Anticipating fall of Lima, GUILLERMO HARTNELL left his “Dulcinea” in Santiago, went to Callao with John Begg to start new firm

+++  … The change would be welcome to Hartnell and his fellow clerks.  Mr. Barnard had resided in Santiago for a number of years, and was respected and liked in business and social circles of the Chilean capital.  ++  ”I am more comfortable in my situation now than ever I was, as I have the good luck to please Mr. Barnard,” writes William happily to his brother George (on May 3, 1821).  His “present Patron” has recommended a raise and plans to cut the working day, as soon as Mr. Begg is safely on the high seas.  ++  Hartnell’s peace of mind was short-lived.  Presently he confided to George:  ++  ”Mr. Begg is going down the coast on the ‘Favourite,’ to sail in 2 or 3 days.  He is going to establish himself in Lima as soon as that city falls, which is daily expected from the great scarcity of provisions there – Flour is selling at $130 p. barrel and everything else is dear in proportion – Mr. B. wants very much to take me down with him and Mr. Barnard is stilll more desirous that I should stop with him.  I have not yet made up my mind but probably may do so before I close this.”  ++  Having lived down his early indescretions and the misfortunes of the Guayaquil venture, Hartnell now finds himself in the difficult position of having to make a choice.  Shall he remain where he is happy and respected and not too hard-worked?  Or shall he sterly pioneer the Peruvian trade?  He continues thinking in writing to George:  ++  ”Mr. Barnard is certainly a much pleasanter man to live with than Mr. Begg, but I think it is probable that in Lima I might have more opportunities of making money and pushing myself forward in the world, which is a consideration of no small moment you know.  ++  I should like very much to know if [young brother] Nathan has got into a situation yet or not.  Poor devil, he is wasting away the best years of his life in inactivity and uneasiness – I myself well know what it is to be out of employment & poor withal and can feel for him with all my heart.”  ++  Hartnell made a last-minute decision to accompany Mr. Begg to Lima, to assist in the establishment of a new firm.  It was a hard wrench to leave his friends, his “Duclinea,” and the happy…  ++ … life in Chile.  +++   …[Thus ends most of page 25, and a bit of the top of page 26 of Susanna Bryant Dakin's 'The Lives of William Hartnell']… 

W. E. P. HARTNELL wrote a report on Pacific coast commercial prospects for Brotherston in Liverpool, while Begg waited for Lord Cochrane’s Callao seige + San Martin’s army to triumph

+++  He even was requested by Mr. Barnard, a partner in the firm, to send a detailed account of commercial prospects on the west coast to Mr. Brotherston in Liverpool, as an aid in planning company policy.  His recent experiences gave him real authority.  ++  The Peruvian situation provided material for endless conversations in the Chilean capital.  San Martin remained the national hero, and yet his recent action, or lack of it, was hard to understand and often misinterpreted.  As the liberating army had progressed northward by sea and then by land, it had proved so successful in engagements en route, and these successes added such luster to the Patriot’s cause, that on the third of December (1820) a whole regiment of Royalists left the Spanish stronghold in LIma, marched over, and volunteered to serve with San Martin.  Since Cochrane was in complete control of Callao by this time, there seemed no doubt of an immediate joining of forces, and the complete crushing of Spanish strength in central and southern Peru.  But San Martin, the self-styled Protector of Peru, acted in an unpredictable manner.  He marched away from Lima, leading his army to Huara, seventy-five miles north.  There the army camped for months while San Martin launched an educational campaign.  He let it be known that, having shown his might, he now would rely less on military achievement than on the peaceful promulgation of democratic principles.  He would use informed public opinion as his most powerful weapon in the continuing war against ignorance, prejedice, and tyranny.  ++  ”Bosh.” said Mr. Begg when informed of such “inefficiency.”  He advocated the methods of  his fellow countryman, Cochrane, a military genius coldly preoccupied with the science of destruction.  After sitting out San Martin’s strange campaign for serveral months, the senior partner of Begg and Company no longer could endure the suspence.  He set a sailing date for the company ship ‘Favourite’ to be on hand the very moment that trading relations could be established with the Patriots of Peru.  He relied on hunger to hasten the fall of LIma, even if San Martin continued to procrastinate.  Lord Cochrane kept Callao closed to the world, and supplies were running low in both port and capital.  ++  Mr. Begg planned to turn the Santiago office over to partner Barnard, a man more lenient and better-natured than himself, … ++ … perhaps less driven by ambition.  …[Thus ends the tail end of page 23, all of page 24, and bit of the top of page 25 of the first chapter of Susanna Bryant Dakin's biography 'The Lives of William Hartnell.'] …

