The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-11-05 00:00:00

COLN! E 1.4.

TRAVELS IN TU nurt.rume O COLOMBIA, IN
VLABS latt AND 11121—Itr 0. MoLLtzs.

The announcement of this wo:1 for publication Eng-
land has exeited coosidernble cxpe;aattnu. The reputa-
tion acquired by the author fur v.'s:arches in Africa, in
18IS, leada the public to lank• with wone deem,: of anxiety
to his historical and ^cgraploicnl sketch of the new Ame-
rican State. We extract the following critique from the
Journal d,..r 11r/et; of Mouthy. Our readers will bear in
mind, whie they are reading it, the strong royalist fveling
of the critic from whose pen it proceeds:—
. .

" The ietcrest excited by these travels, and the iniport-
suet of the ideas which they suggemt, impel us to waive
every consideration respecting priority of 'edification, and
induce us to give sonic account of the volumes befo:e us,
though it is but a short time since they have been sub-
?tinted to our inspection. The taste and inclination of the
public are the laws which govern the journalist ; he cannot
violate them without the loss of all credit—and what
canna of the uttiecree can excite a more lively curiosity
than this Colombia, which enthusiasts elevate, even now,
to the reek of mighty empires ; upon which splendid eu-
logituns are pronounced, without any knowledge of the sub-
ject, and on behalf of which tech ardent wishes are of-
fered up by these who enasmet tell to what advantage its
ride pentlence may conduce t in addition to these feelings.
who is there that veto-elispike the palm of preeminence
with the hem of the young Republic, the Scipio of Caracas
and of Bogota? We Would even style Bolivar the Alex-
ander, if he were not so gad a Republican. We have
before us an intelligent traveller, an accurate observer, and
one wholly disengaged from the spirit of party. Ile explores
the most populous and productive provinces of the new
empire, and communicates to us the interesting remarks be
has made upon the physical aspect and appearance of the
different regions ; upon the population, the manners, and
the genius of the inhabitants ; upon the agriculture, and
the mineral wealth; upon the history of that revolution,
which has rescued these vast dominions from the grasp of
Spain ; upon the character, the resources, and the sun-
posed designs of the leaders most renowned in this
struggle,—Samander, Sucre, Unlaneta, liermudes, Pace,
Montilla, and Padilla, amongst whom Bolivar will one day
be considered as prinsas inter Pares, or rather perhaps as
Primus sine Paribus, according to die caprice of fortune.
" The most attentive perusal of the work, does not in-
dicate to us to which party bI. Mollien leans. This is an
excellent proof of his impartiality, and of his capacity fur
snaking correct judgments. We have had proofs anterior
to this voyage. He is not a man who issues for the first
time from the saloons of Paris, and who becomes lost in
amazement at the immensity of the ocean, the prodigious
elevations of mountain., and the suriasaing magnitude of
rivers. Ile does not exclaim in astonishment at the ap-
pearance of every new vegetation ; be does not exaggerate
the sufferings to which he las voluntarily exposed himself ;
he does not place notes of admiration at the conclusion of
those sentences in which he describes the suffocating heat
upon the borders of Magdalene, and the freezing cold of
Paramus. His travels in Africa had familiarised ha mind
to the stupendous scenes of nature—the prodigies—the
Taban.o. The serpents and the Caimans of Colombia
etuld not terrify the traveller who had exposed himself to
the monsters, whether aerial, aquatic, or terrestrial, of
Senegambia. On his departure from France, Mr. Mellien
directed his course to South America, and the vessel in
which he embarked bad to touch at Norfolk, in Viiginia.
He availed himself of this ciremnstance to enter the Bay
of the Chesapeake, ascend the Potomac, and visit Wash-
ington, the splendid capital, which wants hut the addition
of houses, to render it in every sense of the word, a City.
In the journey front Norfolk to Carthagena, his own
observations, and thuce of his fellow-travellers, agree in
blaming in the government of the United States, those
vices which exhibit a disgusting contrast with the principles
avowed at the moment of separation from the mother,
country. Mere than 15,000 slaves, cruelly treated by the
Republicans, testify loudly against that maudlin system of
