Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/710

 678 PERU and the judge Matienza, established the system under which the native population of Peru was ruled for the two succeeding cen turies ; and future viceroys referred to him as the great master of statesmanship who was their guide, and to his ordinances as their acknowledged text-book. His Libra de Tasos fixed the tribute to be paid by the Indians, exempting all men under eighteen and over fifty. He found it necessary, in order to secure efficient government, to revert in some measure to the system of the Yiicas. The people were to be directly governed by their native chiefs, whose duty was to collect the tribute and exercise magisterial functions. The chiefs or &quot; curacas &quot; had subordinate native officials under them called &quot; pichca-pachacas &quot; over 500 men, and &quot; pachacas &quot; over 100 men. The office of curaca (or &quot; cacique &quot;) was made hereditary, and its possessor enjoyed several privileges. Many curacas were descended from the imperial family of the Yncas, or from great nobles of the Yncarial court. In addition to the tribute, which was in accordance with native usage, there was the &quot;mita,&quot; or forced labour in mines, farms, and manufactories. Toledo enacted that one-seventh of the male population of a village should be subject to conscription for this service, but they were to be paid, and were not to be taken beyond a specified distance from their homes. Vice- In their legislation the Spanish kings and viceroys showed royalty, a desire to protect the people from tyranny, but they were unable to prevent the rapacity and lawlessness of distant officials. The country was depopulated by the illegal methods of enforcing the mita, and an air of sadness and desolation spread over the land. Toledo was succeeded in 1581 by Don Martin Henriquez, who died at Lima two years afterwards. The subsequent history of the vice- royalty is well worthy of detailed attention by students of history in all countries possessing a colonial empire. The Spanish colonies suffered from the strict system of monopoly and protection, which was only slightly relaxed by the later Bourbon kings, and from the arbitrary proceedings of the Inquisition. Between 1581 and 1776 as many as fifty-nine heretics were burned at Lima, and there were twenty-nine &quot;autos,&quot; but the Inquisition affected Europeans rather than natives, for the Indians, as catechumens, were exempted from its terrors. The curacas sorrowfully watched the gradual extinc tion of their people by the operation of the mita, protesting from time to time against the exactions and cruelty of the Spaniards. At length a descendant of the Yncas, who assumed the name of Tupac Amaru, rose in rebellion in 1780. The insurrection lasted until July 1783, and the cruel executions which followed its sup pression failed to daunt the people. The death of Tupac Amaru shook the power of Spain and made it totter to its fall. From that time both Indians and Peruvians of Spanish descent began to think for themselves, and to entertain ideas of liberty and pro gress. Tupac Amaru was followed by Dr Pedro Jose Chavez de la Rosa, the Spanish bishop of Arequipa, and Dr Toribio Rodriguez de Mendoza, rector of the university of San Carlos at Lima, whose pupils, among whom were the future republican statesmen Drs Luna Pizarro and Vijil, became ardent advocates of reform. When, on 3d August 1814, Mateo Garcia Pumacagua, a Peruvian chief, raised the cry of independence at Cuzco, he was joined by many Peruvians of Spanish descent, but was defeated in the battle of Umachiri (12th March 1815), taken, and executed. At the same time the youthful and enthusiastic poet Melgar suffered death in the cause of his country. Peru Peru was the centre of Spanish power, and the viceroy had inde- his military strength concentrated at Lima. Consequently the pendent more distant provinces, such as Chili and Buenos Ayres, were able to throw off the yoke first. But the destruction of the viceroy s power was essential to their continued independent existence. The conquest of the Peruvian coast must always depend on the command of the sea. A fleet of armed ships was fitted out at Valparaiso in Chili, under the command of Lord Cochrane and officered by Englishmen. It convoyed an army of Argentine troops, with some Chilians, under the command of the Argentine general San Martin, which landed on the coast of Peru in September 1820. San Martin was enthusiastically received, and the independence of Peru was proclaimed at Lima on his entrance, after the viceroy had withdrawn (28th July 1821). On 20th September 1822 San Martin resigned the protectorate, with which he had been invested, saying that the &quot; presence of a fortunate soldier is dangerous to a newly- constituted state,&quot; and on the same day the first congress of Peru became the sovereign power of the state. After a short period of government by a committee of three, the congress elected Don Jose de la Kiva Aguero to be first president of Peru on 26th February 1823. He displayed great energy and capacity as an administrator, but the aid of the Colombians under Bolivar was sought, and the native ruler was unwisely deposed. Bolivar arrived at Lima on 1st September 1823, and began to organize an army to attack the Spanish viceroy in the interior. On 6th August 1824 the cavalry action of Junin was fought with the Spanish general Canterac near the shores of the lake of Chinchay-cocha. It was won by a gallant charge of the Peruvians under Colonel Suarez at the critical moment. Soon afterwards Bolivar left the army to proceed to the coast, and the final battle of Ayacucho (9th December 1824) with the viceroy and the whole Spanish power was fought by his second in command, General Sucre. The Spaniards were com pletely defeated. The viceroy and all his officers were taken prisoners, and Spanish power in Peru came to an end. General Bolivar now showed that he was actuated by personal ambition ; he intrigued to impose a constitution on Peru, with himself as president for life. He failed, and left the country on 3d September 1826, followed by all the Colombian troops in March 1827. General Lamar, who commanded the Peruvians at Ayacucho, Early was elected president of Peru on 24th August 1827, but was deposed, presi- after waging a brief but disastrous war with Colombia, on 7th June dents. 