The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 363, March 28, 1829

On the 17th of August, Bolivar lost the battle of Aragua. The subsequent affairs of Maturin, Cumaná, Carupano, Guiria, Urica, and El Caris, were fought, with varying success. All being lost in the east, Bolivar next proceeded to Carthagena, and offered his services to New Granada, then agitated by discordant parties of provincialists, centralists, metropolists, federalists, royalists, and independents. A congress assembled at Tunja conferred upon Bolivar the command of the forces of New Granada. Santa Fé de Bogotá submitted, the provinces acknowledged the congress, and an effort was made to establish a constitutional form of government.

Bolivar having proposed to take the town of Santa Marta, still held by the Spaniards, he was authorized by the government of Santa Fé to procure guns, &c., from the arsenals of Carthagena. The governor of that fortress refused to furnish the necessary supplies. In order to enforce compliance, Bolivar invested Carthagena, before which he remained a considerable time, when he heard of the arrival at Margarita of General Morillo, with ten thousand Spanish troops. Upon this, Bolivar placed his own investing force at the disposal of his rival, the governor of Carthagena; and, unwilling that the cause of his country should continue to suffer from the dissention which had arisen between himself and the governor, withdrew to Jamaica. Morillo, soon afterwards, laid siege to Carthagena, which, unfortunately, in consequence of the long investment it had already sustained, was nearly destitute of provisions, Bolivar sent from Jamaica some supplies for the besieged garrison; but before they could arrive, that important fortress was in possession of the Spaniards. This enabled them to reconquer New Granada, and the blood of its citizens was made to stream from the scaffold.

At Kingston, Bolivar narrowly escaped assassination. The casual circumstance of exchanging apartments with another person, caused the murderer's dagger to be planted in the heart of a faithful follower, instead of in that of Bolivar. The author of these memoirs happened to live, for a few days, in the same boarding-house. Some officers of a British line-of-battle ship, not speaking Spanish, requested him to invite Bolivar, in their name, to dine with them. This was only a few weeks previous to the intended assassination of Bolivar.

From Jamaica, Bolivar went to Hayti, and was received at Port-au-Prince by Petion with kind hospitality, and was assisted by him as far as his means would allow.

In April, 1816, he sailed with three hundred men to Margarita, which island had lately again shaken off the Spanish yoke. He arrived at Juan Griego, where he was proclaimed supreme chief of the republic. On the 1st of June he sailed, and on the 3rd landed at Campano, where he beat nine hundred Spaniards. He then opened a communication with patriot chieftains, who had maintained themselves in isolated parties dispersed over the llanos of Cumaná, Barcelona, and the Apure. It is a curious fact, that the isolation of several of these parties was so complete, that, for many months, they did not know of any other than themselves being in arms for the delivery of their country. It was only by their coming into accidental contact that they discovered that there was more than one patriot guerilla in existence.³ Bolivar supplied some of them with arms, and at the same time augmented his own force to a thousand men. The Spaniards assembled in superior numbers to destroy them; but Bolivar embarked, and relanded at Ocumare, with an intention of taking Caracas: great part, however, of the Spanish army having by this time returned from New Granada to Venezuela, Bolivar was obliged to re-embark for Margarita.

In 1817, he landed near Barcelona, where he collected seven hundred recruits, and marched towards Caracas; but, being worsted in an affair at Clarines, he fell back again upon Barcelona, where he shut himself up with four hundred men, and made a successful resistance against a superior force.

Bolivar received some reinforcements from the interior of the province of Cumaná, upon which he decided upon making the banks of the Orinoco the theatre of his future efforts. Having further augmented his force, and taken the necessary steps to keep alive the war in the districts on the coast, he marched to the interior, beating several small royalist parties which he encountered on his route.

Of the Spanish army which had returned from New Granada, a division, under the brave General La Torre, was destined to act against the patriots in Guayana. A division of the latter, under General Piar, having obtained a decisive victory, Bolivar was enabled to invest Angostura, and the town of old Guyana, which were successively taken on the 3rd and 18th of July.

In Angostura, Piar was found guilty, by a court-martial, of an attempt to excite a war of colour. Piar (a man of colour himself) was the bravest of the brave, and adored by his followers; but his execution stifled anarchy in the bud.