philanthropy and rove of univ:esal liberty, which enables
its professors to pronounce so many beautiful orations.
without having the least influence upon tin it own conduct.
The Police is severely censured for not atforilitig to strangers
a sufficient protection against the frauds of tradesmen, and
the knavery of servants. He also inveighs loudly against
the negligence of a government, which suffers the annual
ravages of the yellow fever, without taking any salutary
measure of precaution. But the most striking observation
of all is, the strong inclination to Aristocracy, diecovered
by our travellers in many classes of the citizens, and more
especially among the military. This inclination is coun-
tenanced by the gevernmeot itself, as is evident from many
of the late institutions. The same svmptonis will not be
slow in exhibiting themselves in Colombia, so true is it
that the love of liberty serves often but as the mark of
ambition, and that every state finishes its republican career
by succombing to the rule of a king. The manner in which
the revolution was effected in this country corroborates but
too strongly the preceding reflection. When the agents of
Bonaparte presented themselves to the future Colombians
they were repulsed with cries of " Ferdinand VII.
fur ever! " And when Ferdinand himself appeared to
claim his inheritance, he was answered with shouts of '
" Long live the Republic." The Colombians pleaded
allegiance, to escape the tyranny of Bonaparte, and liberty,
to re‘cue themselves from the dominion of Ferdinand.
And thus the inhabitants of the interior, removed by
their locality from the immediate scene of the conspiracy,
learned, as it were, like foreign news, that they had been
loyal—that they hail rebelled—and hat they had become
republicans. As to all these points, they answer only
' S.) be it: Let us not ridicule them, for in truth they do
not deserve it. If we wish to read this interesting work
with advantage, we must strip ourselves of every Euro-
pean prejudice; we must particularly avoid comparing the
cities of this Republic with our own, and their plains with
our fields. Bogota, the capital of Colombia, differs more
from Cumin' and Carthagena, than Paris from Moscow.
Here a scorching atmosphere; a river spacious as the Se.
negal ; uncultivated plains ; silence unbroken, save by the
fall of the torrent, or the howlings of wild beasts ; a few
black inhabitants that may be seen wandering. separated
from each other ; huts composed of rushes and leaves of
trees ; made Mr. Mollien imagine he had returned to Africa:
while in the same regions, an autumnal temperature,
fields of corn and beans, orchards well stocked with ap-
ple trees, and the appearance of civilization, made him for-
get he had left Europe. In the low valleys in the Mamie.
whether level or hilly, the heat rites to 36 or 40 degrees of
Reauntur. As Humboldt has sheen, in New Andalusia, the
vast summit of the Cordellieros, is constantly subject to a
temperature which rises rarely to let degrees, and often '
sinks to six ; so that at the Equator itself the constant heat '
of the atmosphere is not beyond that which we enjoy in
the fine days of February. If we ascend the summits of
Paramus, we have the climate of Siberia in all its severity ;
and if we descend to the valley or seek the plain, we have ,
Sahara and its scorchilig heat: thus a single day suffices to
carry us from one extreme to another. It is supposed that
the character, physical and moral, of the inhabitants, must
vary according to the climate and the productions of the
earth, and consequently the ideas, the opinions, and tlw
political all:edam, cannot tend to the sane object, in an
assemblage of people, .101i:ring so essentially in colour,
in bodily strength, and the mixture of diffieemt races—
black, white, and coloured. We must, in fact, con-
sider the revolution with the same glance in all
parts of Culombia as well as in one district. In some
places the love of independence is carried to an ex-
treme ; in others, the tranquillity of the old regime is re-
gretted and deplored, and in the capital itself an observer
way remark a complete indifference to either dominion, and
a readiness to open its gates to the conqueror, whoever lie
may be, with the single exception of the bond of religion,
which is the sante throughout. We look in vain for any
mutual relation between these provinces, and, in truth,
what cilia unien—whaf. :etc of a congeon country caw loe