DON GUILLERMO HARTNELL bought 3,000 ‘cargas’ of cocoa in Guayaquil for sale in Santiago

+++  In Lima $8,000 in cash had been exchanged, by advice of the viceroy, for an order in Guayaquil upon a Spanish agent now imprisoned by the new government.  ++  Trying to make the best of a bad deal, Hartnell chartered the ‘Queen Charlotte’ to sail to Gibraltar with a cargo of cocoa.  But the captain’s belated advice of her unseaworthiness caused the contract to be canceled.  An entry in his ‘Journal’ for November 20, 1820, asks:  ++  ’What was to be done in this predicament?  We had laid in a stock of provisions for a four month’s voyage, had been obliged to pay off all the sailors, as they had signed articles to return to Valparaiso, in short we were in a most complete hobble, which it was necessary to extricate ourselves from the best way we could.’  ++  During his enforced stay in Guayaquil, Don Guillermo’s knowledge of the Spanish language and Latin ways stood him in good stead.  He became popular with the all-powerful local merchants and succeeded, shortly after the first of the year, in contracting to transport 3,000 ‘cargas’ of cocoa back to Chile, besides purchasing miscellaneous articles on Mr. Begg’s account, and assembling a new crew.  ++  Once again, on January 26, 1821, the ‘Queen Charlotte’ dropped anchor off the Vale of Paradise, and paradise it seemed to her supercargo after eight months of more misadventure than adventure.  Hartnell’s report to Mr. Begg stressed the fact that he had found Guayaquil “commercially superior even to Lima in variety and value of native production.”  Suspicion of foreigners was slowly being broken down by enlightened patriots.  He was able to give information of great value in planning future expeditions, in place of the rumors which had sent him on wild-goose chases during the course of the voyage.  In the long run, the company profited by this luckless pioneer voyage.  Within a few years Guayaquil became one of its most important trade centers, fulfilling Hartnell’s prophecy.  ++  Meanwhile he returned, in excellent health, to his comfortable and happy life in Santiago.  His friends welcomed him with great good will and listend to his opinions with respect. … ++ … [Thus ends most of page 23 of Susanna Bryant Dakin's biography called 'The Lives of William Hartnell.'] …  +++

W. HARTNELL proceeded north to Santa Elena on the ‘Queen Charlotte’ where Spanish authorities disallowed her to anchor

+++  …Mr. Begg himself intended to establish the Peruvian branch, leaving his partner Barnard in charge of the home office at Santiago.  His own future was taking on a rosy hue.  But Hartnell’s objective was a remote region where ever watchful, suspicious Spaniards were erecting almost impassible trade barriers to stay the northwest-sweeping tide.  John Begg and Company wee not the only traders of ambition and enterprise on the west coast at this time.  ++  Indeed it was competition, more than any other factor, which motivated such a hazardous and uncertain undertaking.  Hartnell was to pioneer in opening Guayaquil Gulf to trade, with the purchase of a cargo of cocoa destined for the European market.  Mr. Begg entrused him with almost $14,000, a sum of cash which seemed immense when an exchange of commodities was more usual than outright purchase.  Anxious for information about the commerical possibilities of the country, Begg asked Hartnell to let him know at the earliest opportunity “if Guayaquil be blockaded, if a cargo could be procured in any port or place to the northern end of it, and if British manufactures would be sold there.”  ++  Late in the afternoon of May 22, 1820, the Queen Charlotte lifted anchor and sailed grandly out of Valparaiso, her prow pointing northward toward the unknown land.  Three weeks later she touched at Santa Elena (Lat. 2, 15′ south) where Hartnell’s instructions were to land “under the pretence of being a whaler which had put in for refreshments,” and during the conversations with the inhabitants to find out where cocoa was produced in the greatest abundance.  ”I do not expect,” added dour Mr. Begg in his letter of instruction, “that you will meet with much success.”  ++  Begg’s pessimism was justified, for at Santa Elena the Queen Charlotte encountered the first of the misfortunes which were to block the success of the voyage.  Forbidden by the Spanish authorities even to take on water and supplies, Hartnell proceeded on up the coast to Manta, where he was informed that no cocoa could be purchased anywhere except at Guayaquil and Caracas.  In his Journal under the date of June 20, 1820. there is this notation: +++   …[Thus ends the tail end of page 18 and all of the twentieth page of the first chapter of the biography by Susanna Bryant Dakin entitled 'The Lives of William Hartnell.' Page 19 is taken up by a map of South America.]…  +++

