The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-07 00:00:00

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STAMPED sd.

yoked that right of revendication which supposed
claim to dominion, necessarily lost after forty years.
And it is of little importance now that it is said this
simply
secondary apologetic,place
in
tahne d d
et hc
declarationthmereni-t tioned, for reasons do not d • •
derive their value from
the qualifications people wis • h
to give them, nor
from the order in which they are placed, but from
their relation to the matter of h whic
they
treat ; and
it is evident that, in cases of taking possession of,
or occupying, the question of property or domination
is the first and the principal. For this reason the
right of revendication claimed, although in despite
of all logic relegated to the second rank in the
matter now under consideration, besides the
other considerations which accompanied it, and
which we despised, caused universal scandal and
alarm. It provoked the most serious and most
formal protests upon the part of Americans and
Europeans.
" The following, once more, are the facts which
constitute this offence, presented under their verit-
able aspect. With an ostentation and array of forces
which, considering the weakness of the garrison of
the islands, is only explicable by the desire of ren-
dering the outrage more irritating, a ship of the
national marine was seized ; the Governor and other
officials Of the public alliinistration were kept hos-
tages, as well as the captain and officers of the
captured ship.
But all these offences and all these vexations
are nothing in comparison with the humiliation of
the national flag, the symbol of the sovereignty and
emblem of the independence of the Republic—the
flag which was replaced by that of Spain. It is the
most painful and most bloody insult which could
ever be inflicted upon a free people. In acting thus,
the honour and dignity of the very person of Peru
have been humiliated—her honour and her dignity
have been played with.
" Can Spain, who calls herself offended by us,
oppose any similar outrage ? Supposing true and
proved all_ the grounds of complaint she believes
herself to have against Peru, can all of them toge-
ther counterbalance this single one ? Thus then,
in the eyes of a just and impartial judge, who shall
take insults and satisfaction into account, it is in-
contestably Peru who will have the right of claim-
ing satisfaction in the last place.
" The law of nations has been violated ; the
commonest rules arising out of it have been de-
spised ; the forms which guarantee its observance
have been infringed. After all this, Peru and the
other nations of America, the representatives of
those of the Old World acquainted with these trans-
gressions, still hoped for a moment that the Govern-
ment of Spain, thus rendering homage to justice
and to its proverbial magnanimity, would repress
and condemn them.
" It has indeed reproved them by rejecting the
principle of revendication set up by their originators;
but it has nevertheless not ceased to occupy the
islands—a measure which ought to be the conse-
quence of its. reprobation ; it has neither given nor
offered any satisfaction.
" The condemnation of a principle which has served
as basis to the consummation of an aggressive act,
and even the amendment of that act, is only a nega-
tive satisfaction. Rights and equity require posi-
tive acts which re-establish the moral and juridical
order changed by the offences committed.
" Further, not only has the Cabinet of Madrid
stopped short in its first steps upon the way of jus-
tice, but it has also converted satisfaction into com-
plaint. In consequence of a statement in all men's
eyes prejudiced and improbable, it has caused to be
forwarded, in defiance of usage, to our consul at this
Court, the proposals with which your Excellency is
already acquainted, and the moderation of which it
has been attempted to support in the Circular of
June 24 last, signed by Don J. F. Pacheco, and in
that which occasions the present Note.
" Supposing that Senor Morcyra in reality pos-
sessed that diplomatic character the Government
has constantly denied him, for that very reason he
had a right that the proposition should be commu-
nicated to him in an honest and suitable form.
How was it possible that a Government treated up
till then with such contumely that a despatch relat-
ing to a matter of the greatest gravity had been left
unanswered, which had not even been replied to
while disapproving the principle in whose name it
had been outraged—that a Government, thus
treated, I say, should accept the unusual and con-
temptuouM method employed to bring it into dis-
cussion ? Nevertheless, a new complaint was
brought against it for not having accepted under
these conditions. The enlightened judgment of
impartial Governments will appreciate the injustice
of this mode of action.

"In addition to this complaint, and so many
others as little justified, another has been brought
forward. Peru is accused of cruelty towards
Spanish subjects. This is an accusation long'since
prepared ; but as it is generic, I have left it till the
close.

"To render it possible of belief, it is really neces-
sary it should be publicly and solemnly preferred.
Ido not reply to it. I yield the word to the hun-
dreds of Spaniards, who, settled in Peru in peace
and tranquillity, pass their pleasant and agreeable
lives ; to those who, in large numbers, have made
considerable and secure fortunes upon that hospi-
table soil ; to those who greeted General Pinzon on
the day of his arrival in the port of Cathie; to
those who publicly and spontaneously signed the
memorial addressed to their Sovereign in conse-
quence of the occupation of the Chincha Islands.
Let those reply who, from April 14th until now,
have continued to live in Peru with the same
tranquillity and the same calm as before, devoting
themselves to their affairs without being disquieted
by the most just and most universal emotion.
Lastly, let the public conscience and the notoriety
of facts respond.

4, After this, what remains of the accusations and
complaints of Spain against Peru ? What has been
the conduct of the Governments of the two nations
respectively ?

" Regarding the first of these points, that un-
justifiable aggression on the 11th April—surpassing
all the offences Spain believes herself to have re-
ceived from Peru, even supposing those offences
were real and proved—is the most eloquent and
most triumphant reply that can be made. As for
the second, two successive missions by Peru to obtain
the recognition of her independence and the friend-
ship of Spain ; on the part of the latter Power, one
single mission, entrusted to a person evidently pre-
judiced against Peru, frivolous and of a turbulent
temper. Peru making, lastly, a final effort, in the
communication of:April 13th, to re-establish the
official relations thrice interrupted with Spain ;
Spain disdaining to reply to this despatch, and
as-
suming nevertheless that Peru would enter into
and
dis-
cussion with her under an at least
irregular
unusual form ; lastly, noisy complaints and re-
iterated threats.
Peru, free and independent by natural right and
official re-
cognition known to etiquette
refuse the o
justice, does not neverthelesswhich the law of custom
o ve
thallththeehninChrisentsie-
ples who emancipate
has established against
ps.ropfeessrue,s,
Spain,
thanietmyssehlvee
first brought her
owes
treoisvern oe nt
pc e°-w insensibleahbo
equally as Spain and other nations
modern world have received it successively
tbheantefiCthrsishteianitY, • .
forfotmheone another, according to the designs of Pro-
vidence. With Christianity Peru has received the
principle of civilisation and of intellectual culture ;
this it is which has inspired her with the holy love
of independence and liberty, and which has given
her the consciousness of her rights. The religion
which has endowed the martyr with
ur
inspired him with heroism, which
creates the
andeveri.
table civic virtues, fortifies Peru, and will prevent
her ever falling into abjectness.
" Such are the reasons and the sentiments which