Star.
London, England, 1819-01-20 00:00:00

AMERICAN PAPERS.

• PROM THE NATIONAL REGISTER. •
BLAND'S RF.PORT CONCERNING CHILI.
The readers of the .rational Reinter have :dread:.
been fur iished with the reports a Mr. Rodney.anu
Mr. Graham, relative to the actual si.uation of Buenos
Ayres, and the united and independent Provinces of
Li Meta. MtAlgita Act mane an official state.
respecting•dic same Provinces, together with a
• concerning, Chili,..and his. tnissionthither,
• the Preiident communicated to Congress on
ke. 15th iiesi.ariti. •
Bland,. it will be recollected, was, in pursuance
A,rliistrubtphs.frOtit the President, left by his col-
nap,-11”y, Rodney and Mr. Graham, at Buenos
:es, whence, on. the 15th. of April. 1818, he de-'
parted-for Chili, and on the 20th' of thetiame month
arrivt, ! at Mendoza, on the eastern side of the Andes,
having travelled, by the may of the pOst-roach a clis-.
tance of about 90D miles. He left Mendoza on the
9.9t1 of April, and crossing t" Andes. reached San-
tiago de Chili on the sth of May ; the whole saute
being, perhaps, about 12(X1 miles.
• At this place:dr. Bland presented himself to Don
Antonio Jesse irisarri, Secretary.of State, through
:whom he obtained an interview with Don Bernardo
the Supreme Director of Chili. He was
received with much cordiality by the Director, with
'Whom he had, at different times, very interesting
conversations, touching the present and future pro-
bable condition of co, And the friendly sentiments
vibich. the: United Stitet entertained trtwercit that
country. In the several interviews which Mr. Bland
had with the Supreme Director, he represented to
him the good disposition which the Government of
use United States cherished towafds the Independent
Authorities-of Chili, and the cause in which they are
engaged ; the sympathy which the free citizens of
North America. felts for the sufferings of those who
sereconteading for liberty and emancipation from the
yoke of. Old Spain, in the southern past of the Ame-
rican continent ; and portrayed to him the benefits
to•be derived from the establishment of the represen-
tative system, by the 'immediate formation ova Con-
fires:..—To these observations O'Higgins answered,
that he was nut insensible to the friendship of the
United States ; that it was his intention to institute
free government as soon as Chili was entirely freed
of her enemies, and sufficiently tranquillized fur the
purpose—but that the present moment was inauspi-
tidos for the commenceinent of so great a work ; that
in times of public peril the presence of a Congress
had' been found extremely pernici.as ; that Mexico
had been lost by a Congress ; that the Congress of
Venezuela once lost that ccuntt y ; and thar Buenos
Ayres had been endangered by a Congress; lately,
indetJ. )i4 admitted, the latter had learnt to act more
IR concear•Aui with greater propriety.
. The Styrian* Director haviii„ intimated that it
Wa4 041:4/s4iIil the United Eitues would recognize the
inaaonieuce and "hot the Chilt.tos would
Fr.sok spaci.ti savour,, in commerce to the nttion, and
it woithl he 11r4ifYinff the Unitshi times ishool.l be
the uittioit first ontlaug borli
Mr, 1114114 roplic4! Ow( the tingle abject of hit
Wit; to twilit/ tintinry nit& the true posture of
ittfitirs In . ,tliet the United *MO woidi he
inf
.err &emits oldie kio4, hut shut illet
tlld iittt dolt hit theitt.tlifft 411 they doionl wet to
1,4 ion dna liattliim with *hot it AIM were wits
!Mg to tely, its to Any edvittiteitem ii entlllllSetle Anti
nevi ,irit,nh nil the skill • itnd industry of their met;
shunts and tellineff.iltitt he hid mooed in Milfitlititn
in Ottiet ar ptatilte, upon the ipt/t4 Saintitl
ledge of the totality. of its institutions, and Its cepa,
cities in peace end in wer-i-thet the Oovertinsent ofi
the United States only wished to see Its WWI clearly,
did would make noltnptoper use Of thii information ;
and that any. particulars communicatei.tohint from
authority might he considered as confidential, or
otherwise, just as the Supreme Director might deem
proper.--The Supreme Director, O'Higgins, admitted
the. propriety of the authentic information,. in order
that the Government of the United States might act
intelligently with regard to South Anterican affairs,
and told Mr. Bland that he would cause an official
statement to be made out respecting the condition
and resources of Chili, and placed in his hands for
that purpose ; which promise the Supreme I)irector
complied with. This statement makes a part of Mr.
Bland's report concerning Chili.
During the intercourse between Mr. Bland and
O'lli2;gins, the former explained to the latter the mo-
tives which actuate the President in the seizure of
Amelia Island, and in driving the banditti from Gal-
veston ; and told him that the freebooters, who had
been forced from those places, were not the only
armed vessels whose offie.ers and crews had inter-
rupted the lawful commerce of the United States, for
that some of the privateers cruizing under regular
Patriot commissions, had committed depredations

