"Most Excellent Sir,—Unquestionably war is the exercise of the right of force, and the most terrible of all the plagues that destroy the human species: it does not pardon even the victorious, and the most fortunate partake of its effects.
"As a philanthropist I love and desire peace; but as a soldier and a public man, I cannot accede to a peace which is indecorous: thus, if the general in chief of the invading army will agree to an armistice honourable and fair to the arms of the Spanish nation, you and every one of you may remain assured that my vote shall be for peace; but if he will not, no! for I never will assent to any thing derogatory to the honour of the Spanish nation, in which case it would be better to die than to live. I believe that these are also the sentiments of the individuals who compose the body corporate; and of this city, which is called heroic, whose inhabitants are well aware, that to deserve this epithet valour, patience and the other virtues, not common, are necessary.
"In fine, although I am at the head of the junta of pacification, in it I have only one vote, so that the corporation is deceived in supposing, that peace depends on my "yes;" but I repeat, that if it did, I would prefer war to an indecorous peace; and even supposing that preponderance which your excellency actually gives to the forces of General San Martin, you must be aware, that war is a game where more or less is risked according to the passions of the gamblers: at one time one wins, and another loses; and when much is won, it generally happens that the winner continues gambling in the hope of increasing his store; or he who loses will not desist, in hopes of regaining what he has lost; at last fortune varies, and the winner not only loses what he had won, but also what he had when he began.
"This is what I have to say in answer to your note of yesterday. God preserve your excellency many years. (Signed) Jose de la Serna."
From the number of deserters who daily arrived at Huaura, the head quarters of general San Martin, the state of Lima was well known. The officers of the army were divided in their opinions; the cabildo in open war with the viceroy; the opinion of the people in favour of liberty; the troops disserting or dying in the hospitals; hunger parading the streets, and every one, high and low, general and soldier, master and slave, convinced that the idea of resisting the patriot forces was the chimera of a madman. Hence it followed that when La Serna proposed to San Martin an armistice of sixteen months, under the pretence that both parties should refer the decision to the court of Madrid, the latter declined acceding to it.
Notwithstanding the favourable appearance of things, the army of San Martin was tired of their inglorious inaction, knowing full well that to take the capital of Peru only required them to enter it, and this opinion was supported by every new arrival from Lima. The consummate prudence of San Martin, however, did not allow him to risk the firing of a shot, lest the ball might slay "a brother;" at the same time that his Guerilla parties were actively engaged in committing all the cruelties incident to predatory warfare. But the presence of the general was not necessary in such skirmishes, nor his humanity compromised; the truth is, his person was in no jeopardy. Complaints began to be every day more loud in the army, and dissention more visible, so much so, that it became a daily task at the tables of the officers, to drink to "those who fight for the liberty of Peru, not those who write, a los que pelean por la libertad del Peru, no los que escriven." San Martin, aware of the state of his army, embarked in the schooner Montezuma, in order to re-establish his health, and a prorogation of the armistice for twelve days more was ratified.
During this cessation of hostilities, his lordship dropped down to Mollendo, where a neutral vessel was taking in wheat, for supplying the city of Lima. The admiral immediately wrote to the governor of Arequipa, expressing his astonishment that neutrals should be allowed to embark provisions during an armistice, for the purpose of supplying one of the belligerents, to the injury of the other, and contrary to the Spanish colonial laws; to which the governor answered, that the whole of the wheat at Mollendo belonged to Spanish merchants residing at Lima, or Arequipa, and that no part of it whatever belonged to neutrals, and that if any had been embarked since the celebration of the armistice, it was in violation of the orders of the government, to correct which he had again issued the most positive orders against such an infraction of the stipulations of Punchauca. With this answer his lordship retired from Mollendo, but sent in a boat with a lieutenant belonging to the San Martin, to watch the actions of the enemy at Mollendo; on being assured that the embarkation of the wheat was persevered in, the San Martin returned to Mollendo on the nineteenth of June, and shipped the remainder of the wheat found on shore.
When every thing was ready for Colonel Miller to proceed into the interior, the news arrived, on the fifth of July, of the prorogation of the armistice. This with the news received from the army, through private letters, induced his lordship to equip and victual some of the prizes taken at Arica, and leave them for the reception of the troops under Col. Miller, in case of any emergency, and repair to Callao, for the purpose of learning the true state of affairs at head-quarters. We arrived at Callao on the eighth of July, 1821.