182 
 
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
fact, by Spain herself in a long series of public and official acts. The
govern- 
ment of her Catholic Majesty for many years has not ceased to call republic

that which was formerly her colony; it repeats the same in the credential
of the 
commissioner which it has sent to Lima; it has admitted her consuls, and
con- 
sented that her ships frequent the ports of the Peninsula; a reciprocal and

uninterrupted commerce has been maintained between the two countries, and

finally Peruvians have been considered as foreigners on the Peninsula, precisely

as the Spaniards have been considered in Peru. As a sovereign state Peru
has 
entered into treaties of peace, friendship, and commerce with nations of
both 
continents; and in presence of these facts, known to the government of her

Catholic Majesty, can the absence of a solemn recognition have any importance

in the eyes of truth and international law so as to found thereon a state
of 
truce ?  Every truce supposes a state of incommunication, and it may be even

said that this characterizes it. Nor is a close made to an armistice of long
and 
indefinite duration without previous notice of the intention to renew hostilities,

an essential formality, as we are taught by the constant practice of ancient
and 
modern nations. 
In the opinion of the commissioner of her Catholic Majesty and of the com-

mander-in-chief of her squadron in the Pacific, the crown of Castile is disposed

to revindicate the proprietorship of the Chincha islands, and appears to
derive 
this right as a legitimate corollary of the supposed state of truce. A nation

constituted for forty years, exercising with independence rights belonging
to 
sovereignty within the entire precinct of its territory, is not, nor can
it be, sub- 
ject to the right of revindication. The seizing of the Chincha islands by
the 
Spanish squadron in such case becomes a material act, consummated by force,

and, wanting in the proper characteristics of a legitimate act, the right
of vindi- 
cation would become a true right of conquest. 
The armies of Chili fought together with those of Peru in the war of inde-

pendence; the two republics were one in a common cause, as were also all
the 
American sections. Were hostilities again to break out, there having been

nothing but a truce de hecho, (de facto,) what is the situation in which
the 
ancient belligerents and their allies would find themselves forcibly placed

throughout the entire continent? 
The government of Chili, in "presence of so grave an event, considers
it its 
undeniable duty to deny in the most public and solemn manner the principles

which serve as a base to the declaration, protests against the occupation
of the 
Chincha islands by the naval forces of her Catholic Majesty, and does not
re- 
cognize, and will not recognize, as the legitimate owner of the said islands,
any 
other power than the republic of Peru. 
I feel convinced, nevertheless, that the government of her Catholic Majesty

will not approve the principles proclaimed in that declaration, since, if
the prin- 
ciple of revindication be sanctioned, that of reconquest would be approved
by 
implication, and the American republics would find themselves obliged to
unite 
their forces in order to maintain the integrity of the territory of a sister
and in- 
dependent republic. It would be painful that the rapid and inevitable develop-

ment of events should cause complications to arise, either retarding the
settlement 
of an international question, to which the government of Peru manifests itself

disposed to lend due attention, so as to arrange in a stable and permanent
man- 
ner its differences with Spain, or preparing new difficulties which considerations

of a supreme order would counsel the American governments to avoid oppor-

tunely. 
The manifestation which I have just made, in compliance with the orders 
which I have received from the President of the republic, will be deemed,
I 
trust, by the government of your excellency as the faithful expression of
sen- 
timents common to all America. The government of       , abounding in the

same sentiments, will be pleased doubtless to know the views of that of Chili,