Page:A history of Chile.djvu/221

PART III— THE ERA OF CONSTITUTION MAKING CHAPTER I THE LIBERALS IN POWER — FREIRE AND PINTO General Freire was renowned and brave as a soldier, courteous as a gentleman, well-meaning as a patriot, liberal as a statesman, but he succeeded no better than O'Higgins in the trying position of supreme-director. A general overhauling of the ministry and an investiga- tion of Rodriguez' robberies took place ; reforms were the order of the day. But as is usual in these recurring spasms of public reform, nothing practical was accom- plished, and affairs under the new liberal government were soon in as disordered a condition as under the old. The public soon discovered that the new order of patriotism effected only a change of men ; pecula- tions, procrastinations, and bad faith still continued in the public offices as during the old regime. Freire adopted the tactics San Martin used in Peru ; he disclaimed personal responsibility ; he refused to act personally upon troublesome questions and re- ferred everything to congress. Congress was as little responsible, for it held its sittings only during a few weeks of the year, and did little else than discuss ques-