CHAPTER XLIX.

JUNIN—AYACUCHO.

1823—1824.

On the field of diplomacy the Liberator of Columbia came for the first time in contact with Don Bernardino Rivadavia, the highest personification of the Liberalism of South America. One was at the head of four great States, the other was the constitutional minister of a province. Bolívar aspired to the laurel crown of an American Cæsar, Rivadavia to that of a pacific liberator.

Rivadavia was at this time the soul of the Provinces of La Plata, which were separated by political shipwreck. The Argentine Republic, exhausted by her great struggle for the independence of America, and prostrated by civil conflict, took no more part in the continental war, but her soldiers still fought for her in far-off lands; her integral parts, in spite of separation, had still cohesion and sought reunion. A centre of attraction was wanting to this constellation of fourteen wandering stars—Buenos Ayres provided that centre. Rivadavia welded this province into a State, which became the organic cell of national life. On the small theatre of a province, the representative system of a republic was seen for the first time at work in South America. These institutions, which were then a novelty in the world, except in the United States and partially in England, showed to the peoples of South America what the republican system was; from Buenos Ayres they spread over the entire Continent.

The Argentine Republic was then threatened with the war which broke out two years later. The new Empire of Brazil had occupied by force the Banda Oriental, which was one of the United Provinces; the Government of Buenos Ayres, inspired by Rivadavia, faced the question with all its consequences. In these circumstances, in January, 1823, Don Joaquin Mosquera arrived in Buenos Ayres as minister plenipotentiary of Columbia. Rivadavia was provisionally in charge of the Government. He rejected at once the idea of a Congress with power to decide international disputes. The treaty was reduced to a defensive alliance, in support of their independence from Spanish or from any other foreign domination. As Rivadavia explained to the Legislature:—

“The treaty proposed by Columbia did not fulfil the requisite conditions, since it only recognised the existence of governments and not their legitimacy.”

The idea of Rivadavia was to complete the triumph of the revolution by a peaceful understanding with the mother country, in which all the late colonies should unite.

When King Ferdinand, in 1820, sent a royal commission to the River Plate with the object of “putting an end to differences existing between members of the same family,” the Government of Buenos Ayres replied that it could listen to no proposition which was not based upon the recognition of independence, which declaration served as a precedent.

The treaty with Columbia was signed on the 8th March, 1823, was ratified by the Government of Columbia on the 10th June, 1824, and by the Argentine Congress on the 7th June, 1825.

Almost simultaneously with Mosquera, there arrived in Buenos Ayres two new commissioners from the King of Spain. The Spanish Cortes, re-installed at Cadiz in 1820, was composed of Liberals, who saw that these ancient colonies could not be subjected by force, and attempted to settle the question by negotiation. These commissioners brought no proper credentials, but were simply appointed by the King, under Liberal pressure, to listen to proposals, and to arrange provisional treaties of commerce. Their real object was to divide the different republics which were at war with Spain. Buenos Ayres was looked upon as the centre of the revolutionary spirit; the commissioners were instructed to recognise the independence of the United Provinces, and so to separate them from Peru and Columbia.

Rivadavia drew up a resolution which was sanctioned at once by the Legislature:—

“Government shall negotiate no treaties of neutrality, of peace, nor of commerce with Spain, until after the cessation of war in all the new States of the American Continent, and not until after the recognition of their independence.”

On this basis an arrangement was drawn up, in which a suspension of hostilities for eighteen months was stipulated, during which time the Province of Buenos Ayres should negotiate the acquiescence of the other American governments.

Meantime commercial relations were re-established with Spain, contraband of war being excepted. But it was an illusion on the part of Rivadavia to hope that the question with Spain could be settled by any other mode than by arms.

There was yet a further stipulation. As France had voted 20 millions of dollars in aid of the restoration of absolutism in Spain, in agreement with the Holy Alliance, from which England was already separated, the Government of Buenos Ayres was authorized to negotiate for an equal sum among the States of America “to uphold the representative system in Spain.” Don Felix Alzaga was, with this object, appointed plenipotentiary to the Governments of Chile, Peru, and Columbia. At the same time General Las Heras was sent as a commissioner to the Royalist authorities in Peru, to arrange an armistice with them, in conjunction with General Arenales, who was at that time in command on the northern frontier.

Buenos Ayres, in spite of the dangers which surrounded her, thus performed her duty to her sister States, boldly confronting the alliance of the absolute kings, and thereby gained the goodwill of England; but the convention was rejected in Chile through the intervention of the Columbian minister. Alzaga then went on to Peru and presented it to both Presidents, to Torre-Tagle and to Riva-Agüero. The first made use of it to open a traitorous correspondence with the Royalists, the other used it as a plea for arranging an armistice of his own, and for sending back the Columbian auxiliaries; but, strange to say, it was accepted by Bolívar as a way out of his difficulties, he merely stipulating that it should, first of all, be ratified by the Spaniards. His object was to gain time for the arrival of reinforcements from Columbia.

At the beginning of 1824 the situation of the Patriots in Peru was very precarious. The Royalists had 18,000 men, flushed with recent victories; the Patriots had only half that number. At this juncture an event happened which had for a time most disastrous effects upon the fortunes of Peru. Just as the Spaniards were making a last effort to regain the dominion of the Pacific the Patriots lost the fortress of Callao, while, almost simultaneously, President Torre-Tagle passed over to the Royalists, taking with him a part of the national forces, and the Spaniards re-occupied Lima.

The Argentine contingent was very discontented; the Peruvians were jealous of them and treated them as foreigners, tolerated only on account of their services. They were badly clothed and fed, their pay was both irregular and insufficient; the Government by whose authority they had become an army no longer existed; the general to whom they owed their existence had deserted them. In March, 1823, they had applied for protection to the Government of Buenos Ayres, and had been adopted by the Province, then the only representative of the nation.

Bolívar commenced to prepare for offensive operations by concentrating his forces at Pativilca, about 140 miles to the north of Lima, and withdrawing most of the Columbian garrison from Callao, supplied their place with the Rio de la Plata regiment and the 11th battalion of the Andes, putting the whole garrison under command of General Alvarado.

