On the 21st of November there occurred an earthquake, which completely destroyed the town of Valparaiso, so that scarcely a house remained habitable; the people rushing to the hills or to the ships in the harbour. On the first shocks, knowing that terrible disasters would ensue, I went on sh.o.r.e to restore what order could be maintained amongst the terrified people, and met with the Supreme Director, who had narrowly escaped with his life when hurrying out of his house. It being impossible to render the unhappy townspeople any service, I paid His Excellency every possible attention, even though I had reason to believe that his visit was unfriendly to me, he being falsely persuaded that my incessant demands for the payment of the squadron was an act of hostility to himself, instead of a measure of justice to the officers and men.
Finding me determined, after what had occurred, to procure the payment of the squadron, the now tottering Government gave in, and thus far decided on doing justice; but even in this--as I had reason to believe--the counsels of San Martin induced them to adopt a plan of making the payments ash.o.r.e, and paying the men and petty officers first--after which, they were to be allowed a furlough of four months.
As this plan was palpably meant to unman the squadron, and thus place the officers and myself at the mercy of the intriguers, I would not suffer it to be carried into effect, the men were therefore paid on board their respective ships.
A new system of annoyance was hereupon practised towards me by Zenteno, who had again a.s.sumed the office of Minister of Marine. From the neglect to repair the ships--which were left in the same wretched condition as when they returned from Peru and Mexico--the _Independencia_ was alone seaworthy; and was sent to sea by Zenteno without even the formality of transmitting the requisite orders through me.
But a crisis was now at hand. The insult offered to General Freire, by sending Santa Cruz to supersede him, will be fresh in the reader"s recollection. Soon after this the Provincial Convention of Conception met, and pa.s.sed a vote of censure upon the Council of Government at Santiago, for re-electing General O"Higgins as Supreme Director after his resignation--an act which it considered illegal, as no such power was vested in the Ministry--and it became known that General Freire was about to march with the troops under his command to enforce these views.
On the 17th, General Freire had advanced his troops as far as Talca, and a division of the army at Santiago was ordered to be in readiness to meet him. The marines belonging to the squadron, under the command of Major Hind, were also ordered to reinforce the Director"s troops.
I was at this time at my country residence at Quintero, but learning what was going on, I immediately went to Valparaiso and resumed the command of the squadron, to which I found that orders had been issued at variance with the arrangements which had been entered into in regard to the prize-money due to the officers and men--the _Galvarino_, which was pledged to be sold for that purpose, being under orders for sea, to convey San Martin to some place of safety, for, not antic.i.p.ating the disorganisation which he found in Chili, he was afraid of falling into the hands of General Freire, from whom he would doubtless have experienced the full amount of justice which his conduct deserved. The squadron in my absence had, however, taken the matter into its own hands, by placing the _Lautaro_, with her guns loaded, in a position to sink the _Galvarino_ if she attempted to move. The forts on sh.o.r.e had also loaded their guns for retaliation, though of these the squadron would have made short work.
No sooner had I restored order, by resuming the command, than I received from General Freire the subjoined letter, which no longer left me in doubt of his intentions:--
Conception, Dec. 18th, 1822.
MY LORD,
The province under my command being tired of suffering the effects of a corrupted administration, which has reduced the Republic to a state of greater degradation than that under which it was labouring when it made the first struggle to obtain its liberty; and when, by means of an illegitimately-created convention, without the will of the people, they have traced the plans of enslaving them, by const.i.tuting them as the patrimony of an ambitious despot, whilst, in order to ensure him the command, they have trodden under foot the imprescriptible right of the citizens, exiling them in the most arbitrary manner from their native country.
Nothing now remains for us but heroically to resolve that we will place the fruit of eleven years of painful sacrifices in the way of saving it; to which effect I have deposited in the hands of its legal representatives who are united in this city the authority that I have hitherto exercised; but notwithstanding my want of merit, and sincere renouncement, the const.i.tuent power has deigned to place upon my weak shoulders this enormous weight, by again depositing the civil and military command in my person, which the adjoining resolution I have the honour of remitting will explain to your Lordship.
G.o.d preserve your Lordship many years.
(Signed) RAMON FREIRE.
In short, a revolution to depose the Supreme Director had commenced, and General Freire, supported by the inhabitants of Conception and Coquimbo, was in arms to effect it. With this revolution I was determined to have nothing to do, because, as a foreigner, it was not desirable for me to become a party to any faction, though it was evident that the authority of General O"Higgins would shortly be at an end.
