The Repository Códice

Bolivar Toasted San Martin, Then Toasted Against Him

October 25, 2026 · Runtime 11:18 · Watch on YouTube

In 1823 Lima gave a banquet for its new dictator, Simon Bolivar, and every toast went to him. He raised his glass to the absent San Martin. At the end of the same dinner he raised another, against any throne in America, and both historians who tell the story say it was meant to set him apart from San Martin.

Transcript

A toast against a throne 0:00

Lima, eighteen twenty-three. At a banquet for Peru's new dictator, Simon Bolivar raised his glass. May the peoples of America never consent to raise a throne. Both historians who tell the story say that toast was aimed at a man who was not in the room. Earlier, at the same dinner, Bolivar had toasted that man. San Martin.

One dinner, two copies 0:25

This is the story of one dinner and three toasts, as two historians printed them. They agree on why the last toast was raised. They do not agree on what the first two said. Every quotation comes from Bartolome Mitre, and from the Peruvian historian he cites, Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan. And from an Englishman who was in Lima that week.

Two governments 0:49

By the middle of eighteen twenty-three, Peru had two governments. President Riva Aguero, pushed out of Lima to Trujillo, dissolved the Congress and named a senate of ten deputies. In Lima, thirteen deputies met anyway, called in the substitutes, and took back the legislative power. They gave the executive to the Marquis of Torre Tagle. And on the eighth of August they declared Riva Aguero guilty of high treason, and outside the law.

Not even civil war 1:20

Riva Aguero called the deputies traitors, and their acts void. Mitre writes that he stopped at nothing, not even civil war, to keep his own command. He raised an army around himself. And he tried to open talks with the Spaniards, on the basis of an armistice, promising to send the foreign auxiliary troops out of Peru. The auxiliaries, the Colombians above all, told him to step down.

The triple salute 1:48

Into that confusion, Bolivar arrived. The castles of Callao announced him with a triple salute. Mitre writes that the flags of the four independent republics went up on every building. The troops of Peru, of the River Plate, of Chile and of Colombia gave him honors. It was the first of September. Never, Mitre adds, had any American received an ovation more enthusiastic, or more deserved.

The Englishman in the footnote 2:17

Then a footnote. As an Englishman never fails at any notable event, Mitre writes, he took the details of this entry from one. Robert Proctor, a British traveler living in Lima, published his narrative in London in eighteen twenty-five. He saw the salute, and the troops marched out to the Callao road. For about a week, he wrote, nothing was heard of but addresses to Bolivar, and amusements for him.

A year at the border 2:45

Mitre is not kind about how Bolivar got to Lima. He had spent a year at Peru's borders, Mitre writes, refusing, offering, withdrawing, or lending half his help. He knew he would be invested with the sum of power. It was what he was looking for, Mitre says. And, unfortunately, it was what the country needed.

Only his sword 3:08

The Congress consulted him on the law, Mitre says, as a mere formality. Bolivar answered in writing, on the fifth of September. My repugnance to employing myself in the administration exceeds all exaggeration. He had renounced civil power forever, he wrote, keeping only the part of government that works like the cannon. His offer to Peru could not extend beyond the use of his sword.

A farce 3:35

Mitre calls it a farce. Bolivar had answered the same way in Caracas, in Angostura, in New Granada and in Cucuta, renouncing in advance the power he demanded. The Peruvian deputies, Mitre writes, knew what to make of his sincerity. They passed the law anyway.

The law, and its date 3:56

Under the title of Liberator, it gave him supreme military authority, with ordinary and extraordinary powers. And dictatorial political authority, as connected with the needs of the war. It placed the president of the republic under him. That president was Torre Tagle, whom Mitre calls the wild card. Paz Soldan dates the law the tenth of September. Mitre's footnote dates it the tenth of August, three weeks before Bolivar landed.

Directorial 4:26

The same footnote says something stranger. In the collection of laws and decrees printed in Lima in eighteen twenty-six, the sentence reads directorial political authority. Not dictatorial. Dictatorial, Mitre writes, is the true word. In that printed collection, the law that made Bolivar dictator does not say dictator.

