Note 8 — INTRODUCTION.

CHILI.—Though probably none of the Spanish conquests in South America were effected with greater ease than that of Chili—a sort of dependency on the Incas of Peru, and faithful to their cause long after it was lost at head-quarters—nowhere were the natives impressed so much at first with the superiority of the invincible stranger, a sum equivalent to half a million of ducats being presented to Almagro, in recognition of his ‘divinity’ when he crossed the Cordilleras; yet none of their acquisitions, subsequently, cost the conquerors more trouble. Notwithstanding the scandalous cruelties of the invaders, it was not till 1546, ten years after Valdivia (a second lieutenant of Pizarro’s) had entered their country, that resistance was wholly put down. The Chilians, the last in being subdued, were also among the first to take advantage of the troubles of the mother country in her decrepitude and decline. On the invasion of Spain by the French, and the rout of the Spanish Bourbons in 1809, Chili, affecting to be solicitous for the sovereignty of Ferdinand VII., and to be desirous of administering the government of itself in his name, established a junta in the capital, St. Jago, in 1810, and ultimately avowed itself a decided separatist. Spain, however, was still able to make head against the revolutionists; and after a series of encounters, in which fortune alternated rapidly, she vindicated her authority by a very decisive victory at Rancagua, in 1817. This, however, did not prevent the popular party triumphing at Chacabuco, in the same year, and seizing on the capital. Again the king’s troops succeeded at Chancarayada; but, once more, and conclusively, the republicans carried all before them in the eventful battle of Maypu, in 1818, though it was not till the beginning of 1826 that the province was finally freed from the presence of the peninsular cohorts, and declared independent, the old country itself, however, refusing any such recognition till 1842, when a treaty of peace and friendship was signed at Madrid, and ratifications exchanged in 1845. Throughout these wars the most conspicuous revolutionary leader was General San Martin, a soldier of Irish origin, as his name imports,[9] being one of the many of his countrymen whom the struggles for independence brought forward in the Spanish colonies, in none more so than in Chili, the first Supreme Director, as the officer elected by the juntas was originally called, being Barnardo O’Higgins, with whom were associated Col. O’Leary, General Miller, and numerous others ‘racy of the soil’ of saints and shillelaghs. Of all the European celebrities, however, who figured on the stage of South American strife, none are to be compared to the heroic Lord Cochrane, now the venerable Admiral Earl Dundonald, who, having fitted out a ship of his own in England in the cause of the patriots, and being appointed to the command of the Chilian fleet, coöperating with the land forces of Bolivar, displayed that characteristic skill and enterprise which have so preëminently distinguished him throughout his chivalrous and romantic career, some few incidents of which will be found mentioned in our notice of a congenial and no less heroic spirit, Admiral Grenfell, of the Brazilian service, in which Dundonald played a conspicuous part.

From what we have said already, both of Mexico and also of Peru, it will naturally be inferred that Chili has suffered greatly from internal disorders; but, unlike those countries, she has contrived to avoid a very onerous national debt; and consequently her credit abroad is comparatively very good; indeed, better probably than that of any South American state, save Brazil, whose securities rank next to those of Great Britain itself. The recent gold discoveries in California and Australia have immensely increased her export trade, and will continue to do so for an indefinite period; while a large source of domestic revenue has been opened up by the possession of guano islands (of which more hereafter), second only in extent, and scarcely second in richness, to those treasures of a like kind whereof we have spoken under the head of Peru, the example of which country is followed as to the maintenance of the price of the article at an exorbitant rate.

The Chilian diplomatic and consular corps in England consists of Spencer N. Dickson, consul, 8, Great Winchester-street, London; W. W. Alexander, consul, Bristol, Cardiff, and Newport; William Jackson, consul, Liverpool; Thomas W. Fox, jun., consul, Plymouth; James H. Wolff, consul, Southampton; John W. Leach, consul, Swansea. The British diplomatic and consular corps in Chili consists of the Hon. E. J. Harris, chargé d’affaires at the capital, St. Jago, salary £1,600, and the usual consular allowance of £1 per diem; consul at Valparaiso, Mr. Henry Rouse, salary £300, reduced from £700; consul at Coquimbo, Mr. David Ross, salary £300; and vice-consul at Conception, Mr. Robert Cunningham, salary £250—all exclusive of fees.