Bolivar: American Liberator (96 page)

“We have arrived at an era of blunders”:
Briceño Méndez to SB, on board the
Macedonia
, July 26, 1826, O’L, VIII, 208–13.

On June 20, Santander decided to abolish:
Guerra, 179.

“I’m ready to do whatever it takes”:
SB to Páez, Caracas, March 20, 1827, O’L, XXXI, 367–69.

“The Liberator has resolved to march against”:
Revenga to Santander, Caracas, June 19, 1827, O’L, XXV, 392–93.

As Manuela Sáenz was sailing, etc.:
Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 51.

the most pleasant voyage:
SB to the Marqués del Toro, Cartagena, July 12, 1827, O’L, XXXI, 433–34. SB was traveling on the English frigate
Druid
, which had been made available to him by Sir Alexander Cockburn, the British envoy to Colombia. Cockburn himself accompanied SB on the voyage. Posada Gutiérrez, I, 61.

he mobilized his generals, etc.:
Ibid., I, 60.

a force powerful enough to quell:
SB, Proclama, Caracas, June 19, 1827, O’L, XXV, 394–95.

they trembled with alarm, etc.:
Santander,
Escritos autobiográficos
, 69; Guerra, 179.

feigned illness and left the capital:
Among these were were Dr. Soto and Vicente Azuero. Petre, 380.

soldiers would die of hunger, etc.:
Santander to SB, Bogotá, DOC, XI, 515; also Masur,
Simón Bolívar
, 620.

Santander reminded Bolívar that he had no power, etc.:
Guerra, 180.

plan a preposterous scheme, etc.:
Ibid.; Posada Gutiérrez, I, 72.

Epigraph:
“Nobody loves me in New Granada”:
SB to José María de Castillo, Ríobamba, June 1, 1829, DOC, IV, 61–63.

“Let me say this as clearly as I can,” etc.:
SB to José Rafael Arboleda, La Carrera, Aug. 24, 1827, O’L, XXX, 463–64.

“Can you believe it!”:
Ibid.

a diabolical congress:
SB’s words were “The devil is in congress.” Ibid.

communicated to the president of the senate:
He asked his friend Mosquera to deliver the message. Posada Gutiérrez, I, 73.

a congressional assembly was to receive him:
He sent the minister of the interior, Restrepo, ahead to Bogotá with these instructions. Slatta and Lucas de Grummond, 273.

his old mansion of La Quinta, etc.:
SB to Pepe París, Mahates, Aug. 10, 1827, O’L, XXX, 456.

Not one government cent:
“I don’t want the government or anyone, for that matter, to spend one cent on me,” he told París. “If I am to be fed when I arrive, borrow the money; I’ll pay it back.” Ibid.

had lost some of his love for him:
Madariaga, 550. Others (e.g. Posada Gutiérrez, I, 7) claim that Soublette was always faithful to Bolívar. Among his friends who were present: Pepe París, Col. Herrán, Gen. Mosquera.

burst out laughing when he heard:
Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 409.

triumphal arches along the Calle Real, etc.:
Mary English to William Greenup, Bogotá, Sept. 10, 1827, Papers of Mary English and the British Legion, Private Collection, Bonhams, New Bond Street, London. Mary English was the wife of James Towers English, who was one of the first Englishmen to enlist to participate in the South American revolution. As described earlier, he died on the island of Margarita in 1819. His widow, who stayed in Colombia, later married Greenup.

elegantly turned out ladies, etc.:
Ibid.

Santander, who had spewed every imaginable accusation, etc.:
Posada Gutiérrez, I, 73.

sat in the presidential palace:
English to Greenup. Also Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 409.

the ancient convent of Santo Domingo:
It had been founded in 1550. The nave of the original was destroyed in the earthquake of 1785, but the church was rebuilt on the same plan. The
Virgin of the Conquistadors
, the image that looked down on the congregation, had been painted in Seville in the sixteenth century.

double circle of chairs, etc.:
English to Greenup, Papers of Mary English and the British Legion.

