mstances, your attached friend,

COCHRANE.

To this letter, on the 9th of August, General San Martin replied as
follows:--

Lima, 9th August, 1821.

My Lord,

The best proof of friendship that can be given by
you is the sincere announcement of your opinions as to the course
I should follow in my new political character.

Assuredly you have not erred, when, under the title of Protector,
you do not anticipate any change in my personal character. Happily,
the alteration is only in a name, which, in my opinion, was
required for the benefit of the country; and if, in the character in
which you have known me, you have met with _civility_ and frankness,
it would be an injustice to deny me confidence, having always
listened to you as an enlightened person, experienced in the world;
especially as you do me justice in enabling me to make observations
on the spirit of your last communication.

I am aware that good faith in one who presides over a nation, is
the vital spirit of its prosperity; and as, in this respect, a singular
current of success has called me temporarily to the supreme magistracy
of this country, I should renounce the advantages acquired
and betray my principles, if vanity or servile acquiescence in bad
advice were to induce me to deviate from the social interests of
Peru, and so expose it to the evils which in such case you dread.

I know, my Lord, that one cannot fly with waxen wings. I perceive
the course I ought to pursue, and that, however great the
advantages already gained, there are rocks which, _without the aid of
prudence and good faith_, must be encountered.

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