upon their trade ; that the United States woul,i, at
all lirtrds, defend the fair traffic of her citizens ; and
that they would do so even atainst the Chili ans, how-
evei painful it might be to crush in the germ a grow-
ing intimacy between the two people, and which
promised to be in the sequel fruitful of benefits to
them botb.—O'Higgins did not know where Amelia
.Island and Galveston were situated, until Mr. Bland
explained the positions to him. He decidedly ap-
• proved of the conduct of the President in driving al
the pirates from thence, inasmuch as it tended to
preserve the character of the Patriot cause from im-
putation; of an injurious nature.
in one of the conversations which took place, Mr.]
Mired mild•the Supreme Director, that when he was
at Rio.J.aneiro (:&here it will be recollected the Com-
tilissicmers Mitied,.. on their way to Buenos Ayres,)
he bpi learnt through Mr. Sumter, the Minister of,
.tha United States, from the Spanish Minister resident
there, that Great Britain had been induced to take
an active, part in favour of Old Spain, and had in-
&tented the Allied Sovereigns of Europe to inter-
pose for the adjustment of differences between, her
. and her Colonies ; and that the plan of adjustrnent'
was to be something like that'which had ban '
for-
merly rejected by the Cortes, and might be fodnd in
a Work that had been published in 'England, enti-
tled, AN Ovtli.ll of the Revointion in Spanish. AMtliCa.
At first O'Higgins did not believe tif the troth of
the information which Mr. Bhnd had received: He
said that the British would hardly do so, -el they
wanted the co:nitrl-ce ofSpanishArnerica ;butshortly •
al.zer, ni 3C' ing wth hir:. azain, tie Supreme Director 1

Sri he was then convinced of it, for he had seen
Captain Shirriff, of the British frigate Andromache,
in Santiago, who had tohi him that he had in his
possession papers on the subject, with which he was
:going to Lima, in Peru. O'Higgins further re-
marked, that all attempts to reconcile the South
Americans, short of the acknowledgment of their in-
dependence, would be fruitless, and that a return to
allegiance under the Government of Old Spain was
wholly out of the qnestion.
On the 9th July, Mr. Bland having received the
stagsticat information 'which- the Supreme Director
had promised him, took leave.of him and of the Se-
cretary of State Irisarri. O'Higgins expressed his in-'
tention of writing a letter to the President ; but whe-
ther he did so or sot, Mr. B. had not distinctly related.
On the 10th of July, Mr. Bland left Santiago de
Chili; on the 11th he arrived at Valparaiso; mud on
the 15th July he sailed thence, in the brig America,
Captain Daniel. Rea, and arrived, by the way of
Cape Horn, at Philadelphia, on the 29th Oct. 1818.
The narrative of Mr. Bland's communication with •
the Supreme Director forms but a small portion of
I his Report concerning Chili. He furnishes, in addi-
' tion, a very copious description of that region of our
he.,,i4ere, in which he now and then lets his fancy'
get the ',eter of his judgment. But from the mass
of pages which he h.'s written, circumstances of a
highly interesting comp may be selected.
kroin Mr. Bland's accou it, it would seem that
Chitt is a country (excluding .he Magellanic track or
,New Chili) of about 1000 miles in extent on the sea
coast ; that it has many exc2lient ports convenient for
foleigii trade ; that it is a country fruitful in grain,
wine, and oil, and produc ive in gold, silver, copper,
and tin ; that it is destine,' to be the granary of that
part of the world ; that its population is about one
million two hundred thousand persons; that eight
hundred thousand of these are under the domination
of the Patriots, the remainder being under the jnris-
diction of the Royalists ; that there are about 50,000
Indian slaves in all Chili, and but very few slaves
of the African race.

