History is too often a record of ingratitude. One would think that in South America Bolivar would have remained first in the hearts of all the people. But jealous seekers after self-aggrandizement plotted against his rule and even attempted his life. Venezuela, which owed so much to him, was the first to withdraw, Ecuador became a separate republic and Bolivar was banished. At this his heart and his spirit were broken and he died at the age of only 47, on December 17, 1830. His last words were: "For my enemies I have only forgiveness. If my death shall contribute to the cessation of factions and the consolidation of the Union, I can go tranquilly to my grave."
No other single individual has left such a mark on the pages of South American history; and though he never even visited the island he greatly influenced Cuba as well as the countries in which he lived and struggled for freedom.
For the breath of revolt which was scorching the Spanish possessions on the main land, was no longer leaving Cuba untouched. It has ever been the history of tyranny that sooner or later the oppressed have found a leader and have risen against their tormentors, and also--we have only to contemplate French history, or to study the story of Russia under the Czars, to find confirmation--that such opposition was born first in secret gatherings, and gained strength under cover of concealment and darkness, until it grew strong enough to stand in the daylight.
Tales of Bolivar's triumphs in South America were not slow to penetrate to the knowledge of the Cubans. Liberty, which had seemed only a dream, now began to take on the aspect of a possible reality. Men expressed their opinions and desires furtively in their own homes, to tried and trusted friends. They began to assemble and exchange views. No one dared to come out openly at first, and so propaganda was carried on through veiled articles, by word of mouth, by the secret clasp or sign of union. Under pretext of meeting for amusement and social pleasure clubs whose members were all friends of liberty began to be formed, about 1820. The Free Masons, whose principles were far from inimical to what now began to become the aim of all Cubans who loved their country, organized societies, which immediately became hot-beds of revolt, of the fiercest kind of protest against Spanish rule, and the rendezvous of those who planned to overthrow it.