Lima, 12th July 1822

Mr J Thomson to Mr James Miller (BFSS)[1]

Lima, 12th July, 1822.

Dear Sir,

My last letter to you was written a few days before my leaving Chile. I then apprized you of the state of things there at that time, and of my intention of setting out for this place. Through the blessing of God, I arrived safely in this country on the 28th of last month, and have now to state to you how things look here, in reference to that truly important object—EDUCATION.

I believe I told you, some time ago, that from various circumstances I expected every encouragement would be given to our object here by San Martin. I have not been disappointed in this. My expectations have all been ful­filled, and more than fulfilled. San Martin is most decidedly a friend to general, to universal education. I hope none of the members of the Committee of the British and Foreign School So­ciety will be offended, but rather gratified, when I say, that they are not more friendly to this object than San Martin. Because I have come to Peru to promote this object, I have received from him every mark of respect and personal attention, as well as every encouragement to pro­ceed in this work. The Marquis of Truxillo, and each of the ministers of government, feel deeply interested in the same object. Blessed be God for this encouragement. In his hand are the hearts of all, and he inclineth them to whatsoever he will.

Surely the days draw nigh, when ignorance shall be ashamed to walk about anywhere in open day. May the glorious war now waged against her be a war of extermination. It will I trust be so, and when this enemy of mankind shall be slain, the British and Foreign School So­ciety shall be clothed with her spoils, and be crowned with never fading laurel. Is it wrong to indulge pleasing prospects of the future ame­lioration of mankind? Is it sinful to cherish the hope of better times for this poor unfor­tunate world? I think it is not. If it is right to pray "Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven," it cannot be wrong to expect that this prayer, daily reiterated from the mouth of thousands, will one day be heard, and be answered in all its extent; and when the will of God is done in this world, as it is done above, then shall the felicity on earth resemble the felicity of heaven.

The following is a translation of a decree of this government relative to the Schools, and which was published in the Lima Gazette of the 6th current.

"Preamble.—Without education there is proper­ly speaking no society. Men may indeed live to­gether without it, but they cannot know the ex­tent of the duties, and the rights which bind them one to another, and it is in the right knowledge of these duties and rights that the well being of society consists. The bringing of education to any degree of perfection, is, from the nature of the thing, slow. To accomplish it, time is re­quired, and some degree of stability in the go­vernment, as well as some other circumstances, both natural and moral. All these must com­bine, in order that the education of the people may become general, and that thus a foundation may be laid for the continuance of those Institutions which may be established among them. Of the various improvements which the government has been desirous of making, none has been more earnestly and constantly kept in view since the moment of its commencement, than the refor­mation of public education. In those intervals of tranquility which have been enjoyed from the clamour of arms, this object has occupied their attention; and though the sun has not stood still, they have found in activity the secret of doubling the length of the day.

"It has already been announced, in various decrees of the government, that the introduction of the Lancasterian system in the public schools, was one of the plans in meditation. It is not yet possible to calculate the revolution which will be produced in the world by this system of mutual instruction, on its becoming general throughout the civilized world. When this shall take place, ignorance shall come to an end, or at, least shall be reduced to certain limits, beyond which it shall never be allowed to pass. The time is now arrived for setting this system agoing in this place, and the commencing of it is worthy of the month of July—a month in which pos­terity will record many events of importance; and we trust they will do us the justice to declare, that we have desired to make this time memorable by deeds which philosophy ap­plauds, and which spring from the noblest principles of all human actions, namely, the love of glory, founded on promoting the prosperity and happiness of mankind. The above are the reasons on which the following decree is founded.

"The Supreme Deputy, with the advice of the Privy Council, decrees—

"1. There shall be established a central or prin­cipal school, according to the Lancasterian system, under the direction of Mr. Thomson.

"2. The convent or college of St. Thomas shall be appropriated to this purpose. The friars at present residing in it shall remove to the large convent of St. Dominic, leaving only so many as are necessary for the service of the church at­tached to it.

"3. In this establishment the elementary parts of education shall be taught, together with the modern languages. The teachers necessary for this pur­pose shall be appointed agreeably to the arrangements which will be pointed out in the plan for the National Institute of Peru."

"4. At the expiration of six months all the public Schools shall be shut, which are not con­ducted according to the system of mutual in­struction.

"5. All the masters of the public schools shall attend the central school with two of their most advanced pupils, in order to be instructed in the new system; and in studying it they shall attend to the method prescribed by the director of the establishment.

"6. As soon as the director of the central school shall have instructed a sufficient number of teachers, these shall be employed, with competent salaries, in establishing public schools on the same princi­ples in the capital city of each province of the state.

"7. At the first public examination which shall take place in the central school, those masters who have been most attentive in learning the system, and shall have made such progress as to be able to conduct schools according to it, shall receive the reward of a gold medal, to be ordered for that purpose by the Minister of State.

"8. For the preservation and extension of the new system the Patriotic Society of Lima is particularly requested and commissioned to take such measures as may be considered necessary for these purposes; and they are desired to make known to the govern­ment those things in which its cooperation may be required, in order effectually to carry forward this important object.