On the night of the 4th February, 1824, the rank and file of the garrison mutinied under two Argentine sergeants, named Moyano and Oliva, and imprisoned their officers. Their first demands were for 100,000 dollars as arrears of pay, and that they should be sent back to their own country. While Government hesitated to accede to these terms the spirit of insubordination gained strength among the soldiery, their own leaders could not prevent excesses. Among other Spanish prisoners in the dungeons, was a Colonel Casariego, whom Oliva had known in Chile; the two sergeants took counsel with him, and by his advice released the Spanish prisoners and put their own officers in the dungeons. He then persuaded them that their situation was desperate, and that their only chance of safety lay in embracing the Royalist cause and hoisting the Spanish flag. The troops were reorganized and placed under Spanish officers. Moyano was made a colonel and Oliva a lieutenant-colonel, all sergeants and corporals were promoted, and a messenger was sent to Canterac placing the fortress at his disposal.

On the 7th February the flag of Spain was raised on one of the towers. A negro soldier of the Rio de la Plata regiment, a native of Buenos Ayres, known by the nickname of “Falucho,” refused to mount guard over the flag against which he had so often fought. He broke his musket against the flag-staff, and was shot, shouting—“Viva Buenos Ayres!”

The mounted grenadiers who were encamped in the valley of Cañete, mutinied also, and marched to join their comrades at Callao on the 14th February, but when they saw the Spanish flag flying over the walls they released their officers. One hundred and twenty of them returned to their allegiance, and represented their country in the liberating armies to the end of the war. Thus by mutiny and by treachery was dissolved the celebrated Army of the Andes.

As soon as Canterac heard of the mutiny at Callao, he sent a strong division under Monet from the Highlands, which joined the division of Rodil in the valley of Ica and marched on Lima. Torre-Tagle, who with his Minister of War, was in secret correspondence with the Royalists, joined them with some Peruvian troops, and issued a proclamation against Bolívar.

The Royalists were now masters of the Highlands, and of all the centre and south of Peru, and aimed at the dominion of the sea as well. A part of the Peruvian squadron was stationed at Callao. Admiral Guise with the Protector frigate and four armed boats, entered the port under the fire of the forts, boarded the frigate Guayas, formerly Venganza, and burned her, as also the Santa Rosa, and some merchant vessels, on the 25th February. The brig of war Balcarce was the only vessel saved, but the Royalists were expecting two Spanish frigates.

Bolívar issued terrible decrees for the evacuation of Lima, which were not obeyed, but on the 10th February Congress appointed him Dictator.

Monet occupied Lima without resistance, but did not remain there. He left Rodil in command at Callao, and returned to the Highlands, taking the officers of the former garrison with him as prisoners.

These officers, 160 in number, were forced to march on foot up the mountain passes to Jauja. On the third night, as they were passing through a narrow defile, two of them, by preconcerted arrangement, slipped into a ditch where they could not be seen, the two who were next them concealing their retreat so that the evasion was not discovered till they reached the next halt. Monet ordered two of the prisoners to be shot in place of those who had escaped. They were all drawn up in line by General Camba, and told to draw lots, which were presented to them in a helmet. Several lots had been drawn blank, when two officers stepped forward saying that they were the men who had concealed the escape of the fugitives. With one exception all the other officers called for the drawing to go on, but Camba decided that these two should pay the forfeit of their lives, and they were shot.

One of them, Domingo Millan, was a native of Tucuman, and of middle age. He drew out from the lining of his uniform coat the medals of Tucuman and Salta, pinned them on his breast, and died shouting, “Viva la Patria!” The other, Manuel Prudon, was a native of Buenos Ayres, and only twenty-four years of age. He died with the calmness of a martyr, shouting, “Viva Buenos Ayres!”

Bolívar had fallen dangerously ill at his head-quarters at Pativilca; for six days he lay unconscious. When he was yet in the first stage of convalescence, news reached him of the mutiny of Callao, and of the treason of Torre-Tagle. Mosquera went to visit him, and found him seated in a rocking-chair in the orchard, his head tied up in a white handkerchief. He was deadly pale, and his voice was hollow with weakness.

“What do you think of doing now?” asked Mosquera.

“Of triumphing,” replied he, undauntedly. Misfortune only seemed to strengthen his spirit.

He retreated with 7,000 men to Trujillo, made the Southern Provinces of Columbia his base of operations, and wrote to Vice-President Santander asking for reinforcements:

“The interests of all America are at stake; nothing must be trusted to probabilities, still less to chance or fortune.”

On the 11th May, 1824, Congress authorised a levy of 50,000 men, and 3,000 men were sent to join him at once. Before the enemy suspected that he was about to move, he had concentrated his army at the foot of the northern Cordillera, in three divisions of infantry, under Cordoba, Lara, and La Mar, and one of cavalry, under Necochea. Sucre was chief of the staff.

At this time Olañeta, who was in Upper Peru with 4,000 men, refused any longer to obey the orders of the Viceroy. He had heard from Buenos Ayres that, by the help of France, Ferdinand had abolished the Constitution of 1820, and was once more an absolute king. La Serna sent Valdés against him, and some severe fighting took place between them, in which Valdés had the advantage, when he was recalled by the Viceroy.

Bolívar took advantage of the absence of Valdés to commence operations, and marched on Jauja by the road which had twice led Arenales to victory, covering his advance by a cloud of Peruvian guerillas, under whose protection Sucre marked out the daily route of the army, and provided supplies. Bolívar ascended the range at its highest point in the direction of Pasco, hoping to surprise the enemy, and on the 2nd August passed 9,000 men in review about twenty-five miles from that city, on which occasion he was accompanied by O’Higgins and by Monteagudo, who had returned from exile. On the 4th Miller, who had been detached with a party of cavalry, brought word that Canterac was advancing from Jauja with all his army.

To the south of Pasco, at the head-waters of the Rio Grande, commences the great lake of Reyes, which lies between the two ranges of the Cordillera, and occupies all the low ground as far as the entrance of the valley of Jauja. On its eastern bank there runs a level road, on the western bank is another which leads to Junin, and is much rougher. At the southern extremity of the lake lies the plain of Junin, broken by numerous hillocks, and cut up by streams and marshes filled by the overflow from the lake.

