action lay open to the Spaniards--they must either fight San Martin, and the sooner the better, for he was becoming stronger every day--or they must abandon Lima and concentrate on their base in the mountains. The viceroy could not make up his mind to abandon the ancient capital, and he was reluctant to expose his family to the hardships of a guerilla warfare in the mountains. [Illustration: THE MOLE AND HARBOUR OF CALLAO.] San Martin drew closer and closer, the attitude of the Lima liberals became more and more threatening, and still Pezuela made no move. News came of the revolution in Spain and of the overthrow of absolutism, and all the principal commanders united in demanding his resignation. He had no alternative, and retired to Spain, while the generals selected one of their number, La Serna, to succeed him. The new viceroy entered into negotiations looking toward an amicable accommodation of the whole question at issue between Spain and her colonies. The Argentine was nothing loath, well knowing that every month strengthened the patriot feeling among the coast Peruvians and brought him nearer his goal. San Martin proposed that South America become a constitutional monarchy and accept a Bourbon prince as its king in return for a recognition of its independence--a concession which even the revolutionary Spanish government could not confirm. The suggestion reflects little credit upon the political acumen of the great Argentine general. San Martin, in fact, seems never to have appreciated the motives and instincts which had pushed the Creoles into rebellion. The revolutionary movement in South America was in its essence separatist and republican; no monarch, whether the scion of a European House, or a Bolivar trying to play the role of a Napoleon, could ever have kept the Spanish colonies together.