supposed to infh:: nee tbc::.: wh.:a it
known that a feeble popttl.::::•:1 of st,700,01:0 i s vat-
flied in Troupes, di;":', ring id (!e!cent, in colour, aad
:n cbsrsct,:r, over zn i urn I,:se surfer of 91.000 si;
leagues. The exanip:e of cannot be objected : for
tl.ungli cvend,.(l over boundless desert. 4, the
mass of rite p”!,:lation is i.:;!11:1;11, it in a cire':• nufikienily
limited, nod of which the I-Liu:a:ling tmitories forw but
uniutrort.mt

" The clergy of ('alonibia arc, or have been, warm par-
tizans of the revolut:En ; it may, Intlets!, he 2.1110,t called
their w-rk. 'Whatever map let the motives wb:cli
t!e lit see tla not ilietinesaielt in this love of iraeiva-
tion the Gusto tar) dieert aeon ce the clerical order, and we
are certa'n that tiles? reeehlieen priests will soon sulfa the
pithislitnent of thin sti ;matt ',elute. The following de-
tails will rive sense idea o' ie infatuations:—The pro-
perty of the eleteee oc Colombia formed two parts of that of
the Ili pithrie. rear inferior curates had a revenue of Setrai
francs, and the lei, her ei3,i mere than double. Many of
the B hh pa were worth le en 1.0,000 to 200,00 e francs
a-year ; cost a pittetre—a christening tac,
three, or pc:lisp.; cote.; the beriel of the poor, four piastres
end a half ; that of tile clue, 200 piastres. lu
the church of Chiiminquira, which may be called the
Loretto or the ile;ittblie, s single malts will not be cele-
brated for less thin so francs, and au e.r volt', followed by
the tiIICIVSS pra:•.ed for, is rewarded by an offering of more
then lee plaetres. Twenty-six churches of Bogota are
adorned with gold and precious store's and glitter with
such splendor, that we imagine at first that we are enter-
ing the Palace o° Atitaltra, or Iluascar: a single statue of
the decorttied with 1,9'4 diamonds, 1,495 eme-
ralds, and 99'2 precious stones of various descriptions.
The work of the artist alone upon this single statue,
amounted to more than 20,0 J 0 francs. With thisopuknee
of the cler;ry. with this splendor of religious establishment,
let us contrast the wreteheclueu cf a great part of the po •
pulation, and the poverty which chewer and the revolution
have entailed upon the public treasury ; the debt of 40
millions of piastres due to the English, which compels the
Government to forced loans, and to the adoption of every re-
volutionary measure ; and let usabove all things consider the
state of the troops ate! the fortunes of the heroes of Colombia.
The appointments of a Commander-in -Ch iefarc but LOO pies-
tres ; those of a General of Division 109; a General command-
ing a brigade 300; a Captain 60; and the other ranks under-
go a preportionate reduction to that of a private soldier,
who has but ten piastres annually. What then has been
the object, what could be the hope of the clergy in giving
their support to the revolution ? Under what government
can they experience such deference as was paid them under
that of Spain ? They have been the possessors of two portions
of' the public wealth, can they expect an increase of this
'pendia endowment? Will the soldiers of Colombia be al-
ways divrvattl to support theenormous disproportion bet w t en
the provision' made for a hero and that made for a monk ?
And when an active system of commerce shall have propa-
gated new ideas from the yanks of the Cordilleras to the
hanks of the Afire:ld:eel, of the Cat ca, of the Meta, of the
Gniavera, and the Oronoko? Will the clergy, almost de-
serted at present, hope to gain an increase of obedience and
respect from regenerated nations ? Oh how the Jacobins
of Colombia (ior there are Jacobins even there), must
smile whet. they behold the clergy working with such ar-
dour. for their own destruction, and giving their impetus
to a movement which they vainly think they can direct.
" The observations of M. islollien embrace teo many
subjects for us to analyse them now, and though he
explored only the western provinces of Colombia, his
voyage comprehends so extensive a space, that we cannot
notice it at present ; we confine ourselves to the enumera-
tion of the remarkable places he has seen. From Cartha-
gena he re-ascem:ed the valley of the Magdalena; he so-
join ned at Santa Fe de Bogota, the capital of the Repub-
lic, after gazing with astonishment upon the Falls of
l'equendania, one of the most sates:Jung cataracts in the
world. Ile made an excursion to the Socorro, and to the
ancient kingdoms of Contlinamara, so celebrated in the
history of the Incas and that of the conquest. Ile revisits
Bogota; explores the Popyan ; climbs to the summit
the volcano of Purace; navigates the waters of the rapid
Cauca, and those of the Dagna, still more dangerous to
mariners ; reaches San Buonaventura, a port in the Pacific,
as neglected as it may be rendered useful to commerce; in-
andthe proviace ot' Choco, so wealthy in mines of gold,
sol whose inhabitauts are sunk in wretchedneas; arrives
at Panama, whose name alone awakens curiosioty ; tra-
verses the Isthmus, embarks at Chaserss for Jamaica, and
returns to France after having touched at Falmouth.
" Great as the interest excited by these travels, so recent
that it terminated only in the 'say 1444. must be, this in-
terest is of minor importance to the moral and political con-
siderations with which NI. Mollien resents us. Ile has
seen in the fervor of republicanism those people whom
Humbohltoblerved in the tranquillity of peesiveohedience..
" We particularly recommend to the reader the chapters in
which he describes the war of the revolution, amid the
struggle, iu which Fortune, after sporting alternately with
Bolivar and Morillo, finished her game by sacrificing the
cause of legitimacy, and giving triumph to that of repub-
licanism, at the very moment when it seemed reduced to
despair.
"The details given by M. Mollien of the characters of the
different leaders of the Revolution furnish a vast scope to
conjecture. It appears Celt all concede to Bolivar that
every thing depends upon him ; that without his presiding
influence, the various parties, among whom is to be found
that of the mulattoes, would be soon in a state of conflict,
and the Republic composed of such ht.erogeneous elements,
would be the prey of violent dissensions, or be delivered up
to complete anarchy.
" We avail ourselves of the space still left us, to notice a
few observations which appear curious. In the last century
certain political declaimers were in the habit of accusing
the Spaniards of having massacred twenty-four to thirty
millions of men in the two Americas—of having, in fact,
annihilated the human race. God forbid that we should
be the apologists of the I'izarros and the Alinagros; we
are willing to admit that their cruelty and avarice even
surpassed their valour; but a remark of M. Mollien has
explained to us the cause of the exasezerations. He informs
us, that upon the continent of America the white colour
has been ever considered an honour, and that the women
were most anxious to procure fur their offspring this pre-
cious inheritance. In consequence the number of mixed
whites became prodigious; a great portion of the native
raw was merged in this mixture, and decreased to such an
extent that it was supposed to be exterminated. There
exist without doubt, in the other parts of Spanish America,
similar causes of a similar error.
" In the heat of the insurrection, the Viceroy, Amar, was
dragged to prison, and in a few days after, the caprice of
the sovereign people restored him to the head of the Go-
vernment ; but he was afterwards remnoved frtnn the Pa-
lace, and conducted to Carthae,ena, because lie intended, it
was said, to sell America to Bonaparte, at the rate of two
reals a man' and one fur each woman. At this report,
which appeared so probable. the women of Bogota carried
their fury to the extent of offering insult to the Vicequeen.
We are, however, inclined to 'where, that they would have
pardoned the pretended guilt of Amer, if he had valued a
woman at two reels, anu was satisfied to dispose of a man
for one.