On the 1st August Canterac had advanced with his cavalry along the eastern road to reconnoitre, and learned to his surprise that Bolívar was already on the other side of the lake. He retreated rapidly, and rejoined his infantry on the 5th August. On the 6th, at two o’clock in the afternoon, he found himself face to face with the Patriot army on the plain of Junin. Their infantry held the heights beyond, while their cavalry appeared about to charge him. Bolívar had marched along the eastern slopes of the western range, halting only in strong positions, showing a cautiousness which was not usual with him. On seeing the Royalist army, he sent Necochea in front with 900 horse. The ground was so contracted by a hill on one side and by a marsh on the other, that at five o’clock Necochea had only two squadrons of Columbian horse on the plain, when he was attacked by the whole of the Royalist cavalry, 1,300 strong, led by Canterac in person.

The Columbian lancers received the charge with great steadiness, but were driven back upon their supports, who were still entangled in the defile. The Royalist horse, greatly disordered by their rapid advance, entered the defile with the fugitives. Necochea, pierced by seven lance wounds, was trampled under foot and made prisoner. Colonel Suarez, with the first squadron of Peruvian hussars, had drawn his men into an angle of the marsh, and, letting the rout pass by, charged the pursuers in the rear. The fugitives were rallied by Miller, who led them again to the charge, and drove the Royalists from the field. In forty-five minutes the whole affair was over, and not a shot was fired. The Royalists lost 250 killed by lance and sabre; the Patriots lost 150 between killed and wounded, and rescued Necochea. The fugitives took shelter under the fire of their infantry, which at once retreated.

Such was the celebrated action of Junin, which broke the prestige of the Royalist army, and prepared the way for the final triumph. Bolívar, who had seen the rout of the first squadrons, thought he had lost his cavalry, and returned to the infantry, who were a league behind. He only learned the defeat of the enemy from a pencil note sent him by Miller after sundown. The hussars who did such good service were afterwards styled the Hussars of Junin, in reward for their gallant behaviour.

Canterac, who was greatly disheartened by this disaster, which was chiefly the result of his own precipitate conduct in charging without a reserve over ground of which he knew nothing, evacuated the valley of Jauja, and retreated so rapidly that in two days he was more than a hundred miles from the scene of the action, and his infantry was quite worn out; but he did not stop until he had crossed the Apurimac, more than five hundred miles from Junin, and lost between 2,000 and 3,000 men by desertion on the way. La Serna sent him a reinforcement of 1,500 men, and recalled Valdés to Cuzco. Canterac had fled from his own shadow, for he was not pursued.

Bolívar rested for three days on the field of battle, took ten days to occupy the valley of Jauja, and remained nearly a month at Huamanga. In September he crossed the river Pampas, an affluent of the Apurimac, and threatened Cuzco from the sources of that river, his right flank being covered by a spur from the Cordillera, but did not consider himself strong enough to attempt anything more now that the rainy season was at hand. He also learned that a loan, projected by San Martin, had been successfully launched in London, and that a million dollars were expected immediately. Leaving Sucre in command, he returned to Lima in October.

Before leaving he received notice that on the 28th July the Congress of Columbia had abrogated the law conferring extraordinary powers upon him, which he might no longer exercise now that he was in a foreign country. This was the first sign of Parliamentary resistance to his autocratic tendencies. The Liberals now formed a powerful party in Congress under the leadership of Vice-President Santander, who thought more of the interests of New Granada than of those of the Republic at large.

Bolívar received the blow with dignity, comprehending that he had brought it upon himself by taking charge of the government of a foreign state, and notified Sucre that he would only interfere in military operations as President of Peru. Sucre, who was not ambitious, and was devoted to Bolívar, advised him to pay no attention to the new law, and declared that he himself would have no direct communication with the Government of Columbia, looking to Bolívar alone for orders. Both kept their promises, Bolívar leaving complete liberty of action to Sucre, who followed his instructions except in the conduct of military operations, in which he knew that his talents were superior to those of the Liberator.

Bolívar again established his head-quarters at Pativilca, but found matters much changed for the worse. The arrival of the Spanish ship-of-the-line Asia and of the 20-gun brig Aquiles had given the naval preponderance to the Royalists. These ships were joined by a corvette and a brig from Chiloe, and there was one brig already at Callao, which Guise had failed to capture. After an exchange of shots with the Spaniards, Guise, with the Peruvian squadron, was forced to seek shelter at Guayaquil.

A detachment of the Patriot army had been defeated near Lima; Chile remained inactive; but Bolívar, still undaunted, collected such forces as he could assemble at Pativilca, and urgently requested a further reinforcement of 6,000 men from Columbia in aid of Sucre, whose position was very precarious.

Bolívar also returned to his old project of an American Congress, summoning it to meet on the 7th December at Panama, as the most central point for all the world, and addressed circulars to that effect to the Governments of Mexico, Columbia, Guatemala, Buenos Ayres, Chile, Brazil, and later on to the United States.

While occupied in these dreams, he heard that the Royalists had advanced from Cuzco, manœuvring to cut off the retreat of Sucre; then there was silence. Eight days afterwards the fate of America was decided at Ayacucho.

Upon one point only Bolívar and Sucre were not agreed. Bolívar had left instructions with Sucre to keep his army together at all risks; but he, thinking his position a dangerous one, spread his troops over the whole district, and advanced himself, with a light division, as far as Mamará on the road to Cuzco, and from there sent Miller on with the grenadiers to reconnoitre. When Bolívar heard of these manœuvres he wrote to Sucre impressing upon him his maxim that—

“Union is strength. You expose yourself to the loss of a battle for the sake of occupying some more leagues of territory. The liberty of Peru will not be won by occupying land, but by a victory upon it.”

Sucre replied, saying that he would obey orders; but had only just sent off the letter when he received advice from Miller that the enemy was advancing in mass, and only twenty-five miles distant. His army was spread over an extent of ninety miles; before he could concentrate the Royalists were in his rear. As he retreated he received a further despatch from Bolívar authorising him to fight if he thought it necessary.

Sucre had under-estimated the strength of the Royalists. By calling in the outlying divisions La Serna had, on the 24th October, assembled 10,000 men, in three divisions of infantry under Canterac, Valdés, and Monet, and one of cavalry, which he commanded himself, with ten guns. Sucre had only 7,000 men and two guns.

