Gleason Bartolome Herrera

7/27/2019 Gleason Bartolome Herrera

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Anti-Democratic Thought in Early Republican Peru: Bartolom Herrera and the Liberal-

Conservative Ideological StruggleAuthor(s): Daniel GleasonSource: The Americas, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Oct., 1981), pp. 205-217Published by: Catholic University of America Press on behalf of Academy of AmericanFranciscan HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/980999

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ANTI-DEMOCRATICTHOUGHT INEARLY REPUBLICANPERU:

BARTOLOMEHERRERA AND THELIBERALtONSERVATIVEIDEOLOGICALSTRUGGLEURING its first half-century f independence,Peru fought in

| five internationalconflicts, had thirty-onedifferentgovern-_ mentss and operated underthirteen variousconstitutionsorprovisional harters.lTheinternationalwars, uncertain ermsof office,and a frequencyof change in constitutionswere all symptoms of anunsettledpoliticalenvironment.Additional ymptoms ncluded orcefuloverthrows of government,political exile, conspiracies,and foreignintervention.By mid-century,Peruvianwriterscomplainedof politicalcorruption,graft, ack of publicspirit,disrespect or thelaw, militarism,elitism, mobocracysa mania for publicoffice (empleomania), nd ingeneralof the social and politicaldisintegration.2Too widely it is believed that this recordof political instabilityandopportunismis the whole story of nineteenthwenturyPeru. Toonarrowly is the ideological struggle behind the political turmoil ofnineteenth-centuryPeru appreciated.3Despite the instability, the

IJorgelBasadre, fiIistorisdelaRepublicadelPeru(10vol.: Lima,1961-1964),VI.2644;JoseParejaPaz-Soldan, Lasconstituriones el Peru exposicion ritica textos) Madrid, 1954), pp. 83-85:Pedro Ugarteche and Evaristo San Cristoval (eds.) AJIensajese lospresidentes.Recopilacionnotas(2 vols.; Lima, 1943), I, 1-6.2Fernando Casos, Para a historiadel Peru.Revolusionde 1854 Lima and Cuzo, 1854): uanEspinosa, Diceionario ara el pueblo:republicano,moral,politicoy f losofico Lima, 1855):FelipeMasias (pseud., un Thaboriano), Examencomparativo e la monarquia de la republicaLima,1867): Jose de la Riva-Aguero (pseud., Pruvonena), AJIemoriasdocumentos ara a historiadelPeruy causasdel mal exito que ha tenido esta (Paris, 1858).3See Victor Andres Belaunde, Bolivarand the Political Thoughtof the SpanishAmericanRevolution New York, 1967): Jesus Chavarria, S4TheIntellectuals and the Crisis of ModernPeruvian Nationalism: 18701919,"HispanicAmericanHistoricalReview,L(May, 1970), pp. 257-258; Rad Ferrero Rebagliati, El liberalismo eruano. Contribueion una historiade las ideas(Lima, 1958): orge Guillermo Leguia, EstudioshistoricosSantiago de Chile, 1939)and Hombresideasen el Peru Santiago de Chile, 1941); Fredrick B. Pike, "Heresy, Real and Alleged, in Peru:AnAspect of the conservative-Liberal Struggle, 183S 1875," HispanicA mericanHistoricalReviewXLVII (Februaxy, I967); Antonine Tibesar, "ThePeruvian Church at the Time of Independence inthe Light of Vatican II," TheAmericas,A QvarterlyReviewoJlnter-AmericanulturalHistory,XXVI (Apnl, 1970).

205


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ANrI-DEMOCRATICOUGHTNEARLYEPUBLICANERU06isolation of various regions of their country, and its economicbackwardness,Peruviansengaged in an active exchange of ideas,attempting o understand heir past and to establisha set of rulesforgoverning hemselves.Thisexchangeof ideas,however, ailedto bridgethe wide chasm separating two ideological camps, liberal andconservative,nto which the ideologuesmay be grouped.

