His son, Don Bernardo, was a man of
his own type, able in peace and brilliant in war, and he was now made
supreme dictator of Chili, an office which San Martin had refused. The
banished patriots were brought home from their desert island, the
royalists severely punished, and a new army was organized to dislodge the
fragment of the Spanish army which still held out in the south.
On the 15th of February, 1818, the anniversary of the decisive victory of
the "Liberating Army of the Andes," O'Higgins declared the absolute
independence of Chili. A vote of the people was taken in a peculiar
manner. Two blank books were opened for signatures in every city, the
first for independence, the second for those who preferred the rule of
Spain. For fifteen days these remained, and then it was found that the
first books were filled with names, while the second had not a single
name. This vote O'Higgins declared settled the question of Chilian
freedom.
The Spaniards did not think so, for Abascal, the energetic viceroy of
Peru, was taking vigorous steps to win Chili back for the crown.
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