Every toast to him 4:50

Then came a banquet in the palace, in honor of the new dictator. Every toast was addressed to him. Mitre writes that they studiously forgot the founder of Peru's independence. Paz Soldan calls that founder the true father of our country. It was San Martin, who had left Peru a year before, and was now in Mendoza, across the Andes.

The good genius of America 5:14

Bolivar answered all the toasts with one. Paz Soldan says he wanted to give a severe lesson. Mitre softens it into two possible motives: a lesson, or a generous sense of justice. He raised his glass high. To the good genius of America, that brought General San Martin with his liberating army, from the River Plate to the shores of Peru. And to General O'Higgins, who generously sent him from Chile.

The rest of the toast 5:43

In Mitre, the toast ends there. In Paz Soldan, it goes on. To the Congress of Peru, which has reassumed the sovereign rights of the people. And it named, spontaneously and wisely, General Torre Tagle president of the state. Mitre's copy leaves out the praise for the man he calls the wild card.

Double applause 6:05

The applause, Mitre writes, came double. For a moment the glory of the two liberators was confused. One in voluntary exile. The other at the dawn of his continental greatness.

Chile, or Castile 6:20

The second toast was to a battlefield, and here the two copies part ways. In Mitre, it is the field that gathers the banners of the Plata, Peru, Chile and Colombia. Four allies. In Paz Soldan, it is the field that gathers the banners of the Plata, Colombia, and Castile. Castile is Spain. The allies, and the enemy, on one field, that will witness the victory of the Americans, or bury them all.

No throne 6:51

The third came as the banquet ended. May the peoples of America never consent to raise a throne on their soil. As Napoleon's throne was sunk in the immensity of the ocean, and Iturbide's overthrown in Mexico, so may the usurpers fall. Not one left triumphant, in the whole extent of the new world.

Honored, then corrected 7:12

On this toast, the two historians agree. Mitre says its purpose was to decline all solidarity with the monarchist opinions San Martin had expressed. Paz Soldan says it was to dispel the suspicion that Bolivar shared them. San Martin's government in Lima had sent envoys to Europe, and one of their tasks was to find a prince for a throne in Peru. So the same dinner honored San Martin, and then corrected him.

On his own head 7:40

Mitre adds a line of his own. The last part of that sentence, he writes, would be fulfilled on Bolivar's own head. The man who drank against usurpers had just received a dictatorship. He turned down the salary of fifty thousand pesos, Paz Soldan writes, and took the president's pay instead.

The theater 8:00

Bolivar went to the theater. Mitre puts it on the night of the banquet. Proctor, who was in the house, says the visit was announced a day or two after Bolivar landed. The audience rose. Over the president's box hung the united banners of Peru and Colombia. Bolivar returned the greeting with a hasty bow, and sat down.

A very small, thin man 8:24

Proctor watched him. A very small, thin man, with the appearance of great personal activity. His face furrowed with fatigue and anxiety. And the fire of his quick black eye, very remarkable.

Proud impatience 8:40

Proctor's next sentence is the one Mitre translated for his readers. Boldness, enterprise, activity, intrigue, proud impatience, and a persevering and determined spirit. In the Spanish Mitre printed, the list is shorter. Intrigue stays. Proud impatience is gone. And the very small man is only very thin.

The bull ring 9:05

Proctor saw one more thing. The constitution published by the Congress had abolished bullfights, as unfit for an enlightened age. But the Liberator was known to be extremely fond of them, and a series was announced, on a splendid scale. The bull ring, Proctor notes, belonged to the state. Pleasing Bolivar was also a convenient way of raising money.

All was settled 9:30

The Congress authorized Bolivar to settle the question of Riva Aguero. Proctor writes that Bolivar told him, in an interview, that all was settled. Riva Aguero was to be president in Lima. Then Riva Aguero refused his own conditions. Mitre prints the note that followed, in terms, he says, never heard in diplomacy, not even between enemies.