WILLIAM E. P. HARTNELL recovered with aid of Dr. Robert Wyllie; appointed Supercargo by John Begg for trade venture to Guayaquil

+++ …His “Dulcinea” actually hung a saint’s relic around his neck to ward away temptation.  ++  Hartnell’s susceptibility to feminine company, excessive good fellowship, and willingness to take the easy way were all symptoms of a deep-seated and rather deplorable dependence.  It was not for several years that he was to recognize the gravity of his spiritual complaint, and try to find for himself a lasting cure.  ++  By the end of May, 1820, the resilience of youth, increased by real fear for his future, aided his doctor, Robert C. Wyllie (a distant cousin, discovered to be combining the practice of medicine with profitable adventures in trade along the west coast), in effecting a physical cure.  A goad to necessary self-discipline was Hartnell’s desire to participate in a new trading venture, north along the coast of Guayaquil.  He reports to George, after he has been in Valparaiso about a month, slowly recovering:  ++  ’Mr. B. came down to the port and purchased a vessel called the Queen Charlotte, which he intended to dispatch to the coast of Guayaquil for  the purpose of purchasing a Cargo of Cocoa.  After revolving in his mind for some time the probability whether I should kick the bucket during the passage or be spared to accomplish the object of the voyage, he at length came to the resolution of appointing me Supercargo.’  ++  Venturesome indeed was this voyage to  be directed by Hartnell, having as its destination the chief port of what is now Ecuador. For some time John Begg and Company had been pushing farther and farther north along the west coast, in an ambitious program of expansion.  A footing had been secured at Coquimbo, Chile, about a hundred miles from Santiago;  and everyone in the company was holding his breath with impatience for the fall of Lima.  Once the Patriots, commanded by Lord Cochrane at sea and General Jose de San Martin ashore, could succeed in crushing the power of Spain (now fighting from its last but most strongly entrenched positions), Lima and Callao would open rich trading prospects…  ++  …[Thus ends most of page 18 of the first chapter of Susanna Bryant Dakin's 'The Lives of William Hartnell']…  +++

Edward Hardy, fellow clerk + drinking friend of sick self-pitying WILLIAM HARTNELL, told him ‘to drink more moderate’

+++  Hartnell’s health broke a few months after Thorn’s arrival, and he gives the following explanation to his brother George:  ++  ’I had a severe fit of illness, proceeded chiefly I believe from being kept too closely confined to the desk.  I was reduced to almost a skeleton, had a nasty cough, a pain in my chest – in short was brought so low that I was pronounced to be in consumption and absolutely forbid by the Doctor to write any more.  Mr. Begg finding that I could be of no use to him in the city, advised me to take a journey to Valparaiso, thinking that the change of air might be of service to me.’  ++  Actually, Mr. Begg’s words had been cryptic: “See that you take care of yourself and live regular.  You will find gentle excercise by horseback very conducive to your health.”  ++  A commiserating note from a fellow clerk and good friend, Edward Hardy, differs from Hartnell’s self-pitying version of the cause of his illness:  ++  ’I was very sorry to hear that you have been so near death’s door, but I can assure you that I was not much surprised for when you were here (and I hear you have been the same since) you were not one of the most abstemious from spiritous liquors.  What you must have seen whilst here ought to make you a little more careful – and altho’ you may be able to drink only 5, 6, or 7 glasses p. night without feeling intoxicated, yet in time it will have effect on your constitution sooner or later, and will show itself one way or another…..Let me persuade you to leave off and drink more moderate – Now my dear fellow I have written so far, and I have read it over; I almost think you will be vexed with me, & will say, “damn him does he think that I am a fool, that I am not able to know what is right and what is wrong,” but I hope you will not take it in that light.  Read it & consider that we are old friends and that we have lived together, & likewise drank together.’  ++  The whole letter has a kindly tone, reminiscent of Uncle Edward Petty’s during Hartnell’s student days in Germany, when he had warned “of the manifold dangers which wait only too often and nearly at each step for their prey.”  Apparently…  ++ … Hartnell’s true friends recognized and tried to protect him from a character weakness which he did not yet acknowledge.  …[Thus ends most of all of page 17, and a bit of the top of page 18 of the first chapter of Susanna Bryant Dakin's biography 'The Lives of William Hartnell.']…  +++ 

GUILLERMO HARTNELL sang German lieder in Santiago pulperias with fellow Englishman + Bremen student Thomas Thorn

