then_ lying at your disposal, I having left untouched ten times as much?
My warning to you, that they were no longer to be trifled with, was
founded on a long acquaintance with their character and disposition;
and facts have proved, and may more fully prove, the truth of what
I told you.

Why, Sir, is the word "immediate" put into your order to go
forth from this port? Would it not have been more decorous to
have been less peremptory, knowing, as you do, that the delay of
payment had unmanned the ships--that the total disregard of all
my applications had left the squadron destitute--and that the men
were enticed away by persons acting under the Peruvian Government?
This being so, why are matters pushed to this extremity?

I thank you for the _approval of my services since the 20th of
August_, 1820, and assure you that no abatement of my zeal for the
Protector's interest took place till the 5th of August, when I became
acquainted with his Excellency's installation, and when, in your
presence, he uttered sentiments that struck a thrill through my
frame, which no subsequent act, nor protestation of intentions, has
been able to mitigate. Did he not say--aye, did you not hear him
declare, that he would never pay the debt to Chili, nor that due to
the navy, unless Chili would sell the squadron to Peru? What
would you have thought of me as an officer, sworn to be faithful to
the state of Chili, had I listened to such language in cold, calculating
silence, weighing my decision in the scale of personal interest?
No, Sir, the promise of San Martin, that "my fortune should be
equal to his own," will not warp from the path of honour

Your obedient, humble Servant,