Ig INTRODUCTION. 



sentiment. On that day, however, it was loudly declared, and 

 although Carasco was suffered to remain in his office, the whole of 

 the other members of his government, with the exception of Reyes, 

 the secretary, were dismissed, imprisoned, or banished. A few days 

 afterwards Carasco himself was cashiered, and brigadier-general 

 Torre, Conde de la Conquista, was elected captain-general by the 

 people. 



At this time the royal troops in Chile consisted only of the usual 

 2000 men on the Indian frontier, with about fifty dragoons in the 

 capital ; and of these a part had been already gained over to the 

 cause of independence by Don Bernardo O'Higgins, then bearing a 

 colonel's commission, and stationed at Chilian, his native town. 

 This officer was the son of Don Ambrosio O'Higgins, Marquis of 

 Osorno, who sent him early to Europe, where he remained some 

 years, five of which were spent in England, at the academy of 

 Mr. Hill, at Richmond, in Surrey, where he had not only learned the 

 language perfectly, but a good deal of the free and independent spirit 

 of the nation. 



The conditions on which Torre was made captain-general were, 

 that he should not acknowledge the French regency, but reserve the 

 province of Chile for king Ferdinand, adhering meantime to the 

 principles and constitution of the junta. But some bolder patriots 

 ventured to hint at a more complete independence, and the Marquis, 

 with his natural timidity, at first endeavoured to silence these whis- 

 pers, and afterwards sent the authors of them, among whom was the 

 poet Dr. Vera, prisoners to Lima. Mean time the principal persons 

 of the country had resolved on a complete change in the form of 

 government, and on the 18th September of the same year a meeting 

 was held, at which the office of captain-general was suppressed, and 

 a junta was appointed which was to acknowledge the rights of Fer- 

 dinand, but to resist every foreign authority. Torre, the ex-captain- 

 general, was named president ; his colleagues were the Marquis de la 

 Plata (the richest man in Chile), Don Francisco Rayna, Don Juan 

 Henrique Rosales, Don Juan Martinez Rosas, and Don Ingnacio 



