Lima, 30th March, 1824.[1]
I find my last letter to you is dated so far back as the 26th May 1823. It will, therefore, be necessary to go back to that period, in order to bring up my account current with you, if I may so speak. Not long after writing that letter, the Spanish army came to this city, and took possession of it. The Patriot army, which was inferior in strength to that of their opponents, retired to the fort of Callao; to which place also an immense number of the inhabitants of the city withdrew. The day previous to the entrance of the Spaniards, I retired with a multitude to Callao, to avoid the unpleasant circumstances which might occur in the absence of government and laws, from the going out of one army until the entering of the other. It was my intention to return in a few days, when things were settled, and to see whether we might not go on with our work of peace in the midst of war. For some days, however, there was no passing from one place to the other with safety; and as the vessel in which I had taken refuge was bound for Casma, a port about 160 miles to the north of this place, I went there with her. In the village of Casma I stopped about 10 days, being kindly entertained in the Rector's house.
From thence I went on to Truxillo by land, to the place the Government and Congress had removed. The Spaniards continued in Lima about one month, and then retired southwards to engage the Patriot army, which was in some strength in Arequipa. As soon as we heard in Truxillo that the Spaniards were all gone, I returned to this city along with many others. I arrived on the 2nd August, after a voyage of nine days, from the port of Truxillo, called Huanchaco. Our School had been shut all the time I was absent: and, from the various circumstances, which it is not necessary to particularise, we could not set it agoing again till 11th of September, on which day it was opened. We had to begin, as it were, anew; and for the first few days we had very few scholars. By and by they increased in number, and since that time they have been gradually increasing until the present day. Our number, at present, is 230, and the School is going well.
We have at present three masters learning our system, and whom we expected to place in other schools before now; but this war literally devours up everything, and ties us down to a spot. When we shall clap our wings and fly over the Andes, to teach the poor Peruvian in his native tongue, I cannot tell: God may, perhaps, bring this about sooner than we expect. In the course of a week, the whole of the New Testament will be translated into the vernacular language of Manco Capac, and by a descendant of that ancient race of kings.
By the time this comes into your hands, you will probably have heard that the Spaniards are now again in possession of Lima.
I wrote to the Spanish General who commands the division in this place, soon after his arrival, to know what was his determination regarding our going on with our School, or stopping altogether. I received a polite and friendly answer, saying, that he was well informed of the advantages arising from our School, and that he wished it to go on, until the will of the Viceroy should be known respecting it. I have written to the Viceroy La Serna, who resides at present in Cuzco, requesting to know his determination regarding the continuing of our system, under his government, in this city, and whether he is desirous of extending it throughout the country. In something less than two months I shall probably hear from him, and shall communicate to you the result. If the answer be favourable, I shall most likely repair immediately to Cuzco, leaving one of the masters before mentioned in charge of this school; and should his answer be unfavourable, I shall leave this place and go northwards.
We have often been very desirous of commencing a Girls' School in this city, and we have very good accommodations in our college for this purpose; but we have never been able to effect it, in consequence of the extreme scarcity of money at present in this city. If Lima had been in its former state of abundance, we could have effected it with great ease; and it would have been a very great, blessing to this place. We would, in that case, have been very desirous of receiving a well-qualified Teacher from your Committee, to direct our Female Department. It would still be preferable to send two, as one of them could attend to the public school, and the other might keep a respectable boarding-school for the higher classes. Regarding this last-mentioned part, several parents have spoken to me; and on the whole, I think it would turn out well for those who might come out for that purpose. Such an establishment I am sure would be the means of doing a great deal of good in this country. Female education, in my opinion, is the thing most wanted in every country; and when it shall be properly attended to, the renovation of the world will go on rapidly. I notice these things to you for the present, that you may write to me what occurs on that subject, and let us know if you could aid us in these matters, if we were directly to apply to you. I notice these things that you may write me upon the subject, knowing, from experience, how ready you are, at all times, to listen to every proposition which bears on knowledge and benevolence.
[1] Letter to BFSS. BFSS 1825 Annual Report, pp. 120-122 and James Thomson. Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America. (London: James Nisbet, 1827), pp. 128-130.