Peru.
The Times, 1824-07-09T00:00:00

The following is an importalt summary of the political events which had occurred in Peru and Chili, down to the 1st of Illarch :- ":BUENOS AYRtES, ArRIL 23. Nothing can well be fancied more intricate and perplexing than the presrent statc of affairs in Peru. Every month, for the last half year, has presented. tbe struggle under a new aspect to us; and so many difficulties have progesirvely sprung up to both of the con. tending parties (the Royalists and the Patriots), that it is aimost impossible to make up one's mind as to which of them liba most dis- advantages to contend with, and obstruct their way to the ultitnate obJeete which they have respectively in view. The afFlairs of the Pat.iots were, perhaps, at their lowvest just before Bolivar's atrival at Lime. Two parties, among themselves, were struggling for the, supremacy, and the finances of. the country were wretchedly low. Boliv3r succeeded in destroying the'ex,President Riva Aguero'k party, and mn restoring something like unaniiisym't hecoune0of the Limaniang. lie reeived reinforceraents from Colombia, and contrived to raise some money with whiclh he nndertook to open tht campaign against La Serna anA Canterac,the leaders of theRoyalists, To these men, Riva Aguero, while yet in arns against the tutho. rities of Lima, had niade overtures for an arrangement by whicb they might come into cortmand as the heads of an Independeni Government, and it would seem these Chiefs were not disinclined to throw off'their allegiance to Spain, and maintain their power in Peru; neitlher, it appears, was Bolivar averse to La1 S 'erna and Canterac being, placed at the head of affairs, Rpovided thev declared the absolute independence of. the country of Spain. - says. on the 24th of Janiuary, I there is some remon to hope a negotition may take place. Bolivar askes for nothing but a declaration of inde. pendence, and is willing to witldraw hiis troops if required.' But be. fore 8uch a negotiation could-be carried into effect, Canter.c appears to have got intelligence of a squadronr coming to assist -him from Spain, ani there the metter dropped. Great distress continued to be felt by the Government (of which Torre Tagle was the licad) at Lirae, in consequence of the shatteredl state of public resources ; bat at the same timie Bolivar continued to collect hiis forces at Pa-i. vilia, his head-qtarters, and our last accounts left .him there with about 11,000 men, well disciplined, and ready to march against Canterae. " But a scandaious transaction in the mean while changed the state of affiairs at Lima itself ; a black regiment, consisting of 1,200 men, Buenos.Ayrean troops in the Peruvian service, had long, been neglected in their pay, and the officers, it is said, apro- priated to themselves the monies intended for the Immivates. Tbzs re imelit was tnarched into Callao to garrison the-place, and'on the 3a of February the men and non-commissioned officers rose en maxses' secured their officers, aned the Governor of the Castle, and thus got conAplete p6ssession of the fort. The mutineers were headed by a sergeant of their own corps, and their first demand of the Oovernment of Lima was for 100,000 doUars"in monev, and ves- sels to convey them. to Buenos Ayres. This was refusea ; a nego. .tiation was attempted, butfailed ; and theinsurgents having liberat- ed about 10 Spanish offlcers, a Colonel Casa-Riego took thc com- mand, and the Spanish flag was hoisted at the forts on the 1 th of February. All vessels were prohibited from leaving the port, and one or two that escaped during the night, were fired at incessantly until without reach ob the batteries. In tbe mean time British goods were allowed to be enrbarked from Callao, on paying a small duty to Casa-Riego, though considerable pillage took place, and British *vessels remained uaier the protction of His Majesty shltip Fly in the harbour. Tie Royalist General Rodil being at Yea, rio great distance fiom lime, Casa-Riego sent him a desp3tch informing him of what had taken place. From Lime, Boli ar was also made acqusainted with it; but the probable occupation of L'na bytheRoy4 alhsts wa.s not coiisidered of sufficient moment by him to induce him to alter the plan ef his cainpiugn, and he therefore declined going down to the capital. 