That was precious, and I
desired above everything to keep it. But I must think no more
about that now. I must think only of how I am to tell you my
story. I will begin at a time when I was twenty-three. It was
early in life to be in the thick of politics, and in trouble to
the extent of having to fly my country to save my liberty,
perhaps my life.
Every nation, someone remarks, has the government it deserves,
and Venezuela certainly has the one it deserves and that suits it
best. We call it a republic, not only because it is not one, but
also because a thing must have a name; and to have a good name,
or a fine name, is very convenient--especially when you want to
borrow money. If the Venezuelans, thinly distributed over an
area of half a million square miles, mostly illiterate peasants,
half-breeds, and indigenes, were educated, intelligent men,
zealous only for the public weal, it would be possible for them
to have a real republic. They have instead a government by
cliques, tempered by revolution; and a very good government it
is, in harmony with the physical conditions of the country and
the national temperament.
Pages:
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38