Accurately,nineteenthwentury eruvian iberalshave been labelled"romantic iberals."4From the 1820s to the 1870sthey consistentlyexpressed faith in man's ability to govern himself intelligently.Consequentlyhey rejectedhe notionof divinerightof kingsandupheldthe idea of popularsovereignty.Liberalshadconfidence n the presentandin man'sprogress o a better uture.Belief n educationand in orderderiving romvoluntaryobservance f the lawcharactenzedheliberals'philosophy. Peruvianliberalsfavored local autonomy, civilian rule,legislative upremacy, ndsmallcentralgovernment.Theydefended ivilrights,particularlyreedomof the press,andwrote enthusiasticallyorextensionof suffrage.Characteristically,heytook the UnitedStatesastheir modelfor republican overnment.5

In contrastto the liberals,conservativeswere essentiallyreactionaryauthoritarians.With little faith in their presentand fearfulof worsethings to come in the future,Peru'snineteenthwenturyonservativeslooked backward o better,but lost, days. They firmlydefendedtheprerogativesof the Churchagainst anti-clerical iberals.Arguingthatauthority or temporalaffairsoriginated n God, conservatives ejectedthe ideaof popularsovereignty.Theypreferredxecutivesupremacy,powerfulcentralgovernment ndopposedextensionof suffrage.WhenPeru'snineteenth-centuryonservativesmentionedthe UnitedStates,they referred to its society as nothing more than "a prosperousdisorder."6Consistently heyargued hatthe UnitedStatescould not beused asa modelfor Peru.7Conservativesmaintainedhatrepublicanism

4 Fredrick B. Pike, TheModernHistory JfPeru New Yorkand Washington, 1967),Chapter III.5 For a general discussion of nineteenthwenturyliberalpositions seeJorge Basadre,^ 'La Historia

de los partidos' de Santiago Tavara y la historia de los partidos en el Peru," in Santiago T^vara,Historiade los partidos,edicion y notas de Jorge Basadre y Feliz Denegri Luna (Lima, 1951).Basadrediscusses the liberal-conservativestruggle in Chapter XXXVII of the 1961-1964edition ofhis Historiade la Republica el Peru.Raul Ferrero Rebagliati defines and discusses liberalismin Elliberafismoervano 1858) Jose MariaQuimper,a life-long liberalandcombatant in the ideologicalstruggle,discusses the qualitiesof liberalismin his B liberalismoGand, 1886)and in Elprineipio elibertad,prologo y notas de Alberto Tauro (Lima, 1948).6 Masias, Examencomparativo, . 89.

7 Riva-Aguero, Memorias documentos, , 15-16, 287.


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DANI EL GLEASON 207had failed Peru and argued for some type of authoritarianrule,aristocracyor constitutionalmonarchy.8

Churchmen nteredvigorously nto thisdiscussion, omeon thesideofthe conservatives,others with the liberals. FranciscoJavier de LunaPizarrohad the distinctionof leading he liberals n the firstdecadeafterindependence, hen later, as Archbishopof Lima,excommunicating isfellow clergymanand one-time political confrere, Franciscode PaulaGonzalez Vigil.9 Another priest, Bartolome Herrera, became theforemostconservative deologueof nineteenthwentury eru.Orphanedat age five, Herrera,a native of Limas received the highest qualityeducation his city had to offer. In 1831, at the age of twenty-three,Herrera eturned o his alma mater,Colegiode San Carlos,wherehe hadreceivedhis doctorate n law and theology, o teach aw andserveas vice-rector of the school. The following years he was ordained andsubsequentlygained renown in the fields of education, oratory, andcanon law.'

Herrera irst gained national attention when he delivereda sermonduringthe funeralceremonies or the fallen general-president, gustinGamarra,killed in action at Ingavi,Bolivia,at the head of an invadingPeruvianarmy n November,1841. Beyondthe disgrace nflictedby the"weakand puny army of Bolivia,"HerreraobservedPeru in a state ofhabitualrebellionsince 1820. Breakingwith Spain entaileda"massiveshock;"and consequentlyunrestandmisfortunewere nevitableuntil hecountry arrivedat a "newcenter of order, that authoritywhich mustreplace the Spanish sovereign."" Peru had indeed establisheda neworder,but, Herrera xplained,no one respected t, no one obeyed t. Heheld that "the principleof obedience had perished n the struggle oremancipation,"and Herrera noted that the subversion of nationalauthorityby individualshad invited terrible trife and war.'2

8 Bartolome Herrera, Escritosy discursos(Lima, 1929-1934);Masias, Examen comparativo; JoseMaria Pando, Pensamientos y apuntes sobre moral y politica (Cadiz, 1837): Riva-AguerosMemorias y documentos.

