Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Volume 54, No. 335, September 1843 by Various

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Meantime, the good seed Captain Ready had sown, brought the honest Yankee
but a sorry harvest. His employers had small sympathy with the feelings of
humanity that had induced him to run the risk of carrying off a Spanish
state-prisoner from under the guns of a Spanish battery. Their
correspondents at the Havannah had had some trouble and difficulty on
account of the affair, and had written to Philadelphia to complain of it.
Ready lost his ship, and could only obtain from his employers certificates
of character of so ambiguous and unsatisfactory a nature, that for a long
time he found it impossible to get the command of another vessel.

In the autumn of 1824, I left Baltimore as supercargo of the brig
Perverance, Captain Ready. Proceeding to the Havannah, we discharged our
cargo, took in another, partly on our own account, partly on that of the
Spanish government, and sailed for Callao on the 1st December, exactly
eight days before the celebrated battle of Ayacucho dealt the finishing
blow to Spanish rule on the southern continent of America, and established
the independence of Peru. The Spaniards, however, still held the fortress
of Callao, which, after having been taken by Martin and Cochrane four
years previously, had again been treacherously delivered up, and was now
blockaded by sea and land by the patriots, under the command of General
Hualero, who had marched an army from Columbia to assist the cause of
liberty in Peru.

Of all these circumstances we were ignorant, until we arrived within a few
leagues of the port of Callao. Then we learned them from a vessel that
spoke us, but we still advanced, hoping to find an opportunity to slip in.
In attempting to do so, we were seized by one of the blockading vessels,
and the captain and myself taken out and sent to Lima. We were allowed to
take our personal property with us, but of brig or cargo we heard nothing
for some time. I was not a little uneasy; for the whole of my savings
during ten years' clerkship in the house of a Baltimore merchant were
embarked in the form of a venture on board the Perseverance.

The captain, who had a fifth of the cargo, and was half owner of the brig,
took things very philosophically, and passed his days with a penknife and
stick in his hand, whittling away, Yankee fashion; and when he had chapped
up his stick, he would set to work notching and hacking the first chair,
bench, or table that came under his hand. If any one spoke to him of the
brig, he would grind his teeth a little, but said nothing, and whittled
away harder than ever. This was his character, however. I had known him
for five years that he had been in the employ of the same house as myself,
and he had always passed for a singularly reserved and taciturn man.
During our voyage, whole weeks had sometimes elapsed without his uttering
a word except to give the necessary orders.

In spite of his peculiarities, Captain Ready was generally liked by his
brother captains, and by all who knew him. When he did speak, his words
(perhaps the more prized on account of their rarity) were always listened
to with attention. There was a benevolence and mildness in the tones of
his voice that rendered it quite musical, and never failed to prepossess
in his favour all those who heard him, and to make them forget the usual
sullenness of his manner. During the whole time he had sailed for the
Baltimore house, he had shown himself a model of trustworthiness and
seamanship, and enjoyed the full confidence of his employers. It was said,
however, that his early life had not been irreproachable; that when he
first, and as a very young man, had command of a Philadelphian ship,
something had occurred which had thrown a stain upon his character. What
this was, I had never heard very distinctly stated. He had favoured the
escape of a malefactor, ensnared some officers who were sent on board his
vessel to seize him. All this was very vague, but what was positive was
the fact, that the owners of the ship he then commanded, had had much
trouble about the matter, and Ready himself remained long unemployed,
until the rapid increase of trade between the United States and the infant
republics of South America had caused seamen of ability to be in much
request, and he had again obtained command of a vessel.

We were seated one afternoon outside the French coffeehouse at Lima. The
party consisted of seven or eight captains of merchant vessels that had
been seized, and they were doing their best to kill the time, some
smoking, others chewing, but nearly all with penknife and stick in hand,
whittling as for a wager. On their first arrival at Lima, and adoption of
this coffeehouse as a place of resort, the tables and chairs belonging to
it seemed in a fair way to be cut to pieces by these indefatigable
whittlers; but the coffeehouse keeper had hit upon a plan to avoid such
deterioration of his chattels, and had placed in every corner of the rooms
bundles of sticks, at which his Yankee customers cut and notched, till the
coffeehouse assumed the appearance of a carpenter's shop.