La Serna manœuvred to cut off Sucre from his base, moving in a semicircle of which the Patriots held the centre. Sucre was thus enabled to concentrate his forces, and choose for himself the field of battle. He retreated on Huamanga, but on the 24th November, at the river Pampas, he found that the enemy by forced marches was there before him. The river lay between them. Three days were spent in manœuvres, after which Sucre crossed the river, but on the 2nd December found the heights of Matará in his front already occupied by the Royalists. Wheeling rapidly to his right, he passed by a gorge towards the valley of Acrocos, but his rearguard under Lara was overtaken in the pass by Valdés. One Columbian battalion was cut to pieces, and two more were dispersed with the loss of a gun on the 3rd December; but the further advance of the Royalists was checked by the main body stationed on the heights beyond. The two armies encamped for the night with the gorge between them.

The next day Sucre gained the valley of Acrocos and offered battle. But La Serna, anxious to cut him off from Jauja, marched round the left flank of the Patriots and again gained their rear, cutting all the bridges and closing the defiles to prevent their retreat. The people of the valleys rose in favour of the Royalists. A Patriot column, advancing from Jauja to join Sucre, was driven back; his sick were killed in the hospitals; and he had lost 600 men in the retreat. For him it was now victory or death.

He drew up his army in the valley of Ayacucho, his flanks resting on the mountain ranges to the east and to the west, while the Royalists occupied the heights in front. Cordoba commanded on the right, Miller in the centre, and La Mar on the left, and a reserve of three battalions was commanded by Lara.

On the morning of Thursday, the 9th December, 1824, the sun rose gloriously over the peaks of the eastern Cordillera. Sucre galloped from end to end of his line, telling his men that on their valour that day hung the destinies of South America. At nine in the morning the Royalists descended from the heights to the attack. At ten o’clock they debouched upon the plain, and the left and centre advanced in mass, led by the Viceroy himself. The Royalist right, under Valdés, was the first to engage, and drove in the Patriot skirmishers; but the Peruvian infantry stood firm, and a battalion of Columbians was sent to aid them.

Sucre then ordered Cordoba to charge with the right wing, supported by Miller’s cavalry. The young general, who was only twenty-five years of age, advanced rapidly in two parallel columns, and threw himself with great impetuosity upon the Royalist centre. Eight squadrons of Royalist cavalry who charged him were driven back by the Columbian horse under Silva. Monet, whose division had not yet been engaged, came to the assistance of the left centre, but was attacked by the reserve under Lara, and driven back in confusion. Three more squadrons were then thrown forward, and were exterminated by the Columbian lancers. La Serna strove in vain to rally his disordered soldiery; he was borne from his horse with six wounds, and made prisoner, with more than 1,000 of his men.

Meantime Valdés had turned the left flank of the Patriots, and the Peruvian division, under La Mar, began to give way, when the Columbian battalion came to their assistance, followed by the Peruvian hussars and the Argentine grenadiers, led by Miller, who charged with such fury that the Royalist infantry were thrown into confusion, and all the guns were captured.

It was one o’clock, Valdés in despair, sat down on a rock, waiting for death; but his officers forced him away, back to the heights, where many of the Royalist generals were already assembled, with such troops as they could collect. Canterac took the command, and capitulated with Sucre. The war of independence was at an end, emancipation was secured. In the words of a poet:

Ayacucho is known in America as the Battle of the Generals. Fourteen Spanish generals, with all their subordinate officers, gave up their swords this day. The Royalists lost 1,400 killed and 700 wounded; the Patriots 300 killed and 600 wounded. One-fourth of all who entered into action were placed hors-de-combat.

Ayacucho crowned the joint work of San Martin and Bolívar. The victories of Chacabuco and Maipó were united to those of Boyacá and Carabobo, with the golden link forged at Ayacucho by the genius of Sucre.

CHAPTER L.

APOGEE, DECLINE, AND FALL OF BOLIVAR.

1824—1830.

THE victory of Ayacucho put an end to the War of Independence in South America. All the Royalist forces in Lower Peru capitulated, with the exception of those under command of Rodil, who with a garrison of 2,200 men, held Callao for a year longer. Besieged by land and blockaded by sea, he surrendered in January, 1826, “after the garrison had eaten all the horses, cats, and dogs in the place.”[21]

In Upper Peru the cities of Cuzco, Arequipa, and Puno opened their gates to the victor, who crossed the Desaguadero, and was received in triumph at La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, and Chuquisaca. The Royalist army under Olañeta was dissolved by a mutiny, in which that General was killed, and Sucre, after overrunning the country, convened an Assembly to decide upon its future policy.

The Spanish squadron abandoned the coasts of Peru and dispersed in the Pacific. The island of Chiloe was the last position held by the Spaniards, but soon shared the fate of Callao. The poet of the century, perched in imagination on the summit of Chimborazo, cast his eyes over the New World and saw not one enslaved people.

Bolívar was now at the apogee of his glorious career, his name was famous throughout the world, South America acclaimed him as her Liberator. The exaggerated honours which were paid to him were but clouds of impure incense which could not obscure his real heroism, and which a breath of common sense would have dispersed. He had the power to solve the political problem in a manner which would have made him the equal of Washington, but it was not in his nature so to do. He lacked the moral strength to keep a cool head at the height to which he had attained. As was the case with San Martin, the apogee of his career marked the commencement of his decline.

One of the most noteworthy phenomena of the revolution in South America is the contrast between the qualities of the leaders and the instincts of the masses of the people. Emancipation came in the process of natural evolution, organized and directed by popular leaders, who had only one principle in common with those they led, the instinct of independence. They devoted their attention to mechanical facts, and for the most part knew nothing of the hidden forces of the movement they professed to guide.

The revolution in South America was twofold in its action, internal and external. One force was directed against the common enemy, the other against the elementary organism of the peoples themselves. The spirit of South America was genuinely democratic, so could not be other than republican. The first development was into anarchy, from which was to arise a new national life. To check this anarchy monarchical projects were hatched in the United Provinces, which resulted in their dissolution. The idea of establishing a monarchy in Peru destroyed the moral power of San Martin. The empire of Mexico furnished proof enough of the error of this plan. The prolonged dictatorship of O’Higgins in Chile brought him to the ground. The oligarchical theories of Bolívar, which tended to monocracy, were rejected by Congresses of Republicans, and brought about his fall. The Liberators, with all their power and all their glory, could not turn the revolution from its natural sphere of action; the day they ceased to go with it they were cast aside as obstacles to the march of progress.