9Jorge Basadre, SSLos ombres de traje negro," Letras (Lima), I (1929), 29-59.10For biographical sketches of Herrera (all favorable) see Edmundo Ames Gonzalez, Ideaspedago'gicas de Bartolome'Herrera (Lima, 1958):Gonzalo and Rodrigo Herrera, S'Biografiade donBartolome Herrera," n Escritos y discursos: RubEn Vargas Ugarte, "Bartolome Herreray la luchacontra el liberalismo regalista," Biblioteca de culturaperuana contemporatnea 12 vols.; Lima, 1963),VII. 531-538.

l l ZOracionque en las exequias celebradas el dia 4 de enero de 1842en la Iglesia Catedral de Limapor el alma de S. E. el Jeneralisimo Presidente de las Republica D. Agustin Gamarra, muertogloriosamente en el campo de Incahue, pronuncio el Dr. D. Bartolome Herrera,Cura y Vicario deLurin," in Escritos y discursos, I. 17.

12/bid.


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208 ANTI-DEMOCRATICOUGHTNEARLYEPUBLICANERUWith this sermon Herreraemergedas the leading spokesmanofPeruvianconservatism.As opposedto contemporaryiberalthinkers,Herreracalledfor greaterrelianceon authority,opted for orderoverliberty,andargued orgreaterecclesiasticalnfluencenworldlyaffairs.Politicalauthorityderived romGod,henceall citizenswereobligedtoobey duly established egitimateauthorities:"Hewhoresists egitimateauthorityresists he commandof God." 3 BecauseGod'shanddirectedearthlyeventsaccordingto a heavenlyplan, Herreraobserved,Peru'stroublesdemonstrateddivinedispleasurewith independentPeru."Fortwenty-oneyears,"he added,Zwehaverepeatedly ommitted hesamesins.OurLord's ontinual hreatshavenotbroughtusback othepathoforder.At last Hedecidedto punishus;. . ."According o Herrera,God"chosea lifelessarm,the miserablearmof Bolivia,"n order o chastisePeru.'4The youngpriestinterpretedhe defeatat Ingavias a messagefrom God for Peruviansto find strengthand unity in misfortune.AddressingGod directlyand speakingfor his countrymen,Herrerapledged that Peruvians promised "a complete renunciation ofpartisanship,an inalterable respect for legitimate authority, andadorationof YourHoly Laws."'5

OnJuly28, 1846, hetwenty-fifth nniversary f Josede SanMartin'sdeclarationof Peruvian independence,Herreradelivered his mostfamous speech, an eloquent and forthrightstatementof nineteenth-centuryPeruvian onservatism.'6HereviewedPeru'sbriefbutturbulentrepublicanhistoryanddeterminedhat"governmentsndcitizenshavebenconverted nto slavesof the so-calledwill of the people,thatis . . .slavesof the will of the demagogues."Condemning he Zimpious ndanti-socialerrorsdiffusedthroughthe FrenchRevolution,"he sawthesocial contracttheory as usefulonly to university tudentsfor eitherexercises n logic or for humor.7Herrera noted that with Peru's separation from the Spanishmonarchy, egitimacyof political authority became a question. Hemaintained hat legitimateauthoritybelongedto those to whom thepeople reelysubjected hemselves o thatdivinelawmightbe effected.3 Ibid., 1. 21.41bid., 1- 3051bid., 1, 32.

X6"Sermon pronunciado por el Dr. Bartolome Herrera, Rectordel Convictorio de San CarlosenelTeDeum celebrado en la IglesiaCatedralde Lima,el 28de)ulio de 1846,"n Eseritosy diseursos,1,6685.17Ibid., 1, 67-68.


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DANI EL GLEASON 209After ndependence, owever,Peruvians adacceptedheforeign deaofpopularsovereignty.Thus, believing hemselves he creatorsof publicauthority,Peruviansdisobeyed awswhenever onvenient.Herrera eldthat hiscompatriotsbelieved"that heirwillwastheir aw;and iftheydidnot announce nformal erms hatsovereigntywasindependent f God,theirconductconformed o thisabsurdandfrightfulprinciple.8OnthisbasisPerubuiltdecades of rebellion,violence,political nstability,andtyranny.Herrera xplained,