The costume and airs of the patriots, as they called themselves, were no
small source of amusement to us. They strutted about in all the pride of
their fire-new freedom, regular caricatures of soldiers. One would have on
a Spanish jacket, part of the spoils of Ayacucho--another, an American
one, which he had bought from some sailor--a third a monk's robe, cut
short, and fashioned into a sort of doublet. Here was a shako wanting a
brim, in company with a gold-laced velvet coat of the time of Philip V.;
there, a hussar jacket and an old-fashioned cocked hat. The volunteers
were the best clothed, also in great part from the plunder of the battle
of Ayacucho. Their uniforms were laden with gold and silver lace, and some
of the officers, not satisfied with two epaulettes, had half-a-dozen
hanging before and behind, as well as on their shoulders.

As we sat smoking, whittling, and quizzing the patriots, a side-door of
the coffeehouse was suddenly opened, and an officer came out whose
appearance was calculated to give us a far more favourable opinion of
South American _militaires_. He was a man about thirty years of age,
plainly but tastefully dressed, and of that unassuming, engaging demeanour
which is so often found the companion of the greatest decision of
character, and which contrasted with the martial deportment of a young man
who followed him, and who, although in much more showy uniform, was
evidently his inferior in rank. We bowed as he passed before us, and he
acknowledged the salutation by raising his cocked hat slightly but
courteously from his head. He was passing on when his eyes suddenly fell
upon Captain Ready, who was standing a little on one side, notching away
at his tenth or twelfth stick, and at that moment happened to look up. The
officer started, gazed earnestly at Ready for the space of a moment, and
then, with delight expressed on his countenance, sprang forward, and
clasped him in his arms.

"Captain Ready!"

"That is my name," quietly replied the captain.

"Is it possible you do not know me?" exclaimed the officer.

Ready looked hard at him, and seemed a little in doubt. At last he shook
his head.

"You do not know me?" repeated the other, almost reproachfully, and then
whispered something in his ear.

It was now Ready's turn to start and look surprised. A smile of pleasure
lit up his countenance as he grasped the hand of the officer, who took his
arm and dragged him away into the house.

A quarter of an hour elapsed, during which we lost ourselves in
conjectures as to who this acquaintance of Ready's could be. At the end of
that time the captain and his new (or old) friend re-appeared. The latter
walked away, and we saw him enter the government house, while Ready joined
us, as silent and phlegmatic as ever, and resumed his stick and penknife.
In reply to our enquiries as to who the officer was, he only said that he
belonged to the army besieging Callao, and that he had once made a voyage
as his passenger. This was all the information we could extract from our
taciturn friend; but we saw plainly that the officer was somebody of
importance, from the respect paid him by the soldiers and others whom he
met.

The morning following this incident we were sitting over our chocolate,
when an orderly dragoon came to ask for Captain Ready. The captain went
out to speak to him, and presently returning, went on with his breakfast
very deliberately.

When he had done, he asked me if I were inclined for a little excursion
out of the town, which would, perhaps, keep us a couple of days away. I
willingly accepted, heartily sick as I was of the monotonous life we were
leading. We packed up our valises, took our pistols and cutlasses, and
went out.

To my astonishment the orderly was waiting at the door with two
magnificent Spanish chargers, splendidly accoutred. They were the finest
horses I had seen in Peru, and my curiosity was strongly excited to know
who had sent them, and whither we were going. To my questions, Ready
replied that we were going to visit the officer whom he had spoken to on
the preceding day, and who was with the besieging army, and had once been
his passenger, but he declared he did not know his name or rank.

We had left the town about a mile behind us, when we heard the sound of
cannon in the direction we were approaching; it increased as we went on,
and about a mile further we met a string of carts, full of wounded, going
in to Lima. Here and there we caught sight of parties of marauders, who
disappeared as soon as they saw our orderly. I felt a great longing and
curiosity to witness the fight that was evidently going on--not, however,
that I was particularly desirous of taking share in it, or putting myself
in the way of the bullets. My friend the captain jogged on by my side,
taking little heed of the roar of the cannon, which to him was no novelty;
for having passed his life at sea, he had had more than one encounter with
pirates and other rough customers, and been many times under the fire of
batteries, running in and out of blockaded American ports. His whole
attention was now engrossed by the management of his horse, which was
somewhat restive, and he, like most sailors, was a very indifferent rider.

On reaching the top of a small rising ground, we beheld to the left the
dark frowning bastions of the fort, and to the right the village of Bella
Vista, which, although commanded by the guns of Callao, had been chosen as
the headquarters of the besieging army--the houses being, for the most
part, built of huge blocks of stone, and offering sufficient resistance to
the balls. The orderly pointed out to us the various batteries, and
especially one which was just completed, and was situated about three
hundred yards from the fortress. It had not yet been used, and was still
masked from the enemy by some houses which stood just in its front.

