Home » Database » Search » Writing
Writing Type: Diary
Basil Hall's account of San Martín.
Keywords: San Martín
Publisher: Edward Moxon, London
Archive: John Rylands Library
Location Details: From Captain Basil Hall, Extracts from a Journal Written on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico, in the years 1820,1821, 1822, part 1, Edward Moxon, Dover Street, London, 1840. pp.44,45
Text: Captain Basil Hall, Extracts from a Journal Written on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico, in the years 1820,1821, 1822, part 1, Edward Moxon, Dover Street, London, 1840.
pp.44,45
On the 25th of June, I had an interview with General San Martin, on board a little schooner, a yacht of his own, anchored in Callao Roads for the convenience of communicating with the deputies, who, during the armistice, had held their sittings on board a ship in the anchorage. There was little, at first sight, in his appearance to engage the attention ; but when he rose up and began to speak, his great superiority over every other person I had seen in South America was sufficiently apparent. He received us in very homely style, on the deck of his vessel, dressed in a surtout coat, and a large fur cap, seated at a table made of a few loose planks laid along the top of two empty casks.
General San Martin is a tall, erect, well proportioned, handsome man, with a large aquiline nose, thick black hair, and immense bushy whiskers, extending from ear to car under the chin: his complexion is deep olive, and his eye, which is large, prominent, and piercing, jet black ; his whole appearance being highly military. He is thoroughly well bred, and unaffectedly simple in his manners ; exceedingly cordial and engaging, and possessed evidently of great kindliness of disposition : in short, I have never seen any person, the enchantment of whose address was more irresistible. In conversation he goes at once to the strong points of the topic, disdaining, as it were, to trifle with its minor parts : he listens earnestly, and replies with distinctness and fairness, showing wonderful resources in argument, and a most happy fertility of illustration ; the effect of which is to make his audience feel they are understood in the sense they wish. Yet there is nothing showy or ingenious in his discourse ; and he certainly seems at all times perfectly in earnest, and deeply possessed with his subject. Several times during this interview his animation rose to a high pitch, and then the flash of his eye, and the whole turn of his expression, became so exceedingly energetic as to rivet the attention of his audience beyond the possibility of evading his arguments. This was most remarkably the case when the topic was politics ; on which subject I consider myself fortunate in having heard him express himself frequently. But his quiet manner was not less striking, and indicative of a mind of no ordinary stamp : he could even be playful and familiar, when such was the tone of the moment ; and whatever effect the subsequent possession of great political power may be supposed by some to have had on his mind, I feel confident that his natural disposition is kind and benevolent, and, I conceive, far above the reach of such vulgar influences.
During the first visit I paid to San Martin, several persons came on board his vessel privately, from Lima, to discuss the state of affairs, upon which occasion his views and feelings were distinctly stated ; and I saw nothing in his conduct afterwards to cast a doubt upon the sincerity with which he then spoke. The contest in Peru, he said, was not of an ordinary description not a war of conquest and glory, but entirely of opinion; it was a war of new and liberal principles against prejudice, bigotry, and tyranny. " People ask," said San Martin, "why I don't march to Lima at once ; so I might, and instantly would, were it suitable to my views which it is not. I do not want military renown I have no ambition to be the conqueror of Peru I want solely to liberate the country from oppression. Of what use would Lima be to me, if the inhabitants were hostile in political sentiment? How could the cause of Independence be advanced by my holding Lima, or even the whole country, in military possession? Far different are my views. I wish to have all men thinking with me, and do not choose to advance a step beyond the gradual march of public opinion. The capital is now ripe for declaring its sentiments, and I shall give them the opportunity of doing so in safety. It was in sure expectation
of this moment that I have hitherto deferred : and to those who know the full extent of the means which have been put in action, a sufficient explanation is afforded of all the delays that have taken place. I have been gaining, day by day, fresh allies in the hearts of the people, the only certain allies in such a war. In the secondary point of military strength, I have been, from the same causes, equally successful in augmenting and improving the liberating army; while that of the Spaniards has been wasted by want and desertion. The country has now become sensible of its true interests, and it is right the inhabitants should have the means of expressing what they think. Public opinion is an engine newly introduced into this country; the Spaniards, who are utterly incapable of directing it, have prohibited its use ; but they shall now experience its strength and importance."
On another occasion I heard San Martin explain the peculiar necessity there was for acting in this cautious, and, as it were, tardy manner, in revolutionising Peru. Its geographical situation had, in his opinion, great influence in continuing that state of ignorance favourable to the mistaken policy of the Spaniards; long after the other countries of South America had awakened from their apathy. Buenos Ayres, from its vicinity to the Cape of Good Hope, and the facility of intercourse between it and Europe, had many years before acquired the means of gaining information, which had not yet reached Peru. Chili originally derived her knowledge through Buenos Ayres, but more recently by direct communication from England and North America. Columbia, although the scene of terrible wars, had the advantage of being near the West Indies and North America ; and Mexico was also in constant communication with those places as well as with Europe. Thus they had all, more or less, enjoyed opportunities of obtaining much useful knowledge, during times little favourable, it is true, to its culture, but which did not, indeed could not, prevent its influence from being salutary. Peru, however, was unfortunately cut off by nature from direct communication with the more enlightened countries of the earth, and it was only very recently that the first rays of knowledge had pierced through the clouds of error and superstition which the folly and bigotry of the government had spread over it ; and the people were still not only very ignorant of their own rights, but required time and encouragement to learn how to think justly on the subject. To have taken the capital by a coup-de-main, therefore, would have answered no purpose, but would probably have irritated the people, and induced them to resist the arms of the Patriots from a misconception of their real intentions.
The gradual progress of intelligence in the other states in South America, said San Martin, had insensibly prepared the people’s minds for the Revolution. In Chili and elsewhere, the mine had been silently charged, and the train required only to be touched ; - in Peru, where the materials were yet to be prepared, any premature attempt at explosion must have been unsuccessful.
School of Modern Languages and Cultures
Trent Building, University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD
telephone: +44 (0)115 951 5655
email: Catherine.davies@nottingham.ac.uk