When the independence of America was secured at Ayacucho, the mission of Bolívar as a Liberator came to an end. His duty, his honour, and even his interest, called upon him to retire from Peru, leaving the redeemed peoples to work out their own destinies. Monteagudo was the only one to give him such advice. On the night of the 28th January, 1825, Monteagudo was assassinated in a lonely street in Lima. His death is a mystery; by some it is attributed to political enmity, by some to private revenge. Bolívar in person conducted the enquiry into the matter, and kept the secret to himself.

Among the papers left by Monteagudo was found an essay upon the necessity of a general federation of the Spanish-speaking peoples of South America, based upon the plan of the Congress of Panama. An alliance of the republics of the New World was proposed, as a counterpoise to the Holy Alliance of the sovereigns of Europe. Suspicion was thrown upon the designs of the new empire of Brazil; Chile and the Argentine Republic were accused of lukewarmness in the common cause; and it was suggested that an appeal for help should be addressed to Great Britain and to the United States.

Bolívar adopted the idea as a development of his own plan, and again summoned a Congress at Panama, in the hope of organizing it himself. The United States accepted the invitation to send representatives, on condition of being permitted to remain neutral; England also, but only in order to have witnesses of her own to what went on; Brazil as a mere form; and the Argentine Republic and Chile, with reservations. Deputies from Peru, Mexico, Columbia, and Guatemala were the only ones who attended the Congress. When this shadowy Congress escaped from his influence Bolívar compared it to “that fool of a Greek, who, standing on a rock, pretended to guide the ships sailing round him.”

His next step was, for the fourth time, to send in his resignation as President of Columbia. Congress declined to receive it with unanimity, but in silence. At the same time he sent two commissioners to Vice-President Santander to announce his intention of “proceeding to Argentine territory to establish the independence of South America by assisting the Patriots.” Santander replied by reminding him that Congress had only authorised him to carry on war outside the territory of Columbia “for the security of the Republic of Peru.”

His third theatrical step was to resign the dictatorship of Peru, and to accept it again for reasons directly contrary to those on which he had based his resignation, and with the farcical condition that “the odious word dictatorship” should be no longer used. Congress also voted him a million of dollars as a reward for his services, which he refused for himself, but accepted in the name of various charities, to which they were never applied.[22] The servility of the Congress of Peru was repugnant even to Bolívar, and was censured by his Columbian partisans.

The general Assembly of the Provinces of Upper Peru, convened by Sucre, went even further than Congress had done. They declared Bolívar to be “the first-born son of the New World, the saviour of the people,” and on the 19th July, 1825, placed themselves under the protection of his sword and of his wisdom. They declared themselves independent of Lower Peru, called their country the “Republic of Bolívar,” and placed the supreme executive power in his hands so long as he should reside among them, Sucre acting as his delegate in his absence. This Assembly then dissolved, and on the 6th October a Constituent Assembly was convened, which applied to Bolívar for a Constitution, and for a garrison of 2,000 Columbian troops.

In July Bolívar offered to help the Chilians to drive the Spaniards from the island of Chiloe. They declined other help than a subsidy, which did not meet his views, as his design was to bring them under his sway by the help of Columbian troops. From the Congress of Columbia he had procured authority to take the Peruvian fleet and army to Columbia, under pretext of defending it from a French invasion, and so brought upon himself an accusation that he wished to oppress her with foreign bayonets. His policy tended to the establishment of a Prætorian Empire, an uncrowned monarchy supported by a standing army.

Leaving Lower Peru under the rule of a Council he then went to Upper Peru. His journey from Lima to Potosí was one triumphal march. The cities presented him with golden keys, and with war-horses equipped with golden harness. At Arequipa General Alvarado gave a rural banquet in his honour, at which the Argentine “Asado” was the principal dish. There was abundance of claret to wash down the roast beef, but he asked for champagne, in which he indulged to an extent not usual with him. A toast was given to the unification of South America, on which he remarked that he would soon tread Argentine soil. Colonel Dehesa, also excited by wine, told him:—

“My countrymen do not welcome Dictators to their territory.”

Bolívar sprang upon the table in a fury, and crushing glasses and plates under the heels of his boots, shouted—

“Thus will I trample upon the Argentine Republic.”

An ebullition of temper roused by the opposition of the press of Buenos Ayres to his anti-democratic plans.

At Potosí he was met by General Alvear and Dr. Diaz Velez, envoys sent by the Argentine Government to congratulate him on his successes. He thanked them but refused to treat further with them, alleging as an excuse the absence of his Minister of Foreign Affairs. Afterwards, on learning that the Brazilians had occupied two provinces of Upper Peru, he managed to dispense with the aid of this official.

When at Arequipa, he had offered General Alvarado to send 6,000 men to aid the Argentines in the war with which they were threatened by Brazil. Alvarado had declined the offer. This incident now gave a plausible pretext for his interference in the question. On the 18th and 19th October he held private conferences with the Argentine envoys, which greatly enlightened them as to his extravagant ideas. Among other proposals he asked permission to cross Argentine territory with a Columbian army to overturn the despotism of Dr. Francia in Paraguay, which could not be granted, as all Argentine governments had steadily followed a policy of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations.

He met them again at Chuquisaca, but the interview had no definite result, and the occupation of the Province of Tarija, which was formerly one of the United Provinces, by Columbian troops, nearly produced an open rupture.

Rivadavia, who was about that time elected President of the United Provinces, looked upon Bolívar and his army as a danger, but the idea of his armed intervention in Argentine affairs was welcomed by the Opposition press of Buenos Ayres. They echoed his words that:—

“The Argentine Republic could not triumph alone over the Emperor of Brazil, and could not even organize itself without the help of the genius of America.”

But the Liberal press commenced to analyze the tendencies of the proposed Monocracy, and their words found echo in the public opinion of Bolivia, Peru, and Columbia. Chile was the first state to join the United Provinces in open opposition to his views.