While we were looking about us, Ready's horse, irritated by the noise of
the firing, the flashes of the guns, and perhaps more than any thing by
the captain's bad riding, became more and more unmanageable, and at last
taking the bit between his teeth started off at a mad gallop, closely
followed by myself and the orderly, to whose horses the panic seemed to
have communicated itself. The clouds of dust raised by the animals' feet,
prevented us from seeing whither we were going. Suddenly there was an
explosion that seemed to shake the very earth under us, and Ready, the
orderly, and myself, lay sprawling with our horses on the ground. Before
we could collect our senses and get up, we were nearly deafened by a
tremendous roar of artillery close to us, and at the same moment a shower
of stones and fragments of brick and mortar clattered about our ears.

The orderly was stunned by his fall; I was bruised and bewildered. Ready
was the only one who seemed in no ways put out, and with his usual phlegm,
extricating himself from under his horse, he came to our assistance. I was
soon on my legs, and endeavouring to discover the cause of all this
uproar.

Our unruly steeds had brought us close to the new battery, at the very
moment that the train of a mine under the houses in front of it had been
fired. The instant the obstacle was removed, the artillerymen had opened a
tremendous fire on the fort. The Spaniards were not slow to return the
compliment, and fortunate it was that a solid fragment of wall intervened
between us and their fire, or all our troubles about the brig, and every
thing else, would have been at an end. Already upwards of twenty balls had
struck the old broken wall. Shot and shell were flying in every direction,
the smoke was stifling, the uproar indescribable. It was so dark with the
smoke and dust from the fallen houses, that we could not see an arm's
length before us. The captain asked two or three soldiers who were
hurrying by, where the battery was; but they were in too great haste to
answer, and it was only when the smoke cleared away a little, that we
discovered we were not twenty paces from it. Ready seized my arm, and
pulling me with him, I the next moment found myself standing beside a gun,
under cover of the breastworks.

The battery consisted of thirty, twenty-four, and thirty-six pounders,
served with a zeal and courage which far exceeded any thing I had expected
to find in the patriot army. The fellows were really more than brave, they
were foolhardy. They danced rather than walked round the guns, and
exhibited a contempt of death that could not well be surpassed. As to
drawing the guns back from the embrasures while they loaded them, they
never dreamed of such a thing. They stood jeering and scoffing the
Spaniards, and bidding them take better aim.

It must be remembered, that this was only three months after the battle of
Ayacucho, the greatest feat of arms which the South American patriots had
achieved during the whole of their protracted struggle with Spain. That
victory had literally electrified the troops, and inspired them with a
courage and contempt of their enemy, that frequently showed itself, as on
this occasion, in acts of the greatest daring and temerity.

At the gun by which Ready and myself took our stand, half the artillerymen
were already killed, and we had scarcely come there, when a cannon shot
took the head off a man standing close to me. The wind of the ball was so
great that I believe it would have suffocated me, had I not fortunately
been standing sideways in the battery. At the same moment, something hot
splashed over my neck and face, and nearly blinded me. I looked, and saw
the man lying without his head before me. I cannot describe the sickening
feeling that came over me. It was not the first man I had seen killed in
my life, but it was the first whose blood and brains had spurted into my
face. My knees shook and my head swam; I was obliged to lean against the
wall, or I should have fallen.

Another ball fell close beside me, and strange to say, it brought me
partly to myself again; and by the time a third and fourth had bounced
into the battery, I began to take things pretty coolly--my heart beating
rather quicker than usual, I acknowledge; but, nevertheless, I began to
find an indescribable sort of pleasure, a mischievous joy, if I may so
call it, in the peril and excitement of the scene.

Whilst I was getting over my terrors, my companion was moving about the
battery with his usual _sang-froid_, reconnoitring the enemy. He ran no
useless risk, kept himself well behind the breastworks, stooping down when
necessary, and taking all proper care of himself. When he had completed
his reconnoissance, he, to my no small astonishment, took off his coat and
neck-handkerchief, the latter of which he tied tight round his waist, then
taking a rammer from the hand of a soldier who had just fallen, he
ordered, or rather signed to the artilleryman to draw the gun back.

There was something so cool and decided in his manner, that they obeyed
without testifying any surprise at his interference, and as though he had
been one of their own officers. He loaded the piece, had it drawn forward
again, pointed and fired it. He then went to the next gun and did the same
thing there. He seemed so perfectly at home in the battery, that nobody
ever dreamed of disputing his authority, and the two guns were entirely
under his direction. I had now got used to the thing myself, so I went
forward and offered my services, which, in the scarcity of men, (so many
having been killed,) were not to be refused, and I helped to draw the guns
backwards and forward, and load them. The captain kept running from one to
the other, pointing them, and admirably well too; for every shot took
effect within a circumference of a few feet on the bastion in front of us.

