The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

ONE OF THE COLONIAL PALACES OF AREQUIPA, BUILT TWO CENTURIES AGO.

Five viceroys, two of whom were ecclesiastics, governed Peru during the reign of Philip V.; they made a determined fight against the evils of contraband trade, which had grown to enormous proportions, but their efforts met with little success. The Marquis de Torre-Tagle and Don Angel Calderon, two wealthy Limeños, fitted out warships at their own cost to fight the Dutch contrabandists, and took rich prizes; but although the viceroys punished with great severity all who were captured, the traffic seemed to increase rather than diminish. In the meantime, the mines continued to yield great treasure, four million dollars being coined annually. During the government of the Marquis de Villagarcia, who was viceroy from 1736 to 1745, the royal fifth was reduced to a tenth, and colonial commerce was stimulated by the service of registered vessels that sailed via Cape Horn. Many comforts and luxuries, which had previously been too expensive for any but the wealthiest colonists to afford, now appeared in the markets of Lima; the houses began to be better furnished, and the calèche,—a two-wheeled vehicle, drawn by one horse, on which the coachman rode,—gave place to the coach and pair. The viceroyalty of Santa Fé was separated from that of Peru in 1740.

Peru was enjoying the blessings of peace and progress under the rule of the Viceroy Velasco, Count de Superunda, when a terrible calamity befell the gay capital: its seaport, Callao, being completely destroyed, and Lima reduced to the most deplorable condition by an earthquake which occurred on the 28th of October, 1746. The palace, the university, the cathedral, the mint, and the municipal buildings, sixteen colleges, thirty-six convents, and seventy churches, as well as hospitals, and more than twelve thousand homes were destroyed in Lima; while Callao was totally submerged with its five thousand inhabitants. The historian of this dreadful catastrophe relates that the earth rocked and tossed like a ship in a storm. The clergy took advantage of the opportunity to preach against the worldliness and luxury of the pleasure-loving people of Lima; and for weeks society did penance for its sins by fastings and mortifications. Through the active energy of the viceroy, the capital was rapidly rebuilt, less than twelve years being required in the reconstruction of the Cathedral, which it had taken nearly a century to build originally. Callao was also rebuilt and the town of Bellavista, which lies between the capital and the port, was founded. The viceroy had the satisfaction of seeing Lima once more a gay and prosperous city, the centre of luxury and fashion, the metropolis toward which gravitated all the wealth of a colony whose resources were no longer confined to the product of its mines, but began to be derived from agriculture and other industries.

A COLONIAL AQUEDUCT.

While the enthusiastic patriots of North America were planning a revolution that was to bring independence to the colonies of New England, and to encourage throughout all America that spirit of freedom which has since grown to dominate the western world, the viceroyalty of Peru was in the height of its power, under the government of Don Manuel Amat, who ruled from 1761 to 1775. A military commander of iron will and severe discipline, he reorganized the army, which consisted of one hundred thousand men, the navy and the police service of the colony, and was himself chief of a brilliant regiment composed of the highest nobles of his court. By his order, the Plaza de Acho was laid out and reserved for public amusements, such as bull fights, ball games, etc.; the beautiful Paseo de Aguas was also built during his administration and became the favorite promenade of fashionable society. It is said that the Paseo was constructed to please the Pompadour of his merry court, who was known in the scandals of the viceroyalty—and there were many—as La Perricholi.

It has been said that the first blow in the battle for the independence of the South American colonies was struck by the hand of the monarchy itself, when the order was given to expel the Jesuits from the Spanish possessions, in 1767. It was shortly after this event that the old-time enmity between Vascongado and Vicuña began to reappear in their descendants, the Spanish authorities and the Creole students of the University of San Francisco Javier,—years before the first patriots announced their campaign. According to some authorities, the revolution was fostered by the Jesuits, who resented as an injustice the edict issued against them, and helped to sow the first seeds of republicanism in the minds of the South American subjects of Spain. In Lima, the centre of colonial power, there was little more than a rumor of the discontent that had developed out of the quarrels between criollos (Spanish-Americans) and chapetones (Spaniards) in Potosí and Sucre; at the time of the Jesuits’ banishment, Lima was apparently happy in the enjoyment of peace and plenty. The capital was constantly becoming richer and more attractive with its brilliant court functions, its gay carnivals, its fashionable promenades, its theatre, balls and splendid religious festivities. In 1778, during the administration of the Viceroy Guirior, Amat’s successor, the viceroyalty of Buenos Aires was formed, embracing the former Audiencia of Charcas.