Bolívar then returned to Lima, and on the 25th May, 1826, sent to Upper Peru a draft of a constitution for the Republic of Bolivia.

All the works of Bolívar, both political and military, are so impressed with his own character that it has been necessary to invent special words to express them. His system of warfare was a mélange of the warlike propensities of the indigenous races with European discipline. With little knowledge of tactics, and with less strategy, he gained his victories by audacity, by impetuosity in attack, and by unfailing constancy in defeat, somewhat after the style of Charles XII. His power was symbolized by a new title, involving a permanent Dictatorship; he called himself the Liberator. His policy was neither democratic, nor aristocratic, nor autocratic; the historian has had to invent a word to describe it, Monocratic. For the new Republic formed in Upper Peru he invented a new name, derived from his own, Bolivia.

The constitution drawn up by him for the new State is an amalgam of ancient traditions with modern practice. It has something of the Greek Republic, something of Roman Cæsarism, something of the English Monarchy, something of the consular constitution of Napoleon. The base of the system is a President, nominated for life, with power to name his successor, and elected by a representative assembly, appointed by an electoral body. The legislative power was shared by three chambers, one of which exercised a species of censorship over the other two, like to that of the Council of the Areopagos of Athens.

With some slight modifications, this constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly, and Sucre was elected President, but with power subordinate to that of the Liberator when he was there.

But Bolivia was too small a sphere of action for Bolívar. For the realisation of his plan it was now necessary to impose the same constitution upon Peru and Columbia, binding the three States together by one supreme authority, vested in his own person as the Liberator.

When the Congress of Peru re-assembled there appeared in it a new national party, opposed to the Dictatorship and to the continued presence of Columbian troops. Government then found that the elections were irregular, and fifty-two of the deputies asked for their own dissolution. At the same time the discovery of a conspiracy against the Dictator sent some victims into banishment, and brought others to the scaffold.

While preparations were being made for a new election, Bolívar threatened to leave Peru to its fate. With the most abject servility all classes besought him not to desert them; one high dignitary actually asked him to set his foot on his neck that he might have the honour of bearing the weight of the greatest man of the age. Still he remained obdurate, until a deputation of ladies waited upon him, to whom he gracefully yielded, and so brought the farce to an end.

The Electoral College of Lima met on the 6th August, and within a hedge of Columbian bayonets voted with unanimity the abrogation of the Constitution of 1823, and the adoption of the Bolivian Constitution. The example was followed by the Provincial Colleges, the new Constitution became law, and Bolívar was acclaimed perpetual President. Of course he declined the honour, but accepted it as soon as it was offered to him a second time.

Now for Columbia. But meantime his idea had achieved a further development, “The Grand Confederation of the Andes.” Bolivia was to remain as one unit, Peru was to be divided into two, and Columbia into four States, each one with a President for life, satellites to the central power of the Liberator. Sucre pronounced in favour of the new plan, Santander accepted it, and the Columbian leaders offered it the support of their swords. On this basis a treaty was signed between Bolivia and Peru, giving the two nations one Federal Congress, to which each should send nine deputies; but a special clause was added, that at the death of the Liberator each Republic should be at liberty to withdraw from the union.

“My funeral will then be as sanguinary as that of Alexander,” said Bolívar.

Much must be forgiven to Bolívar for the good by him accomplished. He did not wish to be a tyrant, but he did not understand that a people cannot be at once half free and half enslaved. His plan of a Monocracy was a reaction against the Revolution and against the independence of the new Republics; it was a return to another colonial system, even worse than the one which had been destroyed. The paternal government of a distant and hereditary monarch was a less evil than would be a government dependent upon the life of one man. A crown had been offered to Bolívar, he had rejected the idea with scorn, but he now demanded a power greater than that of any king.

Engaged in these dreams Bolívar had led for two years in Lima the voluptuous life of an Eastern prince, when evil news reached him from his native country, which he had apparently quite forgotten. The Venezuelans, with Paez at their head, had risen against the general Government, and had demanded federal autonomy. In New Granada the Liberal press vigorously attacked the principle of Monocracy. In September, 1826, he went to Guayaquil and resumed his absolute powers as President of the Republic of Columbia. From there he went on to Bogotá, and was met by a deputation of the people and of the authorities, who assured him “that he could count upon their obedience under the Constitution and under the laws which he had sworn to respect and uphold.” He answered angrily that he expected a welcome and not advice.

After that he went on to Venezuela, where he made terms with Paez, and agreed to a reform of the Constitution of Cúcuta, which in 1821 he had sworn should remain unchanged for ten years. But public opinion no longer supported him; the Liberal press of Bogotá, under the influence of Santander, fiercely attacked his policy.

On the 6th February, 1827, he again sent in his resignation. His example was followed by Santander. Congress declined to accept either resignation, but Bolívar’s was declined by 56 votes against 24, while Santander’s was declined by 70 against 4. Both retained their offices, but from this time he and Santander became the heads of two antagonistic parties.

While affairs were in this state in Columbia, the people of Peru and Bolivia, aided by the garrisons of Columbian troops, deposed their life Presidents. Sucre made some attempt to re-establish his power, but being attacked by a Peruvian army under Gamarra, he withdrew from Bolivia in October, 1827, taking the Columbian troops with him. The news of these events was received with rejoicing at Bogotá; Santander pronounced his approval of the conduct of the troops. All were tired of Bolívar.

Columbia had been an efficient war machine in the hands of Bolívar by which the independence of South America was secured, but was an anachronism as a nation. The interests of the different sections were antagonistic, and the military organization given to the country only strengthened the germs of disorder. Venezuela and New Granada were geographically marked out as independent nations. Quito from historical antecedents aspired to autonomy. Had Bolívar abstained from his dreams of conquest, and devoted his energies to the consolidation of his own country, he might perhaps have organized it into one nation under a federal form of government, but that was not a task suited to his genius. When his own bayonets turned against him he went so far as to despair of the Republican system altogether, and sought the protection of a foreign King for the last fragment of his shattered Monocracy.

