st, because having thrown off his allegiance to Chili, he had no right to interfere with the squadron; and, 2ndly, as the Spanish frigates remained at large, my mission was incomplete till they were taken or destroyed.

Before going in quest of them, it was essential to repair, equip, and provision the ships, none of which purposes could be effected in Peru, the Protector not only having refused supplies, but having also issued orders on the coast to withhold necessaries of all kinds even to wood and water. From want of stores, none of the ships were fit for sea; even the Valdivia, so admirably found when captured, was now in as bad a condition as the rest, from the necessity which had arisen of distributing her equipment amongst the other ships; and to complete her inefficiency, the Protector refused to restore the anchors which had been cut away from her bows at the time of her capture, thus adding to our embarrassment.

Many of the officers had gone over to the service of Peru, and the foreign seamen had been kept on shore in such numbers, that there were not sufficient left to perform the duties of reefing and steering. I therefore resolved on sending part of the squadron to Chili, and with the remainder to proceed to Guayaquil, in order to repair and refit for a cruise on the coast of Mexico in search of the Spanish frigates.

We reached Guayaquil on the 18th of October, and were extremely well received by the authorities, who saluted the Chilian flag, the like compliment being paid to their own. The work of repairing and refitting occupied six weeks, during which period the newly-constituted Government rendered us all the assistance in its power, entering into the most friendly intercourse with us. The expenses, which were heavy, were all defrayed out of the uncondemned prize-money remaining on board, this rightfully belonging to the officers and seamen, as never having had their previous claims satisfied by the Government, on which account it had been retained. To inspire the seamen with the reasonable expectation that the Chilian Government would reimburse them for their generosity, I added money of my own, on which they willingly consented to the appropriation of that due to the squadron.

Before quitting the anchorage, I was honoured with a public address, and thinking the opportunity good for striking a blow at those Spanish prejudices which, in spite of independence, still lingered from force of habit, the compliment was returned by the following address:—

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. 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.

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. All foreigners were forbidden by restrictive