The ultimatum 9:56

The Liberator has granted Riva Aguero a pardon he does not deserve. He repeats it, and gives no more time to accept it than his troops need to reach the faction's camps. The note is dated the twelfth of November, eighteen twenty-three. There was no civil war. A revolt of the soldiers, Mitre writes, like the one that had raised Riva Aguero, threw him down.

Absolute master 10:22

Mitre closes the story in two sentences. Bolivar remained absolute master of Peru. He thought all America was his.

Tribute or correction? 10:32

So was the toast to San Martin a tribute, or a correction? Paz Soldan calls it a severe lesson to the room. Mitre leaves two motives on the page. Both say the last toast was meant to set Bolivar apart from San Martin's throne. And neither prints the dinner the way the other does.

Callao 10:53

San Martin's army was still in Peru. Five months after that dinner, in February eighteen twenty-four, the garrison of Callao rose in the night. Most of it, Mitre writes, was Argentine troops. Next episode: the night San Martin's own soldiers handed the forts of Callao to Spain, and the soldier shot for refusing to salute the flag.

Description and sources

This episode reads one dinner in Lima, and the law before it, in two histories that print it differently: Bartolome Mitre's Historia de San Martin (vol. IV, Buenos Aires, 1890, ch. XLVIII, pp. 46-51) and Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan's Historia del Peru independiente (1822-1827), vol. I (1870; Madrid edition, 1919), pp. 260-267, which Mitre himself cites. The arrival, the theater and the bullfights are also seen by Robert Proctor, an English traveler living in Lima (Narrative of a Journey across the Cordillera of the Andes, London, 1825, pp. 245-248 and 274-275).

The arrival (Mitre, p. 47): a triple salute from the castles of Callao on 1 September 1823. Proctor saw the salute and the troops marched to the Callao road; for about a week, he wrote, nothing was heard of but addresses to and amusements for him.

The law (Mitre, p. 48; Paz Soldan, pp. 260-261): Bolivar answered the Congress on 5 September that his repugnance to administration exceeded all exaggeration and that he offered only his sword; Mitre calls it a farce. The law gave him supreme military authority and dictatorial political authority. Paz Soldan dates it 10 September; Mitre's note 52 dates it 10 August, three weeks before he landed, and adds that the collection of laws printed in Lima in 1826 reads 'directorial' where the true word is 'dictatorial'.

The banquet (Mitre, p. 49; Paz Soldan, pp. 262-267): every toast went to the new dictator. Bolivar's first toast was to the good genius of America that brought San Martin from the River Plate, and to O'Higgins. Paz Soldan's copy goes on to praise the Congress and Torre Tagle, whom Mitre calls the wild card. In Mitre the second toast is to the field that gathers the banners of the Plata, Peru, Chile and Colombia; in Paz Soldan, of the Plata, Colombia and Castile. The third, against any throne in America, both read as distancing Bolivar from San Martin's monarchist opinions.

After (Mitre, pp. 50-51; Proctor, pp. 246-248, 274-275): Proctor's portrait of Bolivar at the theater, which Mitre translates without 'proud impatience'; the ultimatum to Riva Aguero (Pativilca, 12 November 1823) and his fall. 'Bolivar remained absolute master of Peru. He thought all America was his.'

PRINT-READY, FROM THIS CHANNEL

The Document Set, Vol. 01 — Cajamarca 1532 and Buenos Aires 1595-1680 — the documents at reading size, with author, date, archive and licence

https://therepository.gumroad.com/l/document-set

SOURCES — every image in this video is a public-domain document.

Each plate below is listed with its author, date, holding archive and licence.

Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan — 1919 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Daniel Hernández Morillo — 1921 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain
Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan — 1919 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Robert Proctor — 1825 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
José Gil de Castro — circa 1825 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain
Unidentified painter — 19th century | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
José Gil de Castro — 1823 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain
José Hilarión Ibarra (fl.1825-1854) — circa 1826 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain
Bartolome Mitre — 1890 | Internet Archive (scan) | Public domain

... and 59 more plates, each credited on screen in the video and listed in this project's manifest.