On the 9th April, 1828, he assembled a Convention at Ocaña for the reform of the Constitution of 1821. The partisans of Santander were in a majority, and the Convention was dissolved on the 10th June by the desertion of the partisans of Bolívar.

On the 13th June a popular Junta assembled at Bogotá, at which General Cordoba proposed the re-establishment of the Dictatorship in the person of Bolívar. Bolívar accepted the office, and suppressed that of Vice-President. Military rule became dominant, those who opposed the measure were banished as disturbers of public order, the study of political economy was prohibited in the Universities, and liberty of the press was suspended, but Bolívar promised to convene another Constituent Congress a year from that time. According to Gervinus, the Liberator now tore off the mask and showed the vulgar ambition which lay beneath, yet he was not a tyrant, he was simply a despot driving he knew not whither.

The young men talked of the dagger of Brutus, but an attempt to assassinate him failed, and the principal conspirators died on the gibbet. Santander, who had joined the conspiracy but had opposed the assassination, was sent into exile.

The Columbian troops which had mutinied in Peru brought civil war to Guayaquil. Rebellion broke out in the Province of Pasto. Bolívar declared war against Peru. Peru sent a fleet and an army and captured Guayaquil.[23] Their army was defeated by Sucre, but Bolívar, after losing 3,000 men in the marshes in an attempt to retake the city, made peace.

Bolívar had appealed in vain to the Ministers of the United States and of Great Britain to interfere for the prevention of anarchy. He now proposed to Colonel Campbell, the British chargé d’affaires, to appoint a Prince of some one of the reigning families of Europe King of Columbia. Many of the chief dignitaries of Bogotá accepted this idea, and came to an understanding on the point with Messrs Campbell and Bresson, the diplomatic agents of Great Britain and France, but Bolívar, three months after he knew of this, suddenly told them in September, 1829, that the idea could not be carried out, and that it was necessary to separate Venezuela from Columbia.

The idea of a monarchy found no acceptance with the people. On the 14th September a rebellion, headed by General Cordoba, broke out at Antioquia, but was crushed, and Cordoba was brutally murdered. At the end of this year, Venezuela declared herself an independent Republic, under the Presidency of General Paez, and pronounced sentence of perpetual exile against Bolívar.

On the 30th January, 1830, Bolívar convened at Bogotá the Constituent Congress he had promised, and concluded his message:—

“I blush to say that independence is the only good thing we have gained by the sacrifice of all else.”

He then retired to his country-house at Fucha; nevertheless a party, strong both in Congress and among the people, desired his re-election, and he for some time expected it, but seeing that the bulk even of his old friends opposed it, he on the 27th April sent in a formal resignation, couched in very simple terms, which was accepted.

Don Joaquin Mosquera, leader of the Liberal party, was elected President, but Congress decreed that Bolívar “was the first and best citizen of Columbia,” and assigned him a pension of 30,000 dollars a year, for his great wealth had all disappeared.

EPILOGUE.

The Argentine Republic and Chile, led by San Martin, were victorious in the South, and carried their arms from sea to sea, and from the temperate zone to the equator. There the entire forces of the revolution of South America joined hands; there the two liberators embraced, and separated for ever.

Columbia, led by Bolívar, gave victory to the revolution in the North; secured the independence of Peru and Bolivia, and guaranteed that of the other Republics of the Southern Continent. San Martin yielded the completion of the task to Bolívar, and by his abdication gave a high example of civic virtue. Bolívar crowned the work; the triumph belongs to both. Their fate was equal, both died in exile.

The fate of the emancipators of South America is tragical. The first revolutionists of La Paz and of Quito died on the scaffold. Miranda, the apostle of liberty, betrayed by his own people to his enemies, died alone and naked in a dungeon. Moreno, the priest of the Argentine revolution, and the teacher of the democratic idea, died at sea and found a grave in the ocean. Hidalgo, the first popular leader of Mexico, was executed as a criminal. Belgrano, the first champion of Argentine independence, who saved the revolution at Tucuman and Salta, died obscurely, while civil war raged round him. O’Higgins, the hero of Chile, died in exile, as Carrera his rival had done before him. Iturbide, the real liberator of Mexico, fell a victim to his own ambition. Montufar, the leader of the revolution in Quito, and his comrade Villavicencio, promoter of that of Cartagena, were strangled. The first Presidents of New Granada, Lozano and Torres, fell sacrifices to the restoration of colonial terrorism. Piar, who found the true base for the insurrection in Columbia, was shot by Bolívar, to whom he had shown the way to victory. Rivadavia, the civil genius of South America, who gave form to her representative institutions, died in exile. Sucre, the conqueror of Ayacucho, was murdered by his own men on a lonely road. Bolívar and San Martin died in banishment.

San Martin when he saw that his life’s work was accomplished, left Mendoza for Buenos Ayres, where he was received with indifference and contempt. Neither country wife, nor home, was left to him, there was not even a place in the Argentine Army for the man who had led the armies of three Republics to victory. At the close of the year 1823 he took his orphan daughter in his arms and retired into exile. In Europe he found himself penniless. Five years later he returned to Buenos Ayres, seeking to end his days in his native country; the war with Brazil had just concluded.

On the 12th February, 1829, the anniversary of his triumphs at San Lorenzo and at Chacabuco, the ship which carried him anchored in the roadstead, and he was greeted with this contemptuous denunciation in the city press:—

“General San Martin has returned to his native country after five years’ absence, but after knowing that peace was concluded with the Emperor of Brazil.”

His answer had been given two thousand years before, by the mouth of Scipio, when he was insulted by his fellow countrymen on the anniversary of one of his great battles:—

“On such a day as this I saved Rome.”

San Martin did not repeat this answer, he returned in silence into exile. His reply was given from the tomb many years later:—

“I desire that my heart may rest in Buenos Ayres.”

Bolívar, after his last resignation was accepted, retired to the neighbourhood of Cartagena, and there heard of the death of Sucre, who had written to him two years previously, that unless they withdrew in time they would lose their heads. He was dying, but still indulged ambitious designs. He had prophesied anarchy and it came. He looked on complacently, and even encouraged it, but was greatly mortified by a notification from his friend Mosquera, that Venezuela demanded his banishment as a condition of peace.

“No, no, I will not go dishonoured,” he exclaimed.

