ution I was determined to have
nothing to do, because, as a foreigner, it was not desirable for me to
become a party to any faction, though it was evident that the authority
of General O'Higgins would shortly be at an end.

Regarding General Freire's letter as an indirect request to me to aid
him in deposing General O'Higgins, I did not even reply to it. On the
20th of September he made the following direct overture to me to join in
the revolution:--

Conception, Nov. 20th, 1853.
My Best and Most Distinguished Friend,

The time has arrived when circumstances and
the country require the protection of those who generously and
judiciously know how to maintain its sacred rights. Let us withdraw
the curtain from the scene which trifles with the interests of the
Republic, leading it to inevitable ruin. Its deplorable state is
public and notorious. There is not a man who is unacquainted
with it, and who does not bewail the prospective loss of its
independence,
with a thraldom also in view more grievous than the
Spanish yoke.

The self-assumed powers of the Government, the restrictions on
commerce, and, above all, the constitution recently promulgated,
place the ambitious views of the Chief Magistrate and the corruption
of his Ministers in a clear light. Every act proves that the
intentions of the Supreme Director have undergone a change.
Fortune, which has hitherto favoured him, has given a new turn to
his ambition, as if the proposal of a crown could no longer be
resisted--all the measures pursued throughout the state leading to
that end. It is grievous to see laurels thus stained in the grasp of
one who so gloriously obtained them. It is, however, needless to
trespass on you with further reflections on these occurrences, as
your judgment cannot fail to be formed both on the facts and their
consequences. Let us therefore touch on other subjects.

Permit me, without offence to your delicacy, to make some
reflections on subjects equally public and notorious.

You enjoyed honours, rank, and fortune, amidst a people the most
distinguished in Europe. You generously abandoned ease and
comfort in order to aid in the attainment of our liberty, and you
have been the chief instrument which has enabled us to achieve it.
The whole world is acquainted with your gallant efforts to abolish
tyranny and give liberty to South America. Th