the most elevated mountains of the globe, terminated the campaign, put an end to the sway of tyrants and given liberty to Chili.' The remnant of the royalists took refuge in Talcahuano. The inhabitants formed a junta at Santiago, and as a reward for his services offered to San Martin the dictatorship of Chili, which he declined, and this power was vested in Bernardo O'Higgins. "After this splendid victory, the General of the Andes, as San Martin was now called, returned to Buenos Ayres to concert a plan with the government to direct the victorious arms of the republic against Peru. As he approached Mendoza,the capital of Cuyo, all the inhabitants of the town flocked out to meet him; the youth strewed the road with roses, and all demonstrated the most lively sensations of admiration and joy at beholding the hero of the Andes and the Liberator of Chili. At Buenos Ayres, the same sentiments prevailed, and preparations were making to receive him with every mark of respect and honour; but being apprized of what was intended, he stole into the city unobserved, to the no small disappointment of the people."* In Upper Peru, the talent and energy of Belgrano had now, in great measure, redeemed the republican cause. Serna, the chief commander of the royalist forces, was compelled to retreat before the attacks of the guerillas, and the ferocious Facon was destroyed, accidently (or providentially), by a stroke of lightning. The Banda Oriental, under Artigas, still maintained an attitude of hostility to the rest of the republic; and two successive detachments, dispatched by the director to reduce the refractory province, under Montes de Oca and Colonel Balcarce, were furiously attacked by the Monte Videan chief, and completely defeated. Nilos' South America. CHAPTER III. AFFAIRS IN CHILI DISASTERS OF THE PATRIOTS.-VICTORY IN Chili, San Martin and O'Higgins were now strenuously attempt'ng to reduce the strong fortress of Talcahuano, the last refuge of the royalists in that country. But the viceroy of Lima contrived to throw a force of fifteen hundred men into the disputed post; and not long after, resolved to anticipate the intended attack of San Martin in Peru, landed five thousand troops, under General Osorio, at the same place. That commander, with a force of eight thousand men, now assumed the offensive, and marched for the capital of Chili. San Martin, after somewhat annoying his march, on the 19th of March, made a successful attack on the enemy, whose van was driven into the streets of Talca. But that same night the royalist general in turn attacked the encampment of the patriots with such suddenness and fury that they were completely routed, and San Martin, with the relics of his army, was compelled to retreat to the pass of Angulemu. Undismayed by this disaster, he betook himself to the capital, where, by extraordinary exertions, a fresh army was raised, which, on the 5th of April, 1818, on the Plains of Maypu, again engaged the enemy. A most splendid victory, in which the Spanish army was nearly annihilated, was the result. The independence of Chili and Peru was secured, and San Martin, the object of enthusiastic gratitude and admiration, his project fully accomplished, returned to Buenos Ayres. On the 25th of May, 1819, the congress of the United Provinces publicly proclaimed a constitution, of a federal nature, and not materially differing from that of the United States of America. Legislation was vested in two houses, one composed of deputies elected by the people, and the other of senators elected by the provinces. The executive power was placed in the hands of a single person, called the director. Equality of all citizens, freedom of the press, &c., were announced. Soon after, Pueyredon, considerable disaffection to his person existing, resigned the office of supreme director, and Joseph Rondeau was chosen temporarily to fill his place, until the election of a new director under the constitution. By a singular complication of hostilities, Artigas, who had long been bravely defending the Banda Oriental against the overwhelming forces of Brazil, after receiving the assistance and rejecting the alliance of the commonwealth, still maintained his dubious position. In February 1820, the director was defeated by the guerillas called the Monteneros, headed by Ramirez, an officer of Artigas, and such was the effect of this disaster that the authority of the central gov ernment was completely prostrated. The victor, with three thousand men, advanced within seventy miles of Buenos Ayres; and Pueyredon, with his friends, the chief objects of enmity, fled to the Portuguese for safety. Rondeau, after his defeat, returned to the capital, but his authority was at once overthrown, and a provisional government was appointed by the municipality. Treaty was then made with Ramirez, and a most rapid succession of revolutions placed the capital in the hands of one ambitious chief after another. A disgraceful secret negotiation with France by the late congress was discovered, intended to place the republic under the control of that country, and all the members who had favoured it were put under arrest. The state of anarchy, especially in the capital, which succeeded. these events is almost beyond description, and the lives of many estimable citizens were sacrificed in the civil feuds by which the whole state was distracted. The various factions under Ramirez, Carrera, and Alvear, and under Dorego and Rodriguez, were engaged in civil war, which finally, after various vicissitudes, resulted in the ascendancy of the latter at the seat of government. (October, 1820.) Carrera, indeed, still continued desperately to ravage the country; and Ramirez, the army of Artigas having been defeated and almost destroyed by the Portuguese, supplanted that chief in the command of the Banda Oriental, and threatened the city of Buenos Ayres. On the 21st of July, 1821, however, he was completely defeated by the government troops, at Francisco, and died on the field of battle, only two hundred of his men escaping. Carrera, whose whole career had been distinguished by great ferocity and carnage, was also defeated, in the following month, and on the 4th of September was shot in the public square of Mendoza. Two of his brothers had perished on the same spot, and the only favour he asked was a burial in the same grave with them. These civil wars at last brought to a close, the legislative junta and the executive, to quiet the rancour of the contending factions, passed an act of amnesty, and turned their attention to reforming the administration of affairs. In September, 1821, a congress from the several provinces assembled at Cordova, and efforts were made to bring about a federal union, but various sectional jealousies prevented the adoption of the plan. "The commencement of the year 1822, found the affairs of the United Provinces in a more prosperous condition; the internal enemies of the republic had been destroyed or driven out of the country; the voice of faction was silenced; the government had acquired energy and respect, and was engaged in works of improvement, in forming schools and establishing libraries, calculated to prepare the people for the appreciation and enjoyment of liberty. The papers discussed freely, and often ably, important political questions connected with their new situation. A splendid edifice for a congressional hall was erected on the same spot where, in 1780, were reared the dungeons of Oruro, in which were immured those accused of promoting the independence of Peru."* Peace was restored with Santa Fe and with other provinces heretofore at enmity with Buenos Ayres, and treaties of mutual defence and alliance were made. The Banda Oriental and its capital, Monte Video, were still retained by the Portuguese forces. In July, 1823, strenuous attempts were made to negotiate a treaty of peace with Spain; but despite the liberal conduct of the congress, which offered twenty millions of dollars to the mother-country, to secure her against foreign invasion, the Spanish government refused to come to terms. In autumn of the same year, Mr. Rodney, the minister from the United States, and the first envoy received by the republic from any foreign power, arrived at Buenos Ayres. His presentation to the government took place with extraordinary state and parade, and was hailed with much enthusiasm by the people; but he did not long survive his arrival, dying early in the following year. In October, 1824, Alvear, the minister dispatched in return, was presented to the executive of the United States; but his term of office was equally brief, his government recalling him to command the army destined against the royalists in Upper Peru. Niles' South America. |