Regarding General Freire"s letter as an indirect request to me to aid him in deposing General O"Higgins, I did not even reply to it. On the 20th of September he made the following direct overture to me to join in the revolution:--
Conception, Nov. 20th, 1853.
My Best and Most Distinguished Friend,
The time has arrived when circ.u.mstances and the country require the protection of those who generously and judiciously know how to maintain its sacred rights. Let us withdraw the curtain from the scene which trifles with the interests of the Republic, leading it to inevitable ruin. Its deplorable state is public and notorious. There is not a man who is unacquainted with it, and who does not bewail the prospective loss of its independence, with a thraldom also in view more grievous than the Spanish yoke.
The self-a.s.sumed powers of the Government, the restrictions on commerce, and, above all, the const.i.tution recently promulgated, place the ambitious views of the Chief Magistrate and the corruption of his Ministers in a clear light. Every act proves that the intentions of the Supreme Director have undergone a change.
Fortune, which has. .h.i.therto favoured him, has given a new turn to his ambition, as if the proposal of a crown could no longer be resisted--all the measures pursued throughout the state leading to that end. It is grievous to see laurels thus stained in the grasp of one who so gloriously obtained them. It is, however, needless to trespa.s.s on you with further reflections on these occurrences, as your judgment cannot fail to be formed both on the facts and their consequences. Let us therefore touch on other subjects.
Permit me, without offence to your delicacy, to make some reflections on subjects equally public and notorious.
You enjoyed honours, rank, and fortune, amidst a people the most distinguished in Europe. You generously abandoned ease and comfort in order to aid in the attainment of our liberty, and you have been the chief instrument which has enabled us to achieve it.
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 grat.i.tude, 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. Chacabuco would have terminated the war throughout the Republic, had it not been deemed necessary to foster its continuance for the interests of this individual.
This Province (Conception) having been completely sacrificed, has arrived at the point of exasperation. Its inhabitants are unanimously determined on a change and a reform of Government, and declare that in Arauco they will breathe the air of liberty, and that they will perish in the field of battle to obtain it. This is the decision universally adopted without exception. This is the determination of the gallant troops which I have the honour to command, and of their valiant officers, and is moreover sanctioned by the holy orders of the clergy.
Compromised by these declarations, what am I to reply to them?
Must I profess my sympathy and accordance of opinion with them, and admit to you, that, though yesterday a private citizen, with a heart burning to be freed from fetters, _I must to-day gird on the sword_. May Heaven favour my lot in the absence of personal merit! To my country I owe my life and the position I hold--from having contributed to its welfare--can I then neglect the duty that I owe to it? No, my dear friend, far be that course from me.
Freire has sworn to live or perish for the liberty of his native country, and he now repeats that solemn oath, grieved at the cause which compels him to renew it, but trusting in the hope that G.o.d will avert the effusion of blood in the accomplishment of the object.
I know that you are deeply interested in securing the liberty of Chili, for which you have so gloriously contended. I know you will deeply feel the privation of hope--for neither in your generous heart, nor in mine, can such events be received with indifference. Let us then pursue a course in uniformity with the glory of Chili, and the opinion of the world. Let us listen to the voice of the country, which calls us to avert evils when repose might have been antic.i.p.ated.
I count, together with the whole Province, on your co-operation to avert mischief and advance the good of the country.
Act as you judge best, but for the promotion of that object, the moment has arrived for action. Answer me with prompt.i.tude and frankness. Let us have the satisfaction of applying effective remedies to the evils which afflict the country, zealously and disinterestedly for the good of the Republic, and without personal views.
_I hold the residence of San Martin in any part of Chili as suspicious and dangerous. Let him be off to make some other quarter happy, where he can sell his protection to the ill-fated inhabitants._
I hope my intentions meet your approbation, and will be seconded by the officers of the squadron.
I trust you will receive this as the sincerest proof that I can give of the high consideration with-which I am
Your most faithful and unchangeable Friend, RAMON FREIRE.
To Vice-Adm. Lord Cochrane, Commanding the squadron of Chili.
I did not reply with prompt.i.tude, for I felt that it was no part of my mission to mingle in civil warfare. This letter, however, corroborated my opinion as to the fact of San Martin"s influence over the Supreme Director, and the recent coolness in his conduct towards me. If General Freire"s information was correct, there was evidently a desire to restore San Martin to the Empire of Peru! when possession could be got of the squadron, and he in return had deluded General O"Higgins into the plot by promise of support. Whether this was so in reality is problematical, but there is General Freire"s letter, for the first time published, and the Chilian people can thence draw their own conclusions.
