It was on November 4, 1780, that Tupac-Amaru, by which name he was now universally known, made his first move. Gathering some trusty men about him, he captured a Spanish corregidor, Arriaga, and, charging that official with offences against the Indians, caused him to be executed. On this the Indians flocked to their new defender's standard, and he was soon at the head of 6,000 men. Tupac-Amaru now determined on an extensive campaign. After an attack on Cuzco, he marched with 60,000 Indians to besiege La Paz itself, while the isolated Spanish forces were overwhelmed in all directions.
La Paz succeeded in resisting the desperate onslaught of the Indian army, and the tide of fortune now turned against the Inca leader. After a battle waged in the open, he was captured and put to a horrible death. His tongue was torn out by the executioner; each of his limbs was attached to a horse, then, the four horses being furiously driven in different directions, his body was torn into four portions. It was in this way that the unfortunate Tupac-Amaru died, the last of the Inca race who attempted to assert the rights of his people.
With the exception of rare revolts such as these, and of the periodical onslaughts which the buccaneers of all nations made upon the Pacific ports, it is a little remarkable to consider how few dramatic episodes took place during the colonial era in Peru. It is true that one or two events occurred deserving of note. Thus, in 1551, the University of San Marcos was established at Lima, and was the first institution of the kind to be founded in the New World. In 1573 occurred the first auto-da-fé, followed by numerous other such grim ceremonies, for Lima was naturally the head-quarters of the Inquisition. In 1746 the capital suffered from a terrible catastrophe, being visited by an earthquake which shattered the senior city of the Continent, while at the same time a great tidal wave swept away the port of the capital, Callao.
Beyond this one Viceroy succeeded another; the mines continued to be worked, and, in response to the incessant clamourings of Spain, the miners were flogged and driven willy-nilly to their unwelcome task. As time went on the relative importance of Peru compared to the neighbouring States tended to diminish rather than to increase. The most profitable and most easily worked of the then known gold and silver mines had been practically denuded of their treasure. There were others in plenty, but these were more remote, and the difficulty of communication which then prevailed was sufficiently great to render impossible any attempt at a remunerative working of these. With the decrease in the working of minerals greater attention was now paid to the pastoral and agricultural industries, and with the growth of these the value and importance of the neighbouring countries increased vastly. This state of affairs was at length acknowledged by the Court of Spain, and was emphasized in 1776 when Buenos Aires was made the seat of a Viceroyalty, and was thus released from the last shred of supervision on the part of the Peruvian officials.
We are now approaching the stage of the War of Independence. This, in Peru, as elsewhere, was heralded by the newly-acquired liberal spirit of the colonials, which, in spite of repressions and precautions on the part of Spain, could no longer be kept in check. It is true that in Peru, the chief centre of Spanish officialdom in the Continent, these manifestations were rather slower in asserting themselves than in the neighbouring countries, but this was inevitable when the extent of the moral influence employed by the numerous officials, and the active discouragement exerted by the important garrison of the Spanish headquarters of the Continent, are taken into consideration.
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.