Subsequent to the signing of the treaty, Morillo expressed a desire to meet
Bolivar personally, and Bolivar agreed. The two met in a town called Santa
Ana, accompanied by a very few officers. Latorre also attended the meeting,
but the presence of officers particularly distasteful to Bolivar was
prevented by Morillo. Each of these two men represented in its noblest
aspect the cause which he defended. It is strange that neither of them
seemed to have been prepared by circumstances of early life for the role he
was playing. Morillo was born of humble parentage, and from the lowest
rung of the ladder he climbed to the highest place in the army, always in
defense of the monarchy, until he received the titles of Count of Cartagena
and Marquis of La Puerta; Bolivar, born in wealth, destined to become a
millionaire and to be the recipient of every honor if he remained on the
side of the oppressors of his country, sacrificed everything, lost his
personal property to the last penny, and shared privations of every kind
with his soldiers. When he had money, he gave it away; when he had no
money, he gave away his food and clothing. His generosity was unlimited. On
one occasion, when he learned that the man who had helped him to secure a
passport after the surrender of Miranda was in prison and his estate about
to be confiscated, Bolivar immediately asked that his own private property
be taken instead of that of his friend.
But both Bolivar and Morillo were very much above the common chieftains,
the bloodthirsty Boves, the ignorant Paez.
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