96 INTRODUCTION. 



printed his manifesto himself. His spirit was gay and cheerful, and 

 his body indefatigable ; but he had little prudence and no reserve, so 

 that he was as little to be trusted with the plans of others as de- 

 pended on in his own, which, however, were always conceived with 

 precision and energy, and bore directly on the point he aimed at ; 

 but then he proclaimed them too openly. He wanted education, 

 for he had neither principles nor reading to direct him ; and his 

 character altogether appears to me to resemble no one so much as 

 that of Charles the second's Duke of Buckingham. It is no wonder 

 therefore that he did not succeed in placing himself, or rather in 

 keeping himself at the head of any of the newly freed states of South 

 America. His love of pleasure led him into expenses which swal- 

 lowed up the means of either bribing or paying followers, and his 

 careless, easy nature prevented his securing those who might be 

 dangerous to him. 



After his death, his principal followers and some of his nearer 

 connexions were put in close confinement, others were banished, 

 and some escaped to the woods and mountains, where they lived 

 precariously till they were either able to get to some friendly place, 

 or till the act of oblivion of September, 1822, allowed them to return 

 to their houses. 



The fortune of Chile was thus delivered from the dangers arising 

 from that powerful and active family. The father had died shortly 

 after the execution of his other two sons, and now the last and 

 greatest of his house was gone. Of those bearing the same name, 

 Don Carlos, a quiet citizen, lived at his farm at Vina a la Mar, near 

 Valparaiso, without meddling in politics, and of his three sons, one 

 only survived, whose low habits and mean mind seemed to secure 

 him from either doing or experiencing evil. Of the other two, one 

 had perished early in the revolution, and the other had been killed 

 in an insurrection at Juan Fernandez, whither he had been banished. 



The tranquillity of the state was still farther secured by the total 

 overthrow of Benevidies, in the month of December. This man 

 was the son of the inspector of the prison of Quirihue of Con- 



