Santiago, 8th October 1821 (BFSS)

Santiago de Chile, 8th October, 1821.[1]

 I seize the opportunity of sending you a few lines by his Majesty's ship Owen Glendower, which sails for England from Valparaiso immediately. I en­close you a copy of a letter of this date to Mr. Owen, which will inform you of my concerns here, touching the Bible Society, to this date. In addi­tion to this, I shall now communicate to you some notices regarding our schools here, bringing down my accounts upon that subject from the 1st Sep­tember (the date of my last letter to Mr. S.) to the present day.

 I am happy to say, the favourable reception I met with here, and of which I wrote you on the 6th August, was not a momentary feeling. It has been kept up till now, and I might also say, it has rather increased than diminished. Soon after my arrival in this city, a large room in the University was pointed out to me as the place in which we were to begin our school operations. This hall is capable of containing 200 children, according to our plan, and this is a very good number for a model school. This hall was to have been the University Chapel. The building I here call the University, is not occupied at present in the way its name would indicate, though intended for a place of learning. There is, however, another building appropriated to the objects of a college, and of which I may write you afterwards. My present object is to speak of our schools. Through the delay of the joiners in fitting up this place, it was not completed till the 17th September. On that day our school was opened. From day to day our number increased, till, at the end of a fortnight, our number (200) was completed. Since that time, we have been daily importuned to ad­mit others, which we are unable to do. We are, however, about to commence fitting up another large hall in the University buildings. At the present rate of applications, we shall certainly have more in readiness for that second school, by the time it is prepared, than it will contain. The fitting up of others is also talked of. From the short time our school has been going on, it promises to do well. The children are docile and agreeable. I am now so much familiarized with the appearance and manner of the children in these countries, that I feel myself quite at home among them. There is more resemblance to the English or European face among the children and others here, in Chile, than in Buenos Aires. I have been this moment interrupted by one of my scholars, who has called upon me, and brought me a ham, a present from his mother.

 All classes seem to take an interest in our schools. We are daily visited. The First Minister of the Government pays us a visit regularly every afternoon. We have already four masters study­ing the system, and these will be ready in a month or two to open schools on our plan, either in this city or in the provincial towns. In Conception, Coquimbo, and another town of inferior population, they are preparing for establishing schools upon our system. The principal things we stand in need of for the rapid extension of our schools, are slates and printed lessons. I am expecting 2000 slates by the first vessel from England, and am at present getting some lessons printed in the govern­ment printing office. To defray the expense of these, we have opened a subscription, which I hope will do well. I have already got upwards of 270 dollars among my English friends here, and expect more.

 Thus, you see, the Lord is with us, and blessed be his name. May he, in his own way and wis­dom, make his great name glorious in the eyes of Chile, and of all South America.

[1] Letter to BFSS in James Thomson, Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America (London: James Nisbet, 1827), pp.11-13.

Lima, 3rd March 1823

Lima, 3rd March, 1823[1]

I have more than once, my dear friend, within these few days past, heard the exclamation, "happy are the countries that enjoy a settled and secure government." The truth is, we have just expe­rienced one of those occurrences which frequently happen in revolutionary times. I wrote you for­merly, that three individuals of the members of Congress were exercising the executive power in this place. From events which have lately occurred, a general dissatisfaction towards this triumvirate was felt by the army in the neighbourhood of this city. The consequence of this was, that the troops drew near to the walls and shut the gates, sending at the same time a message to the Congress, requesting, or rather ordering, a change in the gov­ernment. After a good deal of deliberation, the triumvirate was removed by the Congress. Another step was yet necessary, as a certain indi­vidual was pointed out as the only person capable of filling the vacant situation. There was no alternative in this more than in the other propo­sition, as a part of the troops kept their station as before mentioned, whilst the rest or the greater part came into the great square in the centre of the city. Indeed the public opinion, not of the army only, but also of the great majority of the people, seemed clearly expressed in favour of the person proposed. The individual in question was accord­ingly appointed by the Congress as "President of the Republic of Peru." This was done on the first current. The troops have retired, and there seems to be a general satisfaction with this appoint­ment. Our President's name is Don José de la Riva Agüero.

You will naturally wish to know how our new President is likely to act regarding the schools, and other such matters. Respecting what his conduct will be in these things, I have great confidence. I have known him, and visited him occasionally since my arrival in Lima, in consequence of a letter of introduction to him, with which I was fa­voured on my leaving Chile. I have uniformly found him very obliging, and much interested in our concerns. In short, he is the very individual I should have named, had I been asked what per­son I wished to have in this high station. I called on him this afternoon in company with my clerical friend, whom I formerly mentioned to you. We were well received, and encouraged to go forward in our work, with the assurance of his protection and support.

I forgot to mention to you in my last quarterly letter, that I had about that time got one added to the number of my friends. This person is a very respectable clergyman, and a member of the Congress. We have had several conversations together, in a very open and friendly manner. I have been much pleased with his candour and frankness. He told me that when he first heard of my having come to Lima, he resolved to oppose me, but that when he learned that I was not an opposer of religion, but a friend to it, he changed his mind, and resolved  to befriend rne as far as lay in his power. There is a kind of idea among several of those who are the most religious in this country, that many or most foreigners who arrive here are deists or atheists, or at least men no way friendly   to religion. Grounds have,  no doubt, been  given for forming this  opinion,   although I think it is generalized among the class of people I mentioned, with some degree of illiberality, as is, indeed, commonly the case. The books  which  come  here in favour of deism and  atheism  strengthen  the opinion. Most of these are printed in France, but some of them, I am sorry to say it, are printed in England. From all I have seen here, both in the Congress, and out of it, I am strongly inclined to think that those who oppose toleration, or at least many of them, do so with a view to prevent the influx into the country of such as oppose or scoff at religion. As a proof of this, I refer to the member of Con­gress, of whom I have just been speaking. This man opposed toleration when it was discussed in the Congress, and spoke publicly against it; yet when conversing with him upon the subject, he told me that he was not opposed to the toleration of Pro­testants in the country. I have taken occasion at different times to point out to some of the members, in private conversation, that their law prohibiting the public religious exercises of those who differ from the Catholic church, does not hinder atheists and deists from settling in the country, as these have no form of religion they wish to practise; and that this law serves only to prevent the coming of those men who are sincerely religious and moral, and who, as they themselves admit, would be of great use in the country, by bringing into it many branches of the arts and manufactures. I think I have observed some good effects arising from these conversations, and I wish it may so appear when the subject comes before Congress a second time.

[1] James Thomson. Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America. (London: James Nisbet, 1827), pp. 76-79.