Gossiping, buzzing, the people, etc.:
Ibid.

placing bets on when the Liberator:
Posada Gutiérrez, I, 73. Also Masur,
Simón Bolívar
, 621.

stand on their seats, craning, etc.:
English to Greenup, Papers.

He entered the church at three:
Posada Gutiérrez, I, 73. Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 409.

he seemed in acute discomfort, etc.:
“My health, badly shaken by the journey.” Bolívar wrote these precise words to Páez, confirming the troubling impression he made. SB to Páez, Bogotá, Sept. 29, 1827, SBSW, II, 663.

fixed his small, fierce eyes, etc.:
English to Greenup, Papers.

A few cheers rippled through, etc.:
Ibid, and for subsequent details.

“My heart bled for him”:
Ibid.

a moving speech:
Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 408.

constitution would be inviolable for ten years:
Constitución adoptado en Colombia, Seccion 3, Título 10, Revisión de la constitución, Article 1,
Constitutional Documents of Colombia and Panama, 1793–1853
(Leipzig: Grueter, 2010). Also Gil Fortoul, I, 317.

He had flouted the law, etc.:
All gubernatorial changes (his delegation of power to Santander) should have been cleared with congress, according to the constitution of 1821: Gil Fortoul, I, 314. SB’s show of support for Páez was a legal affront to congress. Ibid., 421.

Bolívar was, in truth, no longer president, etc.:
Guerra, 133–37.

By law, all power:
Ley de 2 de mayo, fijando el término de la duración del presidente y vicepresidente de la república, May 1, 1825, Bogotá,
Cuerpo de leyes de la República de Colombia
, 1821–1827 (Caracas: Espinal, 1820), 361–63.

the president of the senate, the very official:
To be precise, the senate president who swore in SB was Vicente Barrero. His predecessor, Luis Andrés Baralt, was the man who should have been handed the rule on Jan. 2; it was to Baralt that Santander wrote to say that SB had assigned him (Santander) the power. Confirmation of the Barrero/Baralt tenures:
Gaceta de Colombia
, No. 311, Sept. 30, 1827, and No. 312, Oct. 7, 1827.

he had cavalierly instructed Santander:
SB to Santander, Cúcuta, Dec. 12, 1826, O’L, XXIV, 568; Santander to SB, Bogotá, Dec. 21, 1826, O’L, ibid., 485–86. Also Posada Gutiérrez, I, 61.

Santander had written to the president of the senate:
Restrepo, III, 577; also Santander to Baralt, Dec. 22, 1826, quoted in Guerra, 137.

He then issued a decree:
Parte Oficial, June 9, 1827, Bogotá,
Gaceta de Colombia
, Sept. 2, 1827, No. 307.

Santander himself had acted in full contravention:
Posada Gutiérrez, I, 64.

No one could call him “the man of laws” now:
Ibid., 63.

the Liberator was showered with roses, etc.:
English to Greenup, Papers.

When Bolívar arrived at the foot, etc.:
Ibid. Also (“apprehensively”) Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 409.

inviting him to a late lunch, etc.:
Madariaga, 550.

Early the next morning, etc.:
Ibid.

deftly turned the conversation:
Mosquera, who was present, reported this, in ibid.

“His force of personality is such”:
Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 427.

But by that afternoon, suspicions, etc.:
Mosquera, in Madariaga, 550.

“the illustrious Liberator”:
Posada Gutiérrez, I, 99. For countries that sent diplomatic representation, see Gil Fortoul, I, 380.

a hellfire of belligerence:
Posada Gutiérrez, I, 98.

at social
tertulias:
These are social gatherings typical throughout the history of Latin America, in which educated people met in one another’s homes to discuss literature and politics, and perhaps listen to music and poetry. They were also known as
salones.

political reputations teetered:
Posada Gutiérrez, I, 98.

the laughingstock of the world:
Ibid., I, 99. Note: Posada was Colombian.

she noted several days later:
English to Greenup, Bogotá, Sept. 11, 1827, Sept. 24, 1827, Papers.

“He is exhausted”:
The opinion of a citizen of Colombia in Bogotá, 1827, DOC, XI, 314.

he aspired only to be with his mistress:
Liévano Aguirre, 464.