"9. In order that the advantages of this system of education may be extended to the female sex, which the Spanish government has always treated with culpable neglect, it is particularly recom­mended to the Patriotic Society to take into con­sideration the most likely means for establishing a central school for the instruction of girls.

"10. The salary of the director, and the other ex­penses necessary for this establishment, shall be defrayed by the government. The Minister of State is authorized to issue all the orders necessary for the punctual fulfilment of this decree.

 "Given in the government palace in Lima, 6th July, 1822.

 (Signed)  "TRUXILLO".

"By order of his Excellency, countersigned,

"B.MONTEAGUDO".

As we go on in our operations, I shall com­municate to you the result.

P.S. Please send me five thousand slates by the first vessel for Lima.

[1] James Thomson. Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America. (London: James Nisbet, 1827), pp. 38-43; New Evangelical Magazine Vol IX, 1823, pp.189-191; Eighteenth Report of the British and Foreign School Society (1823), pp.125-128.

Lima, 8th August 1823

Lima, 8th August, 1823.[1]

My last letter to you was dated 9th November last, and which I hope came safely into your hands. Though the interval between my letters to you be considerable, yet I always suppose you acquainted with what occurs to me here during these intervals, through my letters to our mutual friends in Edinburgh. I therefore consider it unnecessary to go over all that has happened here since I last wrote to you, and shall confine myself to what is going forward at the present time. I am sorry that I have so much to say that may be called of an unfavourable nature. In my letter to Mr. H, from Truxillo, I stated the cause of my removal to that city, and also the favourable change which had induced me to return. I arrived safely in this place on the 2nd instant, after an absence of nearly seven weeks. I found, on my return, all that I had left behind safe, nothing had been touched. The Spanish army continued in possession of Lima just twenty-eight days, during which they did considerable injury to the place, by levying contributions, confiscating property, &c.

The amount of the loss sustained, in one shape and another, is reckoned at two millions of dollars. All the property belonging to the English merchants, which was in their own ware­houses, was respected, and no loss was sustained thereon. What goods they had in the Custom­ house they were allowed to withdraw, upon paying a duty of forty per-cent. The other goods in the Custom-house, belonging to the natives of the country, were confiscated and sold on the spot. The favour thus experienced by the English, was owing to the intervention of the British Naval Com­mander in this place.[2] The Spanish General, how­ever, intimated to the English merchants that al­though he had respected their property at this time, yet in future he would not do so, but would confiscate all that belonged to them, should he return again to Lima, and that thus they might consider themselves as warned beforehand, of what they might expect, I had heard in Truxillo that the Spaniards had destroyed the palace, the mint, and some other public buildings. This, how­ever, I am happy to find, was incorrect: they have destroyed no buildings. The machinery of the mint was destroyed; and they have carried off or destroyed all the printing-presses and types they could lay their hands on. The govern­ment printing-presses and types have escaped, as they had been removed to Callao in good time. One or two presses also, belonging to private indi­viduals, have likewise been saved, having been hid at the time the rest were carried off.

I suppose you have read (and correctly too,) in the descrip­tions of this city, that the churches are immensely rich in silver. This, however, is not the case at pre­sent, I assure you. They are now completely stripped of all their former grandeur in that respect. The independent government at different times ordered considerable quantities of the silver in the churches to be taken to the mint, which was accordingly done. Upon their retreat from the city on the approach of the enemy, a few weeks ago,  nearly everything  of silver that could be well spared from the churches, was carried to the castle in Callao, to prevent its falling into the hands of the Spaniards. This proved a proper foresight, for the enemy took almost everything that had been left in the churches, and thus thoroughly stripped them. A priest observ­ed to me the other day, that it should seem the time is now come when God chooses to be served with less splendour, and with more humility. The ob­servation was good; and I wish the time were in­deed come when the supporters of this system would lay aside their own riches and righteousness in every respect, and would clothe themselves with the righteousness of Christ, and with true humility. That period is, I trust, advancing, although per­haps not so fast as we could wish. The Lord, how­ever, will bring it about in due time. The way we generally wish to do things, in our impatience, is to jump to our object; or in other words, to gain our benevolent ends all at once. This, however, is not the way the Almighty has established mat­ters in the depth of his wisdom. The end, he tells us, may be gained, yea, and shall he gained, but it can be gained only by the use of the appointed means, and by patient continuance in well doing.

The Spanish army has marched towards Arequipa along the coast. The first division under General Valdés is already at some distance, but the second division, under Canterac the Commander in chief, is only about 100 miles to the south of us. There is, however, I believe, little danger at present of his returning to Lima, as the main object of the Spaniards is to attack as early as possible the patriot army in Arequipa. That army is now of considerable strength, and much better equipped every way than the former one in that place, which was so completely defeated by the Spaniards at Moquegua. I wish the result may be favourable to the independent cause, as much certainly depends on the result.