[B]ecause God is the fountain of all law, and because He is the only sovereignof all men, no one can have legitimate authority, if he does not receiveit fromGod. For the Church this truth is a dogma founded on Holy Scripture.'9What iberal hinkerswouldconsiderstrictlya clerical nterpretationfsovereigntyPadreHerreramadea matterof faith.Thosewhodisagreedwith Herrerawerenot realChristians.Hecontinued,"Thedivineoriginof sovereignty. . is faith;no Catholicwill disputethis."20Herrera greed hatbecauseGodestablished upremeauthority nthestate,manobeyedGob byobeying he ustlawsof thestate.Liberty,henexisted in obedienceand so man couldattain freedomonly by feelingtruly subject to the authority of God. "Underpopularsovereignty,"Herrera easoned,"every nemyof God,thatis, of publichappiness,hasbeen able to invokethe name of the people in orderto overthrow hegovernment and the power of laws.2' Herrera, a self-appointedspokesman or the Lord,admonishedhis compatriots:Obey! Obey the constituted authorities! Let tremble those who do not obeyMe, . . . and those who employ the power they have received to do the nationharm; because their rights terminate and their dangers begin where theirrebellion and injustice begin.22TheJuly28sermongeneratedan immediatereaction romdefendersof thepopular overeigntyheory.Firstto challengeHerrerawasBenitoLaso,a veteran iberalpolitician,ournalist,and urist.OnJuly29, 1846,the Lima daily, El Correo Peruano, publisheda letter from Laso.Suggesting that Herrera'sopinion on popularsoveriegntycould bedescribedas "subversive," aso charged hatthe clergyman'srgumentwas indeed"anti-social"nd harkedback to thedarkagesof Europe.23

1bid.,1,81.I9"Notas el Sermon," Ibid., 1, 96.20Ibid.211bid., 1, 83.22lbid., 1, 84.23"Polemicaentre el Dr. Benito Laso, Vocal de la Crote Suprema, y el Dr. Herrera, en torno alSermon de este," in Escritos y dwscursos,1, 104.


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210 ANTI-DEMOCRATICOUGHTNEARLY EPUBLICANERULaso retired abruptly from the polemic when a letter abusive of hispersonappeared n the press. Herrera egrettedLaso'sdecisionsincehebelieved the exchange would have demonstrated"the absolute lack offoundation" or Rousseau's Social Contract, "the seed of revolution,crimesand inevitableslavery."24

Editors of El Correo Peruano and its rival, El Comerico, kept thequestionof the natureof sovereigntybefore he publicby continuing hepolemic. El Comercio printed a letter signed by Un Patriota whichexplainedthat the debate "dealswith a principleon which our politicalexistence is based, a principlewhich dominates all our institution."25Continuing,Herrera's riticequated he cleric'spositionwithdespotism,charging that denial of popular sovereignty constituted denial of apeople'sright"to select ts own rulersand to organize he body politicasbest suits its interests."The next day Los Patriotas upheld he principlethat Zthegovernment manates rom the will of the people"and arguedthat Herreraowed his criticsan answersince the peoplehad manifesteddisapprovalof his theories.26

Herreraconceded, in answer to the suggestionthat his sermonwassubversive, hat everyconstitutionof Peruhad asserted hat sovereigntyresided in the nation. Without elaborating, Herrera maintained,however, hat most people lackeda properunderstanding f sovereigntywithinthe context of Peru'sconstitutions.Herrera xplained hat ust asman cannot make scientific aws, he cannot create political principles."Reason, will, and force," Herrerawrote, "are means which God hasgiven us in orderto discover, ove, and execute His law, not to create t;divine law is a gatheringof necessary nd absoluteprinciples."7 Only nthese principles ies real absolute sovereignty.The next day'sEl Comercio carriedHerrera's ategoricaldenialof theliberalposition. For Los Patriotas,he noted,popular overeignty id notdependon eternalprinciples asedon the natureof thingsbut on whetheror not the public has the capacityand right to expressand formulate"general aws"and to establishthe means to enforce those laws.28Thetruth was, Herreramaintained," Tlhe people, that is, the sum total of

241bid,1 111.25"Remitidos de El Comerefo e Lima contra Herrera," in Eseritos diseursos,1. 119.Jorge

Guillermo Leguia suggests that Laso may have written the articles which appeared in El CorreoPeruano.See Estudioshistoricos.p. 22.26lbid., 1. 129.27Ibid., 1, 125.28/bid.,l, 127-129-


