are near the truth: the natives of Chile are wont either to shout vivas to the last conqueror, or to look with suspicion upon outside patriots; more than all else, the common people, though desperate fighters, prefer not to be disturbed. To them one government seems as good as another.
The Spaniards had been defeated because of their overweening confidence and imprudence, for Marco and Maroto commanded a far superior army to San Martin's, in point of veteran troops, officers, equipment and discipline.
A junta was again formed by the leading citizens of Santiago. The office of supreme-director was offered to San Martin, but he refused it, having his eyes on Peru, where the viceroy, Abascal, still maintained his authority. The office was then conferred upon General Bernardo O'Higgins, the government taking about the form it had under Lastra, save that the revolution this time meant complete independence from Spain. The independence was declared and a provisional constitution announced. Chile, with the exception of Concepcion, Talcahuano and Valdivia, fell during the year completely under the authority of the patriots.
One of the first acts of the new government was to dispatch a vessel to the island of Juan Fernandez to bring away the patriots banished there by Osorio. Then reprisals began upon the royalists. The infamous San Bruno and Villalobos were conducted to the middle of the plaza and shot; the royalist bishop, José Santiago Rodriguez, was banished to Mendoza. The property of royalist fugitives was confiscated, and those who remained in Chile were compelled to contribute a fund of $400,000 for the patriot cause.
O'Higgins began actively to organize an army to prosecute the war and dislodge the royalists from the
