Curiously enough, the history of one of Peru’s last Viceroys is permeated with an atmosphere of romance in which the careers of his predecessors were almost entirely lacking.  Ambrose O’Higgins, the most striking figure of all the lengthy line of Viceroys, had started life as a bare-footed Irish boy.  He is said to have been employed by Lady Bective to run errands at Dangan Castle, Co.  Meath.  Through the influence of an uncle in Spain, a priest, the lad was sent to Cadiz.  From there, having in the meanwhile become familiar with the Spanish tongue, he proceeded to South America, landed in Buenos Aires, and then travelled westwards across the Andes, arriving in safety on the Pacific coast.  Here he appears to have adopted the profession of an itinerant trader, journeying to and fro through the territories of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the Government of Chile.  His career during this period of his existence was unbrokenly humble, and certainly the adventurous Irishman himself, even in his wildest moments, could scarcely have possessed any inkling of the marvellous future which awaited him.

The first step in this direction was made in one of his excursions to the south, when by a fortunate chance he obtained an opportunity to demonstrate his inherent warlike qualities in the battles against the Araucanian Indians.  Having once got his foot upon the official ladder, O’Higgins never stepped back.  The Home Government of Spain appeared to regard his career with a benevolent interest.  He obtained the rank of Colonel; from this he was promoted to that of Brigadier-General, and was made Count of Balenar.  A little later he was made Major-General, and in 1792 he attained to the rank of Captain-General of Chile, and the title of Marquis of Osorno was conferred upon him.  Two years later he was promoted once again, this time to the rank of Lieutenant-General.

The progressive policy of O’Higgins occasionally brought him into collision with some of the more retrogressive officials; but the strength of his character appears to have prevailed throughout, and it is certainly to the credit of Spain that it singled out and upheld so courageous and broad-minded an official.

O’Higgins’s greatest office, however, was still before him.  In 1796 he was created Viceroy of Peru, and thus became the highest official throughout the New World.  No fairy story has ever produced a more startling study of career and contrast than that which had fallen to the lot of the erstwhile bare-footed Irish boy.

The remarkable history of the family of O’Higgins, however, does not end even here.  Ambrose O’Higgins was undoubtedly the most brilliant Viceroy who had ever served Spain in the New World.  The candle of this high office, as it were, flamed up in a great, but transient, flicker ere it was for ever extinguished, and it was O’Higgins who fed this flame.  With the passing of Ambrose O’Higgins we are confronted with the next generation of his family.  As the father had done in the interests of regal Spain, so did the son in the service of the southern patriots.  Bernardo O’Higgins, indeed, was destined to accomplish yet greater things in the cause of the Independence of South America.  Ambrose O’Higgins was one of Spain’s last Viceroys; his son Bernardo became one of the first Presidents of the New Republican World.