This lasted nearly an hour, at the end of which time the fire was
considerably slackened, for the greater part of our guns had become
unserviceable. Only about a dozen kept up the fire, (the ball, I was going
to say,) and amongst them were the two that Ready commanded. He had given
them time to cool after firing, whereas most of the others, in their
desperate haste and eagerness, had neglected that precaution. Although the
patriots had now been fifteen years at war with the Spaniards, they were
still very indifferent artillerymen--for artillery had little to do in
most of their fights, which were generally decided by cavalry and
infantry, and even in that of Ayacucho there were only a few small
field-pieces in use on either side. The mountainous nature of the
country, intersected, too, by mighty rivers, and the want of good roads,
were the reasons of the insignificant part played by the artillery in
these wars.

Whilst we were thus hard at work, who should enter the battery but the
very officer we had left Lima to visit? He was attended by a numerous
staff, and was evidently of very high rank. He stood a little back,
watching every movement of Captain Ready, and rubbing his hands with
visible satisfaction. Just at that moment the captain fired one of the
guns, and, as the smoke cleared away a little, we saw the opposite bastion
rock, and then sink down into the moat. A joyous hurra greeted its fall,
and the general and his staff sprang forward.

It would be necessary to have witnessed the scene that followed in order
to form any adequate idea of the mad joy and enthusiasm of its actors. The
general seized Ready in his arms, and eagerly embraced him, then almost
threw him to one of his officers, who performed the like ceremony, and, in
his turn, passed him to a third. The imperturbable captain flew, or was
tossed, like a ball, from one to the other. I also came in for my share of
the embraces.

I thought them all stark-staring mad; and, indeed, I do not believe they
were far from it. The balls were still hailing into the battery; one of
them cut a poor devil of an orderly nearly in two, but no notice was taken
of such trifles. It was a curious scene enough; the cannon-balls bouncing
about our ears--the ground under our feet slippery with blood--wounded and
dying lying on all sides--and we ourselves pushed and passed about from
the arms of one black-bearded fellow into those of another. There was
something thoroughly exotic, completely South American and tropical, in
this impromptu.

Strange to say, now that the breach was made, and a breach such that a
determined regiment, assisted by well-directed fire of artillery, could
have had no difficulty in storming the town, there was no appearance of
any disposition to profit by it. The patriots seemed quite contented with
what had been done; most of the officers left the batteries, and the thing
was evidently over for the day. I knew little of Spanish Americans then,
or I should have felt less surprised than I did at their not following up
their advantage. It was not from want of courage; for it was impossible to
have exhibited more than they had done that morning. But they had had
their moment of fury, of wild energy and exertion, and the other side of
the national character, indolence, now showed itself. After fighting like
devils, at the very moment when activity was of most importance, they lay
down and took the _siesta_.

We were about leaving the battery, with the intention of visiting some of
the others, when our orderly came up in all haste, with orders to conduct
us to the general's quarters. We followed him, and soon reached a noble
villa, at the door of which a guard was stationed. Here we were given over
to a sort of major-domo, who led us through a crowd of aides-de-camp,
staff-officers, and orderlies, to a chamber, whither our valises had
preceded us. We were desired to make haste with our toilet, as dinner
would be served so soon as his Excellency returned from the batteries;
and, indeed, we had scarcely changed our dress, and washed the blood and
smoke from our persons, when the major-domo re-appeared, and announced the
general's return.

Dinner was laid out in a large saloon, in which some sixty officers were
assembled when we entered it. With small regard to etiquette, and not
waiting for the general to welcome us, they all sprang to meet us with a
"_Buen venidos, capitanes!_"

The dinner was such as might be expected at the table of a general
commanded at the same time an army and the blockade of a much-frequented
port. The most delicious French and Spanish wines were there in the
greatest profusion; the conviviality of the guests was unbounded, but
although they drank their champagne out of tumblers, no one showed the
smallest symptom of inebriety.

The first toast given, was--Bolivar.

The second--Sucre.

The third--The Battle of Ayacucho.

The fourth--Union between Columbia and Peru.

The fifth--Hualero.

The general rose to return thanks, and we now, for the first time, knew
his name. He raised his glass, and spoke, evidently with much emotion.

"Senores! Amigos!" said he, "that I am this day amongst you, and able to
thank you for your kindly sentiments towards your general and brother in
arms, is owing, under Providence, to the good and brave stranger whose
acquaintance you have only this day made, but who is one of my oldest and
best friends." And so saying he left his place, and approaching Captain
Ready, affectionately embraced him. The seaman's iron features lost their
usual imperturbability, and his lips quivered as he stammered out the two
words--

"Amigo siempre."