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DANI EL GLEASON 211individuals of every age and condition, DO NOT HAVE THECAPACITYNOR THE RIGHTTO MAKE LAWS (Herrerass se ofupper case letters).29Herreraconoeived of societyss laws as comingdirectly rom God and thereforeperforcemandatory.The patriots aw adistinctionbetweennatural aw, admittedly stablishedby God, and theform it might take as interpretedby the duly-elected awmakersof thenation. In contrast,Herrera rgued hat beyond acking he capacity omake law, most people could not perceive natural law. The rectorreasoned,"Therightto dictate aws belongs o the most intelligent-tothe aristocracy of knowledge, created by Nature.ss30Here, too, thepatriotsdisagreed,holdingthat the people delegated he right to makelaws to their elected representatives.

Both sidesappeared atisfied hat theyhad exhaustedusefuldiscussionof the questionfor the time being.As oral examinations n public aw atSan Carlos were approaching,Herrera,who had been namedrectorofthe school and had made San Carlosthe ideologicalcenterof Peruvianconservativism, chose to continue the polemic in that forum.Government-appointedxaminers,Benito Laso, Deputy Jose ManuelTirado,and FatherAgustinCharun, upporters f popular overeignty,agreed to question candidate Manuel Irigoyen on the followingproposition: hat sovereignty riginates n the natureof manandsociety;that the consent of the people, expressed by their obedience, is anindispensable ondition for the establishmentof sovereignty.One ofHerrera's favorite students, Irigoyen aptly defended his mentor'sinterpretations f sovereignty.While agreeingwith his examiners hatthe consent of the people was an indispensable ondition for peacefulgovernment,Irgoyen argued that man might well consent to obey a

291bid.,1,131.301bid. ose Arnaldo Marques, a nineteenthwentury Peruvian statesman, poet, translator, andinventor, was a student at the Colegio de San Carlos during Herrera's tenure as rector. In ZE1Dr.Bartolome Herxra, Extracto de las memorias ineditas de uno de sus discipulos," in EscrErosdiscursos,Marquez recalled a rather perverse diversion of the schoors rector:

Dr. Herrera amused himself with the intellectual and physical wretchedness of other men. Hefound relaxation from his literaly labors at the Colegio de San Carlos by gathering about hiswriting table a half-dozen unfortunates, more worthy of compassion because of theirignorance,incompetence, and physical deformities than to be used to provide third-rate entertainment.These individuals belonged to the poorest class of our society. . . [Herrera] took delight insurrounding himselfwith these wretches and discussing the most intricate metaphysical problemsand the most mysterious phenomena of nature, finding pleasure in hearing the nonsense andabsurdities of these feebles minds full of darkness. Such scenes stirred within me a sense of painfulindignation; but this was the favorite pastime of Herrera and continued to be so for about twoyears. (11, lxiii)


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212 ANTI-DEMOCRATICOUGHTNEARLY EPUBLICANERUgovernmentwhose sovereigntyderived,not from the people, but fromGod. 1 Newspapers rom Trujilloand Arequipa, s wellas those of Lima,carriedarticlessummarizing he debates at San Carlos.32For threeweeks in January, 1847,Carolinos,writing n El Comercio,and the editors of El Correo Peruano traded daily rejoinders n thelengtheningpolemic. In ratherdesultory ashion both sides alternatelyparaphrasedhe arguments f the opposingside in order o portray heiradversaries s self-contradictory,bsurd,and illogical.The editorsof ElCorreoattempted o depictthe Carolinosas subversive nti-republicansand absolute monarchists. In response, the Carolinas argued thatpopular sovereignty ed directly o the tyrannicalrule of demogogues,who gained power by deceivingpeople lackingthe capacityto governthemselves. More concerned with invective and debating points thandetailing their respective arguments, the contestants finally quit thedebate after eleven exchanges.33

Except for the three-yearperiod, 1851-1854,GeneralRamonCastillagovernedPerufrom 1845 o 1862.The "Soldierof the Law,' as he styledhimself,Castillaruled Peru longerthan any other chief executive n hiscountrysshistoryand did so withinthe confinesof constitutional imits.A caudillowilling o take up his swordwhencompromise ailed,Castillaheld Peru togetherat a time when Mexican liberalsand conservativesclashed in the Reforma over issues which Peruviansresolvedthroughdebate. For over two decades, rom his accession o the presidencyuntilhis death n 1867,Castillaquelledpotentiallyviolentforces,enablinghiscountry to experience its first extended period of relatively stablepolitical life.34Early in Castilla's irst administration,Herreraoptimis-tically observed hat the constitutionalgovernment f the Soldierof theLaw was slowly undoing the ravagesof the past.35