I mentioned in my letter to Mr. H. that the Congress had been dissolved in Truxillo, and that a Senate had been appointed in its place. This was the single act of the President, and it was certainly a very bold and imprudent step, not to say anything of its injustice. The President has not yet returned to Lima, and in the mean time a strong opposition has been stirred up against him here for having dissolved the Congress. The representatives now in Lima have solemnly pro­tested against this measure, have reinstalled them­selves as the supreme council and government of the nation, and have elected the Marquis of  Truxillo to exercise the executive power. What will be the result of these operations I know not. It is probable, I think, that Riva Agüero, the Pre­sident, will give in, and be banished from the coun­try for some time. It is certainly a very unfavour­able time for internal disputes. A short time, I hope, will make all things wear a more smiling aspect, and may the Lord who reigneth in the earth, grant that this may indeed be our case. All things are in his hand. He ever reigneth, although his benignant hand may at times be invisible to us.

During the time I was at Truxillo, I formed the plan of visiting some of the aboriginal inhabitants of America, on the banks of the river Amazon. I had calculated that the Spaniards would keep pos­session of this city for about three months, and I supposed, that time would about suffice me for my intended tour. I had bought a number of glitter­ing buttons, needles, scissors, knives, fish-hooks, ribbons, &c., for presents to the natives. I had also taken out my passport, and was arranging for setting out, when accounts reached Truxillo, that a part of the Spanish army had evacuated this city. In consequence of this, I put off  my intended jour­ney, though with regret, in order to return to my duties in this place. I have long had a desire to visit those parts, and though I have not been able to effect my object at this time, my purpose is not laid aside, but only postponed until a more favour­able opportunity occur; and in the mean time I will go on collecting all the information I can, re­garding those quarters. I have a considerable de­sire to spend the greater part of my remaining days on the banks of that great river, or on the borders of some of its tributary streams.

In the Mercurio Peruano, a work of which I dare say you have heard, there are some very interesting accounts of the entrance of the Jesuits and of the Franciscan Friars into that part of the country. Their suc­cess was various. Numbers of the missionaries lost their lives in prosecution of their object, through the cruel hands of those whom they went to instruct. At length the missions in those parts made some progress, but they never were very flourishing; and even in their best state, missions under such a system were open to many objections. One single Moravian village in the midst of some wilderness would be a more gratifying sight than all the Jesuit missions put together. Though we may thus condemn their system, because truth re­quires it, yet the Missionaries themselves, generally speaking, in point of zeal and devotion to their object, are worthy of great commendation, and in many instances their conduct forcibly attracts our admiration. The accounts they have published are extremely interesting. In another point of view, also, the Missionaries have done a great service, by their study of the original languages, and by the grammars and dictionaries of these which they published. The whole of these works are by the Jesuits, and not a volume has been published since their fall. These grammars and dictionaries are now extremely scarce in this place. It has cost me a great deal of labour to obtain some of them, and others I have not yet been able to procure, but hope in time to get a copy of all their writings on those subjects, as well as of the geographical works they have published.

I believe it is not generally known in Europe that a great part, the majority of the inhabitants of Peru, are of the descendants of the ancient Peruvians under the Incas. An idea, is, I believe, pretty general with you, that the Spaniards nearly exterminated this race, as they did the inhabitants of St. Domingo and Cuba. That they destroyed vast numbers of the indigenous inhabitants of this part of the world is, alas, too true still, however, the majority here are Peruvians, and not Span­iards. There are, of course, a good many of a mixed race, and on the coast there are not a few of the sons and daughters of unhappy Africa, and their descendants. The Peruvians who live in the towns on the coast, all speak the Spanish language, and know nothing of the ancient language of Peru, called the Quichua. Between the coast and the ridge of the Andes, called the Cordillera, there are many towns, the inhabitants of which generally speak the Quichua and the Spanish, with, however, a predilection for their own native tongue. On the east of the Cordillera of the Andes, the Spanish language is but little spoken, and both Peruvians and Spaniards speak the Quichua. It is spoken, of course, with more or less purity, in these different places, a circumstance to be fully expected of an unwritten language, and among an uneducated people. I have had my attention turned to those parts of this country where the Quichua language is spoken ever since I came to Peru. I have had a great desire to communicate, in one way or another, to this ancient people, the blessings of educa­tion and the light of the Sacred Word. The Spaniards have kept them in the lowest state of mental existence, and it may be truly said, that under the Incas, the Peruvians were less igno­rant, and more virtuous, than they are at this day. At the time the Spaniards (these enemies of know­ledge) drove us from our post here, on their en­trance into Lima, we had in our school two de­scendants of the ancient Peruvians studying our system, with a view to carry instruction among their countrymen; whilst another of the same peo­ple was actually engaged in translating one of the Gospels into the Quichua language. I hope we shall be able to muster our forces again, and to go on in this good work. Pray for us that the blessing of the Almighty may be upon us, to crown us with speedy and certain success.

[1] James Thomson. Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America. (London: James Nisbet, 1827), pp.89-97. Written to a friend in Edinburgh, also 9 Nov 1822. Tabernacle?

[2] Captain Henry Prescott, HMS Aurora (later Sir Henry Prescott) BM