Nevertheless, there are still fanatics who refuse to open their eyes to the
truth, either because they find their ignorance a very comfortable frame of
mind or because they maliciously devote themselves to the abominable work
of slandering a country and institutions which have played and are playing
a very important historical role.
There appears to be only one serious monograph on Simon Bolivar written
in English, and this is an article which appeared in Harper's New Monthly
Magazine, No. 238, V. 40, published in March, 1870. This article was
written by Eugene Lawrence, and pretends to be a eulogy of the Man of the
South. In substance it is nothing more than a superficial synopsis of the
main facts of the public life of Bolivar, and a constant and virulent
attack against Spain and the Catholic Church. It would seem that to the
author Spain is nothing, and has never been anything, but kings and
priests, and that kings and priests are a curse on the population. The
cruelties of the Spanish kings and priests constitute his main subject. As
a matter of fact, in the political revolutions of America, the priests have
been divided and have acted like other men, availing themselves of their
right to their own opinions. The greatest proof that the Church is not to
take any blame or praise for whatever happened in the War of Independence
is that it did not force its dignitaries to take any particular stand. They
did as they pleased. There were priests on the side of Monteverde and there
were priests on the side of Bolivar.
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