By good fortune, I have not forgotten the maxim of religiously
adhering to the word of a gentleman, which, as General, has been
the pivot on which my anticipations have rested.

It now behoves me to explain my engagements towards the
Chilian squadron, to which, it is very gratifying to declare that
Peru, in part, owes its liberty; an acknowledgment which would
have been made on the medals coined, if, in the hurry of business,
_I had been able to give my attention to the subject of the inscription
that was presented to me as a model!_ You yourself have heard me
eulogise its merits and services.

I have offered to the crews of the squadron of Chili twelve
months' pay, as an acknowledgment of its services, and am employed
in providing the means, and also in endeavouring to collect the
reward of 50,000 dollars which _you_ offered to the seamen who should
capture the _Esmeralda_, and I am not only disposed to pay these sums,
but to recompense valour displayed in the cause of the country.

But you know, my Lord, that the wages of the crews do not
come under these circumstances, and that I--_never having engaged
to pay the amount--am not obliged to do so!_ That debt is due from
Chili, whose government engaged the seamen. Although it may
be just, in the state of its finances, to indemnify Chili in some
degree for the expeditionary expenses, that will be, for me, an
agreeable consideration; but in no degree will I acknowledge a right
to claim arrears of pay!

If I could forget the services of the squadron, and the sacrifices