There he looked after his daughter’s education. And in his old age, he lived comfortably in a small country house on the bank of the Seine. He cared for his garden, tended his flowers, and read his books, until his sight began to fail.
At the age of seventy-two, still a voluntary exile for the good of his Country, he died in his dear daughter’s arms.
“I desire,” said he, “that my heart should rest in Buenos Aires.”
THE MYSTERY SOLVED
What was the mystery, that had made San Martin at the height of his success, bow his head in silence and go into voluntary exile?
His enemies reviled him. Even some of his friends accused him of deserting his post in time of need. But he neither complained nor explained.
A great act of self-abnegation may not be hidden forever. Years passed by, then San Martin’s noble purpose came to light.
At that Amazing Meeting, after he and Bolivar had exchanged opposing views as to the best form of government for Spanish America, they began to discuss the liberation of Peru.
Bolivar refused to enter Peru or to allow his Army to do so without the consent of the Congress of Colombia. He politely offered to lend San Martin a few troops, altogether too few to aid in the subjection of the large Spanish forces gathering in Peru for the final decisive struggle.
San Martin, at a glance, read the Liberator’s purpose. He saw before him a brilliant General “of a constancy to which difficulties only added strength,” who by joining his Army to that of Peru, Argentina, and Chile, could make sure for all time to come, the liberation of the whole of Spanish America. But it was also plain to San Martin that Bolivar would never consent to share his command with any other man.