+++  Slyly the German had entrusted the young Englishman with a commission to Begg and Company.  For his trouble Hartmann begged that he be allowed to try the best wine in the country.  The mere thought of meeting with such a friend so far from home made the German feel as if he were enjoying the experience himself.  ++  Once again, as on the ramparts at Bremen, these congenial young men could spend pleasant hours in smoking and talking of college days and their cronies in Germany and England (which Thomas had feared at eighteen “would never be the case again”).  Together they could sigh over first loves.  Thorn went so far as to admit about his German sweetheart:  ”It really is a very good thing I left Bremen, for I never loved a girl so much in all my life.”  Yet more, by this time, each man valued his freedom!  ++  Hartnell received news, not many months old, of every member of his family.  Thorn admitted a special interest in sister Hannah; told of brother Nathaniel’s progress in art, and of a schoolmate’s marriage in Hamburg; and filled his friend’s mind with the little things, the friendly gossip which William was hungry for.  Their visit together lasted a long time, two months or so.  ++  At sunset, daily, they strolled with all the townspeople on the Tajamar, along the Mapocho River, admiring lofty poplars which separated the public walks from the carriageway, and the loftier peaks of the Andes.  Closer at hand were little ladies in European dress who carefully and with affected formality would spread their handkerchiefs on the stone parapet before sitting down to admire and chat about the view and the perenially pleasant weather.  ++  With pride, Hartnell introduced Thorn to new friends and business acquaintances.  No better companion could he find to accompany him to an occasional bullfight, where the soft-hearted Chileans refused to allow the bull to be killed, only to be teased by toreadores with miraculous skill; to games of chance; evening bailes and chacra (farm) picnics on balmy summer days.  Most frequently the young men met at a pulperia (pub) where they became great favorites, in demand for their duet rendering of German lieder.  A Broadwood piano brought recently around…  ++ … the Horn would accompany the voices until early morning hours.  …[Thus ends most of all of page 16, and a bit of the top of page 17 of the first chapter of Susanna Bryant Dakin's 'The Lives of William Hartnell]…  +++

DON GUILLERMO HARTNELL found Chilean countryside between liberated Santiago and Valparaiso “beautifully romantic” in 1820

+++  … Jonathan Winstanley, the firm’s representative in Valparaiso, port of entry, often gave commisions to the younger man which necessitated …  ++ … overnight trips on horseback between the port and the city of Santiago.   Here all cargo had to be sent to the customhouse for inspection and payment for duties prior to sale.  Customarily, goods were transferred shipboard to pack mules or to large carretas drawn by two or three yokes of oxen.  The distance was thirty leagues, about ninety miles, over a fine road built by the Irishman Ambrose O’Higgins (father of the revolutionary hero Bernardo O’Higgins, who was president of Chile during Hartnell’s residence in that country) while Viceroy.  ++  For those with eyes to see and time to enjoy, like William Hartnell, the countryside appeared “beautifully romantic.”  One crossed mountains, streams, and plains between the city and the port, and found conviviality at the Bustamante posthouse, eating, drinking, and staying the night.  ++  Valparaiso was an exciting place to visit in this first year of its liberation from Spanish tyranny.  The harbor was crowded with ships flying flags of many nations, all jockeying for position near the ancient warehouses.  These were sadly inadequate, and overflowed with goods which sat unprotected on the piers.  ++  The export business seemed as flourishing as the import.  Emptied holds were refilled with cargoes locally assembled, including wine, grain, hides, and tallow.  Money was flowing in and out of the country at a healthy rate.  Customs officials no longer demanded passports or large duties, and as free as travel and trade were local institutions like the press.  Even in dress, in port and capital, an air of freedom could be detected, an individual flair difficult to achieve in Spanish days, when styles rarely changed and few had knowledge of the world.  ++  From Winstanley’s letters, numerous and unrelievedly dull, we learn of Hartnell’s many visits to Valparaiso.  The fellow clerks were not congenial.  Never did Winstanley look up from his account books, never did he lift his mind’s eye to the mountains or notice the men of many nationalities who thronged the streets below.  But Hartnell found companionship in a German trader named Hartmann, with whom he often stayed.  ++  On February 11, 1820, along with a business communication from Winstanley, came a note from Hartmann recommending a Mr. Thorn who miraculously turned out to be William’s best … ++ … friend from boyhood….  … [Thus ends the tail end of page 14, all of page 15 and a bit of the top of page 16 from the first chapter of Susanna Bryant Dakin's biography 'The Lives of William Hartnell] … +++ 

