After recovering from that illness he
went to Quito, where he worked in the reorganization of the southern
departments, and at the end of October he left for Bogota.
Then another man added his bit to the work of Bolivar's enemies. Cordova,
tempted by ambition, and believing in the necessity for the separation of
New Granada from Venezuela, claimed that, since Bolivar was getting old and
had very few days to live, he should be deprived of the command. He tried
to form a combination with Paez, Marino and others. Bolivar knew of his
actions and talked to him in an attempt to win back his friendship.
He thought that so distinguished a general would hesitate much before
smirching his glory with ingratitude; but at the bottom of his heart this
wound, added to the others he had received, pushed him a little farther
towards his premature end. Cordova finally raised the flag of insurrection,
based on the Constitution of Cucuta, calling Bolivar the tyrant of the
country. He and his improvised army were destroyed by O'Leary, and he was
fatally wounded on the field of battle. He was young, rich and endowed with
great powers of attraction; he was brave and clever, and his disloyalty and
insurrection form one of the saddest episodes of this part of the history
of America.
It may have been of some comfort to Bolivar that at that time a special
envoy from France went to Bogota to express the esteem of his country for
the great man of the South. Addressing the Council of Ministers, the French
envoy, Bresson, voiced the hope of seeing Bolivar soon, and of
"expressing to him verbally to what extent Simon Bolivar's name is
honored among us.
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