1829. General Gamarra, who had been in the Spanish service, and was chief of the stall in the patriot army at Ayacucho, was elected third president on 31st August 1829. For fifteen years, from 1829 to 1844, Peru was painfully feeling her way to a right use of independence. The officers who fought at Ayacucho, and to whom the country felt natural gratitude, were all-powerful, and they had not learned to settle political differences in any other way than by the sword. From 1837 to 1839 there was a lawless and unprincipled intervention on the part of Chili which increased the confusion. Three men, during that period of proba tion, won a prominent place in their country s history, Generals Gamarra, Salaverry, and Santa Cruz. Gamarra, born at Cuzco in 1785, never accommodated himself to constitutional usages ; too often he made his own will the law ; but he attached to himself many loyal and devoted friends, and, with all his faults, which were mainly faults of ignorance, he loved his country and sought its welfare according to his lights. Salaverry was a very different character. Born at Lima in 1806, of pure Basque descent, he joined the patriot army before he was fifteen and displayed his audacious valour in many a hard -fought battle. Feeling strongly the necessity that Peru had for repose, and the guilt of civil dissension, he wrote patriotic poems which became very popular. Yet he too could only see a remedy in violence. He seized the supreme power, and perished by an iniquitous sentence on 18th February 1836. l Andres Santa Cruz was an Indian statesman. His mother was a lady of high rank, of the family of the Yncas, and he was very proud of his descent. Unsuccessful as a general in the field, he nevertheless possessed remarkable administrative ability and for nearly three years (1836-39) realized his lifelong dream of a Peru-Bolivian confederation. 2 But Peruvian history is not confined to the hostilities of these military rulers. Three constitutions were framed, in 1828, 1833, and 1839. There were lawyers, statesmen, and orators who could defend the rights and liberties of the people. On 7th November 1832 Dr Vijil, the deputy for Tacna, rose in his place in congress and denounced the unconstitutional acts of President Gamarra in a memorable speech of great eloquence. Nor should a much humbler name ever be omitted in writing the history of republican Peru. Juan Rios, a private soldier, was sentry at the door of congress when Gamarra illegally sent his troops to disperse the members. He defended his post against two companies, and fell mortally wounded. In 1844 General Ramon Castilla restored peace to Peru, and was elected constitutional president on 20th April 1845. Ten years of peace and increasing prosperity followed. In 1849 the regular pay ment of the interest of the public debt was commenced, steam com munication was established along the Pacific coast, and a railroad was made from Lima to Callao. After a regular term of office of six years of peace and moral and material progress Castilla resigned, and General Echenique was elected president. But the proceedings of Echenique s government in connexion with the consolidation of the internal debt were disapproved by the nation, and, after hos tilities which lasted for six months, Castilla returned to power in January 1855. From December 1856 to March 1858 he had to contend with and subdue a local insurrection headed by General Vivanco, but, with these two exceptions, there was peace in Peru from 1844 to 1879, a period of thirty -live years. The existing consti- Constit tution was framed in 1856, and revised by a commission in 1860. tion. Slavery and the Indian tribute were abolished ; by its provisions the president is elected for four years, and there are two vice- presidents. The congress consists of a senate and chamber of deputies. The senators are elected by departments and the deputies by the people, every 30,000 inhabitants having a representative. When congress is not sitting there is a permanent commission of the legislature, elected at the end of each session, and consisting of seven senators and eight deputies. The chamber of deputies may accuse the president of infractions of the constitution and the senate passes judgment. The president appoints the prefects of depart ments and sub-prefects of provinces ; the prefects nominate the governors of districts. In each province there is a judge ; a superior court of justice sits at the capital of each department; and there is 1 The romance of his life lias been admirably written by Manuel Bilbao (1st ed., Lima, 1853; 2d ed., Buenos Ayres, 1807). 2 The succession of presidents and supreme chiefs of Peru from 1829 to 1844 was as follows : 1829-38, Agustin Gamarra ; 1834-35, Luis Jose Orbegoso; 1835-36, Felipe Santiago Salaverry; 1830-39, Andres Santa Cruz ; 1S39-41, Agustiu Gamarra ; 184] -44, Manuel Menendez.