3l^Articulo editorial de El Comereio de Lima sobre los examenes, de San Carlos en que sediscutieron las doctrinas de Herrera," in Eseritos y dlscursos, 1, 140-143.32ZArticulosde S Republicano de Arequipa acerca del mismo asunto," and XArticulosdel Diariode Trujillo resumiendo la discusion realizada en San Carlos de Lima," n Eseritosy diseursos, 1, 143-150.33ZPolemica entre El Correo Peruano y el Colegio de San Carlos, alrededor de la soberania de lainteligencia i n Eseritos y diseursos, 1, 15S224.

34For biographical sketches of Castilla see Pike, The Modem History of Peru ( 1967), Chapter I Vand the prologue by Alberto Tauro in Ramon Castilla, Ideologia (Lima, 1948) Carlos Wiesse,BiograSia en aneedotes del Gran Mariseal Ramotn Castilla (Lima, 1924), includes anecdotes andsyntheses of other writings on Castilla.

35-Sermon pronunciado . . . el 28 de julio de 1846," in Eseritos y diseursos, 1, 72.


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DAN IEL GLEASON 213Castilla demonstratedhis commitment to constitutionalrule byturningoverthe reignsof office to a duly electedsuccessoron April 20,

1851.Onlyoncebefore, n 1833,had a Peruvianpresident ompletedhisterm of office. UnlikeAgustinGamarra,who attempted o impose hissuccessoron the country,CastillaallowedPeru's irst realpresidentialcampaign o takeplace. He did,however,endopensupport o oneof thecandidates, General Jose Rufino Echenique, his vice-presidentatelection time. A contemporaryobservernoted, "GeneralEcheniquedistributed greatdeal of money hroughout heRepublic nd succeededin winninga majorityof the votes."36Lackingvision, energy,and leadershipability of Castilla,PresidentEcheniquedependedheavily on his cabinet,composed of apparentlyoutstandingmen. Castilla quickly found that he could exert littleinfluenceoverEchenique fter heselectionof JuanCrisostomoTorricoas Ministerof War.Anadventurer,Torricohadoccupied hepresidencybriefly n 1842andhad plottedto overthrowCastilla n 1849.EcheniqueselectedBartolomeHerrera s hisMinister fJusticeanddependeduponthe arch-conservativeclergyman for political advice.37A liberaljournalist, Fernando Casos, charged that the cabinet, believingthemselves o be abovejudgment,reliedupon';theprinciple fauthority[which]as theyunderstood t, consistedof imposing heirdecisionsbyforce."38As Casospublishedreportsof ofElcial orruptionandlack ofconfidence in Echenique and his cabinet grew, "agents of thegovernment" egan to spy on citizens, Casoswrote,The [Echenique] government always suffered from the deplorable mistake ofattributing the spontaneous protests of the people to few individuals; thisconsistent error caused the cabinet to display a base policy in itscorrespondence, explanations, verbal orders, requests, and espionage, fromthe very beginning; it caused the cabinet to become careless about theelements of its own destruction and to lose its way on a bright, clear day.39

Herrera,he most nfluentialmember fthe cabinet,becamediscouragedwhen liberals n the PeruvianSenateblockedapprovalof a concordatwith Pope Pius IX. Disillusionedby the ingloriousend of one of hischerisheddreams, Herreraresigned rom the government n 1853andtemporarilyretiredfrom active participationn politicalaffairs.40The36JuanGualbertoaldivia,as revolueiones de Arequipa (2 vols.; Arequipa,9s8), I, los.37casos,Para la historia del Peru, pp. 1-l ; Pike,7he Modern History of Peru, pp.98-103.sesidesTorncoandHerrera,cheniqueppointedManuel eMendiburundJoseJoaquin eOsma o his cabinet.38 ara la historia del Peru, p. 15.391bid., p. 5.40Leguia, studios historicos, pp. 141-143.


