In other respects the
results were much the same as in the case of Bolivar. The great
O'Higgins had retired from the eye of the nation and from the scene of
his struggles and self-sacrifice.
In Argentina the tale was similar, notwithstanding the enlightened and
progressive influence of intellectual men, such as Belgrano, Rivadavia,
and numerous others. The tide of civil strife burst out, and its mad
eddies swept away many of those who had proved themselves heroes in the
cause of independence. The severing of ties and of friendship was
necessarily abrupt, and occasionally claimed a victim. Among these was
Liniers, who in the last days of the Spanish regime had gathered
together a local force on the River Plate, and had dislodged the British
forces from Buenos Aires. This, however, did not prevent his execution
by the patriots soon after the outbreak of the war.
To enter into the details of individual cases is impossible here, since
volumes could be written on every separate decade, and on a score and
more of the personalities of this particular epoch in Argentina alone.
Paraguay stood out as an exception to the rest. In that State the reins
of power fell into the hands of Dr.
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