Star.
London, England, 1830-01-14 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

Sta—lf the letter dated La Guayra, November 16th,
and published on the 9th instant,
hadap_Pedin le"
respectable journals than the Times and the STAR,
I
would disdain to notice its contents. The morality of
the author, and the credit which the letter deserves, may
be fairly estimated by the following sentences:—
" Bora vsa's countrymen cannot put to death publicly
the saviour of the country, unless they would brave the
unlimited execrations of the world ; but private means, I
doubt, not will be found, ere long, to cut him off." It is
difficult to determine what is greater, the vehement wish
for murder shown by these horrible words, or the impu-
dence of stamping them in a letter evidently written for
the public. After an impartial examination of its contents,
no reader of common sense will fail to discover the true
meaning and wishes of the author. " Let Venezuela be
separated from New Grenada; down with Bum v A R,WIIOIII
I detest, because he has refused to attend to my personal
interests ; down with him, although the inevitable con-
sequence of his fall be a most ruinous and bloody civil!
war; although the very name ofi Columbia disappear;
although her inhabitants be reduced to wretchedness, atatl
her creditors lose all hopes of being paid.
I will suppose the letter of the LIBERATOR 10
O'LEARY to be authentic, although I am far from be-
lieving it so ; I will also suppose that it has been faith-
fully translated into English, which I doubt even more.
With what kind of new logic has your La Guayra cor-
respondent deducted from it that General BOLIVAR
aspires to the crown? To renounce the supreme com-
mand, civil and military, to wish with so great earnest-
ness for the election of another President—are these the
means to ascend to the throne ? Let history answer; let
common sense answer. I see nothing in O'LEARY's let-
ter, supposing that it be not a forged one, but a new
testimony of the aversion which the LIBERATOR has
so often shown for the toils of the Cabinet; of his martial
inclinations and taste for a life in the field; of his emmi-
bility, perhaps carried too far, to the blows of calumny ;
and lastly, of his passionate love for glory. In short,
BOLIVAR has only repeated in his supposed letter what',
he has repeatedly said before, viz. that he longs to get rid
of the cares and toils of the administration ; and that since
his services are considered necessary for the internal and
external security of the Republic, be will continue ren-
dering them as Chief of the army, or, what amounts
to the same, as Generalissimo. What reasons, then, can
a certain oming Paper allege for the scorn with which
he has thought proper to comment upon the LIBERATOR'S
letter ?—none but his marked hatred towards the New
American States, and towards the heroic chief who has
given existence to three of them. According to the
Ilphrases of your contemporary, Bo LI vAn is a madman.
Genius is always judged so by obscure mediocrity. Yes,
a madman, a sublime madman, who has sacrificed his ex-
istence, who has a thousand times exposed and daily ex-
poses his life to the greatest dangers for the good of hu-
manity ; sublime madman, who undertook to deliver
and to regenerate a world without any other re-
sources than those of his magnanimous heart; who,
without consulting prudence, descended to the arena to
wrestle with the ferocious lions of Castille, and with the
monsters of ignorance, fanaticism, and ingratitude !!
The reasons which the La Guayra correspondent
brings forth to prove the convenience of declaring Vene-
zuela an independent State, are these :-Ist. The means
which it possesses for existing by itself. 2nd. The pre-
tended injuries arising from its union with New Gre-
nada. 3rd. The bad administration of General BOLIVAR.
" If you take up a map of South America," says
the writer of the letter, " you will observe that
the Province of Venezuela is somewhere about a
fourth part of the whole republic." And what sig-
nifies extent of territory in America ? It is not for
want of territory that the new republics are unsettled.
Venezuela is besides much more extensive than the fac-
tious correspondent of La Guayra imagines ; its extent is
33,701 square leagues, while that of the whole republic
of Columbia is 91,952 ditto. With regard to its geogra-
phical situation, the fertility cf its soil, and variety of its
productions, the safety and advantages of its ports, it is
certain that Venezuela is destined to be, under the
auspices of the present administration, one of the most
prosperous sections of South America ; but it is equally
certain that so well-founded hopes would be frus-
trated for a long time, or perhaps for ever, if the
Venezuelans should have the folly of destroying the
union which, until the present day, has been their pal-
ladium. It is false, and I know it from positive facts,
that the revenue of Venezuela has ever been expended out
of that country ; not one single dollar has ever left Vene-
zuela for New Grenada, while the reverse has frequently
taken place. Situated in the most vulnerable frontier
et Columbia, Venezuela requires the resources of the
interior to cover the expenses of so many fortified
places and their garrisons. The union between New
Granada and Venezuela was the result of experience,
and the spontaneous deed of the people of both countries ;
to this mixture of wishes and interests, Columbia owes
, her triumphs and her glory. It is extremely ridiculous
to say that the revenues of Venezuela" are drained off
to pay the shameful expenses of BoLtv AR'S house-keep-
ng at Bogota." All those that frequent the house of
Bou vA n, know that he is as distant from showing a
vain ostentation as too great an economy ; they know
that he can cover his expenses with what remains of hiel
private fortune ; they know, lastly, that the State owes
him a large sum on account of his salaries which have
not been paid'!
Among other contradictions in the La Guayra letter,
that between the two following extracts is too evident to
need demonstration. " Not many months have passed
since the people of this country were actually racking
their brains to invent new titles for BOLIVAR."—
" You may judge how far matters have already gone,
when the Liberator's name in public is loaded with most
approbious epithets."—You know, Sir, and all the world
knows, what General Bora vAn has done during these
few months, to forfeit the love of his countrymen, the Ve-
nezuelans : he has re-established internal order in the
southern Departments of the Republic; he has repelled
the foreign enemy, and has conquered a glorious peace, to
which must be added, that during this period BOLIVAR
has been very distant from Venezuela, and that the ad-
ministration of this part of the Republic has been in the
hands of General PARE.
The hostility with which the correspondent of La
Guayra speaks of the Minister of Finance, Mr. Rn-

_
v enoA, a gentleman no less respectable for his- integrity
than for his knowledge and constancy in his enterprises,
proves he is one of those individuals interested in the con-
tinuance of the delapidation of the State revenues and
other abuses, which Mr. REVEIGA has tried and still
tries to check.
In conclusion, BouvAta has enemies in and out of the
Republic, for, who is be that commands and has them
not ? chiefly he that commands in circumstances so very
complicate, amidst the fury of passion, and continual
shock of interests ! However, the greet mass of the
Columbian people, tine higher classes, and an those that
have anything to lose, love Bouvez, and support his