All the mechanical arts and agriculture are in a
rude state, and the roads and pathways in a neglec-
ted condition. The principal articles of export are
the ny.'tals already meati,lned, together with wheat,
flour, hemp, cordage, hides, tallow, jerked beef,
guanaca, chinchilla skins, figs, raisins, &c.--
Of 4,000,000 of dollars' worth of imports in the course
of last year, two millions in value were from Eng-
land, one itam the United States, and one from Bue-
nos Ayres. The articles furnished from the United
States are chiefly tobacco, Windsor chairs, saddlery,
and furniture. Of European commodities, Mr. Bland
Chinks the manufactures of France and Germany are
preened. The stocks of cattle are numerous and fine;
the horses are active, spirited, serviceable, and cheap,
but the 'rules are the common beasts of burden.
The soil and climate of Chili are different in dif.
f Ten, places r trom the Straits of Chace° to the river
Biohia, it Is woody, fertile, and salubrious, and is in-
habited by the Armicitninns, or natives: from the
Biala to the river Maul, the coLntry Is the same,
hit the Pnpltlatitan is Spanish I from the Wale to
the fornle, but no forests; front the
volley r f Aeo,i,:itrinit the Mine Country pawns it.
sell. whirls is less fruitful on the %ohm After
the Aline COAltre, the dreary desert fit' Anti etlsd,
*Mill is firvolls PI theee hundred miles in @stoat,
itlfords itionteetlne to the Chinook (rim, mit
b' land WWI P.,u, Ittniii the *Nil% of Isildeilo in
the 14,0 t iltauie it taint Hi Mir W 640111 ht NaHtittdu
de Chili than Is ow talk ruts seven Manikin 00 year,
and beyond Cdpinitti talus air hardly known. Mr.
Ulattd divide, the coUitlff Into twit tegions.tho one
eari.thle and humid, Anil tile tither inviolable gild
dry. Fuel in some parts is !Tame; but it is said there
is plenty of pit-coal on the banks of the Mobil, neat
Conception. The Archipelago of Ancuil, or Chlloe,
contains forty-seven islands; it Is a considecibie
fishery, and will be a nursery for seamen.
There are only duce carriage-roads in all Chill.'
The fertile part of the soil is situated in vallies, stir-
rounded for the nicnt part by hills and mountains :
and the inhabitants c f the c vallies communicate with
each other principally by mule-paths. Mr. Bland
describes the people generally as being I' mild, ami-
able, brave, and uninformed.' Santiago is the capi-
tal, and contains about 40,000 persons.
The Royalists have possession of Penco, and a
considerable district around Conception, which is'
their strong hold ; they retain also Valdivia and Chi li
-
loe. The Patriot Army, at a medium, (for Mr.
Irisarri and Mr. Bland differ en this point) is about
0000 strong, 2000 of which are negroes from Buenos
Ayres; there are no Chilian Officers in it, however,
above the rank of Captain, with the exception ofl
O'Higgins, who is a Brigadier under San Martin.l
and Colonel Raymon Freyre. The navy consists of,
but three or four indifferent vessels, but would be'
increased by the addition of two new ships of war,
to be called San Martin and Chacabuco, built at New
York, and for which purpose Messrs. Aguirre and'
Gomez were a considerable time since sent to the
United States from Buenos Ayres with money. A
superior naval force is indispensable to enable the
Chilians to invade Peru, for the desert of Atacama
prevents them from marching thither by land. The
Chilians have no seamen of their own.