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214 ANTIDEMOCRATICOUGHTNEARLY EPUBLICANERUfollowing year, Ramon Castilla ed a successfulrevolutionagainst thenakedlycorruptand increasingly epressive egimeof Echenique.4'

Herrera eturned o public ife Elve ears ater,elected o represent hesierra town of Jauja in the predominantly iberal Congress of 1858.Charged with revising the controversialultra-liberalConstitution of1856, he Congressprincipally oncerned tselfwith keepinga closecheckon Castilla and summoningministers o answer questions. Leavingarecordof dispute over a few articles,the congressrecessedabruptly nApril, 1859, and never reconvened.Following congressional lections,Herrera eturned o the legislatureand was elected ts presidingofficerwhen it met in 1860. Voting to proceedwith constitutional eform, heCongress appointed a six-man committee to draft a new charter.However,before he committee ouldcomplete ts task, Herrera utlinedhis preferences or reform in a speech to the Congresson August 14,

.42

Calling for a total revisionof the 1856 charter,Herrerapresentedaprojectwhich included 149articles.His constitutionwould havedeniedcitizenship o a rather ong list of Peruvian dults:propertyless easants,maids and servants,soldiers and sailors, and those who lacked eitherintelligence or known means of support. Citizenshipwas also to bedenied to those who presumably acked propriety, uch as drunkards,beggars, or divorced people. Individuals in the remainder of thepopulationmight have exercisedtraditionalcivil rightsso long as theydid not violate publicorder,the rightsof others or of the Church.Everthe proponentof elitism, Herreraheld, in articleseventeen, hat "no onedeservesspecial considerations, xcept for their service o society, theirtalents, and their virtues.ssHerreraproposeda thirty-man enate,composedof representativesften functional interestgroups. Under his scheme, only men who hadbeneElttedrom the Peruvianeconomy might have been elected to thesenate. For example, representatives of miners, farmers, andbusinessmen,wouldhavebeenrequired o own property aluedat 20,000pesos. For senators,Herrerawanted"distinguished,mature,andcapablemen who would represent"thepermanentnterestsof all social classes,the eternalprinciples f law and the stabilityof institutions.ss43errerasssenatewould haveexerciseda varietyof functions, n addition o sharing

40Valdivia, Las revolueiones de Arequipa, II, 149-158.42See Pareja Paz-Soldan, Las eonstituefones del Preu, pp. 845-880.43Quoted in Pareja Paz-Soldan, 375.


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2l5 DANI EL GLEASONlaw-making powers with the chamber of deputies. The senate alonewould have approvedor rejectedconcordatesor treaties. Herreraalsowould have attributedto the senate judicial powers, in impeachmentproceedings nd the interpretation nd suspensionof laws, including heconstitution.Herrerabelieved hat senateapprovalshouldbe necessaryfor promotions o the highestranksof the army or navy. Furthermore,the senate would have exercised lectoralpower,choosing he presidentof the republicundercertainconditions. Functionsof the chamberofdeputies, n contrastto those of the senate, were strictly egislative.

Herrerawould have lengthened he presidential ermto six yearsandallowed successive re-elections of incumbents. Chief executives, inHerrerass roject,might have vetoed legislationand closed or dissolvedcongress. The president would also have enjoyed broad patronagepowers, including he authority o transferor suspendcivil servants,aswell as to reduce heirsalaries.Herrera lso proposed hat the presidentbe empowered o transfer r dismissany memberof thejudiciary.Perussforemost conservative ideologue envisioned a president chosen byindirectelection,yet able to depriveany Peruvianof his citizenship ndorder he deportationof indigentcompatriots.UnderHerrerasschemethe presidentwould have foundconstitutional upport o continueas thesupremearbiterof Peruvianpolitical ife.

Despitea generalafElrmationf democracy n the secondarticleof theproposal, limitations on citizenship made Herrerassconstitutionundemocratic.Throughsevere restrictionson suffrage,Herrerawouldhave assured the continued political pre-eminenceof the propertiedclasses in both the cities and the ruralareas. By denyingthe rights ofcitizenship o ruralday-laborers nd servants,Herrerawould have lentconstitutional approbation to the disfranchisement f PerussIndianmasses. His project constituted a re-inforcementof the status quo,particularly n the rural areas. Whereas the Constitution of 1856attempted o instituteequalitybefore he law, Herrerass lanwouldhaveasserted litist privileges.Not only was theecclesiasticalfuero,whichhadbeen abolished by the 1856 charter, o be re-established,but Herrerawould also have constitutionalized is concept of specialprivileges orvirtue and talent. It is not surprising hat the predominantly iberalCongressof 1860rejectedHerrerass lan when t wasformallymoved oradoption before the assembly.44