Fortunately an occurrence took place, which relieved me from the dilemma in which I was placed, as will be narrated in the succeeding chapter.
CHAPTER XII.
THE SQUADRON TAKEN FROM ME--I ACCEPT INVITATION FROM BRAZIL--LETTER TO THE SUPREME DIRECTO--- SAN MARTIN QUITS CHILI--HIS PRUDENCE--OPINION OF HIS AIDE-DE-CAMP--MINISTERIAL NEGLECT--PERMISSION TO QUIT CHILI--LETTER TO GENERAL FREIRE--FOR THE FIRST TIME MADE PUBLIC--LETTER TO THE CAPTAINS AND OFFICERS--TO THE CHILIAN PEOPLE--TO THE FOREIGN MERCHANTS--TO THE PRESIDENT OF PERU--SAN MARTIN ACTUATED BY REVENGE--THIS SHEWN FROM HIS LETTERS.
The event alluded to in the last chapter was the arrival of an express from the Brazilian _Charge d"Affaires_ at Buenos Ayres, with a request from the Imperial Court at Rio de Janeiro, to the effect that, as by my exertions the Spaniards had now been driven from the Pacific, I would accept the command of the Brazilian navy, for the purpose of expelling the Portuguese, who still maintained their hold upon the greater portion of that side of the South American Continent. As acquiescence in this offer would relieve me from the embarra.s.sing situation in which I was placed in Chili, I began seriously to consider the expediency of accepting it.
At this juncture Freire commenced his march towards the capital, at the same time sending Captain Casey to Valparaiso with an armed merchantman, to ascertain the effect of his last letter to me. Without coming to an anchor, Captain Casey sent a boat on board the _O"Higgins_ to ascertain my sentiments, but meeting with a refusal to acquiesce in the revolution, he again sailed. The ministers, however, judging me by themselves, and suspecting that I was about to become a party to General Freire"s designs, began to withdraw the ships from my command, on the pretence of repairs or converting them into store-ships, several being thus taken from the squadron. I was also ordered to place the _O"Higgins_ and _Valdivia_ under the charge of the Commandant of Marine, to be repaired, and to make a store-ship of the _Lautaro_, and being thus deprived of the slightest authority over them, I was now considered as a sort of state prisoner; but in pursuing this course, the little schooner _Montezuma_, which I had rescued from Peru, had been overlooked, and on board of her I hoisted my flag.
The _Galvarino_ was now sent to sea without my permission, and without an Englishman in her. The _Lautaro_, the pretended store-ship, was also being got ready for sea, when I addressed the following note to Captain Worcester, who commanded her:--
Memo,
Having received directions from the Supreme Government to cause the _Lautaro_ to be placed as a store-ship, under the command of the Governor, and observing that the said order is in process of violation by the preparations making for sea; you are hereby required and directed to hoist my flag, and obey all such orders as you shall receive from me on the service of the State.
Given under my hand this 8th day of January, 1823, on board the _Montezuma_.
COCHRANE.
Tired of this heartless ingrat.i.tude, and disgusted with the suspicion that I was about to join General Freire with the squadron--an idea which could only have arisen from the expectation that I should thus resent the injuries inflicted on me--I resolved to accept the invitation from His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, leaving all which the Chilian Government owed me to the honour of a juster and more enlightened administration. Accordingly I addressed to the Supreme Director the following letter:--
Valparaiso, Jan. 8, 1822.
Most Excellent Sir,
The difficulties which I have experienced in accomplishing the naval enterprizes successfully achieved during the period of my command as Admiral of Chili, have not been effected without responsibility such as I would scarcely again undertake, not because I would hesitate to make any personal sacrifice in a cause of so much interest, but because even these favourable results have led to the total alienation of the sympathies of meritorious officers, --whose co-operation was indispensable,--in consequence of the conduct of the Government.
That which has made most impression on their minds has been, not the privations they have suffered, nor the withholding of their pay and other dues, but the absence of any public acknowledgment by the Government of the honours and distinctions promised for their fidelity and constancy to Chili; especially at a time when no temptation was withheld that could induce them to abandon the cause of Chili for the service of the Protector of Peru; even since that time, though there was no want of means or knowledge of facts on the part of the Chilian Government, it has submitted itself to the influence of the agents of an individual whose power having ceased in Peru, has been again resumed in Chili.
The effect of this on me is so keenly sensible that I cannot trust myself in words to express my personal feelings. Desiring, as I do, to extenuate rather than accuse, nothing shall enter into a narrative of these circ.u.mstances which is not capable of undeniable proof.