"His manner was quite different to the next person who came forward: a tall, rawboned, pale faced friar: a young man, with deep-set dark-blue eyes, and a cloud of care and disappointment wandering across his features. San Martin assumed a look of serious earnestness while he listened to the speech of the monk; who applauded him for the peaceful and Christian-like manner of his entrance into this great city-conduct which, he trusted, was only a forerunner of the gentle character of his future government. The General's answer was in a similar strain, only pitched a few notes higher; and it was curious to observe how the formal cold manner of the priest became animated, under the influence of San Martin's eloquence: at last, loosing all recollection of his sedate character, the young man clapped his hands and shouted, Viva! viva! nuestra General !'- — Nay, nay,' said the other, 'do not say so; but join with me in calling, Viva la Independencia del Peru!" "The Cabildo, or town-council, hastily drawn together, next entered, and as many of them were natives of the place, and liberal men, they had enough to do to conceal their emotion, and to maintain the proper degree of stateliness, belonging to so grave a body, when they came, for the first time, into the presence of their liberator.

“Old men, and old women, and young women, crowded fast upon him to every one he had something kind and appropriate to say; always going beyond the expectation of each person he addressed. During this scene I was near enough to watch him closely; but I could not detect, either in his manner or in his expressions, the least affectation: there was nothing assumed, or got up; nothing which seemed to refer to self; I could not ever discover the least trace of a self-approving smile. But his manner, at the same time, was the reverse of cold; for he was sufficiently animated, although his satisfaction seemed to be caused solely by the pleasure reflecte d from others." Hall's Journal, Vol. I. p. 239.

Mrs. Graham was introduced to the General a year later at Valparaiso, and she speaks of him in the following terms. "I am not fond of recording even the topics of private conversation, which I think ought always to be sacred. But San Martin is not a private man; and besides, the subjects were general, not personal. We spoke of government; and there I think his ideas are far from being either clear or decisive. There seems a timidity of intellect, which prevents the daring to give freedom and the daring to be despotic alike. The wish to enjoy the repu tation of a liberator and the will to be a tyrant are strangely contrasted in his discourse. He has not read much, nor is his genius of that stamp that can go alone. Accordingly, he continually quoted authors whom he evidently knew but by halves, and of the half he knew he appeared to me to mistake the spirit. When we spoke of religion, and Zenteno joined in the discourse, he talked much of philosophy; and both those gentlemen seemed to think

that philosophy consisted in leaving religion to the priests and to the vulgar, as a state-machine, while the wise man would laugh alike at the monk, the protestant, and the deist. Well does Bacon say, None deny there is a God but those for whom it maketh that there were no God;' and truly, when I consider his actions I feel that he should be an atheist if he would avoid despair. But I am probably too severe on San Martin." Graham's Chile, p. 281.

"Upon the whole the visit of this evening has not impressed me much in favour of San Martin. His views are narrow, and I think selfish. His philosophy as he calls it, and his religion, are upon a par; both are too openly used as mere masks to impose on the world; and, indeed, they are so worn as that they would not impose on any people but those he has unhappily had to rule. He certainly has no genius; but he has some talents, with no learning, and little general knowledge. Of that little, however, he has the dexterity to make a great deal of use; nobody possesses more of that most useful talent, l'art de se faire valoir, His fine person, his air of superiority, and that suavity of manner which has so long enabled him to lead others, to give him very decided advantages. He understands English, and speaks French tolerably; and I know no person with whom it might be pleasanter to pass half an hour : but the want of heart, and the want of candour, which are evident even in conversation of any length, would never do for intimacy, far less for friendship.

;

"At nine o'clock the party left me, much pleased certainly at having seen one of the most remarkable men in South America and I think that, perhaps, in the time, I saw as much of him as was possible. He aims at universality, in imitation of Napoleon; who had I have heard, something of that weakness, and whom he is always talking of as his model, or rather rival. I think too that he had a mind to exhibit himself to me as a stranger; or Zenteno might have suggested, that even the little additional fame that my report of him could give was worth the trouble of seeking. The fact certainly is, that he did talk to-night for display." Graham's Chile, p. 283.

Utrum horum? We do not wish to be ungallant, but justice requires us to decide in favour of the gentleman. In the first place he is impartial, blaming San Martin freely for his subsequent conduct, but not refusing to commend his good qualities and good actions. The lady is not exempt from the sudden likes and dislikes of her sex. If her Journal is to be believed, which we doubt, she hated San Martin before she knew any thing about him. The Introduction to her work informs us that Lord Cochrane is her idol; and San Martin, who did not participate in these favourable sentiments is denounced as utterly worthless and

7

abandoned. But the Journal purports to have been composed from day to day, and on the 22d of May, less than a month after Mrs. Graham's arrival at Valparaiso, she makes the following entry in her book.

22nd. We have news from Peru, for the first time since my arrival, I think. A body of General San Martin's army has been surprised, and destroyed by the royalists. The Chileno squadron. under Lord Cochrane, has returned to Callao, from its dangerous and difficult voyage to Acapulco, after chasing the two last remaining Spanish ships into patriot ports, where they have been forced to surrender; and it is said that San Martin has offered most flattering terms of reconciliation to Lord Cochrane. If I understand matters aright, it may be possible for His Lordship to listen to them, for the sake of the cause; but, personally, he will surely never repose the slightest confidence in him." Graham's Chile, P.

129.

Why not? What did Mrs. Graham know on the 22d of May respecting the quarrel between San Martin and Lord Cochrane. She had just arrived from Rio Janeiro, after a fatiguing and painful voyage, at the conclusion of which her husband, the Commander of the Doris died. She landed at Valparaiso, established herself in lodgings, and began forthwith to describe-at the rate of several quarto pages per diem. All on a sudden she receives news from Peru, and forgetting how she had been occupied for the last month, she starts up in a moment a full-grown politician.

