After
having given life to three countries, one of them composed of three large
divisions, Bolivar could receive homage without finding it incongruous or
exaggerated.
He was refined in manner and always a gentleman. In his campaigns he was
careless of his clothing through necessity, but when in the cities he liked
to have all the refinements. He never thought of money; he would spend
it if he had it, and if he did not spend it, he gave it away. He enjoyed
society and was a great admirer of women. "He knelt before love, without
surrendering his sword to it."
He was human. He enjoyed a good joke, and sometimes his jokes hurt. It is
related that once, after a long march, he arrived at a small town where he
expected to get some food. He was received by the notables of the town,
among them a young intellectual, who took from his pocket a long address.
Bolivar listened to the beginning and at once knew that it was going to be
not only long but tedious. The young man came to a sentence reading: "When
Caesar crossed the Rubicon...," at which point Bolivar interrupted him,
saying, "My dear friend, when Caesar crossed the Rubicon he had had his
breakfast, and I have not yet had mine. Let us first have breakfast."
Generally, he respected everyone's feelings, and was much inclined to
praise others, the living as well as the dead. We may well remember the
honors paid to Girardot, his beautiful words in homage to Cedeno and Plaza,
how Paez received his dues after the battle of Carabobo, and how Sucre
was given his right place as one of the most legitimate glories of the
continent by Bolivar.
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