The Break
Exiled from Venezuela, consumptive, wellnigh penniless, insulted by his own people, was Bolivar only a few years later.
The creation of his genius, the Great Colombia, was rent with revolutions. His own General Paez had abandoned him. His friend Antonio Sucre had been assassinated.
Bitterness filled Bolivar’s soul, his pride was broken, but he still loved Colombia.
His dying words to her people, were:—
Colombians! My last wishes are for the happiness of my native Land. If my death helps to check the growth of factions and to consolidate the Union, I shall rest tranquilly in the tomb.
So passed away the Liberator of Venezuela, the founder of the Republic of Colombia.
Twelve years later Paez, who was ruling in Venezuela, brought Bolivar’s body to Caracas and interred it with honours. But he left the hero’s heart in an urn in the Cathedral of Santa Marta, the city where he had died.
Great Colombia, or the Great Republic of Colombia, founded by Bolivar, was a Union consisting of Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador. Great Colombia fell; its Union was dissolved. To-day, instead, there exist three independent Republics—Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.
As for Bolivia, it was a part of Upper Peru. It was liberated by the help of Antonio Sucre. It declared its Independence, and took the name of Bolivar. To-day it is the Republic of Bolivia, “rich in all the natural products of the world.”