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the Chief of his Staff . The connexion did not turn out a pleasant one for either party , and after various embrouilletnents the Ex-General exchanged his sword for the pen , and taking up his abode at New York , indited these Memoirs of his last master , which have cost him five years ' labour , and which are published to enlighten the world as to the real character and merits of the President Liberator of Columbia .
We have no means of ascertaining the narrator ' s trustworthiness but such as are afforded by the book itself . He is a disappoiuted man , and writes like one . He has endured , or believes that he has , neglects and injuries , from the subject of these memoirs . His avowed object is the demolition of Bolivar ' s reputation , which he regards as a great hoax upon
the public . All this is little in his favour . Oil the other hand , he is not at all sparing of minute particulars , of names , dates , places , and the various materials for correcting whatever errors he may have committed , and if he have ventured on invention for exposing it to his irretrievable disgrace . At the best ,
there is probably a good deal of exaggeration and ( it may be } unconscious misrepresentation in his narrative ; at the worst , we cannot but think it more true than false ; and that is enough to keep Simon Bolivar out of the calendar of pure patriots , and even out of the roll of brave and able generals .
Egregious vanity , and habits offensively licentious ; a gross deficiency of personal courage and military skill ; occasional treachery , private and public ; both vindictive and wanton cruelty ; and that low-minded ambition which seeks
personal aggrandizement per fas out nefas : such are the distinguishing traits of the portrait here exhibited : were they only set forth oratorically , little impress sion would be produced ; but they are supported by , or embodied in , a distinct and circumstantial narrative .
Various questions must occur to the reader , most of which the author has anticipated . Has not Bolivar repeatedly had the Dictatorship pressed upon him , aud repeatedly resigned it ? He shews that it has always been in fact , sometimes in form , Jhis own assumption ; and
that he has never iet go any power which he could hold . But did he not actually rid the country of the Spaniards ? The author replies that , without the most inconceivable mismanagement , the Spaniards must have been expelled years and years before * How then , and this is the most difficult question of all , is his
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acknowledged popularity to be accouuted for ? It is replied , by the ignorant and debased state of the people on whom his arts of cajolery have been practised wTth perseverance ; by the continued oppressions and cruelties of the Spaniards , to which his elevation seemed the otily alternative in their choice ; and by his promptly and dexterously availing him * self of circumstances as they occurred to promote his personal views and reputation . Such , in substance , are the Ex-General ' s explanations , which on the last point seem less complete than on the others .
It seems to be , * ' like master like man , " in Columbia . The people are described as most superstitious , ignorant , and demoralized . Of their bigotry the following tale is told as a specimeu . It is related on the authority of the French officer himself .
" Lieutenant-colonel Collot , a French officer , who had served in France under Napoleon in tl .-j artillery , came over , as many others did , to the Main , and served in his rank as an artillery officer in the army of the patriots . Becoming much disgusted , he asked his dismission from General Urdaueta , with whom he was serviug . His request was refused . Soon
after , he obtained leave to go from the environs of Tunja to Carthagena , where he had some private business to settle . He travelled on horseback , with a guide , a servant , and a few dragoons , all well armed . After travelling a number of days under a burning sun , he arrived at a large borough in the interior of New Granada , called Fa , before the
largest inn of which he dismounted . As soon as he came into the house , he was suddenly seized with great pain and fever , insomuch that he cried aloud . The people of the inn put him to bed , and called in their priest , in great alarm . This man was versed in the arts of curing , and , believing the stranger to be in the last extremity , came with the viaticum .
He sat down before the stranger ' s bed , and made various inquiries about his malady ; and then told him it was not of a dangerous' nature . He ordered the numerous bystanders to retire . When all were gone out , he rose from his chair , and carefully locked the door . He then
resumed his seat , and in an interested manner inquired if he was a Christian —• meaning a Roman Catholic , which in these couutries the word signifies . M . * Collot understood him , but answered not his question ; and supplicated for a glass of water . The parson told him he should first answer to his God , uf whom
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Critical Notices . —Miscellaneous * 55
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1830, page 55, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2580/page/55/
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