“The frost of my years”:
SB to Sáenz, Bogotá, 1827, SBC, 1825–27, 438, quoted (in a different translation) in Masur,
Simón Bolívar
, 625.

“I am going because you call me,” etc.:
Sáenz to SB, Nov. 27 [1827], Lecuna, “Cartas de mujeres,” 334. Quoted also in Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 51.

a major earthquake struck, etc.:
Nicholas Mill to the
Quarterly Journal of Science
, Bogotá, Nov. 23, 1827, Royal Institution of Great Britain, XXV (London: Henry Colburn, 1828), 379–82.

The government palace and the sturdy church, etc.:
Gaceta de Colombia
, no. 919, DOC, XI, 640–41.

Clouds of white dust, etc.:
Mill, for subsequent details about the earthquake and climate.

when Bolívar was in his house:
Gaceta de Colombia
, 640–41.

he had no doubt that its magnitude:
Mill, 382.

a terrible sickness clawed at his stomach:
Ibid., 382. Dr. Mill claims he felt this as well, as did many residents of Bogotá.

Few were lost, although many were injured, etc.:
Gaceta de Colombia
, 640–41.

Tolima sighed a long column of smoke:
Ibid.

“The city is rendered helpless”:
SB to Briceño Méndez, Bogotá, Nov. 23, 1827, O’L, XXX, 506–7.

As he paced the brick floors of La Quinta, etc.:
From Rumazo González, quoted in Masur,
Simón Bolívar
, 625–26.

eyes appeared clouded with worry:
The painter Roulin, who produced an important sketch of Bolívar in Feb. 1828, made these observations. Busaniche,
Bolívar visto por sus contemporáneos
, quoted in Polanco Alcántara, 876–78.

within yards of the presidential palace, etc.:
Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 53–58, for many of these details.

married, outspoken, and a brazen exhibitionist:
Rumazo González, quoted in Masur,
Simón Bolívar
, 625–26; Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 53–58.

through unfriendly territory, etc.:
Sáenz to Mosquera, Pasto, Jan. 5, 1828, Archivo Central del Cauca.

burst in on parties to which she hadn’t been invited:
BOLANH,
16 (Caracas), 334.

labeling politicians as, etc.:
Sáenz to SB, Bogotá, March 28, 1828, Lecuna, “Cartas de mujeres,” 335; also Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 59.

unafraid to stand up to his generals:
Murray relays an incident in which Sáenz confronted SB’s minister of war, Col. Heres, refusing to give him a letter he requested. Ibid., 42–43.

A charming cottage nestled in the hills, etc.:
La Quinta has been preserved as a museum and is open to tourists. The description here is taken from numerous public sources. See also
www.quintadebolivar.gov.co
.

a mere 25,000 souls, etc.:
The Literary Chronicle for the Year 1825
(London: Davidson, 1825), 171. Bogotá’s population was about one third that of Lima, which was 70,000 in 1820.

Bolívar sent off a letter, etc.:
SB to Clay, Bogotá, Nov. 27, 1827, Lecuna,
Cartas
, VI, quoted in Mallory, Daniel,
The Life and Speeches of the Honorable Henry Clay
, I (New York: Bixby, 1843), 99.

“When South America threw off the thralldom of Spain,” etc.:
A. Lincoln, Eulogy on Henry Clay, Springfield, Ill., July 6, 1852, in
The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
(Washington, DC: Regnery, 2009), 130.

“Sir . . . The interest which was inspired”:
Clay to SB, Washington, Oct. 27, 1828, in Mallory, 99. Also Calvin Colton,
Life and Times of Henry Clay
(New York: Barnes, 1846), I, 244–45.

Clay had been disappointed:
Speech, Lewisburg, Va., Aug. 30, 1826, quoted in
Niles’ Register
, XXXI, 60–62.

it was Clay who had argued volubly:
Mallory, 145–46.

usurper and “madman”:
Iñaki Erraskin,
Hasta la coronilla
(Bizkaia: Txalaparta, 2009), 72; also Eduardo Galeano,
Faces and Masks
(New York: Perseus, 2010), 139.