The revenue of the Government in Chili is derived
from duties on imports and exports ; from an excise
which is laid upon almost every thing that is sold,
from a direct tax, the mines, papal bulls, printed in-
dulgencies for the living and the dead, a crusade
tax. tithes, forfeited estates of the Jesuits, voluntary
contributions, and from copfiscated estates of the
enemies of the Patriot cause. The Officers of the
Customs and the Judges of the Commercial Courts
receive no regular salaries, and a duty is imposed on
merchandise to compensate them ; in addition, traders
quicken their exertions by present; or bribes. There,
are 10,000 Monks and Nuns in 'the. 'country. The
Church holds one-third of the landed property of the
State. The Church lands are farmed out to'reiint
who let them again to under-tenants, and these
work them with Slaves : thus three gets efidlers a
supported upon the produet of theindustittiftithe,
ilahouring class. • In addition to thiticslanded Witatel,
!the Religious Institutions have what are called their
Censos, or money lent out at an interest of five pet
cent. per annum, to the Amount of ten millions cr
dollars. Besides their share of the tithes, which they
State still permits thvaa to draw, the Clergy have dip
annats, or first fruits, which yield to exch Curate laf
tween two and threc hencircd dollaxi per; annurrt.-'

The Governmera of Chili, it sozz”..-;, ;; reedy. aild
has made some progress towatds laying laded= at
the enormous property or the Priests. Indeed,
.neither
Monks or Nuns, according to Mr. Bland, are treated
with much ceremony ; some of the former have been
turned out of their dwelling-places, which have been
Loccupied for military purposes, and some of them
have been tried for treasonable practices.
The most immediately interesting part of the Re-
port is that which gives the histot y of the Chilian
Revolution, and the change of parties among the
Patriots. There have, it appears, been two powerful
factions in that country of the Revolutionists them-
selves. At the head of one were the Carreras ; the
Larrains formed the other, with O'Higgins at their
head. At the beginning of the contest for indepen-
dence, the Carrera faction prevailed. It would seem,
however, this party did not man;%e affairs in a jitdi-
cious manner ; for at the battle of-Raticagea, against
the Royalists, fought on the 2d of October, 181 a, the
Patriots were entirely defeated, and fled over the
Andes. They were rallied at Mendoza by San Mar-
tin, who identified himself with the Larrain faction,
and having obtained a reinforcement of 2000 Ne-
groes from Buenos-Ayres, crossed the mountains,
and, .on the 12th February, 1816, fought the battle
of Chacabuco, defeated the Royalists, and took their'
Commander, Marco, prisoner. This may be called
the second epoch of the Revolution in Chili. The
Camera party was, of course, put down, and the
Larrains, with O'Higgins as Chief, confirmed them-
selves in power by the Victory of Maypu, obtained on
the sth April, 1818, with the particular: of which.
the reader is no doubt well acquainted. It is greatly
to the dishonour of the Larrains that they reized this
moment of success to put to death two of the most.
distinguished of the Carreras. They were sacrificed:
under judicial forms, and on the pretext of treason,,
Their execution was a foul and bloody murder, to'
gratify the vengeance of the reigning faction.
The closest intimacy subsists between the Govern.'
meats of Chili and Buenos-Ayres. 01 liggins told
Mr. Bland, that there was nothing which Buenos.
Ayres could ask of Chili that would not be granted :
and that Buenos-Ayres would act in like manner to-
wards Chili. All the inhabitants of Buenor.-Ayres
arc naturalized Citizens of Chili. The Supreme Di-
rector, by way of characterizing the intimacy, said
they were as two bodies actuated by one soul. 31r.
Bland thinks, however, that this connexion is to the
disadvantage of the Chilians, and conceives that it
will not be lasting.