'On the otlier hand, Rodil having been joinedt by General Alonet, witlh 2,J00 -men from Jauga, he iiiarclied on Calico and Lima, ind took possession of both on the 27th of Febru- ary, and our accounts left on the following day. Previously to this, Almiral Guise, ofthePatriotfrgateLd Pruebs, who was blockading Callao, made a gallant attack cn the Fena,anza and another vessel of war in the ort, and in the hands of the insurgents, and lie suc- ceeded in entirely destroting beth. - expected to meet with a friendly reception from tae Spanish chiefi,. and had no idea they would in any way molest the 3ritishi residents or their property. General Canterac was expected 4t Lima. " From Chili they wrote me,30th of Mlarch thus - This event is not considered as likely to operate much in ?avour of the Royalist cause ultimately, for, to retain bossession of the castles, they must weaken their main force; and tlte fate of the country will not be de- cidedl by who has possession of Lima, but by a general engagemeit. lany speculations are afloat as to when this may take place, and ;sanguine cxpectations are entertained as to the result, from the very respectable torce Bolivar has nov at his disposal, and from his ta- lents as a leader. On the 21st or22d of Februarv,Congress was dis- .solved, Tote Tagle deposed, andBolivar nametl Dictator. BoVivar has been proclaimned Dictator; Torre Tagle a ppears as if he meant to remain, notwithstanding the approach of the. Spaniards ; at any rate, his family moves not. Bereedoaga, Secretary of Finance, is confined to his bed -to.day, and a good many of the Congress are also remaining. This appears like a defection from thci cause. C'aptain Mlartin, of the Ply, In anstwer to a note from. Admiral Guise, intimating a blockadle of the coast of Peru, refuses to sanction tiie nominal bleckade of anv port, as he can consider none in sucds a state which has not a vessel of war at its entrance for that purpose; and a despatch from the Spanish (Gmeral Rodil to the Commander of the Spanish privateer on the coast, orders him to respect all Ame- rican and f'nglish merchant-vessels, such being the will of the Vice- roy La Serna.' " Such are the details of our last advices fromn Lima, and so far they are more favourable to the Royalists than to the Patriots. But on the other hand, we have late accounts overland from Upper Peru whbic entirely change the faceof the Royalistaffairs. The internal divisions which fonnerly caged among thi Patriots, now appear to be in full play among their enemies. La Serna, Canterac, and Val- dez, the great Spanish leaders, are all stanch Constitutionalisms. Olaneta, the commander of the Spanish forces in Potosi, and wlho has the entire sway of U pper Peru, is a bigotted adherent of Ferdinand the absolute. Tbe three former deposed of their own authority the late Viceroy Pezoelo, as a servile, and they have not the slightest reason to hopefor favour from the (overnment of Spain as now constituted. Olaneea, inferior in force to the Constitutional Chiefs, acted with them till he received accounts of the final dis- comfiture of the Constitutionalists in Spain, and then, throwing off' the niask, lie proclaimed the King and the Catholic religion, de- nounced thc others RS rebela, accused them of having kept back itle King's C'ommission, nominating him to the Yiceroyalty, and pro- mised to cush them altogether, and restore the lan to erditiand. This bravado is contained in a proclamation issued by Olaneta, at Potosi, and republished here; and private accounts state, that he is 'making exertions to opnose La Serna anid Canterac, in consequence nf.uhwb.leJelL;l nM? tl,p%renifr- asae. a n)il. lithecountrv tionist, was at Oruro, preparing to march against Olaneta, and that our next accounts must bring us the detail of some feneral action. Though there is no doubt of the fact of this division among the Spanish Commanders, it is to be observed, that we cannot entirely rely on the details whichl we receive fromn the interior, as we get them through the parties interested. The two ships of war, Asia and Ac/miller, going round the Horn, from Spain, will of course be on the King's side in thtis dispute, and tend accordingly farther to embarrass Ia Scrna and Canterac in their operations. On the whole, it is not improbable that the ancient regime being restored in Ssain, and the Constitutional leadets in Peru so compromised as to leavO them no hope of paTdon ftrom Ferdinand. tat they may be precipi- tated into the measure of acknowledging the independence of Peru, partictilarly when we see they can make such good terms for them- selves by so doing." PERU.