His death marked the end of the despotic era, and, although Paraguay has
suffered greatly from revolutions from that day to this, there has been
no attempt at a repetition of a reign of terror.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE REPUBLIC OF CHILE
It has already been said how, at the conclusion of the War of Liberation
in Chile, Bernardo O'Higgins found himself at the head of the State. The
first President was in every respect admirably fitted for his office.
The post, moreover, was nothing beyond his deserts, since he, more than
the majority of the other patriots, had suffered for the cause.
The youth of Bernardo O'Higgins was far more chequered than that which
falls to the lot of most young men. Owing to the peculiar circumstances
of his birth--his father, as a high official under the Spanish rule, had
not dared perform the marriage ceremony with his colonial lady-love,
Bernardo's mother--his childhood had been somewhat neglected, and his
early youth largely deprived of a normal share of paternal affection.
His father, nevertheless, had seen to it that the boy's education should
be of a liberal order.
Bernardo O'Higgins had been one of the South Americans who, during the
last days of the Spanish dominion, had been sent to study in Europe.
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