441bid.,

377


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216 ANTI-DEMOCRATICOUGHTNEARLY EPUBLICANERUThe Constitutionof 1860was a compromisebetween he 1856charter,whichmany Peruvians oundtoo radical,and the authoritarian roposal

of Herrera. While the 1860 constitution pledged protection of theChurch, t also abolished hefuero. This secondsuppressionofecclesias-tical privilegeso perturbedpresidingofElcerHerrera hat he renouncedhis presidency nd resignedhis seat in the assembly.Named BishopofArequipa n 1860, Herrera ook up his episcopalduties in the southernAndeancity, retired rom political ife entirelyanddevoted he remainingfour years of his life to improving he educationofferedby the diocesanseminary.45

Liberals nd conservatives eld diametrically pposedconceptsof thecommon man. Both sides agreed that the common man had notdemonstrated he abilityto participaten the political ife of the country.Liberals,however,were conEldenthat the common man could becomean active member of the polity. They consistently argued for theextension of suffrage to progressivelywider circles of Peruviansandrecommendedpopular education as a means of ultimatelypreparingPerussmasses for political action. One liberal,Juan Espinosa,arguedthat socialization, not nature, had enslaved some men to others.46Espinosa spoke for all liberals when he condemnedthe theory that acertainclass of men should rule by virtueof their birthor divineright.47Conservatives, greeingwith the outspoken Herrera,did not expectthecommon Peruvian, illiterate and politically ignorant, to exhibit acapability or self-government.

Bartolome Herrera was not an isolated Elgure.He wrote in thetradition of Jose Pando, an advisor of both Simon Bolivar and thedictator Gamarra, and merely stood out above contemporaryconservatives,such as Pedro Gual, Jose de la Riva-Aguero, FelipePardo, Juan de la Cruz Garcia, and Felipe Masias. As an educator,orator, polemicist, politician, and political theorist, Herrerawas themost influentialPeruvianconservative f his century.HistoriansJorgeGuillermoLeguia and Jose ParejaPaz-Soldanmaintain hat Herrera,indeed, succeeded in educating a generation of young Peruvianaristocrats o direct he affairsof state,putting nto practicehistheoryonthe "capacity o govern.ss48

45See Gonzalo and Rodrigo Herrera,wBiografia e don BartolomeHerrera,"n Eseritos ydiseursos.46Dieeionario para el pueblo, p. 563.471bid., p. 183.48Leguia,Estudios historicos, p. 112;ParejaPaz-Soldan,Las constituefones del Peru, p. 368.


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DANI EL GLEASON217Despite the significance of Herrerasscontribution to Peruvianthought, North American students of Latin American intellectual

history, with few exceptions, have overlooked Bartolome Herrera.49John Martzand MiguelJorrin, LatinAmericanPolitical ThoughtandIdeology ChapelHill, North Carolina,1970), ail to mentionHerrera tall, although hey includea chapter ntitled"NaturalRightsand PopularSovereignty in their book. Nor do Harold Davis, Latin AmericanThought Baton Rouge, Louisiana,1972),or Rex Crawford,A Centuryof Latin American Thought, (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1944),mention Herrera.Most studentsof Latin American ntellectualhistorybegintheir reatmentof nineteenth-century eruvian deaswiththe post-War-of-the-PaciElchinker, Manuel Gonzalez Prada. Yet accounts ofnineteenthwenturyPeru consistently describe an unrepresentative,undemocratic overnmentpresidedover by a minisculeelite. Herrerassinterpretation f his countrysspoliticalreality, ncludinghis argumentsconcerning the form of government most appropriate or Peru andpervasive question of Church-state relations, constitute a largelyuntapped source for scholars who would reconstruct arly republicanPeru.St. Thomas University DANIELLEASONFredericton,New Brunswick,Canada

49Two welcome exceptions are Fredrick B. Pike, ZHeresy, Real and Alleged, in Peru: An Aspectof the Conservative-Liberal Struggle, 183(S18tS," Hispanie American Historical Review, XLVII(February, 1967) and Antonine Elbesar, "The Peruvian Church at the Time of Independence in theLight of Vatican II." The Americas, A QuarterlyReview of Inter-American Cultural History, XXVI(April, 1970).

Gleason Bartolome Herrera

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