The rest of the year 1817 was actively spent in organizing a force to act against Morillo, who had lately been reinforced by two thousand fresh troops from the Peninsula, under General Canterac, then on his way from Spain to Peru. An abundant supply of arms, received from England, was sent to the patriot corps on the banks of the Apure.

(To be continued.)

LEDYARD TO HIS MISTRESS

(For the Mirror.)

 
Dost wish to roam in foreign climes
Forget thy home and long past times?
Dost wish to be a wand'rer's bride,
And all thy thoughts in him confide?
Thou canst not traverse mountain seas,
Nor bear cold Lapland's freezing breeze;
Thou canst not bear the torrid heats,
Nor brave the toils a wand'rer meets;
Thou wouldst faint, dearest, with fatigue
Trav'ling the desert's sandy league.
 
 
Pale hunger with her sickly pains
Will silence thy heroic strains;
Thy heart—now warmly beats—will chill
And stop thy lover's wonted skill.
He could not see thee pine and weep
Nor could he ease thy troubled sleep—
'Twould quite unman his firm resolve,
And with grief thy love involve.
 

Terrenus.

ROMAN ALTAR

(To the Editor of the Mirror.)

Enclosed I send you a drawing of a Roman votive altar, which was found in digging a cellar about six feet deep, in St. Sepulchre's Gate, Doncaster, in the year 1781. It is the oldest relic of antiquity which Doncaster has yet produced, and is of exquisite engraving and workmanship. Upon the capital, or top of the stone, a small space above the sculpture of the altar itself, is a crater or flowing bowl,⁴ sacred to Bacchus, the god of wine; on the dexter, or right side of the altar, is a flower-pot, or cornucopiæ, with five branches in it, loaded with leaves and fruit, sacred to Ceres, or Terra-Mater, the goddess of plants; and on the sinister, or left side thereof, is a large jug or pitcher with a large handle, also sacred to Bacchus. It is about 2 feet 6-1/2 inches in height, and 1 foot in breadth at the base. The corporation employed a Mr. Richard John Tetlow, of Ferrybridge, a celebrated antiquary, to interpret the inscription, and give them his opinion on its age. They also sent it to the Antiquarian Society in London for inspection.

Interpretation of the Society

Matribus magnis,⁵ Nantonius⁶ Orberthol, vota solvit lubens merito.

Translation

To the great mothers, (goddesses,) Anthony Orberthol willingly and meritoriously has performed his vows or promises.

Interpretation of Mr. Tetlow

Lunæ, Latonæ, Lucinæ, Matribus magnis Antonius Orbis Romani Imperator Bonis Oeis Altare. vota. solvit. lubens merito.

Translation

To Luna, Latona, Lucina, the great good mothers, goddesses, Anthony, the emperor of the Roman empire, hath erected, or dedicated, this altar. Freely and fully he has discharged his vows and promises.

It is, reasonably enough, conjectured from several corroborative circumstances, that the altar above described is no less than 1,645 years old. One of these circumstances is its being similar in some respects to two other Roman altars which were found in England some years back, one of which is related to have been made in the year of Christ 161.

Near Sheffield. J. M. C–d.

NOTES OF A READER

SUNSET

 
Day sets in glory, and the glowing air
Seems dreaming in delight; peace reigns around,
Save where some beetle starteth here and there
From the shut flowers that kiss the dewy ground—
A burning ocean, stretching vast and far
The parting banners of the king of light,
Gleam round the temples of each living star
That comes forth in beauty with the night:
The west seems now like some illumined hall,
Where beam a thousand torches in their pride,
As if to light the joyous carnival
Held by the bright sun and his dark-robed bride,
Whose cloudy arms are round his bosom press'd,
As with her thousand eyes she woos him to his rest.
 

The African, a Tale.

BEES

Alternations of torpor and animation cause greater exhaustion and loss of physical powers, than would be occasioned by a continuance of uniform torpor. This we infer from the fact, that in Russia, where the winters are uniformly cold, bees do not perish; and in the West Indies where there is perpetual verdure, they are never exhausted.

Major Rennell—clarum et venerabile nomen—now in his 87th year, possesses in full vigour, for the happiness of himself and friends, all those intellectual faculties which have so eminently distinguished his long and useful life; who, suffering little short of martyrdom, from the frequent attacks of gout, still devotes hours and days to his favourite pursuit; uniting with his studies all the playfulness and vivacity of youth.

Quarterly Review.