The name is absent

240         Hispanic America

world. Everybody agrees also to-day in attributing to
the conquerors the highest grade of heroic will and heroic
ambitions.

We may find these same features in the movement for
independence. We have the same individualism: the South-
ern movement had almost failed, checked in Upper-Peru
by the Spanish troops, and before the obstacles of lack of
organization and definite ideas by the government of
Buenos Aires. But just in the darkest moment, San Mar-
tin, by virtue of his individual initiative, created an army
in order to carry out a plan of his own. After the liber-
ation of Chile, San Martin was called by the Government
of Buenos Aires to pacify that province. But the hero, by
an act of individual rebellion, disobeyed the orders of his
government, and with his army, which was more of a pri-
vate army than a national army, with Chile’s aid, started
the expedition to Peru, and proclaimed the independence
of that country.

The features of individualism are still greater in Boli-
var. After the failure of the first republic of Venezuela,
he conceived the audacious plan of invading this country
from Nueva Granada. He convinced the congress of this
new republic of the efficiency of his plan, and started the
campaign. But congress wished to go slowly and ordered
him to stop and wait. Bolivar disregarded these orders,
and the result of this fortunate disobedience was a most
astonishing campaign, the capture of Caracas and the re-
establishment of the republic. Years later, Bolivar re-
peated the same deed, invading Nueva Granada from
Venezuela, following a plan of his own, considered impos-
sible and absurd, and he achieved a still greater success.
The discussions of a congress would have been entirely
inefficient and even harmful in a work like this.

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