, 1866-05-14
THE SPANISH.CHILlAN WAR.


l EA4A a"4f1Lak SAACN0A 40
| SpantAh Ad1aira1's Account OF tho
Bombnrdnenf TT fEa1paraf~o-TheN Ne-
E0tsneious Of Gen. Fitzpatrick. Com.
Rodgers and The British Admiral.
Headquarters Of Her Catholic Majesty,s squadron
IN TIE Pscltc. On bosru ihs N9manc1s. IN The Bay
OF Valparaiso. The Cd Of April 1855.
To Her Majesty's Envoy E1n1osttnary and MIN
tRter Flenipoentiary ct Washington :-ExccllcncT
in order That your E1re,lency may form Al exact
idea ct the occurrence. OF the last iottniyhtI have
| The honor Of placing before you summlly Of the
mo-t recent events, regrettfng that want Of tin.
shonld prevent nv sendng cop,es Of the dcspatrhes
On The 1Ith Of LAST mouth l was invited to dine
BY the American Commodure Rodsers. on board
OF his hag.4hip. During dlnuel, the Commodore
expnsted ardent wishes for the termination Of our
dihlenlty with Chih, and sneressed that. were
clothed With full powtrs, The attainment OF such
1sS' ms1 n s oPnson Be- sssomR,hsa
err, he fald that be would Immediately communl-
cate with his Minister and SEQ II their united eI-
a few day* after, received the visit Of the Com.
modore aud OF General Etlp1tE1ck. Both seeued
aMp.un,cd M " the bet w1s6es, and Invited mo to
ynte and confidential nature, might pe1hapa 1csult
| in The Termination ol. .thc war-
Upon ny acceptance Of the proposal, the Amesi-
can Nlnlsser easd 10 me thar although the cooseF
ence was strictly confidential, the Minister Of For
snt ~ 5oS s,ns tak-q a. aua that b. lhsM az An'ssi M
taken the tn1t.atiEe In the matter, very Euch
tDteFcnted In arriving at the object they had fa view.
j1couyentsnces which he thought czste for Spain,
IL the prolongahon OF this war; and giving me 10
understand that an unforeseen os tacle would be met
WITH. L the bouahardmeut Of Valparaiso were at
tempted, he pnoposed plan for m arrangement
which be considered eaaally honorable to both bel
III accordarce With this plan, there should hc a
cessnttou OF hoanties my credentials presented,
and new Investigation made Of the different gsey
nuccs asaIn>. Cni. As an earnest OF peace, there
ehduld Gtkt he 11lUtH nf
guns. in the following maunef: The flags Of Spain
snd Cnu hotsied at 1'assheads Of The kn,!lsh end
sao and IN n Ill aauG chian aaa
for1 and tne spanish squadron should Join, tn tuch
Ha1'ner, that: with Tue horse and tho smoke, It
should II yer be known by whom the first gun had
been fred.
As your Excellency may readily suppose, reject
~ Ss sd IL o san NE
that The Instructions Of my. Government were 80
positive. that Notwithstanding any d,llcuit.es
ho,iom of the Psciac IN ihe attempt, mnst have
from Chill the sa1sactIon which WIS due 10 us.
Moved. nevertheless, hy asfDce1c de.fte torrecou-
responsibility Of not requiring any oher sstistac-
tlon Than that contained In the nrzangemen. pro-
po.sd BY ENGLAND a1a France, apd accepted o.,
tie Covadouen, with II aags, arms and crew, IN re-
Turn for The prizes md Prisoner: lad In my power.
eeeE me o hs h no
have received answer, accepting the terms of,his
arrangement. ! would aadrcs Communication 10
the DIPLOMATIC Corps a1inS day. at The explsa-
Both The Minister and ths Commodore found the
tsIms honorable. General ktlratreE SAID De would
exert himsel TO his utmost 10 have them accepted
by Cliff. adding, that. however strange It might
uNpear it was his predecessor, Mr. Nel=on, who had
meat sdcEuouslY oppo:e ed nn5 CONCESSION TO Spain
passed between them On !he following day Ten
cral Fitzpatrick left for saatiaeo not without hope
and ihe prnnitse, given Of his oHn accord Thai he
wnr11 let kn0tv the Fptu{t 0f hkq rapnf1Af1Hn
On the 9Th, before eight O'Clock In the moEning,
Gencrnl Fitzpatrick again came on board oEmy ship,
with Commodore Rod.ess. His enurta had beeEIn
vain. Tic fepiy Of the chtlian Government was
that IN 60 short time II was not poes!olc to as
senhe and consult the accredited representatives
ply. stated to the Minister ofthe United Staes.
thss, a. ead previously informed h'm. would
ton. ~ .....