" The plate called the Palace of Deputies, it nothing more
than a house, the lower part of which consists of shops, in
which can-de-vie is sold. The Hall of the Sittings is a
long chamber, where the representatives alone are seat, al
upon chairs of vantisheal wood, with leather seats. Eight
lamps, and a r•-:.aw mat, constitute the ornaments of ibis
splendid 'mum. nt.
" The Palace or the Senate, in front of the former, is of
equal simplicity : there is neither a saloon nor antechamber,
so that the Alinisters, when they eoine to make any com-
munication, remain upon the stair-case, until the Usher,
wlau is also the manager of the theatre, la:moves their um-
brellas, a:stl invites them to enter.
" In the Hall of the Senate there is an emblematic re-
presentation of Justice ; our author says that the ignorant
painter wrote under it the word Psi, q. e 410 tout see
any proof of ignorance in this subscription ; Justice has
not mach concern with revolutions, and Policy is also
armed with the sword : she also pretends to hold an equal
balance, and is sometimes so blind that she may well be
supposed to have deprived Justice of her bandag...
We etmelude with a just and profound reflection.. whieh
we borrow from the navelltr. It is irener.:!y supposed
that iv. cell!'er an cl.livion upon a pt-op:e v•lr..-% we bcv•tw

- - ,
: upon ti ....•1 a ve cold° contsining much nutritious ca-
lstance, ri cure palatable and wholesome, such as the bread-
f, uit tre.:. I:ado:thirdly this plant wuuld L must.uatkul ili
a tern iv'ette climate, if it could be made to gran there, as
it would furnish an abundant and nay subsistence to men,
cc-mule:l in industrious pursuits, and would cause a dime-
within. In Inc rtunber of hands euiployed in tile culture.
of corn. Tnis we admit ; but in countries where rues-
sive Ina! inches to rest, such a plant, however valuable,
b-enire a a nviaaace, as it adds to the 16de:irons natural
to the inhabitatits of the tropics. •
"In the plains of America (adds H. Mollia) the bread-
finit trte will produce effects similar to those ceased by the
I latc t:ea in Anita;h will create the Bedouins of the
%Vest. as it bas perpetuated those of the Lust. 41ust not.
this be the ease when we consider the abundance of the
produce of tli;s vegetable ; the rapidity of its growth, and'
the facility of its culture. Thus, contrary to general opi-
nion, the greatest abundance is not always the source of
prcsperity ; and that which supports toss with too muck
1 facility, may be injurious to civilisation, by liinisinp his
wants, and consequently diminishing his industry. This
prop sition, which has the air of a paiiafox, is nevertheless
a truth • but it would pass unobserved, except by a man at
sound observation, and clear discernment."