W. E. P. HARTNELL found ‘Chilean ladies…rather handsome…but too low in stature…men are very illiterate…great rogues’

+++  ’Permit me to avail myself of the present favourable opportunity of reiterating to you my sincerest thanks, which is all I have to give, …  ++  and all I am assured you require, for the many favours you have conferred upon me, and which I have hitherto so ill repaid.  You it is to whom I am indebted for all I now enjoy; to your fatherly protection, and to the care you took of my morals and education whist under that protection, I shall always attribute the success of my future undertakings.  ++  ’I am at present very comfortably situated in one of the most respectable mercantile houses of this place and am honored with the entire confidence of my employer.  I have only been with him about six months, and he has raised me to the capacity of his Cash Keeper, although there are three Clerks of older standing than myself and before my arrival he always kept the cash himself.  ++  ’Santiago is a large and populous city……Earthquakes are pretty frequent in the autumn and rainy season, but are not near so dreadful as I always supposed them to be; although the natives are extremely afraid of them, and even run out of the house upon the least appearance of one.  ++  ’The Chilean ladies are for the most part rather handsome than otherwise, but too low in stature.  They have remarkable small feet, for the ladies’ stockings that are sent out from England for sale are generally found much too large.  The men are very illiterate and generally speaking great rogues.  I mean that they think it no sin to cheat each other if they can do it without being found out.’  ++  Hartnell seems anxious to hear from his uncle, requesting “a few lines by first conveyance.”  Also he asks his sister Hannah to call on the old man “just to see how he received the letter which I sent him.”  ++  ’And tell me likewise whether you have got married or not & whether there is any prospect of it; if you know any pretty girl that wants a husband, pray send her as I am almost dying for a wife, and should find some difficulty in meeting with one here unless I were to turn Catholic, and that I know you won’t give your consent to….. ++  God bless you my dear girl’  ++  Hartnell did well during his first year in trade.  Not only did he keep the company accounts and guard the company cash, but also he was entrusted with buying and selling.  Jonathan Winstanley, the firm’s representative in Valparaiso, port of entry, often gave commissions to the younger man which necessitated…  ++ …overnight trips on horseback between the port and the city of Santiago.  [Thus ends this excerpt of the tail end of page 13, all of page 14, and a bit of the top of page 15 of the first chapter of Susanna Bryant Dakin's biography entitled 'The Lives of William Hartnell,' published in 1949 by Stanford University Press]    +++ 

DON GUILLERMO ARNEL: Dn Guillo. P. Hartnell, en casa de Dn Juan Begg, del Comercio Ingles, Santiago de Chile, Oct. 22, 1819

+++  …Many men in…  ++  …this fleet, as well as mercenaries in the armies of Simon Bolivar, San Martin, and the Chilean Bernardo O’Higgins (son of an Irishman), were countrymen of Hartnell’s.  He had seen recruiting offices in London and Liverpool proclaiming the cause of freedom and opportunity for the common man, offering military service in South America at a time when no sort of manly service seemed needed in England.  And he may have had a military opportunity in mind, alternate to a business career, ending his letter to brother George:  ++  ’I would advise you not to neglect your Spanish, as I think it not at all improbable, but at some future period I may have the pleasure of seeing you in this part of the world; and whether or not you will always find it an amusement.’  ++  In the same packet sailing on a company ship October 22, 1819, went a short note entirely in Spanish, giving the same advice to his schoolboy brother, Nathaniel; also letters to his mother, his sisters Mary and Hannah, and Uncle Edward Petty.  All were carefully transcribed by quill pen, and the return address always given as:  ++  A Dn Guillo. P. Hartnell  ++  en casa de Dn Juan Begg  ++  del Comercio Ingles  ++  Santiago de Chile  ++  To new friends he has become Don Guillermo Arnel (as close as the Spanish tongue can approach the British syllables).  While he is still tanned from the hot sun of the Argentine pampas and the icy wind of the Andean passes, wearing clothes of Spanish style and speaking the language with facility, there is little to distinguish the young Englishman from other youths in the Chilean capital – little but an educated and inquiring mind.  That he is endeavoring to live up to all the terms of his contract, he tells Uncle Edward:  ++  Permit me to avail myself of the present favourable opportunity or reiterating to you my sincerest thanks, which is all I have to give, …  ++  …[Thus ends the tail end of the 12th, and all of the 13th page of the first chapter of Susanna Bryant Dakin's 'The Lives of William Hartnell,' entitled 'ADVENTURER']…  +++