The following day we passed in the camp, and the one after returned to
Lima, the general insisting on our taking up our quarters in his house.

From Hualero and his lady I learned the origin of the friendship existing
between the distinguished Columbian general and my taciturn Yankee
captain. It was the honourable explanation of the mysterious stain upon
Ready's character.

Our difficulties regarding the brig were now soon at an end. The vessel
and cargo were returned to us, with the exception of a large quantity of
cigars belonging to the Spanish government. These were, of course,
confiscated, but the general bought them, and made them a present to
Captain Ready, who sold them by auction; and cigars being in no small
demand amongst that tobacco-loving population, they fetched immense
prices, and put thirty thousand dollars into my friend's pocket.

To be brief, at the end of three weeks we sailed from Lima, and in a
vastly better humour than when we arrived there.

* * * * *

WOMAN'S RIGHTS AND DUTIES.

BY A WOMAN.

"Chose etrange d'aimer, et que pour ces maitresses,
Les hommes soient sujets a de telles foiblesses--
Tout le monde connoit leur imperfection,
Ce n'est qu'extravagance et qu'indiscretion.
Leur esprit est mechant, et leur ame fragile,
Il n'est rien de plus foible et de plus imbecille,
Rien de plus infidele--et malgre tout cela,
Dans le monde on fait tout pour ces animaux-la."

_Ecole des Femmes._

Such is the language of disappointment--but although a careful examination
of ancient and modern manners might lead to a different conclusion, (for
as the corruption of excessive refinement ends by placing her in the first
condition, so does the brutal assertion of physical superiority begin by
degrading her to the last,) woman is, we firmly believe, neither intended
for a tyrant nor a slave--Not a slave, for till she is raised above the
condition of a beast of burden, man, her companion, must continue
barbarous--Not a tyrant, for terrible as are the evils of irresponsible
authority, with whomsoever it may be vested, in her hands it becomes the
most tremendous instrument that Providence in its indignation can employ
to crush, degrade, and utterly to paralyze the nations within its reach.
The former position will readily be conceded; and the history of Rome
under the Emperors, or of France during the last century, affords but too
striking an exemplification of the second. It is, then, of the last
importance to society, that clear and accurate notions should prevail
among us concerning the education of a being on whom all its refinement,
and much of its prosperity, must depend. It is of the last importance, not
only that the absurd notions which half-a-century ago deprived English
ladies of education altogether, should be consigned to everlasting
oblivion and contempt--not only that the system to which France is
indebted for its Du Deffauds, Pompadours, and Du Barrys should be
extinguished, but that principles well adapted to the habits and
intelligence of man, in the most civilized state in which he has ever yet
existed, should prevail among us, should float upon the very atmosphere we
breathe, and be circulated in every vein that traverses the mighty fabric
of society. Therefore it is, because we are deeply impressed with this
conviction, that we hail with delight the appearance of a work so
profound, eloquent, and judicious; combining in so rare an union so many
kinds of excellence, as that which we now propose to the consideration of
our readers. Since the days of Smith and Montesquieu, no more valuable
addition has been made to moral science; and though the good taste and
modesty of its author, has induced her to put, in the least obtrusive
form, the wisdom and erudition--the least fragment of which would have
furnished forth a host of modern Sciolists with the most ostentatious
paragraphs--the deep thought and nervous eloquence by which almost every
page of the volume before us is illustrated, sufficiently establish her
title to rank among the most distinguished writers of this age and
country. If, indeed, we were ungrateful enough to quarrel with any part of
a work, the perusal of which has afforded us so much gratification, we
should be disposed (in deference, however, rather to the opinions of
others than our own) to alter the title that is prefixed to it. Many a
grave and pompous gentleman, who is "free to confess," and "does not
hesitate to utter" the dullest and most obvious commonplaces, would sit
down to the perusal of a work entitled, "On the Government of
Dependencies," or "Sermons on the Functions of Archdeacons and Rural
Deans," though never so deficient in learning, vigour, and originality,
who will reject with the supercilious ignorance of incurable stupidity,
these volumes, in which the habits, the interests, the inalienable rights,
the sacred duties of one half of the species, (and of that half to which,
at the most pliant and critical period of life, the health, the
disposition, the qualities, moral and intellectual, of the other half must
of necessity be confided,) are discussed with exemplary fairness, and
placed in the most luminous point of view. But we have detained our
readers too long from the admirable work which it is our object to make
known to them. It opens in the following manner:--

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