A final attempt was made in 1780, by the descendants of the Incas, to regain their lost empire. It was carefully planned, boldly initiated, and bravely carried forward, assuming formidable proportions under the leadership of an Indian cacique, who called himself Tupac Amaru, and claimed descent from the Inca Manco. Goaded to desperation on account of the iniquities committed against his people by the minor authorities, who could never be brought to justice, he determined to take the law in his own hands, and one night seized a ruthless offender, the corregidor of his community in the province of Cuzco, whom he overpowered and dragged to his house. After forcing the magistrate to issue orders that Indians and Spaniards should obey the orders of the Inca, he hanged the unfortunate official in the plaza and robbed his house, securing thirty thousand dollars, which he used to promote his campaign. He collected an army of sixty thousand followers, intending to march on Cuzco, seize the city and reëstablish the Inca empire; but his followers were undisciplined, his troops badly organized, and in the first encounter with the regiments of the colonial army he lost twenty thousand men. The Bishop of Cuzco threatened with excommunication all who remained in the rebel ranks, and many leading supporters withdrew, leaving Tupac Amaru to meet seventeen thousand drilled soldiers in a battle in which his ranks were thrown into utter confusion, and he was defeated and captured by the enemy. He was put to the torture of being fastened by his arms and legs to the saddle girths of four horses, which were then driven in opposite directions, tearing him limb from limb. Those of his followers who escaped continued to make sporadic attempts at revolt and were the first to join the ranks of the patriots when the war of Independence was launched. But none of the partisans of this brave Indian possessed his qualities of leadership and their fate is unknown.

The prosperity of Peru continued under the rule of the viceroys Teodoro de Croix and Francisco Gil de Lemos, though the influence of the French revolution was beginning to make itself felt in Venezuela, Alto Peru, and other districts remote from the capital. During De Croix’s administration, the viceroyalty was divided into seven intendencias: Trujillo, Lima, Huancavelica, Tarma, Huamanga, Cuzco, and Arequipa; and an Audiencia was established in Cuzco. The Count de Osorno became viceroy in 1796, and was succeeded four years later by the Marquis de Aviles, who devoted particular attention to the military and religious institutions of the country; during his time, Baron von Humboldt, the noted scientist, arrived in Lima, and was accorded a most hospitable welcome.

The immediate proximity of monarchical authority prevented the development of conspiracies in the capital in favor of independence; but in Cuzco, Moquegua, Tacna, Huánuco, and other provinces, patriotism, stimulated by the example of the French and the North American revolutionists, began to give demonstrations of its strength and purpose. With the retirement of the Marquis de Aviles in 1806, and the arrival of his successor, Don Fernando Abascal, the supremacy of the viceroyalty in Peru may be said to have begun to decline, the government of the succeeding representatives of the Crown of Spain being occupied rather in an effort to maintain their authority against the increasing and, finally, overwhelming force of the patriotic movement, than in public administration. The viceroy Abascal realized the importance of making concessions to the now thoroughly aroused spirit of liberty, and his government was marked by benevolence and conciliation. He founded colleges, repaired the city walls, built a pantheon, prohibited any further burials in the church vaults, and was zealous in the promotion of public enterprises. But the most liberal and devoted efforts could not stay the hand of destiny. The brilliant court of the viceroys was doomed to extinction, and the grandeur of colonial aristocracy was to give place to the simplicity of republican ideals.