The fact obviously is, that long after this said 22d of May, Lord Cochrane enlisted the fair Maria among the most devoted of his admirers. From him and his companions she learned the history of previous events, and then by a well known species of ex post facto anticipation, she adorned her Note-book with some sagacious remarks which could not possibly have been written at their pretended date,

The political portion of her volumes, therefore, and it is a very large portion, forfeits all claim to authenticity. Having received very important obligations from Lord Cochrane, Mrs. Graham repays him by publishing two quarto volumes, of which his Lordship is the sole and undisputed hero. England, ungrateful England, is condemned for disowning the greatest of her sons. Mexico and Peru, San Martin and Zenteno, are alike insensible to his merits; and, without any fault of his own, he wanders from nation to nation, bidding fair to close his career as a Captain of Buccaneers. We have no desire to depreciate this eccentric creature. As Englishmen we are proud of his skill, courage, and success;

and ashamed of the conduct which has tarnished his laurels.. Captain Hall, with admirable discretion, speaks like a sailor; of his victories, and says not one syllable of him out of his profession. Mrs. Graham, unfortunately, has a debt of gra titude to discharge, and she sets about it with more vebemence than skill. By abusing every body that opposed Lord Cochrane, she supposes that she shall establish bis character in unsullied purity. San Martin is even accused of endeavouring to assassinate him; and this without any better ground than the shrewdness of feminine suspicion. On other occasions the lady's information is less accurate, or her imagination not quite so brilliant. She omits telling us what charges were brought against Lord Cochrane by San Martin; or what answers his Lordship returned to them: yet it is to be presumed, by her way of speaking, that she was possessed both of the one and the other. She omits informing us, why Lord Cochrane did not return to Peru, after the termination of San Martin's power: or why her Mexican friends so politely declined his assistance. She merely lets us know that there were mutual complaints and reproaches, and assures us that Lord Cochrane was not by any means to blame. If the reader will be satisfied with such impartialevidence, he may sail back with Mrs. Graham and the Admiral to Rio; believe that he sends her the first news of his success from private, not from political, friendship, and find her stumbling upon the post of governess to the Princess of Brazil, without the least support from Lord Cochrane.. Should any persons refuse to credit this probable tale, we presume they will be satisfied with a hasty perusal of Mrs.. Graham's ponderous Journals. They will think that she has devoted too many pages to the defence of a bold bad man; and that a narrative, which would have been tiresome for its repetitions and prolixity, becomes intolerable when it turns out a party pamphlet.

Leaving these various classes of readers to settle their disputes as best they may, we return, with much satisfaction to Captain Hall. His description of the habits and customs of the people whom he visits, is at least equal to his remarks upon their rulers. Take the following instances.

"On our way homeward our host entertained us, by making his people show us the South American method of catching cattle. The instrument used is called in English a Lasso, from the Spanish Lazo, which signifies slipknot or noose, and the operation of using it is called Lassoing. It consists of a rope made of strips of untanned hide, varying in length from fifteen to twenty yards, and is about as thick as the little finger. It has a noose or running-knot

at one end, the other extremity being fastened by an eye and button to a ring in a strong hide-belt or surcingle, bound tightly round the horse. The coil is grasped by the horseman's left hand, while the noose, which is held in the right, trails along the ground, except when in use, and then it is whirled round the head with considerable velocity, during which, by a peculiar turn of the wrist, it is made to assume a circular form; so that, when delivered from the hand, the noose preserves itself open till it falls over the object at which it has been aimed.

"The unerring precision with which the lasso is thrown is perfectly astonishiug, and to one who sees it for the first time, has a very magical appearance. Even when standing still it is by no means an easy thing to throw the lasso; but the difficulty is vastly increased when it comes to be used on horseback and at a gallop, and when, in addition, the rider has to pass over uneven ground, and to leap hedges and ditches in his course: yet such is the dexterity of the guassos, or countrymen, that they are not only sure of catching the animal they are in chace of, but can fix, or, as they term it, place their lasso on any particular part they please; over the horns, round the neck, or the body; or they can include all four legs, or two, or any one of the four; and the whole with such ease and certainty, that it is necessary to witness the feat to have a just conception of the skill displayed; which, like that of the savage Indian in the use of his bow and arrow, can only be gained by the practice of many years. It is, in fact, the earliest amusement of these people; and I have often seen little boys just beginning to run about, actively employed in lassoing cats, and entangling the legs of every dog that was unfortunate enough to pass within reach : in due season they become very expert in their attacks on poultry ; and afterwards in catching wild birds: so that, by the time they are mounted on horseback, which is always at an early age, they begin to acquire that matchless skill, from which no animal, of less speed than a horse, has the slightest chance of escaping.

"Let us suppose that a wild bull is to be caught, and that two mounted horsemen, guassos as they are called, undertake to kill him. As soon as they discover him, they remove the coil of the lasso from behind them, and, grasping it in the left hand, prepare the noose in the right, and dash off at full gallop, each swinging his lasso round his head. The first who comes within reach aims at the bull's horns, and when he sees, which he does in an instant, that the lasso will take effect, he stops his horse, and turns it half round, the bull continuing his course, till the whole cord has run out from the guasso's hand. The horse, meanwhile, knowing, by experience, what is going to happen, leans over, as much as he can, in the opposite direction from the bull, and stands in trembling expectation of the violent tug which is given by the bull when brought up by the lasso. So great, indeed, is the jerk which takes place at this moment, that were the horse not to lean over, he would certainly be overturned; but standing, as he does, with his feet planted