It is true that, after a casual and superficial glance at the state of affairs in South America since the expulsion of the Spaniards, the prospect appears sufficiently gloomy. But a more intimate acquaintance with the subject, and especially a knowledge of the tone of thought amongst the younger men, as expressed in conversation and in their writings, would show that, under the surface, noble aspirations and steady enlightened views prevail, which must eventually yield fruit, and thus justify our hopes for the future. When independence was established in South America, there were two principal causes which led to the civil wars which ensued; namely, the question between a federal or a centralized form of government, and the disputes respecting boundaries. The power attained during the revolution by the armies, and the selfish ambition, treason, and corruption of public men, aggravated these sources of evil to a melancholy extent. But other countries, far greater and nobler than these poor struggling republics, have had to pass through as long and as degrading a crisis in their history. Englishmen must remember the thirty years comprising the reigns of the two last Stuarts with quite as much shame as the great-grandchildren of the present Peruvians will experience when they learn the history of their country for the first forty years after its independence. It is recorded that in a British House of Commons there was but one Andrew Marvel. To my personal knowledge there are now several Andrew Marvels in Chile and Peru. These young and inexperienced countries have had to pass through a fierce ordeal, and, truth to say, they have played their part but indifferently as yet. They indeed require forbearance, but let us not turn from them with disdain and contempt, in the pride of our present grandeur and prosperity. Were treason and corruption and base selfish faction never rife in England's court and parliament?