The Commodore then told me more clearly what
The nnfoIseen ob<taclc would be, to which he had
Baby Dc would @ not ' ns able 10 lsmain % ps,sise
tpecta,or Of tho destruction Of lee1celess city;
tia, perhaps be mignt be compelled to oppo.elt BY
naval io.ces oI Great Britain would join him for
the same purpose. | replied TINT I .Bhonld
be extremely aoHy 10 collide w1lh him a'er The
waru lnterest be had shown tor Spain and her
aRrnte; but thai such considerations would Lot te
sufficient to prevent my executing the orers Of my
Ths ny
mnsl ever be assured o. his friendship md esteem.
patrick.
One hour after this interview sent my communl.
carton to the Aneficzn Minister, In order that
@ 4 ao.Ss It o'hef OF
On the ss,h Of March received the visit Of Ad-
mini penman, who told mc that be had been N
s.ews win the Uuitrd states Minister; that ,be
law Of ws5 did ne a1tho5tEs he dsst.ues,oa Of DE-
# ha tot
iaSe to ADOPT @easuses 1be ez,ent of Ehisb b.
ta.n,l lhe at11Ya1 of tha msliy
lion Of III ht the dec1<inn belonged to ny EoJtrr
msnt but tcat r. an officer l should obcy my or
ders, aed that whatever might be he attitude assu-
I'd By tie nssa forcr. then In the h,y ever reuc
taat tn'gh! Be 10 come 10 such m extremity, bow
eses hSa forces ntxhI b. earthly
nf my duty. The Admiral graeped mr. hand. AID
i + ue WIN the tamc assurances OF frlenl4h,p md
On the u ame day tthe a9h) wa once nnoTe Visit.
cd hy he American Commodore, aeeompanied by
ne SECRETARY Of legation. With The apparent pai-
On d. tDc 40. he said thai he had Intended 10 on
pose ne bomoattiuent of Va,pa!a1Eo By force, be-
s "a @e tim 9 IT, could
but that subsequently he had arrivedat the coacin.
sion IRA. reh. moderation and dignity were on ihe
oppose any:h,uc, hu: hat bis ships wopId move ave-
cut Of the way Mt eight o'clock On The moruioe OF
the 3lst.
plan, which WIS, thar shuutd wrife n n,nifa.t.
ktnting that since nothing could prevent Tia homf
nEardnsnt, e ,would des,.s and spare Valparaiso.
aene1otisy would be npnrec,ated by ihs Gov
erpEent OF Chill, which would then decIare il
1.a5l Eaa.aes.s 81 e sesede e ~ demands; My
the P1oposon p9oyldine ns saSs
tee 10 n E pereonajy N the presence Of he Amen.
can Minister, that my processing would he nDpre.
e3aed and reespsoesled. The proposal oi tho Com
ard another oEe 1ayauced In lis etead go ridiculous
that It has ouly served ns 1aughInE.s'ock 10 rhe
Epglsh and AMI rcau commanders. The idea waa.
mat sort Of International dnel should be epac.d
and This in ,e1ms lndeeorns and even lnsulsing. II
Being staumel that dared not seek them at Chill,
%ss %n ssps
TBS sesnlt Of the duel was 70 b he Termination
fcevcs was naded. The oropo.al, / asatn say It.
Mas empy t1aeuious, and IN this llsht II has been
x1swsd y every one, without, perhaps. excepting
the depatch. 10 fav my behalf mai Fnch n.pno-
sa's deserved 70 answer. il ls rza,tyus to % me 10
gtish Admiral approved m7 actwer- The latter was
70 o'sEnsted HAT losing hts hatitual reserve he
e,t fad 70 me- INC lesr yoa have Just received is IN
nse! s11clent lustfhcation Tor the act r. n ara
anona 10 acconptish. Your Conduct has been most
no rceponse rom the Government OF tbIa couatryss
Ifsysonetg to these Incidents, on the s7ih. lad
n llke manner been called On ny the representa-
!lses OF ENGLAND ard France. lnstead Of present.
inS themselves 70 the sulee OF friendly negotia,ors
ana an su1ety neutfa there sen'lemen showed them
asses, on the Contrary, altoscthef partial 10 Chill
Ihcy commended that the brief delay granted to the
Government feF the acceptance Of terms, would |
Make any RESOLUTION appear o. dictated under The |
psssulc ol f0tce .hat sufficient time had been
alloWed Tor consultation vii the allies; TINT In
me, long delay should be conceded. They con. |