His partisans said that he alone could restore quietude, and they seemed right. Part of Venezuela and New Granada rose in arms to demand the re-establishment of his dictatorship. Quito and Guayaquil separated from Columbia, and in May, 1830, formed themselves into an independent State, under the name of The Republic of Ecuador.

At Bogotá the Government of Mosquera was upset, and civil war broke out. The friends of Bolívar, triumphant in the capital under Urdaneta, called upon him to put himself at their head, and to re-establish the Union of Columbia. He was weak enough to accept the invitation. Death saved him from the disgrace of becoming a leader in an internecine war between States to which he had given independence.

His sickness increasing, he retired to Santa Marta to breathe the fresh sea air. At the Quinta of San Pedro, seven miles from that city, he breathed his last. Seated in an arm-chair to receive extreme unction, his last words addressed to the Columbian people, which had been written down to his dictation, were read over to him:—

“My wishes are for the happiness of my country. If my death weaken the divisions, and help to consolidate union, I shall go to the tomb content.”

He added in a hoarse voice:—

“Yes, to the tomb, to which I am sent by my fellow-citizens, but I forgive them. Oh! that I could take with me the consolation of knowing that they will keep united.”

These were the last sensible words that he was heard to speak. Delirium supervened, and he died on the 17th December, 1831, at the age of forty-seven years four months and twenty-three days.

In October, 1832, San Martin, then resident in France, was attacked by cholera. He was living in great poverty on the proceeds of the sale of the house given him by the Argentine Congress after the victory of Maipó. He thought he was to die in a hospital. The Spanish banker Aguada, who had been a comrade of his in the Peninsular War, came to his assistance, saved his life, and relieved his distress. He gave him the small country-house of Grand Bourg, on the banks of the Seine, close to that old elm which, according to tradition, was planted by the soldiers of Henry IV., when besieging Paris. There, surrounded by trees and flowers which he tended himself, he passed many quiet years, complaining sometimes of the ingratitude of men, deploring the sad state of the peoples for whom he had done so much, but never despairing of their destiny. Once only did his old enthusiasm blaze out. He thought the independence and honour of his country were threatened by France and England in the questions of 1845—1849, and came from his seclusion to show that America could not be conquered by Europe. Subsequently, in his will, he left his sword to the Argentine Dictator:—

“As a proof of the satisfaction with which I, as an Argentine, have seen the firmness of General Rozas in defending the honour of the Republic against the unjust pretensions of the foreigners who sought her humiliation.”

As the end approached, his eyes were obscured by cataract. Reading, which was with him a passion, was forbidden him. He went to Boulogne to breathe the sea air, as Bolívar had done. On the 13th August, 1850, as he was standing on the beach, gazing with dim eyes over the Channel, he felt the first mortal symptom. He pressed his hand to his heart, and with a feeble smile said to his faithful daughter:—“C’est l’orage qui mene au port.” On the 17th of the same month he died in her arms, at the age of seventy-two years and six months.

Chile and the Argentine Republic have raised statues to him. Peru owes him one, which she has decreed. The Argentine people, now united and consolidated as he desired, brought back his mortal remains to his own country, and in May, 1880, laid them to rest in the Cathedral of Buenos Ayres, as those of the greatest man among them.

In San Martin and Bolívar were combined, in unequal proportions, the two elements which make history: the active element which produces immediate effect in deeds, and the passive element from which springs the future. The effect of their combination marks the present and influences posterity. The political work of Bolívar died with him; that of San Martin lives after him; South America has organized itself as foreshadowed by his genius, within the geographical lines he drew out with his sword.

The Argentine Republic instructed her General:—

“That no idea of oppression or conquest carried her arms beyond her territory; that the independence of the United Provinces was the purpose of the campaign.”

Thus, when Chile was free, alliance was made with her on the basis of their mutual independence. Nations were emancipated and left to work out their destinies themselves. This was the work of San Martin as a liberator, and has produced an international equilibrium in South America, to which Europe has not yet attained.

A very different plan was followed by Bolívar. Under his leadership frontiers disappeared; Venezuela, New Granada, and Quito, became one giant nation, powerful for war, but intrinsically weak from lack of geographical and social cohesion. Bolívar freed Peru from Spain, only to make her a parasite of Columbia, and of Upper Peru he made a feudal territory dependent upon himself. He tried to establish a monocratic empire in opposition to natural laws and to the tendencies of the Revolution; to bring back the colonial system in defiance of the democratic instincts of the people.

In Bolivia the two systems met face to face. The Argentine Republic, true to her principles, yielded her historic rights over that territory and recognised the independence of Upper Peru, but she barred the further progress of Bolívar, who sought to impose his own system on Paraguay. The ephemeral structure of the monocracy fell to pieces by its own weight, and the whole of the Continent became definitely organized on the geographical system represented by San Martin.

The glory of Bolívar is imperishable, and his action as a liberator was more decisive in his day, but none of his designs or of his ideals survived him. The work of San Martin remains an enduring monument to his memory.

The chief characteristic of San Martin was his disinterestedness. He struggles, destroys, and rebuilds as he can; he commands, obeys, abdicates, and condemns himself to eternal silence and eternal exile. Seldom has the influence of one man had more decisive effect on the destinies of a people. The greatness of those who attain to immortality is not measured by their talents, but by the effect exercised by their memory upon the conscience of humanity, making it vibrate from generation to generation with a passion or with an idea. Of such was San Martin, whose influence still lives, not by reason of any genius he possessed, but by reason of his character.

San Martin conceived great plans, political and military, which appeared at first to be folly, but when believed in became facts. He organized disciplined armies, and infused into them his own spirit. He founded republics, not for his own aggrandisement, but that men might live in freedom. He made himself powerful, only that by this power he might accomplish his destined task; he abdicated and went into exile, not from egoism or from cowardice, but in homage to his own principles and for the sake of his cause. He is the first captain in the New World, the only one who has given lessons in modern strategy on a new theatre of war. With all his intellectual deficiencies and his political errors the Revolution of South America has produced no other who was his equal.

Faithful to the maxims of his life, HE WAS THAT WHICH HE OUGHT TO BE, and rather than be that which he ought not to be he preferred TO BE NOTHING. For this his name shall be immortal.