To the aid of French theory came the example of North America; Washington and the federal system served the Iberian statesmen as models. Belgrano exalted the first President of the United States as a hero "worthy of the admiration of our own age and of the generations to come--an example of moderation and true patriotism." He translated the _Farewell Address_, which was his favourite reading. Bolivar wished to be the Washington of South America. One of the forerunners of Brazilian independence, José Joaquin de Maia, had known Jefferson in Paris, and informed him that "the Brazilians considered the North American Revolution as the expression of their desires, and they counted on the assistance of the United States." The first South American constitutions betrayed this double influence; they adopted the policy of federalism, copying the political organisation of the United States, and were inspired by French ideas. They destroyed the privileges of the nobility, and established equality of caste. This was the case with the first Venezuelan constitution, despite the efforts of Miranda and Bolivar--opponents of federation. The Chilian constitution of 1822 and the Peruvian constitution of {83} 1823 conferred a conservative function upon the Senate, as in the North American Republic; and the first Chilian statutes established federation. In Mexico and in Central America the federal principle dominated the constitutions of 1824 and 1826. The Argentine constitution of 1819 was a copy "for the united provinces of South America of the Declaration of Independence of the United States." To French doctrines and the example of the United States we must add the influence of English ideas. Miranda and Bolivar admired the political constitution of Great Britain, and were inspired by it. Bolivar, in 1818, recommended the study of this constitution: "You will find therein," he said, "the division of powers, the only means of creating free and independent spirits, and the liberty of the press--that incomparable antidote to political abuses." His enthusiasm for Voltaire and Rousseau was tempered by a study of English methods. In his Angostura draft he recommended a permanent Senate, a reproduction of the House of Lords. The British Executive--the sovereign surrounded by responsible ministers--seemed to him "the most perfect model, whether for a kingdom, or an aristocracy, or a democracy." The Colombian Constitution of Cucuta (1821), in which the political ideas of the Liberator were predominant, merited the eulogy of the Marquis of Lansdowne. "It has for its basis," said the English minister, "the two most just and solid principles"--property and education. Miranda laid before Pitt a constitutional essay inspired by British ideas, with a House of Commons, an Upper Chamber composed of hereditary Inca _caciques_ and censors; in which curious project we find American traditions mingled with political forms borrowed from the English.